How scared should I be about Dragonsplague?

[CaydenSworn]

I was thinking about getting the game if and when Capcom got to work on fixing the optimization, if only for not one thing: The Dragonsplague. Given the consequences are your main city potentially being wiped out, it spreading among pawns with no warning and little sign past the first infection, I'm worried it'll send me into a paranoid fit to the point I don't get new pawns and never rest etc.

A friend of mine who raves about the game thinks I'm blowing it out of proportion, so I wanted to get a fresh perspective: How worried should I be about pawns contracting it? How obvious is infection on a scale of 1 to 10?

[Zeel Ara]

As long as you keep an eye on your pawns and/or throw them in the water before resting at an inn, you are fine. The question is whether or not you're willing to do that insane busywork in order to sidestep the mechanic.

[Demon of Razgriz]

Even if it gets to the final stage (which you almost have to intentionally let happen) it's not a game ruiner, since important NPCs respawn after several days and you can use wakestones on one's you like who didn't respawn.

[DaBa]

If you have eyes and the ability to read, not scared at all.

[Fairlaw]

Taken from a post on reddit:

*There are signs*.

This is preventable.

- 1) Look at your pawns and check their eyes. It will pulse and glow red. You'll notice it, even if the pawn has a naturally red eye and it pulses every 4 seconds, so it's quite fast. If they're hiding their face, take off their helms. Note that this effect *will not show up while you are in the Rift*.

- 2) They'll also do a stunned animation while standing around, holding onto their head, or turning their head and coughing to the side.

- 3) Issue a command, did any pawns disobey or refuse to follow? They will make a comment when they refuse to follow your direction such as, "Don't tell me what to do!" Your other pawns will also comment on the disobedience as well.

If any of them is true dismiss them back to the Rift and do not rehire them immediately (they remain infected until their master cures the condition themselves by drowning them in the nearest river). If it is your main pawn, throw them into the nearest body of water then revive it back at the Rift.

Dragons and drakes will infect pawns with the condition as you fight them, so the only time to check your pawns for the condition is doing your first check, after fighting dragonkin, and every time you hire a pawn from the Rift.

Here's a visual: u/chocojezus: https://www.reddit.com/r/DragonsDogma/comments/1bmsher/dragonsplague_symptoms_and_treatment/

[Excal]

Relax it's not perm. If everyone dies fom plague they respawn in a week or so. Also, there are signs. Pawns will talk back to you, outright deny you, disobey orders, and comment about their new found powers...

Also To prevent it from ever happening I never rest in city and town inns anymore (2)k for resting in city inns ianyways is too much. just go camping all the time now it's free.

[FrozenStar]

Not scared at all if you read the tutorial pop-ups instead of skipping and ignoring them.

[Zeel Ara]

It's still funny to me that amidst all of us saying "You can get around it by doing these things", not a single person in any thread has said "It happened to me by accident and it really improved the experience, so don't worry."

All the "positive" perspectives are about the mechanic being easy to bypass, not fun to engage with :D

[Tenacity]

Originally posted by Ratley:

It's still funny to me that amidst all of us saying "You can get around it by doing these things", not a single person in any thread has said "It happened to me by accident and it really improved the experience, so don't worry."

All the "positive" perspectives are about the mechanic being easy to bypass, not fun to engage with :D

hello i will be that person to say it improved the experience. i am specifically looking for plagued pawns, if you know any please post their codes :)

[Zeel Ara]

Originally posted by Tenacity:

Originally posted by Ratley:

It's still funny to me that amidst all of us saying "You can get around it by doing these things", not a single person in any thread has said "It happened to me by accident and it really improved the experience, so don't worry."

All the "positive" perspectives are about the mechanic being easy to bypass, not fun to engage with :D

hello i will be that person to say it improved the experience. i am specifically looking for plagued pawns, if you know any please post their codes :)

You missed the "by accident" part.

[Tenacity]

Originally posted by Ratley:

Originally posted by Tenacity:

hello i will be that person to say it improved the experience. i am specifically looking for plagued pawns, if you know any please post their codes :)

You missed the "by accident" part.

It started as an accident, mr joker. I liked it, it improved the experience, and now I'm doing it on purpose :)
Hope this helped!!!

[AbDuckter]

Well my city just got wiped main story line is quacked. I took the vasal from my friend ^^ just after i bought a new house for 200k xD fml

[Medina_Rico]

Originally posted by Fairlaw:

Taken from a post on reddit:

*There are signs*.

This is preventable.

- 1) Look at your pawns and check their eyes. It will pulse and glow red. You'll notice it, even if the pawn has a naturally red eye and it pulses every 4 seconds, so it's quite fast. If they're hiding their face, take off their helms. Note that this effect *will not show up while you are in the Rift*.

- 2) They'll also do a stunned animation while standing around, holding onto their head, or turning their head and coughing to the side.

- 3) Issue a command, did any pawns disobey or refuse to follow? They will make a comment when they refuse to follow your direction such as, "Don't tell me what to do!" Your other pawns will also comment on the disobedience as well.

If any of them is true dismiss them back to the Rift and do not rehire them immediately (they remain infected until their master cures the condition themselves by drowning them in the nearest river). If it is your main pawn, throw them into the nearest body of water then revive it back at the Rift.

Dragons and drakes will infect pawns with the condition as you fight them, so the only time to check your pawns for the condition is doing your first check, after fighting dragonkin, and every time you hire a pawn from the Rift.

Here's a visual: u/chocojezus: https://www.reddit.com/r/DragonsDogma/comments/1bmsher/dragonsplague_symptoms_and_treatment/

Hired pawns can infect your game/world with it? That's wild. I'm glad I spoiled myself and read this thread.

[Jon the Red]

knowing is half the battle, as they say...but in dragonsplague's case, it's more like 90% of it

most people's reaction has been based on them not knowing the consequence of it would be wiping out all NPCs in a town, breaking their quests and rendering merchants inaccessible and not giving them a chance to load a save from before it happened...it's actually quite easy to prevent that event if you know what to look for and what to do

signs of infection are typically noticeable, you get a honkin' big tutorial popup the first time it happens (and if you like, you can reload a save right away to "keep" the tutorial and have it appear again next time), the treatment is simple (kill or dismiss infected pawns so that they are removed from the party), and the town wipe only happens when you rest at an inn

I think it's a bonkers mechanic, just no cohesion with other gameplay elements and the town wipe with no further opportunity for intervention is way too harsh a punishment for not dealing with it...but at least if you're spoiled on it beforehand, it won't bring your playthrough to a screaming halt

[Tenacity]

Originally posted by Jon the Red:

if you're spoiled on it beforehand, it won't bring your playthrough to a screaming halt

it never brings your playthrough to a screaming halt even if you're completely blind.

[Deadoon]

Easiest way to guarantee that dragonplague doesn't affect you is to just brine all your pawns before you sleep, then go to the rift stone and get new ones.