Dragon's dogma tips

[Doclector]

I just decided to get dragon's dogma, and I am struggling badly.

I picked a fighter class, but may have to start anew tomorrow to play as strider. I hate how much enemies will simply run the fuck away and being able to do little but wait for my pawns to help, as much as I despise the idea of trawling through that dragging intro again.

For one, I have no idea what to do. I'm going around doing side quests at the moment...or at least trying to. I get killed so damn quickly, blocking with my rusty shield does little but set me up for a follow up attack. I'm stuck with my peasant's clothes while I try and find a merchant, but there's none to be found. I walked up to the next town to find it closed for no good reason.

I've enjoyed the good parts so far, but I'm beginning to doubt whether the game has any intention of letting me progress in some way.

 

[sanquin]

If the town is closed then you weren't supposed to go there yet. In the first settlement you need to do a few small side-quests, then fight a giant and a hydra. Then finally you need to do an escort quest, and then the second town will be open for you. Once there you can indeed get much better gear.

 

[TrevHead]

From what I understand making your PC a ranged attacker makes the game much easier. I choose Strider with my pawn a Mage to cast healing spells, (the spell fire affinity is worth it's weight in gold).

Another tip, the build of your character dictates what they can carry, (I forget if it's just the weight of your PC or if build has any bearing on this) I but my PC as a very tall and skinny and he could hardly carry anything anything without been encumbered. No good considering you have to run everywhere. Luckly I didn't have to restart as there is an one use item in the game that allows you to re-model my PC and pawn. He still can't carry a great deal, but enough to keep him fast if I use the pawns as pack mules, keep healing items you want to save on your PC as the pawns will use them.

If you change professions your abilities (the ones in the 3rd tab) can be still used, the strider has a skill that allows him to run quicker.

Here are some other tips.

Spoiler

Some missions can be missed as they vanish at certain checkpoints in the game. One such quest is to save a friend from a wood which even if you accept the quest, you will fail the quest if you visit the capital. Escort missions can be very hard to complete and those time out too. While the game has only one save slot it does have a separate checkpoint system which you can manipulate as a back up.

Many items, chests and flowers respawn after a length of time, which allows you to farm them, that includes a ferrystone found at the capitals portacrytal site. (it does seem to take a while to spawn though so you will still be walking everywhere at the start of the game.

 

[Pulse]

Can't really remember the beginning, and I started as a strider.

1) Always have a mage pawn with you.
2) Stick to the path
3) Run if you need to, call your pawns, then go back in/ bug out. You don't have to run too far to get out of npc enemy range.
4) If in doubt follow the main quests NOT side quests. It's on your quest log, and they are generally suited to what level you're at. Side quests can be a lot harder sometimes.

To be honest you've probably just missed an obvious step, did you go to the garrison when you were told to??

 

[Sack of Cheese]

I was a Strider as well, then switched to Ranger half way through. My Pawn is a warrior.

Buy a lantern for night travel, but it's dangerous early on so it's recommended not to do it.

Hire healers pawn. They're very helpful! If possible, hire high level pawns from your friends.

Save enough for lodging, your HP only refills when you consume health restore items (greenwarish for example) or sleep in the inn. Healing spells only restore the grey out part.

Don't stray too far at the beginning, there're a lot of high level enemies spawn on the maps the further away from the main settlement. Don't do escort quests unless you're of higher level and knows where the destination is and what enemies to expect.

 

[Doclector]

Can't really remember the beginning, and I started as a strider.

1) Always have a mage pawn with you.
2) Stick to the path
3) Run if you need to, call your pawns, then go back in/ bug out. You don't have to run too far to get out of npc enemy range.
4) If in doubt follow the main quests NOT side quests. It's on your quest log, and they are generally suited to what level you're at. Side quests can be a lot harder sometimes.

To be honest you've probably just missed an obvious step, did you go to the garrison when you were told to??

Turns out I did, I rested using the skills merchant guy outside the tent instead of resting from speaking to the female knight (for some inexplicable reason named Mercedes). That starts the hydra fight, which appears to open things up a bit.

Also, I did start again as a strider, much better, many more strategic options, and not being expected to use a rusty fucking shield that does absolutely jack all.

 

[Shinsei-J]

Just like everyone else has said, you need to do the main quest.
Once you get to the city you can basically do what ever you want.
Also don't be afraid to run away, this is a game where you can be overwhelmed.
Always keep a stock of healing items and make sure to refill it before each adventure, this is really importent if you're a melee class.
Make your pawn compliment you play style, give them what you're missing.
Always have a mage cast fire swordy thingy, it's powerful.
And last of all go back and make sure you didn't miss anything because that sounds like exactly what you did.

