Part 28: Postgame Chapter 1: Solitaire-y Confinement

Welcome, one and all, to the postgame of Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker! I hope you're all prepared for a slog, because I'm certainly not. Let's get going, shall we?

Music: Title Screen



Something that I don't think I ever mentioned was that the title screen will randomly cycle between islands. In this case, it's Domus Isle, and you can kind of make out the floating arena above the island. That's got to raise some safety concerns.

Music: Solitaire



Loading up the game throws Euchre directly into a monologue by Solitaire. Let's see what she's got to say.



Aw, whatever! Listen, I've come up with a new challenge!



But that's WAY too long! We need to be proactive, appeal to a younger market! SO, I propose a NON-STOP challenge. Think about it: 24-7 ACTION! ...Of course, that requires some rule changes. First, the scouts have to meet certain requirements.



...and passing the Advanced Monster Scout Proficiency Test. And then those scouts who make the grade get to fight the Commissioner - a.k.a, ME! It's gonna be called Solitaire's Challenge! Now is that cool or WHAT!?



... ...A-Anyway, I want you to compete in Solitaire's Challenge. You don't have to register or anything, but talk to reception for the details.

Music: Contest Castle



So now Euchre has his objective for the vast majority of the postgame: defeat Solitaire. Of course, that's easier said than done, what with the steep conditions for challenging her.



To assist Euchre, though, there are a couple of MSO staff members in the Commissioner's office. These guys are there to judge Euchre's completionism.



It's my job to assess each scout's abilities based on his or her skill library. First, see if you can acquire a hundred different skills for your library. Should you succeed, we will reward you with a super monster prize.

This is sort of a secondary objective for Euchre to achieve, albeit one that's actually impossible. You see, there are one or two monsters - Trode and Leopold - that can only be found through completing the Skill library. Since they each have a unique Skill associated with them, there's a catch 22 inherent in the system. These two could also be obtained through Wi-Fi tournaments, but those shut down a long time ago.



I've been assigned to assess each scout's abilities based on his or her monster library. And I do believe that yours has already broken the 100 mark! Well done! You deserve a prize: namely, a liquid metal slime!



That's not to say it isn't worth it to try completing them, though, since the early rewards are things like this.



While it's absolutely worth going for this milestone - just look at those stats - completing the monster library is somehow harder than completing the Skill library. Again, there are monsters only available through this. Empyrea is obtained through simply finishing the monster library, whereas Trode and Robbin' Hood are obtained through finishing both libraries. Here's the problem with this one: Robbin' Hood isn't available through any other method. Not even as a Wi-Fi tournament prize.

You can bet I'm cheating these guys in once we're done with most of the post-game.



Anyway, along with his gooey gift, Euchre learns about the next milestone: 200 monsters. As a reminder, there are a total of 210 monsters in the game, so this isn't exactly going to be an easy task. As another reminder, six of these are unobtainable; Ace of Spades and Wildcard require Leopold and Empyrea respectively as synthesis components, and the other four have already been covered. On top of that, there are 192 Skills in the game.



But the new Commissioner did. Seems here's more to her than meets the eye.

So Solitaire is a Transformer? That's...interesting. In all seriousness, though, this seems to be the general consensus around town: Solitaire herself isn't particularly liked, but her ideas are.



...about the all-new Solitaire's Challenge. Participants have to pass certain trials first. Specifically, earn Rank X in the battle arena at Xeroph Isle... ...and pass the Advanced Monster Scout Proficiency Test at Infant Isle. Only scouts who fulfil both criteria are permitted to fight Miss Rumm- ...I mean, Commissioner Solitaire. Solitaire's Challenge has no opening ceremony. Just start when you're ready. Good luck!

Solitaire's recommendation that Euchre checks with the MSO receptionist is completely pointless, incidentally, since she'll just reiterate what Solitaire already said.



This used to belong to him. It's something that was dear to his heart.

Euchre receives a zombie slayer!



Oh, the irony. Remember that Snap ended up turning into an undead monster, making him weak to this thing. It's a pretty good weapon, too.

Music: Appearance of the Town



And that they're equipped with the kind of weapons a king couldn't afford. Anyone who wants to face that lot must be insane, suicidal or suicidally insane!

