The Rumbles in the North quest is the first major roadblock that players will face in Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, especially for anyone playing in Hard Mode. The path toward the main objective here is simple and easy enough, but the boss in the Mountain Stronghold can pose a significant challenge to players who aren’t used to managing large numbers of enemies and a powerful spellcaster all at once.
In this DD2: Dark Arisen guide, we’ll be covering a number of tips and tactics for beating the Rumbles in the North quest as easily as possible.
This guide contains spoilers for the boss fight for Rumbles in the North.
Rumbles in the North Walkthrough
Your main goal here is to investigate the Mountain Stronghold north of the Norgandian Settlement. The path to the objective is fairly straightforward — from the village, head out from the northern exit, then keep following the road until you reach your destination. You’ll likely encounter plenty of enemies along the way, and you will most likely need to fight your way through. Make sure one of your pawns is carrying a Camping Kit so you can rest up before you reach the stronghold.
Once you arrive at the Mountain Stronghold, you need to look for the entrance to the large, covered hall on the east side. Head up the stairs, use the nearby Riftstone if needed, then enter the hall to start the boss fight.
Fallen Dragon Boss Fight
Inside the hall, an undead dragon will barge in from the western wall and immediately trigger a full-blown boss fight. All your exits are sealed once the battle begins, so you have no choice but to retaliate.
Unlike the original red dragon from the base game, the undead dragon in Dark Arisen does not have a weakspot on its heart. In fact, this dragon has no heart to begin with, so instead of focusing on its chest, you need to attack its head and arms, the parts of the dragon which are not protected by scales.
The undead dragon can cast spells and use physical attacks, but the most annoying part of this boss’ moveset is its ability to literally spit out a horde of Ghouls. Small and insignificant as they might look, these Ghouls will absolutely mess your party up if left unchecked, so you’ll need to find a way to get rid of them as soon as you can before focusing on the dragon.
Tips and Tricks
- Spellbooks are your best friends. Spells that deal high area-of-effect damage like Meteoron, Maelstrom, Frigor, and Salamander can help you deal with Ghoul hordes even if you aren’t using a spellcaster class. The Silence effect from Prescribed Tranquility books is also great for cancelling the dragon’s spells.
- Focus on one limb at a time. The Fallen Dragon’s limbs will eventually break if they take enough damage, disabling parts of its moveset. Breaking the head prevents it from breathing corrupted fire, while breaking its arms keeps it from using claw swipe attacks. The encounter ends once you break both arms and the head.
- Have a Thief in the party. Thieves are great at carving huge chunks off a boss’ health bar, and if they have the Smoke Screen ability equipped, they can be pretty decent at dealing with Ghoul hordes as well.
- Bring Regeneration Elixirs. These will restore health and reduce the Loss Gauge for everyone in your party when used.
- Released
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October 9, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Violence, Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Language
