Instead of doing more life talk which I honestly don't feel like getting into... I decided to redouble my efforts of making guides as well as sharing a really cool fangame. That game is called Dragon Warrior Alchemy!
It is created by the individual Vigistry who unfortunately has disappeared from many online sources. His website that hosted the game has also gone down, so I am currently hosting a download here (Mediafire link) I was speaking with Vigistry some years back but very difficult to get emails back from him. Should he contact me again for anything I will follow his wishes. He never said he was against the hosting however when I mentioned it.
Index and text you can search to navigate this faster:
-About The Game (C100)
-The Let's Play (C101) or click here for youtube playlist
- Class Character Guides (D100)
+ Ragnar/Knight (D101)
+Alena/Princess (D102)
+Taloon/Celeste/Merchant (D103)
+Mara/Brey/Wizard (D104)
+Nara/Centura/Pilgrim (D105)
--Mara & Nara Unique Spells (E100)
--Brey and Centura Options (E101)
+Cristo/Paladin (D106)
+Yin/Alena/Fighter (D107)
+Panon/Jester (D108)
+Bluette/Hero (D109)
- Helpful Excel Sheet (C102) or click here (Google drive link)
- The Help Me Document included in download (C103)
About The Game (C100):
Dragon Warrior Alchemy takes the original four NES Dragon Warrior games and combines them in one game. It follows Dragon Warrior 4's chapter system, starring the cast of DW4 for the most part, but also includes original characters with Dragon Warrior 3 sprites, recasts some companion characters like Cristo and Brey being generic extras.
Instead, you have a choice on how those not leaders of a chapter will be introduced by choosing either Auto-Roster mode or opting out of it
Auto-Roster mode is like a story mode and has characters introduced more naturally and automatically to parties (how I played my Let's Play of it). For example, chapter 1 has Ragnar run into someone in the beginning of the cave to Izmit that sort of forces their way into the party.
Opting out of Auto-Roster can have the leader of the chapter choose a class to hire to go with them at a hiring bar (Like DW3 NES has Lucida's Eatery). This lets you try a few different class combinations for different chapters on replays. There will be a limit of who you can hire later on though. If Ragnar hires the jester and completes his chapter, Alena will not also be able to hire the jester when starting her chapter.
Both modes still have characters that are set to join due to the story too, however. Those of Erdrick's bloodline like the prince(ss) of Cannock or Moonbrooke join, but they are randomized from one of the available classes. Depending the characters chosen for these roles can make you have a princess of Cannock or prince of Moonbrooke. For example, the jester Panon (DW4 guest character originally) ended up being the Prince of Cannock, and Yin (a fighter of dragon quest 3) ended up as Prince of Moonbrooke for me.
The game does function different than the NES somewhat. Battle mechanics have changed, and how you gain experience and gold. Individuals hold their own gold and if they leave the party at some point, they take their items and gold with them (Though there is a fix to make sure key items dont go with them to screw you over). In the Guide section I will be including excerpts of the original read me Vigistry provided which explains a lot of differences.
A big thing to know is EVENTUALLY, you will be able to control up to 12 characters in sets of 3 parties to beat the great evil, and there are some darker and edgier themes. The story tells you how the three worlds of DQ2, 3, and 4 can interact just fine with each other thanks to teleportals. There IS a bit of a political jab in a section of the game, and there are multiple endings depending some choices you make.
The Let's Play (CLICK HERE): (C101)
I made this let's play some years ago to show off this amazing game, posted on youtube. (I'm also backing it up on other video sites because Youtube being really shitty lately). Please note I played the game early on where I suffered from some glitches that got fixed or at least mitigated. The game IS still a bit glitchy on some points, be sure to save often and in different spots just in case.
