Status effect

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Status effects are a recurring element of the Dragon Quest series, and come in the negative status ailments and the beneficial status buffs. Both the party and monsters have access to these effects in most titles, and strategic use of both becomes vitally important during an adventure.

Status ailments damage, immobilize or otherwise debilitate a combatant. Almost every status ailment can be lifted with the help of an item specific to that ailment. Many status ailments disappear immediately after a battle, while others can only be removed with a spell, a night at the inn or a visit to the church. Some spells exist expressly to inflict status effects, and some weapons have a small chance of inflicting a status ailment after a successful hit. Occasionally, a special move may have a chance of causing a status effect.

Status buffs exist to either raise the stats of a character and give them an advantage in battle against weaker foes or to stand a better chance against powerful boss monsters or to reduce incoming damage. Typically buffs will fade in battle after a number of turns have passed, though there are exception where a buff will last the entire battle, such as all versions of Dragon Quest VI. Only two types of buffs remain in effect after battle, being camouflage and pep.

A number of these effects can be wiped out by Disruptive Wave or with a perfect panacea, if available.

List of recurring status effects

Negative Status Ailments

Image Name Effect Debut Remains After Battle?
Nopic.png
Blunted Attack is reduced. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies No
Confused.png
Confused The character may attacks their fellow party members or themselves. They might also do nothing at all. Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line No
Cursed.png
Cursed The one of the character's statistics are set to 0 as a result of wearing cursed equipment, along with suffering paralysis or attacking their friends. They can only remove the equipment by visiting a church. In some installments, it is caused by certain attacks. For this type of curse, the effects are:
  • HP being reduced by 1 every four steps
  • MP being reduced by 1 every four steps
  • Randomly becoming stunned during battle
  • Spells and skills randomly failing during battle
  • Attacking a random ally
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line & Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride Varies
Nopic.png
Dazzled The character is much more likely to miss with physical attacks, dropping accuracy to 38 or 58 depending on the spell or skill used. Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line No
Nopic.png
Dead/Death The character cannot act in any way until they are revived by a spell, item, or at the church. Dragon Quest Yes
Nopic.png
Decelerated Agility is reduced. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation No
Poisoned.png
Envenomated The character takes damage after each round of the battle. Reduces HP by 16 of maximum per turn in Dragon Quest V. Starting with Dragon Quest VI this was reduced to 18 of the maximum. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride Yes. The condition becomes Poisoned after battle ends.
Nopic.png
Fizzled The character cannot cast spells until the the condition wears off, or the battle ends. Dragon Quest No
Paralysis.png
Paralyzed The character is unable to act during battle. Counts as a party wipe out if everyone is afflicted in III, but not so in later games. Initially cured through spells or items and walking for 32 steps on the world map, but will wear off in battle after a few turns beginning with VI. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation Varies
Poisoned.png
Poisoned The character takes damage while traveling on the field. Originally, from Dragon Quest to Dragon Quest IV it was dealt every four steps. In Dragon Quest V and VI it was increased to eight steps. Since Dragon Quest VII it has been every single step. Beginning with Dragon Quest XI, being poisoned now deals 1~5 damage per turn in addition to walking damage. Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line Yes
Nopic.png
Sapped The character's Defence is decreased. Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line No
Sleep.png
Sleep The character cannot act until awoken by an attack, or until a random number of turns have passed. Dragon Quest No
Paralysis.png
Stunned The character must waste a turn or two while being frozen in fear, rolling around laughing, knocked down, grinning after a Puff-Puff, etc. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation No

Positive Status Enhancements

Name Effect Debut Remains After Battle?
Accelerated Agility is increased. In VIII onwards, this also increases evasion. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation No
Backdraft Reflects breath attacks once. Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation No
Bounce Reflects magic spells. Certain games only allow the spell to be used on the caster themselves. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation No
Buffed Defence is increased. Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line No
Camouflaged User is less likely to be targeted by monsters, and cannot be seen by foes on the world map. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies Yes
Dragon Morphed into a giant dragon. Will alternate between roasting and slashing at enemies while being resistant to fire. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation No
Insulated Damage from breath attacks is decreased. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation No
Kaclang Turned into invincible steel for several turns. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation No
Magic absorbent Spells that target the user will restore their MP. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride No
Oomph Attack power increased. Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation No
Pepped up Several stats are increased at once, and access to special techniques is granted. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies Yes
Snubbed Magical attacks have no effect on the target from now on. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen No