It's time to get going, and Sylvando has a present for us Definitive Edition players. He also says one of those naughty "it's time to think about how long the game itself is taking in-universe" statements- how much time is actually passing over the events of the story? A day/night cycle implies an actual serious amount of time, and of course these miraculous events don't take a single day in total, but how long do they take?
Sylvando has a new present of convenience for us- the ability to summon our horse from wherever we please (...so long as the horse can actually fit where we are, of course).
Despite this, this is actually still technically one of Sylvando's possessions and this fact will matter later. For now, though, we have free access to it whenever we please with no questions as to why.
It's been added to the quick command menu, too, for all your horse-riding needs.
Well that sounds nice. Although this might get unpleasant on a quick switchover.
Well, that's good to know.
And there's a quest on the way to Gondolia- someone else doesn't seem to have the ability to head that way himself.
Such a heartwarming little sidequest.
...So how does the mailman work in the world of Dragon Quest?
Anyone else get the feeling this is going to end badly?
He does tell you where to look. Although... come to think of it, Akia is not found on the west side of the city.
Welcome to the Laguna di Gondolia. This first bit is a shallow sandbar with monsters we've seen before. This sandbar never sinks below the waves, which is a shame, because the oceans on either side are very inconvenient to sail between. On the other hand, it would be very annoying to travel between Gondolia and Gallopolis if this sunk- it's literally the only way to get between the two places.
Sylvando: My ship's all set and waiting for us, Erdward. Let's head over to Gondolia, pronto! The route there's a little tricky, though. All those tall trees make it easy to get lost so be sure to keep an eye on your map, darling!
Erik: You know, I couldn't believe it when Sylvando told us he had his own ship. I didn't take him for the seafaring type... And he's got it moored in Gondolia, the poshest port in Erdrea. There's more to him than meets the eye, that's for sure.
Veronica: The desert sun was hot enough to scorch my staff, but now that we're somewhere a bit cooler, I sort of miss it...
Serena: After all we went through in Gallopolis, we still didn't manage to get hold of the Rainbough. I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever be able to find it...
There's a campsite here. I have no idea why you'd want to Zoom here, though.
And you know that new horse hailer we got? You can't climb this ledge with the horse.
They like to brag that their bills are better than those of platypunks, but concede that their cousins' fur is finer.
Both drop fine fur, but platypunks drop it in the rare slot and splatypunks the common slot. Splatypunks are the main recolour of platypunks, and share their appearances in 4 and 10. Even the Plob uses yellow recolours often in Rocket Slime. They also like using the Sap spell.
They say that these monsters are made when men drowning in the mire and desperately waving beneath the surface, and give their despairing souls to the swamp.
Muddy hands are relatively annoying enemies that first appeared in DQ2 and only missed DQ4 and 9. They normally appear in groups and spend their time making more of them. They're very memorable.
Firing Pep Powers is usually better than not when you're finishing up the time. Even if it's not necessarily the best strategic choice. Either do this or save the power for somewhere you're aiming at.
I left Sylvando on Fight Wisely again...!
Gloomy grublins that have somehow learned to ride great big wasps. Despite their distinctly unchivalrous nature, groups of them often come together to play at being knights.
The midnight horknight is actually a grublin riding a hornet? I never pieced that together. Horknights, like their grublin riders, are new to DQXI. This one can poison you and occasionally counter your attacks because he feels like it.
If you've never fought muddy hands before, just imagine this... forever. Boomerangs and Sizz spells you feel good about casting means DQXI has more pleasant Muddy Hands, but...
Anyway, it's time to fly around on a hornet!
There's plenty of shinies you can only get by flying over the marsh on the hornet.
The splatypunk can also compel people to dance. Not that Erdward's dance is...
...For some reason, despite the hornet-riding being useful on both sides of this tunnel, you have dismount on the ride through. There are narrower tunnels you can keep riding mounts on.
There's a Tockle in this tunnel, at least. They are feeding us a few easy ones as we move along.
The Observatory is not a location in DQIII, but rather DQIX. It is the home of the main character and the Celestrians, angelic beings with the sole purpose of looking after humanity and doing good deeds to harvest a substance called "benevolessence"- and honestly, they're not huge fans of doing good deeds for its own sake. Incidentally, finding out about the substance called benevolessence was the thing that first truly sold me on playing Dragon Quest.
The main difference between rain and clear weather is that splatypunks appear in clear weather and muddy hands appear in rain. Muddy hands, obviously, can appear in clear weather as hangers-on: I don't think the same can be said of splatypunks, but it's worth keeping in mind.