Class/Character Guides (D100)
Classes have different quirks or abilities on how you play them than usual. Some may take getting used to. Some of these will be on an excel sheet I share further down.RAGNAR (KNIGHT): (D101)
Ragnar is still a decent tank, but now comes with an ability to increase his stats or traits when defending (Or equipped with a certain item). The benefit only lasts around 2-5 turns. Please note he can only have two of these perks active at a time. Parrying further will not bestow any other increases.
Parry can make him feel:
Stronger - Increase his attack.
Lucky - Increase his crit chance.
Good - Increase max HP & recover some health at end of each round
Enchanted - Increase magic attack via item (and possibly magic def)
Quick-Witted - Increase agility and can hit multiple times.
ALENA (PRINCESS CLASS): (D102)
Alena starts off as the Princess class, which can summon enemies. Her chapter is about her trying to change her class to a fighter, starting her with rather poor attack, but decent mp to do these summons. You acquire most via level up but some are done via special quests. Also, the summons level up along with Alena (by using the summon more) to increase their stats. These summons can run out of mp becoming mainly a damage sponge, so there may be times where you will want to attack them instead to get to your next summon.
TALOON & CELESTE (MERCHANT): (D103)
There are two merchants in this game, with Taloon as one of them. They are pretty identical in ability, but Taloon just gets more focus as a main character story wise. Taloon also does not mess around like he did in DQ4's chapter 5.
-Merchants can hold more items than anyone else (There is no bag function).
-When they attack enemies, they have a decent chance to pick up extra money with each attack as well as at end of the battles.
-If the merchant or a party member is about to die, they can bribe the enemy not to kill them at least once per battle (sometimes gets reset if both merchants are in battle together) as long as they have the gold to do so.
-Increased chance to gain items, including possible to steal from a target when attacking. This includes inducing the healing items Silver and Gold Charms to drop from enemies as long as a merchant is in your party.
MARA AND BREY (WIZARD): (D104)
Mara and Brey for the most part learn the same wizard spells. They will get fire, ice, and zap elements along with debuffs. As with all spells from Pilgrims and Wizards, they start off single target until you upgrade the character's range from an npc (available through payment and at different level intervals).
Both learn:
Blaze - Basic fire element spell
Surround - Blinds foe to lower accuracy.
Sleep - Puts enemy to sleep
Frost - Basic ice element spell
Stopspell - Used to silence foe from casting spells.
Sap - Used to lower defense of target(s)
Toxin - Weak damage but attempts to poison target(s)
Robmagic - Attempts to steal mp from a single target and recover caster's, gets weaker as battle goes on.
Zap - Weak electric element spell.
Chaos - Spell to cause confusion
Firebane - Stronger fire elemental spell, can hit an extra time on a target.
Beat - Attempts to kill target(s).
Blizzard - Stronger ice spell, sometimes can freeze target.
Bolt - Stronger electric elemental spell
NARA AND CENTURA (PILGRIM): (D105)
Nara and Centura have some shared spells they both learn. Pilgrims unfortunately are closer to white mages in this as they don't get to equip much better physical weapons typically, except for Nara's Tarot Cards. Majority of spells are supportive and buffs with no wind spells. As with all spells from Pilgrims and Wizards, they start off single target until you upgrade the character's range from an npc (available through payment and at different level intervals).
Both learn:
Heal - Heals target(s), amount varying on magic atk and power level.
Projectile - A buff to make melee weapons into ranged ones (Helps with flying enemies)
Upper - Raises Defense on target(s)
SpeedUp - Raises Speed on target(s)
Antidote - Cures Poison
NumbOff - Cures Paralyze
Bikill - Raises Strength on target(s)
Vivify - Chance to revive a target at around 1/3 health.
Radiate - First has the user attempt to use it. If it works, user glows a color, and by end of round, emits an element (Blue = Ice, Yellow = Lightning, Red = Fire) as damage to all enemies.
Barrier - Raises Magic Defense on target(s)
Fendspell - Cleanses and Protects target(s) from ALL magic for a short time.
