Dragon Quest VIII: Alchemy Pot, recovery recipes and item planning
Craft useful supplies and keep ingredients available for later equipment.
Edition covered
Guides cover Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King on Nintendo 3DS, including visible encounters, instant alchemy and playable Red and Morrie. PS2 balance and features can differ. All pictures are official Nintendo 3DS media, with artwork identified separately.
6 items · one picture per entry · open a picture for full size.
Alchemy & items
Alchemy Pot
Medicinal herb
Two medicinal herbs become strong medicine, and two strong medicines become special medicine.
Strong medicine
Two medicinal herbs become strong medicine, and two strong medicines become special medicine.
Special medicine
Two medicinal herbs become strong medicine, and two strong medicines become special medicine.
Quick notes
- Use the Alchemy Pot before buying every upgrade. Alchemy combines existing items into different equipment or supplies.
- Start with inexpensive recovery recipes. Two medicinal herbs become strong medicine, and two strong medicines become special medicine.
- Treat rare ingredients as a budget. A recipe can be available before its ingredients are easy to replace.
- Move crafted battle items out of the bag. A successful craft usually leaves another inventory task: give usable healing to the people who may need to act.
Use the Alchemy Pot before buying every upgrade
| Step | Purpose | Useful check |
|---|---|---|
| Inspect the recipe book | Find a known result | Missing ingredients are distinguished in the menu. |
| Check old equipment | Avoid selling a future ingredient | Compare against recipes you want. |
| Choose ingredients | Create the selected item | Confirm the result before using rare materials. |
| Distribute the result | Make supplies usable in battle | Move recovery into personal inventories. |
Start with inexpensive recovery recipes
| Result | Ingredients | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Strong medicine | Medicinal herb + medicinal herb | Improved single-target healing. |
| Special medicine | Strong medicine + strong medicine | Stronger compact recovery. |
| Rose-root | Strong medicine + medicinal herb | Another healing upgrade. |
| Rose-wort | Strong medicine + moonwort bulb | Recovery that also addresses paralysis. |
Alchemy is instant in the 3DS version; PS2 instructions that require walking describe a different implementation.
References
| Reference | Website |
|---|---|
| Nintendo: Dragon Quest VIII 3DS features and characters | www.nintendo.com |
| Nintendo: English 3DS manual | csassets.nintendo.com |
| GameFAQs: 3DS characters and abilities | gamefaqs.gamespot.com |
| Dragon Quest Wiki: hero skill trees | dragon-quest.org |
| Piggyback: original official guide sample recipes | www.piggyback.com |