Capcom Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

[Mr. Magniloquent]

Is there a respec? I started spending my XP like a drunken sailor, and I am a little sub-optimal. Not enough to matter I guess, mostly irk. I wanted to try out all the different spells. Is there a level cap in this game? If not, I'll just let it go and collect them all. I'm a bit disappointed with the dark spells. I love CC and was hoping to lock things down while my party unleashed hell. Against bandits it hasn't been very effective and the casting speed is super slow. I also wish I could reassign my basic RMB to a spell. That sweep attack is useless to me. It might as well be a wasted slot.

I'm still having fun though. I did the escort mission to get to the city, but left immediately so I could just wander around and murder-hobo. I might back-track a bit to the well mine shaft exit and explore those hills some more. Timers don't seem to exist, so I'm just going to do whatever.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Is there a respec? I started spending my XP like a drunken sailor, and I am a little sub-optimal. Not enough to matter I guess, mostly irk. I wanted to try out all the different spells. Is there a level cap in this game? If not, I'll just let it go and collect them all. I'm a bit disappointed with the dark spells. I love CC and was hoping to lock things down while my party unleashed hell. Against bandits it hasn't been very effective and the casting speed is super slow. I also wish I could reassign my basic RMB to a spell. That sweep attack is useless to me. It might as well be a wasted slot.

I'm still having fun though. I did the escort mission to get to the city, but left immediately so I could just wander around and murder-hobo. I might back-track a bit to the well mine shaft exit and explore those hills some more. Timers don't seem to exist, so I'm just going to do whatever.

No respec, but it doesn't really matter. Level cap is 200, for increasing your attributes. Vocations cap at rank 10, but you can still get vocation points to unlock skills, if that's what you're worried about.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Is there a respec? I started spending my XP like a drunken sailor, and I am a little sub-optimal. Not enough to matter I guess, mostly irk. I wanted to try out all the different spells. Is there a level cap in this game? If not, I'll just let it go and collect them all. I'm a bit disappointed with the dark spells. I love CC and was hoping to lock things down while my party unleashed hell. Against bandits it hasn't been very effective and the casting speed is super slow. I also wish I could reassign my basic RMB to a spell. That sweep attack is useless to me. It might as well be a wasted slot.

I'm still having fun though. I did the escort mission to get to the city, but left immediately so I could just wander around and murder-hobo. I might back-track a bit to the well mine shaft exit and explore those hills some more. Timers don't seem to exist, so I'm just going to do whatever.

Escort quests contribute to approval rating of certain characters. This leads as to who is your waifu at the end of the game. Quests are timed, in a sense that every main quest block has a number of sidequests tied to it, and if you leave some without finishing, they will be shown as failed.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I'm still having fun though. I did the escort mission to get to the city, but left immediately so I could just wander around and murder-hobo. I might back-track a bit to the well mine shaft exit and explore those hills some more. Timers don't seem to exist, so I'm just going to do whatever.

No timers, but each sidequest will terminate if not completed by a certain point in the main quest; you can check the wiki for these triggers by stage, starting with Stage 1, if you want to avoid this without too many spoilers. Note that the main quest and a handful of important side quests will take you to just about every notable location in the game, which is not really Open World.

Also, the determination of which character becomes the Arisen's Beloved depends on their approval rating, which can be increased in various ways.

 

[Old One]

I'm still having fun though. I did the escort mission to get to the city, but left immediately so I could just wander around and murder-hobo.

Here's a dirty trick. The escort missions appear once your relations with any character are high enough. That means you can talk to almost any non-pawn person you meet, give them a couple gifts, and you'll get an escort mission for them. Escort mission farming is not super profitable, but it can easily be done. Some of the locations are very simple to get to, and for the ones that aren't you can set a port crystal and just go back and forth until you complete all the escort missions to that place.

 

[Black]

 

[Late Bloomer]

Well, the channel name is spot-on.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

Started this game on recommendation from mediocrepoet and now ~8 hours in.

First impressions, this is what I expect an action game to be. I don't mean I'm instantly in love or anything (I can't be with this kind of open world action stuff) but this is what the baseline for an "ARPG" would be in an ideal world.

-Ignoring what I see as inventory bloat, I at least have the perception of many choices for builds, however, I don't have enough knowledge of the game to make an informed conclusion.

-I like the pawn system. Unfortunately, forcing 2 of them to be created by other retards essentially making this MP is bullshit. Cringe characters and cringe names. I should be able to create all of my pawns, if I want to recruit others make it possible but let me spend more points on creating my own if I want. I've created a massive, viking-esque warrior with petite women behind him so that's fun.

