[360/PS3] Dragon's Dogma - Dark Arisen out!

[Ralph-Wiggum]

I just had an epic battle with a (spoilered in case you don't want to know certain monster types)

Spoiler for Hiden:

beholder.

All three of my pawns died and disappeared (I guess because they were frozen and I didn't unfreeze them? Is there a way to unfreeze them without a potion?) with the monster still having two and half bars of life left. I got grabbed and chewed up pretty good a few times, and had to use about 10 potions, but I managed to take him down the rest of the way myself. And since I used a "get more experience" periot right before killing him, I winded up getting something like 70,000 xp for that battle. Woot!

[CeeKay]

fought the drake again tonight and wow, High Maelstrom literally decimated the thing.  it went from mostly full health bubbles down to 1 health bubble and half a health bar with one casting, definitely made for a shorter fight.  of course the AI seemed to be acting wonky too-  it'd fly up and when it came down it wouldn't land nearby nor would it land facing the party.

I got 4 dragonforged items out of it too, including Fournival's Magnanimous Cloak.  I only had it at 2 stars too since I couldn't find any balmy incense.

[TiLT]

fought the drake again tonight and wow, High Maelstrom literally decimated the thing.  it went from mostly full health bubbles down to 1 health bubble and half a health bar with one casting, definitely made for a shorter fight. 

That's the thing with the Sorcerer. It takes a while to cast spells, and you are extremely vulnerable during casting, but once your spellcasting finishes and your spell hits, and as long as the enemy doesn't have massive resistance against whatever you're casting, the battle will be more or less over at once. Even the end-game bosses died in one or two castings for me, with just a few exceptions. High Maelstrom can even destroy the Ur-Dragon when it's down to its last two health bars or so, from what I've been told.

[metallicorphan]

fought the drake again tonight and wow, High Maelstrom literally decimated the thing.  it went from mostly full health bubbles down to 1 health bubble and half a health bar with one casting, definitely made for a shorter fight.  of course the AI seemed to be acting wonky too-  it'd fly up and when it came down it wouldn't land nearby nor would it land facing the party.

I got 4 dragonforged items out of it too, including Fournival's Magnanimous Cloak.  I only had it at 2 stars too since I couldn't find any balmy incense.

Ha,i fought the Drake again last night as well,however the sorcerer i chose as a pawn wasn't very good(not as good as the pawn i had when i first fought it),so the fight took close to an hour


I forgot to look at my items to see if anything got Dragonforged

when the dragon flies off and lands a bit away,is my cue to save the game

[Ralph-Wiggum]

High Maelstrom has a sweet effect but man is it a pain in the ass, especially when cast indoors. It completely blocks being able to see what's going on; I just have to run away from the monster and wait for it to finish.

[TiLT]

High Maelstrom has a sweet effect but man is it a pain in the ass, especially when cast indoors. It completely blocks being able to see what's going on; I just have to run away from the monster and wait for it to finish.

Yeah, there are definitely better spells. In the early game Bolide (and its upgrade) was my favorite spell as it could take out almost anything. In the late game I found High Gicel to be my most versatile and effective spell. It could kill almost anything instantly.

[metallicorphan]

I have stumbled onto another quest,from Reynard,apparently i had bought enough items off him to start his quest(collect scrap metal),now after buying 5 more things off him he wants me to get him some Miasmite(which i am going for now...Firefly Stone+Miasmite shard),then i have to buy 10 more things off him and he then wants his fathers journal pages that are scattered all over the world.,....which i just so happen to already have all 6 pages ...but then after that,he apparently disappears forever,so gonna make sure i buy everything i need from him first

I made the mistake of killing a Cyclops that was owned by the female bandits up towards the great wall direction,apparently he doesn't attack....which i didn't know,i just twanged an arrow in his direction and then my posse kick the shit outta him with spells..later on,i learned he was friendly and i was to feed him a Goblin corpse for a quest to get in favour with the Female Bandit leader...oh well

[Ralph-Wiggum]

I made the mistake of killing a Cyclops that was owned by the female bandits up towards the great wall direction,apparently he doesn't attack....which i didn't know,i just twanged an arrow in his direction and then my posse kick the shit outta him with spells..later on,i learned he was friendly and i was to feed him a Goblin corpse for a quest to get in favour with the Female Bandit leader...oh well

He respawns.

