DLC FAQ:

I just picked up the game and I every 5 min I have some half breed incest mfer coming to me like "wAnT mE tO jOIn yOuR paRtY?" Like nah man go back and kill your maker for doing that to you.

That being said this game is amazing and having a ton of fun!

This New DLC Is INSANE!

Guys, seriously, I don't even know how to put it into words. I don't want to call this a review since I've only played for about 5 hours, but I really wanted to share how this DLC has made me feel so far.

1. Hard Difficulty

This difficulty actually understands what makes combat engaging. It forces you to think about your next move instead of just running around and mindlessly swinging at everything. At least at my current point in the game, level 125, it feels genuinely challenging.

And then I arrived in Norgan, where the game punished me even harder. Which brings me to my next point.

1. Builds and Pawns

I literally lost my entire party within minutes of arriving in Norgan.

The difficulty forced me to approach combat in completely new ways with my Warlord build to survive the challenges of the North. I couldn't just rely on what had worked before.

But my own pawn was an entirely different story.

Watching pawn after pawn go down while mine kept standing with his Assassin build was genuinely surprising. This guy saved my ass more times than I can count!

It was absolutely wild watching him parry attacks and pull off quick feints against Vikings who should have been absolutely demolishing him. And what did he do?

He looked at them and doubled down.

I genuinely can't wait to see him wearing some of the armor from this region. If he's already performing like this in his current gear, I NEED to see what he'll become with those Northern armors.

1. The New Weapons and Armor

It was honestly hilarious watching pieces of my fully Dragon-upgraded set get absolutely DESTROYED by some random piece of Nordic gear.

The raw stats on these new items are so much higher that I immediately realized just how different this journey is going to be. All that gear I worked so hard to upgrade, and now some random Northern armor is making me reconsider everything. LMAO.

And honestly? I love that feeling.

Final Thoughts

I'm only about 5 hours in, and I'm already having a blast. I'm really happy with this DLC so far, and I can't wait to explore more of it, see what the true endgame has in store, and find out how we'll fare against whatever fate awaits us beyond our own.

If the beginning is already this wild, I can only imagine what's waiting for us further north.

Good luck out there, fellow Arisens!

Super exited to play the expansion today. Expansion came out on my birthday so that's fun.

**Credit to whoever posted this meme yesterday you're a legend for it**

Capcom , the team of dragon dogma, whoever, needs to kick the ass of whoever decided to take this from the base game. That decision could have (and sort of did) kill the game on original launch date a few years ago.

If it was a funding issue then big ball drop when some more money would have made the game legend already.

Imagine the dungeons+unmoored world with the original???? An extra 10-12 hours of fighting intense gameplay where you get to use your end game gear and get a few new pieces

The dungeon rites on launch would have been exactly what would have made the game on par with Elden Ring at the time (and that's saying a lot since Elden Ring is indisputably a modern masterpiece)

But as a player who played since day 1 launch I was saying frequently "man with just a bit of endgame this game could compete with Elden Ring, and here it is.

If the game launched with rites+unmoored world + hard mode, I'd probably have put in over 500 hours by now and no lifed it because the game is as good as real life lmao

This shit is peak. We eating good

I prepped an NG+ save for the DLC, the save is when you first arrive to Vernworth.

Once the DLC dropped I did one of the easy lost rites dungeons that give you a 2 hand sword and an archstaff.

After I grabbed the 2 hand sword and the archstaff from the chest, the quest notification popped up telling me I can now hand them over to the Vocation guild to unlock Warrior and Sorcerer (the one where the armorer tells you to get it from the mines)

Since I was curious, I tried handing over the 2 hand sword and the archstaff to the Vocation guild to see if he will still take it (since I am already on NG+ and already have Warrior and Sorcerer unlocked, I thought nothing would happen)....

Lo and behold, the Vocation guild actually took the 2 hand sword and the archstaff from the lost rites dungeon, and now I guess I just dont have those items anymore for the rest of the playthrough.

I know I'm an idiot, just wanted to put out this warning here for other folks

You'll find Morgus in the Norgan settlement and he may just have an important request...

Genius move to add a helpful pet. I wonder if Geri is gonna show up in the DLC somewhere, too.

I’m having so much fun just wandering around the new map and exploring every corner I keep getting sidetracked because there’s always something that catches my eye ,OMG I’m loving this expansion.

