How to Complete the Tower of Transcendence in Dragon Quest 3

The Tower of Transcendence is a dungeon location in Dragon Quest 3. Unlike other dungeons, there is no major boss awaiting you at the end, and the challenge of the Tower of Transcendence lies more in navigating it, rather than overcoming it. 

Perhaps the most pressing reason to visit the Tower of Transcendence in Dragon Quest 3 is to get your hands on a Words of Wisdom scroll. This is a necessary item if you want to turn any of your party members into a Sage, which is an incredibly strong and useful class to have on the side. 

Dragon Quest 3 Tower of Transcendence location

The Tower of Transcendence is located on the eastern side of the main continent, just to the northeast of Alltrades Abbey. The easiest way to get there if you’ve never been before is by using the Zoom spell or a Chimaera Wing to head straight for Alltrades Abbey, then head through the mountain passage to the north. 

You’ll find the Tower of Transcendence on a small peninsula at the end of the passage, to the west. 

Navigating the Tower of Transcendence

As the main reason to visit the Tower of Transcendence is to get the Words of Wisdom scroll, I’ll focus on the directions for that purpose. However, once you’ve got the scroll, you should take some time to explore all routes and battle as much as possible, because the Tower of Transcendence is filled with loot to find and a great location to do some leveling.

Here’s how to locate the Words of Wisdom scroll inside the Tower of Transcendence:

1- Enter the Tower of Transcendence and avoid all of the Teleportals, as they’ll take you miles off course. Instead, make your way to the top left corner of the map, taking the staircase in the corner up to the second floor.:

2- Walk across the tightrope, being careful not to fall off. If you’re using a controller and struggling with this, you can use the D-Pad to make things easier. At the other end of the tightrope, take the stairs down on the other side back to the first floor:

3- Step on the only available Teleportal, and when you pop out on the other side there will be three possible routes. The only one that can take you all the way to floor five is the middle one, so take that route:

4- There are three possible routes to take now, but you’ll want to head up the southernmost staircase. Depending on your POV, this staircase may look inaccessible, but keep walking to the right and you’ll soon find the bottom step:

5- There’s a chest here to open, and only a single staircase. Follow the stairs up to the fourth floor, then head south and continue up the southern winding staircase up to the fifth floor:

6- Now you’ll encounter another tightrope. If you’re looking for the Words of Wisdom scroll, you’ll need to cross to the halfway point (where the red flag is) and then purposefully fall off to fall down to the fourth floor again:

7- When you land on the fourth floor, drop down into the hole where the roof has collapsed, heading back down to the third floor again:

8- Once you’re on the third floor, take the only available staircase back down to the second floor, then head to the east until you find the chest containing the Words of Wisdom scroll. 

Phew. Now that you have the Words of Wisdom scroll, feel free to use the Zoom spell or a Chimaera Wing to get out of this endlessly confusing maze. If you want to keep exploring, your best bet is to use Zoom or a Chimaera Wing to return to the beginning of the Tower of Transcendence, and then begin your adventure anew from there. 

All enemies in the Tower of Transcendence

One thing that’s worth noting about the enemies you’ll encounter while adventuring through the Tower of Transcendence is that they will get more difficult to overcome as you progress to higher levels. While enemies may not seem too challenging on lower floors, you’ll need to have your wits about you and a stock of healing items on hand in order to get through the battles you’ll enter. 

Possibly the toughest enemies you’re likely to encounter are the Ethereal Serpents. They have strong fire-type attacks, and can easily wipe the party out if you go in unprepared. However, they’re weak to water, earth, and poison-type spells. 

It’s also worth noting that once you hit floor five of the Tower of Transcendence, there’s a slim chance that you can encounter some Metal Slimes in the room before you cross the fifth-floor tightrope. These offer a huge amount of XP for all party members when defeated, but they’re not easy to take down. 

The only way to damage them is with basic weapon attacks, so you’ll need to make sure that you have the strongest possible weapons equipped on all party members. On the plus side, defeating Metal Slimes is an excellent way to speed-level the party, so it’s worth going through the hassle if you encounter them. 

Here are all of the enemies you’ll encounter on the way up the Tower of Transcendence:

• Shade
• Rumble Bee
• Lump Mage
• Ram Raider
• Whackanape
• Garuda
• Beakon
• Ethereal Serpent
• Dread Admiral
• Metal Slime

All loot in the Tower of Transcendence

As you explore the Tower of Transcendence, you’ll come across a few chests containing useful items other than the Words of Wisdom scroll, including a Mini Medal. 

Here are all of the chests that are worth seeking out while exploring the Tower of Transcendence and how to find them:

There’s also a friendly monster that can be found and rescued inside the Tower of Transcendence. To find Alutac the friendly Catula and send it off to Monty, head to the southwest staircase on the first floor and climb up to find it in the middle of the next room.