As a side note, do those journal entries ever lead to something other than that quest? I was hoping to get them all and follow the clues to some sweet stash of treasure.

[metallicorphan]

I made the mistake of killing a Cyclops that was owned by the female bandits up towards the great wall direction,apparently he doesn't attack....which i didn't know,i just twanged an arrow in his direction and then my posse kick the shit outta him with spells..later on,i learned he was friendly and i was to feed him a Goblin corpse for a quest to get in favour with the Female Bandit leader...oh well

He respawns.

As a side note, do those journal entries ever lead to something other than that quest? I was hoping to get them all and follow the clues to some sweet stash of treasure.

far as i am aware they are just for Raynard


I only have two quests now in my journal,and they are the seeking the medallion off the female bandit leader and getting 20 seeker medals(found i think 12 of them)..so time to push forward with the story

[CeeKay]

I made the mistake of killing a Cyclops that was owned by the female bandits up towards the great wall direction,apparently he doesn't attack....which i didn't know,i just twanged an arrow in his direction and then my posse kick the shit outta him with spells..later on,i learned he was friendly and i was to feed him a Goblin corpse for a quest to get in favour with the Female Bandit leader...oh well

He respawns.

so does the bandit leader, which is odd-  I've cut her down twice.  she didn't drop a medallion though, so no shortcuts if I ever pick up that quest.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

I made the mistake of killing a Cyclops that was owned by the female bandits up towards the great wall direction,apparently he doesn't attack....which i didn't know,i just twanged an arrow in his direction and then my posse kick the shit outta him with spells..later on,i learned he was friendly and i was to feed him a Goblin corpse for a quest to get in favour with the Female Bandit leader...oh well

He respawns.

so does the bandit leader, which is odd-  I've cut her down twice.  she didn't drop a medallion though, so no shortcuts if I ever pick up that quest.

I had the same issue. I thought (apparently incorrectly), that I would need to talk to her first (like the other bandit quest). But even though none of the other bandits attacked me, she got aggro as soon as I got near. Killing her was self-defense, I tell you!

[metallicorphan]

yeah i have wore my dress for her presence,apparently the big bushy beard doesn't give me away

At first she was fine,and wanted me to go kill the male bandits down south...i couldn't be bothered going all the way down there,so i decided to kill all them instead,and then apparently kill her pet Cyclops as well

(i thought it was going to be one of those pick a side quests,i wasn't aware you could still do both..the Cyclops was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,i usually would of looked into why he was in a pen)


She now(spawned again)talks in disgust with me,again i have to wear a dress...i am currently trying to give her gifts of Skulls,which all Bandits like...but the Cyclops has still not respawned

[hepcat]

So I finally worked my way back to the point in the game just before I set off a Dirty Bomb in the heart of the city and was subsequently thrown in jail.  I switched over to the Magic Archer vocation, and put on my little peter pan shoes without pants (Seriously DD?  You're making magic slippers take up an entire leg armor slot?  I look like a freakin' pedophile running around the city in my short shorts and Keebler elf slippers.) and promptly marched north to find some quest item.  Based on my previous badassery south of the city on numerous outings as a lvl 27 Strider with maxed out vocation and slick battle moves that would make the front page of "Ass Kickers Weekly", I figure I should be doubly awesome at this point.

...then I run into some low level goblins and get my ass handed to me.  

Okay...I just need to adjust my strategy for ranged attacks now.  So I do.

The next goblin pack I run into goes down fairly quickly and I'm filling my fairy shorts with so much testosterone it looks like i'm wearing a balloon around my waist.

I spot a pack of wolves further north.  Christ, these things and Harpies are like the Cliff Racers of Dragon's Dogma.  They're annoying but go down fast.  

I hit em with a cloud shot from my magic bow...

...and their health bars barely budge.

...and they've seen me.

...and they're not afraid of my fairy shorts.

