Dragon Quest XI: How to Beat Calasmos (True Final Boss)

How to Beat Calasmos (True Final Boss) in Dragon Quest XI

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is the first proper Dragon Quest entry in nearly eight years, with the last one being Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies on Nintendo DS. In the spirit of traditional JRPGs, Dragon Quest XI casts you as the Luminary, a chosen hero destined to fight off the darkness and save the world of Erdrea. The entire experience almost feels like a homage to the Dragon Quest series in general, and if you’ve played any titles in the series before you’ll know to expect certain things. One of those things is that the game doesn’t end quite when you think it does, and there’s actually a true final boss to defeat. In this case, its name is Calasmos.

Reloading your save after beating Dragon Quest XI the first time will see the story carry on for quite a bit longer, until you can finally enter the dark star in the sky and fight Calasmos.

Before we jump into how to beat Calasmos’ battle, there are a few things to get out of the way. First off, you’ll want to make sure your entire party is around level 70 at least. It’s also recommended you complete at least the last four sidequests of Dragon Quest XI to give a boost to Rab’s magical power, Serena’s healing power, the Hero’s Luminary abilities, and Hendrik’s Blind Man’s Biff. Also, make sure the hero is wielding the Super Sword of Light, or at least has it in his inventory. There’s more you can do to prepare, of course, like forging a new Sword of Light, but this should prepare you enough at least.

Calasmos can be one of the toughest fights in Dragon Quest XI, and right off the bat you might find yourself getting demolished. That’s because there’s a bit of a trick with this fight, as the first thing you need to do is dispel the dark aura boosting Calasmos’ abilities. The very first thing you need to do is, on the hero’s turn, go to items and use the Super Sword of Light. This will dispel Calasmos’ aura and kick off the real battle, reducing the damage he causes and increasing the damage you cause. You can really go with any party setup for this fight, but you should definitely have Serena and the hero in your party.

Keep Serena completely on healing duty the entire battle, you’ll need it. At the start, you should use or swap in Sylvando to use Accelerate and boost up your party’s speed. If you’ve boosted the hero’s Luminary abilities, you can use those this entire battle to hit all enemies for substantial damage, especially if he’s dual-wielding. Now, use a big damage dealer to help out, like Veronica, Jade, or Erik. Focus on taking out Calasmo’s claw first as it can inflict status effects, then after that, move onto the cannon. Don’t be afraid to swap characters out if they’re struggling to stay alive. You can also swap in Hendrik and use Kabuff and Magic Barrier to boost your defense. Periodically, Calasmos will summon little black ghosts to help him, in which case you should absolutely focus on taking them out quickly as they can restore health to the boss. There are also points where he’ll freeze time for everyone except one party member, in which case you should completely focus on keeping that party member alive. Time will reset in a couple turns.

Just keep battling, buffing, and healing and the boss will eventually go down. Congratulations, you’ve beaten Dragon Quest XI.

That’s all you need to know about beating Calasmos, the true final boss of Dragon Quest XI. For more tips and tricks on the game, make sure to check out our extensive wiki guide.