| Item | Thinking Cap |
| Stats | +37 Defense, +15 Wisdom, +21 Style. |
| Location | El Ciclo, EGO Competition |
You’ll get the Thinking Cap by winning the EGO Wisdom Competition in El Ciclo with a male character. This is a unique item, so you can’t find it or buy it anywhere else.
Warning: This guide contains some spoilers for Dragon Quest VII.
Helping Professor Wade, first part
You can’t win the EGO Wisdom Competition until you help Professor Wade. He will always be first in the ranking with 999 Wisdom until you do this quest.
You can do the quest to help him as soon as you finish the Wetlock questline in the past, but it’s recommended to do it after you recruit Sir Mervyn. You can find the island by sailing to the north of Frobisher.
Head to Wetlock and enter the house on the northwestern corner. Talk to Professor Wade and follow him to another house, to the east of the equipment shop. He’ll ask you to get rid of the monsters in Highendreigh Tower. Exit Wetlock and go there now.
From the south side of the tower, go down the stairs and you’ll fight a King Slime. The fight is as easy as a normal minion. Upon defeating him, he’ll join your party and you’ll get an Enclosure Plan. You can use this item later at The Haven to expand the town.
Go back to the first floor and walk to the western edge of the tower. You’ll see the stairs to the second floor on the northwestern corner.
Pull the lever on the middle of the floor to open a shortcut, and head to the southwestern side of the room to find the stairs to the third floor.
Head to the northeastern corner and Goobris, the Slime, will open the gate for you; the stairs to the fourth floor are in this small room.
Take the long path around the fourth floor, going counter-clockwise, until you reach the middle room. If Goobris tellsyou to be careful with the floor, avoid that path, or you’ll fall to the floor below.
Once you reach the fifth floor, heal your party and get ready for a boss fight.
| Galumph |
| 1050 HP, can act twice per turn, can cast Chilly Breath and Cool Breath |
| Cast Insulatle as soon as you start the fight because the breath attacks can be deadly. Also cast Sap on him and Buff/Kabuff on your party when you have the time.He’s weak to fire spells like Bang and skills with bonus to flying enemies, like Flying Knee and Wing-Clipper. If you don’t have those skills just attack with normal attacks and heal accordingly until he’s finished. Upon defeat, Galumph will give you a Red Fragment. |
Exit the tower and head back to Wetlock. Talk to Professor Wade, head back to Highendreigh Tower and talk to him again, on the third floor.
Pick your reward in the storage room under the bar. To get there, stand on the raft behind the northwestern house, and navigate to the left side of the town. You’ll get a Red Fragment and a Seed of Life.
Helping Professor Wade, second part
Now that you’ve done this quest, you need to Zoom to El Ciclo.
Head to the first building after the church, register one of your party members in the EGO competition for Wisdom and check the ranking board. You’ll notice Professor Wade is in the first place.
Go back to Wetlock and enter Professor Wade’s house. He and his assistant are talking about the disappearance of his hat. Exit the house and talk to his assistant again.
Check the scoreboard in El Ciclo and you’ll see that Putric is now in the first place. He’s an enemy you’ve fought before.
To find him, go to the Bandit Hideout to the southwest of the Alltrades Abbey. Putric is in the last room of the hideout. Talk to him and he’ll give you back the hat.
Now you only have to go back to Professor Wade and he’ll let you keep the Canny Cap for yourself!
Winning the EGO Wisdom Competition
Now that you’ve finished Professor Wade’s questline, you can finally participate in the competition. To win, your registered character needs to have the following Wisdom stats, depending on your moment in the game:
| Before helping Professor Wade | 999 Wisdom (impossible to win) |
| After helping Professor Wade, but before finishing Nottagen, Providence, and Hubble | 121 Wisdom or higher |
| Before defeating Orgodemir for the first time | 155 Wisdom or higher |
| After defeating Orgodemir | 181 Wisdom or higher |
Remember that to win the Thinking Cap, you need to register a male character. Sir Mervyn is the best one for this competition, as he has the bigger Wisdom stats.
Make him become a Mage or a Priest, equip the Canny Cap on him and give him some Seeds of Wisdom and you should easily win the competition. After winning, the EGO Organisation will give you the Thinking Cap!
The Thinking Cap is a very good piece for Mages, Priests, and other vocations who benefit from a high Wisdom. The Wisdom stat is lower than the Canny Cap, but it also has a high Defense value, which makes it a better piece of armor overall.
26 Images were used in this article.
