Part 32: Postgame Chapter 5: The Eternal Grind

Hello, and welcome back to Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker! Last time, Euchre officially became the strongest monster scout in Green Bays by defeating Solitaire, so what could possibly be left to do? Why, complete the monster and Skill libraries, of course!

Music: Contest Castle



Before that, though, we're going to see what Solitiare has to say if Euchre is to challenge her to a rematch.

Fine, fine, if you insist. I suppose I could do with some practice. But this time, I won't be holding back. Do you hear me?

Music: Colosseum (IV)



Can you believe it? Their very own Commissioner is fighting, and they don't care. As soon as I'm done here, that announcer idiot is going to get a piece of my mind. But right now, we have some business to settle!

Music: Boss Battle



Solitaire's team on rematches is...exactly the same as it was before, just with different names; they're random, just like any other scout. There's no reason to do this fight again other than to farm stealable items, which are apparently very valuable. Unfortunately nobody on Team Euchre has Klepto Clobber, so this is a moot point. They don't even give experience points or money!

After defeating Solitaire for the second time...

Music: Contest Castle



Hmph. Enjoy it while you can. Because I'm gonna turn the tables, kiddo, and SOON. Just you wait and see!

Since there's no point to talking to Solitaire ever again, that's the last we'll be seeing of her...in this game, anyway.

Music: Scoutpost



Now that that's sorted out, it's time to move on to the meat of this update: synthesis. Lots and lots of synthesis. Too much, perhaps. Strap in for a boring update, folks!



The combination of a Behemoth Slime and a She-Slime predictably makes a Beshemoth Slime. Since this update would be deadly dull otherwise, I'll be talking about these monsters' origins! Beshemoth Slimes, for example, are new to this game. The Monsters sub-series tends to add in a bunch of Slimes every game, so this is expected.





I'm going to go over monsters as we come to them once again. Beshemoth Slimes have got the Skill Frizz & Zam, and the Traits Frizzmeister and Desperado. Since they specialise in Frizz, they're also immune to it.

Frizz & Zam is new, but it might as well not be. It's yet another two-element Skill, and I'm sure you're familiar with those at this point. The elements here are both single-target, and Beshemoth Slimes aren't particularly easy to get compared to other monsters with similar Skills, so consider a different version.





The next arbitrarily decided monster that Euchre will be getting is a Sea Dragon, obtained from this recipe only. This guy's claim to fame is that he's a mandatory fight in Dragon Quest 8, in which it used Dazzleflash and little else.





Sea Dragons get Ice for their Skill, and Artful Dodger for their Trait. They're immune to Bang for whatever reason.

Ice was on Great Dragons back in Postgame Part 1. They're probably the better option for getting it.





Pan Piper is next, and there isn't much to say about it. Its first appearance was in DQ8 again, but it was just a random encounter unlike the Sea Dragon. Again, this is the only recipe.





Pan Pipers are kind of boring in terms of their abilities, too. They've got the Skill Nightmare, no Traits, and an immunity to Sleep. At least Nightmare is pretty decent!

Speaking of Nightmare, it's also available from Mimics and was covered in Part 11.





Brownies are another of those random encounter monsters, and another with only one recipe. This time they're from DQ5...but they were also in 8. Presumably most of the models in this game are based on models from that one.





Bounty Hunter is a Skill that Brownies are by far the best recipient of. They also get Psycho as their Trait and are immune to Drain Magic, because of course the primarily physical attacker will have a lot of MP to steal.

Bounty Hunter, unsurprisingly, is new! Its primary use is that it has Klepto Clobber and Penny Pincher. Klepto Clobber definitely has its uses, and it's probably better for getting money than Penny Pincher based on the selling prices of some of the stealable weapons. Other than those, there's the active Metal Slash and the passive Metal Beater that each add one point of damage to metal monsters, which are blatantly there for experience farming. Dodgy Dance, Mercurial Thrust, Paralysing Punch and Assassin's Stab round out the Skill, and they're all pretty decent. Overall this is a pretty decent Skill for getting money and experience, although it won't be all that great for serious battling.





