Quandaries

Quandaries
Sprite(s)
Attributes
Type(s)	Gameplay modifiers; Challenges
Game Information
Appears in

Quandaries are special challenge runs in Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, introduced with Puzzler's Pack DLC.

Description

Quandaries are Pocket Dungeon runs with special modifiers. They can be accessed from the upper room of Castle Quandary. Unlocking the very first Quandary is free, but unlocking all subsequent Quandaries costs 10,000 each. There are 4 types of Quandaries, and usually 4 Quandaries per playable knight:

• Legendary Path: "Original quest with new enemies, mini-bosses, relics and more!" - normal enemies are replaced with new advanced ones.
• Refraction Realm: "Unleash a new power!" - Play each knight with a different ability, strength and weakness.
• Quest: "Master new modifiers to Spice up your adventure!" - Play runs with one or more modifiers tailored to each playable knight.
• Trial of Offerings: "Original quest but a wild new modifier is stacked on every stage." - Play a Pocket Run with modifiers adding up with each stage.

Most playable knights have one Quandary of each type; only Refraction Realms and Quests are tailor-made for each playable knight, with the Legendary Paths and Trial of Offerings being instead more or less the same for everyone. Some Quests work better with a knight's main ability, with the Refract ability being either detrimental, or just overall less useful.

Unlockables and Notes

• Winning or losing any Quandary for the first time opens up Mr. Hat's hat shop for business, where Hats can be bought; furthermore, after winning a Quandary for the first time, the Sculpture Garden portion of Castle Quandary opens up.
• Finishing any Quandary by only beating Puzzle Knight earns a silver star, and a gold star for beating the Master Mind. These stars appear both atop the Quandary portals and in the Guidebook's specific section, although the Guidebook did not archive the special knights Quandaries, before the release of the Paradox Pack DLC, which added the Quandary Sage, Random Knight, and the Spinwulf.
• Finishing a Refraction Realm unlocks the corresponding Refract Ability. The concerned playable knight can then freely switch abilities at the Camp or Castle Quandary, and can use either when attempting other dungeon runs, except for Quests that are limited to only main abilities.
• Finishing a Quest unlocks a retro palette for the corresponding knight. Random Knight has no alternate palettes, and as such does not unlock one.
• Finishing a Trial of Offerings unlocks a special hat in Mr. Hat's shop themed after the corresponding knight. It can then be equipped to take the appearance of said knight while playing any other. The four special knights who do not have the full set of 4 Quandaries, do not unlock such hats when they complete their Trial.
• Finishing a Legendary Path unlocks a bean-themed palette for the corresponding knight; this does not apply to the three special knights who do not have the full set of 4 Quandaries.
• Finishing all of a character's Quandaries (besides the special knights) unlocks their stone statue at Castle Quandary, sculpted by Sledge Farmer in the Sculpture Garden. It turns to gold if all of their Quandaries were completed with the true path.
• Finishing all of a knight's Quandaries for the first time, with either types of stars, also unlocks Marathon, a mode where endless waves of enemies come one after the other; the Feat Marathon Master asks only to clear 30 of them, but by going the extra mile of clearing 100 waves, the Quandary Sage themselves will become a playable knight. Unlocking the Sage will earn a special ribbon for the Guidebook. The Quandary Sage has only 2 Quandaries, the Legendary Path and the Trial of Offering. If the stock of lives is not infinite, then as soon as they are defeated, each playable knight that has a place in the Quandaries section of the Guidebook, can write down their best record achieved in Marathon.
• While normally Random Knight lacks Quandaries, if they wear the special Almond Hat, from Mr. Hat's shop, while entering the room, it will reveal Quandaries for them, but as an added difficulty, every dialogue, from the Quandary Sage speeches to the description of the challenges is exchanged with a series of "?". Random Knight has only 3 Quandaries, the Legendary Path, the Trial of Offering, and the hardest of the three, the Quest. Completing this Quandary, will award another secret ribbon for the Guidebook, as well as a statue from Sledge Farmer, which will be golden if the Quest has been completed with the true path.
• By using Polar Knight's unlocked Refract ability on Percy's fast travel cannon, a Spinwulf can be made playable. Winning a Pocket Dungeon run with the Spinwulf will earn yet another special ribbon for the Guidebook. The Spinwulf itself has only 2 Quandaries, the Legendary Path and the Trial of Offering.
• After the release of the Paradox Pack DLC, by typing in "Schmutz" at the Set Seed option while in Puzzle Knight's secret room, Schmutz the cat will become a playable character; like the other special knights, he has only 2 Quandaries, the Legendary Path and the Trial of Offering.

