100% Achievement Guide: Dragons Dogma - Dark Arisen

This is a comprehensive 100% Achievement guide detailing a step-by-step walkthrough to take you from 0 all the way to 100%. If you are looking for a particular Achievement or Collectible, use Ctrl+F & type it into the search bar for more direct help.

I run support & debug help on all my guides. If you have any questions, problems, or find errors in the guide itself, do not hesitate to leave me a comment & I will get back to you as soon as I am able to. Happy Hunting!

Introduction:

Achievement Breakdown:
Story Related: (16)
Missable: (5)
Character: (6)
Collectibles: (2)
Adventure: (11)
Slay: (5)
Miscellaneous: (7)
Bitterblack Isle: (5)
Speedrun Mode: (1)

There is a minimum of 3 playthroughs we will have to complete of this game. The first playthrough (NG) will be on Hard Mode where we will complete all Main Quests, Side Quests, & unlock all the Endings. Hard Mode is hard… Save often, it is better than playing on Easy or Medium because we will get better rewards & more Xp making getting to character Level 200 much faster. Hoard as many Items as possible, it will make our subsequent playthroughs that much easier. I strongly recommend you start your first playthrough on Hard Mode. On our second playthrough we will be fighting some very difficult bosses that may cause you to lower the difficulty. If you lower the difficulty mid game, you are unable to change it back until you start your next NG+ which will ruin your attempts at unlocking the Hardened Veteran Achievement.

During our first playthrough, be sure to keep track of Weapons & Armor bought or collected. If possible, try & purchase every Weapon & Armor piece available from every new Merchant you come across; this just helps knowing if you have actually collected that Item or not. They will get new Items the further along we get into the Main Questline. As a side note, there are some important Items that are related to some Side Quests we need to keep an eye out for. Watch out for: Journal Entries, Pilgrims Charm (x2), Snakeskin Purse (x1), & Kept Sour Ambrosial Meat (x5).

The second playthrough (NG+) is where we will complete Bitterblack Isle as well as mopping up the rest of the Achievements like getting to Level 200. In this playthrough we want to make our character as over-powered as possible.

The final playthrough will be Speedrun Mode (NG++) which will use our main save file. All Gear, Gold, & Items will carry over into this Mode. If you do the Speedrun after the first playthrough instead, it does count as a second playthrough for The Ever-Turning Wheel Achievement. Any Items or Gold used/Xp gained during the Speedrun will not carry over to the following playthrough however. You just have to finish the Speedrun for the Achievement, your final time does not matter.

Additionally, there are important preparations to make in the playthrough prior to your Speedrun to make it a lot easier. In Speedrun Mode, you have to do it in one sitting, there are no Saves. Dying without holding Wakestones will give you a game over, ending the Speedrun. I will be doing Speedrun Mode after NG+ & I will detail those preparations during that playthrough.

Since we are getting our characters to Level 200, character builds are not too critical, at least to start. There are some good min/max builds out there & it can make Bitterblack Isle a lot more pleasant if you build your character right from the start. For an idea of how to build your character, here is a great calculator site I found.

https://stackoverflow.github.io/dragons-dogma-stat-planner/

Whichever Vocation you stay as, it is good to get at least 10 Levels in the Fighter Vocation which will drastically increase your survivability. I will later switch to a Strider then probably Ranger to end with, as they are the best Ranged Vocation in the game. Ranged Vocations are exceptionally handy to play as, especially in Bitterblack Isle for farming Death to get to Level 200 easily.

Since this is an open world game, you might come by some of these Achievements sooner or later on than I have. That is fine, we have three playthroughs to beat so there is plenty of time. All of your statistics (Enemy Kills, Pawns Summoned, Presents Gifted, etc.) is cumulative & carries over to the next NG+.

Here is a World Map to reference locations by Deaf30 of Reddit. Note that inside Dungeons there will be sub-locations to find for our 150 Locations found. They are not included on this map, whenever you are in a Dungeon just fully explore it. In Post-Game the Everfall has tons of Locations you can find. There are a lot more than just 150 Locations in the game.



Explore everywhere, completely uncover the world & dungeon maps if you can. The maps will stay uncovered in subsequent playthroughs.

For those interested, here is an organized list of all the Achievements/Secret Achievements. This is how I derive my Achievement Breakdowns & the first reference I create before I begin my 100% journeys.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2352268217
*This guide contains major spoilers.

Sequence 1: Arisen

1. Cassardis & The Encampment
2. Level: 14/200
3. Main Quests: 7/28
4. Side Quests: 6/35
5. Locations: 8/150
6. Pawns: 4/70
7. Weapons/Armor: 84/350
8. Achievements: 9/59
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Some other Achievements we need to note is killing 3000 enemies, complete 50 Notice Board Quests, & accumulate over 10,000,000 Gold. All of these are carried across all our playthroughs. Some you will unlock this playthrough, the others you will get in NG+.

Cassardis & The Encampment:

MQ #1 – The End At the Beginning: This Main Quest will end whether you defeat or are defeated by the Boss at the end of the Prologue.


Achievement #1 – It Begins: Completed the Prologue.
Story Related. This Achievement is unlocked when you complete the Prologue.

MQ #2 – Harbinger of Destruction: Create your Character & attempt to battle Grigori. This Main Quest will end once you regain control of your Character in Chief Adaro’s House.

MQ #3 – Newly Arisen: Choose your starting Vocation. I chose Fighter to start for my initial 10 Levels. Take your Weapons & leave the room to finish the Main Quest.

SQ #1 – Grim Tidings: Find & talk to the fisherman Elvar wandering around Cassardis. He can also be found inside the Cassardis Church. Go to Merin, then return to Elvar to finish the Side Quest.

SQ #2 – Lost Faith: In the Cassardis church, talk to Clemente. You must locate the lost Scripture Book. Follow the trail to the left of the church then jump onto the nearest roof down below. The book will be in the middle of the roof on a ledge across from the chimney. Return the scripture book to complete the Side Quest.

SQ #3 – Floral Delivery: Directly East from the Inn in Cassardis, Benita has a Side Quest for us to find 5 Sunbright & 1 Moonglow flowers. The 5 Sunbright flowers can easily be found just outside Cassardis along the way to the Encampment. A Moonglow flower can be found at nighttime in Cassardis, over at Starfall Bay just East from the village along the beach.


Achievement #2 – Onward: Departed from Cassardis.
Story Related. Leave Cassardis for the first time to unlock this Achievement.

MQ #4 – Upon A Pawn: When you go to leave Cassardis, you will receive this Main Quest. Take the Pawn, Rook, up the road to the Encampment. The Main Quest ends when you walk up to the front gates.
When we leave Cassardis, be sure to save the NPC Reynard who is being attacked by Goblins along the road as he has Quests needed for Achievements we will have to complete later on...

MQ #5 – Call of the Arisen: Upon entering the Encampment you will receive this Main Quest. Fight the monster outside the fort, then return to the Rift Stone & summon your Main Pawn to end the Main Quest.


Achievement #3 – A New Ally: Summoned your own Pawn.
Story Related. You will unlock this Achievement after creating your Main Pawn. For the same reason as making yourself a Fighter I would make your Pawn one as well.
We can change up our Vocations when we reach the capitol city, Gran Soren. Having two Fighters in early game won’t hurt us all that much, just be sure to summon mages as your other two Pawns.

MQ #6 – Strength In Numbers: Talk with Ser Berne in the Encampment & complete his three tutorial challenges.

Journal Entry #1 – First: As you explore the Encampment, in the far-left corner of the map up where all the tents are, there will be a chest against a rock wall. Opening it you will collect the First Journal Entry which is an Item we will need to hold onto for a Side Quest way later in the game. There are five other Journal Entries we will have to find.


Achievement #4 – Foreign Recruit: Enlisted a Pawn to your Party from beyond the Rift.
Go to the Rift Stone & summon an Offline or Online Pawns for this Achievement.


Achievement #5 – Local Recruit: Directly enlisted a Pawn to your Party.
Walk around the Encampment & hire one of the Pawns wandering around into your Party. There should be one or two that shouldn’t cost any Rift Crystals.

SQ #4 – Deep Trouble: Do not speak with Ser Mercedes in the Encampment just yet. Instead, return to Cassardis & approach the well. Talk to the guard Poll & he will give you a Side Quest to investigate it. Slay the monsters inside & return to him to complete the Side Quest.


Achievement #6 – Into Dripstone Cave: Entered the azure caverns.
Entering the Cassardis well for the first time will unlock this Achievement.

SQ #5 – Guard Duty: Go into the Cassardis inn & talk to the newly arrived merchant, Madeleine. Escort her up to the Encampment for this quest. Additionally, help her out by giving her 1000 gold, to progress her questline.


Achievement #7 – The Escort: Acted as a reliable travel companion.
Escort Missions are a type of Notice Board Quest. On the Cassardis Inn Notice Board, there is an Escort Mission to take Valmiro over to the Warriors’ Departure right outside the Encampment. Bring him to it safely to finish the quest & unlock the Achievement.

Note that we will encounter many different Escort Missions throughout the game. Frequently check Notice Boards as we progress the Main Questline & complete any one of them to unlock the Achievement.

MQ #7 – A Rude Awakening: In the Encampment, go & find the captain of the Enlistment Corps, Ser Mercedes. Initiate the quest & battle the boss. Drive it off & finish the quest.


Achievement #8 – Getting A Head: Earned the approval of the Enlistment Corps.
Story Related. Finishing the Main Quest – A Rude Awakening will unlock the Achievement.

SQ #6 – An Uninvited Guest: Before carrying on out of the Encampment, first return to Cassardis once more & talk to Pablos the innkeeper. Wait in the inn & chase the thief around until you manage to catch him. The Ensnare Skill for Striders is very useful for this quest if you are one.

SQ #13 – Lost & Found (Part I): While in Cassardis, track down Chief Adaro & he will tell you that Quina has not returned from Witchwood & wants us to find her. Simply collect the quest, we will not travel to Witchwood just yet.


Achievement #9 – The Artisan: Combined two Materials to make an Item.
By this point you probably have a collection of materials in your inventory or storage. Combine any two of them (like Cloudwine & Greenwarish) & create an Item for this Achievement. There are hundreds of different Item combinations in the game.

Sequence 2: Talk of the Town

1. The Mountain Way Castle, Gran Soren, & Cassardis
2. Level: 20/200
3. Main Quests: 9/28
4. Side Quests: 11/35
5. Locations: 33/150
6. Pawns: 6/70
7. Weapons/Armor: 120/350
8. Achievements: 13/59
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The Mountain Way Castle & Gran Soren:

MQ #8 – Off With Its Head: Talk to Mercedes at the Encampment & meet up with her at The Mountain Way Castle on the road to Gran Soren. Escort the wagon to the capitol. The quest will end when you enter the streets of Gran Soren.


Achievement #10 – The Courier: Enter Gran Soren.
Story Related. Unlocked when you enter Gran Soren for the first time.


Achievement #11 – The Tourist: Visited 50 Locations.
I unlocked this one having explored all the areas leading up to The Mountain Way Castle as well as exploring Gran Soren. It should come naturally as you play.

MQ #9 – A Matter For Myrmidons: Head to the Pawn’s Guild after talking with the inn keeper in Gran Soren. When you arrive, speak with Barnaby & complete the quest.

We will receive our next Main Quest – Lure of the Abyss from him afterwards. DO NOT complete it yet as it will void the Side Quest – Lost & Found. Complete the following Side Quests in any order you like but complete them all before the next Main Quest.

SQ #7 – Reaper’s Scorn: Across from the Pawn’s Guild, there is an old blacksmith shop. Head inside & talk to Austine. We need a whole Wakestone to revive his son. They can be created with 3 Wakestone Shards. You cannot make a Forgery of the Shards; it will not count as an actual Shard & will not create a whole Wakestone. 2 Shards will be given to you by the blacksmith, another Shard you can purchase from Fournival in the Noble’s District for 15,000 gold.


