Dragon's Dogma 2's April 2024 update will nerf its most nefarious affliction

If you’ve ever had the misfortune of waking up in Dragon’s Dogma 2 to a town full of dead NPCs, then you probably know what’s it’s like when one of your pawns caught dragonsplague (unless, of course, you did it). Fortunately, this is slated to become somewhat less of an occurrence with more visible signs of when it’s happening in an upcoming Dragon’s Dogma 2 patch. Capcom says the update will be coming this month and adjust dragonsplague alongside other balances and fixes in the game.

Capcom shared its plans for the April 2024 Dragon’s Dogma 2 update via the game’s social media channel. One of the biggest topline changes on the way is the adjustment of dragonsplague. Its frequency will be reduced, and the signs of it happening will be made more visible, such as making glowing eyes in an affected Pawn more prominent. For those who don’t know, dragonsplague affects pawns, and the only way to cure them is to kill them ASAP or pass it along to another Pawn. Otherwise, if you go to sleep in a town or village, you may wake up to find they killed every NPC there, including quest givers.

Increasingly glowing eyes is one of the signs that a Pawn is afflicted with dragonsplague, but it can be hard to notice when you're out in the wilds fighting monsters and exploring.
Source: Capcom

With such high stakes attached to it, it sounds like Capcom wanted to give players more of a fighting chance against dragonsplague. That’s not all that’s getting adjusted in Dragon’s Dogma 2, however. The full list of changes can be found below:

Reducing the infection frequency of dragonsplague and adjusting the signs of Pawns infected with dragonsplague to be more noticeable.
- For example, when infected, glowing eyes will be more noticeable.
Adding the option to zoom in on the faces of the Arisan and Pawns in the status screens, shops, etc.
Fixing some issues and implementing adjustments related to the mini map.
- Treasure chests that have already been acquired won’t be displayed on the mini map.
Adjustments to Pawns’ behaviour and dialogue.
- Fixing issues where occasionally the player couldn’t high five Pawns.
- Fixing issues where Pawns wouldn’t start guiding after offering to guide.
- Making Pawns less likely to fall off cliffs.
- Reducing the frequency of some Pawn dialogue lines.
- Improving Pawn lines to better match circumstances.
- Fixing some issues where Pawns stop speaking outside of combat.
- Fixing some issues where the Main Pawn speaks Support Pawn’s dialogue.
- Making Pawns more likely to aid the Arisen if the Arisen commands them to help while being held by enemies.
- Reducing the frequency of Pawns offering to be hired by the player while in the field.
Fixing issues where sometimes escort quests are considered failed when accessing Character Edit or other specific situations.
Fixing issues where the player could be jailed when fighting monsters in town.
Fixing some crashes and freezes in specific circumstances.
Miscellaneous bug fixes.

Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Pawns have been a delightful part of the sequel, so it’s good to see them get so much attention. The update is set to come before the end of the month, so stay tuned for further details and expanded patch notes as they drop.