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How to identify Dragonsplague in Dragon's Dogma 2: Symptoms and treatments

Here is how to identify and get rid of Dragonsplague in Dragon's Dogma 2

Dragon's Dogma 2 promo art of a Pawn with Dragonsplague.
Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom

Looking for ways to identify Dragonsplague in Dragon's Dogma 2? In Dragon's Dogma 2 Dragonspague is an intense disease that only Pawns can get. Once infected, it is incredibly difficult to stop it from spreading amongst your party and ultimately, it can lead to entire villages being wiped off the map.

As Dragon's Dogma 2 is a one-save-only game, this means you can permanently lose several NPCs in one fell swoop. To learn more about Dragonsplague, its symptoms, and how to deal with it once infected, read below.


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How to identify Dragonsplague

Dragonsplague may affect any Pawns in your party, including your Main Pawn. Players usually report the following symptoms leading up to a Dragonsplague outbreak:

  • Pawns become defiant: Pawns may sit around more often and even ignore direct orders. They will offer sassier lines of dialogue. This can be tricky to attribute to Dragonspague if - like me - you have a particularly independent Main Pawn.
  • Pawns eyes glow red: This is a subtle change at first but they will eventually glow an angry red colour. Try speaking to your Pawns often to get a good glimpse of them.
  • Pawns will clutch their heads: Pawns with early stages of Dragonsplague may get headaches and clutch their heads in pain.
  • Pawns will display prowess in combat: Pawns with Dragonsplague will fight with more aggression and effectiveness in combat.
Screenshot of a Pawn sitting down in Dragon's Dogma 2.
Pawns will get lethargic and sit more often when infected with Dragonsplague. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom.

You'll get a one-time warning when you first contract Dragonsplague. The game will issue a pop-up with a few bits of information regarding the disease. Once this has happened once, however, you will not know if your Pawns are infected unless you refer to the symptoms listed above.

If it becomes too late, your Pawn will go completely crazy and will likely kill an entire village. As the game will autosave after this, it will lock your game and you'll have to face the consequences.

It is possible to recruit a Pawn with Dragonsplague without knowing. The disease has an incubation period that takes days to present itself. Recently, players have taken to offering rotten fruit as a reward when setting a Pawn quest as a way to warn other players if a Pawn is infected.


How to deal with Dragonsplague

Screenshot of a Grand Riftstone in Dragon's Dogma 2.
You can resurrect Pawns at a Grand Riftstone. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Capcom

Unless you're using mods to both track the level of infection and remove it from your game entirely, there is currently no cure for Dragonspague by legitimate means.

Rather, if you suspect your Pawn of having the plague you'll need to kill them. A common way to do so amongst players is to throw them into the Brine, an instant killer for anyone who dares enter the waterways of Dragon's Dogma 2.

You can then resurrect a Pawn at a Grand Riftstone back to full health and disease-free. The downside to this is that it will slightly lower your Main Pawn's affinity with your Arisen. If it's a choice between this and a decimated village, you may find it a worthy sacrifice, however.

If Dragonsplague results in NPC deaths, you can revive any NPC with a Wakestone. You can also use the Eternal Wakestone to revive multiple NPCs at once. This is a one-use item and worth saving for such a scenario. You can get the Eternal Wakestone by defeating the Sphinx.

Once present in your party, the plague may jump from Pawn to Pawn. This usually happens when you rest at a campfire. We suggest purging a party just in case, but you can try resting at campfires and getting the plague to jump if you want to spare your Main Pawn from the Brine.


Causes of Dragonsplague

There is some speculation about Dragonsplague and how it is contracted in Dragon's Dogma 2. As discussed, due to the incubation period you can hire Pawns that already have it. Your Main Pawn may also return from a Pawn quest with it.

Some players also report contracting Dragonsplague after fighting Drakes (lesser Dragons). Specifically, when Pawns grapple Drakes. Others may never get it during a playthrough.

As you adventure, your Pawns will commonly remark about a 'worrying rumour' they've heard about the spread of a dangerous disease amongst Pawns but offer little more information on the subject.

That rounds off our guide to Dragonsplague in Dragon's Dogma 2. For more Dragon's Dogma 2 tips and tricks, see our guides for making the perfect Sorcerer build, Archer build, Fighter build and more.

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