Dungeon Crawling Mechanics

This is a dungeon crawling mechanics guide for Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX for the Nintendo Switch. If you want to learn and understand the unique mechanics for Rescue Team DX, please read on.

Turn-Based Gameplay

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX is played in maps that are separated by grids. Compared to other turn-based RPGs, it is a bit more fast paced and sometimes it does not feel like it is turn-based. Realizing it is a turn-based game where you can calculate your movements and actions to manage the situation will better your ability to run dungeons.

What Costs a Turn

• Pressing the Switch's A button causing the taunt-like animation to play.
• Pressing the Switch's A button causing a move to be used.
• Manually using a move
• Using items
• Moving to another grid

What Doesn't Cost a Turn

• Facing another diretion using the Switch's Y button
• Changing the movement mode to diagonal and back to normal
• Opening the menu and reading the records and information there.
• Talking to the Pokemon in your party provided they are one (1) square away

Auto Mode

Auto Mode is a new feature introduced in Rescue Team DX. When activated, it uses an indefinite amount of turns to move around the dungeon It stops when you find an enemy where you have to battle them manually or when you find the stairs to the next floor.

Satiety

Every action costs some Belly points which go from 100 to 0. If depleted, every action you take will damage you. Eat items that are considered as food such as Apples and Seeds to restore Belly.

Similarly, every Belly point you consume, provides you with HP. Manage your Belly counter to your advantage.

Status Conditions and Moves

Many Status Conditions affect how turns are used. Some prevent you from using moves, items and sometimes both like Sleep. Some allow you to execute two actions in a turn like Agility. Status Conditions like Confusion will make you move randomly and even accidentally damage your team.

Mystery Dungeons

Each run of a Mystery Dungeon is never the same as they are all randomly generated. The elements below are what change between each instance of a Mystery Dungeon.

Rooms

The size of each of the rooms change in each dungeon instance and the number of rooms depend on the size of the dungeon. However, all instances of a specific dungeon would feel as if they are all of the same size. For example, if I run Tiny Woods five (5) times, they would feel like they were all of the same size.

Corridors

Rooms are linked by Corridors. They can vary in length depending on how the dungeon was generated. No items, tiles, stairs are found here. However, you can still encounted hostile Pokemon here. It is actually recommended by the Tiny Woods tutorial to lure the hostile Pokemon in Corridors. Assuming they do not have moves that reach beyond one (1) tile, you will only take damage from one of them at a time.

Stairs

Stairs are the parts each floor that allow you to proceed to the next floor of the dungeon. If you go through a number of stairs, you will eventually complete the dungeon thus ending the instance. Sometimes, you spawn in the room that already contains the stairs.

If a dungeon has thirty-two (32) floors, then it would have thirty-two (32) stairs. Going through that 32nd staircase would end the dungeon.

Terrain

Some maps have grids that cater to special terrain. Most of these grids follow special conditions. For example, a grid that has Lava are only walkable by Fire Pokemon and grids that appear to be a deep pool of water are only accessible to Water Pokemon. If an incompatible Pokemon is forcibly put in a grid, it will continuously take damage.

Dungeon Elements

Wild Pokemon

Wild Hostile Pokemon are found throughout the Dungeon! Some come in large batches when a Monster House such as the one shown above occur. When defeated, they provide experience and they can join your rescue team.

Bosses

Instead of a last staircase, some Mystery Dungeons are home to a boss Pokemon in its final floor. You have to defeat this Pokemon to complete the run succesfully. If you die to them, you lose your items and money but all rescue missions done before that are still considered as completed.

Wonder Tile

Wonder Tiles when stepped on, restore positive and negative stat buffs an debuffs back to normal. For example, if I am affected by Agility or Growl and I step on a Wonder Tile, the effects will cease.

Items

Items are scattered throughout the dungeon. Take them as they can be used in your journey.

Related Links

Game Mechanics