After a long wait, the Dark Arisen expansion for Dragon’s Dogma 2 is here. While many might just be eager to try Hard Mode, others will want to go into the new frozen area to see what it offers. Fortunately, you won’t have to wait too long to try it all. If you want to get started with Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen quickly, here’s how you can start the new expansion and the new dungeon-delving adventure.
How to Start Lost Rites in Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen
Regardless of what you want to try, you’ll have to talk to Brant in Vermund to start Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen and the Lost Rite Dungeons. Since the latter are part of the base game’s map, we’ll go over those first.
For the dungeons, reach Vermund as you’d normally do, which is extremely early in the game; wait until it’s night, and talk to Brant. He’ll give you the usual base game main quests, but you’ll notice two new options now: “About the new Arisen…” and “About the uncovered ruins…” Pick the latter.
After a conversation, he’ll mark the first dungeon on the map, which is close to where you do the Gift of the Bow quest. Don’t worry about not finding the location; the expansion will mark everything on the map.
You’ll have to break a wall and enter the dungeon, where a familiar NPC will greet you. Enter the small arena, defeat the enemies, and a door will open at the end. From there, just grab the Proving Ground Compass, and you’ll be able to see all dungeons on the map.
Note: Some dungeons have specific requirements to enter, such as having your carry weight in Very Light or entering with your Main Pawn only. You can check the requirements on the map.
How to Start the Dark Arisen Expansion in Dragon’s Dogma 2
For the expansion, you need to do the same as above: reach Vermund, wait until it’s night, and talk to Brant. However, you’ll want to select the “About the new Arisen…” option. This will send you to a free-of-charge stay at Vermund’s inn. You’ll get an ominous nightmare, and then get tasked with going to Checkpoint Rest Town. From there, just follow the road to Melve, and you’ll eventually reach a waterfall where the following character will appear.
You’ll get a few warnings about going to Norgan, but if you pick that you want to go, you’ll start the expansion right away.
Two important things to keep in mind are that the game recommends level 20 for the Lost Rite Dungeons and level 40 for Dark Arisen. We went to the dungeons at level 15 in Normal Mode and had no issue. However, Hard Mode was much tougher, and we didn’t explore them until level 30. For Dark Arisen, we went there at level 30 in Normal Mode, and it was extremely difficult, so make sure to save the expansion for a NG+ playthrough or as a late-game thing.