Holy - Gives Holy Protection on target(s); Holy Protection seems to protect from instant death magic.
Revive - Revives party member(s) to full health.
Bounce - Places a magical wall on target(s) that bounces back ALL spells. Can fade when physically hit.
MARA AND NARA UNIQUE SPELLS: (E100)
The sisters get something called "Twin spells." Despite not being twins, they both take their turn to cast these unique spells, though they both must have the mp required to use it.
Drain (L5) - Drain Health from ALL enemies (Always) and heals the party with amount drained.
Bubble (L15) - Shields party from enemy effects for one turn
Slowww - Lowers agility of all enemies, can increase chance for party to pre-emptive strike.
Sister Toss - Toss sister at one enemy for high damage, but the tossed one leaves the battle.
BREY AND CENTURA OPTIONS: (E101)
Eventually, Brey and Centura will have options to change their classes. Both will change their sprite at least somewhat.
Brey can become a Sage in game, which lets him learn pilgrim spells ONLY. If Brey is missing any Wizard spells when he changes to Sage, he will NEVER learn them. It still is highly worth it to change Brey to Sage eventually, the timing can be tricky.
Centura gets the option to change into a Paladin like Cristo. Centura will retain all spells from pilgrim class, but also gets any Paladin spells she hasn't gotten. Similar to Brey, Centura will miss any spells from Pilgrim class that were not yet learned. Her stats will change to that of a paladins as well which will SEVERELY nerf her mp. Her pilgrim spells will retain their power/range/speed but will not be able to upgrade any further while a Paladin.
CRISTO (PALADIN): (D106)
Cristo gets a different class this time. This class is a lot like a warrior that gains a few spells. However, Paladin cannot power up their spells like wizards and pilgrims. So all their spells will always be single target, and the heal is a bit underwhelming. Can be useful to have another great physical attacker however, and tanks decently too.
Centura can change her class into a paladin and learn any of these skills that she didn't have already.
Paladins learn:
Heal (Lv 2)- Heals target(s), amount varying on magic atk
Upper - Raises Defense on target(s)
Surround - Blinds foe to lower accuracy.
Antidote - Cures poison
Stopspell - Used to silence foe from casting spells.
Beat - Attempts to kill target(s).
YIN (& ALENA LATER; FIGHTER): (D107)
Fighters are now less press button and do damage. They have set abilities based on their hp and mp (Yes MP). You take the sum of your hp and mp and look at the last number.
-Generally, if it is even, you should parry to activate the move.
-If it is odd, you should attack.
-Exceptions are 0 and 5, where you can normal attack without any penalty, or any other action.
If you try to attack on an even, you tend to do less damage. Also if you are out of mp, you tend to do less damage or are less likely to hit (exception for the Triple Hit)
Example: If your hp currently is 52 and mp is 29, that means the last number ends in 1, so you should attack. It will use up some mp for the attacks.
JESTER (PANON): (D108)
Panon is the only Jester you can get in the game, and gives a fond tribute to Goof-Offs and Taloon's old random antics. You can not control him in battle, but can influence his abilities with some accessory items he can equip later in the game, if you can find them.
HERO (BLUETTE): (D109)
Bluette is the hero you obtain in chapter 5. She is mostly a warrior with utility spells and the classic "Hurt" spell. There are some other things about her that can happen which are potentially spoiler territory. (To be updated later)
HELPFUL EXCEL SHEET (C102)
This is a sheet I been putting all my findings in, from time effects, item drops, enemy weaknesses or susceptibilities, as well as keeping track of spells and such. You will find some repeat information from what I posted here as well, and I am still updating it RANDOMLY. If anyone gets new info, I can update it.
Excel Sheet Link HERE
READ ME TEXT FILE: (C103)
There are two merchants in this game, with Taloon as one of them. They are pretty identical in ability, but Taloon just gets more focus as a main character story wise. Taloon also does not mess around like he did in DQ4's chapter 5.