This is Moosifer, and it's the first monster today to have multiple recipes! Either Pan Piper or Satyr is fine here, but the Buffalogre is part of both recipes. Moosifers are, again, random encounter monsters. This time they're from DQ4!





Moosifers have the Skill Woosh & Crack. Yawn. They've got Psycho as a Trait, at least, and since one is a boss in this game they're immune to Whack.

Woosh & Crack is nothing new. It was on Jailcats back in Part 9.





Grim Rider is next. Again, these guys have their first appearance in DQ4, and are just random encounters. Unlike Moosifers, though, this is their only recipe.





Grim Riders have Assassin for their Skill and Counterstriker for their Trait. Like most undead they're weak to Zap, but unlike most undead they're not immune to Whack! Instead they're immune to Sleep.

Assassin's been available to see since Metal Dragons in Part 22.





Next up is the combination of a Buffalogre and one of a Wild Slime, a Great Sabrecat or a Bone Baron. Honestly, Bone Barons are the best monster to use for this, but only through Monster Matchmaking. They're a real pain to get otherwise. This is another monster from DQ8, where it's a palette swap of a boss. No prizes for guessing that particular boss's name.





Mohawkers get the Skill White Knight and the Trait Critical Massacre. Immunities to both Sleep and Whack round it out.

White Knight is much more readily available on Slime Knights, which Euchre first encountered in Postgame Part 2.





Speaking of Bone Barons, that's the next monster on the agenda. A Grim Rider is mandatory, of course, but the other monster in the recipe can be either a Dark Slime Knight or a Mohawker. One of these is obviously easier to obtain than the other. Like Grim Riders, Bone Barons were originally random encounters from DQ4.





Diabolist is Bone Barons' Skill, and it's joined by Counterstriker as their Trait. Again, like most undead, they're weak to Zap. This time, though, they're immune to Whack as well as Inaction.

Diabolist is much, much easier to get from Lesser Demons and Silvapitheci, with the former first appearing in Part 12.





That Bone Baron is immediately thrown into the melting pot with Sidoh the Malroth to make Zoma, the final boss of DQ3. Synthesising one final boss into another seems to be quite a common theme for this game. To make Zoma Malroth is always required, but Wight King and Dullahan are perfectly reasonable options to pair him with on top of the Bone Baron used here. We haven't seen those two yet, though, so Bone Baron it is.





Zoma comes pre-packaged with Ice II for a Skill instead of just Ice, as well as having the Trait Double Trouble. Useful! Unfortunately he's weak to Zap, but such is life. He is immune to both Whack and Fizzle, though, with the former becoming distressingly common among the higher ranks of monsters. The lesson here is not to go all in on instant death.

Ice II is a straight upgrade of Ice, which was covered along with Great Dragons in Postgame Part 1.





And now for something completely different.That Heligator Euchre got as a gift a while back is finally useful! And this is the only thing it's useful for! With a Jumping Jackal, it can make a Riptide. Riptides are normal encounters in their game of origin, which is DQ8 again.





Riptides get the Skill Firewind Slashes, which can't be found on any other monsters. The Trait Early Bird makes the already fast Riptide even faster, and an immunity to Confusion is extremely nice to have.

As I've already implied, Firewind Slashes is new. Its content, shouldn't be, though! This is your standard Slashes Skill, with both tiers of Frizz and Woosh slashes present as well as the Bang slashes and Dragon Slash. Pretty solid overall, but a bit one-note. There are only so many variations of "does damage" one Skill can contain before it becomes boring.





Riptide is going straight into the synthesis machine again along with a Lethal Armour, so that Euchre can make a Roseguardin. There's another option for this involving a Bone Baron instead of a Riptide, but this one was lying around so there was no reason not to use it. Bone Barons have more important things to do anyway. I've already discussed where this guy comes from, but here's something interesting: Roseguardin is one of the few missable boss fights in the series. After a certain point in DQ4's plot it disappears from its post and never comes back.





