Welcome to Erdrea, adventurer! Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age is a sprawling, classic Japanese RPG where you play as the Luminary, a prophesied hero destined to save the world from encroaching darkness. You'll journey across a vibrant, hand-drawn world, assemble a party of colorful companions, and battle a variety of monsters in turn-based combat. It’s a grand adventure filled with charm, humor, and a surprisingly deep story that’s perfect for anyone looking for a lengthy, satisfying RPG experience.
This guide is here to help you conquer every challenge Erdrea throws your way. We’ll cover everything from navigating tricky dungeons with detailed maps of places like the Caverns Under Octagonia, to mastering character mechanics and ensuring you don’t miss any crucial items or quests. Whether you're aiming to defeat tough bosses, uncover every secret, or simply want to ensure a smooth playthrough, we've got your back.
Guide and Walkthrough (PS4) by chris-williams
Comprehensive guide and walkthrough for Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age, covering Acts 1, 2, and 3, characters, items, collectibles, and trophies.
Dragon Quest XI is quite the old school JRPG. Turn-based combat in 2018 may seem somewhat archaic but sometimes, when it's done really well, the old school can show the young whippersnappers exactly how it should be done. It helps that the game looks drop-dead gorgeous and oozes charm and style. Enix have been doing this for more than thirty years at the time of writing which means they've had plenty of time to hone the formula to perfection.
Despite the numerical discontinuity, XI is really the successor to the thirteen year-old Dragon Quest VIII. Its numerical predecessor is a Japanese-only MMORPG while Dragon Quest IX was a game for the Nintendo DS and for me, at least, a hundred-plus hour RPG on a handheld console isn't the most enticing prospect. In short, I've been waiting for this game for a long time.
This is a big guide for a big game. An RPG lives and dies by the quality of its characters and its levelling system, Therefore, the first section covers the game's eight PCs. For each character I list the abilities and give levelling-up suggestions. The walkthrough proper follows. The game's narrative is divided into three acts and so is the walkthrough. A second pillar of any good RPG is the loot that you can pick up. Therefore, there are complete details of all the game's many, many items from greatswords to humble crafting materials. For convenience, I also provide a database of various of the game's collectibles, another RPG cornerstone. Finally, I list the game's trophies. To be honest, Dragon Quest XI isn't a difficult game and the platinum trophy should be achievable for anyone with sufficient patience.
As I said, Dragon Quest XI isn't a difficult game. A viable strategy for any problems that you may encounter is simply to gain more levels. The appeal of the game is the journey more than the challenge. You can add challenge if you want it through the Draconian Quest options at the start of the game where you can choose to make enemies hit harder or have your characters gain no XP when they outlevel their enemies among other options. There are certain options that you should not choose on your first playthrough, however. For example, if you are unable to gain experience from fighting enemies, getting your characters to level 99 for the related trophies is pretty-much impossible. At least two trophies require you to be able to buy stuff from shops which makes the No Shopping option problematic.
Dragon Quest XI may not be a difficult game but it is a long one. The best advice I can give you is: take your time. You will get the more out of the game the more you put in. Enjoy!
Copyright and Acknowledgements
Copyright 2019 Christopher Williams
This guide may not be reproduced without my express permission for anything other than personal use. Use of this guide on any site where permission to use has not been sought and given is a violation of copyright and forbidden. Permission to use is extended to www.gamefaqs.com.
Walkthroughs and strategies are my own original work and taken from my own playthrough.
Corrections and clarifications are welcomed. Please contact me at c.c.williams at hotmail dot com.
Guide and Walkthrough (PS4) by chris-williams (2)
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age table of contents covering Acts 1, 2, and 3, characters, items, and collectibles.
- 1Introduction
- 2Characters (Hero, Erik, Veronica, Serena, Sylvando, Rab, Jade, Hendrik, Pep Powers)
- 3Act 1 Chapters (Chapter 1 - Coming of Age through Chapter 13 - The World Tree, plus Sidequests)
- 4Act 2 Chapters (Chapter 12 - The Last Bastion through Chapter 18 - Fortress of Fear, plus Sidequests)
- 5Act 3 Chapters (Prelude - The Wheel of Time, Chapter 19 - Cobblestone Rebuilt, Chapter 20 - Echoes of an Elusive Age, plus Sidequests)
- 6Items (Swords, Greatswords, Knives, Boomerangs, Wands, Heavy Wands, Spears, Whips, Claws, Axes, Shields, Headgear, Armour, Accessories, Usable Items, Materials)
- 7Collectibles (Mini Medals, Recipe Books, Costumes, Mooteorologist Locations, Puff-Puff Locations, Accolades)
- 8Trophies
- Refer to this table of contents to quickly find specific sections of the Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age guide.
- Use the chapter listings to track your progress through the main story.
- Explore the item and collectible sections to find all available gear and secrets.
Characters
Discover all the playable characters in Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age! Learn about their abilities, skill trees, and how to best customize their growth throughout your epic journey.
Hey there! So you're diving into Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age and want to get a handle on the awesome crew you'll be adventuring with? This guide is all about the main player characters you'll get to control. As you play, your characters will naturally level up, and with each level, they'll learn new abilities. Plus, you'll earn Skill Points that you can invest in their unique Skill Trees to really customize how they grow and fight.
These Skill Trees are pretty neat, letting you unlock both Active skills (things you choose to use in battle) and Passive skills (like stat boosts or weapon proficiencies). We'll break down what each skill does, how many Skill Points it costs, and even point out some special ones. Keep an eye out for abilities that need a few surrounding skills to be unlocked first (marked with an asterisk), skills that give you Skill Points back (indicated by '(Surprise)'), and special abilities that only show up later in the game, marked in orange for Act 2 events and purple for Act 3 events.
