Dragon Quest Builders 2

Dragon Quest Builders 2
Also known as: Dragon Quest Builders 2: Hakaishin Shidō to Karappo no Shima (JP) Developers: Square Enix, Koei Tecmo Publishers: Square Enix, Nintendo (US Switch/EU Switch) Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows Released in JP: December 20, 2018 Released in US: July 12, 2019 Released in EU: July 12, 2019 This game has unused areas. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused items. This game has unused text. This game has revisional differences. This game has a prototype article This game has a prerelease article This game has a bugs page

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 is Dragon Quest meets Minecraft... again. Also involves something about some twerp befriending a freshly-revived God of Destruction, but that's probably not important.

To do: The original short Japanese demo released before the game came out might be worth looking at. Document debug build. (Can be used to access the Battle Atoll as well as a developer test area.)

Sub-Pages

Prototype Info

Prerelease Info

Bugs

Unused Objects Unused story props, items, and DLC galore! Hargon didn't know what to do with these apparently.

Unused Text An absolute treasure trove, featuring text from cut sidequests, item descriptions, miscellaneous NPC dialogue, and more!

Unused Item Assets

To do: Finish going through these. Check which of these are just the graphic, and which have actual items/models present. Coming back to this, the game may have literally every Builders 1 icon, including unused ones, so it may be more useful to just upload the interesting ones instead of the entire game's icons.

Dragon Quest Builders Leftovers

This game reuses many assets from the first, included with these are unused leftovers from the first game. Most of these are either items rendered redundant by mechanical changes or were story and quest-specific.

Graphic	Model	Name {ID}	Notes
		The Water Crystal (left) Hot Water Crystal (right)	Items from the first game that served as sources of water. Due to the introduction of the Bottomless Pot key tool in this game, these were rendered useless.
		"(Material) Flooring" and "(Material) Cladding" series of items.	Unused in-game, since a tool similar to these called the Transform-o-Trowel made cladding and flooring redundant.

(Source: BenXC)

Unused Item Icons

There are graphics for both completely unused items as well as for used items that are never given the opportunity to use icons for various reasons. There are also some that appear to be earlier versions of used icons.

Unused	Used	Notes
	--	A placeholder black rounded cube present as several duplicates.
	--	An icon for the unbreakable blocks that make up the "bedrock" of the game. While the blocks themselves appear if one digs down far enough, they are never obtained or seen in any way that renders this icon visible.
	--	Block icons for dirty water, either freshwater or seawater, and "plasma". The player cannot obtain liquids in block form, though perhaps they were used by the developers to manually place pools of water. There's also one for poison.
		A rather flat looking, presumably early, icon for a block of Malroth's scales. The outline thickness and angle of the unused icon isn't quite right compared to other block-type icons, either.
	--	A crudely-drawn glove with "II" superimposed onto it. Possibly a placeholder for an upgrade to the Builder's gloves, which never get upgraded or improved in any way during the course of the game.
	--	What appears to be Babs's version of the Cottontail Costume, which cannot be obtained by the player in any way. The icon also appears to be somewhat unrefined, lacking stylistic flourishes present in used icons.
		An unpolished version of the Iron Armour's icon. The unused version has a belt across the chest that is otherwise not present.
		What appears to be an early version of the Infernal Workbench's icon.
	--	Icons for the signs at puzzles that give out mini medals, left for the incomplete puzzle state and right for the solved puzzle state. While these dot the game's landscape in many areas, they cannot be obtained in a way that makes these icons visible.
	--	The Sign of the Builder is a decorative feature seen at the Hairy Hermit's Shrine, this item cannot be moved or placed in the player's inventory.
	--	These locked chests open and turn into regular treasure chests when the nearby monsters associated with them are defeated. While in the "cursed" state they are indestructible and unopenable, meaning there is no way for the player to see this icon for them.
	--	A distinctly un-stylized metal barrel. There are no metal barrels resembling this one in the game, though there are wooden barrels.
	--	A crude icon of a fan, with a crank and a grip. It does not resemble anything used in the game. There is a trap, the Woosh Widget, that makes use of wind, though it looks nothing like this.
	--	A crude icon of a bottle with a skull on it. It does not resemble anything used in the game.
	--	Two icons of... something... textured with Malroth's scales. While they appear to just be flipped versions of each other, they are actually very slightly different. The hint of yellow on the bottom suggests these would either be from Malroth's tail or paws; segments of his tail are already obtainable as the "Twisting Tail" item.
	--	A set of unfinished looking icons for what appear to be durians, including a rare variant, as a farmable plant. Durians do not appear in the game at all.
	--	Unfinished icons for grapes, though they don't seem to have anything for a rare variant. Grapes do not appear in the game at all.
		Icons for what appears to be a rare variant of the banana exists, suggesting that at some point they were a properly farmable crop. Regular bananas can be collected in the game in certain areas, but they cannot be grown, and thus produce rare variants, by the player.
	--	A somewhat unpolished icon for a banana peel. There is an early game boss that throws banana peels as a hazard, though they don't look like this.
	--	What appears to be an icon for a "harvested" food item version of Malroth's nemesis, the starfish. While starfish appear in the game, they are simply placed in the inventory as regular decorative items, instead of one that can be used in cooking.
	--	An icon for a detestable dish involving starfish. Its existence is perhaps connected to the food version of the starfish above.
	--	A crude icon for a vine. Vines and vine-related materials appear in the game, though this specific early-looking icon is not used.
		Early icons for what appear to be the Orb of Heroes (the red one) and the Orb of Magic (the blue one). The Orb of Power does not appear to have an early icon.
	--	Shelves stocked with containers, maybe with milk jugs on the left? Cows are present and can be milked, so this decoration was likely connected to that.
	--	Rough icons for the trophies awarded by winning the game's online building contests. Only second and third place seem to be present.