Tigerskin-clad troublemakers who give travelers no end of tribulations. Despite their costumes, they're actually committed vegetarians.
Weartigers come from DQ4 and have no main-series appearances since. They can War Cry as a stun, and new to this game, that "committed vegetarians" is actually a hint- they can pull out fruits to heal themselves with.
There's another one of these you can ride on on this side of the tunnel. Why did we need to abandon our last one?
...Was not expecting that. The Iron Mask is a very fascinating drop.
An unforged Iron Mask has +6 Defence over an Iron Helmet +3. What's an Iron Helmet? Good question, we haven't actually reached one yet! The Iron Mask and the Iron Helmet it outstrips are the first examples of "Helmets", as distinguished from "Hats" by... well, not much. There's nothing inherent to these types of armour. However, helmets, as a rule, can usually only be worn by Erdward, a later party member and occasionally Sylando, and often pack more raw defence than Hats, which have other assets.
Some more of these in the corner. They kinda lay off giving these in chests later.
Now there's what you expect out of a Sultry Dance. Sylvando actually has a minor weakness to being compelled to Dance, as one might expect out of an entertainer. There's a handful of resistances in the character tables, I find them all cute.
With that said, this situation has got scary and even Erdward is throwing out Bangs. For the most part, if your Hero is using his magic spells, odds are you're in dire straits.
And it finally occurs to me to show Sylvando's magic list.
- Reheal applys a status buff that heals the benefactee for 9-12 HP for five turns. An interesting approach, but not particularly helpful.
- Oomph raises ally attack power by 25%, and can be applied in two stages. This is perhaps Sylvando's biggest claim to fame. Oomph is huge in most games, and this game is big on it.
- Acceleratle is a whole-party version of Accelerate. A much better use of your time (even if the single-target version gives two stages and the whole party version gives one), but Acceleratle in general isn't exactly the best spell around.
Veronica also charges up her MaMight. Veronica's an amazing mage.
Mini medal in this rafter maze.
The weartiger has a rare drop that, while not by any means necessary, is worth showing. Erdward and Erik have Pep, let's see if we can't nab it.
Well, that took me completely by surprise.
The Cat Hat is part of a costume for Veronica, and also gives her resistance to ice and dark attacks in the bargain. You can buy one in Gondolia, but this is as good a place as any to acquire one for free.
I both don't approve and don't really care. Sap is worse than you think it is, but late enough in a fight... is this guy really going to actually hit me?
Ah, here we go. Here's some powerful armour recipes.
Including where we were supposed to get our Iron Helmet. It's still worth it for Sylv, at least.
We also get some differences between the Cuirass and the Armour, with Erdward being the main beneficiary of the strong stuff and Sylv and Erik getting the intermediate. Veronica and Serena, meanwhile, will be making do with robes instead.
Yay, something to replace the Gallopolitan Garb!
The loss of Charm is annoying, but it's not like I need that for now.
Gondolia opens with a tunnel passage to the main location. I'm not entirely sure why- perhaps it's a reference to the locale?
Gondolia is a fairly obvious reference to Venice, the city where the streets are canals. I've never heard anything about the real Venice having a tunnel entrance, but you never know.
I joked about the Gallopolis Horse Track being like this, but that's not a reasonable assumption for a town this big. It's presumably a visual illusion.
...You know, a port town would be incredibly tempting for a thief. Not only would you get a lot of opportunities to acquire treasure, but many of those opportunities would come about against targets who don't have permanent residence there- it would be incredibly difficult for you and your target to meet again to suffer retribution.
I mean, you don't have to be that rich to dock ship here. I hope.
Sylvando, as per usual, deflects. I don't actually think the circumstances in which Sylvando acquired his ship are related to his backstory, so I'm not sure why he's keeping the story under wraps.
And yet we all travel in the same party.
Everyone else does move out in the cutscene- Erdward looks elsewhere.
There's a kid watching us in the corner.
Erik: I've asked around a bit, and it sounds like the merchant who bought the Rainbough has already left Gondolia. Let's get on his tail right away. Sylvando's ship is moored over in the west of the city!
Veronica: I've only ever been on boring old ferries. I can't wait to have a ship to ourselves! You know, Sylvando must be really rich to have his own ship. We're lucky we bumped into him when we did!
