Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake: How to beat Dying Fire
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake’s new Dying Fire boss might be one of the hardest ones in the entire game. Before you can claim the Green Orb, the Dying Fire monster will appear. It’s among Archfiend Baramos’s new lieutenants, and it won’t give up the Orb without a fight. As one of the new fights for this version of DQ3, it’s much tougher than any other encounter you’re going to face.
Dying Fire is a real step up from Ripper of the Rift, which you encountered in the Pyramid of Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. This is a fight that, even if you put the difficulty down to Dracky Quest — where you cannot die — this fight could still be a struggle and one you might have to reset for.
Note: This guide features minor spoilers for Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake.
Tips to defeat Dying Fire in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake
One of the tips for defeating Dying Pyre in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake is to have anti-paralysis equipment. So, if you’ve got items like the Banishing Bell, it’s going to go very far in this fight. One of the main reasons this fight took me about a half hour to complete was because I was constantly being put to sleep by some of the enemy attacks.
The other thing that makes this fight infuriating is that both enemies you fight here, Dying Fire and Phantasm, can summon more allies. If you kill one, it feels like there’s a 50% chance that they’ll summon another one next turn. Before you know it, the screen is full of these guys.
They all have individual places in the enemy lineup, so you can take your time and slowly weaken them, one by one. My strategy was to pick one of the enemy types — in my case Dying Fire — and focus them down at the same time. That way, I only had to deal with the Phantasms, which are weaker, but still quite annoying.
Dying Fires can also cast Whack, which is an instant death attack, so that’s another main reason they had to be removed from the field of battle first. They also have AoE spells like Swoosh and Wind Sickles, making the fight just that much harder. Focus the Dying Fires down first in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake.
Thankfully, Dying Fires are, funny enough, weak to Fire. So Flame, Slash/Flame, and Breath/Frizzle work wonders on them. They’re also weak to lightning, so if you have Lightning Slash on your hero, cast Oomph on him, and smash through Dying Fires. This should hit for around 300, and make them easier to take out.
Thankfully, Phantasms do have a weakness: Cold Magic. When you’re down to just Phantasms, in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, I recommend using your strongest Boomerang, as well as liberal use of the Crackle spell. If you have a Sage by now, alongside a Wizard, you can double up on this. They don’t hit especially hard but can paralyze you, which is annoying.
Alternatively, one strategy that can work wonders in this fight too, relies heavily on the Monster Arena/Friendly Monsters. If you’ve taken the time to level a Monster Wrangler, and have at Monster Pile-On, you can smash enemy groups for lots of damage.
This relies on you having found plenty of monsters, though. If you have managed to get Wild Side by now, that doubles your actions for a limited time. Depending on when you tackle this fight, you may be able to use this to easily shred all the enemies simultaneously.
Once you beat the Dying Fire, you can claim the Green Orb in Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, and move on towards gathering the others, if necessary. These are incredibly important items, as they’ll unlock the ability to fly.
This will, ultimately, grant you access to every part of the overworld, and allow you to visit some spaces you haven’t been able to travel to yet.