Dragon's Dogma II - "They’re masterworks, all – you can’t go wrong"

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Just had a Griffin intentionally kill it's self to get me off of it. Pretty sure this wasn't from the Griffin getting staggered or some AI bug. We was fighting it on a cliff and it tried to fly off so I jumped on it. I started stabbing the shit out of it's head which it didn't appreciate so it changed course and literally swan dived into the ocean/brine, fucking both of us. It wasn't staggered. I know what a staggered Griffin looks like. It said "fuck this asshole, he's going down with me". It was 100% a kamikaze maneuver. I was impressed and pissed at the same time.

This type of stuff isn't any where near MHW's level of detail but it's still cool af. Seeing it in a game like this still very impressive.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Just had a Griffin intentionally kill it's self to get me off of it. Pretty sure this wasn't from the Griffin getting staggered or some AI bug. We was fighting it on a cliff and it tried to fly off so I jumped on it. I started stabbing the shit out of it's head which it didn't appreciate so it changed course and literally swan dived into the ocean/brine, fucking both of us. It wasn't staggered. I know what a staggered Griffin looks like. It said "fuck this asshole, he's going down with me". It was 100% a kamikaze maneuver. I was impressed and pissed at the same time.

This type of stuff isn't any where near MHW's level of detail but it's still cool af. Seeing it in a game like this still very impressive.

Yeah, I've had one do that to me. Granted, I was getting bored of flying around with it over the sea, so it's my own fault.

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Yeah, I've had one do that to me. Granted, I was getting bored of flying around with it over the sea, so it's my own fault.

I'm just really impressed with the monster AI. It felt like it made a decision to try and kill both of us. I've been wanting this in games forever.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Just had a Griffin intentionally kill it's self to get me off of it. Pretty sure this wasn't from the Griffin getting staggered or some AI bug. We was fighting it on a cliff and it tried to fly off so I jumped on it. I started stabbing the shit out of it's head which it didn't appreciate so it changed course and literally swan dived into the ocean/brine, fucking both of us. It wasn't staggered. I know what a staggered Griffin looks like. It said "fuck this asshole, he's going down with me". It was 100% a kamikaze maneuver. I was impressed and pissed at the same time.

This type of stuff isn't any where near MHW's level of detail but it's still cool af. Seeing it in a game like this still very impressive.

It's depriving you of the loot

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Medusa Bow has to be one of the most OP weapons in the entire game. You don't even need any archer skills. If you pick the right upgrade path

Spoiler

dwarven

that thing is retardedly awesome. It's powerful plus it nets you insane XP. Name one better weapon. YA CAN'T!

It's only weakness is you need a close range weapon incase you run into a extra big horde of enemies or a uber beast.

 

[mediocrepoet]

"Pick the right upgrade path?"

I mean... lol

Let's see... it's a physical damage only bow and you can pick the upgrade that ups both magic and physical damage by a moderate amount, the one that mostly does magic damage, the one that mostly does physical damage, and the one that does both magic and physical damage by slightly less than the dedicated paths but also MASSIVELY increases knockdown and is the only path that touches knockdown.

You must've been up all night really burning the brain cell sorting through this conundrum.

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

"Pick the right upgrade path?"

I mean... lol

Let's see... it's a physical damage only bow and you can pick the upgrade that ups both magic and physical damage by a moderate amount, the one that mostly does magic damage, the one that mostly does physical damage, and the one that does both magic and physical damage by slightly less than the dedicated paths but also MASSIVELY increases knockdown and is the only path that touches knockdown.

You must've been up all night really burning the brain cell sorting through this conundrum.

Not as long as you were collecting 220 tokens. Checkmate.

 

[mediocrepoet]

"Pick the right upgrade path?"

I mean... lol

Let's see... it's a physical damage only bow and you can pick the upgrade that ups both magic and physical damage by a moderate amount, the one that mostly does magic damage, the one that mostly does physical damage, and the one that does both magic and physical damage by slightly less than the dedicated paths but also MASSIVELY increases knockdown and is the only path that touches knockdown.

You must've been up all night really burning the brain cell sorting through this conundrum.

Not as long as you were collecting 220 tokens. Checkmate.

I should hope not. You've got less processing power than a TI-81.


In other news...

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

It wasn't a sudden revelation. It was something I fucked up and rectified in ng+ and I'm super happy about it, unlike your miserable ass trying to collect all the tokens hur hur hur!. I hope that worked out great. None of this matters because there is no real endgame. We're just pissing around until we get a real endgame.