Outside of MSO headquarters, this guy warns Euchre off fighting Solitaire. I'm sure it's fine, though. It's not like she's the strongest scout in Green Bays or anything, right? She couldn't even win the last challenge!



But if I had to choose, I reckon I'd start with the arena...maybe. I mean, it's straightforward, ain't it? All you need is some bloomin' powerful monsters.

This is honestly pretty terrible advice, at least for Euchre. Right now, the hardest arena rank available is far more difficult than the first question on the proficiency test.



Newsflash! MSO Commissioner Solitaire announces Solitaire's Challenge, calling it "the next big thing!" Make sure you check it out!

Yeah, Canasta doesn't have much to say this time. Oh well. How about the other named character in Domus Isle's town area?



Zat senile old fool ran away. Who knows vere he is now?

Igor here appears to have lost all motivation because of Snap's disappearance. There's more to this story, though...



I wonder if the shock of losing his "great rival" has driven him over the edge.

Indeed, if Euchre was to come back during the night, Igor wouldn't be there. So where does he go?



I don't think he lives down there. What do you reckon he's up to?

To the sewers, of course! That's something to keep in mind for later, but for now there are still things to do here during the day.



I imagine a scout of your abilities would be able to get some use out of them.

More specifically, the department store has new products in. How good are they?



Well, most of the weapon shop's new items are out of Euchre's price range. That alone almost guarantees their high quality. They include the Giant's Sword...



...the King Axe, the Marauder Maul, the Spiked Steel Whip...



...and the Gryphon Talons. They're all incredibly strong, but they're also all incredibly expensive.



As for the item shop, they don't have quite as much. The Yggdrasil Dew is incredibly nice, but it's not the real prize here.



That honour goes to the Elfin Elixir, which is a steal at this sort of price and basically gets rid of any MP issues outside of the arena. As for the Skill scroll shop, they unfortunately haven't got anything new.



I'd love to go and see for myself, but there's no way I'd ever go alone...



The final point of interest above ground is this guy near the sewers. His offer allows Euchre to go directly to the entrance of Tartarus, but there's really no point right now. There's nothing there that wasn't before.

Music: CELL Headquarters



Madame Rummy occasionally sends out special tickets granting access to the metal menagerie. They make getting into that place a lot less of a chore! And guess what! I've got one right here!



Meanwhile, in the sewers, this woman is selling Metal Tickets. They'll be at this price no matter how many are bought, and they let Euchre skip the timed Slime-hunting minigame on Palaish Isle. They're useful to cut down frustration, but it's pretty expensive to keep buying them.



Right next to her, the sewer shop has been restocked without fanfare. There's only one new item here, though: "Neutral Ground". It's slightly less situational than its positive and negative counterparts, but there's still little reason to use it. Just synthesise with the Phoenix Scepter to get the polarity you want instead.



Everyone at CELL, zey know who is ze man that stopped ze catastrophe. You are a 'ero, young Euchre. You saved ze Green Bays.

Finally, Black Jacques is down by the unopenable door. He serves no purpose other than to congratulate Euchre, but his presence is appreciated nonetheless. So how about Igor Folds?



Funnily enough, he's in the same spot at night as Black Jacques is during the day. Let's hear what he has to say.



(shrug) Ze laboratory zat I used in ze old days is over zere. But now ze door is locked wiz a key, and I can't get in. My old research partner used to have ze key... But, he is gone now, and not even I, ze great Igor Folds, can open ze door.



(shrug) No, I vill not speak of zat man. He is gone. Let it be over now.

Unfortunately, that's all that Igor's got to say. My best guess for his research partner is Dr Snap, and you'll see why eventually.



With that done, Euchre's seen everything new there is to see on Domus Isle. That means it's time to move on to the other islands. First up is Infant Isle.

Music: Island



The first thing I want to do is show something off that Euchre never did during the story. This can be done on pretty much any island at any time.

Music: Boss Battle



I believe we've encountered Wyrma before. She had Dragon family monsters then, and she still has them now. Of course, they're considerably stronger now because they scale with Euchre's progress.



Since they're so strong now, it's the perfect time to scout one!



