If you played the original Dragon’s Dogma or read one of our previous guides, you already know about its unique system of NPC mercenaries called Pawns. However, in the second part, the developers decided that they had simplified the players’ life too much by allowing them to constantly update and rotate their combat squad, so they created the Dragon Plague. This is a terrible and deadly disease that can deprive you of all your companions. Although the game does not explain how to combat this mysterious disease, you still have a chance to prevent tragedy.
Causes of infection and symptoms of Dragon Plague
Dragon Plague is probably the most annoying and unpredictable mechanic in Dragon’s Dogma 2. The thing is that, apart from the first time the corresponding notification appears on the screen, you can never be sure that your Pawn has not been infected with this disease, but in the later stages it becomes obvious.
The first signs that you should definitely pay attention to are glowing red eyes, disobeying commands, headaches, and learning new skills without your intervention.
But the worst thing is that the Dragon Plague is contagious, so once one of your mercenaries falls ill, the disease can quickly spread to the rest of the party. This means that your main Pawn can also become infected, even while traveling with another player.
As the name suggests, this plague was originally spread by dragons , so if your Pawn is wounded in battle by an ancient lizard, you’ll need to be on the lookout for symptoms.
If you find the lack of ability to immediately detect the problem too unfair, and are willing to invade Dragon’s Dogma 2’s in-game systems to change it, there is a fan mod called Dragonsplague Counter that displays the level of Dragon Plague infection in numbers above Pawn’s head, where the eyes start to turn red at 7, and the maximum value is 10.
What happens if you don’t cure the Dragon Plague?
So what happens if the disease reaches the terminal stage? Of course, nothing good. During your next night in the city, a cutscene will start, during which you will helplessly watch as your Pawn turns into a terrible dragon and kills everyone around, including plot-important NPCs. You will pass this fate by, but it will not make things any easier. In the morning, you will find piles of corpses around you.
Yes, you can bring them back to life, but it will require a lot of Awakening Stones, which are not so easy to obtain. Key characters eventually return from the dead, although some players report that this does not always happen. This situation may even lead to the need to start a new playthrough, but most likely this is a bug or simply not enough time has passed (usually 1-2 in-game weeks).
Since the main save slot is overwritten automatically and you often have no way of knowing when exactly the Pawn was infected, there is no way to prevent this massacre unless you take drastic measures beforehand.
How to cure Dragon Plague
In fact, if we are talking about a hired Pawn, then everything is simple – fire her as soon as you notice the symptoms and save yourself from unnecessary problems.
We have described in detail how to do this in this guide.
But if we are talking about the Pawn you created, then there will be only one way out and at first you will not like it. You need to kill your faithful comrade, and the least cruel and bloody way will be to throw him into the water. But do not worry, your separation will not be long, since it will be enough to get to the nearest Rift Stone, and your Pawn will miraculously return from the other world, and even completely healthy.
Yes, there is no way to cure a hired Pawn of the Dragon Plague unless it returns to the player who created it and he does the death and resurrection trick himself.