(Source: BenXC)

Early Versions of Items

Old Tablets

To do: rewrite this mess of text please. Sun sigil being first is probably IoA. Soul sigil is probably Malhalla.

Originally there were supposed to be 5 tablets inspired by the 5 sigils of Dragon Quest 2, as seen in early screenshots. However, in the final release there's only 3 tablets. The item icons for the 3 sigils of the 3 corresponding tablets can be seen in-game by hacking in the items, which have consecutive item IDs 447, 448 and 449. The next 2 items on the list are unobtainable 'black hole' world objects, followed by normal obtainable objects. This implies that the other 2 tablets with ID 450 and 451 were left as 'vacant' ID spots when they were scrapped and got replaced later in development with other objects.

The last 2 icons are still present in the files. All 5 IDs have no name.

The 'Sun Sigil' is listed first on the icon sheet, followed by the Water, Star, and Moon. Last is the 'Soul Sigil'. Since the Sun Sigil is lower than the Soul Sigil this table assigns the lost IDs according to that order. Note that the tablets were most likely pushed to the top of the 5 ID list once the other 2 got removed, which would make the IDs listed here inaccurate.

	Sun Sigil	Water Sigil	Soul Sigil	Moon Sigil	Star Sigil
Icon
ID	{450*} [OLD]	{447}	{451*} [OLD]	{448}	{449}
Old Footage Image [Apr 22]
Old Footage Image [Apr 26]
Final Model In-game

There was also originally a "Central Tablet" that had the 5 sigils. It appears that the central tablet shrunk as its role got split into the 5 individual tablets, and evetually got discarded.

Very first footage
Apr 22 Picture

Unused Tiles

There are some unused minimap tiles. Tile data is not quite 100% understood as of right now, but what can be referred to tiles ID 5 and 21 are unused.

	0x8038	0x8039	0x803B
	0x80E8	0x80E9	0x80EB

There also exists all types of "water bordering land" tiles, even ones that do not make logical sense. Water tiles can have all 4 sides bordering land, and all 4 corners bordering land. Here is an example:

This tile has 4 corners, which happens if all 4 tiles on its diagonals are land and all 4 tiles bordering it are water tiles. And it also has 2 coastlines, which means on those 2 sides there has to be land. This is contradictory and cannot happen, but a tile for it exists anyway.

