Dragon Quest Builders

The game operates under specific rules for building, focusing on 'rooms' rather than entire 'buildings'. You can connect multiple rooms using connecting walls, provided you use the requested material for blueprints. Most rooms are flexible with wall materials, but blueprints require specific materials to be completed.

The interior of a room is clutch. To create an 'empty room', you need solid walls 2 blocks high, a door, and a light source. The game then prioritizes room types based on the decorations placed within.

Sometimes, a room might have the correct name for a quest but still requires the actual blueprint to be completed. Ensure you finish the blueprint for quest progression, even if the room appears to be named correctly.

Blueprints often lead to specific room recipes. For example, the Greasy Mallet blueprint in Chapter 1 becomes a Cookfire Cafe upon completion. The Greasy Mallet is the blueprint's name, while Cookfire Cafe is its designation in the Building list. Blueprints may have slight variations in required materials, but they still count as the intended room. The Greasy Mallet, for instance, requires a Crockery and a pot, which are not mandatory for the Cookfire Cafe but are considered extra items.

Extra items will not change a room's designation unless they meet the requirements for a different room. While it's rare for adding items to downgrade a room, you might need to remove items to meet the requirements of a different, specific room for a quest. For example, if you build a Stonemason Workshop, add a Forge, and then add items for a Stonemason's Studio (Shop Sign, fancy light source, leather sack), it might become a Blacksmith's Studio instead. To complete a quest for a Stonemason's Studio, you would need to remove the Forge. You can re-add it later once the quest objective is met and the room is recognized for progression or added to your completed recipes.

Each room provides a base EXP score, augmented by the value of its interior items. Creating 'named rooms' is more efficient for boosting EXP than placing items randomly. EXP is only tallied for items placed INSIDE a room; items like Shop Signs must be placed within the room's boundaries to count.

A town's level cannot decrease. Once you reach level 2, it remains so even if the town is destroyed. Most chapters cap at level 5. To reach higher levels, consider building a room filled with all your collected decorations, then dismantling it to recover space. Achieving level 4 and 5 simultaneously is often feasible with sufficient decorations.

Rooms can be built outside of town, which is necessary for specific rooms like Cantlin Gardens, as trees require an outdoor environment to grow. These external rooms do not provide EXP or take advantage of villagers but do count towards completed room achievements.

Villagers (NPCs) generally stay within the town's boundaries unless defending it. If a staircase extends even one block outside town, NPCs cannot use it to reach upper floors due to pathing limitations.

Rooms also interact with villagers. Some room descriptions indicate that 'villagers can build things in this room.' In practice, they periodically craft random objects and place them in the room's chest. You might find items you haven't crafted or even stumbled across the recipe for. Kitchens may occasionally yield cooked meals.

Certain rooms offer additional bonuses, making upgrades worthwhile even if not directly required by the story.

Vertical Building

You can construct rooms on top of other rooms if they meet the conditions: a 2-block high wall, a door, and a light source. Technically, a floor is not required, but it impacts functionality. Some players have created 'stackings' of rooms, where properly placed doors and light sources at different heights allow for multiple rooms within a limited vertical space. While there's no inherent advantage, this method saves space. For practical purposes, a floor between stacked rooms is recommended, effectively requiring 3 blocks of height per room (floor plus walls). The floor itself is usually implicit.

More about Floors

The ground or floor level counts towards a room's EXP. Changing the flooring can increase a room's EXP value. When some rooms require water tiles, the game checks the block directly below the room's level. In Chapter 2, a block creates a water hole at 'sea level.' Since water blocks are lower than the ground, you may need to build the room one block lower to meet these requirements.

You awaken in a tomb, greeted by the Dragonlord who offers you a chance to rule together. This is a famous trope, and accepting it leads to a bad ending. After this encounter, the Goddess Rubiss awakens you. She will guide you through the game's tutorial, teaching you basic movement, building, and breaking mechanics.

Here we are, the final area of Alefgard. Tantegel was the biggest settlement, the only castle of this world, and from it across the sea you could see Dragonlord's castle. This was made deliberate in the original, so you could see the final goal, and then try to figure your way to it. Since the two are so close to each other, it makes for a good final chapter.

The rules are quite different though. While we're using a Mason's Workshop like in Cantlin, there is one major difference : everything is tainted and corrupted. You can't even get dirt at the start, the trees are dead so no wood, they break apart not even in branches.