Have fun with it, it's a great game.

 

[Pulse]

Can't really remember the beginning, and I started as a strider.

1) Always have a mage pawn with you.
2) Stick to the path
3) Run if you need to, call your pawns, then go back in/ bug out. You don't have to run too far to get out of npc enemy range.
4) If in doubt follow the main quests NOT side quests. It's on your quest log, and they are generally suited to what level you're at. Side quests can be a lot harder sometimes.

To be honest you've probably just missed an obvious step, did you go to the garrison when you were told to??

Turns out I did, I rested using the skills merchant guy outside the tent instead of resting from speaking to the female knight (for some inexplicable reason named Mercedes). That starts the hydra fight, which appears to open things up a bit.

Also, I did start again as a strider, much better, many more strategic options, and not being expected to use a rusty fucking shield that does absolutely jack all.

Good luck then!

Yeah, the option to switch between daggers or a bow is really useful when exploring open spaces and dealing with tough enemies.

I went from strider->ranger->assassin->mystic knight

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Buy 200+ empty flasks. Then find the magic pond in the forest north of the city and get yourself a massive stockpile of healing potions.

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

Buy 200+ empty flasks. Then find the magic pond in the forest north of the city and get yourself a massive stockpile of healing potions.

I don't see the need for that. Some cursory exploration of the woods while traveling and a bit of experimentation with item combining will very quickly lead you to the point where your massive stock of healing items is causing you encumbrance problems.

 

[CD-R]

Ok where to begin.

First off gear gear gear. The game is heavily gear dependent so you always wat to be constantly upgrading your gear. There are two shop keepers in the first town that sell gear. The grocer actually sells some basic weapons and armor. You wouldn't think the grocer would sell weapons but she does.

Next pawns. All the classes are actually equally viable. But each one has it's weaknesses. That's where the pawns come in. Ideally you want your main pawn to offset your class's weakness. To give an example I wanted to play the warrior class and wield they big unwieldly great swords. However I didn't want to be eating a constant diet of arrows and spells. So I made my main pawn a strider then eventually a ranger sat him down in the knowledge chair that can be found at inns and some rest camps, and instructed him to focus on targeting ranged enemies. (I also gave him a bad ass looking wolf helm.) He eventually unlocked the ability to shoot flash bang arrows that can knock small groups of enemies off their feet allowing me ample time to run over bury my massive sword in them and launch them 10 feet in the air just for the hell of it. Or pick them up and toss them off cliffs.

I also wouldn't give up un the fighter class so easily. You start with the blink strike ability that lets you run down distant enemies. It can be upgraded further to increase the distance you sprint. You also unlock the sinew augment which greatly increases your carrying capacity. This is very usefull if your going to wear heavy armor. Augments also carry over between classes so it's not a bad idea to rank up in fighter untill you unlock it. You also get the skewer one of the coolest abilities in the game. Basically you go up to an enemy and just jam your sword in his gut repeatedly, it is awesome.

Dragon's Dogma is a great game but it can be pretty challenging especially when starting out. You wander too far off the beaten path or get caught out at night and you could run into an enemy you aren't yet equipped to deal with. But one thing this game does well is making you feel like a bad ass. Climbing on the head of a cyclops and stabbing him in the summoning a storm of meteors to come crashing down,leveling up enough to slaughter that legion of bandits outside of witch woods, clinging to the back of a griffon while it flys off, this is what a game set in a high fantasy setting should be like.

You should chek out the Dragons Dogma wiki http://dragonsdogma.wikia.com/wiki/Dragon%27s_Dogma_Wiki if you want a lot of good info or watch a gameplay video playthrough of the first parts to get a better idea of what you should be doing.

I recommend this one

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2CB0B09A529B7E46&feature=edit_ok

Not so much because they are good at the game but it's hilarious.

Edit: Also best main menu theme ever.

 

[Bigbomb94]

There is a achievement for completing all of the sidequests in the entire game. But if you go too far in the game, some of the sidequests you haven't done yet will be canceled. So do every side quest you you can find. To make sure you've don all of them, just look it up on the wiki.

Based on what class you are, your stats will grow at different rates. That way, you can plan out what stats to increase accordingly to what build you're doing.

