Current Events > I'm going to try the first Dragon's Dogma game

(+) Yeah! (+)

I played it for like 30 min and wasn't impressed

It's dated as hell but still fun. Just play the new one.

It's a fun game but I've been spoiled having fast travel and traveling in DD is a slog.

How are the Keyboard/mouse controls?

Unlike the sequel, basically any PC can run Dragon's Dogma

OmegaShinkai posted...

Unlike the sequel, basically any PC can run Dragon's Dogma

I'm reaching a point where that might be a problem, lol. Forgot it could be

AMD Ryzen 5 1400 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Processor
Gigabyte GA-AB350-GAMING 3 ATX AM4 Motherboard
EVGA GAMING GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6 GB Video Card

2017-18 build?

Its a game I played for an hour or so, didnt think I liked very much, put away for a long time, then finally dusted off and gave another chance. The second time around, something clicked and I loved it, and spent a lot of time with it.

Its far from perfect, but it is definitely worth a playthrough.

I loved DD1. Incredible game even by today's standards even if there is some classic old game jank in it. Still one of the best endgame/finales that exists.

Fantastic game.

bump

The actual game is okay, but BBI is fantastic.

If you go in early it's like playing a soulslike except the combat is super fun. You can make up for your lack of stats by playing well and it's really rewarding. Then you'll go up like ten levels because you beat up a big skeleton that you took an hour to kill but it was an exciting fight the entire time

I loved the first when it came out and replayed it recently but the game didnt age well at all. The pacing isnt very hard to apparently a large chunk of the game was cut due to budget and time constraints.

And the gameplay and interface didnt age well at all.

Also if you play on hard mode avoid warrior/fighter beyond farming their augments until endgame. Its poorly balanced and youre end up getting one shot by the most random of crap.

It's really good, but I mostly liked the Bitterblack Isle area that Dark Arisen added, far more than the main game story and overworld.

You'll want to level up all the disciplines to mix and match passive abilities, but definitely try to main any of the daggers + bow classes, they're by far the most fun and varied, IMO. Strider and (later on, when you get a decent magic bow) Magick Archer were my favorites, but Assassin and Ranger are great, too.

Played about 90 minutes! seems great so far. Wish the side quests had recommended levels. I don't know if I can do the well level (original town) or find the chief's daughter (past some bandits)

Trial and error, I guess! :)

A good tip for your playthrough is when you find healing springs load up on dozens of water bottles and fill them with the spring water.

They heal your entire party for a fair amount until late game.

Also if youre sort on an essential item for a quest you need you can create forgerys instead. Came in handy for a annoying main quest that required you to find multiple slabs.

TroutPaste posted...

Played about 90 minutes! seems great so far. Wish the side quests had recommended levels. I don't know if I can do the well level (original town) or find the chief's daughter (past some bandits)

Trial and error, I guess! :)

One of the worst aspects of the main game is how brutal the sidequests are. Like, maximum "guide dang it!" levels. You have one save file (well... 1.5 you could argue) that autosaves, and when you advance the main story too far, ALL side quests that expire at that point instantly do and you're hosed. Especially since missing out on one sidequest in a series of them will lock you out of the later ones, too.
I missed out on both Quina and Meredith's entire quest lines my first playthru b/c of that. Shit is brutal. Quina's involves going past a bunch of really tough bandits (you can try to flee past them, but they are hard....) and Meredith's you won't even notice if you don't check the quest board in the first town near the start of the game.

I managed to get through the Quina witch / forest quest

Why can't I sleep in my house, though

TroutPaste posted...

I managed to get through the Quina witch / forest quest

Why can't I sleep in my house, though

That would make too much sense.

BloodMoon7 posted...

That would make too much sense.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/004305c3.jpg

dang

streamofthesky posted...

I missed out on both Quina and Meredith's entire quest lines my first playthru b/c of that.

Very little of that kind of stuff matters. What really matters is getting a good run of BBI level 3 gear, and getting the right augments.

How many hours did you put into this title ?

TroutPaste posted...