Anyway, on to the mechanical details. Roseguardin gets Diminisher, which you should all be familiar with by now, and also has Double Trouble to make good use of it. Immunity to Whack and Fizzle is present, but a weakness to Paralysis sadly lets it down.

Diminisher's been available for ages on wild Demonriders and Hell Hornets. The former was first seen back in Part 6.





An Anchorman can be made from a Dingaling and any Demon family monster, but See Urchin happened to be the most convenient. It was originally a normal encounter in, you guessed it, DQ8! It was the most recent game in the series, after all.





Anchormen get Materialist for a Skill, and we've seen it three times already. Boring. No Traits either, but they've got an immunity to Inaction if you care about that sort of thing.

Materialist, being a really common Skill, was first seen on Muddy Hands back in Part 6. It's also on Dingalings and Golems, so they're options too if you care.





Next up: a Black Dragon. Originating in DQ5 as a normal encounter, these guys are only have one recipe. Since Bone Barons are a bit of a pain to get, it's best to use the one in the Monster Matchmakers for this. Just remember that the Great Dragon used has to be positive or neutral.





Black Dragons get Antimagic and Zammeister for their Skill and Trait respectively. Unsurprisingly they're immune to Zam as well as being good at using it, but they're also immune to Whack.

Antimagic isn't all that common, but it's also on Gryphons. They were first seen in Part 13.





Garuda is next on the admittedly badly-ordered list. Again, this is the only recipe. Garudas originated in DQ3 and, you guessed it, they're a normal encounter.





With Frizz & Zap for their Skill and Artful Dodger for their Trait, Garudas are honestly pretty boring. A Fizzle immunity doesn't do much to fix that.

Frizz & Zap is by no means new. She-Slimes are readily available and have it, making their debut in Part 10.





Jum, Boh or Mum and a Nature family monster makes a Boe. If it wasn't obvious, I'm working towards a Mumboh-Jumboe here. Just take it as read that all the Mumboh-Jumboe-related monsters come from DQ8. They're normal encounters once again.





Fortifier is the Skill of the day, but Boe doesn't have any Traits to go along with it. Immunity to Confusion is decent enough, though.

Fortifier is, as usual, something we've seen before. More specifically, it was on Bodkin Archers in Part 18, and is currently in use by Gypsum. It's good!





Boh is the next of the four to be synthesised. This time the recipe is one of Mum, Jum or Boe as well a Beast family monster.





Boh has Healer for whatever reason, but no Traits. Immunity to Fizzle is decent, but Boh doesn't have much going for it overall.

Healer's another of those really common Skills, even more so than Materialist. The first monster we saw it on was Healslime, all the way back in Part 5.





The final component for Mumboh-Jumboe is Mum, obtained from one of the other three and a Material family monster.





Mum is actually different to the other three Mumboh-Jumboe components! Instead of having no Traits and an immunity, they have none of either. Their Skill, Mage Aid, is decent enough, though.

Speaking of Mage Aid, it's also on Snail Slime and Yabby. Both of them were first seen in Postgame Part 2.







Now that Mum, Boh, Jum and Boe have been assembled, it's time to combine them into Mumboh-Jumboe. It's a Quadrilineal/Grandparent synthesis recipe, unsurprisingly.





Unlike its components, Mumboh-Jumboe is actually an interesting monster. Barricade as its Skill isn't all that exciting, but it has a Trait - Bangmeister - and is immune to both Whack and Sleep.

Barricade has cropped up before, of course, on both Mechan-o'-Wyrms and Living Statues. Living Statues appeared first (in Postgame Part 2) so that's where the Skill is described.





Atlas here is the first monster in a while that isn't just a normal encounter! Hooray! Euchre's already fought it as a boss three times in this game, and because of that I've already discussed its origins. Gigantes is a requirement to make one, but the other monster in the pair can be a Moosifer, a Garuda or a Boss Troll.





Diabolist is Atlas's chosen Skill, which is a terrible fit for it. Critical Massacre is a good Trait for this physical-focused monster, and immunity to Whack is expected at this point.