Serena: Oh, this place couldn't be more different from Arboria! It almost feels as though we're on holiday! Um... I don't suppose you'd mind if I did a spot of shopping while we're here? I bet the shops here sell all sorts of interesting things. Oh dear... Hee hee! You can tell I'm a country girl, can't you? I'm sorry- I'll try to look a little less excited!
Sylvando: I bought my ship on a whim, but she's turned out to be my steadfast companion over the years. Sure, she's a little long in the tooth as seafaring vessels go, but I've kept her in tip-top condition. You can always rely on her to take you where you want to go!
...Arboria's a country place? I wouldn't really agree with that assessment, although Serena certainly fits the sheltered mindset that a "country girl" brings to mind.
Shop goodies. The Gold Platter is the main thing of note, but don't buy it. If you're not in the business of getting a Cat Hat from the weartigers, this is where you do buy that. Everything else is pretty uninteresting.
Ah great, these people know about the Darkspawn.
Ah great, people are buying weapons to use against us. I'm not that worried about that from the perspective of "my life is in danger", but it's still very concerning and frustrating.
Over here we've got a reference to DQ6, the haggle brothers. This one wants to sell us a cat suit at a bargain price-
10000G. It's not worth that price. Let's see if we can't get it for cheaper.
...That is not cheaper.
That's more like it. Although that's still way too much for my blood.
I think you can see where this is going.
In DQ6, you could switch between two brothers to try and haggle your way to the best deal. In that game, you were trying to sell something, but there's also a haggle where you can argue down a price on an item you want to buy from a single seller in the same place. (Incidentally, the examples are selling your starting village's wares for 350->480G, and bargaining down a Thief's Key from 2000->200G).
I'm not sure taking a 90% discount counts as being a good salesman.
And this is why you want the Cat Hat. You need it to complete the costume.
I'm sure you might.
Like the hat, this also increases Veronica's Ice and Dark resists. Which, come to think of it, makes it a genuinely tempting armour set for the next boss...
..."Moggies"? I'm informed this is legitimate British slang for cats, but as a Square Enix game, my eyebrow is raised on hearing that word used in any context- it's not unknown for Dragon Quest to reference Final Fantasy, after all.
Almost anyone who’s spent time among the less reputable people of Erdrea is bound to have heard of Noah, a man who trades in gossip and information of all kinds.
From the name of the local barber’s mistress to the deepest, darkest secrets of the royal family, he knows every titbit of tattle and every scrap of scandal on every single street corner in the land.
But how does this mysterious figure come into possession of all these sensitive secrets? Many an intrepid investigator has tried to uncover his sources, but each and every one of them has failed.
But one thing is certain- his sense for a scoop is the stuff of legend. Some even say that on the day he was born, he pointed to the eastern sky, and that hours later, a storm rolled in from just that direction!
I mean, we know he learns his information by getting drunk and listening to the barkeep, doesn't he?
Once upon a time, on a lovely summer’s day, a rainbow appeared in the sky. The weather was so warm and relaxing that it made the rainbow sleepy, and he let out a great big yawn.
As he yawned, a single tear fell out of the corner of his eye, and the sparkling sunlight split it into seven different coloured lights, from which little baby lamplings were born!
The leafy lampling with his bright green cap of leaves, the luminous lampling with his brilliant blue flame, the lurid lampling with his shining yellow body…
But the red light was jealous of his beautiful brothers, so he gobbled the orange and violet lights up whole!
As punishment for this terrible sin, he was turned into the lava lampling. Horns grew from his head, and he was banished to hell, where he dwells to this day.
Cute lore about the lampling family of monsters. Not relevant in any way, but not that it needs to be.
Benigno is a child we'll see more of in a bit, but this rope she's talking about is a relatively interesting map feature. We can get onto the roof here if we climb up a ladder outside the inn building, but as you might be able to spot, all we get for our troubles is the ability to jump down in a place we can walk to.
I'm not sure who Benigno's family is, but I do think we meet his father doing merchant things.
Down here is a part of Gondolia we cannot reach because the door to it is locked- you'd think we could jump over the railing, but we can't. Invisible wall. If you look closely, you can also spot my least favourite colour of tockle: Not-glowing grey. Suffice it to say we won't be seeing him for a while.
Outside the door, however, is someone we do have business with.
She is the baker in Gondolia.
My dearest Akia,
Are you well? I hope that your apprenticeship at the bakery is not proving to be too draining. I am certain that you will do well there. After all, you have always been such a hard worker, ever since you were a little girl. Now that the misery of our old life is a thing of the past, I pray that you are enjoying your freedom. I cannot wait to see you blossom into a fully fledged baker. I have enclosed a few gold coins. Hopefully they will make life a little easier for you. I very much hope to see you one day soon- and to taste one of your delicious cakes!