Achievement #12 – The Knave: Obtained a Forgery.
Before reviving Austine's son with our Wakestone Shards we can actually use them to get ourselves an Achievement. Make your way down South to the Venery District & we can find a store called the Black Cat. Give the shop keeper Mountebank a Wakstone Shard (or any unique Item that will give you a proper Forgery Item as opposed to just an exact duplicate of the Item). Now head over to the inn keep & wait until morning twice. Return to Mountebank & collect your copied Item unlocking this Achievement.

The Black Cat is one of the most useful stores in the game; we will be duplicating Items a lot, especially in NG+ for our Speedrun preparations. Do not worry about buying out the Weapons & Armor here, they are extremely expensive. Only buy Gear if you specifically want it, we can find other Gear for the Well Equipped Achievement.


Achievement #13 – The Savior: Used a Wakestone to restore the dead to life.
After creating a Forgery, revive Austine's son with a full Wakestone & complete the quest. By completing the Side Quest – Reaper’s Scorn, you will fulfill the obligations for this Achievement.

SQ #8 – Land of Opportunity: Head to the Noble’s District in upper Gran Soren & head to Fournival’s Manor. Talk to him, & he will give us a quest to evict some good folks from their homes.

Find the son, & wife of Jasper. Wait until morning & speak with the wife again for her consent. The husband, Jasper, can be tricky to find. He is usually behind the inn on the way up to the Noble District. Wait until it’s the afternoon & keep checking behind the inn. Leaving & re-entering the city sometimes helps reset the area. When you speak to him, he will need 30,000 gold. Pay him the money & return to Fournival to complete the Side Quest.

SQ #9 – Chasing Shadows: Speak to Mason in the town square & you will receive this quest. Save before continuing! Trail the knight from the Noble District to his destination in the Venery at nighttime, then report to Arsmith at the Taphouse to finish the quest. Do not get discovered or you will fail the quest, stay a ways behind him as you trail him!

Journal Entry #2 – Third: Head to the Venery District & look at the image below. If you head to the ladder where Waypoint 1 is & climb along the rooves until you reach Way Point 2, you will see a ladder heading down into an alcove. A chest will be at the bottom that contains another Journal Entry.



SQ #12 – A Troublesome Tome (Part I): In the town square, look for the man Steffen. He can usually be found wandering around behind the Gran Soren inn. Agree to his favor, & he will ask you to find Salomet’s Grimoire. We will not continue the quest just yet.

SQ #27 – A Lost Cause: If you have not already collected it, go to Arsmith’s Taphouse & grab this Side Quest from his Notice Board. We won’t be completing it till much later.

Before we leave Gran Soren, be sure to collect the Notice Board Quests – From A Different Sky in the Pawn’s Guild basement. They aren’t mandatory, but they will give good Rift Crystal rewards. It is also a good idea to save all these Badges we collect, as when we start NG+ our Storage will carry over, & we can instantly complete the quests a second time without having to go out & find them all again. These Quests, though tedious at times, are a good source of cash.

Now use your Eternal or Regular Ferry Stone & ferry back to Cassardis.

Cassardis:

SQ #10 – Deeper Trouble: If 7 in game days have passed since we completed the Side Quest – Deep Trouble, we will hear a voice calling to us from the well. If it is not available, try resting for a few days at the inn; you may need to exit Cassardis itself & return for it to register afterwards. Enter the well & talk to the man, Rorric. He will ask us to destroy a Saurian nest that opened up further into the cavern. Destroy all the eggs & return to him to complete the quest.

SQ #11 – Dying of Curiosity (Part I): Around this time, head down to the beach in Cassardis & you can receive a quest from Merin. Valmiro has gone missing. Leave Cassardis & head to your immediate right down to the beach to find him. Give him a piece Greenwarish, & he will move to a new location. Head up the road over to a tree right outside the Encampment gates facing back towards Cassardis. Give him two Greenwarish this time, & he will leave for Witchwood. We will track him down there a little later when we go & look for Quina…

Sequence 3: Lure of the Abyss

1. Aernst Castle, Witchwood, Cassardis, Gran Soren, & The Everfall
2. Level: 26/200
3. Main Quests: 10/28
4. Side Quests: 15/35
5. Locations: 73/150
6. Pawns: 8/70
7. Weapons/Armor: 135/350
8. Achievements: 15/59
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The Ruins of Aernst Castle & Gran Soren:

SQ #12 – A Troublesome Tome (Part II): If you talked to Steffen back in the Gran Soren town square, he will have asked us to find Salomet’s Grimoire. Head to your Quest Marker in between the Encampment & The Mountain Way Castle to save a man from bandits. Carry on to the bandit’s hideout in The Ruins of Aernst Castle (running past all the enemy bandits along the way is a viable option due to their high difficulty). The bandits in the actual castle are friendly, do not attack them. After getting to the castle, climb to the highest point in the ruins up to the very top of a broken tower. The lost Grimoire will be in a chest at the top here.

Ferry back to Gran Soren & turn the Grimoire in to Steffen to complete it.

Side Quest #14 – No Honor Among Thieves (Part I): Unfortunately, this Side Quest will not be available until we turn in the Side Quest – A Troublesome Tome. Return to Aernst, & we can collect a new Side Quest from the bandit leader Maul here & he will give you two tasks. Either one will complete the quest, the easiest of the two is talking to Pike in Cassardis asking him to return to Maul. For the other task we have to travel to the other side of Gransys to accomplish…

Do not ferry to Cassardis. We can quickly get there through the Witchwood after we complete the next two quests there.

Witchwood:

SQ #11 – Dying of Curiosity (Part II): Enter the Witchwood & we can find Valmiro just inside the entrance. Give him 3 Greenwarish, & he will leave for Cassardis. Turn in the quest when we head to Cassardis after the next Side Quest.

SQ #13 – Lost & Found (Part II): If you talked to Chief Adaro in Cassardis & agreed to look for Quina in the Witchwood, this will be our new priority. We will have a brief cinematic of Quina running ahead the moment we enter Witchwood. Out of all the Side Quests, this is only one that will fail if we complete the Main Quest – Lure of the Abyss.

Find Quina & escort her to the witch… of Witchwood. Afterwards, report back to Chief Adaro in Cassardis.

Cassardis & The Ruins of Aernst Castle:

SQ #14 – No Honor Among Thieves (Part II): After turning in the last two Side Quests, search for Pike. This quest will only be able to be progressed if we spoke to Maul in The Ruins of Aernst Castle after completing the Side Quest – A Troublesome Tome. Pike can usually be found wandering the streets or down by the beach. When you convince him to return to Maul, you’ll have to wait until he physically walks out of Cassardis before the quest progresses. If your unlucky, like me, you’ll have found Pike up near the Cassardis church… Head back to Maul & turn in the quest.

Gran Soren & The Everfall:

SQ #15 – Escort Duty: Return to Gran Soren & speak to Fournival. “Tour” the city with Symone & return to Fournival to complete the quest.

We have the chance to earn a very rare Item that will give us a 30% discount at all shops if Symone is pleased with our performance. Stay close to her at all times. Do not sprint/bump into her, grab, attack or unsheathe any weapons around her. As well, let her win the foot race to the lower fields. This whole process makes the quest slower & tedious, but the reward is well worth our troubles if you can manage it. Speak to Symone after turning in the quest to see if you got the Golden Idol.

MQ #10 – Lure of the Abyss: Now it is time to enter The Everfall in the Pawn’s Guild basement. After escaping at the end of the quest, report back to Barnaby to complete the quest.

Be sure to pick up the Port Crystal that is at the bottom of The Everfall before you leave. The Shadowfort is an excellent place to put this one. We will be heading there for one of our Main Quests in the next Sequence…


Achievement #14 – Writ Large: Received a writ from the castle.
Story Related. Complete the Main Quest – Lure of the Abyss & receive the Wyrm Hunt License after leaving the Pawn’s Guild to unlock the Achievement.

SQ #16 – Search Party (Part I): If you see the travelling merchant Reynold anywhere, be sure to complete 10 individual transactions with him to unlock the Side Quest – Search Party. You have to buy something, close down the menu, exit conversation, & then repeat until you have bought Items in 10 different transactions. A bit tedious. Just buy the cheapest Item he has for sale, one at a time…

After 10 transactions, he will ask for a piece of Scrap Iron. These are pretty common drops from fighting Skeletons. Give him one & then complete 5 more individual transactions, & he will then ask for Miasmite. Miasmite is dropped by Phantoms which can be found in Witchwood at night. (You can make a whole Miasmite by combining a Miasmite Shard & a Firefly Stone together). After this, make 10 MORE individual deals & he will finally ask you to find all 6 of his fathers scattered Journal Entries. This whole process can be chipped away at the entire playthrough, as it will take us a while to track down all the Journal Entries anyways.


Achievement #15 – The Patron: Helped Madeleine open her shop.
You may have unlocked this Achievement earlier on. If you haven’t, head down to the abandoned building in the Venery District you caught Jullian & Madeleine in during the Side Quest – Chasing Shadows. She will have set up shop here; speak to her & unlock the Achievement.

MQ #11 – The Water God’s Altar (Part I): Head up to the Noble’s District & accept all 4 Wyrm Hunt Quests from Sir Maximilian. Before we set out, we can set these first three quests in motion here in Gran Soren.

Go to the Gran Soren cathedral & speak with Father Geffrey. He will tell us to meet up with a survey team west of The Mountain Way Castle.

MQ #12 – Seeking Salvation (Part I): Activate this quest now & speak with two citizens in Gran Soren to uncover the whereabouts of the cult. Meridith (a man named Meridith) can be found in the Gran Soren inn. He will direct you to speak with Mason; if he isn’t at the town square he can be found in the Slums down by the Aqueduct. Mason will get us to speak with three other people before we are directed to go to the Catacombs. Only the guard, Ser Sairus, knows this location. The other two citizens will not progress the quest.

MQ #13 – The Cypher (Part I): Lastly, activate this quest & go speak with the farmer Josias who will then direct you to Mountebank at the Black Cat. You will then have to find a courier, Maurin to be exact, & talk to him. He usually is found running around in the market square; he wears a yellow tunic & a small brown hat on his head. With the quest active, he will be the only person with a red quest indicator above their head. He will tell of a new location to find, Hillfigure Knoll.

MQ #14 – A Fortress Besieged (Part I): We will also have received this Wyrm Hunt Quest as well. This will be the first of the four we fully complete & take us to a new area of Gransys.

Sequence 4: The Wyrm Hunt

1. Gran Soren, Ancient Quarry, Shadowfort, Frontier Caverns, Hillfigure Knoll, Catacombs, Water God’s Altar
2. Level: 40/200
3. Main Quests: 15/28
4. Side Quests: 17/35
5. Locations: 100/150
6. Pawns: 18/70
7. Weapons/Armor: 201/350
8. Achievements: 21/59
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Ancient Quarry:

SQ #17 – Of Merchants & Monsters: To take a short cut through the mountains to get to the Shadowfort, we will head up to the Ancient Quarry. Consult the map back in the Introduction for its location due West of Gran Soren.

Outside the entrance, you will find the merchant Alon. Head inside the quarry & open the first gate & return to Alon. He will then task us with clearing out the remaining Ogres inside. There are 3 Ogres here total. After turning in the quest, he now becomes a really good merchant inside the Abandoned Mine within the quarry.

Journal Entry #3 – Final: Inside the Ancient Quarry, we can find another Journal Entry. In the same “eight shaped” room we opened the first gate in, go back to where we first entered this room at the tunnel mouth. To the right of the entrance is a chest tucked in the corner. It is outside of a side area with a Lever marked on your map. The chest can be difficult to spot without a Lantern.




Achievement #16 – Into the Ancient Quarry: Entered the Ancient Quarry.
Unlocked when you enter the Ancient Quarry for the first time.

The Shadowfort & The Frontier Caverns:

MQ #14 – A Fortress Besieged: Now head to the back of the Ancient Quarry & leave through the South Exit. A good place to put your next Port Crystal is the Rest Camp South along the road from the Ancient Quarry South Entrance. It’s a central location here in the South West to get to the Shadowfort, Witchwood, & The Ruins of Aernst Castle while having quick access to a merchant.