List of Quandaries

This is the list of Refraction Abilities and Quest Quandaries for each character, with the exception for the Quandary Sage, the Spinwulf, and Schmutz, as they all lack both types of Quandaries. Note that a knight's main ability is named A, and its Refraction ability is named B.

During a regular or Venture Endlessly dungeon run, the special effects normally active only during a Quest Quandary for only specific knights can be replicated for everyone for the most part thanks to the use of one or multiple specific hats, with only a few, very specific effects being unavailable through this method. Alternatively, when a playable knight is wearing the Quester's Hat, introduced in the Paradox Pack DLC, the effects of their specific Quest will be experienced all at once; however, due to its effects, a Refraction Quandary cannot be attempted while wearing the Quester's Hat.

Knight	Type	Title and description	Details
Shovel Knight	Refraction	Shovel Drop: Toggle Shovel Drop with ☆. Move sideways, and defeat enemies to power up!
	Quest	Classic: Levels are shorter and end in a boss fight.	Only 2 normal Chests per stage. Each stage has its own themed boss, with Black Knight for the Plains. Plague Knight and Mole Knight do not appear as bosses (before the Paradox Pack DLC was added).
King Knight	Refraction	Joustus Judge: Earn cards from chains! Press ☆ to open your deck, choose with ←→, then ↑ to use.
	Quest	Bash Blitz: Bash without penalty. Press ☆ to move one step. Lose 1 HP if used twice in a row.	Stages start with 5 full rows instead of 3. All Chests are Memmecs. The Ceiling Crusher has no insta-kill spikes. Puzzle Knight moves slightly differently in his first boss phase. While it is possible to attempt the Quandary with Ability B, it is detrimental to do so, because the use of the cards makes it impossible to move by one step, as the activation prompt is the same.
Specter Knight	Refraction	Dash Slash: Slice through foes with ☆, as long as there's an open space behind them.
	Quest	Reverie: Specter Knight periodically returns to his old self, losing his abilities.	While the Quandary can be entered with Specter Knight's ability B, as soon as the first shift into Donovan of the current stage is reverted, the ability will become his A from that point up until the end of the stage and the beginning of the next, making B at best temporary. Donovan's: Toss Caltrops with ☆. Becomes a hazard when thrown on the ground.
Plague Knight	Refraction	Bomb Burst: Burst with ☆, exploding and jumping away! Overhealing potions act as charges.
	Quest	Pestilent: Units have increased HP. Poison persists, acts slower and awards fewer gems.	Plague Knight starts with double HP. Enemies have 50% more HP. Toad Totem doubles poison damage. Can be done with ability B, but ability A immunity to poison is recommended.
Mole Knight	Refraction	Underclaw: Move freely under units. Press ☆ to swipe. Reduced item durability.
	Quest	Well Buried: The board is full of units that must be cleared quickly, or the dungeon will collapse.	All empty spaces on the board are filled at once every turn. A bar with a Moler gets filled while the board is full and is emptied when defeating enemies and destroying blocks.
Treasure Knight	Refraction	Grapple Anchor: Press ☆ to hook units towards you or pull yourself to walls.
	Quest	From the Depths: Units stick to one another and rise from below in full rows.
Tinker Knight	Refraction	Mobile Gear: Gather metal, then press ☆ to craft a Mobile Gear. Press ☆ again to eject.
	Quest	Mecha-thon: You're always piloting the mech, and can gather metal. Running out will result in a game over.	Tinker Knight A only; while entering the Quandary with B is possible, it will completely negate the conditions. Each stage start with 25 metals. Each strike on a block or chain of blocks grants 1 metal.
Polar Knight	Refraction	Spinwulf Strike: Press ☆ to release a Spinwulf that attacks foes and fetches items. Overhealing heals them.
	Quest	Snowed In: Occasionally triggers an avalanche, pushing you down and freezing blocks and foes.	After a number of attacks, snow covers the board, damaging and freezing the enemies on top of each column on the board, including Polar Knight. The avalanche also changes Dirt and Stone Blocks caught in it into Snow Blocks.
Propeller Knight	Refraction	Corkscrew Kick: Press ☆ to dive, even moving sideways. Power it up by attacking in all directions.
	Quest	Updraft: A strong wind keeps units from falling down. Units spawn in full rows.	Units spawn as rows from above. They only fall when pushed by units spawned from above and at the end of the stage.
Scrap Knight	Refraction	Blink Bag: Press ☆ to toss bag. Press again to swap positions, including your respective surroundings.
