Revision 1

Monster wranglers in DRAGON QUEST MONSTERS: The Withered World do not fight. Bianca and Nera assemble a party of monsters they have befriended and command it, and every battle is resolved by that party rather than by the character you are playing. Combat is turn-based.

Party structure

You can field up to four monsters at once and keep four more in reserve, which Square Enix sums up as a maximum of eight monsters with you at any one time. Reserves are not locked away: you can swap them in and out whenever you like.

Sizes and slots

Every monster is either small or large, marked S or L. A large monster takes up two slots in the party instead of one, so an L-size creature costs you half of an active formation. The trade is real rather than cosmetic: large monsters carry more Traits than small ones, and many of them can act more than once per turn. Sizes are one of the four structural properties covered on Monster Families and Ranks.

Giving orders

There are two ways to run a turn. You can issue a direct order to a monster, or you can hand it a general strategy and let it decide for itself. Square Enix frames the choice as a knowledge test rather than a difficulty setting: whichever method you use, knowing what your monsters are good at is what makes it work.

Spells, abilities and Traits

Monsters carry a range of spells and abilities. Some hit every enemy on the field, others heal injured allies. On top of whatever you order, each monster has its own set of Traits, which are innate abilities that can fire during battle independently of the action you chose. Traits and the Talents that teach new abilities are covered on Monster Growth and Talents.

Two ability names have surfaced ahead of launch, Gust Slash and Stone's Throw, in the North American rating summary for the game. Square Enix has not published an ability list, so those two are isolated examples rather than a sample of a known set. The same summary describes defeated monsters vanishing and leaving coffins behind.

The Wrangler's Spirit

Bianca and Nera each carry a mysterious power called the Wrangler's Spirit. Once per battle it has a chance to activate, providing boosts that can turn a fight around. It is worth reading that wording carefully: the power is limited to one activation per battle and it is not guaranteed to trigger at all.

Which of the two you are playing is therefore a party-building decision as well as a story one. See Characters.

Monsters in the field

Outside battle your monsters follow you around the world, and any monster can come along regardless of its type or size, so the large creatures that eat two party slots are still field companions. Exploration is covered on Story and Setting.

Fighting other players

Battles against other wranglers are handled through the game's Online Battles feature, which is separate from the story party and has its own subscription requirements. See Online Features.