With all my love, Hakim.
Apparently, Hakim's salary standing guard at the Gallopolis/Gondolia checkpoint isn't particularly fat, but Hakim takes the effort to look out for his sister.
Akia somehow writes this without giving any indication she's putting down her broom.
We deliver it to Hakim to finish the quest.
...Oh yeah, and I bet you've been wondering about the whole "dusting this corner of Gondolia is not in fact running a bakery". She's well aware of that.
Thanks for not telling me to hurry about it. I would recommend you go out of your way to do this, but perhaps not so urgently that you do it now. Before heading off to the next dungeon, perhaps.
This door is locked. Frustrating.
There's a mini medal in this cupboard, and apparently nothing else.
Only a few short years ago, Gondolia was little more than a sleepy port town, but in the course of less than a decade, it has been transformed into what most agree is now the trade capital of Erdrea.
And who was it who brought about this stunning and sudden change? None other than Doge Rotondo, the current mayor. He attributes his success to avoiding one common pitfall: the fear of failure.
Business stops for nothing as far as this pioneer of profiteering is concerned- neither the fiercest of storms nor the most virulent of onboard plagues will convince him to stop a ship from sailing.
And this never-say-die attitude has paid off handsomely- the countless cargos that flow through the port every minute of the waking day are a testament to his fierce tenacity.
Doge Rotondo will, of course, be an important character to the story of this town. Interesting that he's credited with Gondolia's success. Geographically, Gondolia's in a pretty good position for trade business.
Poor guy. It's been decades since his home was destroyed and he still hasn't grappled through the trauma yet.
This unfortunate lass is fruitlessly playing hide-and-seek. In a town like this, that would be a hard game.
The people of Gondolia are currently hard at work preparing for an event called Signor Universo, a competition to find the manliest man around.
A generic sailor model in this game. The fact the two major competitors in Signor Universo are generic should clue you in as to how important this is going to be.
This bard over here is the other major choice in contender. His name is Luciano.
A cool little detail about Signor Universo is that "the best one" is not defined by adherence to the traditional masculine standards. Again, Luciano here is a top contender, and he's certainly not winning any awards for "most masculine man".
With that said, if he doesn't get over this sore throat, he won't be walking home with the Signor Universo award, either. A bard talking about birdsong nectar is a bit of a reference to DQIV, but that's because birdsong nectar in general is a refence there.
I don't mean to brush blame away from myself, but something's telling me it's not my fault you lost your job.
...With that said, I have no idea what your job is. Or, well, was.
Gesundheit. The care riviere is an accessory that is part of a collection of status-resisting necklaces, and is one of the only ones you can just stumble across. It blocks against Fizzle and its counterpart "Seal Ability" 10% of the time, or 25% at +3. I think the next boss does know Fizzle, so it could be worth packing this.
Ah, here's the kid that girl is playing hide and seek with. I believe he is literally directly underfoot.
And of course, what would seedy alleyways be without a woman offering puff puffs?
This one also seems fairly legitimate, except this one didn't even charge for her work. I have questions that I... actually don't really want answered.
This guy, just south of the stage, is Hercules.
And he mentions a man named Liu Za. I don't think you can come across him yet, but he's a character that's set up to be important later... only for circumstances to make him not such.
Interesting. I thought Placido being the son of Doge Rotondo was supposed to be a (minor) surprise. His sickness sounds like something that should be solved, or else the mayor is going to be in a bad mood.
Ah, Benigno's father! Yeah, aside from his appearance, there's not much behind this character.
A recipe book for things that demand Gold Ore! Just what I needed-
Oh yeah, how about making the shop redundant and getting these Gold Platters for free. We've got plenty of Gold now, although we are getting to the point where Gold Rings, Bracers and Chains don't fit on our builds anymore...
What do you mean, that's a +2?
Sylvando can take the bump to Charm. He's the one currently worried about his stats.
The item shop is selling utility belts. Colour me surprised. These are good if Erik wants some extra Deftness. Only the Robber Gloves have innate steal chance increases, though.
That legitimately sounds like a hard time.
Ah, that's interesting. I wonder who that boy was- we certainly didn't find him!
...Wait what?
Excuse me?
I understand Signor Universo is culturally important, but non-Gondolians are barred the ability to depart because... why? It's not like boats are going to disturb the event!