-Merchants can hold more items than anyone else (There is no bag function).
-When they attack enemies, they have a decent chance to pick up extra money with each attack as well as at end of the battles.
-If the merchant or a party member is about to die, they can bribe the enemy not to kill them at least once per battle (sometimes gets reset if both merchants are in battle together) as long as they have the gold to do so.
-Increased chance to gain items, including possible to steal from a target when attacking. This includes inducing the healing items Silver and Gold Charms to drop from enemies as long as a merchant is in your party.
MARA AND BREY (WIZARD): (D104)
Mara and Brey for the most part learn the same wizard spells. They will get fire, ice, and zap elements along with debuffs. As with all spells from Pilgrims and Wizards, they start off single target until you upgrade the character's range from an npc (available through payment and at different level intervals).
Both learn:
Blaze - Basic fire element spell
Surround - Blinds foe to lower accuracy.
Sleep - Puts enemy to sleep
Frost - Basic ice element spell
Stopspell - Used to silence foe from casting spells.
Sap - Used to lower defense of target(s)
Toxin - Weak damage but attempts to poison target(s)
Robmagic - Attempts to steal mp from a single target and recover caster's, gets weaker as battle goes on.
Zap - Weak electric element spell.
Chaos - Spell to cause confusion
Firebane - Stronger fire elemental spell, can hit an extra time on a target.
Beat - Attempts to kill target(s).
Blizzard - Stronger ice spell, sometimes can freeze target.
Bolt - Stronger electric elemental spell
NARA AND CENTURA (PILGRIM): (D105)
Nara and Centura have some shared spells they both learn. Pilgrims unfortunately are closer to white mages in this as they don't get to equip much better physical weapons typically, except for Nara's Tarot Cards. Majority of spells are supportive and buffs with no wind spells. As with all spells from Pilgrims and Wizards, they start off single target until you upgrade the character's range from an npc (available through payment and at different level intervals).
Both learn:
Heal - Heals target(s), amount varying on magic atk and power level.
Projectile - A buff to make melee weapons into ranged ones (Helps with flying enemies)
Upper - Raises Defense on target(s)
SpeedUp - Raises Speed on target(s)
Antidote - Cures Poison
NumbOff - Cures Paralyze
Bikill - Raises Strength on target(s)
Vivify - Chance to revive a target at around 1/3 health.
Radiate - First has the user attempt to use it. If it works, user glows a color, and by end of round, emits an element (Blue = Ice, Yellow = Lightning, Red = Fire) as damage to all enemies.
Barrier - Raises Magic Defense on target(s)
Fendspell - Cleanses and Protects target(s) from ALL magic for a short time.
Holy - Gives Holy Protection on target(s); Holy Protection seems to protect from instant death magic.
Revive - Revives party member(s) to full health.
Bounce - Places a magical wall on target(s) that bounces back ALL spells. Can fade when physically hit.
MARA AND NARA UNIQUE SPELLS: (E100)
The sisters get something called "Twin spells." Despite not being twins, they both take their turn to cast these unique spells, though they both must have the mp required to use it.
Drain (L5) - Drain Health from ALL enemies (Always) and heals the party with amount drained.
Bubble (L15) - Shields party from enemy effects for one turn
Slowww - Lowers agility of all enemies, can increase chance for party to pre-emptive strike.
Sister Toss - Toss sister at one enemy for high damage, but the tossed one leaves the battle.
BREY AND CENTURA OPTIONS: (E101)
Eventually, Brey and Centura will have options to change their classes. Both will change their sprite at least somewhat.
Brey can become a Sage in game, which lets him learn pilgrim spells ONLY. If Brey is missing any Wizard spells when he changes to Sage, he will NEVER learn them. It still is highly worth it to change Brey to Sage eventually, the timing can be tricky.
