List of challenges in Dragon Quest Builders
Challenges are optional objectives in Dragon Quest Builders that grant additional recipes to use in Terra Incognita.
There are five per each chapter, and they are checked at the very end of the chapter: either by touching Rubiss's light after defeating the chapter's boss, or by defeating the Dragonlord. Due to that fact, most challenges can be completed in one file by just going to Rubiss's light / the Dragonlord boss fight whenever a new challenge has been completed, with the exception of the challenges that require beating the chapter in a certain number of days.
Due to the game's structure regarding save files, the challenges only need to be cleared once per console profile.
Common challenges
Some of the goals are common among all chapters while others are chapter-specific. There are two common objectives on every chapter, with one of them being different depending on the system the builder is playing on, and three challenges that are specific for that area.
There are timed challenges, which establish a time limit of in-game days in which the chapter must be completed. Players can see the elapsed days in the Status menu. The best way to complete them is to rush through the story quests, avoiding sleeping in beds as much as possible. These challenges are exclusive to the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions of the game.
The timed objectives have been replaced by their item collecting challenges counterparts on the Nintendo Switch version of the game. They require the player to obtain a number of different items, blocks and equipment before finishing the chapter. These sidequests can usually be solved by exploring the land thoroughly. These new challenges were kept in the Mobile release.
The last common challenge is the one revolving around leveling up the base. To complete them, one needs to build a lot of rooms, and decorate them.
Chapter 1 challenges
| Challenge | Versions | Terra Incognita rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Complete the chapter within 20 days. | PS3, PS4, PS Vita | Can build fire blades. |
| Obtain 150 different items. | Nintendo Switch, Mobile | |
| Build your base to level 5. | All | Can build additional stone furniture. |
| Defeat the three dragons. | All | Can build display stands. |
| Build a Cantlin garden. | All | Can make Guard’s garb, Villager’s vesture, and Trader’s tunic. |
| Repair the hammerhood's graveyard. | All | Can build Featherfall footwear. |
There are three dragons in the Cantlin area, all of which need to be defeated for the challenge:
- Cantlin Plains: It can be found in the southmost area of the island, sleeping in a field of flowers.
- Hammerhood Heights: this dragon can be found in the mountains behind the ruined fortress.
- The Damdara Desert: the last dragon is located on the mountains, just north from the pyramid.
They can be defeated in any order, but all three need to be defeated in order to complete the challenge. If fighting them is too hard, players can take advantage of the false idols's fire throwing mechanic and place them facing the dragons.
For the Cantlin Garden challenge, the builder needs to place the following items inside a room: bench, any flower (x10), any plant (x5), water block (x8), plumberry tree, and a brazier. There are a few things to take into consideration while aiming for this challenge: the room doesn't need to be in the town of Cantlin, and can even be made in Terra Incognita; to get the plumberry tree, a plumberry seedling must be planted inside the confines of the base (or in Terra Incognita) and wait two days for the seedling to mature. If building the garden outside of town, it's possible to build the room around an already matured tree; in case one wants to build the garden inside the town, one must consider how water works in Dragon Quest Builders, meaning a channel from an already existing water source is needed; and lastly, in that case, it's also important to remember that water in Builders is only two blocks above rock bottom, so it's likely the garden will need to be underground.
To repair the hammerhood's graveyard, the builder must travel to The Damdara Desert and talk to the brownie there. He will teach them how to build stone memorials. Afterwards, the player needs to return to the Hammerhood Heights and visit the destroyed graveyard and place the needed memorials. Finishing this quest rewards the builders with a seed of life.
Chapter 2 challenges
| Challenge | Versions | Terra Incognita rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Complete the chapter within 30 days. | PS3, PS4, PS Vita | Can build gourmand’s girdles. |
| Obtain 200 different items. | Nintendo Switch, Mobile | |
| Build your base to level 5. | All | Can build wooden furniture. |
| Repair the ruined roof. | All | Can build roofing tiles. |
| Obtain the crown goowels. | All | Can build water crystals. |
| Complete all of Thalamus's puzzles. | All | Can build meteorite bracers. |
In order to repair the ruined roof, the builder needs to find the ruined manor deep in the mountains in the Prickly Wilds and place the provided roof tiles in their corresponding places. Finishing this challenge also unlocks the recipes for roof tiling, pitched tiling, outer corner tiling, and inner corner tiling.
To obtain the crown goowels, the player needs to fish a King Slime in the slime-shaped pond in the jungle south from the Ancient Palace, and defeat it.
The quest to complete all of Thalamus's quizzes is the longest one, requiring solving a puzzle in each of the region's islands.
- Swamps of Sickness: Located in the southwestern part of the island, it requires the player to copy a room exactly as it is.
- Prickly Wilds: The second puzzle, located just north from the ruined manor, is solved by planting a palm seedling in the marked earth block.