I turn tail and run.  I let my pawns know that in no way, shape or form will I stay behind to help them should they get jumped.  My daisy dukes and I are ass hauling it back to the safety of the castle and it's every man for himself.

Unfortunately, a wolf can outrun me.  Even more unfortunate, 6 of them can outrun me.  That's how many take me down and proceed to deflate my balloon.  They not only eat my lunch, they call up my mom and tell her to bring me seconds, then eat hers too.  

...ah well, back to the drawing board.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Cloud shot sucks for doing damage. I think it's best use is to bring harpies down to the ground fast. But for anything on the ground, you'll need to use another skill.

As a side note, make sure the bow you're using does magic damage. I believe (and someone correct me if I'm wrong on this), it's the magic damage that's most important for Magic Archers.

[CeeKay]

some of the Magic Archer stuff makes me go 'huh?'

Backfire:  light yourself on fire so that you can take damage while damaging enemies.
Regeneration: cool, I can regenerate....... 1 hp every 3 seconds......
Ricochet Arrow:  only really effective indoors, which I haven't had to be in for god knows how long.
Scension:  a wall of force that goes straight forward and takes time to charge up, during which my enemy will move.
Shadowpin:  great in concept but doesn't seem to ever work.

[CeeKay]

fought the drake again tonight and wow, High Maelstrom literally decimated the thing.  it went from mostly full health bubbles down to 1 health bubble and half a health bar with one casting, definitely made for a shorter fight. 

That's the thing with the Sorcerer. It takes a while to cast spells, and you are extremely vulnerable during casting, but once your spellcasting finishes and your spell hits, and as long as the enemy doesn't have massive resistance against whatever you're casting, the battle will be more or less over at once. Even the end-game bosses died in one or two castings for me, with just a few exceptions. High Maelstrom can even destroy the Ur-Dragon when it's down to its last two health bars or so, from what I've been told.

I made a forgery of the Wyrmking Ring (supposedly cuts casting time down 15%) and turned it in, leaving Winter with the original, plus she now has Articulacy (15% less casting time), so her casting time is cut down a bit.

[hepcat]

Cloud shot sucks for doing damage. I think it's best use is to bring harpies down to the ground fast. But for anything on the ground, you'll need to use another skill.

As a side note, make sure the bow you're using does magic damage. I believe (and someone correct me if I'm wrong on this), it's the magic damage that's most important for Magic Archers.

I've only found one bow I could even equip and it says it's only for magic archers.  Does that automatically mean it does magic damage?

[CeeKay]

Cloud shot sucks for doing damage. I think it's best use is to bring harpies down to the ground fast. But for anything on the ground, you'll need to use another skill.

As a side note, make sure the bow you're using does magic damage. I believe (and someone correct me if I'm wrong on this), it's the magic damage that's most important for Magic Archers.

I've only found one bow I could even equip and it says it's only for magic archers.  Does that automatically mean it does magic damage?

I'm not 100% definite, but if you look at the weapons stats page I think the number for strength is normal damage, and the number for magick is magickal damage.  if the number for magick is 0 then there is no magical damage.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Shadowpin:  great in concept but doesn't seem to ever work.

This is actually decent; it just only works well against certain enemies (wolves, bandits, and orcs being the most prominent). Just cast it, tell your pawns to come to you, and then wait as the enemies wander into it. It also acts as a barrier; you can sit in it and shoot all day without guys getting close.

I just tried using the Mystic Knight's Stone Grove ability for the first time tonight. It takes forever to set off, but if you get it down it does some serious damage. I took a cyclops down from almost full health to about 1/4 of his last health bar in one go.

I also just fought the

Spoiler for Hiden:

hydra

which took some serious work to take down. This game just keeps upping the ante. 

[CeeKay]

I went to upgrade to a newer pawn from the Rift tonight (not Ariona though, her dying is almost a running gag at this point (sorry Jarrod!)), and I have to say I'm surprised at how many of the pawns I summoned previously are still fairly low level.

[Razgon]

Get Darius - He's...lvl 50 I think

[CeeKay]

Get Darius - He's...lvl 50 I think

alas, 50 is lower than what I need.  I need a man, not a boy! 