-The Japanese do have some charm to them when they create western style fantasy games. Nothing special, but it gives a warm feeling which is what cliches should be. Not wannabe shit that you get with many other games.

-I found myself in the Witchwoods pretty early on and the first thing I saw was a hog. I instantly slaughtered it then came to realize they're not hostile. My PTSD from shit Gothic 3 made me slay an innocent animal and I feel bad.


Some tips/questions for people more familiar with the game:

How should I deal with the inventory bloat? I got to the bandit fortress and trucked along for 2 hours just exploring. My inventory got full quite quickly, despite having the augment for more weight carrying capabilities. I have so much shit I am just upgrading anything I have even if I know the gear will be replaced very quickly and combining anything I can. Any tips/hints on what I can sell or what I should hold onto? Inventory management for games like this is something I do not care about dealing with. My created pawn is a small archer who can't carry a lot, I also almost maxed her, but I'm scared to give stuff to my other pawns, log off the game, then lose it.

Another thing; does difficulty change how many enemies there are/respawning (which I think exists but not sure). If so, I probably will go down to easy difficulty because I can't stand the grind. On my way back from my recent adventure on the coast, I got stuck for way too long just fighting packs and packs of wolves. It's too easy to be fun.

Overall, my prediction with this game will be very similar to how I feel about Witcher 3. I would want it to be 40+ hours shorter and I'll get burned out eventually, despite my high tolerance for burnout, and I'll end up needing a break after it. However, there will be some high high's that stick in my mind. Hopefully.

All I've done so far

 

[mediocrepoet]

Some tips/questions for people more familiar with the game:

How should I deal with the inventory bloat? I got to the bandit fortress and trucked along for 2 hours just exploring. My inventory got full quite quickly, despite having the augment for more weight carrying capabilities. I have so much shit I am just upgrading anything I have even if I know the gear will be replaced very quickly and combining anything I can. Any tips/hints on what I can sell or what I should hold onto? Inventory management for games like this is something I do not care about dealing with. My created pawn is a small archer who can't carry a lot, I also almost maxed her, but I'm scared to give stuff to my other pawns, log off the game, then lose it.

You can dump all your stuff into storage at the inn, just be aware that food will age and eventually spoil, depending on what it is. Some food can "mature" (though it has a weird translation) and become very effective during that period. There is a way of preserving things, though it's expensive and only worthwhile on certain higher end or more rare items.

Summoned pawns will keep whatever they have until you send them home. You can then give them a gift. Just take your stuff back before you dismiss them or they die. Generally, I don't give pawns much of anything because they chug potions like fratboys.

Another thing; does difficulty change how many enemies there are/respawning (which I think exists but not sure). If so, I probably will go down to easy difficulty because I can't stand the grind.

Eh... no difficulty settings really other than hard mode which just gives hp bloat. Generally speaking most bloat is an effect of the RPG system. Basically, it's a JRPG in that if you don't surpass their defense threshold, you basically do jack, but once you do, you annihilate them. Also many stats are heavily equipment and item buff driven, with some modifiers from augments.

Also, some enemies have specific weak points or elemental weaknesses and are strong against or even immune to things that aren't that.

Overall, my prediction with this game will be very similar to how I feel about Witcher 3. I would want it to be 40+ hours shorter and I'll get burned out eventually, despite my high tolerance for burnout, and I'll end up needing a break after it. However, there will be some high high's that stick in my mind. Hopefully.

If you do hit that point, make sure you check out BBI before you drop it.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

You can dump all your stuff into storage at the inn

If I go to a different inn than the one I deposited items in, will they be there either way ala Witcher 1?

Summoned pawns will keep whatever they have until you send them home. You can then give them a gift. Just take your stuff back before you dismiss them or they die. Generally, I don't give pawns much of anything because they chug potions like fratboys.

Good to know, that's what I did just now because I went up like 10 levels on just 1 quick adventure and had to dismiss the pawns that were way underleveled after just a couple of hours (which is why I should be able to create my whole party if I want!!!!)

Eh... no difficulty settings really other than hard mode which just gives hp bloat. Generally speaking most bloat is an effect of the RPG system. Basically, it's a JRPG in that if you don't surpass their defense threshold, you basically do jack, but once you do, you annihilate them. Also many stats are heavily equipment and item buff driven, with some modifiers from augments.

Also, some enemies have specific weak points or elemental weaknesses and are strong against or even immune to things that aren't that.

