Shroud of Shadows

Shroud of Shadows is a protective skill used by many Archfiends within the series, wrapping the monster in a cloak of darkness that greatly increases their power and greatly protects them from incoming attacks. The shroud cannot be stripped from the demon kings with skills such as Disruptive Wave: the player must use a plot-related artifact obtained through the normal course of a game as an item in battle to nullify it.

Shroud of Shadows Japanese 闇の衣
闇のころも Rōmaji Yami no koromo Type Passive buff Older names Robe of darkness

Appearances

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation

Zoma begins the battle with the shroud applied, raising his attack, defence, and agility to 500, 350, 255 respectively, and he will recover 90~110 HP every turn. He is immune to every spell in the game save for the fire-breathing effects of Puff!, but this will deal a measly 85~94 damage and is not enough to offset his automatic HP recovery, to say nothing of how often he uses Disruptive Wave.

To have a fighting chance the player must use the fabled Sphere of Light, which is bequeathed by the Dragon Queen in the world of light.

Dragon Quest X

Shroud of Shadows is used by several monsters, but its exact properties depend on the user. Their offensive and defensive power will increase significantly and the interval between actions will diminish, but the amount varies from 150%~250% for attack strength and from 10%~75% for defence. In some cases, the shroud is a temporary buff that will expire after 20~40 seconds pass, but for plot-related bosses a special item and the presence of Princess Anlucia is required to dispel the darkness. Anlucia's Luminary's Light can cancel out the effects of Shroud of Shadows.

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

Calasmos will take half damage from all forms of attack in the vanilla and S editions of the game, but an agonizing 20% in the Nintendo 3DS version. Furthermore several of his skills will be empowered, such as the Final Flame's damage range increasing from 450~500 to 700~900. The Super Sword of Light must be used as an item to weaken the alien menace.

Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai

In the series, the Shadow Vizier Mystvearn wears an all-encompassing cloak that conceals his identity, known as the Shadow Raiment. It is also the name of the 88th episode in the 2020 anime series. The raiment is something of a power limiter, holding back Mystvearn's true power, but he is expressly forbidden from removing it without Vearn's permission. Just as Mystvearn is nearly defeated by the Disciples of Avan, Hyunckel suggests removing the raiment to reveal the Shadow Vizier's true identity, something that Lon Beruk recommends against doing so since it would allow Mystvearn to fight at his full strength.

Mystvearn ends up removing the raiment on his own when he is nearly at the brink of defeat when he loses communication with the Dark King, deciding to accept whatever punishment Vearn has in store for him. Underneath his mask, Mystvearn is shown to be a young and handsome Darkling, describing it as his "true and mighty form". In this form, he is much powerful and he is able to shrug off all of the heroes' strongest attacks with ease. Vearn later explains that in order to become immortal, he split his body in two, having Myst possess his younger, stronger body and guard it with the Shadow Raiment. Each century, the Dark King would preserve it in peak condition by casting the Secret Spell of Frozen Time at the height of a full solar eclipse.

Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below

Zoma wears his shroud during his battle and the Sphere of Light renders him vulnerable as before. Skilled players can defeat the demon without using the sphere, but expert precision and pattern reading are required to pull this feat off.

Dragon Quest Heroes II: Twin Kings and the Prophecy's End

Known as the Cloth of Darkness, it is worn by all the monsters in Accordia from the darkness-infused Cup of Kings, that render them immune from any damaging attack and spell, as well as Coups de Grâce, forcing the party to obtain the Heart of Brightness from the Tomb of the Sun to dispel the Cloth.

Dragon Quest Rivals

Shroud of Shadows appeared as an effect card that voids all types of damage for a limited number of turns when played.

Dragon Quest Tact

Known as the Dark Robes in this game, it is one of the basic perks possessed by Zoma at level 1. It is also the first awakening perk that can unlocked for Maldragora the Worldbreaker. At the start of battle, the Dark Robes will reduce all damage taken by 20% for three turns. Zoma can enhance it through Talent Blossoming into Pitch Dark Robes, which reduces damage taken by 30% for 10 turns instead.

Anlucia the Maluminary has her own variation known as the Wicked Robes, a basic perk which reduces damage she takes by 15% and increases damage she inflicts to enemies by 15% for three turns.

Mystvearn naturally possesses his own Shadow Raiment as a basic perk that nullifies damage up to 30% of his own max HP for 10 turns at battle start. His Shadow Raiment also appears as a S-rank piece of armour during the limited Second Adventure of Dai event, purchasable in the Equipment Swap Shop by exchanging tickets. It has a DEF bonus of +15, increases the wearer's Zap resistance by 5%, and has three slots for Alchemy Effects. The raiment can only be worn by Attack, Support, and Debuff units.

Trivia

• Zoma's cloaked colors and his normal tones are flipped in the NES version of III due to a programming error. This has been corrected in all subsequent versions.

Gallery

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  Shrouded Zoma in the Erdrick Trilogy, Nintendo switch version

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  Shrouded Gullray Beast in X

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  Calasmos losing his shroud in XI

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  Rivals card

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  Dark Robes icon in Tact

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  Tact equipment icon

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  The Shadow Raiment on the bottom in Tact