Dragon's Dogma 2 · Lab · Checked 8 October 2026

Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, from the save you have.

Dark Arisen unlocks on 9 October at 00:00 UTC. This lab answers the three questions of the night before for your own case: whether your save can start it and in which order, whether your thumb can land the two weapon-skill chords Title Update 3.2 added, and what the expansion costs and brings on the copy you own.

Can your save start Dark Arisen? Where you are in the story decides it.

Both parts of the expansion start from Captain Brant at the Stardrop Inn in Vernworth, once the main story has brought you into Vermund. The endgame Unmoored World shuts them out. Tell the lab where your save is and what level you are.

Where is your save?

Your level

This save can start it now.

Start over, keeping your save
The free update of 9 October adds an option to start the game again from the beginning while carrying over your current saved data. A New Game+ works too.
Ride the story back
A New Game+ keeps your level and your gear, so the road back to Vermund is quick.
Reach Vermund in the main story
Both parts open once the story has brought you into Vermund. Until then Captain Brant has nothing new to say.
Talk to Captain Brant at the Stardrop Inn
In Vernworth. Two new lines are marked with a download icon: the one about a new Arisen leads to Norgan, the one about ruins starts Lost Rites.
Lost Rites — recommended from level 20
Twelve challenge dungeons back in the main world, holding the gear of past Arisen.
Forsaken Dominion — recommended from level 40
Norgan, the snowbound north: the enigmatic Eir and the undying Fallen Dragon.
Level up first
Capcom’s levels are recommendations, not locks. You can go in below them; the fights are tuned for them.

The rules are Capcom’s: where the quests start, the recommended levels and the Unmoored World lock. The lab only puts them in the order your save needs them.

Six weapon skills on four face buttons. Can your thumb land the chords?

Title Update 3.2 raised the weapon skills from four to six. Hold L1 (LB) and press one face button for skills 1 to 4 — or two at once for 5 and 6. The game does not say how close together the two presses must be; this drill measures the gap and calls a chord clean under 50 ms, its own line.

L1LB

△Y ○B ✕A □X

Connect a controller and press any button — or tap a skill below to see its buttons.

Weapon skill —

Eight prompts: every skill once and the two chords twice. Hold L1 (LB), press the buttons, let go.

Right—

Clean—

Chord gap—

Time—

Chord gap is the median time between the two presses of skills 5 and 6; time is the median from the prompt to the last press. Both stay in this browser. If your gap sits far over the line, move skills 5 and 6 to single buttons under Options › Controls › Button Mapping.

On a keyboard

Hold Left Ctrl and press Mouse 1, V, Space or F for skills 1 to 4. Title Update 3.2 added two keyboard control types: one fires each skill with a single key, one switches skills with a single key. No source this page can check lists the default keys for skills 5 and 6 yet — read them in the game under Button Mapping.

If your board drops a key when Ctrl is held with Space or F, skills 3 and 4 fail exactly in a fight.

Keyboard ghosting test

What 9 October gives your copy. The price, the update and the hour, in your time.

Pick where you play and whether you already own the game. Prices are the US ones; Capcom’s update notice lists what the free update brings to each platform.

Where do you play?

Do you own Dragon's Dogma 2?

Buy Dark Arisen Expansion $29.99

Needs Dragon's Dogma 2. Update the game to the latest patch first, then talk to Captain Brant.

Unlocks 9 October 2026, 00:00 UTC

Steam and the Xbox store list this hour: 5 PM Pacific on 8 October.

The free title update, the same day

Hard Mode
Start the game over from the beginning while keeping your current saved data
The Orienteer pawn specialization
Forgotten riftstones give 90 rift crystals instead of 30 — and the difference for the ones you already used
Thermal properties on some armor
DualSense adaptive triggers, vibration and motion sensor
DLSS 4.5 Super Resolution, and frame generation with multi-frame support, usable without DLSS upscaling
FSR 3 Frame Generation
Enhanced PSSR, on PlayStation 5 Pro

Your time is read from this browser’s clock and time zone, and nothing is sent anywhere. In Japan the expansion is ¥2,990 and the game with it ¥5,990.

