Any AAA open world RPG is going to be a complex, multifaceted experience by definition, but Dragon’s Dogma 2 really cranks that up to eleven. Capcom’s long-awaited sequel is a massive game, and it’s densely packed with a bevy of systems that constantly interact with each other in unique ways to deliver unforgettable emergent gameplay. It is, at the same time, not a game that’s going to hold your hand in any way – even the most fundamental ways that you would take for granted in any open world game or RPG – which means there can be a bit of a learning curve to understand how everything functions, especially in the early hours, and especially if you’re a newcomer to the series. As such, here, we’re going to go over a few beginners trips and tricks that will make your initial hours in Dragon’s Dogma 2 a little bit smoother.
HUMAN OR BEASTREN?
The first choice you’ll make in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is whether you want to play as a human or a beastren, the latter being a new race introduced in this game. By and large, however, this isn’t a choice that you should be fretting too much about. There might be some instances where you see NPCs behaving a little differently around you based on which race you’re playing as, but for the most part, the difference is going to be largely cosmetic, so just choose based on your own preference here.
PAY ATTENTION TO QUEST DESCRIPTIONS
Dragon’s Dogma 2 isn’t a game that’s going to do too much (or any) handholding. Instead, it expects you to pay attention to what it shows and tells you. For instance, when you’re accepting a quest, you’re going to want to pay attention to what the quest giver tells you about it, or at least to that quest’s description in your log, because things such as waypoints are next to nonexistent in this game. So if a quest requires you to wear a certain attire, the game isn’t going to mark a place on the map where you’ll be able to get your hands on it. You’re going to have to figure it out how and where to get it yourself, then go into your inventory to put it on before you can unlock the quest’s next step.
TIME-BOUND QUESTS
Here’s another reason to pay attention to NPCs when they’re giving out quests- quests in Dragon’s Dogma 2 are often time-bound, and if you keep them in our cue for too long, you’re going to automatically fail them. When you’re accepting the quest, listening to the dialogue will be the only way to know if it’s time-sensitive one, and if it is, it’s recommended that you prioritize it over other quests right away. Also don’t take on multiple of these at the same time.
PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR PAWNS
Pawns are obviously back in Dragon’s Dogma 2, and they’re more useful in a number of ways this time. Obviously, combat is where they will shine first and foremost, but even outside of combat, they have their uses. From spots where you can harvest materials and resources ,to notices in the environment that you can read to gather new information, to ladders or caves that might lead to hidden areas, pawns will frequently call out things that catch their attention, so make sure to keep an ear out.
PARTY COMPOSITION
Though you certainly can play Dragon’s Dogma 2 without the company of pawns, having a full party can make things a lot easier for you both in and out of combat. As such, it’s important to be mindful of your party’s composition. That, of course, means keeping an eye on the Vocations of each of the Pawns in your company, but beyond that, it’s also important to consider their traits. For instance, some pawns might be more inclined to hang back and provide support during fights, while others will like to charge headlong into danger. Also make sure that you keep changing the two spots for recruitable pawns in your party, because unlike your main pawn, they don’t level up.
REVIVING PAWNS
Death is pretty common in Dragon’s Dogma 2, and that’s especially true for your pawns, who’re generally not quite as capable as you are (they are AI-controlled, after all). You always have the ability to revive them should they fall in the middle of combat, but given how long that can take, that’s always a risky endeavour. You can’t wait too long to revive them either, however, because their bodies disappear after a while, after which you need to find a Riftstone to fill up your party again (and those aren’t exactly abundant). As such, finding the right windows to revive your pawns is crucial. One particularly helpful method is picking up a pawn’s corpse (just stand next to them and press R2/RT) and carry them a safe distance away, which will give you enough time to revive them before your foes can interrupt.