Centura gets the option to change into a Paladin like Cristo. Centura will retain all spells from pilgrim class, but also gets any Paladin spells she hasn't gotten. Similar to Brey, Centura will miss any spells from Pilgrim class that were not yet learned. Her stats will change to that of a paladins as well which will SEVERELY nerf her mp. Her pilgrim spells will retain their power/range/speed but will not be able to upgrade any further while a Paladin.
CRISTO (PALADIN): (D106)
Cristo gets a different class this time. This class is a lot like a warrior that gains a few spells. However, Paladin cannot power up their spells like wizards and pilgrims. So all their spells will always be single target, and the heal is a bit underwhelming. Can be useful to have another great physical attacker however, and tanks decently too.
Centura can change her class into a paladin and learn any of these skills that she didn't have already.
Paladins learn:
Heal (Lv 2)- Heals target(s), amount varying on magic atk
Upper - Raises Defense on target(s)
Surround - Blinds foe to lower accuracy.
Antidote - Cures poison
Stopspell - Used to silence foe from casting spells.
Beat - Attempts to kill target(s).
YIN (& ALENA LATER; FIGHTER): (D107)
Fighters are now less press button and do damage. They have set abilities based on their hp and mp (Yes MP). You take the sum of your hp and mp and look at the last number.
-Generally, if it is even, you should parry to activate the move.
-If it is odd, you should attack.
-Exceptions are 0 and 5, where you can normal attack without any penalty, or any other action.
If you try to attack on an even, you tend to do less damage. Also if you are out of mp, you tend to do less damage or are less likely to hit (exception for the Triple Hit)
Example: If your hp currently is 52 and mp is 29, that means the last number ends in 1, so you should attack. It will use up some mp for the attacks.
JESTER (PANON): (D108)
Panon is the only Jester you can get in the game, and gives a fond tribute to Goof-Offs and Taloon's old random antics. You can not control him in battle, but can influence his abilities with some accessory items he can equip later in the game, if you can find them.
HERO (BLUETTE): (D109)
Bluette is the hero you obtain in chapter 5. She is mostly a warrior with utility spells and the classic "Hurt" spell. There are some other things about her that can happen which are potentially spoiler territory. (To be updated later)
HELPFUL EXCEL SHEET (C102)
This is a sheet I been putting all my findings in, from time effects, item drops, enemy weaknesses or susceptibilities, as well as keeping track of spells and such. You will find some repeat information from what I posted here as well, and I am still updating it RANDOMLY. If anyone gets new info, I can update it.
Excel Sheet Link HERE
READ ME TEXT FILE: (C103)
Dragon Warrior Alchemy: A Mashup of NES titles I, II, III, IV “Let's throw them in the Alchemy Pot!”
Programmed by Vigistry using RPGVXAce Version 1.02a
Version 2.0.2, updated June 29, 2023
===========
1. Updates
===========
The Alchemy intoduction and updates page is at www.vigistry.com/dw_alchemy.html
Thanks to the beta testers who've helped oil all these moving parts!
Report bugs to brian@vigistry.com
===========
2. Startup
===========
Unzip the contents of the archive and double-click the “Game” file with the red
dragon icon and “Application” file type. The game may start in full-screen mode.
============
3. Controls
============
F12: reset
F1: settings
Alt Tab, Ctrl Esc: minimize window (quit)
Z key, C button: activate
X key, B button: cancel, open in-game menu
S key, Y button: pray (when available)
Arrow keys, D pad: movement
===========
4. Warning
===========
There is a flashing lights warning late-game when Malroth appears over Endor castle
and flies north. The sequence can be skipped by pressing cancel.
=====================================================
5. Differences from the classic Dragon Warrior games
=====================================================
Upon starting your first game of Alchemy, it will appear like a normal game of DW4
with much of the NPC dialogue the same. Gradually, though, the differences will
appear. Some things were changed due to storylines, logical sense, and artistic
license. If you're familiar with the original Dragon Warrior games, try the things
that historically worked. If they don't, that's Alchemy sending you on its own
path. With a multitude of archfiends trying to make the earthly worlds their own,
it should be no surprise that the norms would spiral into something altogether
different.
