Dragon's Dogma 2 is a complicated game. It's full of secrets, mysteries, and difficult challenges to overcome - trials and errors are part and parcel of the experience. Naturally, you may want to go in forearmed with knowledge, tips, and recommendations to ease your struggles - otherwise, you might be in for a painful few opening hours.
RelatedDragon's Dogma 2: Best Vocation For Your Pawn
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PostsThe first few quests in the game are potentially the roughest, owing to how easy it can be to trip up and make mistakes. We have some great tips to help you along the way, though, so don't go in totally without a clue.
Stick To A Playstyle
One of the highlights of Dragon's Dogma 2 is the vast range of vocations you can play with - there's a thrilling range of combat options to experiment with, from sword and board tactics with Fighters to complex spellcraft with Sorcerer.
When you level up, you'll gain stat bonuses based on your current vocation. This means that characters who stick to certain playstyles (e.g., physickal versus magickal) will have an edge over those who mix and match a lot and swap classes too much.
There are hybrid vocations in the game that allow you to benefit from both physickal and magickal stats, so playing a balanced character is more than possible!
In the long run, the equipment you get will give such large bonuses that the difference is one of min-maxing, but figuring out early on whether you want to remain physickal, magickal, or regularly mix it up and use both playstyles will be very beneficial to your long-term success.
Seek Out Waypoint Statues
As you explore the land, you'll sometimes hear one of your pawns remark upon a statue that you should consider getting close to. If you look around, you'll likely spot what they're talking about - a tall statue with wings on it.
These statues serve as handy indicators that you are near something notable - if you make your way to the statue and look at the direction it is facing, you'll be facing a point of interest: these can be Seeker's Tokens, chests, even entire villages or dungeons.
These statues invariably have a note at their base that gives you a clue as to what you're meant to be finding when observing your surroundings.
Unlike in other games where approaching or examining such statues might reveal sections of your map or mark down exact locations, you'll have to make the observations for yourself. This brings us to our next tip:
Plan Your Journeys
Fast travel is very limited in Dragon's Dogma 2 - as a result, you'll be travelling on foot for a large proportion of your time. This will mean planning your journeys meticulously before leaving a settlement, whether you're heading towards a quest destination or just filling out more of your map and hoping to find something new to explore.
There is no way to reveal portions of the in-game map before actually heading to those locations yourself, but if you zoom in, you will see that you know already where all the principal roads are. You can use this to plan out which turns you need to take when pursuing faraway quest destinations.
Another thing to keep in mind is your carry weight. If you're a person who likes to pick up all the items they come across, you'll need to be mindful of how long your journey is going to be. Store unnecessary items in your storage (accessible from any inn or homes you've purchased) so that you have more room for the things you'll pick up. Equipment is especially heavy, so it's best to only take the items you are currently using.
Keep A Mage With You
While it's possible to make most party formations work, Mages stand out as being incredibly useful from a survival standpoint. This is thanks primarily to their Anodyne skill, which is an infinitely usable heal that they will use at beneficial times.
Keep in mind that Mages have Anodyne, but Sorcerers do not.
In addition to Anodyne, a Mage's ability to grant elemental boons and target elemental weaknesses will make them a fantastic support, which makes the early game far easier to cope with. Until you are confident in your ability to keep your party alive and strategise your way out of difficult encounters, Mages should be a permanent fixture in your party-building plans.
Seeker's Token Tips
As you explore the world, you are likely to come across large, round coins on the floor. These are Seeker's Tokens - there are 240 of them spread throughout the world, and you can get some very neat prizes from the vocation guild for handing them over - you get items for hitting certain numbers of tokens.
Our advice here is not simply to keep an eye out for these tokens but to remember the spot where you find your first one. Later in the game, there is a quest that involves solving riddles, and the answer to one of these riddles is to return to the spot where you found your first token. If you forget, you're quite out of luck.
Quest-Related Tips
Quests can be troublesome in Dragon's Dogma 2 - there's often very little handholding to be found in quest directions and instructions. Instead, it is intended that you rely on pawns for advice.
In the quest menu, there are some symbols to be aware of:
- A hand symbol means that one of your pawns has 'quest knowledge', which means they have accompanied another player while they completed this quest and thus can give you advice on how to complete it yourself. This could be through directions to a place or person, hints on where to look for clues, or advice that pertains to combat you must go through.
- A blue hand signifies your main pawn having the knowledge, whereas 'I' or 'II' written on the hand represent your first and second hired pawns, respectively.
- An hourglass symbol means that a quest has a timed element; if you do not pursue it immediately, you risk failing it or being relegated to a lesser reward.
When searching for pawns inside the rift, you can narrow down your search by pawns who have quest knowledge for the quest you currently have set as your priority.
Also worth being wary of are main quests where you are warned that you should get everything you want to do done before progressing. Any quests you have that are incomplete are liable to fail immediately if you proceed with these quests.
The first 'point of no return' quest involves a coronation. Be wary of this and make sure you're happy with your quest completion prior to going ahead with this quest.
Universally-Useful Augments
Despite the advice above to stick to a single playstyle, it can be beneficial to experiment with vocations for the purpose of acquiring augments, which can be equipped regardless of vocation. The following are particularly helpful augments that are pretty much universally deserving of a place on your characters.
Augment
Vocation
Description
Thew
Fighter
Increases your carry weight. This is great for any Arisen as you are the ones picking up the majority of the items.
Endurance
Archer
Increases your stamina. You'll be doing a lot of dashing, so the longer you can dash, the better. This is also very handy for spellcasters, as casting powerful spells eats a lot of stamina.
Exaltation
Mage
Increases stamina recovery rate. Useful for the same reasons as above.
Intervention
Mage
Reduces the time it takes to recover from afflictions.
Stasis
Sorcerer
Reduces the deterioration rate for perishable items. This is very good for long journeys.
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