We will now head up to the Shadowfort & take it back from the invasion force. Speak with the soldier inside & enter through the tunnels. To the middle left of the map there is a prison with a Port Crystal in its basement & the Shadowfort Lever for the front gates. Let in the soldiers & route the Goblins. The quest can be slow sometimes to progress in between killing the two Cyclops & entering the main citadel. Just keep killing Goblins near the soldiers until a cinematic happens where more Goblins exit the citadel.

Return to Maximilian to finish the quest back in Gran Soren. But before we ferry, there is a secret area we can enter here...

Argoose discovered that even if you fail the Main Quest objective of taking back the Fort (soldiers all died), the objective will only change & the Quest can still be completed when turning it in to Maximilian.


Achievement #17 – Into the Frontier Caverns: Entered the southwestern caves.
Just outside the main citadel of the Shadowfort, there will be a hole in the ground to the right of the double door entrance. Enter the hole & you will enter the Frontier Cavern dungeon. The Achievement will unlock the first time you enter this area.

Gran Soren:

Achievement #18 – Human Resources: Changed your Vocation.
Back in Gran Soren, speak with the innkeeper to change your Vocation. You may have unlocked this Achievement a while ago, however this is when I decided I was done taking Fighter Levels at Level 30 & switched to a Strider.


Achievement #19 – Inhuman Resources: Changed your Main Pawn’s Vocation.
My main Pawn had also reached level 30 & maxed out all ranks in Fighter. I decided to switch him to the Mage Vocation.

Hillfigure Knoll:

MQ #13 – The Cypher (Part II): Now it’s time to head to Hillfigure Knoll, stick to the roads to avoid anything too crazy. Be sure to have a Mage with Fire Affinity in the party, Holy Affinity couldn’t hurt either. Snow Harpies are our biggest threat out there. When we reach the Knoll, head inside & speak with the Dragon Forged, we will turn it in to Maximilian later.

Be sure to take the Bronze Idol & the Port Crystal when you are inside the Dragon Forge’s cave. Placing the Port Crystal outside the cave is a good place as this is a central location to the North.

The Catacombs:

MQ #12 – Seeking Salvation (Part II): Now, we head down to the Catacombs to interrupt Salvation’s meeting. Placing your third Port Crystal outside here is a good idea. (In the Catacombs, we can find a Journal Entry on the second level shortly after getting off an elevator. See below.) Chase Elysion out of the Catacombs & report back to Maximilian to finish this quest.

Journal Entry #4 – Second: On the second level of the Catacombs shortly after the elevator, you will come to a stone door you must open with a Lever in the following room. Head left of this door into the large room you were in before. The Journal Entry will be in a chest at the far end in a circular alcove.

MQ #15 – Justice Done: Before leaving the Catacombs, you have to decide the fate of the Salvation cult’s leader. You have the choice of letting him live or killing him. Both ways will complete the quest, however if you let him live you will lose affinity with Mason failing the Side Quest – Chasing Shadows if you have not already completed it.

As a side note, when you turn in enough of the Wyrm Hunt Quests, Maximilian will ask if you want to hear The Duke’s Directive. DO NOT hear it until you have finished all 4 Wyrm Hunt Quests first or else you will fail them.

The Water God’s Altar & Gran Soren:

MQ #11 – The Water God’s Altar (Part II): Now we will head to the cave just west of The Mountain Way Castle. Speak to Haslett outside the cave & head inside to start searching for his brother. Discover his brother then return to Haslett. You will then have to find 5 Altar Slates that are hidden in the lower level after draining the water away. Give him the pieces & report back to Maximilian.


Achievement #20 – The Vagabond: Visited 100 Locations.
If you have been exploring every area from Cassardis to around Hillfigure Knoll, you might have found 100 Locations & unlocked this Achievement. If not, then no worries, it will definitely unlock sometime during the next Sequence.


Achievement #21 – The Laborer: Completed 50 Notice Board Quests.
If you have been checking the Notice Boards regularly & completing some of the From A Different Sky quests, you may have unlocked this Achievement sometime during this Sequence as well. If not, then it will definitely unlock sometime during the next Sequence as well.

Before you head to meet the Duke & end this Sequence, make sure you have completed the Side Quests: Floral Delivery, Lost Faith, Grim Tidings, Guard Duty, Lost & Found, A Troublesome Tome, Reaper’s Scorn, Dying of Curiosity, & Chasing Shadows. These Side Quests, as well an any unfinished Wyrm Hunt Quests, will all fail if you do not complete them before ending the Wyrm Hunt.

Sequence 5: Come to Court

1. Gran Soren, Windbluff Tower
2. Level: 45/200
3. Main Quests: 16/28
4. Side Quests: 19/35
5. Locations: 105/150
6. Pawns: 20/70
7. Weapons/Armor: 223/350
8. Achievements: 21/59
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Gran Soren & Windbluff Tower:

MQ #16 – Come to Court: After completing the 4 Main Quests of the Wyrm Hunt, speak to Maximilian & hear the Duke’s Directive. Go ahead & meet Duke Edmun.


Achievement #22 – Come Courting: Attend an audience with the Duke.
Story Related. Have your audience & be knighted by the Duke of Gran Soren to unlock the Achievement.

The Duchess: After that… honor, exit the castle & you will see a cinematic of a woman over in a garden. Head over & meet the Duchess; this is a prerequisite for two Side Quests we will get later. Exhausting all her dialogue increases her Affinity for you very high. You must speak with her here as she will disappear if we leave; this will void the Side Quests she will later give us!

When you go to leave the castle grounds, a man named Aldous will stop you at the gates informing you he will now be our Main Quest giver.

Enter back into the Duke’s Castle now & speak with Aldous for MQ #17 – Trial & Tribulations, & MQ #18 – Griffin’s Bane. As well, we will want to pick up the Side Quests SQ #18 – Arousing Suspicion from the handmaiden Mirabelle, & SQ #19 – The Conspirators from the chamberlain Fedel. Both can be found wandering the Duke’s Castle, though you may need to exit into Gran Soren & return to spawn Mirabelle.

MQ#17 – Trial & Tribulations (Part I): We must decide the fate of Fournival in 4 days. There are two outcomes: he is proven guilty, or innocent. He is definitely guilty. Doing nothing & letting the 4 days pass will automatically find him guilty & you will complete the quest. To further prove him guilty, you can find Condemnations from all three evicted family members from SQ #7 – Land of Opportunity. 4 Falsified Documents can also be purchased from Reynard. These are all ways to prove him… extra guilty.

Proving him innocent is a bit harder, but if we save him, we will get easy access to an Item we will need for two later Side Quests. To prove he is innocent speak to: the castle chamberlain Fedel, Geffrey in the Gran Soren Cathedral, & Fournival’s daughter Symone. The merchant Reynard also sells 4 Positive Documents proving him innocent.

Before we leave Gran Soren, be sure to also speak to Maximlian in the Noble’s District to receive SQ #20 – Rise of the Fallen.

Another Petition can be gained from Ser Daerio at Windbluff Tower, South of Hillfigure Knoll. Speak with Ser Daerio in the ruins & he will send someone to speak on Fournival’s behalf. Hand in at least 4 of these Petitions to Aldous & then we will just kill time doing other things until the trial day. The quest will notify us when 4 days have passed.

SQ #21 – Supply & Demand: While we are at Windbluff Tower, activate a different quest other than MQ #17 – Trials & Tribulations & Ser Daerio will give us a different quest. His men need food, & we can complete this quest two different ways. We can tell a guard back at the Duke’s Castle gates & no food will be sent completing the quest. The second option is to speak to Julien in the Duke’s court asking for 1 weeks’ worth of food.

Travel/ferry back to Windbluff Tower with the food & complete the quest. (You are given Ambrosial Meat which is needed for a couple Notice Board/Side Quests. Duplicate one at the Black Cat so we now have six. Turn in five of them, then return to Gran Soren. With the Ambrosial Meat, wait 1-3 days so the meat goes Sour then combine it with an Airtight Flask so that we can use this later. Coming by Ambrosial Meat naturally is very random & requires a lot of luck.)

MQ #18 – Griffin’s Bane (Part I): Head just outside the Gran Soren front gates & speak to Ser Georg after the stone bridge; he will lead you to the ambush site to lure in the Griffon. Once you get there, you will need to kill a Goblin & place it in the baiting location which will summon it. The bodies disintegrate after you pick it up for a second time, so you’ll have to be quick & manage your stamina.

After battling it for a while, the Griffon will escape, & fly off towards Bluemoon Tower. We will chase it down later.

Note that if you are over-leveled or lucky, you can actually slay the Griffin here before it can escape to Bluemoon Tower. If this happens, do not turn in the Main Quest! Doing so will fail SQ #19 – The Conspirators which we will complete at the end of Sequence 6. Hold onto this Main Quest for now & turn it in later.

SQ #19 – The Conspirators (Part I): If you collected this quest from Fedel, return to the Duke’s Castle at night to go & meet him in the gardens. Head to the quest marker in the south gardens area & wait for him to show up. He takes a while… around 1-2 minutes. Just get to the marker & wait him out, he IS coming… eventually. While you wait, do not get spotted by any guardsman, or they will throw you out of the Castle... or in prison. Stick to the shadows.

When Fedel gets in position at the quest marker, speak with him, & he will then send us up North to go & find a missing letter. We will head there later.

SQ #18 – Arousing Suspicion: Now, while it is still nighttime up here, head over & find Mirabelle in the Duchess’s Garden in the North end of the castle if you grabbed this quest earlier. She will tell you the Duchess wants to meet you, tonight, so head on up to her tower. How scandalous. After the cinematic, be sure to intervene so she does not die… we need her for one more Side Quest later.

Escape the castle, & let’s get the (censored by Steam) out of here! The quest will end when you exit into the Gran Soren Slums. “Must have been nice tea…”


Achievement #23 – Affinity & Beyond: Raised a person’s Affinity to the maximum.
If you exhausted all of the Duchess’s dialogue in MQ #16 – Come to Court, you should have maxed her Affinity for you out after completing the last Side Quest. Track her down during the daytime in her garden or her tower bedroom & speak with her to unlock the Achievement.

If not it, its easily achieved by a number of other characters we shall do quests for later. The Arisen’s Bond, an Item we will receive from SQ #30 – The Dragon’s Tongue, will instantly max out a characters Affinity for you if you gift it to them.

Sequence 5.5: Errands For A Pawn

1. Cassardis, Gran Soren
2. Level: 45/200
3. Main Quests: 16/28
4. Side Quests: 20/35
5. Locations: 105/150
6. Pawns: 20/70
7. Weapons/Armor: 223/350
8. Achievements: 21/59
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Cassardis & Gran Soren:

SQ #22 – Farwell Valmiro (Part I): Portal to Cassardis & find Valmiro on the pier overlooking the stone walkway that leads out to the harbor. He will get us to collect 4 Items for him: a Potent Greenwarish (sold at Camellia’s Apothecary in Gran Soren), a Lantern (sold at Aestella’s in Cassardis), a piece of Sour Ambrosial Meat (duplicated during SQ #21 – Supply & Demand), & a Pilgrim’s Charm (can be bought from Fournival after MQ #17 – Trials & Tribulations or found in the Catacombs during SQ #29 – A Parting Gift later on).

Find whichever Items you can & remember to turn in the quest after you have picked up that Pilgrim’s Charm. If you need Ambrosial Meat, it is a rare drop from Boars, Deer, Oxen, & Griffins. You can technically farm out the Oxen that roam in the fields outside Gran Soren to see if you are lucky. Then wait 1-3 days for it to go Sour.

SQ #23 – An Innocent Man: While still in Cassardis, talk to Tomlin, a small boy wandering the streets with a quest. His father, Ansell, went missing in Gran Soren & now we have to go & find him. If you are having troubles finding him, rest at the inn till morning or exiting & re-entering Cassardis.