[USMC Kato]

The Grey (sorcerer)  is currently at around lvl 80

[CeeKay]

The Grey (sorcerer)  is currently at around lvl 80

I ended up spending some RC for a warrior to keep my party balanced.  I figure when I branch out Winter from magic use I'll grab The Grey.

[metallicorphan]

so i did a side quest for the Princess,or whatever she is..and ended up in Jail,but i escaped(with her help),and now everyone is fine with me

Spoiler for Hiden:

I got caught in her bedroom and it was the Duke who was there when i was arrested

I thought i screwed up with the Griffin fight,the guide says to fight it until it flee's to Bluemoon tower(and there i can get the Port Crystal),yeah it didn;t have chance to flee...my pawns did a great job,and when it tried to flee,leaving me on the ground the Griffin had two of my pawns climbing all over it,and they took it down as it was fleeing

Thankfully though another quest took me to Bluemoon tower(fighting some wizard),and i was able to get the port crystal

even though its easy to get to,i may put the crystal at Cassardis,as i am always going back there to check the notice board(and then the Encampment),and looking at the rest of the map the places really don't get used as much i think i have pretty much finished with the Western side(Witchwood,Shadow Fort,Bloodwater Beach areas)

Even though i have only been there twice(once to discover it and once for a quest),it looks like Bluemoon Tower is done now as well,a lot of these places are getting criminally underused

[CeeKay]

so i did a side quest for the Princess,or whatever she is..and ended up in Jail,but i escaped(with her help),and now everyone is fine with me

Spoiler for Hiden:

I got caught in her bedroom and it was the Duke who was there when i was arrested

yeah, there seems to be a bit of disconnect with that quest.  it seems a bit out of place with no repercussions when there should be some major ones.

[Razgon]

so i did a side quest for the Princess,or whatever she is..and ended up in Jail,but i escaped(with her help),and now everyone is fine with me

Spoiler for Hiden:

I got caught in her bedroom and it was the Duke who was there when i was arrested

I thought i screwed up with the Griffin fight,the guide says to fight it until it flee's to Bluemoon tower(and there i can get the Port Crystal),yeah it didn;t have chance to flee...my pawns did a great job,and when it tried to flee,leaving me on the ground the Griffin had two of my pawns climbing all over it,and they took it down as it was fleeing

Thankfully though another quest took me to Bluemoon tower(fighting some wizard),and i was able to get the port crystal

even though its easy to get to,i may put the crystal at Cassardis,as i am always going back there to check the notice board(and then the Encampment),and looking at the rest of the map the places really don't get used as much i think i have pretty much finished with the Western side(Witchwood,Shadow Fort,Bloodwater Beach areas)

Even though i have only been there twice(once to discover it and once for a quest),it looks like Bluemoon Tower is done now as well,a lot of these places are getting criminally underused

Griffin quest would have taken you there yes... What level are you and your pawns that you could take it down like that? I couldn't make a dent in it!

[metallicorphan]

Me and my main pawn are level 54 ...i usually hire the other two a few levels above me,but at the time,they wouldn't of been that much higher(i hire 5 levels above,so i think they are currently 55)

I have 4 quests to do,then i have finished(not included post game)

[Razgon]

wow - thats insane!! What the heck have you been doing? :-D I was...34 I think when I was where you are now...

[metallicorphan]

wow - thats insane!! What the heck have you been doing? :-D I was...34 I think when I was where you are now...

done all the side quests(although one or two escort quest disappeared of the notice board because i didn't get to them fast enough)

59hrs in
167 quests completed

if the Dragon at the end of the game is harder than the Drake which i am expecting it to be,i will still be in for a rough ride

[Razgon]

Funny thing is - I completed the game, and never saw the dragon everyone is talking about :-)

Oh, and btw, you still have quite some way to go in the game :-)

[metallicorphan]

hmm,i'll look into that later(EDIT:actually the Griffin fight was a few Quests ago I did a few more afetr that last night,i am just about to start 'Honor And Treachery',which leaves,'Reward and Responsibility',if you can call that a quest,'Deny Salvation' and then 'The Final Battle')

