Orichalcum

Orichalcum
Japanese	オリハルコン
Romaji	{{{romaji}}}
Old localizations	Oricon
Found in	Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies Dragon Quest X Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Effect	Generally, used to create powerful weapons or armor.

Orichalcum (formerly localized as Oricon due to display constraints) is a key recurring item in the series starting from Dragon Quest III.

It is a mythical metal harder than any other known substance, is typically used to create powerful weapons and/or armor in the games in which it appears. This is done using processes such as alchemy and sword tempering.

Appearances

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation

Orichalcum is needed to reforge the Sword of Kings. To accomplish this, retrieve the unrefined ingot from the stables in Damdara and sell it to the Jipanese blacksmith in Kol for 22500 gold coins. The legendary sword can then be purchased from the town's item shop for 35000 gold coins.

Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai

Orichalcum is a extremely rare and durable metal, said to be created by the gods. Objects crafted from orichalcum include the Demon Dragon Blade (wielded by the Dragon Knight), the Sword of Champions (initially a tournament prize, but stolen and wielded by Hadlar), and the Crown of Champions (gifted to Dai at the start of the series). The Crown is eventually melted down to serve as raw materials for Dai's personal weapon, the Sword of Dai.

Demon King Vearn also owns a set of orichalcum chess pieces, five of which (a pawn, knight, rook, bishop and queen) are animated by Hadlar to create a group of powerful warriors known as the Hadlar Royal Guard. Later Vearn also animates the king piece as a minor antagonist, served by mindless golems created from the remaining pawns.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

Orichalcum is an ingredient of the alchemization items such as the Sage's stone, Meteorite Bracer, Metal king shield, Metal king armour, Liquid metal sword, Megaton Hammer and Goddess Ring.

The almighty azure alloy can be found in the Godbird's Eyrie (light world), the Black Citadel, automatically dropped by Ruin, exchanged for 83 Mini medals, and found a chest in the post-game Heavenly Dais. Additionally, monsters Metal king slime (¹⁄₂₅₆) and Pandora's box (¹⁄₁₂₈). Using Yangus' Stainless Steal Sickle with the Skull helm will help against the latter, but will lower the acquirement rate to ¹⁄₂₅₆. In the 3DS version, three more pieces of orichalcum can be obtained; one by filling out the Munchie card in Cameron's Codex, another in the Altar of Wroth, and one more in Memories Lane.

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

Orichalcum is again a crucial component in several alchemy recipes. It can be acquired in treasure chests of rank 9 and 10 in treasure map grottos, found inside a red chest in the cave on the lonely coast, near Apus Major's throne in a red chest, purchased for 15 Mini medals a piece from Cap'n Max Meddlin' after completing the standard reward list, and it can be dropped by a Gem slime (¹⁄₂₅₆) as well as Greygnarl (Grotto) (5%).

It is used to create:

• Metal slime equipment
• Liquid metal slime equipment
• Metal king slime equipment
• Erdrick's Equipment
• Orichalcum claws
• Orichalcudgel
• Sage's stone

Game description: A highly prized mineral of magnificent hardness. Alchemise it!

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

Orichalcum is a plot item in this game, required to forge the Sword of Light. It can be obtained in the Battleground, specifically in the area labeled "Overlooked Cavern" on the map. The orichalcum is one of the three items the party needs to forge the Sword of Light (the other two being the Forging Hammer and Crucible key). Finding it also triggers a humorous cutscene in which Erik gets overexcited about its value.

Warning: Spoilers!
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In Act 3, it is also possible to obtain smaller chunks of Orichalcum as ingredients for certain late-game Fun-Size Forge recipes. These can be collected from sparkly spots behind a door in the Battleground locked with the Ultimate Key. It is necessary to give one of these chunks to the blacksmith in Hotto in order for him to forge the Sword of Kings.

The important lump of orichalcum from Act 2 can also be regained in Act 3, by looking in the same spot as before, although no cutscene triggers. This is needed to reforge the Sword of Light in Act 3. Both the Sword of Light and Sword of Kings are needed if the player wishes to forge the optional but very powerful Supreme Sword of Light. In Dragon Quest XI S, this more important lump is called rarefied orichalcum, probably to differentiate it from the less important chunks available in Act 3.

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime

Orichalcum is used as ammunition for the Schleiman Tank, and may be used in alchemy to create other ammunition, such as the Orichalcum slime.

Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors

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Etymology

Orichalcum comes from Greek mythology, specifically Plato's tales of the fabled Atlantis. The original word, Oreichalkos, translates directly to "mountain copper", though the material is said to have been several times more durable. It's value was second only to gold, and it was used in the construction of sacred temples and government buildings.