- Ancient Palace: The third puzzle is located in a swamp behind the mountains behind the Ancient Palace, going east from it. It requires the builder to change the clock's hour from 9 to 3.
- Holy Sanctum: The last puzzle is located in an area in the south western side of the island, and requires the builder to place the blocks obtained as rewards in the previous three puzzles in their corresponding slots. Finishing this last puzzle grants the builder a Catholicon ring, which prevents all status ailments when equipped.
Chapter 3 challenges
| Challenge | Versions | Terra Incognita rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Complete the chapter within 30 days. | PS3, PS4, PS Vita | Can build talaria. |
| Obtain 200 different items. | Nintendo Switch, Mobile | |
| Build your base to level 5. | All | Can build hardwood and timbered blocks. |
| Defeat all the boss trolls and gigantes. | All | Can build forbidden furniture. |
| Complete the spectacular spa blueprint. | All | Can build hot water crystals. |
| Discover the recipe for the lyre of slime immemorial | All | Can build lyres of slime immemorial. *Also unlocked in other chapters. |
The challenge to defeat all the boss trolls and gigantes is very straight forward. While they can be defeated with normal weapons, its advised to use magic weapons and even cannons to attack them. Their locations are:
- Bleak and Burning Badlands: A boss troll can be found in the desert, south from the base.
- Island of Lava: Another boss troll lies in the prison where Barbella was kept captive, behind a stone gate. Cannons can help destroy the stone gate.
- Island of Ice: A gigantes can be found in the northwest, over the mountains.
- Galenholm Ruins: The second gigantes is in the snow fields that extend in the southeast from the teleportal.
The spectacular spa blueprint can be obtained in the ruins of Galenholm. It is located in a chest in a cave full of precious metal veins, south from the teleportal. The recipe for the fierce fountains required for the spectacular spa can be learnt in the south part of the Island of Lava. Help the girl who bathes in the hot water by blocking the troll's view with a block, and she will reward you with the recipe.
The lyre of slime immemorial is a special item that allows players to switch the music from modern to retro, and viceversa. It can be found in the labyrinth located in the Island of Ice, north from the teleportal. Fill the slime-shaped hole with blue blocks, and the entrance to the maze will open. Blue temple blocks hint to the intended path to find the lyre. Once the lyre is obtained, it's recipe can be used in any where in the game, even in earlier chapters.
Chapter 4 challenges
| Challenge | Versions | Terra Incognita rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Complete the chapter within 30 days. | PS3, PS4, PS Vita | Can build legendary items of Erdrick. |
| Obtain 200 different items. | Nintendo Switch, Mobile | |
| Build your base to level 4. | All | Can build superior crafting stations. |
| Defeat the Dragonlord without wearing the legendary armour. | All | Can build rings of criticality. |
| Show a verdant vision to a certain someone. | All | Can build novelty items. |
| Find the sword of ruin | All | Can build forbidden equipment. |
The challenge Defeating the Dragonlord without wearing the legendary armour is a bit tricky in its wording. It actually requires the Auroral Armour and Hero's Shield not being in the equipment bag when the second phase of the boss fights starts, meaning they can be used in the first phase as long as they are stashed away in the colossal coffer before defeating the humanoid form of Dragonlord. The Sword of Kings can be used in both battles, as using it or not does not effect this challenge.
Show a verdant vision to a certain someone: This sidequest requires exploring the four islands in chapter four, and finding four slimes who wait in rocky formations that resemble themselves and showing them what they ask for:
- Land of Ash and Despair: A slime is on top of a big rock slime, south from the temporary camp. He wants to see a milkblossom, which can be obtained by a shovel after purifying bones.
- Tantegel Moor: This time it's a she-slime, waiting on the northwest area from the castle. She wants to see a daffodaisy, which can be obtained with a shovel after planting a bud that she-slimes can drop.
- Patchwork Island: The third slime is a metal slime, who waits northwest from the red teleportal. He wants to see a coralily, which can be obtained with a shovel after planting a bud that drackies can drop.
- The Dragonlord’s Island: A king slime is located in the southmost area, on top of a rocky structure that resembles a king slime. He wants to see a verdant vision. To obtain the vision, the builder must combine the other three slime's visions and the flowers on a diviner's altar. Giving him the verdant vision completes the challenge. He will give the player some gungerbread as a reward.
The sword of ruin and the rest of the cursed equipment can be found in the southeastern area of the Land of Ash and Despair, in the opposite end of the chapter's starting location. This optional underground maze acts as the game's sole dungeon, and it's the home of some powerful foes. To advance in the cave, the player must defeat monsters to get keys and unlock doors. Aside from the cursed equipment, some rare items can be found in the dungeon. The sword of ruin is in the lowest level.