Ruin is also a monster that's come up before. It's got two recipes: this one, and one involving a Living Statue instead of a Gold Golem.





Ruin's got the Skill Niflheim, which is learned by it and one other monster that we've not seen yet. Last Word is a Trait that is actively a detriment, but Critical Massacre somewhat makes up for it. Immunities to Whack and Confusion are, of course, very helpful.

Niflheim comes pretty late for how mediocre it is. You've got Cool Breath and Chilly Breath, which are the first two (of four) tiers of ice breath, as well as Crack and Crackle, again the first two tiers of Crack spells. At least the line of Zam spells here go up to Kazam. Other than that, there's Wave of Panic...and that's it. What you end up with is a Skill that teaches three abilities that don't even reach full strength and a pretty good debuffing ability. If you want Wave of Panic, there are far better Skills that also have it.





Moving on, here's Gracos, which is the third boss monster in a row that appeared in the upper ranks of the arena. Again, there are two recipes for it: Archdemon and Merman, or Archdemon and Octavian Sentry.





Gracos gets Crack & Zap as a Skill, and Crackmeister as a Trait. Immunity to Fizzle is something that might be worthwhile, but being healed by Water probably won't amount to much.

Abyss Divers are the only other monster that get Crack & Zap, and they're detailed in Postgame Part 2.





Gracos is an intermediate step on the way to King Squid. It's one of those rare monsters that have two recipes containing unrelated monsters! As well as this one, a combination of Khalamari Kid and Night Clubber. We haven't come across the latter yet, so the recipe pictured is the only option right now. DQ3 is their game of origin, and they're normal encounters out on the ocean.





King Squid gets Cleanser and Steady Recovery for its Skill and Trait, as well as the same resistances to Gracos: Fizzle immunity and Water absorption.

Cleanser has only been on one monster so far: Chimaera. It's been present since Part 6.





Psaro is a monster I've already talked about, but this is a different form. Admittedly the Estark we saw last update could have been the original, but this is definitely Psaro himself. More specifically, this is the last form of his boss fight in DQ4. Combining a Roseguardin and a Ruin is the only way to make him.





Psaro is the other monster who gets Niflheim, which you should already know my thoughts on. Psycho and Desperado are his Traits, and he's predictably immune to Whack.

Niflheim is also on Ruin, which is only three monsters above this one. It's not good.





Psaro is useful because he can often be used as a stand-in for Estark, and he's slightly easier to obtain. In this case, either can be synthesised with an Alabast Dragon to make Dhoulmagus. This guy is the villain in the first half of DQ8, and also has a voice actor who played 22 characters in Thomas the Tank Engine. Yes, seriously. This was your daily Dhoulmagus Trivia!





Dhoulmagus is the first monster of the update to come with a Skill named after itself! Other than that, he has the Trait Psycho, which is always welcome, and he's immune to Woosh and Whack.

The Skill Dhoulmagus is...interesting. There isn't much of a theme to it, to be honest. Kasap and Kasag are pretty decent debuffs, Kaswoosh and Kacrack are pretty decent attack magic, and War Cry and Bemusing Breath are pretty decent ailment-causing abilities. That's the problem: everything is pretty decent. There's no standout so far. Other abilities here are Bounce (good but situational), Disruptive Wave (also good but situational) and Kamikazee (actively detrimental now that everything is immune to instant death). Overall you've got a Skill that can definitely be usable but doesn't fit any particular niche.





And now it's time to move on to something else. Killing Machines are basically a series staple at this point, originating in DQ2. We've got two recipes this time, with the other using a Mechan-o'-Wyrm instead of a Phantom Swordsman.





Assassin is the Skill of choice for Killing Machines, and like usual they can attack twice, specifically through Double Trouble. Whack and Dazzle immunities are appropriate for what its job is, but a weakness to Bang is kind of crippling.

Assassin was on Metal Dragons in Part 22, as well as Grim Riders in this very update.





