If you’ve managed to reach the end of Dragon Quest 11, you’ll have to face off against one final boss. This isn’t just a standard fight, this is the battle to end all battles — the very source of all darkness in the world is your opponent. We’re not talking about the Lord of Shadows. No, we’re talking about Calasmos. Even if you’ve hit Level 99, this boss can be incredibly difficult to beat.
At least, if you don’t know the trick. Most of us won’t — Calasmos is an unstoppable foe if you miss out on a simple mechanic that’s easy to ignore for the entire game. You can actually use items, weapons, or armor in your inventory. Certain equipment actually has an effect in-game. Some sets of armor or accessories can be used to buff your hero or the party. And one particular weapon ca be used to shrink Calasmos down to manageable size. Learn all about this incredibly tough battle in the guide below.
More Dragon Quest 11 guides on Gameranx:
- Dragon Quest 11: All The Best Ways To Earn Gold | Easy Cash Farming Guide
- Dragon Quest 11: How To Find Every Special Costume | Secret Customization Guide
- Dragon Quest 11: How To Repair Cobblestone | Post-Game Quest Guide
- Dragon Quest 11: The Fastest (And Easiest) Ways To Earn XP | Level Farming Guide
- Dragon Quest 11: How To Get The Best Sword In The Game | Supreme Sword of Light Guide
- Dragon Quest 11: How To Access The True Ending | Post-Credits Quest Guide
- Dragon Quest 11: How To Gain 50,000+ XP In A Single Battle | Metal Slime XP Farming Guide
How To Beat The Ultimate Final Boss | Calasmos Guide
After completing the “main” campaign, you’ll reach the end-game of Dragon Quest 11. In the past, you’ll spend most of your time preparing for the climactic battle against the origin of all evil, Calasmos.
This hulking brute is incredibly tough. Even if you’ve reached Level 99, this foe can easily wipe your party, or grind you down into dust over the course of the battle. To defeat him, you need to prepare, and there’s one incredibly important item that’s absolutely required for victory.
Weaken Calasmos With The Super Sword of Light
The Super Sword of Light is a weapon you’ll automatically collect as you progress through Part 3. The Super Sword of Light can only be equipped by the Hero, and you’ll need it to weaken Calasmos.
- Equip the Super Sword of Light, or put the Super Sword of Light in the Hero’s inventory before facing off against Calasmo!
To use the Super Sword of Light, select “Item” on the Hero’s turn, then select the Super Sword of Light. Doing so during the Calasmos fight will dispel the fog around Calasmos, making him much weaker. He attacks less per turn, does less damage, and takes more damage.
Preparing For Calasmos
- Get to Level 70+. Use the Metal Slime farming technique linked above for an easier strategy. Farming Metal Slimes can earn you 5+ Levels per battle.
- Equip the best armor / weapons. For powerful armor and weapons, repair Cobblestone to unlock Derk’s store. Derk sells impressively powerful end-game gear. Again, there’s a guide for that in the links above.
Calasmos | Battle Tips
As soon as you start the fight with Calasmos, switch to the Super Sword of Light on your Hero and use the Super Sword of Light like an Item. This will dispel the darkness that protects Calasmos. This lowers Calasmos’ attack, defense, and turn speed.
Calasmos attacks from its two arms (Claw and Cannon) and body. The main body uses magic attacks, breath attacks, and debuffs. The Claw is a powerful physical damage weapon, and the Cannon shoots everyone, or summons Darklings.
- If Darklings are summoned, defeat them before they finish chanting. When they raise their arms to pray to Calasmos, you have one turn to finish them off.
To truly damage Calasmos, I recommend using Oomphle (Veronica / Sylvando) on your Hero, Jade or Henrick. Henrick can use special abilities to attack and significantly lower enemy defense. The best strategy is to lower Calasmos’ defense, and enhance the attack power of your main fighters.
Serena can unlock Omniheal. Use her as your dedicated healer. You can also use Rab. They’ll likely need to use Multiheal every turn. Sylvando can use his healing ability to heal in a pinch with Rab. The Hero can also unlock Omniheal, but he should focus on attacking.
- For insane damage, use Divide on Erik, then use his 100% unmissable Critical attack ability. If his strength is increased, and Calasmos’ defense is lowered, this can do truly over-the-top amounts of damage.
Focus on Henrick and Hero — Henrick should be using his special abilities to lower the defense of his targets, while Hero uses his strongest single-attack abilities. Hero with the Great Sword has an incredibly powerful single-target attack you can spam to quickly defeat the arms.
- Target the arms first. Takeout the claw, then the cannon. Doing so will remove their turns.
When only the body is left, you can focus all your attention on it. Keep up the strong attacks — use your highest MP powers, debuff its defense, and buff your attack power. Multi-hit attacks are especially effective. Henrick and Jade have particularly devastating special abilities when buffed.
When Calasmos is almost dead, he’ll stop time, leaving only one character able to move. If you’re slow, Calasmos will also revives its arms at half-health. At this point, it’s usually better to continue focusing your attacks on Calasmos itself. Don’t bother destroying the arms a second time, just keep attacking the body with everything you’ve got.
As a desperation move, Calasmos will also summon a giant ball of flame over its head. You’ll have two turns to prepare. You can either cast Serena’s resurrection ability, swap to your secondary team and defend, or just keep attacking. If Calasmos is in orange health, or has recently healed, it likely only has about 1,000-2,000 HP left.
The biggest challenge is figuring out that you can use the Super Sword of Light to severely weaken Calasmos. Before using the sword, Calasmos is just difficult enough that it seems -almost- possible to win. Don’t give yourself a headache. Just use the sword to drain its power, then you’ll have a fair fight on your hands.