PAWN QUESTS
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a single player-only experience by and large, but it does sprinkle in multiplayer elements by allowing you to recruit other players’ pawns, and sending out your own pawns to be recruited by others. The latter can also be quite helpful. Each time you make your pawn available for recruiting, you can give them a specific quest to complete, while they can also gain additional knowledge of the world and of how to progress in certain quests that they then share with you when they come back. Additionally, when recruiting other players’ pawns from a Riftstone, you can also specifically search for ones that will give you hints about how to progress in whatever quest you have set as the active one at that time, which can also come in quite handy.
PAWN COMMANDS
This one might seem a bit obvious, but it can be surprisingly easy to simply forget about pawn commands, especially when you’re not in combat. By utilizing the pawn commands set to the d-pad, you can direct your pawns to gather materials, open chests, and more, while they can be almost necessary to use in certain other situations as well. For instance, if you spot a chest across a ravine and try to make your way over, make sure to tell your pawns to wait for you, because if you don’t, in their attempts to follow you across the ravine, there’s a good chance that they end up falling to their deaths.
EXPERIMENT WITH VOCATIONS
Right off the bat, Dragon’s Dogma 2 lets you play as one of four Vocations, with more being unlocked as you get deeper into the game, and though you might be tempted to stick with a single Vocation, our recommendation would be to spend some time with at least a handful. Each Vocation plays in drastically different ways from all others, and each comes with unique mechanics, strengths, and weaknesses, and you never know which one of them might end up appealing to your tastes in its own way.
GRABBING ENEMIES
Grabbing enemies and latching on to them is a core mechanic in Dragon’s Dogma 2’s combat, especially when you’re taking on the larger foes. It is, in fact, something that you should be looking to do as often as you can. When you attack enemies when you’re latched on to them, you deal extra damage, while the chances of stunning them are also higher, which in turn gives you the window to deal even greater damage.
USE THE ENVIRONMENT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
The environment can come to your aid in unexpected ways in Dragon’s Dogma 2’s combat. Sometimes, it can be as simple as spotting an exploding barrel and tossing it at an enemy, or rolling a giant rock down a hill and crashing it into a sleeping troll. Sometimes, when an enemy is standing close to a ledge, you can bash your shield into them (provided you’re playing as a Fighter and have the skill unlocked) to send them plummeting to their deaths, while other times, it pays to keep an eye out for things you can climb on top off to jump and grab onto the particularly large enemies. Bottomline? Stay sharp.
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
Dragon’s Dogma players will be more than familiar with this, but Dragon’s Dogma 2 is very stringent with its inventory limitations. You can become overencumbered very easily, which means you have to be extra judicious about how much stuff you pick up, especially because the really heavy things in your inventory – like your weapons, armour, and lantern – can’t (or shouldn’t to be more precise) really be discarded. One really useful way of easing up those restrictions is to use your pawns as mules, which is yet another reason to always travel with a full party.
KEEP VISITING INNS
Inns aren’t terribly abundant in Dragon’s Dogma 2, but when you find one, it’s a good idea to take some time to rest. You accumulate damage over time that not only depletes your health, but also your max HP, which can only be recovered by sleeping. Additionally, inns are also the only place where you can put things into storage to free up some inventory space, so even if you don’t plan on sleeping, a visit can still be useful.
ALWAYS TRAVEL WITH A CAMPING
As mentioned, you can often go surprisingly long distances between inns in Dragon’s Dogma 2, but thankfully, the world does have plenty of camping spots scattered everywhere. Though you can’t sort your storage at camps, you can sleep and even cook up meals for buffs. You will, however, require a camping kit, so make sure you always have at least one of those in your inventory if you know you’re heading out on a long journey. Do keep in mind though that camping kits tend to weight a lot, which means inventory management becomes an even bigger headache.
ADVANCING TIME
The passage of time has very tangible consequences in Dragon’s Dogma 2, not only because of the time-bound nature of some quests, but also because NPCs in the world often tend to follow specific schedules, while outside of settlements and cities, the world also becomes significantly more dangerous at nighttime. There are some ways to advance the time in the game, however. For starters, you can sleep at an inn or a campsite, but if you don’t want to do that, if you’re in settlements, you’ll also often find places where you can just sit and pass the time, like taverns or benches.
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