Mixing two of the game's larger monsters together results in another large monster: the Night Clubber. The Frou-Frou could be replaced by either a Pazuzu or a Drakularge, but the Boss Troll is mandatory. It only appeared in DQ4 before this, possibly because it's a boss's palette swap from that game.





Night Clubbers get the Skill Martyr and the Trait Critical Massacre. Immunity to Whack is standard, of course.





It's time for some more Quadrilineal synthesis! Don Mole can be made from two Mischievous Moles and two Night Clubbers. There are a few monsters that work this way, with two of each monster required. Don Mole's another of those monsters that turned up in the arena a couple of updates ago, so I've already covered his backstory. He's still one of the weirder inventions of the series, in my opinion.





Don Mole's Skill, Mime, is way easier to come by through other means, and he's got the ever-common Psycho as a Trait. Inaction immunity may well come in useful, but an immunity to Whack is surprisingly not present.

Mime is a Skill that's already cropped up on Chainines in Part 9. It's considerably easier to get from them than Don Mole.





Hey, a recipe where both components make thematic sense! Wight Kings can be made using either this combination or by synthesising a Tortured Soul with a King Bubble Slime. They originated in DQ8, much like Tortured Soul itself, but were a normal encounter instead of a boss.





Reaper is the Skill that Wight Kings get, and Poisoner is the Trait. A weakness to Zap is predictable, as is an immunity to Whack, and while Sleep immunity isn't quite as expected it's still present.

Shadows in Part 3 were the first to have Reaper. It definitely doesn't hold up as much now as it did then, though.





Another recipe involving a Tortured Soul involves mixing one with a Bone Baron, although Dullahan here can also be made by using a Phantom Fencer instead of a Tortured Soul. Other than the Joker games, Dullahan has only made an appearance in DQ8 as a normal encounter.





Champion's the Skill, Psycho's the Trait. Whack and Paralysis immunities are nice, as usual.

Champion was on Wild Slimes in Postgame Part 2, so it's fairly recent. Speaking of Wild Slimes, apparently they're found in the wild on Fert Isle. Unfortunately I never saw any, so I couldn't say where they are exactly.





Khalamari is next up. He's another monster that can only be obtained through Quadrilineal synthesis, with two King Squids and two Khalamari Kids. Again, his origins were detailed briefly during Rank X of the arena.





Khalamari has the Skill Breath II and the Trait Paralyser. As with most aquatic monsters he absorbs Water, but he also has immunities to Whack and Fizzle.

Breath II is technically new, but Breath can be upgraded to Breath II and can be found on Great Argon Lizards and Megalodons. The former came first and made their first appearance in Part 16.





Moving on, more final bosses being synthesised into final bosses! The result of this particular synthesis is Nimzo, or at least his final form. As the ultimate villain of DQ5, he and a lot of his underlings have a chess motif. He himself is named after a chess grandmaster called Aron Nimzowitsch.





Nimzo is another monster who gets a Skill named after them. Trait-wise, he's got Double Trouble going for him, and is immune to Whack (of course). Being healed by Zam is appropriate, but a Sap weakness is particularly crippling.

Nimzo as a Skill is a lot better than Dhoulmagus was earlier. First off, it actually gets a top-tier ability in Scorch, as well as its lesser fire breath ability Inferno. Deep Breath really helps with increasing the damage of this, and Blowback can counter enemy breath attacks just in case. Kaping is a bit of a weird choice, but it goes well with Kafrizz and Kaboom as well as Spooky Aura to increase spell damage further. Finally there's Disruptive Wave which is good as always. There's nothing more frustrating than having all your tension wiped away in an instant, and being able to do that to an opponent is immensely satisfying. Overall, this is a solid choice. If there is a negative, though, it's that the spells included don't live up to their full potential. It might be a good idea to supplement this with another Skill to give some good magic attacks.





This is Rhapthorne, and this is his only recipe. Rhapthorne is another final boss, this time from DQ8, but...this isn't even his final form. He's fought in this form a little before the end of the game instead. Since he's another voice-acted character in his own game, I might as well talk about some of his VA's other roles. The most well-known around here would probably be General Gismor from Drakengard 2, for which he went uncredited.





