HomeNewsDragon’s Dogma 2

There’s now a cure for Dragon’s Dogma 2’s dreaded pawn pox Dragonsplague: modsGiving you an easy way to track infection or remove it completely

Giving you an easy way to track infection or remove it completely

Image credit:Capcom

Image credit:Capcom

A catperson pawn infected with Dragonsplague stares at the viewer with red eyes in Dragon’s Dogma 2

Behind itsDLC microtransactions,Dragon’s Dogma 2’s most divisive element is arguably Dragonsplague, the pawn-infecting sickness that your AI companions can catch while questing online and may eventually drive them to murder entire settlements’ worth of NPCs.

To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Manage cookie settings

To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Manage cookie settings

The pawn pox is thankfully fairly rare - I’m yet to encounter it in my 40-odd hours of playing, despite sending my pawn far and wide to rack up badges online - but it’s a key part of the game. Your pawns will occasionally remark on the rumoured threat, noting that it can cause the loyal followers to lose their senses - realised most starkly in the chance of your faithful warrior/wizard/ranger/whatever filling up one of the world’s in-game morgues with the residents of a town.

What makes Dragonsplague especially jarring for some players is that it can be difficult to spot - glowing red eyes are a telltale sign, and players have started gifting rotten food with pawns as a warning that they’ve caught the murder-ick. Still, if you’re not gazing lovingly into your followers’ eyes on the regular, you might fail to spot it in time.

Image credit:rthomasv3/Capcom

A screenshot of the Dragonsplague Counter mod for Dragon’s Dogma 2 shows a helmeted pawn with the red number sick on their forehead to indicate their level of sickness

For the former, there’s the distinctly unsubtleDragonsplague Counter mod, which sticks a big red number from 1 to 10 on your pawns’ heads to indicate their current level of infection. (Red eyes manifest at 7, if you’re wondering.) While a glowing red number plastered on their forehead is about as far as you can get from the more immersive world that Dragon’s Dogma 2 conjures, there should at least be no way you miss someone about to succumb to the pox.

So there, you go: there’s a cure for Dragonsplague if you want it. For me, at least, I’ll continue to adventure across the lands and risk what may come - maybe I’ll change my mind if it finally claims my beloved sorcerer companion Tonii Tiger, though.