The Dragon's Dogma 2 Battahl region requires a Border Entry Permit to let you through a checkpoint but, depending on the Dragon's Dogma 2 Arisen's Shadow quest outcome, you'll either get a Beastren version that requires you be a Beastren or wear a mask as a human, or a merchant one which is good for either. Or you can find the secret back entrance that lets you navigate around the border gate altogether, though there'll be plenty of peril to deal with if you don't want to go through with what the Dragon's Dogma 2 quest suggests.
Whichever route is more to your taste - simple bureaucracy or survivalist monster hunting - I’ve laid them both out below. Here's how you get to the Battahl region in Dragon's Dogma 2.
Getting the Battahl Border Entry Permit in Dragon's Dogma 2
If you want to take the easier method of reaching Battahl in Dragon's Dogma 2, here's how to go about it:
- Progress the main story with Captain Brant until you complete the Feast of Deception quest, then speak to him again in the Vernworth Tavern at night.
- Depending on how you handled the Arisen's Shadow quest (if you completed it at all) you'll get a Merchant's Border Entry Permit or a Beastren Border Entry Permit.
- If you're a Beastren and have the Beastren Permit, you're good to go. However, if you're human you need to head to Ibrahim's Scrap Shop in the North of the Checkpoint Rest Town. He sells a Beastren Mask - buy and equip it to use the Beastren Permit as a human. If you have the Merchant's Border Entry Permit as a either race you don't need to do anything.
- Once you have either permit and anything else you might need, take the Oxcart in the Northwest side of Vernworth to the Checkpoint Rest Town then walk up the rising stone road that loops around town until you reach the huge gate and speak to the guard, presenting him with the Permit you have.
Keep in mind that if you want to come back through the gate again, you'll need to re-equip the Beastren Mask (assuming you are a Human character). Of course, if you don't want to pay for the mask, are just roleplaying a survivalist, or simply want more adventure, there is another option to make it through.
How to get to Battahl without the permit
If you want to find an alternate route to Battahl in Dragon's Dogma 2, there is a secret path - but be warned, it's pretty rough, and you'll want to go in prepared to handle multiple powerful monsters.
The secret path is actually on the banks of the river that passes above the Checkpoint Rest Town. Follow the river along its edge to the West and you'll find a tunnel by climbing up some rocks. Inside you'll have to climb up more rocks to reach a risen path - and then you're following the long, meandering route shown on the map above.
The problem is that this route is choked with powerful monsters, including the rock-covered/armored version of the Saurians, red wolves, a cyclops, two minotaurs, a section filled with zombies, and a Chimera - a particularly nasty encounter. You're not likely to get lost - the route is basically a single path with a couple of dead ends attached - but players should go in prepared to either battle furiously or sprint past all the horrors along the way.
Still, once you reach the end, you'll hit the desert region of Battahl, and have a whole new section of the map to explore - good luck!
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