Dragon’s Dogma 2 players are witnessing entire cities being wiped out due to the dragonsplague.

Dragonsplague effects pawns at random, with the disease eventually causing them to murder NPCs if a cure isn’t found in time.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 players are now finding out just how devastating the dragonsplague can be, with whole towns wiped out – including valuable NPCs needed for mainline quests. The brutal endgame happens when you’re resting, which is also when Dragon’s Dogma 2 autosaves, so players can’t simply roll back their progress either.

“I lost almost every NPC in Vernworth including main story npc’s cause of dragonsplauge,” wrote one player on Reddit, with another thread simply titled “Dragonsplague warning.” Both stories tell of mass devastation, and while a number of NPCs will respawn after three days, those important to the storyline will need to be resurrected with a wake stone. A list of dead characters can be found in Vernworth.

Pawns infected with dragonsplague can be identified by red eyes, acting as if they have a headache and moody responses. They can reportedly be cured by letting them die in battle or by throwing them off a cliff, before resurrecting them while your main pawn can be healed by visiting another player’s game and passing on the infection.

While some people are fans of the chaos dragonsplague brings to the game, others think it ruins the friendly, pawn-sharing community that the first Dragon’s Dogma game fostered.

“It’s a mechanic that serves absolutely no purpose but to make the game frustrating,” wrote one user. “I’m thinking it’s to sell wakestones,” added another, with Dragon’s Dogma 2 utilising a number of paid microtransactions to help players progress through the game.

Director Hideaki Itsuno reportedly wanted the plaque mechanic in the original Dragon’s Dogma game but couldn’t due to technical limitations. “AI behaviors, which had been simplified due to the limitations of the PS3 at the time, are simulated more realistically in the sequel,” he told Automaton Media.

Earlier today, Capcom confirmed the first patch for Dragon’s Dogma 2 will focus on fixing lag and bring with it the ability to easily start a new game, alongside a number of big fixes. A release date for the patch hasn’t been confirmed but Capcom says it will be available soon.

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