In Gran Soren, speak to the guardsman Ser Jakys & carry on to the Duke’s Castle dungeons. Be sure to have 2 Skeleton Keys, get him out of the castle the same way we escaped through the sewers in the previous quest down here. Two break outs in the same week… the guards on duty are definitely getting fired. Ansell can actually die down here though, so be careful & clear all the rats & snakes out of the way.

Once you leave the sewers, reunite him with his son in the Slums & the quest will end when they both leave through the city exit in the Aqueduct District. They must physically walk out of Gran Soren.

SQ #24 – Idol Worship: In Gran Soren, head to the market square & go speak to Caxton the Blacksmith for this Side Quest. We need to deliver one of three different Idols to him so he can expand his inventory. A Bronze Idol can be found in Hillfigure Knoll or from the Witch’s Home in Witchwood. The Silver Idol we can get from completing the Notice Board Quest – Put the Eye Out from the Pawn’s Guild. We can also technically use the Gold Idol, but the benefits it gives outweigh the quest reward so I would not recommend using it for this. Give him a Bronze or Silver Idol to finish the quest.

While in the market square, we will also receive SQ #25 – Witch Hunt.

SQ #26 – Supplier’s Demand: Go & speak to Madeleine in her shop to get this quest. She is also asking for an Idol. Give her a Bronze or Silver Idol to finish the quest.

Sequence 6: Salvation

1. Gran Soren, Catacombs, Wilted Forest, Cassardis, Witchwood, Soulflayer Canyon
2. Level: 51/200
3. Main Quests: 17/28
4. Side Quests: 30/35
5. Locations: 113/150
6. Pawns: 24/70
7. Weapons/Armor: 296/350
8. Achievements: 25/59
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Gran Soren & Catacombs:

SQ #20 – Rise of the Fallen: If you have recently talked to Maximilian, you will have gotten this quest to investigate another meeting of Salvation. Follow your Quest Marker under the bridge in Gran Soren at nighttime & confront the two members, receiving a key to the locked section in the Catacombs. Paying the man 10,000 gold or taking it by force are both valid methods.

In the Catacombs, take the elevator down to the second floor & there will be a locked gate straight down the hall from it. Head inside, explore around & find all 5 Gems of Salvation scattered inside the sarcophaguses to proceed further.

Open the door & defeat the Boss, Ball-Sack. Return to Maximlian after you have finished.

MQ #17 – Trials & Tribulations (Part II): It is almost time to finish this quest, 4 in game days have passed or you have waited for 4 mornings at an inn. Either way, head to the market square on the fourth day & hear the verdict.

If you followed all of the steps in Part I, Fournival should be stated not guilty (or guilty if that was the outcome you preferred). Return to Aldous & finish the quest.

If you pardoned Fournival, we can buy a Pilgrim’s Charm from him for 63,000 gold. Duplicate it since it is needed for two quests, that will cost an additional 105,000 gold. Not a cheap investment, but worth it.

Wilted Forest:

SQ #27 – A Lost Cause: If you have been checking the Notice Board at the Alehouse in Gran Soren, you probably will have picked up this Side Quest. The Snakeskin purse can be found at this location South of the Catacombs.



The Snakeskin Purse is in a fish pool along the left side of the river facing the waterfall at the top of Nameless Falls. We can turn in the purse upon our return to the capitol.

SQ #28 – Talent In Bloom: Now, head to The Abbey in the Wilted Forest & you can find Quina here. Consult the map in the Introduction if you need help finding The Abbey. Speak to her, then a second time & she will offer you a quest to give her flower to either Clemente at the Cassardis church or Father Geffrey in the Gran Soren cathedral. Although, there is nothing stopping you from giving her flower to just about anyone, & this will finish the quest. You can even just hand it back to her.

The flower only lasts for 24 in game hours & will die if you take to long or rest at an inn. The quest will fail & you will not be able to complete the next Side Quest! Complete this Side Quest as soon as she gives you the Blessed Flower.

SQ #29 – A Parting Gift: If you successfully completed SQ #28 – Talent In Bloom, return to The Abbey & enter/exit the nearby Rift Stone to reset the area. The priestess Clarus will tell of Quina’s journey to the Grand Cathedral. She needs a Pilgrim’s Charm & if we meet Quina in the Catacombs she will help us find one. Or if you purchased one from Fournival you can give her that one. Be sure either way you get a Pilgrim’s Charm to duplicate it for SQ #22 – Farwell Valmiro.

Give Clarus the Pilgrim’s Charm & you will see a small cinematic of Quina leaving for the Grand Cathedral.

Cassardis:

SQ #22 – Farwell Valmiro (Part II): By this point, we should now have the last Item to finish this quest. Return to Cassardis & give Valmiro a Pilgrim’s Charm. Take his belongings down to the beach & complete the quest. Get em out of here!

Witchwood:

SQ #25 – Witch Hunt: If you have been wandering around market square in Gran Soren recently, you probably picked up this Side Quest. Head to Witchwood & reach Selene’s abode. When you get there, you will have to fight a Golem. Be sure to grab the Port Crystal inside the tunnel you enter afterwards; it is a good idea placing this Crystal on the ledge overlooking Cassardis when you leave through the exit North of the Witch’s House. It saves us time traveling through the Witchwood to get here now.

Enter the new area below the house & follow the trail along until you come across the Witch & her old master standing near a tombstone. Talk to the Witch & you will see a cinematic to end the quest. Completing this quest may also net you the Affinity & Beyond Achievement, if you have not already received it, by speaking to Selene afterwards.

As an unrelated side note, you can find 3 Kingbay Leaves scattered beside the tombstone for 2 Notice Board Quests here.

Gran Soren & Soulflayer Canyon:

Achievement #24 – The Specialist: Learned all the Skills of a single Vocation.
After returning to Gran Soren & stopping at the inn; this is the point where I had earned this Achievement. You might have gotten it earlier if you stuck with your first Vocation from the beginning. The amount Skills available & their costs vary between Vocations. I maxed out the Strider Vocation first. I then switched over to the Ranger Vocation to truly (Censored by Steam x2) up.

SQ #19 – The Conspirators (Part II): Now let’s ferry back to the Catacombs, or just travel to the Quest Marker if you didn’t Port Crystal that area. (Pick up the Port Crystal if you did place it here, we will put this down just outside the Great Wall Encampment when we reach it). If you spoke to Fedel in the castle garden’s during Part I, then when you head to the crossroads between Curse Woods & Deos Hills you should see the wreckage of a caravan & a cinematic.


Achievement #25 – Into Soulflayer Canyon: Entered the Soulflayer Canyon.
Head to the new Quest Marker at Soulflayer Canyon. Head through the dungeon & collect the Confidential Letter from the Gargoyle. Taking the 10 Parcels scattered around the Quest Item is a good idea as well; it is needed for a Notice Board Quest.

Entering Soulflayer Canyon for the first time will unlock this Achievement. There are two entrances to this dungeon: one just North of the Cursewoods/Deos Hills crossroads & the other South East of the Greatwall Encampment.

Journal Entry #5 – Fifth: A Journal Entry can be found here as well.
Head to this location on your map to find a chest on a broken bridge leading to where you enter in the Soulflayer Canyon West Entrance. While it shows on the First Floor of the dungeon, you’ll have to traverse a ways down & around before you reach that point. Alternatively, if you entered through the Soulflayer Canyon West Entrance originally, the chest is on the broken bridge on your immediate right after following the stream down to a fork in the road.



We only have one more Journal Entry to find to finish this quest now.

SQ #19 – The Conspirators (Part III): Take the Confidential Letter to Fedel & complete the quest. Alternatively, upon entering the castle a cinematic will show a guardsman waiting for you behind the corner off your right. You can finish the quest as well by handing him the letter instead.

Sequence 7: World Weary

1. Witchwood, Hillfigure Knoll, The Ruins of Heavenspeak Fort, Gran Soren, & Bluemoon Tower
2. Level: 57/200
3. Main Quests: 18/28
4. Side Quests: 32/35
5. Locations: 137/150
6. Pawns: 28/70
7. Weapons/Armor: 330/350
8. Achievements: 26/59
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Witchwood & Hillfigure Knoll:

SQ #30 – The Dragon’s Tongue: Return to the Witchwood (hopefully having put the Port Crystal down outside the Cassardis exit :D) & return to that same tombstone we found Selene & her master at in the area below their hovel. In their place, there will be some dude sitting to the right of the grave named Rowland & a tablet just in front of it we will pick up to initiate this Side Quest. We need to now decipher this tablet relating to the Arisen & things “Dragon”. Fortunately, we know just the man. Head to Hillfigure Knoll & take the Ancient Tablet to the Dragon Forged. Once the tablet becomes a Ring of Power, the quest will end.

The Arisen’s Bond will instantly max out an NPC’s Affinity towards you if you gift this to them; a quick way to get the Affinity & Beyond Achievement if you still have not already unlocked it.

The Ruins of Heavenspeak Fort:

SQ #31 – Thick As Thieves: This is a pretty hidden & easy to miss quest. Firstly, you need to be a female character & have an all-female Party. If you & or your Main Pawn are male, you will need to buy a Set of Lady’s Garb from the Black Cat to “disguise” yourself. Since you cannot change summoned Pawns outfits or equipment, you just have to summon women.

Head past Soulflayer Canyon over to The Ruins of Heavenspeak Fort, a bandit stronghold, & meet with Ophis in the gatehouse across from the Lever used to open the castle gates. (If you have undisguised party members who are male, the bandits will just attack you, killing Ophis will void the quest). She will ask you to kill 10 of the Maul’s Southern bandits. We don’t need them for anymore quests so you can technically go & slay them.

To save time however, there is a second way to complete this quest. Head to the other side of the castle front gates & meet Betiah, who should be standing just in front of them. If she is not in front, she can be found up the path on the right of the castle near a rock outcrop. She will ask you to instead feed the Ophis’s pet Cyclops. Killing the male bandits is more straightforward, however feeding the Cyclops is in this area & less traveling around.

To feed the Cyclops, we will need a Hobgoblin or Goblin corpse. Head to the large Quest Marker West of the castle, & you will see a large enclosure that holds a giant Cyclops. Just like in MQ #18 – Griffin’s Bane (Part I), we will have to kill a Goblin & carry it to the marker. Drop it in front of the cyclops & let him eat it, return to Betiah & turn in the quest to Ophis. Or kill the male bandits & turn in the quest to her, either way is fine.

Journal Entry #6 – Fourth: The final Journal Entry is in this area as well. South West of the castle ruins will be a stank lake called the Miasmic Haunt. On the other side of the lake, there will be a row of four chests beside some tents. The Fourth Entry is in the second chest in the row.

It is also a good idea placing our last Port Crystal in the Greatwall Encampment permanently as our main Portal for the North. Check the World Map in the Introduction for its location.


Achievement #26 – A Queen’s Regalia: Dressed a male Party member in women’s clothing.
This is usually the point to unlock this Achievement, but only if you or your Main Pawn are male. If not, keep this in mind for NG+, it isn’t too hard to miss if you know ahead of time. Just dress a man in any woman’s outfit like a Set of Lady’s Garb.

Gran Soren:

SQ #16 – Search Party (Part II): We now have all six Journal Entries to complete this Side Quest. Keep all of them in your Inventory now & either wait for Reynard to show up in a town or seek him out. He spawns in at five different locations. He can be found in: Gran Soren market square, The Encampment, Cassardis, the Rest Camp south of The Shadowfort, or at the Greatwall Encampment. Just keep cycling between those five locations until you catch up with him. To obtain the actual Side Quest if you have not already, consult SQ #16 – Search Party (Part I) near the middle of Sequence 3.

If you complete this quest, Reynard will leave the game permanently, be sure to buy everything you need from him or complete this quest before the final Main Quest – Fathom Deep. Just don’t forget to turn it in.

Gransys:

SQ #32 – Nameless Terror: Leave the Gran Soren main gates outside, & there will be a guardsman, Ser Rickart, standing on the bridge with a quest for us. He will tell of us we are being watched. We need to spring the ambushes that are going to be set up by the Nameless Men. They will only ambush at night though, rest at the inn & head to these locations.

