The beauty of Dragon’s Dogma 2 is that the game is completely unconcerned with how much of its content you’re engaging with, despite just how much of it is crammed into its dense, rich open world setting. The game is brimming with secrets, hidden areas, missable quests, special items and weapons, and more, a lot of which is all too easy to miss for players, both because of how well some of it is hidden, and how little the game guides you in your efforts to seek it out. Here, we’re going to talk about a few such missable things, from more prominent quests and enemies to smaller gameplay features that you may not have come across in your time with the game.
WATERFALL CAVE
Let’s start with one of the earlier missable areas in Dragon’s Dogma 2– the Waterfall Cave, which is in close vicinity to the Borderwatch Outpost settlement where the game begins. Early on, the path to the cave is blocked, but though it opens up before too long, given the fact that you encounter some pretty brutal enemies in there (like a Chimera, for instance), it’s still recommended that you hold off on entering it for a while. Once you do explore the cave, however, across its two floors, you’ll find a variety of rewards, including plenty of consumables, gold, a Ferrystone, a Wakestone, powerful grimoires, valuable crafting resources, and the Peltflayer daggers for the Thief Vocation. If you’re in the relatively early (or even mid-game) sections of Dragon’s Dogma 2, seeking out and exploring Waterfall Cave is worth the time and effort (as long as you’re confident that you can deal with the Chimera).
SPHINX
Capcom very prominent advertised this particular enemy and quest even before Dragon’s Dogma 2 launched. The Sphinx is a unique, hidden boss that comes with its own questline, and everything about the enemy is designed to obfuscate things as much as possible. For starters, finding the Sphinx in and of itself can be quite tricky, and once you do find it, the nearly half dozen riddles that it tasks you with solving can be headscratchers in their own right as well. It’s one of the most mechanically unique quests in the game, however, against a spectacularly designed foe, while the rewards it yields are also quite useful.
MEDUSA’S HEAD
Medusa is a prominent foe in Dragon’s Dogma 2, so the simple act of even finding it isn’t exactly tricky. However, you do also have the option to cut off the foe’s head every time you defeat it (which isn’t a cakewalk, by the way) to then use on enemies to turn them to stone yourself. That in and of itself requires some precision and effort, and even then, chances are that you’re going to get a less durable version of its head that will wither away rather quickly, with or without use. Getting a Preserved Medusa Head, meanwhile, requires a lot of skill and precision- and patience, because once the foe is killed, it takes a couple of in-game weeks to respawn, which means you can’t instantly retry the fight.
GRAND RIFTSTONE OF VERMUND’S SECRET TREASURE
You reach the city of Vernworth pretty early on in Dragon’s Dogma 2, and much like essentially the game’s entire world, it’s a place that’s got more than its fair share of secrets tucked away. For instance, if you pay attention to what your Pawns are spotting and telling you about, you’ll be able to find a ladder in one of the inn’s balconies that will lead you to the city’s rooftops and, in turn, the roof of a tower housing the capital’s Grand Riftstone. In the three chests that you open here, you’ll find a Ferrystone, as well as a rapier and boots, all of which is useful equipment to have on hand in the relatively early hours of the game.
THE EXALTED
There’s plenty of secret, hidden weapons to be found in Dragon’s Dogma 2 for all Vocations. If you’re playing as a Fighter, one to keep an eye on is The Exalted, an enchanted mace that does a hefty amount of damage, and also comes with elemental properties. It’s found in Drabnir’s Grotto, an area that you’ll likely be exploring after having put in a good amount of time into the game. On top of its impressive base stats, it can, of course, also be enhanced further using gathered materials, so make sure to keep an eye out for the weapon.
DAUGHTER OF THE EVENING
Another one for the Fighters to keep a lookout for. There’s plenty of high value shields to be found throughout the game, but there aren’t many of them that are as effective as the Daughter of the Evening. This special shield may not offer resistance against slash and striking attacks, but on top of its high base stats, it can also be used to reflect enemies’ faces and horrors upon themselves, as its in-game description puts it (so it might be particularly useful against Medusa). It can be found in the Vernworth Castle vault, which can be found by going through a tunnel close to the castle’s kitchens- though you’re going to need a key to get in, which means it’s not as simple as just walking in and opening a chest.
BLACK MATTER
For the Warrior Vocation, Black Matter is an absolutely unmissable weapon. Finding your way to it and getting your hands on it is no easy task – with enemies like skulls, an ogre, a cyclops, and a drake lying in your path – but it’s well worth it. Located in a chest in the Ancient Battleground, the massive hammer not only deals a hefty amount of strike damage to foes with each hit, it also has incredible knockdown power, which makes it a great weapon for knocking the particularly larger enemies to the ground, and even send many of the smaller ones flying. Keep in mind, however, that the weapon has a massive 10 kg inventory requirement, which means you’re going to need to free up a lot of space.
ANATHEMA
If you’re vibing with the Sorcerer Vocation, you’re definitely going to want to get your hands on this staff. Found in an area that you visit in the A New Godsway quest, it’s easily missable if you simply rush through, so make sure to keep an eye out. On top of having a high magic attack stat, the staff is also capable of dishing out a surprising amount of physical damage. Most useful is its ability so Silence foes, which makes it significantly easier to take on enemies who have a knack for incantations and spells.
PAWNS’ SURPRISING USES
Pawns are a major part of the core gameplay experience in Dragon’s Dogma 2 (to say the least), and they prove their effectiveness both in and out of combat time and time again. For instance, you can grab them and throw them to out-of-reach ledges to then kick ladders down for you to follow. Similarly, Pawns can also catch you mid-air should they be around you when you’re falling from a height. This happens dynamically, so it’s not something that you’re bound to see unless the circumstances make it happen.
USING CATAPULTS
As you explore the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2, you’ll spot all sorts of medieval war machines scattered throughout the world. Some of these can clearly be interacted with, but others are less clear about their utility. Catapults, for instance, can be used to sometimes open up previously locked parts of the world. If you spot a catapult, grab a nearby rock, load it in, then fire the weapon, and there’s a decent chance that when the projectile impacts, it opens up a new, secret path for you to follow. It isn’t guaranteed to happen every single time (and sometimes even the spots where it does work can take a couple of tries), but it’s something to keep an eye out for nonetheless.
TRUE ENDING
Let’s close this off with something a tad obvious, but worth mentioning nonetheless. Unsurprisingly for a game like Dragon’s Dogma 2, the true ending here can be incredibly easy to miss. For starters, you need to ensure that you get the good ending first (which requires you to pay attention at crucial points in the story), following which, there’s another gauntlet of particularly grueling post-game challenges for you to trounce before you can get the true ending. If you want to see the story’s full, actual conclusion though, it’s obviously worth the effort.