Well, if we must, I'm sure we can find a dungeon to explore in the meantime.
Sylvando's more interested. Maybe we might actually be doing that instead.
Powerful, graceful and deep. Genuine question: Which of Erdward, Erik or Sylvando would win these categories? I'm on team Erdward.
Well, I guess we can at least watch if we're not roped in to participate.
Not really, but we're at a crossroads...
Really, we can fill our time with whatever.
Erik, you apparently went scouting and can confirm it's not here. We are also, arbitrarily or otherwise, being prevented from pursuing that lead until later. I don't think angsting about it is going to get it done any faster.
Serena does not appreciate being used as a weapon in this argument. I think the more interesting note is that Erik thought this would work in the first place. There's a subtle undercurrent in the narrative that Erik and Serena have an attachment to one other through subtle cues like this one and body language that doesn't convey in screenshots, and I wonder when exactly they are supposed to advance along their relational development.
Serena goes off to join Veronica and Sylvando in spending their time being blockaded relaxing.
Sorry, Erik, but I do.
Erik reasons that perhaps we can talk things through with the manager to hasten our way along.
Naturally, the shutting down of a bustling port for a cultural event is being managed by the Mayor of the town, Doge Rotondo. If it wasn't his doing, you'd be very worried.
I believe "Doge" is his first name and not a foreign title- ie Rotondo is not the "doge" of Gondolia, but the "mayor".
Erik: Veronica and Serena have gone off with that Sylvando guy, so I guess it's just you and me again... There's no point moping about it, though. Let's head to Doge Rotondo's place and see if he can open up the dock for us.
Veronica, Serena and Sylvando have actually left our party. I think they will rejoin if we decide to leave town early, but they'll naturally rejoin once we advance the story of Gondolia a bit, so might as well do that.
Veronica bumped head-first (or, well, feet-first) into one of the subtler annoyances of being an adult in a child's body- she hates child fashion and they don't make adult fashion in child sizes. Honestly, I only like two of her alternate costumes, I get where she's coming from.
I'm a little torn on whether there is such a thing as "too sweet" for you. On one hand, you're a singularity of sweetness. On the other hand, I feel like increasing the amount of sweetness in your body would overload you.
I couldn't track down Sylvando, but I'm sure he's somewhere. The datamine does have text that would presumably belong here:
Sylvando: And you say anyone can enter? Oh, honey, tell me more... Erdward, darling- perfect timing! Have I got some juicy news for you! It turns out that anyone can enter this Signor Universo contest, as long as they love the sea! Can you believe it? Where do I sign up?
I assume this means he's probably over at the stage.
Hello, children. This kid's body language doesn't seem to be as shy as his empty text box indicates.
Doge Rotondo lives in the door that was locked to us earlier.
He seems willing to come to the door, at least. As he should- he's busy with a cultural event.
This line from Erik is probably the reason why I think "Rotondo is the Doge of Gondolia" is a valid reading of the text. I think the idea is Erik is confused by the name too.
Rotondo clarifies, if perhaps in not the most obvious way, that his name is Doge.
Rotondo looks at Erdward and decides "actually, I'm not talking to you strangers."
Erik is left dumbfounded.
Judges, plural? Are you sure you're a good thief?
Erik does connect the dots between "Erdward is a wanted criminal" and "the Doge doesn't want to serve him". He hesitates to accept this theory as truth because he has quibbles with how it applies in practice, but it's certainly not the worst theory he can adopt. Perhaps some more information can help us out here.
We left you unattended for five minutes.
So now, what the hell has Veronica managed to do.
...You know, I'm not going to hold this one against her. Unfamiliar body and unfamiliar streets? Veronica is a ripe target for pickpocketers.
The common refrain "borrowing implies intent to return" is not particularly applicable here- this kid genuinely does want to cast one spell and return the wand. The aspect in question is in his failure to ask permission- or even assistance- first.
...Well, we assume. We didn't see the actual theft.
See what I mean about Gondolia's unfamiliar and confusing streets? A street rat like this kid is going to find it easy to rob and run before the tourists like us can figure out which way he went.
Erik decides to cut the knot and steal the damn thing back, because he's so much bigger than the kid. And also the thing he took is too big to really prevent a countertheft.
I think the real thing in question is "how did he swipe Veronica's default staff?" The obvious answer is cutscene budget, but I don't think this wand is doing anything special that requires it to be the one wand.
You, the player, can't sell this wand. I think part of the problem is that the game needs it for cutscenes (including this one) and it doesn't want the jarring moment of it turning up out of nowhere.
