How to get (nearly) all Dragon's Dogma 2's DLC microtransactions items for free, in-game

Dragon's Dogma 2 is here, and one of the first things you’re going to notice about it may not be how obtuse it can be. That’s because, before you even get into the game itself, you may be surprised to learn that there’s a host of DLC items ready for you to spend your hard-earned cash on. Players are having a pretty nasty time dealing with this information, and review-bombing the game because of it.

Having microtrasnactions in single-player games certainly isn’t new, not even for Capcom, but the number of add-ons available for purchase may cause you to take a step back, especially how a bulk of them just went live on digital stores alongside the main game. It's already caused a bit of an outrage amongst players, and helped tank the game's Steam review rating.

So what are they, and do you need them? We’re going to answer these questions and more in this guide.

What can you pay real money for in Dragon’s Dogma 2?

At launch, Dragon’s Dogma 2 has 10 types of paid items. The list includes Rift Crystals - one of the game’s currencies, as well as single-use Wakestones - which can be used to bring the dead back to life (either NPCs or your main character, should they fall in battle).

Eight more items exist, some with gameplay implications and others merely cosmetic. Most of those items are included in the game’s Deluxe Edition, as well as the A Boon for Adventurers - New Journey Pack - which is effectively a Deluxe Edition upgrade.

Here’s what A Boon for Adventurers - New Journey Pack, and the Deluxe Edition get you:

• Explorer's Camping Kit - Camping Gear
• Dragon's Dogma Music & Sound Collection - Custom Sounds
• Harpysnare Smoke Beacons - Harpy Lure Item
• Heartfelt Pendant - A Thoughtful Gift
• Ambivalent Rift Incense - Change Pawn Inclinations
• Makeshift Gaol Key - Escape from gaol
• Art of Metamorphosis - Character Editor
• Wakestone - Restore the dead to life
• 1500 Rift Crystals - Points to Spend Beyond the Rift

Digital stores offer more Wakestones - also single-use – as well as more Rift Crystals at various denominations that go up to 2,500. But the question remains: do you actually need any of that? More importantly, is there a way to earn some or all of it by simply playing the game?

How to get Dragon’s Dogma 2 DLC microtransaction items for free

Camping Kits can be found in the wild, and there is one available to pick up very early in the game – simply rest at the first inn your find in Vernworth and you'll see a Camping Kit in the room you wake up in.

The Explorer's Camping Kit is exclusive to the A Boon for Adventurers Pack, but the only difference between this item and the other 'lightweight' camping packs is the skin. Cosmetic only. You don't need to buy it.

By following the main questline that Brant gives you, you will be given a key to the Vernworth gaol at one point to seek out a magister. When in the gaol, head to a small storage area on the same level as the cells – there will be a Makeshift Gaol Key in there. You can have this item duplicated by the forger found in the Checkpoint Town to the east of the continent, too. You don't need to buy it.

The Art of Metamorphosis – along with Ambivalent Rift Incense, can be purchased from a vendor in the middle of the the starting town, Vernworth. There will be a big, hard-to-miss church-like building that houses the town's major riftstone. Next to it is a vendor that sells pawn-related items for RC (Rift Crystals). They are fairly pricely, but you will accrue RC in-game as you play; for discovering Rift Crystals in the world, for completing pawn quests, and for having people use your own pawn.

You absolutely do not need to buy RC from the store, unless you want a shortcut.

You will earn these naturally as you play. The most common way you'll get RC is by finding and activating Riftstones – you'll get 30 RC per activation.

You also earn RC when another player hires your Pawn from the Rift, with the number of crystals earned changable, depending on the amount of time the other player spent partying with them. I have seen people using my pawn a lot – multiple players over multiple days – and have been rewarded plenty of RC because of it.

You can also find RC in some treasure chests; one in the starting city with grant you 135RC, for example. Enemies will drop it (albeit rarely). You don't need to buy it.

You can use a Harpysnare Smoke Beacons outside of combat to summon a harpy. It won't attack you, so you can grab on to it – and it will take you for a ride somewhere! They're most useful for crossing rivers, or getting a good look at the scenery from vantage points.

Harpysnare Smoke Beacons aren’t unique, or hard to locate. Where you need to use one, you can often find one in a chest nearby, and a vendor near Harve (western-most point on the first continent) will sell them to you.

You will find many Wakestone Segments as you play; they can be looted from certain enemies, found in chests (usually ones that are tucked away somewhere, or slightly harder to find), and given as quest rewards. The first one you'll find is probably going to be in a town called Melve that you head to early in the game – you will be taken in by a woman named Ulrika, and there is a chest with a Wakestone Segment in her house.

Three Segments will automatically fuse in your inventory to form one Wakestone. I have not been particularly searching these out, and 20 hours in I had no less than five in my inventory. Unless you're wasting these stones on resurrecting when you could just reload, you do not need to buy them. There are plenty in-game.

Rare Portcrystal items are rewarded for a handful of side quests, such as the 'A Trial of Archery' quest. In addition, there are certain quests which allow an item in your possession to be duplicated, such as the Sphinx's Riddles, and this can also allow you to obtain more Portcyrstals. Forgeries are possible - but sadly, they're non-functional.

Granted, these items are more rare than anything else on this page, but you still don't need to buy them; they're available in game, they're just rare. The fact you can buy one is a shortcut, and nothing more.

There are only two bits of DLC that you can't get in-game that might matter to you, and they are:

This allows you to listen to music from Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen within Dragon's Dogma 2. It is cosmetic only and has no real bearing on anything else in-game.

Heartfelt Pendant

This is a gift item that allows you to deepen a bond between your Arisen and another character – but most NPCs in-game have a log that lists what they like and dislike, and you can use that to give them other items. The Heartfelt Pendant is just a corner-cutting device for people who don't want to engage with the systems of the game.

If you need more Dragon's Dogma 2 help, check out our guides on the save system, the pawn system, how timed quest work, how to fast travel, and how to carry more weight.