You can see here all known tiles, with most impossible water tiles.

(Source: Minimap Export Tool)

Misc. Unused Graphics

Battle Atoll

To do: Battle Atoll will need a dedicated section (maybe even subpage) when the entire actual area is documented.

An unused graphic for a location on the world map that is never visited or unlocked by any released DLC exists.

(Source: BenXC)

Here is a link to the Battle Atoll in-game (Save editing) https://www.tumblr.com/sapphire-rb/760617246324375553/battle-atoll

And here is the full map including Atoll from the artist that originally made all of the art for the map: link

Malroth Artwork

A cropped portrait of Malroth's human form. He has an outfit and hairstyle not seen anywhere else in the game; it is unclear if this is an earlier design or an alternate costume. The kanji for "tentative/temporary" (仮) is superimposed over the image.

Main Story Quest Icons

A crude sketch exists of Goldirox holding a mirror, reflecting (heh) the gimmick of the boss fight on the second island.

Builderpedia Monster Icons

There are several unused icons for the game's monster "dex".

The Goregon is an enemy from Dragon Quest II and a recolor of Madusa, a boss that does appear in this game. Pazuzu and Belial were underlings of Hargon in Dragon Quest II; while both do (barely) appear in this game, they're never added to the Builderpedia.

Zoma, the final boss of Dragon Quest III, does not appear in this game in any fashion whatsoever.

• 

  A red Slime

• 

  Goregon

• 

  Pazuzu

• 

  Belial

• 

  Zoma

Untranslated Labels

Various labels for menus and general notifications/popups are present in the English version that remain untranslated.

• 

  カタマリ ("Chunk")

• 

  ごほうび ("Reward")

• 

  おねがい ("Request/wish")

• 

  レア! ("Rare!")

• 

  クエストいちらん ("Quest List")

• 

  ぼうけんのしょ ("Adventure Book")

• 

  さいだいHP ("Maximum HP")

• 

  カラーせってい ("Color Settings")

• 

  バトル ("Battle")

(Source: BenXC)

Oddities

The disembodied voice's text speed

An infamous issue in this game is the extremely delayed text when the game uses "no text box" speech style for certain characters. This is specifically the cutscene text displayed on the center of the screen while darkening the camera. The English version of the game will wait several seconds or more when displaying each chunk of dialogue. These additional timing delays cause these cutscenes to take over twice as long to play out in the English release than it does the Japanese release, making it likely to be a localization error. The cause of this, and if it is intentional or not, is unclear.

"Fake" chert blocks in Hairy Hermit's mountain

While the exact cause unclear, it seems that the Hairy Hermit's mountain is made of an unusual variant of chert blocks. If the player breaks them and adds them to their inventory, nothing appears amiss. However, if the player makes a blueprint of the mountain, NPCs attempting to build the blueprint will endlessly search for a block with a blank name. If the NPCs are given chert, or the player places chert blocks into the blueprint, they will not be recognized as what the blueprint requires.

Unshaded umber and arid earth

On Green Gardens near the final river build there are 8 unshaded blocks that do not integrate with the rest of the blocks around them. When broken instead of showing the cracked texture the 'block health bar' appears. In the final game there is no way to place blocks like this. The only way to approximate it would be using the chisel.

Image of the blocks.

2 Brazier Items

The braziers in the Hairy Hermit temple have a different item ID {575} than the normal brazier {1285}. These braziers are designed to remain unlit until the first blueprint is finished. However, if you break them later in the game with the Ultimallet they will keep their ID, and with it their propeties. They will not lit up when placed, and they will have a different ambience modifier.

The 2 braziers side by side. One remains unlit.

The 2 brazier descriptions. The normal brazier has a 'cool' ambience modifier. The prologue brazier has a 'normal' ambience modifier.

There is a chance that the brazier's ambience was changed after the modified version was made, while the duplicate from the prologue remained unchanged.

