Capcom Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

[polo]

I guess i should do more main story and less side quests. Danke.

 

[undu]

So, when and where can i get a decent magic bow? Been stuck with the same for some levels now.

The black cat has an interesting one for sale, the militant dove

 

[Gentle Player]

Unlike Bethesderp's recent entries, it actually nails a medieval-esque atmosphere, much like the Souls series. It still amuses me that Japanese developers are far better than Western developers at capturing a convincing medieval feel.

I actually didn't mind the faux Middle-English in this game, it had a charm to it that reminded me of Ultima. Far better than having the characters speaking like American secondary-schoolers, as in most fantasy games these days.

 

[Ivan]

who was YOUR dearest?

Mine turned out to be the witch's granddaughter. Bc I made her make some juice for me....yeah, idk

 

[Blaine]

I actually didn't mind the faux Middle-English in this game, it had a charm to it that reminded me of Ultima. Far better than having the characters speaking like American secondary-schoolers, as in most fantasy games these days.

Yeah, the anachronistic words are used sparingly and appropriately.

Another thing that amuses me is that ever since Japanese developers became aware of the West's desire for high-quality English translations years ago, they've been hiring on very technically competent writers, so that there are fewer typos and awkwardly-worded phrases than in many Western games. Even cheapo animu games now seem to have high-quality writing, technically speaking of course.

Edit: Checked the thread pretty thoroughly for img and attach tags, apparently no one's posted this classic:

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

So, when and where can i get a decent magic bow? Been stuck with the same for some levels now.

You can buy an excellent magick bow from Caxton if you give him a gold idol, but it's only possible to obtain one gold idol per playthrough and requires perfect completion of the most difficult and irritating quest in the game,

Spoiler

escorting Symone, Fournival's daughter, around Gran Soren

. Otherwise, you can either progress to a later stage of the main quest, get lucky with a drop from certain chests, or buy the Militant Dove from the Black Cat for a large sum of money (and even then you'll want either a noonflower or 3 golden eggs for enhancement, which costs a considerable amount in itself).

The Arm-Strength augment halves stamina consumption from clinging to creatures, invaluable when climbing large monsters, but requires rank 7 to obtain and thus probably isn't worth the time if you don't want to play as a Strider. There's a Leg-Strength augment that eases encumbrance limitations, but it requires rank 9, and since you already have access to the Fighter augment Sinew that eases encumbrance limitations in a different way, you don't need it. The lower-rank Strider augments are trivial.

Minor correction: the rank 2 Strider augment Dexterity apparently increases speed when climbing monsters even though the augment's description mentions only "cliffs and other terrain".

who was YOUR dearest?

Mine turned out to be the witch's granddaughter. Bc I made her make some juice for me....yeah, idk

Selene automatically reaches max affinity simply by completing her related quests. And she relocates to the Arisen's house in Cassardis. For those who want to ensure she isn't the Arisen's Beloved, I recommend punching her a few times to lower her affinity.


On a positive note in my current playthrough, I received a secret augment Predation after purifying random loot in Bitterblack Isle: +100 health every time you kill something. I now have this equipped on both my Arisen and main pawn.

 

[Reinhardt]

For those who want to ensure she isn't the Arisen's Beloved, I recommend punching her a few times to lower her affinity.

You can just carry her, no? Why violence?

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

For those who want to ensure she isn't the Arisen's Beloved, I recommend punching her a few times to lower her affinity.

You can just carry her, no? Why violence?

Violence is faster and more effective.

 

[Blaine]

How many fucking wolves run in a single pack in Japan? Eighty?

I'm talking about a relatively small geographical area, not an entire road. I guess the upside to fighting dozens and dozens of wolves is that morning will come by the time you're done and you'll have a fortune in pelts and sour scrag to sell.

 

[Mozg]

Magic archer cures BBI as advertised. It also feels a lot less DT-bound than playing a physical class (although it's left it seemingly weak tools to deal with random minor enemies I didn't recognize as significant problems in a physical game, like banshees and maneaters).

Incidentally the focused bolt skill on a mage/sorcerer lets you play them in an actiony kiting way (it's a hold-down-the-button charge-up skill that you can use while moving around or even sprinting) instead of always just charging nukes and hoping nothing aggros you.

 

[deuxhero]

It seems there are mods to fix the stupid growth rates of magic knight and magic archer. Guess I'll grab those whenever I do a second PC playthrough.

 

[Blaine]

If only there were spears in this game....

