Following your endeavors in Slewse and the [Tower of the Moon] you’ll end up hunting down one of Hargon’s lieutenants - Pazuzu. This being just happens to dwell in the Volcanic Grotto dungeon, which you can now reach thanks to the contrivance of the Moonstone! As should be expected, the dungeon you have to explore is lengthy and winding, and this page will help you find all the treasure within the Volcanic Grotto in Dragon Quest 2: HD-2D Remake without too much unnecessary backtracking and bother!

Page Breakdown¶

Volcanic Grotto - B1 Treasures¶

This is the only straight-forward and simple level in the dungeon, so enjoy it! Be sure to use Safe Passage to protect yourself from the fiery floor (be sure to do this regularly!), then loot a chest in the northeastern corner of the map to score 1,220 gold, then plunder another chest in the northwestern room to find a Serpent Sword. Finally, head into the southwesternmost room and examine a decorative floor tile above a brazier to find a Seed of Magic on the ground (hidden item). Once done, exit via the southwestern stairs.

Volcanic Grotto - B2 Treasures¶

Now this… is a mess! And of the next three levels it’s the least complicated one, but they’re rather interconnected, so it’s a moot point. Getting the treasure in this room isn’t hard, but just looking at the map you’ll notice that there’s a lot of stairs that zone-out to other maps on this level. Including the stairs leading back up to B1, there are ten such stairs in total, and you’ll have to go down some to reach one of B3’s six maps (which have a combined fourteen flights of stairs - not counting pits you can drop down to reach B4!). It’s a chore, but not for you - because we did the hard work for you! Follow along and we’ll grab the treasures on B2, then set about delving into B3 for loot.

From the stairs in the northeastern corner of the level, head south down some stairs (these don’t zone-out) to reach a room where you’ll find a chest that’s actually a Mimic. Kill it so it stops masquerading as treasure, then go into a room to the west of the stairs leading back up to B1 to find another, more honest chest - this contains a Fire Blade.

Only one more treasure left in this dungeon, and this one will start our flirtations with B3. Exit the room that contained the Fire Blade, go down the hallway to the west until you find some stairs to the north. Descend them to reach B3 - or rather, one of the many B3 maps - head south, then go up the stairs to the southwest to resurface in B2, albeit in a room in the center of the level. Work your way east around the stairs and loot a chest to find… a Prayer Ring. Oh well, at least this level is done.

Volcanic Grotto - B3 Treasures¶

Alright, time for things to get complicated. As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of maps that comprise B3, but we’re not here for a grand tour - we’re here to get loot and reach our objective, so let’s get to it! Our journey in B3 begins in B2, as most of the entrances to B3 are found on this higher floor. From the second Mimic in the middle of B2, cross some magmatic floor to the south (use Safe Passage!) to reach a hallway, then turn east and head to the easternmost stairs and descend them to reach another B3 map. Make your way west, down two flights of (non-zoning) stairs to find a third flight of stairs that will take you down to B4. Ignore them for now and loot a chest north of the stairs to score a Mini Medal, then go down the previously-neglected stairs to reach the southeastern corner of B4. We won’t be here long, but we might as well grab a treasure you can’t reach from any other part of B4 while we’re here - cast Safe Passage and cross the fiery floor to the northwest and loot a chest to find a Focus Pocus Scroll. This should be your second, so you can safely teach this spell to both Gawain and Caradoc.

Backtrack up to B2 and go down the southernmost stairs to reach another section of B3, a fairly linear stretch of dungeon with stairs at the south and north. You’ll be near the stairs to the south, so just head northwest and loot a chest to the west as you go to fight another Mimic. Bummer, but one less distraction. Exit via the stairs to the north and you’ll resurface near the west-central stairs on B2. Go down the stairs in the northwestern most corner - not the stairs in the room, but the stairs past fiery ground (again, use Safe Passage) - to reach the main part of B3.

Alright, this part is a bit simpler than our last trip into the various B3 maps. From the stairs on the northeastern corner (where you zone in) make your way east and loot two chests to the north as you go. The first chest is actually a Mimic, while the second contains a Seed of Strength.

Continue to the southwestern corner of B3, then head south along the western edge of the level, down numerous flights of (non-zoning) stairs until you find a flight of stairs in the southwestern corner that lead down to B4. This leads to an isolated pocket of B4 in the southwestern corner where you’ll find a chest containing 630 gold.

Backtrack up to B3 and head east, south and east again to find more stairs past a patch of fiery floor (again, use Safe Passage) to reach some stairs along the southernmost part of B3. Take them down and you’ll reach the southern edge of B4, then head north, west and south around the stairs to find a chest along said stairs, which is actually a Mimic. Dispatch this treacherous fake chest and note there are two more treasures on this level, both in the wide patch of fiery floor to the north. We can get them by just using Safe Passage and toughing it out, but there’s a craftier way to go about this. Go up the stairs you just came down to return to the southern edge of B3.

Back up near the stairs on B3, you need to cast Safe Passage and cross some fiery floor to the north. This large central room in B3 features multiple pits leading down to B4, criss-crossed with fiery sections of floor - you need to work your way up to the northwestern corner of the floor, where you’ll find a chest, which contains a suit of Magic Armour. This should be the last treasure on B3. Now it’s time to collect the last two treasures on B4…

Volcanic Grotto - B4 Treasures¶

Once again, our journey on a lower floor starts on a higher floor, and by now B4 should hold little magic - we’ve been there a few times already. Still, this is our last proper push through the level, so we might as well do it properly. From the chest on B3 which contained the Magic Armour head east across the fiery floor until you find a pit. Don’t go down this pit, but instead use it as a frame of reference and seek out another pit to the southwest, which you do want to descend. You’ll arrive on B4 right next to a chest, surrounded by fiery floor. Loot this chest to obtain a Banishing Bell, then cast Safe Passage again and head west across the damaging floor, following the stalagmites west and north to find a chest in a cubby. Loot it to obtain a Flame Shield.

Now make your way west to find some stairs leading down. These will take you down to the main B5 map. Note that there’s a second B5 map, a linear tunnel that leads to an isolated room on B4, which in turn leads to B3… it’s a long rabbit-hole that doesn’t get you any treasure and frankly isn’t worth exploring.

Volcanic Grotto - B5 Treasures¶

B5 is a pretty linear level. Make sure you’re healed up and have plenty of MP, then follow the linear path to find yourself in a fight with Pazuzu. He can inflict sleep, silence, use a icy breath attack, hit the whole party with Sizzle and deal moderate damage in melee (sometimes dealing massive damage if it goes critical) and, of course, try to kill the whole party with Thwack. He’s got no healing or adds, however, and if you can get your buffs set up (Kabuff and Magic Barrier on the party, Oomph and Egg On for Gawain, who can defeat Pazuzu in 3-4 Cutting Edge attacks when properly buffed) this shouldn’t be too hard of a fight - assuming you don’t lose Caradoc and Peronel to an unlucky Thwack like we did. RNG gonna RNG.

Emerge victorious and after the fight you’ll get the False Idol. Go north past the sacrificial (now turncoat) Whackolyte and interact with a massive door, which you can open via the contrivance of the False Idol. Beyond the door you’ll find some treasure - bananas galore! Oh, and a chest containing a suit of Wailer’s Mail. Hugely protective armor, having higher defense than even the Metal Slime Armour, but it randomly paralyzes the wearer so… yeah, probably not worth wearing.