2 Worn-out Workbenches

There are 2 different Worn-Out Workbenches:

Item ID	677	1727
Object ID (Debug build)	1002	526
Found at	Prologue ship Malhalla ship	IoA beach Buildable in Builder's Workbench Builderpedia
Description
Crafts

Hargon

Hargon, who functions as spectator and cutscene prop, is out-of-bounds during the first fight with True Form Malroth. Despite this, the player can damage him with the fire sword's long range attack. It is possible to reduce Hargon's health to the point where he will play a "defeated" animation where he crouches down for the rest of the fight with Malroth. This has no effect on the fight with Malroth or the following cutscenes.

Revisional Differences

To do: Ideally, elaborate on the vague updates notes.

To do: New: Added a bunch of stuff, but names may be wrong.

Version 1.1.0 Switch / 1.01 PlayStation

Released December 20, 2018.

• Added 'Half' and 'Concave' options to the Chisel tool.
• Fixed an issue where Malroth wouldn't follow you from IoA to Furrowfield, making it impossible to progress.
• Fixed an issue where the screen would freeze when breeding pets.
• Various bugfixes.

Version 1.2.0 Switch / 1.02 PlayStation

Released December 27, 2018.

• Added compatibility with the New Year's item pack, which can be downloaded from the online store for free.

Version 1.2.1 Switch / 1.03 PlayStation

Also released December 27, 2018.

• Fixed a bug where the Furrowfield Retriever could not be petted, making it impossible to progress.
• Fixed an issue where the 'collect 30 pumpkin seeds' would not complete in Furrowfield even if the player had collected them, making it impossible to progress.
• Fixed an issue where the player could not use the "Water of Life" item on Furrowfield, making it impossible to progress.
• Fixed an issue on PlayStation 4 where a player could not find someone else's island if they had 26 or more friends.
• Various bugfixes.

Version 1.2.2 Switch / 1.04 PlayStation

Released January 9, 2019.

• Some bugfixes.
• The quest icon has been increased an can now be changed from the settings
• The images displayed on the bulletin board will reflect the images from the daily rankings
• Adjusted appearance rates of monsters on the Isle of Awakening.
• Adjusted Malroth's attack power when equipped with a weak weapon during certain battles.
• Adjusted items dropped by some monsters.
• Increased probability of befriending some monsters.
• Quest icons in Furrowfield have been made easier to find.
• Fixed an issue in the "River Quest" where the quest did not display the mud block icon
• Fixed an issue that would make it impossible to progress if you completed a crafting recipe or travelled to another island while the Hairy Hermit was leading the way on IoA.

Version 1.2.3 Switch / 1.05 PlayStation

Released January 11, 2019.

• Hammerhoods will no longer spawn in IoA on tiles displayed as 'dirt'.
• Added verion display in-game. (Version shown is the one labelled 'Switch' in this page)

Version 1.3.0 Switch / 1.06 PlayStation

Released January 31, 2019.

• Added the ability to create Buildertopias, randomly-generated empty islands that the player can build freely on.
• Added additional NPC dialogue.
• Added items that prevent monsters from appearing on the Isle of Awakening.
• Added 'Sharp Shot' option to the camera.
• Added a new setting type for the Builder Tool Switching.
• Adjusted blueprint construction (elaborate)
• Minor bug fixes

Version 1.4.0 Switch / 1.07 PlayStation

PlayStation recieved another patch 1.4.0a/1.0.8 Released February 28, 2019. Either this update or v1.5.0 fixed an item duplication glitch.

• Added compatibility with the Hotto Stuff Pack DLC.
• Changed the information display for the Noticeboard
• Added prizes to those who rank highly in the daily Noticeboard rankings
• Added setting that directs characters to look at the camera in photo mode.
• Added expression change feature to photo mode.
• Added setting to enable or disable being able to see water through glass.
• Added ability to upload buildertopias to the Noticeboard.
• Doors can now be opened with switches.
• Chest of drawers, armoires and wardrobes can now hold items other than armor and clothing.
• Increased number of dyes available from crops.
• Added a way to obtain Salmon.
• Minor bug fixes.