 

[mediocrepoet]

This cracked me up.

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

You're welcome to prove you know better than me. I don't accept disrespect. If you want to disrespect me you best show you know better.

(For the record mediocrepoet spent much less time in combat and solving quests than he did autistically searching for coins). I'm always ready to go bitch.

 

[mediocrepoet]

You're welcome to prove you know better than me. I don't accept disrespect. If you want to disrespect me you best show you know better.

(For the record mediocrepoet spent much less time in combat and solving quests than he did autistically searching for coins). I'm always ready to go bitch.

Get a job.

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Last he said he is level 97. That was a few days ago so he's probably higher. I'm currently level 83 as of this posting. I will bet my manhood that I can take down a drake faster. There are no rewards except respect.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Last he said he is level 97. That was a few days ago so he's probably higher. I'm currently level 83 as of this posting. I will bet my manhood that I can take down a drake faster. There are no rewards except respect.

So you're doing it for free?

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Ha ha, you can knock a cyclops down over a gap and make a bridge (for a few seconds).

Also loading and firing trebuchet can open new paths.

 

[Cheesedragon117]

The sheer amount of reactivity in this game is making me absolutely lose it, holy shit.

If you botch the Nadinia assassination quest, and she dies, you can just...go to the Bakbattahl Morgue, pay the undertaker to find her corpse, and just Wakestone her like any other NPC. There's a cutscene for it, and the story actually continues!!! And the game does NOT prompt you to do this whatsoever.

I laughed my ass off, I can't believe that worked.

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

The sheer amount of reactivity in this game is making me absolutely lose it, holy shit.

If you botch the Nadinia assassination quest, and she dies, you can just...go to the Bakbattahl Morgue, pay the undertaker to find her corpse, and just Wakestone her like any other NPC. There's a cutscene for it, and the story actually continues!!! And the game does NOT prompt you to do this whatsoever.

I laughed my ass off, I can't believe that worked.

The game has been out for a month and I still don't think people have figured out every trick and secret (this one wasn't uncommon knowledge tbf) but if you look at the wikis and guides there's still tons of shit not written out. I could make some wiki entries of my own but I'll just let somebody else do it. It's difficult to chronicle a game that plays by so very few rules. Legendary.

 

[Haplo]

Warrior felt to me too slow and sluggish somehow... even though it seems like a straight upgrade from DDDA, where I mostly only played Warrior.
Maybe stuff didn't die there quite as fast... and I didn't have to chase small enemies around this much? IDK.

So I'm giving the Thief a spin. Who is obviously quite OP. Maybe I need to self-nerf, which I hate. But I guess I need to drop the Skullsplitter, because if I have it, I'll end up just spamming it on enemy heads and they will die in seconds...

Anyway, 4 skills feel limiting. Even after I've decided to skip Skullsplitter, Formless Feint & Pyre.
What to go with?
Implicate: Very neat. Safely off enemies one by one from a distance, helps with flyers, can help topple bosses.
Smokescreen: OP in close quarters combat. Close enemies don't know how to attack you and you get finisher gallore.
Powder Charge: Good to help knock bosses off balance. Can also be used while climbing for a final BOOM in vital areas before you run out of Stamina.
Cutting Wind: Very nice gap closer, damager and evasion tool in one. Frankly also OP, but damn convenient and at least won't easily solve boss battles. Great versus spead packs, like wolves... or also in close quarters when you can't see anything due to the damn camera...
Masterful Kill: Very strong and cool Parry counter... I'd like to use that, but not sure there's room... what to drop for it?
Draw and Quarter - Very strong critical damage, but also quite a narow specialization, therefore probably no room ...guess the Twin Fangs will have to do...

I'd maybe like to give fighter a better chance, he kinda feels nicer to control then the Warrior, but I feel like he may suck vs flyers and bosses with no easy way to stagger/topple them... and even mobs may be painful after warrior and thief, who effortlessly ragdoll them / stagger/disorient and off. Worse yet, apparently his poise sucks prior to dwarven smithing.

 

[Terenty]

I heard there's a battle with a Titan, but my Titan was killed in a cutscene by some guards while I was traveling in another part of the map.

Was this supposed to happen or did I miss an epic fight?

 

[Stoned Ape]

I'd maybe like to give fighter a better chance, he kinda feels nice to control then the Warrior, but I feel like he may suck vs flyers and bosses with no easy way to stagger/topple them... and even mobs may be painful after warrior and thief, who effortlessly ragdoll them / stagger/disorient and off. Worse yet, apparently his poise sucks prior to dwarven smithing.