 

[Haba]

Selene automatically reaches max affinity simply by completing her related quests. And she relocates to the Arisen's house in Cassardis. For those who want to ensure she isn't the Arisen's Beloved, I recommend punching her a few times to lower her affinity.

I had max affection with every female around the town (you can tell by the red glow and the ding sound when you talk to them).

But nothing like playing blind and having this happen to you:

Spoiler

 

[Puukko]

Trump seems to be a popular choice for people to model their pawns after. Would've hired this mage if he hadn't had worse stats than my current pawn 25 levels lower.

 

[Gentle Player]

I had Madeline on my first blind playthrough. Fortunately I played Dark Arisen which apparently improved (albeit slightly) the bonkers Affinity system, so I didn't get a man. On my second playthrough, where I checked a guide to see what sidequests I missed, I cucked the Duke

 

[felipepepe]

The Duke? But the wiki says he's the only NPC in the game you can't romance

 

[Haba]

Clearly you are lacking in your cuckoldry studies.

 

[Mystary!]

Is the duchess supposed to be romancable?
I got the impression she was only a child... (but perhaps that's because she's like half my size...)

 

[Haba]

Everyone is romanceable, even the kids.

 

[Gentle Player]

The Duke? But the wiki says he's the only NPC in the game you can't romance

I cucked him by stealing his Ukrainian Meloirian child bride from him.

 

[Deitti]

I had Madeline on my first blind playthrough. Fortunately I played Dark Arisen which apparently improved (albeit slightly) the bonkers Affinity system, so I didn't get a man. On my second playthrough, where I checked a guide to see what sidequests I missed, I cucked the Duke

Dark Arisen only really improved it by making sure that innkeepers and shopkeepers stopped always becoming your true loves. It also added the affiinity neutralizers in BBI. Otherwise the system is still mostly same so it's very possible to get a man still, just more unlikely considering how many girls the game tries to push on you.

I got Aelinore on my first blind playthrough aswell, she's probably the easiest to get out of all characters even if you don't intend it.

 

[Blaine]

I really wish they hadn't included that pink-and-white queen's dress DLC clothing, because 2/3rds of the female pawns for rent at my level (and 80-90% of player pawns are female, not too surprisingly) are wearing that shit.

MUH IMMERSHUN.

I saw a male pawn in the Rift named "Boy," with coal-black skin, bright red lips, and an afro.

The Dragon's Dogma character customization is really quite remarkable, and distinguishes itself from Skyblivion by having an immense range of convincing body sizes, shapes, and postures that actually work to make anything from a little girl to a hulking, hunched-over, half-giant brute with a bloated gut.

 

[Puukko]

I'm level 100 in BBI and still wearing it. Probably won't find the full assassin set before I quit either.

 

[Gentle Player]

I had Madeline on my first blind playthrough. Fortunately I played Dark Arisen which apparently improved (albeit slightly) the bonkers Affinity system, so I didn't get a man. On my second playthrough, where I checked a guide to see what sidequests I missed, I cucked the Duke

Dark Arisen only really improved it by making sure that innkeepers and shopkeepers stopped always becoming your true loves. It also added the affiinity neutralizers in BBI. Otherwise the system is still mostly same so it's very possible to get a man still, just more unlikely considering how many girls the game tries to push on you.

I got Aelinore on my first blind playthrough aswell, she's probably the easiest to get out of all characters even if you don't intend it.

Indeed, only a slight improvement as I said. I probably would have got Aelinore first time around had I actually initiated her quest. For some reason I completely missed her in the gardens after leaving the Duke's court for the first time, and apparently if she isn't spoken to there and then she is absent from the remainder of the game.

I really wish they hadn't included that pink-and-white queen's dress DLC clothing, because 2/3rds of the female pawns for rent at my level (and 80-90% of player pawns are female, not too surprisingly) are wearing that shit.

MUH IMMERSHUN.

I saw a male pawn in the Rift named "Boy," with coal-black skin, bright red lips, and an afro.

The Dragon's Dogma character customization is really quite remarkable, and distinguishes itself from Skyblivion by having an immense range of convincing body sizes, shapes, and postures that actually work to make anything from a little girl to a hulking, hunched-over, half-giant brute with a bloated gut.

I think because it's the most consistently powerful clothing for mage classes until the BBI sets, so you'll be seeing a lot more of it until then.

 

[Blaine]

I always go for form over function, game's easy enough as-is.

Hell yeah. I'm gonna be sad when I eventually exchange this for Gryphic or whatever.