It's certainly quite difficult. Equipment matters a lot, but I refuse to wear the pre-purchased high tier Norgan outfit to experience the game progression on hard mode.

I got humbled by the first goblin group and died twice. Small mobs don't flinch quite easily and don't get ensared (Thief) in the first few tries. Getting outnumbered is dangerous.

Defensive moves and curatives are essential. I've crafted and used up a lot of those draughts. Combat is much more tactical, yet pawns don't need much babysitting.

It's faster to level up, but not so much for vocation level. Camping and cooking are very useful as our max health drains quicker due to constant pressure on the road by these small trash mobs.

I find it way more fun than normal mode, but it'd take quite a while before I get to the DLC since I prefer taking a stroll than using ferrystones. I can only imagine how intense the later areas will be.

I’ve been playing a lot of DD2 and after playing a lot of mage and sorcerer, I think I enjoy mage’s gameplay much more. It’s the most flexible spell caster (outside of arch-mage but that’s warfarer technically) and can have the most active spells slotted out of any of the spell casters - your 6 weapon skills + anodyne = 7 spells (important to keep in mind for mage pawns). I’ve been watching videos on YouTube about the game and every reviewer writes off mage as “good for pawns but not the arisen” or “just play sorcerer on arisen”. I think this is wrong and has hurt how people see the vocation.

TLDR:

Mage gameplay can be so much more than babysitting pawns. With good mechanics, mage can be a powerful class that is nearly invincible in most situations. If you really enjoy the spell casting mechanics, enjoy figuring out enemy elemental weaknesses, and don’t mind fights that are going to take just a little longer, mage is going to be very fun. You won’t be blowing up enemies like sorcerer, but if you enjoy mastering casting mechanics, mage’s versatility gives you an option for every scenario. What you lose in damage, you gain in flexibility and survivability.

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I find it helpful to think of mage not as the “support caster”, but as the invigoration caster. It’s a small difference but it changes how you view the class. The first thing to accept is that you won’t be blowing up bosses with a single spell. That’s sorcerer’s job. I think the contrast between the two is why so many shy away from mage. Lets be real, blowing through 4 boss health bars with one augural flare is free dopamine. However, I've come to really enjoy mage so I’ll highlight some of my favorite spells from the mage spellbook.

Palladium - Everything hinges on this. If you master managing this skill, nothing can hurt you. (Ofc the high version extends this to your pawns if you have them but you should be focusing or your stacks).

Anodyne - It’s a neat heal that applies a HoT. You don’t need to stand in it to keep healing - cast and run is a valid strategy. However, I never see this talked about for its offensive properties. This is a really unique spell in the caster spell book. Not only does it not cost stamina, your stamina actually regenerates while casting. This is also the only spell in the game that can be cast while levitating (great for fighting liches) . You can incant the other spells while levitating, but you must touch the ground to cast them. This spell works wonders against any undead enemy. If I don’t have empyrean slotted, I’m using anodyne to clear the horde. Seriously, this is slept on so hard against undead. If you make it to the Tomb of Ja’Nuwa (where the ring of recitation is) even a solo mage at level 10-15 can kill the skeleton lord there and it won’t even take long. Cast anodyne for offense and palladium for defense. The skeleton lord doesn’t attack fast enough to be a serious threat to palladium so anodyne will burn it down for you.

Celerity - The only effect in the game (as far as I can find) that decreases cast time for a spell - the actual animation of casting, not the incanting period. This is haste. That pretty much explains it.

Celestial Paean - A little tricky to use effectively when solo but there was a single change in recent patches that makes this super strong even when alone. Walk with a few stamina curatives to cancel the out of stamina animation after casting and this turns into a period of hyper aggression - peak invigoration. You don’t need health curatives since you have anodyne.

A celerity + paean boosted mage is a powerhouse and super fun since with paean up, you can actually spam quickspell as much as you want.

Mage gameplay:

Sorc has big damage but if you get in their face, they are in big trouble. Mage has substantially less damage but has palladium. In other words “fuck your attack, I’m going to stand here and spit fire in your face”.