How many hours did you put into this title ?

Just remember that "Wolfs hunt in packs"! or "Stray from the roads and you will soon find monsters Arisen"! and "they're masterworks all you can't go wrong"!

I have put over 2300 hours into this game over 3 Xbox accounts and once played it everyday for a year.

Make sure you are playing Dark Arisen so you can run through Bitterblack Island.

I am absolutely fuming at Crapcom! Oh look they can give their favourite company Sony who they are humping up the arse DD2 on PS4 and PS5 but it is only out on Series S/X! They can go fuck right off for that!

sfcalimari posted...

Very little of that kind of stuff matters. What really matters is getting a good run of BBI level 3 gear, and getting the right augments.

Quina's quest line eventually gets you a port crystal, one of the earliest ones you can get. So yes, it mattered.

BBI level 3 gear honestly matters less. In order to even get them as drops you have to beat the entire thing the first time and get thru like half of it again, literal post-post-game content.

TroutPaste posted...

How many hours did you put into this title ?

I was unfortunate enough to have Dark Arisen on PS3 without the original game. So no infinite ferrystone or easy starting cash for me! So I think I put 200 hours in, but probably 1/3 of that time was running around back and forth b/c I couldn't afford many ferrystones and wanted to be near a class change spot before leveling, to control my stats w/o being forced to play classes I didn't like.
I still loved the game, but dear god would I have loved it a lot more w/o that tedium.

CassandraCroft posted...

Make sure you are playing Dark Arisen so you can run through Bitterblack Island.

Playing on PC, think Bitterblack is installed! is that a DLC section? what's the recommended level?

TroutPaste posted...

Playing on PC, think Bitterblack is installed! is that a DLC section? what's the recommended level?

Yes and no!

It is like this, After very valid criticism that the main game was too easy once you got to the really high levels and had the best weapons in the game even on hard mode Capcom came up with Bitter Black Island.

But instead of releasing it as DLC for Dragon's Dogma they decided to rip everyone off by releasing the full game again with BBI in the re-releae Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen.

You will know that you will have BBI installed if you see the ghost of Olra on the pier at Cassardis at night.

The game sets a recommended level of around 78 or higher for BBI but ignore that. I would wait until you are into the low - mid 100 before attempting it.

I was going there like around 120's - 150's using the Dragon's Dogma Sword (best sword in the base game for a fighter) at level 4 Dragonforged and at certain bits I felt as though I was back using my rusty sword.

BBI is for experienced players only.

Here is the wiki for you: https://dragonsdogma.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon%27s_Dogma_Wiki

Is there any way to keybind my menu & map, outside of hitting ESC
I switched inventory to R, some attacks to the side mouse buttons, just don't see any option here

CassandraCroft posted...

Yes and no!

It is like this, After very valid criticism that the main game was too easy once you got to the really high levels and had the best weapons in the game even on hard mode Capcom came up with Bitter Black Island.

But instead of releasing it as DLC for Dragon's Dogma they decided to rip everyone off by releasing the full game again with BBI in the re-releae Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen.

You will know that you will have BBI installed if you see the ghost of Olra on the pier at Cassardis at night.

The game sets a recommended level of around 78 or higher for BBI but ignore that. I would wait until you are into the low - mid 100 before attempting it.

I was going there like around 120's - 150's using the Dragon's Dogma Sword (best sword in the base game for a fighter) at level 4 Dragonforged and at certain bits I felt as though I was back using my rusty sword.

BBI is for experienced players only.

Here is the wiki for you: https://dragonsdogma.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon%27s_Dogma_Wiki

thanks! yeah, there's a ghostly woman on the pier

Currently on sale

https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/dragons-dogma-dark-arisen-switch/

wonder if the Switch port is any good? Google says yes

CassandraCroft posted...

It is like this, After very valid criticism that the main game was too easy once you got to the really high levels and had the best weapons in the game even on hard mode Capcom came up with Bitter Black Island.

But instead of releasing it as DLC for Dragon's Dogma they decided to rip everyone off by releasing the full game again with BBI in the re-releae Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen.