The first group will be at this location, defeat: Ghost, Phantom, Soul, & Spirits.



The second group will be just outside the Ancient Quarry. Defeat: Condor, Hawk, & Raven (I thought they were supposed to be Nameless?!).



The third encounter is with Darkness. He can be found in the mountains on the way to The Mountain Way Castle (Gran Soren side). He ended up spawning for me, but if he doesn’t then he might not spawn at all. I have heard that some people don’t encounter Darkness at all & end up carrying on to the next assassin group without issues.



By this point it might be close to morning, ferry to Cassardis & rest till nightfall once again. Head past the Encampment to the first switchback in the road just north of the Abandoned Storehouse & you will encounter Rouge & Noir.



Once these two are taken down, we now head to the final location & face down their boss, Zero. If you have taken down all 9 assassins +/- Darkness, then you should encounter him just outside the main gates of Cassardis. Killing him will complete the quest.

Bluemoon Tower:

MQ#18 – Griffin’s Bane: It is now time to fully complete this Sequence. Travel to your farthest Port Crystal location in the North East & begin the long journey to Bluemoon Tower. By this point it would be good to have the World Map fully explored. Aside from the final dungeons later on, we will have the bulk of our Locations discovered.

Sprint through the Windworn Valley, battle through Bandit’s Den & Smuggler’s Pass until you reach Bluemoon Tower. Help your fellow soldiers & fight your way up the tower. Once you get to the Tower Summit, the Griffon will finally face you. Since we completed SQ #12 – A Troublesome Tome, we will have aid in the fight. There is the final Port Crystal in this room as well. It is a good idea putting this Port Crystal outside Bluemoon Tower beside the Rift Stone. We will be coming back here a few more times....

Make sure you have turned in the Side Quest The Conspirators before finishing both Main Quests Trials & Tribulations & Griffin's Bane. If you have not turned it in, the Side Quest will auto-fail & an irreversible Checkpoint will be made that will void The Hero Achievement!

After slaying the Griffon & report back to Aldous, ending the Sequence.

Sequence 8: If You Would Face Me...

1. Gran Soren, Ancient Quarry, Windbluff Tower, Bluemoon Tower, Witchwood, The Blighted Manse
2. Level: 61/200
3. Main Quests: 22/28
4. Side Quests: 35/35
5. Locations: 143/150
6. Pawns: 31/70
7. Weapons/Armor: 350+/350
8. Achievements: 30/59
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In this Sequence, we complete all available Side Quests & tasks before slaying The Dragon.

Gran Soren & Ancient Quarry:

MQ #19 – Pride Before A Fall (Part I): Speak to Aldous & receive your next two Main Quests. Speak to Ser Mercedes standing just outside the Duke’s Castle. She plans on undertaking a mission investigating Windbluff Tower. Agree to help her, & she will set off.

MQ #20 – Wyrmking’s Ring (Part I): Before we set out though, if you accepted the second Main Quest from Aldous, we have to inquire about a thief who stole the Wyrmking’s Ring. Speak with a man named Pering, the guardsman Ser Gyles, & Ambrose in the Duke’s Castle. Report back to Aldous & carry on with your inquiry into the Gran Soren township. Speak with Mellard at the Knight’s Manor & you will be directed to the Ancient Quarry.

MQ #20 – Wyrmking’s Ring (Part II): Enter the Ancient Quarry & we can find Salomet right away. Beat the (Censored by Steam) out of him! He called you a toast! He will escape however, & we will have to track him down a second time.

Windbluff Tower:

MQ #19 – Pride Before A Fall Part (II): Ferry & sprint to Windbluff Tower & you will see it is under attack, there is a mutiny going on. Head to the upper quarters of the ruins & follow Ser Mercedes in confronting Julien.

Let them fight or intervene. One of them will win, & you will have to report back to Aldous & tell him the outcome. (If you were romancing Julien & end up killing him, you can use a Wakestone & revive him. As well, if Mercedes is your romance this is the last chance to give her the Arisen’s Bond).

Gran Soren & Bluemoon Tower:

MQ #20 – Wyrmking’s Ring (Part III): Return to Aldous & tell him Salomet has escaped; he tells us to renew our investigation. In the market square, the stall owner Brice tells us that a sorcerer has been seen coming & going from Bluemoon Tower. Who did he hear that from?

Ferry to Bluemoon Tower & confront Salomet at the Tower Summit. Chances are, you will probably annihilate him… Pick up the ring & return to Aldous.

MQ #21 – Honor & Treachery: After turning over the Wyrmking’s Ring, Aldous will notify us that we are to report to The Mountain Way Castle. We are going all the way out there, to hear a message… Before you go, it is a good idea to have some Secret Softener or other cures for Petrification. The boss we will fight has Petrification breath.

Once you get to the Way Castle, you will be sent back to Gran Soren; it is under attack. Return & drive off the monster. Turn in to Aldous once more. Do not accept his next quest, just yet.

SQ #33 – Bad Business: Head down to the Venery District in Gran Soren & pay Madeleine a visit in her shop. She will not be there… Go talk to Arsmith at the Alehouse & he will tell you where she is. You will need 50,000 gold to complete this Side Quest.

Follow her along the coast & some guards will find you. Tell them you haven’t seen her & they will run off. Madeleine must now leave Gransys. Pay her travel expenses & she will leave the game. (If you are romancing Madeleine this is the last time you can give her the Arisen’s Bond).


Achievement #27 – The Philanthropist: Gave 50 presents.
Give 50 presents to NPC’s. This is around when I got this Achievement though I had been chipping away at it since the last Sequence. Just collect Skulls & assorted flowers, & hand them out to random people. Shouldn’t take too long, more tedious than anything.

Witchwood:

SQ #34 – Mettle Against Metal: For our second last Side Quest, we will take on the allusive Metal Golem of Witchwood. (It is a good idea being a “bow wielding” Vocation for this fight has some of the Nodes we will have to destroy are up in trees). Head to the new area we uncovered in Witchwood & follow the tunnel below the Witch’s House down. Just past the second tree on our right, there is a gully leading down to the river. Make your way to a little island on your left in the middle of the river, it should have three large rocks. One of them will be a golden, de-activated Golem, walk right up to it & start attacking it to activate the quest.

To hurt it, you will have to go around & destroy all 7 Nodes that are powering it to kill the Golem.

If you’re having troubles finding the last few Nodes, watch the Golem for a bit & you will see purple lights drawn to him. You can follow those back to the Node sending them if you are observant enough. There are 2 of those “fog” Nodes that obscure your map in this area too so don’t confuse those for the Golem’s own Nodes.

Gran Soren:

MQ #22 – Reward & Responsibility: This is the beginning of the end. Go & speak to Aldous in the Duke’s Castle & initiate this next Main Quest. Before you do, make sure any crucial Side Quests are complete, we should only have one left which will become available during the following Main Quest. Speak with the Duke & claim your rewards before being notified of an invasion up at the Greatwall. This quest will end after the cinematic.


Achievement #28 – The Message: Received the Duke’s commendation.
Story Related. Completing the Main Quest – Reward & Responsibility will unlock this Achievement.


Achievement #29 – Well Equipped: Obtained 350 pieces total of Weapons & Armor.
This was also around the time I unlocked this Achievement for having held 350 Weapons/Armor. This Achievement can be chipped away at for this playthrough & the next one, the game tracks it all across all playthroughs. The Weapons & Armor just have to be owned at one point; you do not need all 350 in your Storage.

I had completed a lot of Notice Board Quests as well as purchasing every single Weapon & Armor piece from the merchants in the game except the Black Cat. Just keep checking back with the merchants after progressing through the Main Quests to see if they have updated their inventories. Once we defeat the Dragon & enter Post-Game all merchants should have their full inventories.

Here is a list of all in game Weapon/Armor Merchants:
Cassardis: Aestella’s, Iola’s Wares
Gran Soren: Caxton’s Armory, Madeleine’s Shop, The Black Cat (Very expensive & not really worth buying all his items)
The Ancient Quarry: Alon’s Wares
Rest Camp South of the Shadowfort: Jayce’s Wares
Greatwall Encampment: Mathias’s Wares

Bitterblack Isle in our next playthrough will also give us a bunch of unique DLC Weapons & Armor so it won’t be too hard getting this one. Just takes some time, & a lot of money.

The Blighted Manse:

SQ #35 – Duchess In Distress: Before we leave for the Greatwall, we have the final Side Quest to complete. As you head to leave the Duke’s Castle, to the right of the stairs leading to the exit, you will see the Duchess’s Handmaiden Mirabelle standing with a quest for us. Talk to her, & she will reveal that the Duchess was taken into COVID quarantine within the Duke’s Manse & needs to be rescued.

Go to your Northern most Port Crystal & travel to the Blighted Manse. Put on your disguise & navigate to the Duchess’s Chamber. Lead her out of the Manse, & do not let her die. (This is also the last time you can give her the Arisen’s Bond if she is your romance).

Exit the cave system, & she will leave for her homeland, completing the quest.


Achievement #30 – Into the Manse: Entered the Duke’s Manse.
You will unlock this Achievement for entering The Blighted Manse for the first time.

Sequence 9: ...Seek Me Out

1. Great Wall Encampment, Hillfigure Knoll, & Tainted Mountain
2. Level: 64/200
3. Main Quests: 24/28
4. Locations: 150/150
5. Pawns: 33/70
6. Achievements: 36/59
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This is the point of no return, completing MQ #23 – Deny Salvation will void almost every Side Quests. If you followed the guide, all should be finished & we have nothing to worry about.

Great Wall Encampment:

MQ #23 – Deny Salvation: Now, we finish this. Head to the Greatwall Encampment. Fight your way through Salvation’s forces & confront Elysion. Fight the bosses at the top of the Greatwall, & the Dragon will arrive. “THIS IS SALVATION!”


Achievement #31 – Rough Landing: Completed the urgent mission.
Story Related. This will unlock after completing MQ #23 – Deny Salvation.


Achievement #32 – The Coin Collector: Earned a total of 10,000,000 gold.
Much like the Well Equipped Achievement, we will be chipping away at 10,000,000 gold over two playthroughs. If you are diligent with looting areas & completing quests, it is possible to unlock this Achievement in this first playthrough.

Hillfigure Knoll & Tainted Mountain:

MQ #24 – The Final Battle (Part I): We must prepare for the final confrontation. Go to Hillfigure Knoll & speak with the Dragon Forged. After speaking with him, return to the Greatwall Encampment & head to the Tainted Mountain. Beating this quest will initiate Post-Game, a change to the game with higher difficulty monsters & much better loot. Finish any business you might have & get ready for the final fight. Be sure to bring as many health/stamina curatives you possess & wish to carry; this will be the second hardest boss battle of the whole playthrough.

Be forewarned, heavy spoilers incoming as there are multiple Story Endings to this quest.

Now it is time to re-live the Prologue Quest but as your own character this time. This area show cases the hardest version of a number of enemies & will be a challenge. Slay the Gore Chimera & use the pressure plates to open the gate to Grigori…


Achievement #34 – The Explorer: Visited 150 Locations.
After discovering the chamber with the Gore Chimera, I unlocked this Achievement here. If you have fully explored the World Map & gone into every dungeon listed thus far & fully explored them you should unlock this Achievement during this playthrough.

In Post-Game after we slay the Dragon, an area will be unlocked that has 15 Chambers in it that will count towards this Achievement should you explore them all. There are 176 Locations total in the game, not even including Bitterblack Isle.


Achievement #33 – Solitude: Obtained the almighty power of sovereignty.
Missable. Head into the next area & prepare to fight the Dragon. This quest ends two ways. One is the “cannon Ending” & will carry us over into Post-Game while the other Ending is strictly for story purposes & will reload us to just before facing the Dragon again. We will complete this optional Ending first, as there is an Achievement involved.