 

[syaoran728]

In the fighter skills there is an ability that increases attack when you're at critical health and an ability in the mystic knight skill tree that increases defense at critical health. If you combine the two of them with a good armor you become a tank that takes tick damage from dragons and can deal out tons of punishment.

 

[Pulse]

Buy 200+ empty flasks. Then find the magic pond in the forest north of the city and get yourself a massive stockpile of healing potions.

Don't do this.

That's equivalent to using a cheat code IMO and could very well kill a lot of the game's challenge for you.

I didn't even find the magic pond till quite a way in, and then never even filled a flask from it.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Buy 200+ empty flasks. Then find the magic pond in the forest north of the city and get yourself a massive stockpile of healing potions.

Don't do this.

That's equivalent to using a cheat code IMO and could very well kill a lot of the game's challenge for you.

I didn't even find the magic pond till quite a way in, and then never even filled a flask from it.

Same. It's not necessary and a bit cheap. Dragon's Dogma really isn't that hard.

I'd say:

At the start, do some sidequests, be it from the notice board (just not the escort missions, some are really hard early game) or from people around town. This game really benefits from exploring everything. Dragon's Dogma doesn't really tell you what the main quest is, and when you start straight away in the main quest you both lose the ability to do some early quests and an opportunity to level (though the game does warn you at those points). Take it slow, kill some low level enemies. It's easy to get the first 10-20 levels by just doing some sidequests and it's pretty much smooth sailing afterwards. Once you get to Gran Soren (and there's a quest to escort you there) you can get better gear and items and change your vocation if you want to.

As the game says itself, it you find battles tough, you're not supposed to do them at that level. Some quests might even send you into more difficult areas early on, but if you get stuck, just go do another quest.

I did my first playthough as a fighter as well, but later changed to assassin/ranger (as said, you can change the vocation of your character once you reach the main city) because I just needed ranged weapons. Some battles (like against harpies or some of the bosses) are really annoying when you rely on melee attacks. Hell, against some of them the best I could do was just stand there and let my pawns take care of it. Starting as strider can make things a lot easier.

For pawns, I always make sure I have a Mage with healing magic in the party. The other two are generally ranged characters (strider/ranger). They're just way more effective than fighters/warriors. By the way, make sure you keep updating your skills when you rank up your vocation. You can buy and set new skills at the Encampment and in the main city.

Also, I'd advise to save some of your money until you get to the main city. There is way better gear available there.

AND FUCK THE UR-DRAGON........

I thought that thing was a bit anticlimactic for an ultimate boss. Online that thing is just annoying, but offline it's a pushover. You can have as many tries as you want and it's easy to avoid damage. With a couple of rangers it's not difficult to take down.

Edit: Oh yeah, never travel at night if you can avoid it.

 

[sanquin]

Here's a good tip, not sure if anyone else posted it yet:

Start as a warrior. Your class determines the stats you get per level. So to get a bit more hp at first it's best to go warrior. I switched to mage when I hit the capital, at level 8~9.

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

Side quests and leveling up helps alot. Start of with the first quests in the fisher village and the quest where you get to Gransys shouldn`t be a problem if you carry around a few health potions. After reaching Gransys and completing the pawn guild quest the game opens up even more and you are free to run around, leveling up, getting gear and change voacations. If it get`s to hard run away. With level 25 and enough health potions everything is doable but you´re in for some hard fights (fighter, warrior class). This game doesn`t give you an easy start but if it gets you and you keep on playing it`s almost like god-mode later on.

Another advice would be get a high level pawn from a friend (they are for free).

 

[omicron1]

Ok.
There's a waterfall/river near the canyon pass to the main city.
At the source of this river is a cave.
In this cave there are a bunch of higher level mooks and a cyclops in a closed space. He gets stuck on stuff really easily and goes down fast.

Behind all this stuff? A fire sword that will carry you through the next 20+ hours with ease. And you can get it in the first few hours.

 

[PrimitiveJudge]

unless your ready do NOT run around at night.
Kill the goat head first.
Everfall rocks.

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

Behind all this stuff? A fire sword that will carry you through the next 20+ hours with ease. And you can get it in the first few hours.

There`s a treasure system and the chance the sword is actually in there isn`t high. You could save before you open the chests and if the sword isn`t in there quit and load again but this can get very tiresome. I`m not sure how it is with the watergod altar but in the Everfall the chance to get something usefull is 2 or 5% (Everfall + collecting armor sets + Godsbane = countless suicides).