And if you were late to the game and didn't want to buy a 2nd game to play the new game, fucked you over on fast travel, at least on PS3. Apparently later system ports to PS4 and PC don't have this issue.
-_-

The game sets a recommended level of around 78 or higher for BBI but ignore that. I would wait until you are into the low - mid 100 before attempting it.

BBI is for experienced players only.

Ok, this is ridiculous. You can start exploring BBI in earnest around like level 40. Yeah, it's hard, but it's very achievable and you'll level up quite fast. I've done it, and I am definitely not that skilled a gamer. Hell, I've done runs at like level 10 multiple times to get the ring that doubles discipline point gain and managed (once I did it on a fresh game just to show a friend how it works, b/c apparently transferring save files doesn't work...). There's tons of videos of people doing "BBI only" games from level 1 (or the lowest level possible before you can reach it, I forget which level that is). BBI is a very interesting environment, it actually provides all the gear, tools, and resources you need all self-contained within it.

BBI is by far the best part of DD 1, and it pains me to see people discourage others from venturing in there until super late/post game. Both because it's not necessary and because I'm sure there's plenty of people like me who get sick of the open world shit and might consider dropping the game if going to BBI didn't ignite their love for this game.

@streamofthesky

OK what you have said is ridiculous.

Yeah you might get away with doing PRE-GAME BBI at those low levels depending on what vocation you are and Pawns in your team and if you are friends with anyone who has high level Pawns that you can hire without penalties but normally no!

But there is no way in hell you can do POST-GAME BBI at those low levels. I doubt anyway in hell those low levels would survive a fight with a Fire Dragon, Thunder Wyvern or Gore Cyclopses and both forms of Daimon. In The Garden of Ignominy there have been a few times I have had to fight a Fire Dragon and a Cursed Dragon at the same time.

One of the hardest battles I ever did in the game was one time I took a quest on the notice board in one of the rest areas of BBI and was to fight two Gore Cyclopses at Post-Game The Shadow Fort.

So I went off to fight them. I was wondering where the heck my Pawns were and it was then that I discovered that the entire Shadow Fort missions respawns (you know the one that you do Post-Game to free the Shadow Fort). Somehow I got through all that and decided to walk back to Gran Soren instead of Ferrystoning. After ploughing my way through more Goblins and Hobgoblins I get attacked by the Dragon in that Forrest. Got past him left The Quarry got attacked by The Dragon outside The Quarry, killed him, got to Gran Soren only to get attacked by The Wyvern that is sometimes out there. Killed him and got back to Gran Soren mentally exhausted and thought to myself "Bloody hells who needs BBI when you can get all that in the main game". I was glad I was at or near maximum level with the best weapons in the game as I do think I would have survived.

CassandraCroft posted...

streamofthesky

OK what you have said is ridiculous.

I literally did it, though. You START at like level 40, but you're not still level 40 by the end. Nor am I saying you need to finish all of BBI in one go. Just that you can explore plenty of it, starting at that level.

I did "cheese" it a little in that I saw an xp trick and followed it.... Popped a xp boosting item just before beating the Beholder knockoff, then quickly bee-lined for "Shady's" scripted appearance to knock him back w/ arrows and get mondo xp. Shot me up to the 70's in level. But I still got 1/3 thru at level 40, regardless. And could've just grinded to 70 in the middle portion of BBI if I hadn't done that, just would've taken longer.

Last time I played forreal, I started bbi around level 30 with a sorc and 2 sorc pawns + 1 mage pawn. Stayed there till level 200

Idr my starting equipment. But with sorc it possible to do bbi early cuz holy light is OP for most enemies

Some battles will take like 20 to 30 mins tho. I do a lot of cheesing by finding safe spots in these situations

Ratchetrockon posted...

I do a lot of cheesing by finding safe spots

I cheesed the fuck out of the Grim Reaper in the sewer.

It's just ok. Don't expect your pawn to actually do anything

Irony posted...