In that case, I will leave it at current difficulty and go to easy when I get burned out. I am destroying all the enemies I'm coming across (except some golem which I wasn't able to hit in his weak spots) but there were just too many on the way back that took too much time.

If you do hit that point, make sure you check out BBI before you drop it.

BBI? I'm guessing that's the DLC of the island I was told randomly showed up. I won't drop the game either way, I did grind through 130+ hours of both DA:I & Witcher 3 despite hating it. Me "dropping" a game just means rushing through the main story. For Witcher 3, HOS expansion gave me the energy to get through the rest of the game and I just rushed B&W after that. Might be similar for Dragon's Dogma, will see. I might just stop myself from doing EVERY quest (i.e. the JRPG grind ones) so I get burned out much less quickly. From what I googled, my playstyle means I have another ~60+ hours to go.

On a separate note, this was my first post in jrpg section, I see you've played the long game and tricked me into doing something I'll regret for the rest of my life.

 

[mediocrepoet]

You can dump all your stuff into storage at the inn

If I go to a different inn than the one I deposited items in, will they be there either way ala Witcher 1?

It's been a long time, but I think so. I think it's a universal storage. In practice, you're probably only going to Gran Soren and maybe Cassardis now and again, or the camp outside BBI, so it's kind of a non-issue.

DD has what I would call an air of unfinished greatness. It's like... an amazing game that's 80% finished and that never fully implemented the campaign. I love it despite that, but I get why some find that to be a deal breaker. DD2 better fix this.

Summoned pawns will keep whatever they have until you send them home. You can then give them a gift. Just take your stuff back before you dismiss them or they die. Generally, I don't give pawns much of anything because they chug potions like fratboys.

Good to know, that's what I did just now because I went up like 10 levels on just 1 quick adventure and had to dismiss the pawns that were way underleveled after just a couple of hours (which is why I should be able to create my whole party if I want!!!!)

Yeah, I think they were leaning into the themes that justified the cross play. When the game's active and new (and people didn't just cheat their stuff) it was more fun and interesting, especially because really good pawns got rewarded and shitty ones tended not to.

I get that though. Wouldn't be surprised if there was a mod that basically dropped in pawns for that exact purpose since there are some pregen pawns that are for offline usage, so if you could add them through that...

Eh... no difficulty settings really other than hard mode which just gives hp bloat. Generally speaking most bloat is an effect of the RPG system. Basically, it's a JRPG in that if you don't surpass their defense threshold, you basically do jack, but once you do, you annihilate them. Also many stats are heavily equipment and item buff driven, with some modifiers from augments.

Also, some enemies have specific weak points or elemental weaknesses and are strong against or even immune to things that aren't that.

In that case, I will leave it at current difficulty and go to easy when I get burned out. I am destroying all the enemies I'm coming across (except some golem which I wasn't able to hit in his weak spots) but there were just too many on the way back that took too much time.

Well, you don't have to fight everything, depending on where you are anyway. YMMV.

Hm, they have easy mode? I don't believe I've ever used it in all these years. Just make sure it doesn't start a new game on you. Yes, I'm serious. You only get one save and one character. I think it had to do with some weirdness of the pawn upload system. Hopefully the sequel addresses this. It's probably my only or at least primary significant complaint about the game.

If you do hit that point, make sure you check out BBI before you drop it.

BBI? I'm guessing that's the DLC of the island I was told randomly showed up.

Yeah, Bitterblack Isle. It's not random, you have to go there and you already have a quest for it I think.

Spoiler

Go to the pier at night in Cassardis, talk to the ghost chick, go to BBI. It's a difficulty step up, but also the most atmospheric, best part of the entire game.

I won't drop the game either way, I did grind through 130+ hours of both DA:I & Witcher 3 despite hating it. Me "dropping" a game just means rushing through the main story. For Witcher 3, HOS expansion gave me the energy to get through the rest of the game and I just rushed B&W after that. Might be similar for Dragon's Dogma, will see. I might just stop myself from doing EVERY quest (i.e. the JRPG grind ones) so I get burned out much less quickly. From what I googled, my playstyle means I have another ~60+ hours to go.

Yeah, a lot of people would recommend only doing the main quests and significant side quests then going to BBI when you feel like it.

I'm not really one to ask that because you've indicated your play preferences are different than mine. I've had more than one maxed level character and across all platforms have probably played this thing for around 1,000 hours or something insane like that. I have 300 just on Steam.

 

[Late Bloomer]

It's been a long time, but I think so. I think it's a universal storage.

