Poison and Envenomation
Poison (毒) is a recurring status ailment that first appeared in the series in 1987 with the second game. Though the finer details vary between titles, the state of being poisoned means that a character will always suffer one point of damage every few steps until they are remedied with the Squelch spell, an Antidotal herb, or being purified at a Church.
Introduced in the fifth game, Envenomation (猛毒) is a highly concentrated poison that damages a character every turn in battle, in addition to larger damage while walking in the over world. Fortunately the same cures apply.
Appearances[edit]
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line[edit]
The jolly looking Bubble slime introduced the concept of being poisoned to players, it's green coloring being an early warning sign. Characters will lose one HP every four steps.
Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation & Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen[edit]
Poison functions identically in these games as it did in II.
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride[edit]
Poison now deals damage every eight steps, and recruited monster abilities such as Poison Attack and Poison Breath give players the chance to infect their enemies. However, because regular poison does not deal damage in battle these skills are effectively useless.
Venom Mist, however, is incredibly more potent and will cause a monster to suffer 16.67% (1⁄6) of their max HP per turn. This toxicity can spell disaster for players as well, and moving while envenomated will cut a sixth off of a character's health every step.
Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation[edit]
The sixth game lessened the danger of toxins, making it impossible for a character to be killed while walking in the over world and instead being reduced to one HP. Walking damage is still incurred every eight steps.
Venom Mist's potency has been slightly reduced as well, dealing 12.5% (1⁄8) of the afflicted's max HP per turn and 6.25% (1⁄16) while moving.
Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past & Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King[edit]
Poison and venom now deal damage every step instead of every eight, becoming the standard henceforth.
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies[edit]
Regular poison acts as before, but venom has been weakened to deal 1/16th of the target's max HP per turn.
The Toxic Dagger knife skill is the only way to poison an enemy, but this scarcity is made up with the Victimiser skill, which deals extra damage to any ill enemy.
Dragon Quest X[edit]
Poison deals one damage every five seconds, and venom deals ten damage every five seconds.
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age[edit]
Poison deals 1~5 damage per turn, and venom deals 1/16th of the target's max HP but at most 55 damage per turn. Victimiser has been greatly enhanced, now dealing an incredible 620% against poisoned or envenomated foes.