Version 1.4.0b / 1.09 PlayStation

Released March 5, 2019.

• Fixed a bug with obtaining the trophy 「海の王者」 in the PS4 version after updating to 1.4.0.

Version 1.5.0 / 1.11 PlayStation

Released March 28, 2019.

• Added compatibility with the Aquarium Pack DLC.
• Added visual setting that enables the glass of aquariums to seamlessly mesh with water.
• Added visual setting for water opacity.

Version 1.5.1 / 1.12 PlayStation

• Fixed a bug with the display water through glass setting not being saved after resetting the game.
• Minor bug fixes

(Source: Japanese official website, Japanese "DQB2" Wiki)

Version 1.6.0 / 1.13 PlayStation

Released May 30, 2019. The international versions of the game released with this version number.

• Added compatibility with the Modernist Pack DLC.
• Added ability to ride befriended Golems.
• Added ability to bottomless pot that allows shallow water to be placed.
• Added some new items.
• Added ability to dye some existing items.

Version 1.6.1 / 1.14 PlayStation

Released July 18, 2019.

• Minor bug fixes.

Version 1.7.0 / 1.15 PlayStation

Released August 18, 2019. The last major free content update, dubbed the "Epilogue Update" by the developers.

• Added a short story section involving a group of characters from the endgame whose fates were unresolved in previous versions of the game. Consequently, this resulted in several new unique NPCs that can be added to the player's home island.
• Increased available save "profiles" from one to three, resulting in a total of six actual save slots, though three of these are autosaves.
• New setting for the Buildnoculars item allowing the cursor movement speed to be adjusted.
• New setting allowing plant growth to be disabled.
• A counter for the number of rooms on the current island was added to the pause screen. This is useful due to a 100-room cap on active rooms.
• Added several new hairstyles for the player character based on those used by NPCs.
• Added new items that allow the player to control the weather.
• Removed "learned a recipe" animation when unlocking recipes with gratitude points. (Considering the player would have to do this dozens of times, possibly at once, when unlocking these, this is a blessing for one's sanity.)
• Directional arrow demonstrating which way an object will face when placed was added.
• Additional functionality was given to the War Banner item. The player may now call non-combat NPCs to their side with it; previously, it could only be used to call NPCs capable of combat.
• Increased number of Buildertopias from one to three.
• Other bug fixes

Version 1.7.1 / 1.16 PlayStation

Released November 4, 2019, and referred to as "1.7.1a" in Nintendo Switch copies.

• Added compatibility with the Jumbo Demo, though said demo wasn't actually announced when the update went live.
• Minor bug fixes

Version 1.7.2

Released for the PC version only on December 23, 2019. This fixed several issues present in the PC release relating to control mapping and game performance.

• A problem where certain mice caused issues with camera speed was fixed by providing a setting relating to it.
• Change to how graphics settings are determined on initial game startup.
• Fixed detection issues relating to the game running above intended framerates.
• Fixed an issue where remapping of the jump command to certain inputs prevented NPCs from being able to jump.

(Source: DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS 2 - Producer Letter – Dec. 20th, 2019)

Version 1.7.3 / 1.17 PlayStation

Released for all versions March 19, 2020.

• Fixed a bug relating to decorative photographs becoming invalid on other user's islands.

Version 1.7.3a

Released for the Steam version on April 28, 2021. This patch appears to have fixed a significant bug where the game would hang on an infinite loading screen when writing a brand-new save file after completion of the tutorial segment.

• Measures to address bugs affecting saving.
• Jumbo demo is released

Version 1.7.3b

Released for the Windows 10 and Xbox One version on June 28, 2021. This patch appears to have fixed a significant bug where the game would hang on an infinite loading screen when writing a brand-new save file after completion of the tutorial segment.

• Measures to address bugs affecting saving.
• Jumbo demo is released

Version 1.7.3c

Released for the Windows 10 and Xbox One version on August 11, 2021.

• Minor bug fixes