Of course, since they're currently owned by Wyrma, these guys aren't going to be scouted without a fight.

Music: Island



It takes a little while, but the Great Dragon eventually joins up. You'll notice that it has different Skills to what it would normally have, with three instead of two and higher tiers than would be on a wild monster. Sometimes, scouts' monsters even have Skills that only they can have, though this is limited to a few Ward Skills.



Now that that's done, it's time for the main event.



Well, young scout. You've completed the Monster Scout Proficiency Test... Which means you're ready for something a little more challenging! TA-DA! It's time for the Advanced Monster Scout Proficiency Test! The rules are the same - you bring me the monsters I tell you to. But now the problems are VERY tricky. You'll need to put your thinking cap on, lad - and keep it on!



Funnily enough, the price hasn't gone up since last time. Since Euchre's main goal right now is to complete this test, there's really no reason not to pay this trifling sum.

Now, are you ready? Problem 1 of the Advanced Monster Scout Proficiency Test!



...Oh, and despite its name, it likes both "night" AND day. Now, go!

So the first question is a riddle. It's not exactly a hard one - the answer is a Slime Knight - but Euchre doesn't have one of those yet. We'll be getting to that soon, but not in this update.



The next island with something of interest is Palaish Isle, though it's more that I forgot to mention something in the past. Oops.



Still, this gives me an excuse to show that Euchre got into a fight with yet another scout, and another repeat one at that.

Music: Boss Battle



His speciality, if you'll recall, is winged monsters. He's also the scout to go to if you want a Great Dracky without resorting to uncharted islands.



Something interesting that I don't think happened before was item use by a scout. Euchre just hasn't fought enough scouts to see this, and it's nothing particularly threatening - just a little bit of extra healing to deal with.



Anyway, the Archdemon was the only monster there that Euchre hadn't obtained yet, so that's what he scouted.

Music: Contest Castle



The reason Euchre came here to begin with was to show that the Slime-hunting challenge here actually gets harder with repeated use of the metal menagerie. The number of Slimes needed to complete the challenge increases by 1 each time, in fact, and apparently it caps at 24. This is why Metal Tickets are more useful than might be expected to start with.

Music: Frozen World



Next on the list of islands of note is Infern Isle. All that really needs to be said here is that the powerful monsters haven't moved out despite the portal to the dark world closing. Oh, and nobody's moved off the island. If anything, there are more people here than there were before!



The final island where there are major differences is CELL HQ, unsurprisingly.

Music: CELL Headquarters



While the place is still in a state of disrepair, CELL have managed to calm down all the monsters. Sadly, that means there are no more Metal Dragons in the wild, making a few monsters a little harder to synthesise. It's not too much of a problem, though.



With their help, we recaptured the escaped monsters.

Now if you could just provide Euchre with a few of them, I'm sure he'd really appreciate it. It's for a good cause!



Just leave me alone. I deserve to be punished.

This guy, in the jail cells, tells Euchre about how everything is his fault. Apparently CELL HQ is now known about outside its own walls, which just raises the question of why nobody knew about it before. Incidentally, this will have zero repercussions.



Going over to Warden Trump's room shows that he's not there. Huh. Still, his aides might know where he went.



It's addressed to you, Euchre. Take it.

Euchre takes the letter.



I have left to search for a new method of eliminating the monster threat. I can never forgive them for stealing my beloved from me. I know that others within CELL are motivated by similar tragedies. I also know that you are not. So leave CELL and walk your own path.

So Trump left CELL and won't be back any time soon. In fact, he won't be coming back at all. Oh well!

Music: Scoutpost



To round out the update, how about a bit of synthesis? Wildcard can actually be synthesised into three new forms now! Sidoh is here just for the sake of an example; he won't actually be used for this.





First up is Hawkhart Ace. Remember how Wildcard needs to be synthesised with a Demon family monster to become a Hawkhart? Well, this is very similar. The difference, though, is that the required monster is Rank A or higher. Its Skill, Hawkhart III, teaches healing spells and abilities.



Next up is a Rank A or higher Material family monster.





This'll result in a Cluboon Ace. Cluboon III teaches useful physical attacks.



