Overview:
- Estimated trophy difficulty: 3/10 (Platinum Difficulty Rating)
- Offline trophies: 59 (50, 7, 1, 1)
- Online trophies: 0
- Approximate amount of time to Platinum: 75-100 hours (Estimated Time to Platinum)
- Minimum number of playthroughs: 1
- Number of missable trophies: 0
- Glitched trophies: 0
- Does difficulty affect trophies?: No
- Do trophies stack?: JP region stack (see Intro for more details)
- Do cheat codes disable trophies?: N/A
- Additional peripherals required?: N/A
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is the eleventh mainline instalment in the long running Dragon Quest franchise. Not only is it the first entry to grace the Playstation 4, it's also the first release we've seen on home consoles here in the west in over ten years! In Dragon Quest XI you will be placed in the shoes of a silent and unnamed Hero. Upon completing his coming of age ceremony he is informed that he is not just an ordinary village boy as he has been lead to believe but in fact the reincarnation of a fabled hero of light, the Luminary. Not quite sure what this means, our Hero ventures forth seeking answers and in doing so takes his first footsteps on the path to his destiny: saving the world of Erdrea from an ever looming darkness.
Considering Dragon Quest XI's rather lengthy trophy list it is still a relatively easy platinum and you'll find yourself unlocking most of the trophies simply by playing through the massive amount of content on offer in this game. The story itself is split into three Acts. Act 1 and Act 2 is the main story and after defeating the final boss ending credits will roll however the game does not end here! Rather than your typical post game content Dragon Quest XI has opted to continue the story in Act 3 (Post Game) allowing you to develop the story even more and make your way towards unlocking the true ending. You will be required to do a little bit of grinding for the platinum as you do need to get all of your party members to level 99 and it's also time consuming collecting all of the appearance-altering clothing but all in all, the game is still fairly tame in comparison to RPG standards. There are also no missables to be concerned with. Content may get locked out at certain points during the story but after you reach Act 3 (Post Game) everything will be available again.
This trophy guide is for the NA/EU version of the game. The JP version of the game has a near identical trophy list except for the missing Worrywart trophy. It is instead replaced by a trophy unlocked by entering an incorrect code in the JP only Spell of Restoration input section of the Adventure Log menu. There are other small differences between the versions due to the NA/EU game being released later such as overhauled menus, UI and camera controls and an added dash feature (press while moving to run).
Difficulty disclaimer: Dragon Quest XI features a hard mode called Draconian Quest in which you can choose between a list of handicaps to make your playthrough more challenging. This can be turned on only upon starting a new adventure by pressing when you are choosing your adventure log name and, if you ever find things too difficult or annoying, can be switched off permanently at a church or prayer statue. As the platinum does not require any feature of Draconian Quest this trophy guide is written under the assumption you are playing the vanilla normal difficulty therefore the methods and tips listed here may not be applicable to you if you've chosen otherwise.
Step 1: Complete the story (Acts 1 and 2)
Basically just sit back and enjoy the story. The game itself is very linear. You will be restricted to a single path for most of the game but there are a few points where events are interchangeable. If you are ever feeling lost, you can open the mini map by pressing to see your current story objective or speak to any NPC with a pink speech bubble above their head (shown as a pink dot on the mini map) to get yourself back on track. To make things easier on yourself I do advise that whenever you reach a new area or town that you thoroughly explore the location. Chests, wardrobes and smashable pots/barrels are a valuable source of gold, Mini Medals, equipment and materials while red books in bookcases will contain recipes that you can use for crafting or lore that will deepen the story. For this run I suggest that you concentrate on riding all mountable monsters, speaking to every weather predicting cow and experiencing all Puff-Puffs simply to save yourself time backtracking later. It's also a good idea to destroy all of the Crackshot Crossbow bullseye targets in this step as you'll find the rewards on offer for this are more useful earlier in the game rather than later. Once you defeat the final boss ensure that you make a save when prompted to in order to access Act 3 (Post Game).
In regards to battle strategies and bosses, as stated earlier Dragon Quest XI is very tame. You won't need specific battle setups or strategies to defeat any of the story bosses so long as you are sufficiently levelled for the area. As a general rule of thumb you should always explore every field for treasures and sparkly locations and avoid running from monsters while doing so. You don't need to defeat every single monster you see, this won't be possible as there are far too many and they spawn relatively quickly too but make sure you aren't actively avoiding them. Throw in some side quests here and there and you shouldn't have to worry about any of the bosses in this step.
Note: If you are playing with your battle tactics set to any of the auto modes (anything but Follow Orders) make sure to turn on the use of Pep Powers by going to the tactics menu and pressing . You need to use 25 for a trophy and if these are turned off while you aren't controlling your characters it will never unlock.
During this step you will earn the following trophies:
A Close Call
A Disciple Worthy of the Name
Adventure Awaits!
A Spark Still Shines
Beating the House
Best of the Bastion
Bigger Fish to Fry
Big Hitter
Coming of Age
Dark Art
Forging Ahead
Hot Spring Hero
Ice-Breaker
If At First You Don't Succeed
Knight of the Living Dread
Mooteorologist
Mount Olympian
New Horizons
Out-Stand-In
Peppy-Go-Lucky
Pre-Emptor
Puff-Puff Buff
Ready as We'll Ever Be
Saviour of All Erdrea
Sea-Crossed Lovers
Sibling Revivalry
Soldier of Smile
Terra Incognita
The Loveliest Catch
The Power of the Luminary
The World Tree
Undisputed Champion of Erdrea
Wild Blue Yonder
Worrywart
Yggdrasil's Chosen
Beast Blaster
Crossbow Colossus
Step 2: Complete Post Game (Act 3)
Reload your save file from completing Act 2 and continue the story events. You will reach a point where you will be required to make a decision and will be warned multiple times that this is a point of no return. Don't worry, this is the only way to access Act 3 and all of the extra post game content so select yes. Act 3 consists of both a main storyline that leads you towards the true ending, as well as side stories in practically every town you've visited previously in the game. It's recommended that you continue the main storyline at least until the point where your characters regain their full strength and from that point you are free to pick and choose what you do. Keep in mind that you do not need to complete all of the side stories to obtain the platinum, just those that are required for the Dedicated Follower of Fashion and Swordsmith of Light trophies, but they are a good way to gain a few levels to tackle the final boss. Again, if at any point you get lost, look out for the pink speech bubbles and dots. The main storyline will also be indicated by pink exclamation marks at locations on the World Map and Sky Map. Defeat the final boss and watch the true ending to finish up this step.
During this step you will earn the following trophies:
A Momentous Decision
Master of the Skies
The Final Fight
Expert Itemologist
Echoes of an Elusive Age
Step 3: Clean up miscellaneous trophies
This step is designated for any trophies you may have left over at this point. As the game does not prompt you to save your game after defeating the final boss you are free to reload your save prior and continue working on any remaining trophies. The bulk of this will likely be levelling all characters to 99 and obtaining all of the appearance-altering outfits. See the respective trophy explanations for everything you need to know to unlock these.
During this step you will earn the following trophies:
Casino Connoisseur
Chef de Classe de Medailles
Flawless Sorceress
Island-Hopper
Knight Exemplar
Master Thief
Megastar
Next-Level Luminary
Swordsmith of Light
Undisputed Champion
Venerable Elder
Virtuoso Healer
Dedicated Follower of Fashion
Quest to Impress
Till Death Do Us Part
Ultimate Enlightenment
Living Legend
That’s it, you're done! Congratulations on your Platinum.
[PST Would Like To Thank Eternal Rach for this Roadmap]