	Quest	Spawner Sack: Your bag spawns units. If not placed on the board in time, it will be tossed to a random spot.	Scrap Knight's Scrap Bag continuously spawns enemies and blocks. If not emptied in time, its content gets spawned randomly on the board to be replaced by another enemy or block. Can be done with ability B, but units that are about to spawn cannot be either checked or placed, making them only spawn in random places.
Prism Knight	Refraction	Crystal Clone: Press ☆ to exchange half your HP for clones that mimic you.
	Quest	Crystal Chains: Chains defeat foes automatically. Bump foes to push them, pin them to damage. Attacks won't chain.	Bumping into a minor enemy/boss/block/potion only pushes them as long as they are not blocked. Enemies/blocks/potions do not chain. When 3 or more enemies/blocks/potions form a chains, they are automatically destroyed and Prism Knight gains bonus Gem and Gem Meter accordingly. Major enemies and bosses automatically receive as much damage as the length of destroyed chains. Ability A is more advantageous to set up chains.
Puzzle Knight	Refraction	Spatial Shift: Press ☆ to shift the rows or columns of the board. Find fewer potions.
	Quest	Pure Puzzler's: Lines and squares of units are destroyed automatically. Attacks won't chain.
Black Knight	Refraction	Meteor Strike: Spend Gem Meter to summon meteors. Press ☆ more to increase their power.
	Quest	Terrorpin's Spin: Accompany your spinning steed with caution! Bump him or press ☆ nearby to deflect him.	Terrorpin joins the run. By bumping into him, he starts spinning and damaging everything it touches, Black Knight included. After a short while, he slows down and needs to be bumped again to continue his attack.
Shield Knight	Refraction	Shield Toss: Press ☆ to throw your shield, leaving you vulnerable. Catch it to boost your next attack or absorb a hit.
	Quest	Fated: A fated shadow haunts you, intermittently attacking.	A ghost lookalike of The Enchantress keeps attacking during the whole run with 3 different attacks: chasing and exploding near Shield Knight, projectiles from the side, or line laser attacks. During this last attack, the Fated Shadow can be attacked back; successfully defeating it means attacks stop for a short while.
Mona	Refraction	Juxtapotion: Collect potions, then press ☆ to heal or throw a bomb.
	Quest	Board Bombardment: The board is full of units. More potions and bombs appear.
Shuffle Knight	Refraction	Serum Shifter: Shapeshift to a random knight each time you drink a potion.
	Quest	Super Shuffled: Your loadout shuffles between levels. Items shuffle with each use… and more.	Stage order is randomized except for the Scholar's Sanctum and the Tower of Fate. Shuffle Knight switches character every 20 turns. Items change with every use. Relics change at the beginning of every stage. Some stages can have hazards from another (Water, Wind, Spikes, etc.).
Enchantress	Refraction	Magic Shot: Press ☆ to spend 1HP and conjure a fireball that hits harder based on distance.
	Quest	Blast Barrage: The board's full. Regular attacks don't chain.	Due to the board being full and chains being disabled, ability B is made more difficult to be taken advantage of, making ability A more advantageous, even more so because ability A's attack can still chain enemies. Chests more frequently contain Fire Bombs or Ice Bombs.
Chester	Refraction	Dual Wield: Carry two items! Press ☆ to swap. Find more chests. Increased item durability.
	Quest	Relic Shuffle: You have 5 relics that get shuffled at the start of each level. Your shop sells items.	All Relics obtained after the initial 5 will also be shuffled.
Random Knight	Quest	??? ?? ??????: ??? ?? ??????? ?????.	Almost every element in the stages is substituted by a bubble with a "?" on it, including the exit door, obscuring what the obstacles actually are. Only after bumping into them at least once they will reveal their true appearance, alongside the adjacent ones. The health of the enemies is semi-random, being sometimes higher, other times lower, and furthermore all remaining HPs from both the enemies and Random Knight are invisible. All Relics found normally are also initially obscured, including the ones sold, preventing to know what items they are until equipped.

Trivia

• There are three other secret ribbons to earn for the Guidebook, but unlike the other three, they are not necessarily tied to the Quandaries; these ribbons are achieved by reaching the 10th loop of Venture Endlessly and then talk to Beefto in his special sideroom portal, finishing a run with Schmutz once unlocked, and completing a dungeon run while preserving Adult Bean's mustache all the way throughout. Once all ribbons are earned, a crown appears in the Guidebook.

Gallery

Sprite of a locked portal.

Sprite of an unavailable portal.

Portrait with silver star.

Portrait with gold star.

See Also

• Knightmares - A set of similar challenges found in Dig.
• Challenge Mode - A similar, albeit different, system of challenges found in Treasure Trove.