Dragon Warrior IV Chapter 1

Dragon Warrior 4 Chapter I

Chapter 1

Start up the game and select your name and message speed and such. Note that your name won’t be of any concern to you until you get a good ways into the game. Get acquainted with Ragnar and his situation as a soldier at Burland castle. Children are being kidnapped (reports from a nearby village called Izmit) and you are dispatched to learn more. Your adventure begins here. Constantly you are going from one castle to the next with caves and such in the way. As you start, explore the town and check out the various shops and things around town. The more battles you fight the more gold you are going to accumulate and you are going to want to build this up for a few select choices at Izmit later in this chapter. When you are ready, go out and fight a few battles.

Veterans of past Dragon Warriors will smile at the gameplay. If you are new, you’ll learn a few things. With Ragnar fighting is your only option and unfortunately, he can not heal himself. However you can purchase medical herbs at nearly every item store in the game, so do so, at least until you get another character to help him out. If you perish in battle you start off at the shaman, but with half the gold. The monsters outside of Burland should not be too much of an issue for a powerful soldier like Ragnar, but when night falls (another cool feature) babbles come out, and they can do some damage physically (best attack in the area) and with their poison attacks. For now get up to level 3 or 4 and then venture to the cave out west.

There are a few items at the cave. Stick to the right when starting and grab the medical herb when the path splits to the right. Keep heading north to talk to a Burland soldier who is also going to Izmit. You must be on the right track (although this guy spends the entire chapter looking for Izmit). Head to the north west and grab the gold before you leave.

When you are outside head east to Izmit and hopefully it is dark out, if not you may want to fight until it is. The reason being is that you must talk to the man in jail in the upper right corner of Izmit village at night, as he will then reveal his name to you. If you do not do this you will not get his name, which you need consequently to finish the next thing in the storyline, so talk to him and do your thing in Izmit. If you have the money, buy an Iron Shield or Half Plate Armor. Wooden Hat would be nice also. Anyway, when you are ready head back to Burland, and talk to the lady in the house (or outside of the house moving about) and she will reveal herself as Flora and she happens to be in love with this Alex character. Take her back to Izmit now to get the two to meet, and Alex will reveal a secret he heard from the children (eh?). Four steps south and four to the east (of the sign east of Izmit; look at the location below if need-be), so heed this advice and you will find a well. Try to be at level 7 or higher as you go, as there are some tough monsters here.

As you near the well you will hear a voice calling you to move closer. This is a prevalent theme in this well, I guess to teach you the basics of cave-exploration or something. But before you jump down, head west and grab an agility seed and a medical herb in the jars after you go down the staircase. Now jump down and head south, ignoring the western path (takes you back). Continue on, again ignoring the paths that tell you not to go that way (they are dead ends). As you make you way down and left and back to the right again, continue going right against the will of the voice and get a medical herb. It is a long route but will familiarize you with the tough monsters here. Sizarmages can cast blaze and Lethal Gophers can build up their power and hurt Ragnar severely. Be careful here, now head back and take the southern path. Take this east and continue east, again against the advice of the voice. You will fight some monsters here but after a long road you will meet Healie! Let him join; he is much like the healers you meet, and he will allow Ragnar to not have to worry about healing himself. Head back now and go north at the intersection this time. Ignore the first two west/east routes as these circle around eachother and accomplish nothing. Continue north and take a right, following the path for 600 gold. Head back and take the left path for some Flying Shoes, and then you can leave for Izmit.

Before using these shoes you should make sure of a few things (as using the Flying Shoes will take you to the tower across the river (note that you CAN jump out and return to Izmit once you use them). First of all try to make sure you have at least a few of the following; Half Plate Armor, Iron Shield, and a Wooden Hat. Do not waste money on a nice weapon, you’ll get a really good one at the tower shortly. Healie, in case you noticed, can not equip or have any items. Work your levels to 8 or 9 (although you will fight up a bit at the tower) and then use the Flying Shoes. As you fly onto the tower you will see a witch or mage of some sort abusing some child, chase them down the staircase.

