Dragon’s Dogma 2 Guide: 9 tips and tricks to help on your journey

This Dragon's Dogma 2 guide is your one stop shop for helpful hints.
dragon's dogma 2 guide cyclops

In a game as colossal as Dragon’s Dogma 2, there’s a lot to take in. Between different vocations, quests, Pawns and plots, there’s plenty to keep track of as you traverse the world – so we’re here to make it just that little bit easier.

Without further ado, here’s your Dragon’s Dogma 2 guide, to make sure your Arisen can get through all the challenges they’re about to face.



1. Hoist fallen Pawns out of battle before you revive them

In the heat of battle, even the most hardened Pawn can fall, and when they do, chances are it’ll be right in the middle of the fracas. On the one hand, it’s brave. On the other, it’s extremely inconvenient.

This is largely because the player needs to avoid all contact while reviving their fallen compatriots, lest the revive counter be restarted. Given the ‘Fallen Pawn’ alert sound is extremely loud (and annoying if it happens too often), it can be hard to ignore, even in the middle of the most stressful fight.

Save the stress by using the grab function to hoist the fallen Pawn up over your shoulder and relocate them to somewhere outside the main melee, enabling you to revive them with far less interference from enemies.

2. Camp often, save often

Though a successful couple of hours in Dragon’s Dogma 2 might lead you to believe you’re invincible, every so often, you’ll stumble across an enemy that shakes you back down to earth – and even if you defeat them, the damage remains in a very tangible way.

Your health bar takes a beating every time you do, slowly lessening the amount you’re able to replenish with curatives and healing spells. The only way around this is to rest, and to do that in the field, you’ll need to camp.

Any old campsite will do, but it’s worth upgrading for better protection as the game goes on. Whenever you stumble across an available site, rest and recuperate. You never know when your next battle will arise – and if you chuck a steak on the fire, you’ll be treated to drool-inducing (and 100% real) cooking videos.

dragon's dogma 2 guide
Image: Capcom

3. Experiment with different Pawns

Not every party structure is made equal, and depending on your chosen Vocation you’ll likely have different needs. Playing as a Mage, for instance, might necessitate filling your available slots with Pawns that focus more on melee, to give you more time to cast your incantations.

As you progress through your adventure, it’s worth checking out whether there’s a Pawn in the Rift that may be better suited – especially one that can guide you through your current quest.

Look for Pawns that say “Yes” next to Quest Guide and you’ll be blessed with a handy guide who can not only direct you to your next checkpoint, but also to any treasure chests they might have’ve spotted on their travels.

4. Dunk Dragonsplague in the Brine

Of course, getting Pawns from the Rift can be a risky move. Dragonsplague is a terrifying and unpredictable illness that will dart from Pawn to Pawn until they succumb, turning into a giant Shadow Dragon form and exploding – destroying all in its wake and causing a significant amount of collateral damage.

There are a few ways around it, like switching out afflicted Pawns before they can spread the plague onto your main pawn, but sometimes you get to crunch time and there’s only one way to rid yourself of it: killing the Pawn.

Read: Dragon’s Dogma 2: How to cure Dragonsplague

It’s a harsh end, but the quickest way to ensure the plague is gone is to give your Pawn a dunk in water, and kill them. From there, you can summon them again at a Riftstone, and they should be cured.

5. Don’t agree to more than you can handle

You’d think the biggest error you could make in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is choosing the wrong team, or ignoring Dragonsplague long enough to explode, but both of those things are fixable. The real issue is overcommitting on quests, and running out of time to complete them all before the NPCs involved suffer a gruesome end.

Many questlines have unspoken time limits associated with them, and these must be adhered to if you want to make sure everyone gets out alive. Given that a good number of these are rescue missions that involve children, you’re going to want to focus.

The best way to go (shy of forsaking rest and priorities to get everything done manically) is to only take on quests that you’re feasibly able to complete in that moment. This is not a game where you can tally up a massive quest log without consequences – it’s a game where your choices count, and so do your commitments.

6. Keep a supply of lantern oil at all times

Between mine shafts, deep winding caves and the inky blackness of the night, you’re probably going to spend a decent amount of time in the dark. It’s not the end of the world, but it means you’re going to have to navigate.

To do so you’ll need a lantern – easy to acquire, but requiring a little maintenance. Keep a steady supply of lantern oil with you at all times, so you can replenish when necessary.

The last thing you want is to be knee-deep in a fight with an ogre and have your lantern go out – it’s hard enough to defeat these enemies without losing the benefit of sight.

7. Monitor your depleting stamina

As is so often the case in open world RPGs, stamina is the irritating fly that won’t stop buzzing around your face. It’s ever-present and always annoying, and just when you think it has finally flown away, it’s back.

In fights, your stamina bar becomes all the more important. Using special skills depletes it quickly, and when you sink below a certain threshold, there’s very little you can do, as your Arisen sways helplessly around the battlefield. This is all the worse if your Arisen got to this point while riding the back of a dragon or ogre.

Keep a decent stock of curatives, pay attention when your Arisen starts to stagger, and make sure you’re not in the middle of a ruckus when your stamina depletes fully.

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Screenshot: GamesHub

8. Consult with the oracle if you get stuck

Let’s be real: this is a very large game and it requires you to keep track of a lot of things. It’s understandable that sometimes you’ll need a friendly reminder to guide you along your way (especially if you’ve taken on extra side quests and become distracted).

One relatively simple way to adjust course back to your next objective is to get a little psychic guidance from the Oracle, an NPC whose role is to provide a semi-cryptic hint towards your current quest – for the low fee of 50G.

These hints aren’t always straightforward, but they can be useful in re-orienting yourself and finding a direction to push forward in. It’s incredibly cheap, considering, so there’s no guilt for needing a bit of a leg-up.

9. Climb when you can

Depending on the vocation you choose, you may have the added bonus of being able to climb larger enemies. This can be particularly useful in fights with ogres, cyclops and griffins because it enables you to get up behind their main melee zones, and provides a good vantage point for attacking.

Some enemies also have weakness points that are beyond the reach of an average Arisen, requiring you to either fire at range, or climb up to tackle them face-to-face. Regardless of the type of enemy, it’s a really fun way to get your hits in, and can make you feel like Legolas riding an Oliphaunt.

Even better, in the very first part of the game, you’ll face down a Gorgon with a huge snake tail. If you’ve chosen the right vocation, you can live out your Dune dreams by climbing it like Shai-Hulud. That’s the dream!


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Steph Panecasio is the Managing Editor of GamesHub. An award-winning culture and games journalist with an interest in all things spooky, she knows a lot about death but not enough about keeping her plants alive. Find her on all platforms as @StephPanecasio for ramblings about Lord of the Rings and her current WIP novel.