Dark Cloud/Tips

This is a page for general advice and strategies for getting through the game with the minimum of annoyance.

Item management
In this game you get limited space to store items, so unless you take some care you may end up throwing out items to make room for items that you find. This is a waste of money if nothing else since it's easily avoidable. Not only that, but it breaks your concentration to interrupt battling through a dungeon to pause and decide which attachment you should discard. Also under this heading comes advice on how to best use the items you've got. The order here goes from general advice at the start to advice on specific items at the end.
 * Make sure you've got all the space available.
 * You start with 50 spaces in your bag and there are 5 pockets found later in the game (2 in Norune, 1 each in Matataki, Queens and Muska Lacka). Each pocket adds 10 more spaces so you get at total 100 spaces. You also get 60 spaces in storage so you really have space for 160 items by the end of the game. For weapons you get 10 spaces for each character and 30 spaces in storage for a total of 90. For Attachments you get space for 40 in your bag and another 30 in storage for 70 total. In a pinch you can use the attachment slots for unused weapons for extra storage which could put you over 100, but it gets cumbersome to locate the attachments you need if you do that.


 * Clear out extra items in shops.
 * The alternative is to throw them out in dungeons or in cutscenes which is just throwing away money. As a rule of thumb, don't enter a new level of a dungeon with less than 5 open item slots, 1 open weapon slot for each character, and 3 open attachment slots. Put what you don't need for the moment in storage and make the hard decision of what to give up in a shop where you get Gilda in return. Similarly, don't start an event where you might get an item unless you have space in items, weapons and attachments. Unlike finding treasure, when you get an item in a dialog you are forced to either throw it out or accept it and throw something else out if there's not enough room.


 * Don't hoard items you can buy cheaply.
 * It's tempting to buy 20 Repair Powders a time, or hang on to Stand-in Powders just in case you need them, but that Prickly you're about to throw out to make space because you don't fish can buy 10 Repair Powders or 4 Stan-in Powders at a shop. Better to throw out a spare Repair Powder and save the bait to sell when you get back to civilization.


 * Use up what you're going to use as you go and sell the rest.
 * For example, if you're the type who likes to fish, then alternate fishing with dungeon exploring. That way you don't clutter up you inventory with a dozen Pricklies and Carrots. If you don't plan to fish then sell any fishing bait as soon as you get it. Similarly, use up throwable items such as bombs by actually throwing them, or sell them to buy something you will use.


 * Don't pick up treasure in villages unless you have plenty of space.
 * Unlike treasure in dungeons, the treasure chests in villages will stay until you decide to open them. So instead of putting them in your inventory and losing precious space, leave them where they are and think of the villages as extra storage. The exception to this is the treasure you find under the sun giant in the Moon Factory since this disappears when you launch the robot. The down side of this idea is that you leave Stat improving items like Fruits of Eden and you may want them for the tougher enemies. So it doesn't pay to leave the items there for too long, but if you're short on space then it makes the problem worse to go around opening chests with stuff you might not need right away.


 * Do hoard Premium items for later in the game.
 * A Premium Water costs twice as much as a Tasty Water, but if you have only 5 drops in your thirst meter then a Tasty water has the same effect. The same idea applies with Premium Chicken vs. Cheese if you have only 80 HP. Somewhere around Queens or Muska Lacka you should forget about this because the previous rule starts to kick in for these items.


 * Wait until your health or thirst is low before using Fruits of Eden or Gourds.
 * A Fruit of Eden restores full health, so using it when your health is low saves the cost of a Cheese or a Premium Chicken. In the same way, using a Gourd when your thirst meter is low saves the cost of a Tasty Water or a Premium Water.


 * Save Powerup Powders for the last few upgrades before a build up.
 * Let's say you're trying to build up a Platinum Ring and it takes 10 upgrades to get there. To get to the first upgrade you need 56 Abs which is what you'll save if you use a Powerup Powder instead. But you'll need 164 Abs to get from the ninth upgrade to the tenth, so if you wait until then the Powerup Powder will save nearly three times the Abs.


 * Don't waste Abs on a weapon you're going to upgrade with Powerup Powder.
 * That's just a waste of Abs.