The kid is still reticent about his true intentions.
...That's... uh... definitely not shyness. That's muteness.
The kid steps forward in place of his friend. "Placido", of course, we know to be Doge Rotondo's son from that NPC text.
...Oh wait, Benigno does explain it here. Why did I take it as a surprise moment? I think it's the cinematic language of when Placido and Rotondo being related becomes plot-relevant later that communicates that.
Placido is not, by any means, mute by birth. What has caused his muteness goes unexplained, because, uh... waves hand vaguely. We do find out the cause, of course, but that's a question for later.
Now, see, I agree with your premises, but surely asking if the magician can help your friend is better than stealing their wand and trying to do it yourself? Ignore ethics entirely for a minute and consider this: That wand is mostly used to throw around fireballs. Are you sure you want to point it at your best friend's neck?
Veronica is willing to move on-
And Serena, the healing specialist, actually does the inspecting. She is skilled enough to notice that Placido's problem is a curse. Obviously, figuring out what you need to fix is the first step towards fixing it, but there's no obvious clue that Placido is cursed- when we, the party, suffer curses in gameplay, there's ominous purple orbs hovering over our head.
This is another Dragon Quest reference- in Dragon Quest IV, a character was cursed with the inability to speak, and birdsong nectar was the cure. I alluded to this when talking about the bard singing its praises- that was one of the clues to finding out where to get some of your own in that game- but the entire plot sequence has been brought back here. Unlike that game, though, it is Serena herself who knows how to turn sacred water into birdsong nectar, whereas Alena had to steal some from elves.
Benigno helpfully informs us that, if we need some magic water, there's some of it nearby.
The gratuitous Italian littered through the Gondolian dialogue never feels quite as jarring as it does here, where Benigno decides to randomly punctuate his point that "we were friends since we were small children" by using the Italian words for "children small". DQ writing accents has gotten a lot better since DQIV DS, but it's still not perfect.
This is one of those But Thou Must moments where the "No" answer is famous for the violent reaction you get from your party members scolding you for your choice. I didn't really feel right saying "No" and triggering it. Annoyingly, it's both a) really sold by Veronica's VA and b) not really available on Youtube outside a compilation?
And off we go-
Nighttime? At least it wasn't while I had anything I needed to do.
Since our next destination sends us exploring, it is a good idea, on multiple levels, to turn in this quest.
Dear Hakim,
I received your letter. Thank you. Thank you also for the money. I know that it cannot be easy for you to have to support us both.
If it were not for your assistance, I would be unable to follow my dream of becoming a baker. I am learning so much here. Only the other day, my master mentioned how much I had improved.
I will continue to work hard, Hakim. I want you to be proud of me.With all my love,
Akia
...Oh dear.
Well, that's even worse.
That's wonderful. I'm happy for her. Although...
And Hakim is happy with what we've done for him.
Don't tell me what to feel, Quest dialogue!
The Cutting Edge Kit is something you really want.
It includes the next Greatsword upgrade! Like the Broad Sword before it, this one has a critical hit chance- although Cutting Edge doesn't allow for those.
The Battle Fork still isn't worth it unless you're using Serena as a Spear user.
The Rosewhip, on the other hand, is an amazing whip- well, for a whip. Not only is it a conclusive upgrade over the Battle Whip, but it has increased damage to Nature monsters and a 4% chance of Dazzling on hit. This is a whip- each swing rolls that chance more.
That's also a huge damage buff, too. The Broader Sword is a worthy investment.
And here's Sylvando switching to a Whip. The pose is quite something, although the fact this whip is spiky is part of that.
Good for him. It'd be hilarious if this "attack" had a chance of the grublin falling off the hornet.
These unctuous amphibians ooze poison from every pore. Plants rot in their presence, making them particularly unpopular with farmers.
"Farmers and everyone else". Toxic toads come from DQ3, and they're what you'd expect- poison, poison, and more poison. Also it can sing a song that's basically Kabuff.
They may look a lot like lovely ladies, but these beastly creatures actually evolved from bats. They love nothing more than luring night-time travellers off the road with the alluring light their eyes emit.
Succubats are masters of Zam and sleep, and as might be expected from their appearance and name, they can also attempt the Puff Puff. I'm told 2D Mode gives them an ability called "Blow Kiss"- which deals damage and attempts to beguile- and I'm not sure why that wouldn't be in 3D. Whatever the case may be, these come from DQ10.
