The iconic and titular Dragon Balls make their way back into the latest iteration of the franchise, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, and play a major role in both the game's story mode and as a side activity. The two actually go hand-in-hand, as finding the dragon balls is locked by story progress from time to time and cannot be activated until reaching a certain point in the story. As such, here's everything Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot players need to know about finding the dragon balls.
First, the dragon balls involved in the story do not count toward progress for the Wish Maker (summon Shenron once) DBZ: Kakarot trophy/achievement or the subsequent Dragon Ball-related trophies/achievements. Players will not be able to search for the Dragon Balls until the intermission that follows Frieza Saga, and they will be locked after beginning the Android Saga until a certain point. As such, players will need to look and find them as they can, oftentimes coupling traveling to certain areas with nearby substories.
How the Dragon Balls Work
First, it's once mentioning that, once they've been gathered, players can choose from a handful of wishes. These include bringing someone like Frieza back for the day to create non-canonical fights such as Super Saiyan 3 Goku vs. Frieza. The other wishes are simply for riches, rare items, or Z-Orbs (which are tied to character progression). After a wish has been granted, players will not be able to search for the Dragon Balls for a total of 20 real-world minutes, so for those going for the achievement for summoning Shenron 10 times, it's in the best interest to search for these as often as possible. Once they've all be found, players simply need to open the Dragon Balls menu and select a wish.
Where to Find the Dragon Balls
Finding the Dragon Balls is not complex but requires time and a little know-how. Upon looking at Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot's World Map, players will note that areas now have a little Dragon Ball marker indicating that they are there. Traveling to that area means that players will find a Dragon Ball there, which is most directly found by opening the area map and looking for the Dragon Ball icon. Simply mark it, travel there, and take a peak around using Ki sense to find the Dragon Ball. Players will also they are close when they hear a distinct humming that marks its location.
It's worth adding that players will sometimes need to look closely at the map to find the Dragon Balls in DBZ: Kakarot, as nearby icons for bases, mineral deposits, or hunting grounds can over these up. However, there should still be a glint of orange indicating their location, so do not worry if it takes a minute to pin down exactly.
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