It is universal.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

BBI is post ending content, some people even reccomend doing that in NG+.

 

[Silverfish]

BBI is post ending content, some people even reccomend doing that in NG+.

That's pretty good advice, but is fun to see how early you can tackle its content.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

In that case, I will leave it at current difficulty and go to easy when I get burned out. I am destroying all the enemies I'm coming across (except some golem which I wasn't able to hit in his weak spots) but there were just too many on the way back that took too much time.

Really, the only way to become burned out on the base game Dragon's Dogma is to waste hours randomly exploring areas with little content; although the game was initially conceived to be Open World (inspired by Morrowind and Oblivion), it was drastically scaled back early in development due to budget limitations, and the main quest plus a few major side quests will take you to just about every notable location.

BBI? I'm guessing that's the DLC of the island I was told randomly showed up. I won't drop the game either way, I did grind through 130+ hours of both DA:I & Witcher 3 despite hating it. Me "dropping" a game just means rushing through the main story. For Witcher 3, HOS expansion gave me the energy to get through the rest of the game and I just rushed B&W after that. Might be similar for Dragon's Dogma, will see. I might just stop myself from doing EVERY quest (i.e. the JRPG grind ones) so I get burned out much less quickly. From what I googled, my playstyle means I have another ~60+ hours to go.

The Bitterblack Isle expansion dungeon, added in the Dark Arisen 2013 re-release, is intended for higher-level play, beyond the level needed to complete the base game. Although there is only a single save in Dragon's Dogma, even in the PS3 version it was possible to create a back-up copy of your save (on USB stick, which could be transferred to a computer) and use that later to replace the PS3's stored save; on the PC port, it is of course much easier to copy saves. I recommend, at a minimum, creating a back-up of your save just before initiating the end of the main quest (the game helpfully gives you a message about this), which you can then use to return and play through Bitterblack Isle after seeing the game's ending. Though, if you prefer, you can simply play through the base game, then start New Game Plus mode (not to be confused with starting an entirely new game, which would erase your existing character) and leave the base game for Bitterblack Isle as quickly as possible (which is only a short distance into the main quest).

 

[gabel]

BBI is post ending content, some people even reccomend doing that in NG+.

That's pretty good advice, but is fun to see how early you can tackle its content.

You can tackle it as soon as you can get there, solo.
However, once you beat or even just progress reasonably far into it, the rest of the game will be trivial.

 

[Reinhardt]

just go to isle as early as possible and try to find some cool shit while trying to survive it.

 

[Late Bloomer]

...and the main quest plus a few major side quests will take you to just about every notable location.

I like how the quests make sure you explore a good deal of the world. I am always bummed out when I hear new players being told to head to BBI asap. My favourite times in DD were always questing and exploring.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Yes. I'm probably in the minority in that I don't really like BBI all that much. The main game was much more fun for me.

 

[Reinhardt]

The main game was much more fun for me.

it is. but trying to survive island as naked peasant is viable experience too.

 

[mediocrepoet]

...and the main quest plus a few major side quests will take you to just about every notable location.

I like how the quests make sure you explore a good deal of the world. I am always bummed out when I hear new players being told to head to BBI asap. My favourite times in DD were always questing and exploring.

I like both, but yeah, I prefer going to BBI after a certain point but before NG+. I just figure it's better to see BBI than to bounce off the game without going at all, if those are the options.

They're different experiences though for sure, but BBI had some pretty atmospheric and memorable moments, but is more linear as opposed to the fairly free form main game area.

 

[Herumor]

Any word on that retarded DRM that Capcom is now pushing into their catalog of older games being added to Dragon's Dogma? I want to replay the game, but I have a few basic texture mods that I'm not willing to give up. It's nothing special, mostly just environment and the occasional armor texture, but it makes it more bearable when playing in 1440p.

 

[Black]

the occasional armor texture

Hehe, I get you

 

[Herumor]

the occasional armor texture

Hehe, I get you

Yeah, I'm not interested in the lewd shit. I was talking more along the line of this:

https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonsdogma/mods/776

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

I just spent half an hour trying to kill 2 seagulls for notice board quest and only got 1, this is why I have to stop myself from getting burned out on these kinds of games.

Starting actually advancing quests instead of exploring and can tell I shouldn't mindlessly explore ever again, the game is not built to take that into account. I cleared every little corner of WitchWoods but going back there for a quest is like I never went there in the first place.

I'm starting to like the combat as I'm discovering more and more things, getting used to it and how I want to play. Much deeper than I expected going in. Hated the Hydra fight though.