Just a heads-up, this guide will touch on some story developments as your characters progress, so there are minor spoilers ahead. If you're like me and like to plan out your character builds for a long RPG, this is the place to start. But if you'd rather experience everything fresh, feel free to skip ahead to the main walkthrough!
Hero
Learn the best Hero build in Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age, focusing on greatswords and essential skills like Helichopter and Omniheal.
- 1Start by investing in the Helichopter ability (7 cost, 4 MP) for group damage, a skill useful for most of the game.
- 2Spend an early 3 MP on Flame Slash (3 cost, 2 MP), which is required for the Itemised Kill pep ability.
- 3Acquire Cutting Edge (10 cost, 8 MP) followed by Unbridled Blade (16 cost, 16 MP). While Unbridled Blade uses more MP, its increased damage is crucial for tougher enemies.
- 4Prioritize early Swordmastery abilities like Pep-Up (25 cost, 25 MP) over Gigasmash (25 cost, 16 MP), as Quadraslash (Event, 24 MP) becomes available around the same time.
- 5During the first part of Act 2, when Luminary skills are inaccessible, invest in one-handed sword abilities to unlock Sword Dance (16 cost, 8 MP). This ability offers damage comparable to Unbridled Blade for less MP and is effective against enemies that block attacks.
- 6Once your full skill tree is available, focus on obtaining Omniheal (16 cost, 64 MP) from the Luminary tree. Hero can learn this much earlier than Serena, and it is more beneficial than Zap spells against most enemies.
- While Hero can use swords and greatswords, greatswords are generally the superior choice until the very end of the game.
- Hero's magical might stat is not high enough to make most spells consistently effective.
- Sword and shield is only a viable option late in the game.
- Flame Slash is primarily useful for unlocking the Itemised Kill pep ability.
- Hold off on Gigasmash as Quadraslash is a comparable ability learned around the same time.
- Sword Dance provides a useful alternative to Unbridled Blade, especially against blocking enemies.
- Omniheal is a superior healing spell for Hero compared to Zap spells, which are only effective against a limited enemy subset.
Spells (Hero):
- Frizz (Level 2, 2 MP): Minor fire damage to one enemy.
- Heal (Level 5, 3 MP): Restores minor health to one ally.
- Sizz (Level 8, 3 MP): Minor fire damage to a group of enemies.
- Evac (Level 9, 0 MP): Teleports the caster to the start of a dungeon.
- Bang (Level 15, 6 MP): Explosive damage to all enemies.
- Zoom (Event, 0 MP): Teleport to previously visited locations.
- Snooze (Level 16, 3 MP): Puts one enemy to sleep.
- Midheal (Level 19, 6 MP): Restores moderate health to one ally.
- Sizzle (Level 23, 7 MP): Medium fire damage to a group of enemies.
- Frizzle (Level 25, 8 MP): Heavy fire damage to one enemy.
- Zing (Level 28, 12 MP): 50% chance to resurrect a fallen ally.
- Moreheal (Level 30, 12 MP): Restores large amounts of health to one ally.
- Boom (Level 31, 12 MP): Medium explosive damage to all enemies.
- Kasnooze (Level 35, 8 MP): Puts all enemies to sleep.
- Kasizz (Level 40, 16 MP): Major fire damage to a group of enemies.
- Quadraslash (Event, 24 MP): High damage to all enemies.
- Kafrizz (Level 56, 21 MP): Very high fire damage to one enemy.
- Kazing (Level 62, 24 MP): 100% chance to resurrect a fallen ally.
Abilities (Hero):
- Sword Abilities: Flame Slash (3 cost, 2 MP), Sword Stance (7 cost, 2 MP), Dragon Slash (10 cost, 2 MP), Metal Slash (12 cost, 2 MP), Miracle Slash (16 cost, 4 MP).
- Sword Passive Abilities: Attack +3 (4 cost), Critical chance +2% (6 cost), Attack +6 (10 cost), Attack +10 (12 cost), Dual Wielding (12 cost).
- Greatsword Abilities: Greatsword Guard (3 cost, 2 MP), Helichopter (7 cost, 4 MP), Cutting Edge (10 cost, 8 MP), Frost Fangs (12 cost, 10 MP), Unbridled Blade (16 cost, 16 MP).
- Greatsword Passive Abilities: Attack +5 (4 cost), Critical chance +2% (6 cost), Attack +10 (10 cost), Attack +15 (12 cost), Critical chance +3% (12 cost).
- Swordmastery Abilities: Falcon Slash (16 cost, 4 MP), Gigaslash (25 cost, 16 MP), Gigasmash (25 cost, 16 MP), Sword Dance (16 cost, 8 MP), Gigagash (36 cost, 32 MP), Gigacrash (36 cost, 32 MP), Blade of Ultimate Power (36 cost, 48 MP).
- Swordmastery Passive Abilities: Counter when blocking / parrying (12 cost), Strength +25 (16 cost), Critical chance +3% (16 cost).
- Luminary Abilities: Zap (8 cost, 8 MP), Poof (8 cost, 2 MP), Holy Protection (8 cost, 2 MP), Kaclang (12 cost, 8 MP), Zapple (12 cost, 22 MP), Fullheal (12 cost, 24 MP), Big Banga (16 cost, 24 MP), Kazap (16 cost, 48 MP), Omniheal (16 cost, 64 MP), Pep Up (25 cost, 25 MP).
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