How to tell if a Pawn has Dragonsplague in Dragon’s Dogma 2

Summoning Pawns in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is something you likely won’t think twice about when you start your journey, though you should watch out for Dragonsplague. This illness can sneak up on your party and destroy entire towns if you don’t know how to check your Pawns for symptoms.

Dragonsplague is a unique type of Dehabilitation that can only be contracted by Pawns through three specific methods and, if you don’t take care of the issue quickly, you could potentially ruin your playthrough of Dragon’s Dogma 2. Outside of your first encounter, the disease is hard to notice if you don’t know what you’re looking for in a potentially infected Pawn. Here’s how you can check any Pawn for Dragonsplague and potentially prevent a bad ending for your save file. 

Dragon’s Dogma 2: How to check for Dragonsplague in Pawns

Dragonsplague is a hidden illness that will not show itself the same way other Dehabilitations do—though it is more deadly in the long run if you can’t cure it. There are five ways to check if one of your Pawns has contracted Dragonsplague, with most involving NPC behavior during your travels. 

When you encounter a Pawn with Dragonsplague for the first time during your travels, the game will give you a pop-up briefly explaining that it is a Pawn-only illness that the infected party is unaware of and can cause a “devastating calamity” if left untreated. After that first warning, you are on your own to keep track of your Pawns and check them for signs of Dragonsplague to prevent settlement-destroying problems using the following methods: 

• Dragonsplague does not appear on any Pawn’s Status page like other Dehabilitations, so you can’t rely on this method for checking. 
• Check your Pawn’s eyes. If they are red and pulsing with energy every few seconds, they have Dragonsplague. Photo Mode is great for inspections like this. 
• Watch for unique idle animations like your Pawn holding their head in pain when not moving. The longer the Pawn is infected by Dragonsplague, the more obvious these animations may become—though I have not seen examples myself. 
• When giving a Command in battle, an infected Pawn may disobey your orders or talk back to you in an unnatural way. 
• Your other Pawns may talk about an infected Pawn’s strange behavior. Likewise, an infected Pawn could say odd things or act out of character as you travel. 

All of these are signs that a Pawn in your party has already contracted Dragonsplague, meaning you need to act quickly to cure them or risk a Shadow Dragon bringing about calamity. But there might also be some preventative measures you can take once you know how a Pawn gets infected. 

How can Pawns get Dragonsplague in Dragon’s Dogma 2?

Pawns can get Dragonsplague in three different ways throughout a Dragon’s Dogma 2 playthrough: They can be infected in the Rift before joining your party, have it passed on to them by another Pawn in your party, or contract it during an encounter with a Drake or Dragon. 

When you recruit a Pawn from a Riftstone or on the road during your travels, they might already have Dragonsplague. You should check every Pawn you invite for signs of the illness and, if they have it, immediately dismiss them from your presence. 

Likewise, if you have a Pawn infected with Dragonsplague in your party already, they can pass the disease on from themselves to another one of your Pawns. This will cure the previously ill Pawn while giving the disease to the next vessel. If this happens, you need to dismiss the Pawn that is showing signs of infection quickly. 

The final method for a Pawn to contract Dragonsplague is if they come into contact with a Drake or Dragon during your journey. Whenever you wrap up a battle with one of those creatures, make sure to check your party for Dragonsplague just in case. And, if your main Pawn is the one that gets infected, you will need to find a way to forfeit them as soon as possible to avoid the calamity.