After the cinematic, we have to decide: Flee, or Fight. First, we shall flee. Simply turn around & leave Tainted Mountain. Make the same deal that Edmun “Dragonsbane” made with Grigori & offer up your love, for your life. Grigori will ask if you are for real, say “Yes” & return to Gran Soren. You will see a cinematic of your “Victory” & the credits will roll. Afterwards a Death Screen will appear, & we can hit retry to choose the preferred Ending & carry on with the game.

MQ #24 – The Final Battle (Part II): Now that we got that Ending out of the way, reload, & re-enter the Dragons chamber. Watch or skip the following cinematic & this time… hold your ground, & charge! Once you pass the threshold where your romantic interest is, he will still stop & ask us if we really want to do this, & we say (Censored by Steam) yes!

Grigori has four different stages to fight through, the last being the official boss battle. He is very challenging & this takes some time to whittle him down. This is actually in my top five boss fights of all time, super epic start to finish.

Roll Credits*


Achievement #35 – Destiny: Accepted the Godsbane Blade.
Story Related. You will unlock this Achievement by defeating Grigori & entering Post-Game after the Credits end.


Achievement #36 – Dragon Forged: Strengthened Equipment in Wyrmfire.
If you haven’t killed a Dragon enemy type yet, your equipped Weapons & Armor will all be upgraded to Dragon Forged status, unlocking this Achievement when Grigori dies.

You may have earned this Achievement already if you were brave enough to slay the Drake that is West of the lake in Devilfire Grove.

Sequence 10: Draco mors est

1. Gran Soren, The Everfall, Shadowfort, & Gransys
2. Level: 68/200
3. Main Quests: 25/28
4. Pawns: 37/70
5. Achievements: 40/59
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Post-Game is where the magic happens. Now is where we can farm for some Levels, Quests, & Items before we complete the final 4 Main Quests. New enemy placement & final tier loot will be unlocked around the Main World now.

Gran Soren & The Everfall:

MQ #25 – A Warm Welcome: Just after the Credits finish & the previous quest completes, you will wake up back in your home in Cassardis. This is now Post-Game, in the Dragons absence, the world has become more virulent. Check the Cassardis & the Encampments Notice Boards, & head off to Gran Soren to see the damage.

Upon entering the city, you will be directed to go & see the Duke & you will see he is… unwell. Flee to market square; entering the Everfall finishes the quest.


Achievement #37 – Treacherous: Peered into the very depths of the world.
Story Related. Enter the Post-Game Everfall.

MQ#26 – Fathom Deep (Part I): As soon as you fall into the Everfall, head for the first platform at the top. There you will meet with Quince, our final quest giver. She will tell us we need to collect 20 Wakestones to progress further. This is our final grind for the playthrough. Below us is the Everfall. Completing Chambers of the Everfall will reward us with Wakestones as well as some high-level monsters we have to kill for some Achievements.

Take this time to complete your Notice Board Quests or the last few Achievements you need for this playthrough if possible. It is also recommended you grind as many character Levels as you can stomach, we need to eventually reach Level 200 which is a real feat. Though we can focus on that more in NG+ after Bitterblack Isle when we have nothing better to do. Either way, the more you end this playthrough with, the easier the next one will be. Before we start delving into the Everfall, here are some targets for us to strike first.

The Shadowfort:

Achievement #38 – Headshunter: Defeated a Hydra or Arch-Hydra.
We will earn this by slaying a standard Hydra or an Arch Hydra. The Arch Hydra can be found in the fourth floor of the Everfall in the Chamber of Hesitation. Or if you want this Achievement early, accept the Notice Board Quest – A Challenge, & head to the Frontier Caverns below the Shadowfort to slay a standard Hydra.

If you did not collect the Notice Board Quest – Put the Eye Out, this quest will not be available for you as they both take place in the same room of the Frontier Caverns. Completing it is ideal, but so long as you have it available it will just get replaced by A Challenge instead in Post Game. Put the Eye Out becomes uncompletable but we can fight the Hydra at least for the Achievement. If you never collected Put the Eye Out though, our Hydra Quest will not become available making your only option defeating the Arch Hydra on floor four of the Everfall. Which is not a bad thing, more Wakestones & Xp.

Gransys:

Achievement #39 – Serpent’s Bane: Defeated a Drake, Wyrm, & Wyvern.
For this Achievement we need to have killed: a Drake, a Wyrm, & a Wyvern. If you fight them in the Main World, they may fly off & not come back. Either go to a different spawn location or rest for a few days to wait until they re-spawn which can take… 7-10 days.

The Drake:
1. Base-Game or Post-Game: Found south west of the Shadowfort across from the lake.
2. Post-Game: Found in the Conqueror’s Sanctuary, North of Bloodwater Beach & West from The Ruins of Aernst in the area where the two Cyclops’ used to be. (Best Option)
3. Post-Game: Found near Miner’s Hut outside the Ancient Quarry.
4. Post-Game: Found on the ninth floor of the Everfall, the Chamber of Fate.

The Wyrm:
1. Post-Game: Can be found in the boss chamber of The Water God’s Altar where the cyclops used to be. (Best Option)
2. Post-Game: Can be found on the tenth floor of the Everfall, the Chamber of Distress.

The Wyvern:
1. Post-Game: A Wyvern can be found in the boss chamber at the top of Bluemoon Tower. (Best Option)
2. Post-Game: Can be found in between Gran Soren & Windbluff Tower but will fly off & you have to chase it.
3. Post-Game: You can encounter two Wyverns at nighttime outside Gran Soren’s Southern gate. (Worst option, unless you WANT to fight two dragons at the same time)


Achievement #40 – The Veteran: Defeated 3000 enemies.
If you are farming for Levels or completing a lot of Notice Board Quests, this Achievement should unlock for you. If not, it is guaranteed to unlock for you in NG+ unless you haven’t been killing very many enemies at all.

Sequence 11: Breaking the Cycle

1. The Everfall
2. Level: 87/200
3. Main Quests: 28/28
4. Pawns: 39/70
5. Achievements: 49/59
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The Everfall:

MQ #26 – Fathom Deep (Part II): When we are finished with the Main World, we will now head to the Everfall. I strongly suggest exploring all the floors since we need the Level ups & there is good loot to be found.


Achievement #41 – Eye Contact: Defeated an Evil Eye.
Initially, every ledge will lead to the Chamber of Confusion until you defeat that Chambers boss. Slay the Evil Eye boss in this Chamber to unlock the Achievement. This is technically unmissable if you wish to progress into the Everfall.

These are all 16 Chambers of the Everfall:
1. Exit: This is the first floor & will take you back up to the Pawn’s Guild & leave the Everfall. Our quest giver Quince will be here as well as a new merchant, Akim.

2. Chamber of Anxiety: The boss of this Chamber is a Wight which is all that is in this room aside from a few Undead enemies it has guarding it.

3. Chamber of Absence: This Chamber just has a lot of standard enemies in it.

4. Chamber of Hesitation: The fourth Chamber is one we will want to enter for sure; the boss for this one is an Arch-Hydra which we will need to kill if you didn’t kill the regular Hydra in the Frontier Caverns.

5. Chamber of Apprehension: This is a difficult floor. It has two different bosses that could occur. One is a Gore Chimera with two Wights & the other loadout is two Cockatrices with a bunch of standard enemies running around.

6. Chamber of Remorse: Chamber of Remorse has a Cyclops & a Golem as the bosses. In the room before it though, there is a merchant named Joye.

7. Chamber of Tragedy: Seventh Chamber is just filled with standard enemies.

8. Chamber of Lament: This will be our hardest Chamber; it has the mythical Ur-Dragon in it. See the Messiah Achievement below this Everfall list for more of a description. Killing the Ur-Dragon is the fastest way to gain bulk Wakestones.

9. Chamber of Fate: This is another chamber with two loadouts for the boss. The first is a Chimera, Lich, & a Gore Chimera. The second option is a Drake with Harpies.

10. Chamber of Distress: In this Chamber the boss is a Wyrm which we will need to kill for an Achievement if you did not kill the one at Water God’s Altar.

11. Chamber of Estrangement: This is another hard Chamber that has two boss loadouts. The first is a Golem, Ogre, & an Armored Cyclops. The second loadout is even worse being a Lich & a Metal Golem.

12. Chamber of Woe: This Chamber only has a Lich in it.

13. Chamber of Sorrow: The boss for this one is an Evil Eye which we will have to kill for an Achievement, though we should have already gotten it from the initial Chamber of Confusion.

14. Chamber of Resolution: Compared to Chamber of Estrangement, this one won’t be too bad, it will be the last chamber with two boss loadouts. The first is only a Cockatrice, the second option is a Cockatrice as well, but it will have standard enemies accompanying it.

15. Chamber of Inspiration: This Chamber only has standard enemies in it.

16. Chamber of Hope: This Chamber has a Gore Chimera boss with Skeleton Mages.


Achievement #42 – The Messiah: Defeated the Ur-Dragon.
Slay the Ur-Dragon on the eighth floor, the Chamber of Lament. This is going to be the hardest boss for our first playthrough. It is definitely good to have a Mage who has Holy Affinity in the Party. It also helps being a ranged Vocation as, like a Metal Golem, the Ur Dragon has Nodes we need to destroy & some of them are in his wings which are essentially impossible to hit with a melee weapon.

Before you attempt this, go into your Options, head to Gameplay & set your Connectivity to Offline. The Ur-Dragon is a multi-stage battle where he will flee & you will have to return to the room to continue the fight. If you are Online, the Ur-Dragon will be much harder & there is no guarantee you will be the one to kill him as it is the same Ur-Dragon for everyone. Setting it to Offline, you will have your own personal Ur-Dragon to battle, though that will be no small feat… We will earn a (censored by Steam) ton of Wakestones from defeating him & should have more then enough to finish the game with.

We have around 8 minutes to fight the Ur-Dragon before he will fly away. Afterwards, you must leave the Chamber & head back inside. You may have to ferry out of the Everfall & return to the Chamber for him to respawn. I do not think walking out & back into the room counts… His health will stay damaged until you defeat him, but only if you are playing Offline.



MQ #26 – Fathom Deep (Part II): After you have finished all business in our first playthrough, take the 20 Wakestones to Quince. Doing so will complete the quest.


Achievement #43 – Freedom: Escaped the yoke of eternity.
Story Related. Completing the Main Quest – Fathom Deep will unlock this Achievement.

MQ #27 – Final Judgement (Part I): Speak to the Seneschal & battle him for the first time. But first let him kill you for an alternate Ending Achievement! It will reload our game afterwards!


Achievement #44 – Servitude: Soar unto a new world.
Missable. When you meet with the Seneschal, let him kill you & you will see how the cycle is perpetuated in Dragons Dogma. Taking off all your Armor is a good idea since, I found if you have too much health… this can take a little bit.

MQ #27 – Final Judgement (Part II): Defeat the glowing Seneschal, & then fight him a second time right afterwards. After that, you will have a choice to carry forward or turn back & head into “heaven”. For Achievement reasons, we will turn back & head through the portal.


Achievement #45 – Peace: Took refuge in an illusion.
Missable. When we have the crossroads decision to make, turn around & head into Cassardis. Walk to the gates leading out of the village & finish this alternate Ending.

MQ #27 – Final Judgement (Part III): Now for the REAL Ending. Head down memory lane & reach the Seneschal at the end. Now for the third & final battle, defeat the Seneschal. You can technically unlock the Servitude Achievement here as well if you let the Seneschal defeat you, but I would not recommend saving it till here. Your Main Pawn will be present & will probably kill everyone before the Seneschal kills you.

Wait till your Main Pawn grapples the Seneschal then slay him.


Achievement #46 – Mercy: Dealt the blow of deliverance.
Story Related. Unlocks after completing the Main Quest – Final Judgment. Strike down the Seneschal after the boss battle to release him from his duty.

MQ #28 – The Great Hereafter: You can mess around as the new Seneschal, but to complete the game, take out the Godsbane from your Inventory & kill yourself to finish the quest.


Achievement #47 – Closure: Put an end to all things.
Story Related. Kill yourself using the Godsbane & watch the confusing Ending to finish NG & your first playthrough of Dragons Dogma.