And then, of course, there's the result of mixing Wildcard with a Rank A or higher Beast family monster. If you've been following the pattern, the result should be obvious.





Yep, Diamagon Ace. Diamagon III teaches all-targeting offensive spells, and a couple of utility abilities.

Now that all that's done, I think it's time to end the update. Next time, Euchre will be filling out his monster collection, and possibly making a start on the Advanced Monster Scout Proficiency Test.

Extra: The Monster Library

Liquid Metal Slime





Liquid Metal Slimes have the Skills Bombardier and Agility Boost when scouted or received and just Bombardier when synthesised. They have the Traits Metal Body, dividing all physical damage done to them by 3, and Escape Artist, allowing them to always escape from battles. They're labelled as being "practically invincible", which means that they're immune to all offensive magic, breath attacks and ailments.

Bombardier is a Skill that teaches explosion-based spells and abilities. Bang, Boom and Kaboom are the magical bread and butter of this Skill, and Bomb Slash and Blast Slash fill the physical niche. Kamikazz and Kerplunk are also here, though they're not very useful without another monster who can revive, and even then they're very situational. The final ability here is Bang Guard. Overall, this is a decent Skill, although it comes so late - only being available through Liquid Metal Slimes or a high-end Rank A monster - that it's underwhelming compared to other Skills available.

Great Dragon





Great Dragons have the Skill Ice when synthesised and can't be found in the wild. They have the Trait Frizzmeister and are immune to both Ice Breath and Fire Breath, as well as Whack.

Euchre didn't get Ice on his new Great Dragon, but he got Ice II on his Archdemon, so might as well go over it. This is another one of those Skills that have three ranks, with increasing ability strength in the higher rank versions. It's also the ice-themed counterpart to Fire. At the highest rank of this Skill, Ice III, it teaches Deep Breath, Cold Blizzard, C-c-cold Breath, Blizzard Slash, Kacrack, Kacrackle, Crack Guard and Ice Breath Guard. Just take what I said for Fire and put it here, because the two are pretty much the same.

Archdemon





Archdemons have the Skill Frizz & Bang II when synthesised and can't be found in the wild. They have the Trait Bangmeister and are immune to both Bang and Whack.

Frizz & Bang II was covered on Spitniks back in Part 6.


Extra 2: Synthesis Recipes

Great Dragon + Archdemon = Belial (Rank A, not scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)

Belials are good, but this isn't exactly the best recipe to use to get one. That's because...


Dessert Demon + Archdemon = Belial (Rank A, not scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)

...this is a much better recipe. Remember, Dessert Demons are incredibly easy to find - one's guaranteed to appear in Xeroph Shrine, after all. Go with this recipe if you want a Belial.


Octavian Sentry + Archdemon = Gracos (Rank A, not scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)

Gracos is pretty decent and used in a few things. This is one of two recipes that can be used to get one, but they're broadly similar and both use an Archdemon, so be aware of that.


Great Dragon + Metal Dragon = Mechan-o'-wyrm (Rank A, not scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)

This is the only way to get a Mechan-o'-wyrm, so this is definitely a recipe to remember. That's especially true because Mechan-o'-wyrms are a key part in a few high-end recipes. Incidentally, Monster Matchmaking has this recipe on offer. A positive Metal Dragon is provided, and an negative Great Dragon is required.


Bone Baron + Great Dragon = Black Dragon (Rank S, not scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)

This is the only recipe that results in a Black Dragon, so this is as good a recipe as any. Sadly Black Dragons aren't actually used for anything else, but they're a pretty good monster regardless. It's probably worth doing once, and then never again. Right now, Euchre can only do this using Monster Matchmaking. A negative Bone Baron is provided, and a positive Rank A monster is required.


Incarnus Family + Rank A or higher Demon Family = Hawkhart Ace (Rank ???, not scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)


Incarnus Family + Rank A or higher Material Family = Cluboon Ace (Rank ???, not scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)


Incarnus Family + Rank A or higher Beast Family = Diamagon Ace (Rank ???, not scoutable, not available through generic synthesis)

I already went over these three in the main part of this update, so I don't think there's much point in doing so again.