While Baramos may have felt like the ultimate challenge in the Dragon Quest 3 Remake, the real climax of your adventure comes against Zoma. This powerful foe stands in the way of peace—not just for your world, but for the entire realm of Alefgard. However, Zoma is no pushover and will put up a fight.
Unlike Baramos, Zoma isn’t going to wait for you to make your move. He’ll first send a wave of his minions to test your strength before you can take him on. Every boss in this gauntlet presents a significant threat, but none rival Zoma’s overwhelming power. However, we’re ready to defeat him and end this saga.
Recommended Party and Level
As you prepare to face Zoma, ensure your party members are between levels 40 and 43 at a minimum. Avoid having anyone below level 40—put in some time grinding if necessary, as the foes in Zoma’s Citadel provide excellent experience points.
This was our lineup:
- The Hero with a Paragon Personality, which enhances physical strength significantly.
- A Monster Wrangler with the Everyman Personality, providing a balanced stat spread and approximately 80 recruited monsters to amplify Monster Pile-On’s power.
- A Mage-turned-Sage with the Slippery Devil Personality for an extensive MP pool, allowing for high MP moves without concern.
- A Priest-turned-Warrior with the Tough Cookie Personality, granting access to powerful buff and debuff spells along with impressive resilience.
In this composition, the Hero and Monster Wrangler are key damage dealers, while the Warrior and Sage should focus on healing and boosting their abilities. Straying from these roles—even for a single turn against Zoma—could lead to a swift defeat.
We found that equipping the Duplic Hat on the Sage was essential. This hat, which is located in a grove between mountains near the Castle of the Dragon Queen and can only be accessed with Ramia, ensures that every spell is cast twice consecutively, with the second casting being completely free.
How to Beat King Hydra
The King Hydra, known for defeating Ortega, is the first opponent in the gauntlet Zoma presents, and he’s arguably the toughest of the three. With a considerable amount of HP, he heals about 90-100 HP each turn and can strike twice. This battle is reminiscent of fighting Orochi, but with many more status effects to contend with.
King Hydra primarily utilizes two main attacks: a physical strike and Inferno, a Fire-element breath attack. While these attacks can be managed, it’s Sweet Breath that is particularly concerning. Spells like Insulatle offer no defense against it, making it difficult to justify using powerful accessories to gain sleep protection.
For this reason, equipping the Sunstone on your Warrior is crucial, allowing them to absorb hits and rid the party of Sleep status. As always, the Warrior should focus on support roles, such as casting Insulatle and, if possible, using Snooze on King Hydra.
Keep your Sage focused on healing, utilizing Multiheal consistently, even when it seems unnecessary. When given the chance, the Sage should also cast Kabuff, with the Duplic Hat ensuring it’s cast twice for added protection.
Cast Oomph on both the Hero and the Monster Wrangler, prioritizing the latter. As King Hydra’s HP decreases, he’ll create a fog preventing magic use, so it’s vital to maintain your buffs during this time.
After defeating each boss, you can use the Teleportal at the start of the room to heal before heading back. Fortunately, you won’t have to retake on any bosses you’ve already defeated.
How to Beat Soul of Baramos
Thought you’d seen the last of Baramos? His essence lingers on beyond your previous encounter in the Tower of Rubiss, and this time he is determined to succeed. He won’t, but props to his confidence!
This encounter is similar to your earlier battle against him, with not much additional complexity. Baramos will use the strongest versions of his moves and will often spam Inferno if you manage to cast Fizzle on him. This can work to your advantage, allowing you to focus on casting Insulatle instead of juggling multiple defensive spells.
As before, the Warrior and Sage should focus on buffs and healing, while the Hero and Monster Wrangler take charge of the attacks. Remember that Baramos is particularly vulnerable to Lightning, so apply Oomph on the Hero and use Lightning Slash frequently. Utilize Wild Side and Monster Pile-On with the Monster Wrangler for massive damage output.
