Dragon Quest V Walkthrough - (Chapter 1)
I talk about this on the Dragon Quest V index page but it's worth mentioning again here. This walkthrough is designed to give you (the player) as much freedom as possible when playing the game. What this means is I do not hold your hand the entire way, my guide points you in the right direction and tells you how to advance the story forward. This means that exploring towns and dungeons is mostly left up to you.
Any puzzles, rare items or otherwise troublesome elements are covered in this guide. My goal is to make you spend as little time as possible reading this guide and the most time possible enjoying the actual game.
When you gain control of your character for the first time you'll find yourself onboard of a ship. In order to advance the story forward you'll need to speak with everyone on the ship then speak with Pankraz (your father). On this ship there is a total of 4 Medicinal Herbs for you to find along with 1 Seed of Resilience and 2 T 'n' T Tickets.
The treasure chests that you see inside of the Supply Hold of the ship can't be opened at this point in time so you can safely ignore them. The rest of the items you'll find in Barrels or on a Shelf. Once you've spoken to everyone on the ship it will dock in town and you'll need to return to your father and speak with him a second time.
On land once you'll receive a World Map from your Dad's friend and also regain control of your character. Smash the nearby Barrels to claim 10G as your reward then exit onto the World Map. Upon getting into your first battle Daddy will bail you out and also walk you to the next town.
Tip: If you are having trouble finding a door or anything ingame remember to use your shoulder buttons (L and R) to rotate the camera!
Whealbrook is the first official town that you'll come across in Dragon Quest V. In the cellar of Bianca's house you'll find a Seed of Strength. There are other items scattered throughout the town too but as stated already I am not going to hold your hand every step of the way with this guide; Dungeons and Towns will be mostly up to you to fully explore.
Once you are finished exploring the town and collecting any available loot you'll want to venture into the cave at the northern end of town to advance the story. Inside of here you'll be fighting monsters and for that reason you'll want to be careful since it's still the start of the game. At any point if you need to heal up you can return to Bianca's house and speak with her father Sancho to stay the night for free (you must be damaged for Sancho to let you rest here).
Using the church in town to save your progress isn't a bad idea either. Inside of the cave you'll find a man trapped under a boulder (pictured below), this is who you'll need to rescue in order to advance the story forward. Return to town and speak to the man you just rescued in the Item Shop if you'd like a reward.
When you are ready to continue the story return to Sancho's house and spend the night again. Your father will be there when you wake up and a scene will start when you go down stairs. Agree to travel with him and you'll start on another linear trip to the next town, Roundbeck.
Explore the town of Roundbeck and collect all of the goodies to be found. To advance the story forward you'll need to speak with the kids picking on the cat on the small island south of the Inn (pictured below). Once you've interacted with these kids all that is left to do is return to the Inn and speak with Pankraz. This will trigger some scenes that move the story forward.
It'll now be night out and since Bianca is now a member of your party you'll want to level her up a little bit before tackling the next dungeon, Uptaten Towers. I recommend getting her to at least level 5 before continuing north to Uptaten Tower.
Note: You can rest for free by returning to the Inn in Roundbeck. When you wake up, however, it will be day again and Bianca will not be in your party anymore. To change this just speak with Bianca on the 1st floor of the Inn and you'll get a dialogue option to advance to night again (pictured below).
Boys picking on a Sabrecat Kitten in Roundbeck (left) and Bianca at the table in the Inn as the trigger to make it night (right).
Uptaten Tower on the World Map.
Uptaten Tower is found due north of Roundbeck, you're looking for the building shown in the screen shot above. If you follow the river that's north of Roundbeck you'll find Uptaten Tower just to the left of the northern most bridge. Once you enter the Uptaten Tower area you'll need to travel to the back of the building and climb up the ladder. Use the R + L buttons to change your camera angle if you are having trouble navigating the area.
In the first room of the tower Bianca will be whisked away by some Skeletons. To free her you'll need to inspect the tombstones on the left in an upcoming room (pictured below). Don't worry about getting lost in this dungeon as it is all quite linear. There will also be no enemies until later.
Gravestone that Bianca is trapped underneath.
In the next two rooms you should speak with the ghost lady to advance the story forward. You'll find some goodies in the master bedroom that she is in as well. There is only one path forward so follow that when you're ready to continue. Wait for the flashes of lightning to navigate the dark room and then when you see the king's ghost, chase him from room to room.
Speak with the king's ghost outside the tower and agree to assist him before returning through the door you came. From this point onward you can encounter enemies inside of Uptaten Tower. On the first floor of the tower to the west you'll find an Inn (screen shot below) which you'll want to head to immediately so that you can both learn the location of it and advance the story forward. Stay at the Inn for a night and you'll find yourself outside next to an old man.
Uptaten Tower Inn (left).
Now the front door to the tower is unlocked as is the underground entrance which you can access from the cave slightly north of the old man. Through the cave's entrance you'll find 3 treasure chests and a dead end. When you are ready to advance the story and collect the Torch you'll need to go into the basement that's just south of the Inn inside the tower.
The room with the torch is a giant kitchen with a plate in the middle that we'll be visiting again shortly; the torch is found inside one of the two pots at the northeastern most portion of the room. As for the chests in the adjacent room... you can reach them by entering through the cave entrance after you rest at the Inn.
With the torch in hand continue up to the room that had ghosts in it and is dark. You will have to open up your inventory and (if your Torch is in the Bag) place it into one of your character's inventories to use the Torch. Once you've done so drop down through the hole (pictured below) to collect two more treasure chests.
Fall down where I am standing to reach two treasure chests.
All that's left is the final boss of this dungeon, the Haunted Housekeeper. You'll find him at the top of Uptaten tower, in the same room you use the Torch in to clear out the ghosts. When you first approach him he'll drop you down into the kitchen ontop of the plate from before where you'll be made into a meal for some enemies.
If you aren't at least level 7 I don't recommend you attempt the boss as he is quite difficult. Grind for a little, spend another night at the Inn and then load up both your Hero and Bianca's inventory with Medicinal Herbs so they can use them during battle. Return to the boss room when you're ready and chase him out to the balcony to begin the boss fight.
This boss is by far the hardest enemy up until this point since he likes to use Kasap on your characters then trucks them, which is to say, hits them like a semi truck. Use Bianca's Dazzle spell on him as well as Kasap if you have it. At this point in the game your Hero will also have the Heal spell which will be extremely helpful along with any Medicinal Herbs for when your HP gets low.
Once you've defeated the boss you'll get a short scene with the king and queen followed by a Golden Orb as your reward. Return to town (use a Chimera Wing if you want) and a scene will play out where you take the Sabrecat from the kids and then get to choose a name for it. Keep selecting "No" until you find a name you want.
Tip: Un equip everything from Bianca and give it to your new party member before leaving this town. Bianca leaves your party at this point in time and any items on her are lost.
Naming my Sabrecat Purrcy.
When you are ready to advance the story forward speak with your father who is standing out front of the Inn. Leave town and travel back to Whealbrook, you'll be on a linear path with your dad just like all of the other times. Once you're back in Whealbrook your father will forbid you from leaving town. There are a few things you have to do in Whealbrook at this point to advance the story forward.
1. Speak with the man outside the church dressed like you (actually optional but you'd assume it isn't)
2. Go downstairs in the Inn and speak with the Fairy on the counter
3. Find the Fairy in Sancho's house, in the cellar
After speaking with the Fairy inside of Sancho's house a staircase will appear that your Hero will follow up into the next part of the game.
The Staircase to Faery Land.
Return to Dragon Quest V Index