This time, Rubiss is unable to help you at all, you start completely nude, with a cypress stick as only weapon... and Dumb-Bells in your inventory. Of all of the things they could have sent you out with from Chapter 3, they chose... Dumb-Bells. It's sad how accurate that is of the muscleheads really. Completely useless really.

This area, for a lack of a name even in the official publications, we'll go with Land of Ash, just to have something to refer it to.

Rubiss doesn't even have the power to give you a Banner of Hope either. So there isn't much else you can do that move forward there. You will see an old man, Myrlund, the seer. Talk to him and follow. He will stop periodically to rest, and berate about your face. Such a nice old man.

He will lead you to an oasis, the only functional part around from the looks of it. It's not much to work with. Just a few flowers if you need Healing Cream. He will hand you a Green Naviglobe to start with. Talking to him, he will refill your hunger. Something he can do until you figure out how to feed yourself in this place.

You can get a few branches here before leaving. Then head northwest where you can see some Huge Horns sticking out, they look like pointy teeths, big as trees. We need one of those. Make a Horn-rimmed bucket, and then head to the quest marker. Pick up some Water and Pure Water from the fountain, and examine the nearby book. Looks like someone left the secrets to make Holy Water nearby. Sounds handy.

If you see some Skeletons, you can beat them up for some Coarse Clothes, 1 of them for Rags, but 3 of them for Plain Clothes, better than naked, I suppose. Stop by the old man to recover your hunger and head to the next marker. There will be a bonfire and a tent, along with a letter. Read the contents, seems like someone preceeded you. Climb up the east mountain to take a look around. You should find a corpse. But he's laying next to suspiciously discolored rocks. Break it down to find a secret passage.

Inside there's a skeleton guarding another letter. Read it, and check to the right, where you see columns, for a chest that holds 5 Healing Creams. Navigate the caves, getting out of the way of the Evil Idol statues that can breath fire at you. Look at the wall to the left once past the first statue to see a chest through holes in the wall, containing a few Coarse Cloths. A bir further, there's other columns, and a few pots and creates. The pots are useful, so bring them. Another chest behind the second Evil Icon for 20 Broken Branches. Never thought I'd be happy to see those really.

Right after the second Icon, there's two paths, take the left first for another chest, this time with a Seed of Life. And then finally the door... guarded by a dragon. I know what you're thinking, you're clearly not equipped for that. But you should know the tricks by now, the Dragon will take a while to kill, but is no different than the hit and run you did before. It actually doesn't have much HP, must be affected by this world too. It drops another Seed of Life, then you can go through the door.

You will find a message on the floor to know of the fate of the hermit. You can make some Holy Waters right away, you will need a ton of them in this chapter. Then break the table down to bring it with you.

Make your way back to the oasis and talk to the old man to show him the Holy Water you made. He gives you another Seed of Life, and then asks you to use the water on the princess statue, as it seems to be... talking? Looks like it really was the princess!

Talk to Myrlund again, for a... defense fight? There's no town yet, but I suppose this is something worth protecting right now. Three skeletons will appear from the south, and you'll get a Blue Teleportal. Are you confused yet about this chapter? You should be!

Repair the hut with whatever block you have, and spend the night. The next morning, you can place the Teleportal somewhere not on the brick floor, and move to the next area.

Tantegel Moor

This is the main land around Tantegel, but very much depressing right now. You can find the Blue Naviglobe next to you. Tantegel is right in front of you, in dissaray, but we can at least use it as a foothold to get better equipment.

But you're following a guide, so I'll be helping you make it smoother.

You can return to Lands of Ash if you ever need healing or food, but we'll work to get that stabilized soon (hopefully).

In the broken castle, you'll see a Mason's Workbench, and a book next to it. The book will tell you where to find the Banner of Truth. The game's guidance is completely gone at this point, and while it tells you where you should go, you are absolutely not ready it and will get demolished. This is where you'll use everything you learned in previous chapters about gearing yourself.

There's a chest in the castle, that's the world map. The island you started on is to the west of you.

Set down the Divnier's Altar so you can use it, there's a fountain in the castle so you can get more Pure Water, and make more Holy Water from it. While I don't have a specific number, just go by the old saying of 'you can never have enough', and it will be a good estimate here. I'll explain why in just a moment.

There's two chests in the back room, along with a bed, so you can use those t