Basic Gameplay (2)

Learn the core room building mechanics in Dragon Quest Builders, including requirements, blueprints, and town leveling.

The game operates under specific rules for building, focusing on 'rooms' rather than entire 'buildings'. You can connect multiple rooms using connecting walls, provided you use the requested material for blueprints. Most rooms are flexible with wall materials, but blueprints require specific materials to be completed.

The interior of a room is crucial. To create an 'empty room', you need solid walls 2 blocks high, a door, and a light source. The game then prioritizes room types based on the decorations placed within.

Sometimes, a room might have the correct name for a quest but still requires the actual blueprint to be completed. Ensure you finish the blueprint for quest progression, even if the room appears to be named correctly.

Blueprints often lead to specific room recipes. For example, the Greasy Mallet blueprint in Chapter 1 becomes a Cookfire Cafe upon completion. The Greasy Mallet is the blueprint's name, while Cookfire Cafe is its designation in the Building list. Blueprints may have slight variations in required materials, but they still count as the intended room. The Greasy Mallet, for instance, requires a Crockery and a pot, which are not mandatory for the Cookfire Cafe but are considered extra items.

Extra items will not change a room's designation unless they meet the requirements for a different room. While it's rare for adding items to downgrade a room, you might need to remove items to meet the requirements of a different, specific room for a quest. For example, if you build a Stonemason Workshop, add a Forge, and then add items for a Stonemason's Studio (Shop Sign, fancy light source, leather sack), it might become a Blacksmith's Studio instead. To complete a quest for a Stonemason's Studio, you would need to remove the Forge. You can re-add it later once the quest objective is met and the room is recognized for progression or added to your completed recipes.

Each room provides a base EXP score, augmented by the value of its interior items. Creating 'named rooms' is more efficient for boosting EXP than placing items randomly. EXP is only tallied for items placed INSIDE a room; items like Shop Signs must be placed within the room's boundaries to count.

A town's level cannot decrease. Once you reach level 2, it remains so even if the town is destroyed. Most chapters cap at level 5. To reach higher levels, consider building a room filled with all your collected decorations, then dismantling it to recover space. Achieving level 4 and 5 simultaneously is often feasible with sufficient decorations.

Rooms can be built outside of town, which is necessary for specific rooms like Cantlin Gardens, as trees require an outdoor environment to grow. These external rooms do not provide EXP or utilize villagers but do count towards completed room achievements.

Villagers (NPCs) generally stay within the town's boundaries unless defending it. If a staircase extends even one block outside town, NPCs cannot use it to reach upper floors due to pathing limitations.

Rooms also interact with villagers. Some room descriptions indicate that 'villagers can build things in this room.' In practice, they periodically craft random objects and place them in the room's chest. You might find items you haven't crafted or even discovered the recipe for. Kitchens may occasionally yield cooked meals.

Certain rooms offer additional bonuses, making upgrades worthwhile even if not directly required by the story.

Vertical Building

You can construct rooms on top of other rooms if they meet the conditions: a 2-block high wall, a door, and a light source. Technically, a floor is not required, but it impacts functionality. Some players have created 'stackings' of rooms, where properly placed doors and light sources at different heights allow for multiple rooms within a limited vertical space. While there's no inherent advantage, this method saves space. For practical purposes, a floor between stacked rooms is recommended, effectively requiring 3 blocks of height per room (floor plus walls). The floor itself is usually implicit.

More about Floors

The ground or floor level counts towards a room's EXP. Changing the flooring can increase a room's EXP value. When some rooms require water tiles, the game checks the block directly below the room's level. In Chapter 2, a block creates a water hole at 'sea level.' Since water blocks are lower than the ground, you may need to build the room one block lower to meet these requirements.