I am currently looking for Seeker Token,you need 20 of them and i have found that they respawn in some places

looking online i have found that there are a few static locations

-Cassardis,where you pretty much start the game in the chiefs house,go out the door and jump over the wall and drop down to a secret room nestled in the cliffside,with 3 chests,one always has a Seeker Token

-Unusual Beach,exit Cassardis and head right to unusual beach and then head left towards the direction of the Encampment,right at the end there is a seeker Token on the sand in the corner(pass the second entrance to the beach from the Encampment)

-Unusual Beach,where you found the last one,head towards the water,staying close to the left hand side(the rocks),wade through the water and then when you can climb up the rocks,and you will come across a chest and some boxes,the Seeker Token is with the boxes on the ground(the location is just off the edge between the Encampment and Warriors Departure)

-Gran Soren,head out of the exit at the Aquaduct and there is a shipwreck of a small boat,with a Seeker Token inside(make sure you jump carefully,so not to end up in the drink)

-Gran Soren,when in the Aquaduct head up the ladder and stay close to the aquaduct and towards your right you will see another ladder that leads to a high piece of grass,the chest there has a Seeker Token

-Gran Soren,Noble Quarter,behind the house Opposite the Cathedral there is a chest with a Seeker Token

-Gran Soren,there is a ladder leading to the rooftops just around the corner from The Black Cat,on the map you can see a light square which is pretty much at the bottom right of the GS map,that's where you are heading,there is a chest in there,that contains one


I have found a load more,but never took notice where i found them thinking all were random

now,that's only 7,and you need 20...so either wait 3-4 days and let them respawn,or you could just find one token and get it forged 19 times at the Black Cat,but that's not fun (and it costs 4k each time)

[Jarrodhk]

I went to upgrade to a newer pawn from the Rift tonight (not Ariona though, her dying is almost a running gag at this point (sorry Jarrod!)), and I have to say I'm surprised at how many of the pawns I summoned previously are still fairly low level.

Not really sure how you manage to kill her so often. 

[USMC Kato]

I went to upgrade to a newer pawn from the Rift tonight (not Ariona though, her dying is almost a running gag at this point (sorry Jarrod!)), and I have to say I'm surprised at how many of the pawns I summoned previously are still fairly low level.

Not really sure how you manage to kill her so often. 

I think CeeKay is using Ariona as a screen. He sees and enemy, press up on the dpad and let's Ariona fight for a few minutes while he knocks back some ale.

[hepcat]

By the way, the bastards who keep sending my pawn Solomon back with just a rock?  It's not funny anymore!   

[metallicorphan]

By the way, the bastards who keep sending my pawn Solomon back with just a rock?  It's not funny anymore!   

I keep getting mouldy stuff,that i can't eat or i get poisoned

I just got my Raptr Weekly update,apparently i have put 38hrs 43 minutes into Dragon's Dogma this week(and 2 hrs 17minutes into Kameo)

[USMC Kato]

Moldy stuff is actually the best. Rotten is poison.

[metallicorphan]

Moldy stuff is actually the best. Rotten is poison.

oh,i didn't see the difference,i just saw it wasn't fresh and thought,not touching that

Last time i had some bad food was when i had nothing else in a big fight,my mage was working overtime to cure me every 5 seconds,i probably had a cure somewhere in my inventory as well,LOL

[EngineNo9]

The Grey (sorcerer)  is currently at around lvl 80

Are you playing through NG+?  I found it to be so easy when first starting out again that I quickly lost interest and wished I could be back in the end-game.

[Gratch]

After seeing this game show up at the top of nearly everyones mid-year GOTY lists, I decided to tie it another shot.  I think that I got extremely irritated with a few things early on last time and didn't really give DD a fair shake.  Either that or I simply wasn't in the mood for it.  Either way, I'm going to try and give DD a more dedicated effort this time around (on PS3) and see if it will click for me like it's done with you all.  Keeping my fingers crossed, as I really want to like it.

Spent last night getting close to where I quit the first time...we'll see how round 2 goes.