You will notice some differences in the battle mechanics that employ a more
synergistic experience system. See below for details.
a. Starting a game
* You can wait two music cycles on the title screen to see a slide show
with some back story. Press activate at any time to start the game.
* There are no name inputs in this game; characters consist of the stars
from DW4 as well as the pre-named Bluette, Celest, Centura, and Yin.
* You will be asked if you want the “Auto-roster” feature enabled. This
will assign each character to a specific role for a consistent theatrical
play-through. You won't be able take advantage of the hiring system, though.
b. Map screen gameplay
* Interacting with NPCs and doors is simplified. Press activate to talk,
and collide with doors to open them provided you have the proper key.
* Press cancel to open up the command menu.
* Most weapons and armor can be equipped and deequipped by “using” them.
* Maps mostly stay true to their Dragon Warrior counterparts with some
exceptions. These may have been due to story purposes, proper
architectural alignment of stairways, or to provide shortcuts.
* Wing of the Wyvern/Return magic brings up a list of the last three
civilizations visited as a compromise between DW2 and DW3. It adds
some management challenge this way.
* Your ship won't follow if you Wing/Return. The Fin of the Dolphin item
will whisk you back to your ship.
* Cursed items have the potential to attach themselves to an unlucky member
of your party.
* Drop items can have quirks attached to them. Before tossing that Copper
Sword, have a merchant look at it to see if it has special powers.
* With multiple parties in play, face a team captain to interact with both
parties' members: swap members, trade items, divvy gold, etc.
* Party eradication will return you to your last save state.
c. Logs
* Found in the main menu. Here you can look at world maps, bestiary, item
catalog, and change battle message speed.
d. Battle gameplay
* Allies targeting dead enemies will auto-retarget.
* There are no enemy “groups” as defined by the Dragon Quest series. You
may target enemies or allies individually, but with an increased spell
range, you may affect multiple enemies and allies. When your spell range
is at maximum, you will have the option to target one or all.
* There is no automated gameplay as introduced in DW4. The only automated
characters are Panon the jester, Tov the dog, and Doran the dinosaur. The
player maintains control throughout the game.
* Some winged enemies have the “flying” element. This gives them high
evasion vs. short-range weapons. The pilgrim will learn the Projectile
spell which will also give allies long-range attacks.
e. Spoils
* Gold is exclusive to each party member. An ally who lands the killing
blow earns the gold. Nevertheless, purchases are made with combined party
funds.
* Experience gains do not appear in the battle log. Rather, EXP is awarded
for every interaction done in battle, whether it be attacking, taking
damage, dodging, or inflicting states. It is common to level up right in
the middle of battle. Another EXP bonus is awarded to the entire party
upon victory. Enemies with large EXP rewards, such as bosses and metal
slimes, will only share the wealth after the battle is won.
* Ability to run from battle is based on agility, but that chance will
dwindle with each successive escape. Reset your best chance of running by
completing a battle.
f. Spells
* The vast variety of spells offered in Dragon Warrior is simplified in
Alchemy. Instead of many variations, IE Heal, Healmore, Healall, Healus,
and Healusall, you will use one basis spell throughout the entire game.
The spell's power will grow with the user.
* Spell costs increase by level and usage. Instead of spamming Blaze all
the time, try using a status spell to moderate spell costs for later.
* Enemy weaknesses, aside from obvious ones like fire and ice, do not
follow the traditional Dragon Warrior pattern. Test what works best.
* You will be able to purchase additional magic enhancements such as
power, range, and speed upgrades.
* The X-ray spell has more benefits. It can detect trapped chests, reveal
hidden pits, and view darkened rooms.
g. Endings
* Post-game content becomes available after the credits roll. From there,
you can achieve one of five different “true” endings.
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