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Ahead of Dragon’s Dogma 2, you can get the first game for $5 right now

By Tomas Franzese March 8, 2024

Dragon's Dogma player fighting an enemy. — Capcom

Capcom has heavily discounted Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen across all of the platforms it’s available on ahead of the launch of Dragon’s Dogma 2.

This is happening as part of a wider Capcom Publisher Sale taking place across major platforms. While titles like Street Fighter 6 are also discounted, picking up Dragon Dogma: Dark Arisen right now makes the most sense, as its sequel is right on the horizon. Dragon’s Dogma is a fantastic RPG with exhilarating combat and unique ideas like its pawn system that lets you venture out with characters that your friends created. Dragon’s Dogma 2 seems like it will only expand on these ideas, so it would be wise to familiarize yourself with the foundation it’s building on is.

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No matter what platform you want to play Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen on, you can get it at a heavy discount across all platforms. Right now, it’s priced at $4.49 on Xbox, $4.97 on Steam, $4.99 on Nintendo Switch, and $5.09 on PlayStation. Considering that Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen typically still retails for $30, those are some pretty great discounts for players who want to get a taste of the first Dragon’s Dogma game before its sequel.

And if you feel like you just can’t wait for Dragon’s Dogma 2, you’re also in luck. On March 7, Capcom released Dragon’s Dogma 2 Character Creator & Storage, which lets players tinker around with the game’s customization systems and create their player character and main pawn before launch. Then, on March 22, you can pick up Dragon’s Dogma 2. That game won’t be available at a discount, though; Dragon’s Dogma 2 will cost $70.

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen is available and on sale across PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. If you don’t want to pay for it at all, you can also try the game out for no additional cost if you have a PlayStation Plus Extra subscription.

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Gaming Staff Writer

As a Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

Gaming

What is dragonsplague in Dragon’s Dogma 2 and how is it cured?

A dragon roars in Dragon's Dogma 2.

Dragon's Dogma 2 likes to keep many of its mechanics and systems a secret until you discover them. You will learn quickly that you can't fast travel around the map freely, but there's one mechanic that is far more detrimental to your game. This is called dragonsplague and it is a disease that can't be cured with a simple tonic. In fact, you may not even realize if you have it in your game because it isn't something that affects your character at all; instead, it affects your Pawns. Failing to recognize you have dragonsplague and deal with it in a timely manner can ruin your entire playthrough if you're not careful. To avoid such a catastrophe, here are all the details about this cruel disease.
What is dragonsplague?

Dragonsplague is a special kind of disease that Pawns can contract seemingly by interacting with either Drakes or Dragons. That part isn't fully clear yet, however, we do know that Pawns with dragonsplague can spread the disease to other Pawns. Since Pawns are able to pass between worlds to join other players, you are never fully safe from being infected if you're playing online. Unlike a real sickness, though, dragonsplague actually transfers between Pawns rather than spreads, meaning it won't fully run rampant through the game.

Gaming

The best Dragon’s Dogma 2 mods

Dragon's Dogma 2 key art featuring a knight with a fiery hole in their chest.

Even before release, there were some red flags about how Dragon's Dogma 2 would perform on a technical level. While console players need to wait and hope for patches to fix things, those on PC can already improve their games through the hard work of modders. Of course, technical improvements are only one area where modders focus. With such a massive world and many systems in place, Dragon's Dogma 2 is brimming with potential for mods of all shapes and sizes. Aside from mods that just improve your performance, most are better saved for after you've reached the true ending, but no one is going to stop you if you'd rather start experimenting from the start. Here are a handful of the best mods you should try in Dragon's Dogma 2.
Dragon's Dogma 2 DLSS3 Enabler 01 - Puredark

For whatever reason, Dragon's Dogma 2 launched with its DLSS3 function disabled. While it is assumed it will be turned on at some point with a patch, modder Puredark went ahead and released the simple Dragon's Dogma 2 DLSS3 Enabler 01 to let you actually play the game with better visuals and framerates. If you have an Nvidia 4000 series GPU, there's no reason not to install this simple enabler.
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Gaming

The best skills for each Vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2

An archer fires an arrow at an enemy in Dragon's Dogma 2.

As you level up your Vocations and character in Dragon's Dogma 2, you will earn XP and Dcp. The former will contribute to you leveling up and passively getting stronger, while the latter needs to be spent on unlocking new skills for your current Vocation. There are 10 total Vocations you can eventually unlock and use, and each one has a dozen or more skills to unlock and test out, and yet you can only use four at any given time. That's a lot of possible skills to try out and potentially waste your DCP on. Instead, we'll help you min-max your build right from the start by recommending the best skills you should get for each and every Vocation in the game.
Best skills

The best skill will vary for each Vocation based on what role they are most suited to in combat. Some skills can be upgraded to better versions as you level up your Vocation, so check back in the skills menu every so often to make sure you're using the best version available.
Fighter
Airward Slash -- Fighters are limited in range, but Airward Slash gives you an option to at least attempt to attack flying enemies with this leaping strike.