Sylvando shows off his Pep bonuses- Strength, Charm and Evasion. About what one would expect for Sylvando, that extra Charm will come in handy when he gets his abilities.
This is frustrating, even if the defence bonus isn't that much.
When performed in battle, the Puff Puff involves the woman or woman-like opponent shaking their breasts in an exaggerated manner, a cut to a comical image of doves over a field, and then...
Puff Puffs do not beguile, thankfully, they entrance. Entrancement is another means by which a character may lose a turn, and it's also the most heavily interesting status ailment that can be inflicted on the party. All female party members are immune to entrancement outright, Sylvando is highly resistant to it, and later party members have weaknesses to it. Erdward and Erik are the only party members who have "vanilla" concerns about entrancement.
Because it can't really go without mentioning, while Puff Puffs in battle were introduced in DQ6 (or possibly the remake of 3), they are most famous for their appearance in DQ8- where if an enemy attempted to Puff Puff Jessica, they would get so embarassed about Jessica's significantly greater endowments and lose their own turn out of shame. I think I've got this to happen like once total and don't remember which turn they lose.
I never understand enemies that use Deceleratle. You can pretend it's a good spell all you want, I really don't care.
Succubats also have incredibly low MP reserves- especially if Veronica whacks them with her staff. You might actually spot one that doesn't have the MP to cast spells.
Snooze attempts to put an enemy to sleep, obviously. It's single target in this game, I'm told- it has affected more enemies in the past.
Midheal heals for 75-95 HP. The games demands have overtaken Heal's power, so this is a vital improvement in our capacity to meet them.
A recipe book with one recipe! This sword is pretty good damage and also has some Charm attacked- it's a good boss weapon for Sylvando, because even if he's on support duty, a weapon giving him Charm is a huge help.
I made a good one for him.
Time to enter the home of some sacred water- the Grotta della Fonte. "Grotta della" means "Cave of the", but I've got conflicting information on what "Fonte" refers to. The three major candidates are "Spring", "Source" and "Fountain", all of which are equally valid when describing what this cave is.
Erik: It's kind of clammy in here, huh? This isn't good for my hair, you know...
Veronica: Ugh! I can't stand dank, mouldy places. Let's find this special water and get out of here!
Serena: This seems to be the source of the river that flows from Gondolia out to the sea... I'm pretty sure we'll find pure water if we go deep enough inside the cave. Let's follow the river upstream!
Sylvando: Hey, honey, you look kind of distracted! Let me guess- you're wondering what we're doing here, right? We're looking for special water to make the nectar that'll fix Placido's voice, of course! We don't have to worry about the ins and outs of making it, though- we can leave that to Serena. All we need to do is find that water!
Sylvando, I swear to Ygg-
There's a lot of connections here, but a lot of those paths are cliffs you can only climb one way. The more accurate way to view this map is that it is a singular circle with parts that touch one another.
Supposedly, these slimes are self-conscious about their soft skin that they spontaneously sprouted shells to shield themselves from harm.
Shell slimes hail from DQs 3, 6, and 10, and are about what you might expect:
Really, really tough. They can also hide in their shells as a Defend command to take even less damage. Magic and Erdward's Greatsword are the way to go.
Despite appearances, they're actually appalling swimmers, and prefer to spend their summers by the beach instead of out on the open ocean.
Funny, men o' war usually appear as ocean enemies, and I think that's still the case in this game. They first appeared in DQ2 and have a perfect record... outside, of all things, DQ7. Why that game doesn't have them is anyone's guess. Men o' war have two major notable traits: the ability to paralyse you, and the fact that, despite being recolours of Healslimes, they aren't actually members of the Slime family (they're Nature monsters instead). I hesitate to claim it as fact, but I think they're the only monster in the series that is a different family from the monster it's a recolour of.
Men o' war also don't really have much in the way of defence, so Veronica didn't really need the crit to pull something like this off.
Surprisingly spritely old spellcasters in baby blue robes. They attribute their liveliness and long life to their inabilty to stand still for a second.
Wizened wizards appeared in DQ5 only before this game, and they're a lot weirder than these screenshots show off. Their resting sprite looks something like this. They come with Sizz and Heal, and are also not particularly much to brag about in the defence department.
There's a campsite here, just in case. There's not much reason to use it as a Zoom point or for healing, but there's not much reason not to.
Mini medal over in this corner.
Foul-tempered fungi who finally became so furious at humans picking them and pitting them in the pot that they morphed into monsters and went on the rampage to get their revenge.