Rhapthorne's another monster with his own Skill named after himself. Artful Dodger is a given for his Trait, since he's flying, but Zammeister is a nice bonus. Finally he's healed by Zam and, of course, immune to Whack.

Rhapthorne's Skill itself is another of those Skills that might be good but doesn't really have a focus. Damage-wise there's Cold Blizzard, Kaswoosh and Kacrack, all tier 3 abilities. Note the lack of Zam, despite Rhapthorne's Traits! Other than that, there are a couple of ailments: Kasnooze, Spooky Aura and Death Dance, the last of which is terrible considering the company that Rhapthorne keeps. Otherwise there's Kadim (bad), Drain Magic (used to be good) and Clang (incredibly situational). Overall this Skill probably isn't worth anyone's time, though it still might be workable.





Moving on, this is Rhapthorne's second (and last) form. Zoma can be replaced by Orgodemir for this recipe, but he's considerably harder to get and won't even be coming up in this update. He's the same character as before, just a lot bigger. In Joker 2, in fact, he takes up three party slots compared to his first form's one. Here's something mildly interesting about him: despite him being a different monster to his other form in this game, they have the same name. As such, he's generally referred to as "Rhapthorne 2" for obvious reasons.





Speaking of which, his unique Skill is called Rhapthorne II. He's dropped his Zammeister for Psycho, but he still has Artful Dodger despite his huge size. Unfortunately he's not immune to Whack any more for some reason, but he still absorbs Zam.

Rhapthorne II is much better than regular Rhapthorne for a few reasons. First up is the attacking abilities. C-C-Cold Breath is a straight upgrade to Cold Blizzard, while Kazammle and Kaboomle are also tier 4 abilities. Shadow Slash is a new, physical option, and again it's the most powerful of its kind available. Ailments are back too, with Dazzle, Sweet Breath and Spooky Aura. Finally, Disruptive Wave is always useful. Overall a good Skill that's a powerful offensive and supportive option. The main problem is that Zam, ostensibly the main focus of the Skill, is absorbed by a lot of monsters.





Moving on once again, it's time to finish Wildcard's set of forms. The first one is Cluboon Ace.





Cluboon Ace has the obvious Skill of Cluboon III, and Psycho and Critical Massacre for Traits. While he's weak to Fire, that won't come up much, and neither will the absorption of Earth. Immunities to Whack, Poison and Sleep are all useful, though.

Cluboon III is, surprise surprise, good! It's mostly physical abilities, with a couple of my personal favourites: Helm Splitter and Hatchet Man. Blinding Blow and Multislash are both great options as well, although Assassin's Stab isn't all that useful any more. Gigaslash and Gigagash are very powerful abilities that scale with level, with the former being single- and the latter being multi-target. Dazzle Guard is also okay, and fits well with the other abilities on display. Overall, I'd say this is a worthy addition to a physical Incarnus's arsenal.





The final monster we're taking a look at today is Hawkhart Ace. I've already talked about how to get him, so let's quickly move on to the details.





Hawkhart Ace's Skill should be a no-brainer, but if you must know it's Hawkhart III. Psycho's here as usual, but the rare and incredibly good Magic Regenerator is the other Trait on display. As for resistances, Hawkhart Ace is completely immune to all attack magic and Whack, as well as absorbing Fire. These massive advantages are offset by being weak to Water, Poison and Sleep.

Hawkhart III is taken up entirely by healing spells. You've got Heal, Midheal, Fullheal, Multiheal and Omniheal, which is a little redundant but still useful. Zing and Kazing are in the same boat, and Wave of Relief and Reheal fill out the Skill. While it isn't versatile by any means, this is still an excellent Skill for healers. It's just a shame that the Incarnus, who this Skill is locked to, has much more interesting things he can do.

Next time, I'll be going over the last few monsters in the game that can only be obtained through using Metal Slimes, as well as the last few Skills that can't be obtained through just synthesis. Hopefully it won't be too soul-destroying!