Dragon's Dogma 2 Introduces Update to Ease Gameplay for Casual Players
The latest Dragon's Dogma 2 update caters to more casual players, offering changes aimed at easing some of the game's more frustrating aspects. While Dragon's Dogma 2 isn't one of the hardest games released this year, certain elements like the Dragonsplague mechanic have presented challenges for some players.
Other tedious aspects, such as constantly paying for inns or Ferrystones, and managing the battle against weight limits and encumbrance, have become annoying for many in today's fast-paced gaming environment. To address these concerns, Capcom released a new update introducing a "Casual Mode," which simplifies some of the game mechanics.
New Casual Mode and Other Key Adjustments
The highlight of the latest patch is Casual Mode, which removes certain features considered core to the game's experience but seen by others as unnecessary time sinks. In addition to this mode, the update introduces adjustments to balance the game’s vocations and other mechanics. Below is a detailed list of what’s been changed:
- Casual Mode: Reduced inn costs and Ferrystone prices, and weight limits for being "Heavy" or "Very Heavy" have been adjusted to be more lenient.
- Improved Stamina Management: Less stamina is consumed while sprinting outside of combat.
- Dragonsplague Adjustments: Pawns can recover from the Dragonsplague without catastrophic consequences, even at its worst stage.
- New Items and Locations: A Portcrystal has been added to Bakbattahl, and new gear ("Sovran's Crown," "Sovran's Plate," and "Sovran's Greaves") can now be traded with the Dragonforged.
- Animations and Aesthetics: Pawns and the Arisen now have new idle animations, as well as new animations when dashing or riding a large flying enemy.
- Main Pawn Resurrection: The Main Pawn can now be revived indefinitely at Forgotten Riftstones.
- Polish Language Support: The update also adds Polish language options in the display settings.
Vocation Balance Tweaks
Capcom has made numerous adjustments to the game’s vocations to enhance balance. Some of these include:
- Fighter Class: Increases to Strength, faster charge times for certain abilities, and improved aiming capabilities.
- Warrior Class: Extensions to input durations for abilities and reduced vulnerability times for some attacks.
- Archer Class: Shorter charge times and increased Strength for abilities like "Dire Arrow," as well as weight reductions for special arrows.
- Mage Class: Longer duration of debuffs and extended attack ranges for abilities like "Flagration."
- Thief Class: Adjustments to Stamina usage for "Blades of the Pyre."
- Mystic Spearhand Class: Buffs to Strength and Knockdown Power.
Bug Fixes and Performance Enhancements
The patch also comes with a slew of bug fixes and performance improvements, addressing long-standing issues such as:
- Player and NPC Bugs: Several glitches have been fixed, such as awkward camera movements, clipping through coffins, and issues with stamina recovery while walking.
- Pawn Behavior Improvements: Various fixes to pawn behavior during battles, improved guidance, and addressing strange animation loops in some situations.
- Enemy and Quest Fixes: Adjustments to specific enemy behaviors, like griffins circling continuously or liches improperly resurrecting monsters. Quest-related issues, such as enemies reappearing after being defeated, have also been resolved.
- UI and Sound Enhancements: The update fixes display issues and sound-related bugs, ensuring that the user interface and audio are now smoother.
Future Updates and Expectations
While the exact release date for the next installment remains unknown, Capcom has teased that more content tied to the game will be unveiled in 2025. Whether this will lead to a full release or further dragon's dogma 2 updates is yet to be determined, but more details are expected in the coming months.