It's just ok. Don't expect your pawn to actually do anything

They are good for group casting bigger spells. Like quadruple tornados!!

is there a way to make campfires, rest outside of inns?

TroutPaste posted...

is there a way to make campfires, rest outside of inns?

The only places you can rest in the game are at inns or campsites.

Here: https://dragonsdogma.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Rest_camps

Here are a couple of more tips for you. When near a Rift Stone it will heal your Pawns.

Also when you are near a Rift Stone go in to it and come straight back out of it with out doing anything as doing so will create a hard checkpoint save which is a lot better than manually saving.

https://dragonsdogma.fandom.com/wiki/Riftstone

CassandraCroft posted...

The only places you can rest in the game are at inns or campsites.

Here: https://dragonsdogma.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Rest_camps

Here are a couple of more tips for you. When near a Rift Stone it will heal your Pawns.

Also when you are near a Rift Stone go in to it and come straight back out of it with out doing anything as doing so will create a hard checkpoint save which is a lot better than manually saving.

https://dragonsdogma.fandom.com/wiki/Riftstone

thanks! seems like an underdeveloped mechanic in the game, kinda brutal too

wasn't sure why I couldn't sleep in the rest houses or my own house

You can camp in the 2nd game. The camping stuff weighs a bunch tho

streamofthesky posted...

One of the worst aspects of the main game is how brutal the sidequests are. Like, maximum "guide dang it!" levels. You have one save file (well... 1.5 you could argue) that autosaves, and when you advance the main story too far, ALL side quests that expire at that point instantly do and you're hosed. Especially since missing out on one sidequest in a series of them will lock you out of the later ones, too.
I missed out on both Quina and Meredith's entire quest lines my first playthru b/c of that. Shit is brutal. Quina's involves going past a bunch of really tough bandits (you can try to flee past them, but they are hard....) and Meredith's you won't even notice if you don't check the quest board in the first town near the start of the game.

are you talking about Madeleine?

That's the game where you create little kid slaves and then lend them to strangers online?

streamofthesky posted...

There's tons of videos of people doing "BBI only" games from level 1 (or the lowest level possible before you can reach it, I forget which level that is).

You can go to most places in Gransys [not *in* Gran Soren] in NG at Lv.2 after you meet Rook and leave Cassardis.
You can go to Bitterblack Isle in NG at Lv.3 after you reactivate the Riftstone in the Encampment and meet Olra (at night, on the far end of the long pier in Cassardis).

[ Note: Your character, no matter what creation, vocation, or configuration they have, can survive *one* normal hit. ]

lilORANG posted...

That's the game where you create little kid slaves and then lend them to strangers online?

They don't have to be little kids but yeah Pawns are basically slaves. They lack a will of their own so the thought of personal freedom probably wouldn't even occur to them.

Hospy posted...

It's a fun game but I've been spoiled having fast travel and traveling in DD is a slog.

There was Fast travel. You had to use the crystals

Vokrent posted...

are you talking about Madeleine?

Ah, that's her name. It's been a while.

andri_g posted...

[ Note: Your character, no matter what creation, vocation, or configuration they have, can survive *one* normal hit. ]

If you git gud at the dagger dodge rolling, you can run past a lot of stuff to get to the next room. Might need more than min. level to reach discipline level 5 in strider for it, though. But I've done it a few times now. Can always reload from the last door. Really isn't that bad... And picking up and throwing those mages to insta-kill them w/ gravity is so satisfying.

vycebrand2 posted...

There was Fast travel. You had to use the crystals

where do you find those

TroutPaste posted...

where do you find those

You can find Ferrystones randomly but they only let you warp to main locations like Cassardis or Grab Soren afaik. You can also buy them. Since you're playing Dark Arisen you can get an Eternal Ferrystone which is an unlimited use Ferrystone.

You can also get Port Crystals that let you set a location on the map to warp to. I think you only get like a couple from certain quests. You can put them back in the inventory and set a new location but you have to go to the location you placed the crystal and then you have to go put it on the new location.

I like how massive and realistic the cities and forts are