Morphean mushrooms are upgraded funghouls, without much more of a claim to fame to their name. They're in 3, 8, 9, and 10, less than the funghouls were, and have the annoying trait of not looking that visually distinct from the next shroom up.
The next shroom up has a really good steal. This one does not. (That's a wakerobin, a consumable that wakes you up.)
Their rare drop, though, is that valuable item. The belle cap is an alchemy ingredient... and, for some reason, is not one you can purchase in any store, meaning you must source them from the wild yourself to make any recipe that requires them. There's a few lategame items that are like that, but Belle Caps being among them is a weird one.
Now this is a wand.
I'd highly recommend getting a +3 copy if you can.
Because 3MP regeneration is outstanding. Honestly, the rest of the stats on Wands are kinda meh in comparison to other weapons, you might as well keep this thing around for a long time to come. If the Pixie Pole is not at +3, you only get 2MP a turn.
At any rate, it's time for the... for want of a better word, "boss" of Grotta della Fonte.
Enormous creatures crafted from coral to fight in an ancient undersea war. Legend has it that they were designed to weapons of mindless destruction, with no free will of their own.
Material family
HP: 230
MP: 99
Coralossuses ("coralossi" kinda looks weird now that I write it down) are new monsters to DQXI. They are regular encounters "later", with that "later" being so soon that it's almost ridiculous to call them bosses now. They can summon pillars of water to damage the whole party and know a particularly interesting ability called Forbearance.
First thing's first, we've got to use the Sap spell here.
Well, OK, Zeroth thing's zeroth, our boss party doesn't include Erik. It's not really in our interest if he doesn't have Scorched Earth ready. Maybe if he had a sword or a knife, but I really can't justify him over anyone else.
Look how bulky these things are! Sap is crucial here.
Erdward, of course, punching right through with his greatsword. We're not that worried about winning.
Serena uses the Dazzle spell to decrease the amount of attacks she has to heal.
And here's Forbearance in action. Forbearance applies a buff to the user for the next turn-
And that buff is "takes all the damage aimed at your party". Even if the opponent uses a multi-target attack like Sizzle or Bang, no one else takes damage, just the user of Forbearance, but as many times as there were intended targets.
Yes, later on, Forbearance can be used while the user is in a party of five.
Might want these up.
OW! ...Ow-ish.
Thank you Dazzle. Note that now this coralossus has acted, Forbearance is no longer in play.
See ya!
Sylvando switches to his own sword, but it doesn't seem to be much better than his whip.
Serena might be a bit behind. With only one Coralossus, though, I can afford to linger on having Erdward heal some of these injuries.
Should probably Sap him, though.
...Well, that was easy. Told you it wasn't much of a boss fight.
You did have to fight him to get here, though.
And with those coralossuses out of the way, we can get on with our birdsong nectar quest.
I love it when Serena gets to contribute to the plot.
Erik: You know what? I'd say we're being pretty heroic right now. I mean, we've never met this kid before, and here we are running errands for him! But let's not get bogged down in this do-goodery, okay? Once we sort this out we need to board the ship and find that Rainbough.
Veronica: Ahhh, the smell of birdsong nectar! This takes me back! When we were children, Serena and I would always get a little dollop of it mixed with warm water whenever we had a sore throat. It was delicious!
Serena: Birdsong nectar is famous back home in Arboria. Bards with sore throats take one little dose and they're able to sing beautifully again. I'm absolutely certain that it'll bring that poor boy's voice back. In fact, I think it might make him sound better than before!
Sylvando: Looks like we've got what we need to soothe that little boy's throat! Let's bring it back to Gondolia, pronto! After all, the Signor Universo contest is starting soon, and we don't want to miss a second, right, darling?
Serena's note about birdsong nectar improving voices has basis in fact: In DQ4, the person who needed birdsong nectar was quite proud of his voice once he retrieved it. This may be as much "he's happy to have his voice again" as "the birdsong nectar helped" here, especially since DQ4 does not have voice acting.
There's also some loot on the way out.
Oh come on, critical hit Zam?
This is why you can't go around "this way" in the loop. I think this vine stays down, but honestly, you have no reason ever to use it if it did.
And another eye. We could've got this on the way forward, but it's on the way.
One thing worth considering- have Erik pre-pepped. I also appear to have, at some point, got Deceleratle on Veronica and deemed it not worth showing. I agree with my past self. Deceleratle is a group-targeting spell.
Obviously, things are about to go downhill, since I'm doing a double update here, but how... that's a question for the next update.
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