Do you want to team up with friends in Dragon’s Dogma 2? Not exactly! Here’s an explanation of multiplayer/ co-op in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Right off the bat, it’s important to make one thing clear — Dragon’s Dogma 2 does not feature any kind of traditional multiplayer or co-op gameplay mode. Unlike many modern RPGs that have embraced online multiplayer experiences, Dragon’s Dogma 2 remains solely focused on delivering a rich, compelling single-player adventure.
So if you were hoping to team up with friends and take on the game’s challenges cooperatively in real-time, you’ll unfortunately be disappointed. However, that doesn’t mean Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a completely solitary experience, disconnected from the larger gaming community.
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The Innovative Pawn System
The returning Pawn system from the first game is at the core of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s unique online integration. Pawns are AI-controlled companion characters that join your party and fight alongside your main protagonist, known as the Arisen. While not directly controlled by other human players, Pawns provide an indirect form of multiplayer connectivity.
Creating and Sharing Your Main Pawn
Early on, you’ll be tasked with creating your own custom Main Pawn that will be a permanent part of your adventuring party. You can fine-tune every aspect of this Pawn, from their appearance down to their voice, personality, skills, and equipment loadout.
Once created, you’ll have the option to share this Main Pawn online, allowing other Dragon’s Dogma 2 players anywhere in the world to recruit a clone of your Pawn into their own parties through special Riftstone monuments scattered throughout the world.
Recruiting Others’ Pawns
Just as you can share your Main Pawn globally, you’ll also be able to recruit Pawns created by other players to join your own party. In this way, you’ll be exploring dungeons, battling beasts, and overcoming challenges alongside a diverse array of Pawns designed and shared by Dragon’s Dogma fans from around the world.
This asymmetric form of multiplayer allows the developers to maintain their ambitious single-player vision without compromising the core experience. But it still connects you to a living, breathing community, adding flare and excitement with every new Pawn you recruit.
Pawn Knowledge Sharing
Pawns don’t just represent your connections to other players — they actively learn from them, too. As a player’s Main Pawn gets recruited into other adventuring parties, it will gain new knowledge and insights from the battles, environments, and players it encounters.
When you next summon your Pawn back to your party, you’ll find it has grown wiser, having unlocked new combat tips, environmental observations and unique bits of lore to share from its experiences in other players’ games. The Pawn system creates a living ecology where everyone’s experiences cumulatively shape the knowledge of Pawns across the whole community.
Gifting and Rift Crystals
The Pawn system wouldn’t be complete without player-to-player trading and rewards for sharing your Pawns. After a player dismisses your Pawn from their party, they’ll have the option to send it back with gift items as a thank-you gesture. You’ll receive these gifts the next time you rest at an inn.
Additionally, you’ll be rewarded with valuable Rift Crystals (the game’s premium currency) each time someone recruits your Pawn, with greater rewards for higher levels of use. This incentivizes creating helpful, powerful Pawns that others will want to experience in their own adventures.
Asynchronous Community
While Dragon’s Dogma 2 may not include real-time multiplayer, the Pawn system still manages to make the experience feel tangibly connected to a living community of players. You’ll frequently cross paths with the custom Pawns created by other players, each with their own appearances, personalities, and insights to share about the world around you.
As your own Main Pawn gets circulated among other players’ games and returns with new knowledge, you’ll gain fascinating glimpses into how others have tackled the same challenges you face. It’s an asynchronous multiplayer experience that enriches the feeling of being part of a larger community united around Dragon’s Dogma 2’s world and lore.
The Future of Multiplayer in Dragon’s Dogma 2
Of course, the dream for many Dragon’s Dogma fans would be the addition of full real-time co-op multiplayer to adventure alongside friends. And while the developers have given no indication of such plans, it’s not impossible that fan requests and modding efforts could facilitate more direct multiplayer options down the road.
But for now, the unique Pawn system stands as Dragon’s Dogma 2’s way to scratch that multiplayer itch while maintaining its laser-focus on a meticulously crafted single-player narrative experience. While not true multiplayer, it’s an innovative compromise that still connects all players into a living, breathing community, leaving their mark on the game’s world.
Also check out: The Ultimate Dragon’s Dogma 2 Character Creation Guide