Everything this site has on Dragon's Dogma 2

Four pages and none repeats another: this lab, the controls page, the Dark Arisen launch page with the editions and the hour, and the PC check. Every figure is counted from what the page holds.

51 bindings keyboard23controller28settings4 Dragon's Dogma 2 controls Every default bind on keyboard and pad, dated, with the settings behind them. 3 benches keyboardyescontrolleryestouchscreenyes Dragon's Dogma 2 input lab You are here 1 day left milestones4questions8editions3 Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen When the new version unlocks where you are and what it changes, dated from the publisher. 2 tiers ray tracingoptionalmemory16 GBgraphics cards4 Can you run Dragon's Dogma 2? Reads your graphics card and places it against the publisher’s own tiers.

Answers

Straight answers

The questions Dragon's Dogma 2 players ask the week Dark Arisen arrives, answered from Capcom’s own notices and manual.

How do you start Dark Arisen in Dragon's Dogma 2?

Reach Vermund in the main story, then talk to Captain Brant at the Stardrop Inn in Vernworth. Two new lines are marked with a download icon: the one about a new Arisen leads to the Forsaken Dominion in Norgan, the one about ruins starts the Lost Rites dungeons. Update the game to the latest patch first.

Can you play Dark Arisen in the Unmoored World?

No. The endgame Unmoored World shuts the expansion out. Start a New Game+, or use the option the free 9 October update adds to start the game over from the beginning while keeping your current saved data, and reach Vermund again.

What level should you be for Dark Arisen?

Capcom recommends level 20 for the Lost Rites dungeons and level 40 for the Forsaken Dominion in Norgan. They are recommendations, not locks: you can go in below them, but the fights are tuned for them.

How do you use weapon skills 5 and 6 in Dragon's Dogma 2?

Title Update 3.2 added them. Hold L1 (LB) and press two face buttons together: Triangle and Circle (Y and B) for skill 5, Square and Cross (X and A) for skill 6. If the chord does not land cleanly, move them to other buttons under Options › Controls › Button Mapping.

What time does Dark Arisen unlock?

At 00:00 UTC on 9 October 2026 on Steam and Xbox: 5 PM Pacific and 8 PM Eastern on 8 October, 01:00 in London, 02:00 in central Europe and 09:00 in Japan. Capcom gives the date only for PlayStation 5 and Switch 2.

Do I need to buy Dragon's Dogma 2 again for Dark Arisen?

No. If you own the game, the expansion is $29.99 on its own. Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, the game with the expansion, is $49.99 — and it is the only version on Switch 2, so there is no expansion-only purchase there.

Tools for the same hands

Controller check Skills 5 and 6 are two face buttons at once; check both register together and the sticks hold still on a narrow ledge. Keyboard ghosting test Every weapon skill on a keyboard is Left Ctrl held with another key; check your board reports Ctrl with Space and F. DualSense trigger test The 9 October update turns on DualSense adaptive triggers, vibration and motion on Steam; check both triggers before you go north. Other game labs The same treatment for the rest of the library.

Unofficial. Keymap Labs is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Capcom. Dragon's Dogma is a trademark of Capcom Co., Ltd. The rules, the levels and the prices are Capcom’s; the 50 ms line in the chord drill is this page’s own, because the game publishes none. Controller readings and your rounds stay in this browser. Last checked 8 October 2026.

Main source: Capcom — Notice regarding the update

Help more players find this

A save in the Unmoored World cannot start Dark Arisen at all. This tells you whether yours can and in which order, times the two new weapon-skill chords on your own pad and puts the 9 October unlock in your time

If it told you something you did not know, post it where other players will see it. That is the whole growth plan.

Your post · keymap.io

A save in the Unmoored World cannot start Dark Arisen at all. This tells you whether yours can and in which order, times the two new weapon-skill chords on your own pad and puts the 9 October unlock in your time

https://keymap.io/games/dragons-dogma-2/

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