How to fast travel in Dragon's Dogma 2

How to fast travel in Dragon's Dogma 2? DD2's fast travel system is incredibly limited by design, and while teleporting to key locations across the map is technically possible, it's done using intentionally limited resources, so as to encourage players to explore and search the world of Dragon's Dogma 2, as well as plan your travel across Vermund and Battahl.  There are two fast travel methods available in the game, both of which take some explaining, so here's what you need to know about how to fast travel in Dragon's Dogma 2.

Dragon's Dogma 2 Fast Travel explained

Dragon's Dogma 2 has two fast travel methods, assuming you don't consider accidentally getting dragged three continents away by an angry griffin to be fast travel.

• Oxcarts. Unlimited use but with a small fee, these carts move between fixed key locations like cities and towns, and will carry the player there. However, they only take specific routes, plus there's the chance of being attacked by monsters along the way - and if the cart gets destroyed, you'll be stranded in the wilderness and have to fight your way back.
• Ferrystones and Portcrystals. Ferrystones are rare, single-use consumables found in the world or sold by merchants at a high price. You can use them to instantly teleport to fixed Portcrystals you find. You can also find portable Portcrystals that you can place wherever you want.

We'll get more into these below, but keep in mind that it's the first of these that you'll be using far more often, unless you're willing to break the bank. Ferrystones are rare, though players can pay for more with microtransactions. Ultimately though, you should be conserving them wherever possible.

Fast traveling with oxcarts explained

The first fast travel method you'll be introduced to in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is via oxcart, which is the cheapest method of getting somewhere without walking. Every major village you encounter will have at least one oxcart station that travels along one route, so you can pay a small fee - usually a couple of hundred gold - to ride on the cart as it travels to its sole destination. For example, there are two oxcart stations in Vernworth, the capital city. One of them will take you to the village of Melve, while the other goes to the Checkpoint Rest Town on the border of Battahl - you'll need to come here for the Dragon's Dogma 2 Saint of the Slums quest and to find Rodge in Dragon's Dogma 2.

Oxcarts only travel during the daytime and leave at specific times, so if there isn't one waiting at a station, you can interact with the bell nearby to wait until it arrives. However, this isn't fast travel, per se. You can doze off in the back of the cart, but there's a high chance the oxcart will be attacked by enemies on the trip, which will wake you up and you'll need to deal with them before continuing. This doesn't always happen, but it means when it does, you'll need to be ready. If you encounter an oxcart on your travels, you can also hop in by speaking to the driver and riding wherever it's headed. 

Of course, time passes as normal when traveling by oxcart, so you need to bear that in mind if you have any timed quests on the go. It's also not particularly quick, so in reality, traveling by foot is probably quicker when it comes to in-game time. The oxcart is simply helpful when you want to take most of the effort away, especially if it's a path you've traveled many times before and know there aren't any secrets to discover.

Fast traveling via Ferrystones and Portcrystals explained

The other, slightly more traditional way of fast traveling in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is by using Ferrystones to take you to portcrystals. Unlike oxcarts, these are instantaneous, but they also have their limits. Firstly, each Ferrystone is single-use and you must use one from your inventory to fast travel this way. These are glowing blue stones and while they're not super rare, you definitely won't ever have an unlimited stock of them so you need to use them sparingly. You can purchase Ferrystones at certain vendors for 10,000 gold, including Philbert's Sundries in Vernworth, however you'll also loot them every now and then from chests.

You can't travel wherever you like with a Ferrystone though. You can only go directly to Portcrystals, which are essentially fast travel beacons, and you must discover them first before you can warp to them. They're also very few and far between; in the early stages of the game, you'll likely only find two for some time, as there's one in Vernworth and another on the beach in Harve, a village you must visit during an early quest.

However, you can find Portcrystals you can carry eventually. These are far rarer than Ferrystones, but you can place them wherever you like, for permanent fast travel spots. You can only have 10 down at any given time, but you don't need to worry about hitting that total for a long, long time.

You can acquire an early Portcrystal by speaking to Glyndwr and completing his quest. Glyndwr is an elf in Vernworth, near the row of shops in the town square. He wants you to visit him outside of town and show him how to use a human-made bow, so you must be the Archer vocation when taking on the quest. At the end of it all, you'll net a Portcrystal to be placed wherever you like (as well as unlocking the  Dragon's Dogma 2 A Trial of Archery quest).

That's everything you need to know about how to fast travel in Dragon's Dogma 2, though I've also covered how to cross water in Dragon’s Dogma 2 in case you get blocked by a river while on foot. Make sure you read up on our guide to the Dragon's Dogma 2 Vocation Frustration quest as well, for unlocking the Warrior and Sorcerer vocations.

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