Be aware that Baramos will cast Blasto more frequently during this fight, although it remains a low-hit probability move. He does have substantial HP, which means it may take a while to wear him down. Maintain your assault, and victory will be yours once again.
How to Beat Bones of Baramos
Oh, you thought Baramos was done? His soul may have been defeated, but his body is still hanging around. Now you face the Bones of Baramos, which look oddly dragon-like. Fortunately, this is the easiest of the trio of bosses you’ll encounter before Zoma.
This battle is more about endurance than strategy. Bones of Baramos use basic attacks—primarily a standard physical strike, Attack Attacker to debuff your strength, and an All-Out Attack that delivers heavy damage while lowering their defense.
They keep their Lightning weakness, so unleash Lightning Slash as much as possible and cast Oomph at the earliest opportunity. The same tactics apply for the Monster Wrangler, using Wild Side followed by Monster Pile-On for impressive damage.
Play your Sage and Warrior a bit differently here. The Sage should focus on healing and casting Oomph—there’s no need to concentrate on debuffing the boss since he weakens himself naturally. Encourage your Warrior to contribute physical attacks to accelerate the onslaught.
This fight should conclude in just a few minutes without major problems. Keep up the pressure because the boss can recover about 300 HP each turn. Keep attacking until you put him down for good.
How to Beat Zoma
This is it—the ultimate challenge. Zoma is hands down the toughest adversary in the game, feeling similarly daunting to the first time you faced Baramos. He is a formidable opponent. But you’ve overcome every obstacle leading up to this, and now you have the power of the Dragon Queen backing you.
When the battle with Zoma commences, he will be surrounded by a dark blue aura, healing roughly 300 HP each turn and dealing over 100 damage with each hit. It may seem impossible to win against such odds, and it sort of is. Instead, you can use the Sphere of Light to remove his aura, making him a considerably weaker but still very challenging opponent.
If you let several turns go by without using the Sphere of Light, you will be prompted to use it. You can choose to decline if you’re looking for a tougher fight.
After a brief exchange with Zoma, he will lose much of his power, dealing less damage and no longer healing himself. However, he won’t hold back on using his full range of abilities, and he has plenty to spare.
Expect Zoma to bombard you with Ice-element attacks, including Kacrackle, Freezing Blizzard, and occasionally C-C-Cold Breath. The first is a magic attack, while the latter two are breath attacks. Keep Insulatle and Magic Barrier active at all times to mitigate damage.
As if that wasn’t enough, Zoma can attack three times per turn. He may unleash all three moves in a single round, decimating your party if you’re unprepared. Not to mention, Zoma has high agility, making him quite challenging.
As previously, the Hero and Monster Wrangler will lead the offense, but it’s unlikely you’ll find much time to cast Oomph—focus instead on healing and buffing yourself. Use Sap only when you’re absolutely confident in your ability to survive the assault. He has no significant weaknesses, so repeatedly use Falcon Slash to maximize your damage output each turn.
Throughout the fight, Zoma will occasionally wipe all beneficial effects from the party. While this is an annoyance, it also means he uses up an action to do so. Whenever this happens, make sure to cast Acceleratle so you can outpace Zoma’s actions. Fortunately, he doesn’t remove any negative status effects from himself.
Restore your buffs promptly as they begin to fade. This way, you’re likely to reapply them right after Zoma removes them.
When Zoma’s HP is running low, he will boost his magical power, potentially inflicting over 100 damage even with your defenses up. At this stage, failing to maintain those defenses could spell doom for your party. Even if your team starts this turn with high HP, have your Sage cast Multiheal in case Zoma removes your buffs and poses a significant threat.
The fight becomes more tactical as Zoma begins to employ more status effects, using moves like Dazzle when his health is diminished. While this may reduce your accuracy, it’s far better than dealing with his increased power. Stay vigilant and take things slowly to ensure your success.
Once you land that final blow, you’ll be transported to Talontear Tunnel, leading you towards the credits. Congratulations—you’ve liberated Alefgard from the darkness. You’ve completed Dragon Quest 3, paving the way for the stories of Dragon Quest 1 and 2.