Fighter is great against flyers, Airward Slash/Cloudward slash can reach a really long way up, you can even hit a Cyclops in the eye from the ground with it. It does need a bit of getting used to the timing/range to easily swat harpies with it, but it gets easy (and satisfying) with practice. Shield Bash is ridiculous fun if you get a high knockdown value shield and use the Warrior augment to boost it even higher. I've bashed 4 Red Wolves over a cliff at once with it before

Thief skills are all great. Don't discount Draw and Quarter, it's really satisfying to hit bosses with it. As you're removing Skullsplitter from the options I'd probably go Implicate (mainly for harpies), Draw and Quarter, Powder Charge, and either Smokescreen or Cutting Wind.

You can also unlock Mystic Spearhand quite early if you keep visiting locations you've already been to, without spamming shield it's a really fun vocation to try out.

 

[Haplo]

I'd maybe like to give fighter a better chance, he kinda feels nice to control then the Warrior, but I feel like he may suck vs flyers and bosses with no easy way to stagger/topple them... and even mobs may be painful after warrior and thief, who effortlessly ragdoll them / stagger/disorient and off. Worse yet, apparently his poise sucks prior to dwarven smithing.

Fighter is great against flyers, Airward Slash/Cloudward slash can reach a really long way up, you can even hit a Cyclops in the eye from the ground with it. It does need a bit of getting used to the timing/range to easily swat harpies with it, but it gets easy (and satisfying) with practice. Shield Bash is ridiculous fun if you get a high knockdown value shield and use the Warrior augment to boost it even higher. I've bashed 4 Red Wolves over a cliff at once with it before

Thief skills are all great. Don't discount Draw and Quarter, it's really satisfying to hit bosses with it. As you're removing Skullsplitter from the options I'd probably go Implicate (mainly for harpies), Draw and Quarter, Powder Charge, and either Smokescreen or Cutting Wind.

You can also unlock Mystic Spearhand quite early if you keep visiting locations you've already been to, without spamming shield it's a really fun vocation to try out.

That's great information, thank you!

But does a Fighter have some high stagger move for bosses, like Mountain Breaker or Powder Charge? Does Shield Bash play this role perhaps?

 

[Stoned Ape]

That's great information, thank you!

But does a Fighter have some high stagger move for bosses, like Mountain Breaker or Powder Charge? Does Shield Bash play this role perhaps?

The highest stagger move the Fighter has is Shield Bash, but it's nowhere near as effective as Mountain Breaker or Powder Charge. I have knocked over Chimera's with it, and Cyclopes, Ogres when they're already off balance.

Fighters are much more effective climbers than Warriors though and if you can leap onto something big with a Gutting Skewer you can do a lot of damage and get an auto-cling as well. If you have a pawn that is good at launching you it can be really fun to try, although it is not reliable. It's more consistent to try to climb up a wall a bit then leap into Skewer from there.

You mentioned Fighter's stagger problem, that can be fixed with Impeccable Guard/Flawless Guard which can be used to recover balance and defend at the same time and it works even when flinching.

For a Fighter utility build I'd probably go with something like Shield Pummel (it even has a short dash reach before the first hit, and a second short dash before the launching strike), either Gutting Skewer or Riotous Fury (mainly for bosses), Cloudward Slash (for bosses/fliers/mobs on ledges above you), and Flawless Guard (until you get good Dwarf-forged gear, then go for whatever you want to try for fun).

 

[Reinhardt]

If the aids won't leave your main pawn, then brine and recover them.

her

 

[Carceri]

I haven't been able to play for this past week due to some PC issues, but yesterday I fired up Dogma and went for the final cutscene. I don't think there was anything else left for me to do anyway.

Endgame Stats

Endgame spoilers screenshots

I did not expect this whole pawn thing at the end. It was pretty cool.

A warning that nobody seems to mention: quest items are not transfered to NG+. The items will just vanish from the inventory and stash. This includes any forgeries you have made. I really wish I knew this. Also, unlike the original game, the portcrystals I have previously placed on the map have been reset, and they need to be placed again in NG+.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I heard there's a battle with a Titan, but my Titan was killed in a cutscene by some guards while I was traveling in another part of the map.

Was this supposed to happen or did I miss an epic fight?

You missed an epic fight. Some quests are timed when you trigger them, so you need to not start dicking around.