Dragon’s Dogma 2 Dragonsplague gets its own conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers (anti-Briners)
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s game-wrecking Dragonsplague mechanic has left players both fascinated and frightened as they scrutinize their Pawns for any signs of infection. Aside from people paranoidly chucking any suspicious Pawns into Brine-infested waters, the in-game epidemic has also prompted some covid-reminiscent memes at the expense of conspiracy theorists, with anti-Briners suggesting “natural immunity” and “ox laxatives” as better Dragonsplague solutions. The following article contains spoilers related to Dragonsplague.
The Dragonsplague in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a contagious disease that infects Pawns and can lead to “devastating calamity” if not remedied. Its existence has been known since before the game’s launch, but it recently came to the attention of the community as users started reporting having their “saves nuked” by the disease.
Players have discovered that a Dragonsplague-infected Pawn that reaches the terminal stage of the disease will wipe out all NPCs of a town after resting at an inn, which includes key quest-giving NPCs that are needed for progressing in the story. As Dragon’s Dogma 2 does not lend itself well to save scumming, it is very hard to undo this damage, and while there have been reports of NPCs being automatically reset after several in-game days have passed, it is unknown whether this is a bug or a feature.
Therefore, prevention is key with Dragonsplague. As there is no cure for it, the most popular method of dealing with a potentially infected Pawn is throwing them down a cliff or into deep, Brine-riddled waters. This fact triggered the appearance of satirical “anti-Briner” discourse in the Dragon’s Dogma community on Reddit, by conspiracy theorists who believe that the whole Dragonsplague thing is a nothingburger, or alternatively, is caused by “5G Goblin towers.”
As opposed to the orthodox Brine treatment, one Reddit user recommends combining healthy and infected Pawns into so-called “plague parties,” which will raise their natural immunity to Dragonsplague (which is fake anyways) and make them safe to release into the world. Other reliable sounding Brine alternatives include ox laxatives, minotaur urine, as well as “thoughts and prayers.”
So, if you catch a recently hired Pawn’s eyes glowing red – there is no need to panic, according to the anti-Dragonsplague movement, they are just tired and in need of a few consecutive nights of rest at an inn of a major city. If that doesn’t work, you can have them mingle with healthy Pawns to make a bioterrorist unit- erm, natural immunity building party.
Read our past article about Dragonsplague for real information about early symptoms and treatments for the disease.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is available for the PC (Steam) and will soon be released for the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