Achievement #48 – Hardened Veteran: Completed game in Hard Mode.
If you were playing on Hard Mode, this Achievement will unlock upon completing the game. This can also be unlocked on NG+ or during the Speedrun. Changing the game to Hard Mode must be done at the start of a playthrough, once you begin the playthrough it cannot be changed. On a Death Screen, you might be notified to “Retry on Normal”, if you do that, you cannot switch back to Hard Mode until after you beat the game.


Achievement #49 – The Hero: Completed all 28 Main Quests & 35 Side Quests.
After finishing the final Main Quest & if you completed all 35 Side Quests, you should unlock this Achievement as well. If not, it will unlock whenever you complete the last Main/Side Quest you had missed when we go through NG+.

84% Complete

Sequence 12: Déjà Vu

1. Re-beat up to the Main Quest – Fathom Deep
2. Wyrmking’s Ring Forgery
3. Level: 100/200
4. Pawns: 51/70
5. Achievements: 50/59
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To begin NG+, hit Load Game from the Main Menu or hit Hard Mode if you have not already completed the game on it. Do not hit New Game at the top of the Main Menu! NG+ is identical to your first playthrough. The only difference is that we can redesign our character & Main Pawn as well as having our: Level, Weapons, Armor, Gold, & Stored Items all transferring over. Any cumulative stats (enemies killed, Weapons/Armor found, total Gold, Locations Discovered, Pawns Summoned, etc.) will carry over as well.

If you are not already, I highly recommend going down the Strider/Ranger Vocations for this playthrough & begin collecting the associated Gear for it. So much of Bitterblack Isle is made x10 easier being a ranged Vocation. At the very end, we will be farming a super boss there called Death (literal Death) until we are Level 200. The strategy hinges on being able to use Blast Arrows from a Bow. While it may not seem like it, having millions of gold stored up is really going to pay off later on. Blast Arrows are very expensive as well as the other Items we will be buying constantly for farming Death. Save your money & keep looting everything!

For this playthrough really hoard your Items for when we go to Bitterblack Isle. Leveling up as much as possible will also greatly help us out. As a whole, this Sequence will be pretty loose since we do not really have much going on until we begin Bitterblack Isle.

The biggest disappointment you will soon realize about NG+… there is no increase in difficulty. I recommend just blasting through the Main Questline right up until the end of the Everfall grabbing whatever Achievements you missed from the first playthrough. That way, when we come back from Bitterblack Isle we can just beat the game without having the hassle of going through the whole campaign afterwards.

Cassardis:

NG+ will begin as per usual. You can find your old equipment in Storage at the Cassardis inn. Some differences you may notice is that the merchants will still have their final inventories unlocked during Post-Game. As well, over in Starfall Bay East of Cassardis village, there will be a unique Rift Stone. This will teleport us straight to the Chamber of Lament & we can fight the Ur-Dragon at will, whenever we want. A very valid fight to farm for Levels & Wakestones later on.

Gran Soren:

At the Black Cat you will notice that Mountebank now sells infinite Port Crystals for 200,000 gold a piece. This can be handy rounding out wherever you need them for Fast Travel to every major area of the game. Granted, the Port Crystals we collected in the playthrough prior have also respawned so they can be re-collected. You can only have 10 active Port Crystals set up around the map at a time however, so place them wisely.

An important note for when it becomes relevant, but when we receive Side Quest - Trials & Tribulations, you must prove Fournival innocent. Fournival is an important Merchant as an unlimited source for some farming Items we will need later on in our playthrough; trying to get those Items without him is extremely tedious to do!

Shadowfort:

When you are completing the Main Quest – A Fortress Besieged, you can save yourself some time during our Speedrun playthrough if you ferry back to Gran Soren & make a duplicate of the Shadowfort Lever. This way, you can use it immediately upon entering the Shadowfort. This is a minor time saver though; it takes more time duplicating it then it actually takes just going down & grabbing it.

The Water God’s Altar:

Similar to the Forgery option for the Shadowfort, you can technically make Forgies of all 5 Altar Slates to save yourself some time in our Speedrun. Once again though, this takes a lot longer making these duplicates then it actually would just finding these Slates again.

Bluemoon Tower:

Near the end of the Main Quest – The Wyrmking’s Ring, we will kill Salomet & collect the Wyrmking’s Ring. Out of all the Key Items to duplicate, I do recommend making a copy of this one as it will save us an entire trip to Bluemoon Tower in the Speedrun playthrough.

Tainted Mountain:

Achievement #50 – 100: Reached Level 100.
I unlocked this Achievement just after entering Post-Game when I slayed Grigori a second time. I ended up re-doing every Main & Side Quest in the game a second time as well for some extra Xp. But mostly, I had to replay the Quests so I could do a better job of writing these first 40 some odd pages of my guide. (I wrote the first half eight months ago & it read like garbage. I have gotten a little better at the guide writing business…)

Anyways, this is definitely going to unlock for you in Bitterblack Isle shortly if you have not gotten it already. We are going up to Level 200, so Level 100 is only an inevitability.

The Everfall:

With the Everfall exposed, grind out some more Levels or Wakestones, but do not turn in the 20 Wakestones to Quince. At this moment, our second playthrough truly begins. Ferry to Cassardis, & at nighttime walk to the end of the pier. Speak with the mysterious Olra, & she will ferry us over to Bitterblack Isle.

Sequence 13: Bitterblack Isle

1. Bitterblack Isle
2. Defeat Daimon’s Second Form
3. Level: 124/200
4. Pawns: 60/70
5. Achievements: 54/59
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Bitterblack Isle:

There are only 5 Achievements for us to unlock in Bitterblack Isle, & they are all related to defeating bosses. The Chambers we need to keep an eye out for are: The Shrine of Futile Truths, Forsaken Cathedral, & the Sanctum.



Some other important rooms to note for when we farm Death for our 200 Levels will come from the Bloodless Stockade or the Garden of Ignominy. For the first few encounters with Death, run! These are not the times we will be defeating him. We will need some specific preparations to kill him effectively…

Shrine of Futile Truths:

Achievement #51 – Eye Gouger: Defeated the Gazer in Bitterblack Isle.
Resistances: Fire, Ice, Lightning, & is extremely resistant to Dark. Immune to all Debilitations.
Weaknesses: Physical & Holy

This boss is not too difficult. The main thing is having Panacae, Eyedroppers, Light Cures, or a Mage that has the High Halidom Spell to cure the Blind Status Effect it will cause you. Its only real weak point is the actual eyeball itself, not the meaty husk surrounding it. Ranged Vocations have an obvious advantage. Melee based Vocations will have to climb inside the Gazer’s mouth to strike at the eyeball. Eventually it will create four tentacles coming out of the ground that will draw your attention; quickly dispatch them to stagger the Gazer. Its eyeball will flop on the ground & you have a chance of dealing some significant damage to it.

Forsaken Cathedral:

Achievement #52 – The Inquisitor: Defeated the Dark Bishop in Bitterblack Isle.
Resistances: Fire, Ice, Thunder, & is extremely resistant to Holy.
Weaknesses: Melee (Bash), Dark, & Silence

Your best option for this boss is to Silence him as soon as possible with Silence Arrows or the Silentium Spell. The Undead Dragon is weak to Holy Damage & is weaker than Cursed Dragons that can randomly spawn in Bitterblack.

Silence the Bishop, kill the Dragon, & maul the Bishop.

The Bishop can take control of the Undead Dragon & will become very powerful. Focus all of your attacks on the Dragon when this happens, & the Bishop will be removed & become stunned for a time. This is a great opportunity to deal some serious damage. Ranged Vocations have a huge advantage for this fight since the Bishop floats in the area the majority of the time. He will occasionally hover close to the ground which is the only time he can be struck by a melee weapon. In short: ranged Vocations focus on the Bishop, melee Vocations focus on the Dragon.

Bitterblack Sanctum:

Achievement #53 – Conqueror: Defeated Daimon for the first time.
Well this is it, the final boss of Dark Arisen.

“There is no where else to be, but here,
There is no where else to live or die, but here,
To be, here, now… is the only thing that matters,
So, gather yourselves,
Gather all of your strength, & all of your sweetness into an iron ball,
For we will attack again, & again, until we reach & over come this Daimon,
Or we die in the attempt! Attack! Attack! ATTACK!”
~ Rollo Sigurdsson

Resistances: Dark, Silence, & Blindness
Weakness: Takes moderate damage from everything but Dark; takes the most damage from being struck in his head or the face in his chest.

For the most bang for your buck, bring: Conqueror’s Periapts x8-12, Veteran’s Periapts x1, & Wakestones x10 (at least x5). Salubrious Brews & Liquid Vim are the best for Curatives to have. Liquid Vim especially for ranged Vocations.

You can use 4 Conqueror’s Periapts at a time & this will drastically increase your damage output to almost laughable amounts. Manically laughable. Just before you kill Daimon, use a Veteran’s Periapt to double your Xp gain to fully capitalize on this boss. The Conqueror’s Periapts & Veteran’s Periapts can be purchased from Fournival back in Gran Soren in infinite amounts, for a reasonable sum of gold. Be forewarned, since you are the primary damage dealer, Daimon will be focusing his attacks on you. If you perish, all your buffs will be nullified, even if using a Wakestone. It is easier just retrying the fight with your Strength Buffs then carrying on with the battle without them. For a more conservative advantage, just use 2 at a time.

Daimon has a super move where he will break open the floor & try sucking you & your Pawns into it. This is an instant kill. If you see him “casually” walking away from you into the room or winding up with cyan energy. Run! After this attack he is vulnerable for a short duration. This is the optimum time to use your Strength Enhancements. If you are brave/have Liquid Vim, if you jump onto Daimon before he begins this attack & strike him in his face-chest, you will deal some massive damage to him. This is very risky though, as mentioned before, if you lose all your Stamina & fall into the void its certain death. While you can Wakestone yourself to life, your Pawns will be sent back to the Rift & most likely ruin your boss fight with their absence.

Confer with the Dragons Dogma Wiki for more Vocation specific strategies if you are not a ranged based Vocation.

https://dragonsdogma.fandom.com/wiki/Daimon

After defeating Daimon, you will notice all of your shortcuts in Bitterblack are closed off again. Bitterblack enters a Post-Daimon stage for defeating him the first time. For Xp & loot, I would honestly recommend re-beating it. If that is no bueno for you, sprint through it all until you reach the Bitterblack Sanctum once more.


Achievement #54 – True Conqueror: Defeated Daimon in his True Form.
Now after all that effort. We still have another whole boss battle, his second phase. It is not over, till it is over.

We can only access his second phase, the second time we battle him. Sprint/battle your way through Bitterblack all the way back to the Bitterblack Sanctum where we will have to fight Daimon all over again. The enemy placement around Bitterblack has gotten even worse after Daimon’s death. Prepare for a brutal gauntlet to get to him.

Use the same strategies we used to defeat his first form. Use as many Conquerors Periapts as you can afford. After he dies for the first, the face in his stomach will awaken… & revive Daimon for his second form. This second form is actually weaker to Holy damage as well which can give you a bit of an edge. Again, rely heavily on those Conqueror’s Periapts & Liquid Vim to bring him down expediently. Dealing damage to the face in his chest is the most effective way to damage him. I think damage else where to his body is reduced or even completely nullified, but I am unsure.

This is a very tedious battle; Daimon’s second form has a lot of health & insane damage resistance. The best way to damage him is to abuse Conqueror’s Periapts & striking his face-chest. Once again, if you are able to be climbing on him while he is doing his crazy Rift AoE attack you can deal some serious damage. This second form is a lot harder to get to when he has initiated this attack however since he now floats off the floor. I must have failed my run six different times because I missed him during my leaping jump & just landed into the Rift instead. Really watch him carefully. Try predicating when he will use this move & start climbing on him ahead of time before he initiates that attack.