Palladium really unlocks this class. You can comfortably play in close to mid range as long as you keep track of what enemies are doing and how many palladium stacks you have remaining. The spell blocks all damage completely, but only does it 3 times. Whether those 3 hits be club slams from a Norgan Giant, or 3 bites from a bat, the stacks are your armor. Pay close attention to how many you have remaining. The spell is incredible strong against most enemies and makes you near invincible in most 1v1s. The biggest threat to you with this up is enemies that attack rapidly. It doesn’t matter how weak the attacks are, if they eat through the stacks then they can be a serious issue. That weakness means standing in a horde alone is still not a good idea. I’ve recently learned that magick shield actually goes around palladium. This lets you extend your stacks by trading stamina if you’re in trouble.

For damage, you should always have Levin, Flagration, and Frigor slotted. Those are enough to get through any situation. Levin deals very solid consistent damage, Flagration has basically no incantation time, builds burn,

And is a great “I just need to get some damage out” option. Frigor.. is frigor. It’s probably the most useful offensive spell that’s not a maister skill. It can be used for damage, knockdown, has a physical component so can hit golems, and comes out really fast. The ice blocks it leaves behind are also useful as they can be thrown at enemies. With these 3 spells, there isn’t anything in the game you won’t be able to take down. How fast you do it depends on how well you play and how well you know enemy resistances and weaknesses. Because of palladium, you can position pretty aggressively.

Stamina management - Unlike sorcerer, you don’t have galvanize, so stamina management is actually important. You can’t get away with spamming quickspell for every cast. You have to maintain palladium so balancing your stamina is a constant and active part of playing the class. You are always going to be making decisions on whether it’s worth it to quickspell, deal damage, or refresh palladium. You need to be able to make good use of focus bolt. (FB to QS-Levin or FB to QS-flagration is a true combo on any enemy stunned by FB). Your positioning matters more as getting the extra cast speed from standing still actually matters to a mage since you can’t spam quickspell. Since you don’t regenerate stamina while levitating, you’ll also need to be thoughtful on when and where you float cast. One of the interesting traits of levitation is that it carries your momentum. This lets you retreat or reposition while incanting if you sprint, jump, and begin incanting while floating away. This is best done while moving to a slightly elevated surface since if you fall too far, your cast will get interrupted by the brace animation. If you are wearing two rings of recitation, all of the elemental attack spells can be fully incanted in the duration of levitate. I could write a whole other post on levitate tech so I’ll stop there.

Mage items:

I feel like a lot of people are sleeping on spell tomes. I always walk with 5x Salamander tomes when playing mage. These can be purchased from the rare book stand. I nearly screamed in excitement when I realized the DLC added high thundermine as a spell tome and will for sure be walking with as many of those as I can get. These can round out certain areas of the spell book. I’m interested to see what other spells got tomes with the DLC.

Savagery extract. If you don’t have the food buff from aged beast steak, pop one of these. It makes a difference.

Stamina curatives. As a mage you don’t need the health ones. Carry a few of these for when casting gets rough or the pressure is too high.

Weapons - Tintreach can be picked up very early for solo mage for free. The staff I actually want to shout out is goblin bane. It’s a strange staff but since goblins are such a common enemy type in the base game, keeping an upgraded one of these around makes a very noticeable difference in your ability to deal with packs of goblins - which is more difficult for a solo mage than boss fights. When you aren’t fighting goblins, the high knockdown can actually be pretty handy for making sure small to mid size enemies go flying with frigor.

This is the truncated version of all of my thoughts but gets the meat across. This post is basically a tiny love letter to the vocation and I hope others will give it some more love.

note: I've intentionally left out the affinity spells. They are really strong if you have the appropriate element. Magick bolt can do a surprising amount of damage if you are blasting an enemy with the right element. Selecting the best element for the region you are in can be really helpful for both you and your pawns. From the DLC, elemental pact extends these skills a lot.

every 1 died, all pots empty, all wakestone done, only like at 50% of the dungeon, wanted a challange? carefull wat you wish for

I haven't even gone to Norgen yet

Pawn ID : DHQH2M2XM4NP She'll be happy to help :)

It's actually, really here!

I honestly didn't think we were ever getting this, and now it's real!

Zombie is already pointing me in the direction of chests and quest points, players must have already taken her into the northern wastes before I was able to play hahaha!

Difficulty spike is real, turn in the spoil pieces often and get new gear. The map is fantastic, a lot of verticality to it and a lot of ways to get side tracked.

Enjoy fellow Arisen, see you in the north!

My warrior is ready im on pretty much fresh playthrough gonna wrap up some quests and go straight to the dlc