Dragon’s Dogma 2 Developers Clarify Changes to Dragonsplague, Emphasizing Transparency Over Nerfing

I’m really into Dragon’s Dogma 2, but I’ve been feeling a bit grumpy lately. Don’t get me wrong—I’m excited about the upcoming Dark Arisen DLC. The announcement caught me off guard, and what we’ve seen so far looks genuinely awesome. However, what’s bothering me is how the update is affecting Dragonsplague, one of the most thrilling and terrifying mechanics in the base game. I can’t shake the feeling that the developers are toning it down. They, however, have a different perspective.

In an email interview with the DLC director and producer, I dove straight into my concerns about Dragonsplague. For those unfamiliar, Dragonsplague is a disease that your pawns—those NPC companions—can catch. It starts off harmless, granting them significant combat buffs and making them more aggressive and less obedient. But if it’s allowed to fester, it can turn them into a dragon that wreaks havoc on an entire city. When Dragon’s Dogma 2 first launched, the city-destroying surprise caught many players off guard, leading to a tense atmosphere where players had to be vigilant about potential infections and sometimes even toss their afflicted pawns off cliffs to prevent the spread. This created a thrilling sense of anxiety around recruiting pawns online or facing dragons: were my pawns infected? Could they already be a threat?

Since then, Dragon’s Dogma 2 has been updated to make it easier to identify who has the plague. New features include glowing red eyes for infected pawns, a tutorial warning about Dragonsplague, slower disease progression, and a Casual Mode that eliminates the risk of village destruction entirely. While I appreciate Casual Mode, I felt the other changes were a bit much. But with the upcoming DLC and more updates on the horizon, additional adjustments to Dragonsplague are coming. There will be more information in the menus about the buffs that afflicted pawns receive, and a potion to cure Dragonsplague will be introduced.

To me, this feels like a nerf piled on top of another nerf. Kinoshita, however, sees it differently.

“We haven’t diminished the negative effects of Dragonsplague itself, and the core gameplay of weighing risks and rewards remains intact,” he explained. “Since launch, there has always been a benefit to having pawns strengthened by Dragonsplague, but we realized we hadn’t communicated this well. With the title update, the stat boosts from Dragonsplague will be clearer, and it will be easier to identify if a pawn is afflicted based on their behavior.

“Through these changes, players can now enjoy the risk-reward dynamic more clearly—deciding whether to keep an afflicted pawn for the combat advantage or when to use the Dragonsbaulk Draught to heal them.”

I can see his point. Instead of fearing a mysterious disease with dire consequences, this encourages players to take risks with Dragonsplague, keeping it on their pawns as long as possible for the buffs, but risking disaster if they wait too long. It’s a different approach, but I still miss the days of sheer terror.

I also chatted with Kinoshita and Oyama about various aspects of the Dragon’s Dogma 2 DLC. They mentioned that while most players should easily access the DLC by talking to Brant in Vernworth, those in the game’s true ending state won’t be able to accept the DLC quests until they finish the game and start a New Game+.

“That said, in future updates, we plan to introduce a feature that allows you to start a New Game Plus while carrying over your progress from the middle of a playthrough, as well as a feature to skip the opening part of the story,” Kinoshita noted. “With these new options, accessing the new content will be much smoother.”

Oyama confirmed that there are more new monsters in the DLC than what was shown in the reveal trailer. While some are reskinned versions of existing monsters, others are entirely new. He didn’t provide specifics, though. I also asked if the player community had surprised them in any way, and Oyama replied, “Even with the existing character customization options, we’ve seen players creatively use tattoos to mimic bangs. We never expected this kind of creativity, and it truly amazed us.

“With the Dark Arisen Expansion, we’ll be adding new variations for hairstyles and tattoos, and we’re excited to see what kinds of characters players will create and share on social media.”

So yes, the developers are definitely keeping an eye on your creative tattoo designs!

The Dragon’s Dogma series has an interesting history. Both Dragon’s Dogma and Dragon’s Dogma 2 were directed by Hideaki Itsuno, a well-known figure at Capcom, also recognized for his work on Devil May Cry. Kinoshita directed the first Dragon’s Dogma DLC, Dark Arisen, and is at the helm for this one as well. Itsuno left Capcom in 2024 after three decades and is now leading Tencent’s LightSpeed Studios. I wanted to know why the team decided to split the direction of both games and if anything had changed since Itsuno’s departure.

Kinoshita addressed my first question, though his response was a bit vague:

“Drawing from my experience as a planner on the base game, I approach this project with a focus on what an expansion should be and how we can deliver content that players will truly enjoy.

“In the original Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen, we aimed to expand on the first game by providing a more combat-focused, replayable experience. After the release of Dragon’s Dogma 2, we received feedback from players wanting more adventures and combat in this world. Therefore, we’re developing this expansion with enjoyable combat as a core element.

“However, simply recreating another Bitterblack Isle wouldn’t bring anything new. So, while we’re using a loot-based combat loop as our foundation, we’re designing the game to allow players to experience this in the entirely new field of Norgan, rather than through dungeon crawling.

“I believe it’s crucial to maintain the core identity of Dragon’s Dogma while striving to create a fun game that meets our players’ expectations.”

Oyama’s response was similarly vague, suggesting not much has changed since Itsuno’s departure.

“Under the direction of Kento Kinoshita, who also directed the original Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen, the content of the title updates and new elements have developed naturally as we pursued our vision for what an expansion for Dragon’s Dogma 2 should be.

“While our approach may differ from the base game in that we’re crafting this expansion based on player feedback, many team members—including the Director—have been involved with the Dragon’s Dogma series for a long time. Because of this, we believe we can continue development while keeping the essence of Dragon’s Dogma intact.”

The Dark Arisen expansion for Dragon’s Dogma 2 is set to launch on October 9, alongside a new Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game that will include the DLC. A title update is also on the way later this month to fix bugs, improve performance, and, unfortunately, make further adjustments to Dragonsplague.