Dragon’s Dogma 2‘s pesky Dragonsplague illness turns pawns murderous but only exhibits a few subtle symptoms up to that point, so one modder has made things really obvious for PC players by sticking a big number on the follower’s forehead.
As reported by VG247, NexusMods user rthomasv3 uploaded the “Dragonsplague Counter”, which doesn’t change non-infected pawns but brands those who are with a red number ranging from one to 10.
This tracks the severity of the infection in a more stark way than its normal symptoms, which include slight changes in behaviour like acting independently of the player and not obeying direct orders (you can find these explained further in IGN’s Dragon’s Dogma 2 guide).
If the disease gets out of hand, a cutscene will trigger when a player rests that sees nearly every other character in an area die. Dragon’s Dogma 2 doesn’t sugarcoat things for players either, as even important NPCs will be taken out and there’s limited revival items in the game.
The Dragonsplague Counter mod can therefore prevent disaster to those who aren’t paying incredibly close attention to their pawns. More information is now in the wild, thankfully, but players freaked out about the plague upon discovering it in the days following launch, not yet understanding what it was, how it was contracted, or when it would consume their pawns.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 arrived more than a decade after its predecessor on March 22, 2024 and proved a monster hit for publisher Capcom despite being seeped in controversy, selling 2.5 million units in 11 days amid microtransaction and performance complaints.
In our 8/10 review, IGN said: “More of a redo than a sequel, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a strange and wonderful action-RPG that bolsters the original’s strengths without addressing its weaknesses.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.