Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is a game that can be rather sentimental when it comes to certain locations. Cobblestone, the hero’s hometown, is one such place. We spend our opening moments there, getting to know the mother who adopted him, people who helped raise him, and young woman who is pretty much considered a love interest. Then, once his quest begins, we get a rather substantial gut punch coming home for the first time. But, as the game proves, each visit to Cobblestone can be a rather rewarding one.
Editor’s Note: There are spoilers for Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age below.
Okay, now that we are past the spoiler break, I am talking about rebuilding Cobblestone. Once you get into Dragon Quest XI, you learn everyone from Cobblestone isn’t dead. Hendrik helped protect them. They all return home, but the town is still a wreck. But, if you take the time to return home before you head to the Forbidden Tower to start getting things done, you can help return the place to its former glory. I feel like this is important for many reasons. We see how visibly its devastation affected the hero when he returned for the first time. We know how it hurt him, and his facial expression and reaction showed his guilt. Coming back allows us to make things right. It also means we get to have an additional questline to follow and a reward in the form of a fantastic shop.
It all comes down to revisiting specific places and getting certain named NPCs to return to Cobblestone to make it better. Gemma straight up tells you who you might need. She names Derk, Erik’s merchant friend in Heliodor, suggests Octagonian fighters, asks for someone with brains from Hotto, and rounds up the list with a mascot from up north. Heading to Heliodor results in you meeting Derk’s wife, who says he has been abducted by a Hades condor and taken to Cobblestone Tor. Beating it gets you a merchant. In Octogonia, you go to Vince’s orphanage and need to fight the Malicious Underdigger, Abominable Showman, Sinderella, Whambelina, and Arachtagon again. Underdigger and Showman then agree to be Cobblestone’s guards. After that, you need to talk to Noah in Gondolia. To get him to join, you need to fight the 10 monsters roaming around the town. When they’re all dead, Doge Rotondo rewards you and Noah can be recruited. Finally, you have to head to Snifleheim’s and go to the Royal Library. Check the library’s first floor bookshelves to learn a beast called the Jormunn has been taken over by an evil spirit. Once you find it in The Hekswood Depths, you need to use lightning spells (like Zap or Kazap) to defeat it in battle.
Following all of those steps will save the day and result in Cobblestone returning o its former glory. Perhaps the best thing about rebuilding Cobblestone isn’t the satisfaction that comes from knowing you helped restore one of Dragon Quest XI’s more memorable towns. The new shop might make it even more worthwhile. There are a lot of great things to buy from Derk, once he establishes himself in the town. You can get great weapons, like the Berserker’s Blade greatsword, Rod of Paradise heavy wand, or Anchor of Rancour whip, or armor like the Metal King Armour or Pirate King’s Coat.
But the big deal here is the Pep Pops item. This is a 200,000G consumable that, when used, peps up all four active allies. This is huge, considering how hard it can be to wait for enough people to get enough people pepped up for three person skills like Arise or Brownie Boost or four people for Gigaburst or Kazapstrophe. Once you get Cobblestone rebuilt, this is the only place where you can buy Pep Pops.
Being able to rebuild Cobblestone in Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is quite an opportunity. It lets us tie up a lose end. We get to make up for any guilt we may feel for the village’s destruction. It gives us a chance to face a few familiar bosses again and challenge ourselves. Plus, once it is done, it gives us a fantastic shop with good equipment for sale and game-changing Pep Pops. All in all, it is one of the better and more rewarding sidequests in the game.
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is immediately available on the PlayStation 4 and PC worldwide. It is also available on the Nintendo 3DS in Japan. Dragon Quest XI S is in development for the Nintendo Switch.