Now the bulk of the tower begins. Head north for a wing of wyvern, then continue south following the play to the right. This takes you to another soldier, who praises you for picking up Healie, but continue to the staircase. Head north to another staircase, which is a strength seed. South and to the left is a door, which after being opened is 640 or so gold coins. Nice, again you can head back and buy nicer equipment if you failed to do so earlier. Moving on, head south and to the left, opening the door at the south end of this structure. Inside is a scale shield and further north is a staircase down. Head north, and then go west and then east. To the west is a Sword of Malice (a great weapon, by far the best Ragnar can get in this chapter) and to the east is a luck seed. Also of note, you can “USE” the Sword of Malice and it acts as a Firebal spell (one group). South of this area is another staircase, leading to a healing pool! Wonderful, now I would suggest you fight around a bit and abuse the Sword of Malice and this health pool, gaining a few levels in the process. Moving along you find a soldier, and this part is important. He mentions the coming of evil, and of a certain hero, and keep this in mind as this is your first information regarding your true main goal in the game. This isn’t clear for a while though. Head on now and a kid will run up to you asking for help. Heal up and talk to the sorcerer to the north.

Saro’s Shadow and the Giant Eyeball are a tough duo. If you are level 10 or higher this should be easy, just make sure your health is up. The problem with Healie is that sometimes he neglects healing to do pointless things like attack and block, so if your hit points hover too low take the initiative yourself to do the healing. Attack the Giant Eyeball and get him eliminated first, although be careful because his “expression might change” which causes either critical hits (of 15 damage) on his part or he’ll miss. After he is gone, go right after Saro. He’ll cast firebal and will cause flame damage to all without magic as well. Also his attack is strong and he can wallop Healie if Healie is unguarded and low on hit points. Again, keep your hit points up and the first boss should be toast. The children then join you, so head out of here. The soldier outside is dead but you remember what he said; leave the tower and use the shoes to get to the top of the tower again, and then jump off. Head to Izmit to drop the kids off now. The mothers are joyous obviously, and you can head back a victor. Burland celebrates you (no random encounters by the way) and the king offers to grant you anything! Ragnar seems to have an itch regarding this whole evil ruler resurrection/hero thing so he asks to go on an adventure. The king gives you some experience points and you’ll gain a few levels and head out, ending the chapter.

ENEMIES OF CHAPTER ONE

Throughout Ragnar’s quest you are introduced to a bunch of enemies/characters and being your first chapter, they are all new to you. The Slime, Stag Beetle, Giant Worm and Diverat appear outside of Burland and extend to the cave. The Babble can be fought near this area and outside Izmit, but only during night. Demon Stumps are also outside of Izmit. In the well, you fight Sizarmages, Lethal Gophers and Healers only. The tower yields more monsters, as the first level has Ducksbills, Lilypas, and Oswargs. The lower levels include Pixies and Giant Bantams. Finally, the boss of this area is Saro’s Shadow with a Giant Eyeball.

Slimes and Stag Beetles are worthless, really. Giant Worms and Diverats are decent but again should rarely outhit Ragnar. However beware at night, as the Babble can and will hurt Ragnar, if not poisoning him at the same time. Keep an antidote ready if necessary. Demon Stump’s can use medical herbs but really aren’t much better than your past enemies sans his hit points. Inside the well, Sizarmages are here. They are like Ozwargs but they cast Blaze while the Ozwarg casts Icebolt. Lethal Gophers can charge up their attack and take off 8-10 on Ragnar, so you may wish to take them out soon. Healers cast Heal and little else but can be a nuisance when paired with some offensive enemies. Inside the tower you fight some decent monsters. On the first floor, Ducksbills are there to cast Sap on you while the Lilypa will cast Upper on himself or his friends. Later on you’ll meet Pixies who cast Speedup, and Bantams who may put you to sleep with their attack. Again, the boss is Saro’s Shadow with the Giant Eyeball

From left to right (also in relative order of appearance): Slime, Stag Beetle, Giant Worm, Diverat, Babble, Demon Stump, Lethal Gopher, Healer, Sizarmage, Ducksbill, Lilypa, Oswarg, Pixie, Giant Bantam, Giant Eyeball, Saro’s Shadow