I used this video by PootytangFl as a reference & to get an overall strategy going. They killed Daimon incredibly fast & made it look very easy… this battle definitely took me a lot of tries & a lot of time. I thought I would include the video to give you an idea of what to do if you are struggling. They killed him so fast they never had to deal with his Rift AoE attack though which wasn’t helpful. I really struggled with that part of the boss fight specifically...

https://youtu.be/9OJMtYeFrVg

Sequence 14: A Fate Worse Than Death

1. Bitterblack Isle, Everfall
2. Defeat Death
3. Level: 200/200
4. Pawns: 70/70
5. Achievements: 58/59
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Gardens of Ignominy:

Achievement #55 – Cheat Death: Defeated Death in Bitterblack Isle.
We have one last boss to fight here in Bitterblack Isle, & that is Death himself. Fortunately/unfortunately, we are going to be killing him a lot since he gives the most Xp per kill compared to any other enemy in Dragons Dogma. A lot of people say that farming Death is easier before we enter Post-Daimon, but there is actually an exceptionally convenient area to farm him afterwards so do not worry about it. Be warned, Death is very resistant to knock down on Hard Mode & has the tendency to flee. To prevent this, either switch your game to Normal Mode after dying (if you already have the Hardened Veteran Achievement) or stun lock him with Blast Arrows.

In Bitterblack Isle, the corpses of some enemies will spawn high level “Carrion-Eaters”. To get Death to spawn, we need to have Saurian corpses lying around in a room. The room directly after the main hub in Bitterblack, The Gardens of Ignominy, will either spawn Goblins or Saurians. For me, Saurians usually spawned 3/5 times. If Goblins are in the area, leave the room & return to reset it until Saurians are present.

Instead of reiterating the whole strategy I used, here is the video guide I followed by gaijin hunter. This is Post-Daimon & he is already at Level 200 so do not be alarmed at how fast he kills things. It will take us a bit longer…

https://youtu.be/wu8Spf1fQ4A

For this strategy you will want a good supply of:
Large Mushrooms (Stamina) – Sold at Camellia’s Apothecary in Gran Soren for 250 gold at an infinite supply.

Blast Arrows (Knockdown) – Camellia’s Apothecary in Gran Soren for 650 gold at an infinite supply.
Conquerors Periapts (Damage Buff) – Sold by Fournival for 1350 gold at an infinite supply.
Veteran’s Periapts (Double Xp) – Sold by Fournival for 22,500 gold at an infinite supply.

Rancid Bait Meat (Death Lure) – Sold by Barroch for 9800 gold (1 per 5-7 days, switch your game to Offline Mode then just rest quickly for 5 days. They can also be Forged at the Black Cat for 14,700 gold)

The Godsbane (Death Location Reset) – Acquired after slaying Grigori back in the Main Campaign.

Barbed Nails x2 (Knockdown Buff) – Can be purchased from Madeline back in the Cassardis inn if we gave her an Idol during the Side Quest – Supplier’s Demand for 7800 gold.

Cursed King’s Belt (Knockdown Buff) – Can be collected by completing the Bitterblack Isle Notice Board Quest – Visions of the End I (collecting 10 Macabre Sculptures scattered around Bitterblack) or from random purified Bitterblack Armors. This piece of Gear is optional if you have two Barbed Nails, but it is incredibly useful to boost your Knockdown.


Achievement #56 – 200: Reached Level 200.
Before we farm Death to get to Level 200, you might consider collecting the 40 Wakestones we need from the Everfall first to squeeze a few extra Levels beforehand. 20 Wakestones are for this playthrough, & the other 20 will be for our Speedrun so we will already have them. It will save us a lot of time in the long run. I ended up waiting till I was Level 200 before doing this just so I could annihilate everything & make this process much faster. It is completely up to you. Killing the Ur-Dragon is the most efficient way to get Wakestones. At Level 200 I killed the Ur-Dragon twice & got around 42 Wakestones at the end in around an hour.

Now for the literal grind of this game killing Death until we get to Level 200. This can take some time, especially if you have to revert to Normal Mode (I unfortunately had to as I just could not keep Death knocked down long enough to kill him before he escaped). To get Death to respawn, leave the area & repeat the summoning strategy with the Godsbane & the Rancid Meat Bait when the Saurians/Saurian corpses are present. This may take multiple trips back & forth to Gran Soren to restock on your Consumables. The Saurian corpses do not necessarily have to be present; eventually their corpses de-spawn but we are still able to farm Death. Apparently it still registers that the Saurians WERE here… he can smell them…

In total on Normal Mode using Veteran’s Periapts or Martyr’s Talismans for double Xp, it took me 23 times killing Death from Level 124 to get to Level 200. It was usually 4 Level ups every kill; this would be a much higher rate if you play on Hard Mode. As you Level up, it will get faster & faster to kill Death. If you use only yourself & your Main Pawn it will be 5 Level Ups per kill, possibly 6 if you are by yourself. I kept my Main Pawn around to hold more Blast Arrows for myself. If you are feeling generous, you might consider bringing along two very low Level Online Pawns to give some lucky Players a lot of Rift Crystals when they login next. We should be taking no damage from this method, so you don’t really have to worry about them getting killed…

As you Level, your Level up rate will unfortunately decrease. By Level 168 I was only gaining an average of 3 Level ups per kill. Though it did fluctuate to 4 Levels occasionally. It took a while, & I needed to Forge at least 4 Rancid Meat Baits & purchase 3 from Barroch; it obviously took 23 Rancid Meat Baits total for me to get to Level 200. It did not take too long though all things considered, maybe 3-4 hours. That sounds like a while, but considering how long it would take without farming Death… I was on Normal Mode too which definitely reduced my Xp gain.

The Everfall:

Now that we are finally finished with Bitterblack Isle, return to Gran Soren & enter the Everfall. To make our lives easier for our Speedrun, I would recommend farming 40 Wakestones, 20 for this playthrough & the other 20 for the Speedrun. Killing the Ur-Dragon is the most efficient way to get Wakestones. If you have already completed this step, carry on & beat NG+.

As well before beating the game & starting our Speedrun be sure you have Port Crystals at: The Mountain Way Castle, Hillfigure Knoll, Bluemoon Tower, Windbluff Tower & The Greatwall Camp.


Achievement #57 – The Captain: Enlisted a large number of Pawns.
If you have not already gotten this Achievement naturally or grinded it, now would be the time. Fortunately, it can be easily obtained. If you only need a couple, just pop in & out of the Rift Stone & hire two Pawns, dismiss them, then hire two more. Rinse & repeat.

If you still need more than a few, go into your Menu & switch the game into Offline mode so when you enter a Rift only base generated Pawns will appear. When Offline, you can indefinitely hire Pawns without needing to exit the Rift. Just keep approaching Pawns & hire them until the Achievement unlocks; you can even re-hire the same Pawns over again for the Achievement. Special shout out to TheShadowHatter for the strategy!


Achievement #58 – The Ever-Turning Wheel: Completed the adventure a second time.
After you collected your Wakestones, complete the long end game sequence & complete the game as normal. Beating the game on NG+ & slaying the new (& very familiar looking…) Seneschal will unlock the Achievement.

98% Complete

Sequence 15: Speedrun Mode

1. Beat Dragons Dogma on Speedrun Mode
2. Achievements: 59/59
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Achievement #59 – The Sprinter: Completed game in Speedrun Mode.
This will be our final playthrough of the game. Hopefully you made some preparations in our last playthrough & you can blast through this run in only a few hours. Select Speedrun Mode from the Main Menu & let’s begin. It will use the same Save we have been using this whole time, though nothing other then the rewards at the end of Speedrun will carry over afterwards.

We have to do this in one sitting, there are no Saves & we cannot die without having any Wakestones in our Inventory. The actual time we get at the end is irrelevant. Ignore all the Side Quests & only complete as many Wyrm Hunt Quests until we are allowed to see the Duke. Killing Grigori will be the most tedious part of the run, but if you successfully reached Level 200, he should not be too bad.

You only need to do 2/4 Wyrm Hunt Quests. I would recommend The Cypher & The Water God’s Altar since they are relatively short & easy to get to with Port Crystals. For the Trials & Tribulations Main Quest, just wait it out at the Inn; Fournival will be proved guilty & the Quest will be completed. If you made a Forgery of the Wyrmking’s Ring, we can instantly complete The Wyrmking’s Ring Quest which saves you a lot of effort.

As for Grigori, use the same strategies we used on Daimon with the Conqueror’s Periapts & annihilate him. As a Ranger, I actually killed Grigori right after he chases you down the hall & gets stuck in the wall for a bit. To do this, take down all his health bars then strike him in the heart at the very end & that will actually end the entire boss fight early. I was pretty shocked. If you are a bow based Vocation (Strider, Ranger, Assassin) you can purchase the Maker's Finger Arrow from Fournival in Gran Soren for 200k Gold which will take out more then half his health bars or even kill him outright if you are able to hit him in the heart with it.

At Level 200 & having already collected my 20 Wakestones in the previous playthrough, I was able to complete the Speedrun Mode in under an hour.

Conclusion:

Personally, I really enjoy Dragons Dogma. The story & voice acting are downright laughable, but it is a really fun RPG. Funnily enough, a lot of the major story elements of the game are a shameless rip from the first arc of the Berserk series (the inspiration for Dark Souls). All in all, this took me around 100 hours to 100%, but some of those hours may have been spent having the game idle writing notes for my guide...

If this guide helped you achieve 100%, rate the guide or let me know in the comments. Helps me know if I am doing things right!



100% Complete
Thank you for choosing Cynical Guides, & I will see you in the next one!

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[Stephetheon]

I backed up my save to check, and I was able to complete Griffin's Bane without failing Trials and Tribulations. Still I'd recommend saving the whole of the Griffin's Bane quest for when the guide calls for its completion, just to be safe.

[Stephetheon]

yo so like I completely smashed the griffin before I could turn in anything for Trials and Tribulations. Will turning in the Griffin's Bane 100% progress to the next sequence and cancel the Trials quest or will it wait until I finish Trials? Btw I have the guard guy following me until I can get him settled with Aldous, and he dies really quickly

[Cynic 0055]

Hey Kramit The Frog, I would actually recommend against lowering the Difficulty to Normal (in my personal opinion). The most important reason is we are trying to get to Level 200 which takes a LOT of Xp to get to; on Hard Mode the Xp we earn is doubled which makes it go "faster" but it is still a slog. A worse slog on Normal as it would take twice as long.

Our second playthrough isn't a speedrun just to beat the game over... well it is technically, but before we beat the Everfall/beat the game, we go over to the DLC area Bitterblack Isle. Bitterblack Isle would definitely be simplified on lower Difficulties as it is quite challenging, but once again, getting double Xp is too good to pass up.

As a final aside, you can freely drop the Difficulty from Hard Mode to Normal/Easy, but you are unable to bump back up to Hard Mode if you do that & can only bounce between Normal/Easy.

[Kramit The Frog]

Phenomenal guide my friend, thank you so much! Question tho, once I've completed the 1st run on Hard Mode, is there any reason I shouldn't just drop the difficulty to normal or even easy for the remaining playthroughs?

[Rayous]

Nice! great guide, I've only had problems with Reynard so far but finally finished his questline!

[Cynic 0055]

Haha thanks for catching that, Rayous! What, you don't want to "slayong" the Griffon? I fixed it right away.

[Rayous]

Last line of sequence 7 has a typo in "slaying"

[Wolfy Wet Furr]

A golden Unicorn for you sir!
Many of the achievements I was missing, I acquired much more efficiently thanks to your guide. I just got the last achievement by completing the speed run today. Send it!

[Obrigan ™]

Small notice to you guys, in Sequence 6 => if you direct kill the griffin from MQ#18 – Griffin’s Bane, you'll auto fail SQ#19 – The Conspirators (Part II) when you speak to Fadel for MQ#17 – Trials & Tribulations (Part II). So it's safer to not kill it in order to clean what you have to do first and then go finish him later.

I was brain, it actually auto save after the quest (MQ17) so i couldn't go back before i spoke to him. I don't really mind but if you do, be careful .

[Antsu]

If Pike runs from you while doing No Honor Among Thieves quest line, you can actually kill him and use wakestone on him, after that he doesn't run from you and you can convince him to return to Maul