Dragon's Dogma 2 players using rotten food to warn of Dragonsplague Pawns

The Dragon's Dogma 2 community is devising a way to warn other players of an infected Pawn.

Please note, there will be spoilers for Dragon's Dogma 2 below.

If you are one of the 2.5 million users currently making your way through Dragon's Dogma 2, you may have heard some rumblings about a Pawn affliction known as Dragonsplague, which left unchecked can result in some devastating consequences.

There are some early warnings of this affliction that players can look out for, such as a red glow in a Pawn's eyes or a more abrasive change in attitude. Pawns will also start to discuss the plague during their ambient dialogue. When these Dragonsplague signs start to show, it is time to swap out the infected Pawn before it is too late. Otherwise, the only alternative is engineering that they fall in battle.

But, what of those Pawns that have the plague, and have been dismissed as a result? Well, Dragon's Dogma 2 players have started to send those infected Pawns off with a parting gift to serve as a warning to others.

Since the game's release last month, players on Steam and Reddit have been discussing the best way to alert others that a Pawn is infected with Dragonsplague, and therefore should not be added to a party or at least cleansed by their creators. So far, the most popular option has been to dismiss a Pawn with something in their inventory that shows discontent.

"When I recruit a pawn that is clearly exhibiting plague signs, I want to 'return to sender' with a gift that says 'hey, your pawn is about to explode, you might want to throw their ass in a lake'," a Dragonsplague discussion on Steam states, with the original poster asking for suggestions on how to get this message across.

Replies to this particular thread suggest something rotten, be it fruit or flesh. "I would suggest any rotten food along with a thumbs-up or heart. Rotten food will get available pretty quick. (It doesn't need to be an apple... Any rotten [thing] can do.)," one said. "So you [imply] that you were satisfied with the pawn (hence, the heart or thumbs up) but something is wrong with it. (hence the rotten food.)"

This idea of leaving a Pawn with something rotten has also been picked up over on Reddit. "It communicates discontent super well, so the player will know something is up and subsequently wash his pawn," user ImaFireSquid explained. "I'm giving rotten fruit to any pawn I get that has Dragonsplague," another thread begins.

Some players have suggested this method may be too vague, and perhaps something like Wilted Flowers would be a better way to convey the message. Either way, if you do decide to pick up a new Pawn from a Riftstone, maybe check their pockets first to check for any more unexpected, wilted or rotten items. It may just save a village.

For more on Dragon's Dogma 2's Pawns, you can check out Eurogamer's handy guide detailing how to hire Pawns, Pawn Commands and more here.