One of the main quests in Dragon's Dogma 2 is "The Stolen Throne." To complete it, you need to visit Vernworth Hall on the palace grounds and attend a masquerade. However, Captain Brant mentions that masquerades take place in the hall nightly, and it turns out there's more to do there than a single main quest.
Players who return to Vernworth Hall can start the side quest "A Noble Exchange." The quest starts suddenly, however, and since one wrong step can land you in gaol, it helps to know what your options are when you're playing Dragon's Dogma 2.
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How to Start A Noble Exchange
The start of this quest can take you by surprise (much like many other quest-givers in Dragon's Dogma 2), but it won't happen unless you meet a specific set of conditions.
- You must have completed the quest "The Stolen Throne."
- You must enter the ballroom of Vernworth Hall (the site of the masquerade) after dark.
-
You must be wearing
Courtly Breeches, a
Courtly Tunic, and the
Eventide Mask
provided by Captain Brant. A
Beastren Mask
might also be enough to start this quest, but the
Eventide Mask
definitely will.
The Courtly Attire set was optional for "The Stolen Throne," but it's mandatory if you want to start "A Noble Exchange." There are a few ways you can get the Courtly Attire:
- Complete the quest "The Ornate Box."
- Buy the set from Philbert's Sundries for a total of 305,000 gold.
- Open a chest in one of the back rooms of Vernworth Hall.
- Open a chest in Sven's Chambers in the palace.
- Several chests in Noble Quarter houses hold the tunic, breeches, or both.
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How to Get the Best Ending of A Noble Exchange
You'll know the quest has started when a nobleman approaches you and identifies you as the Arisen. He'll explain that tonight is a night of gift exchanges and give you an item called the Paragon Staff. Pay attention to how he looks. He has:
- Combed-back brown hair
- A gold-and-black domino mask
- A goatee
- A purple tunic
- A red cape on the left shoulder
Knowing what he looks like will come in handy later.
After this first exchange, you can approach other nobles in the ballroom, and they'll each give you a gift. You can give them gifts using the normal mechanics, but doing so won't change how the quest proceeds. The gifts you get include:
- Tiger Eye
- Igneous Melody
- Bunch of Flowers
- Fruit Wine
Following a round of gift-giving, a guard named Olven will enter the ballroom and announce that someone has stolen the Paragon Staff, a royal treasure. He plans to search everyone present, but he encourages the attendees to "subdue" whomever they think may be the suspect. Once he appears, there are four ways the quest can end.
1. You Capture the Thief
Assuming you remember what the first noble looked like (his identity is always the same in every playthrough, so the image above can help), you can grab him to tackle him to the ground. The thief, Gunther, will immediately confess to the theft, and the guards will thank you for your cooperation. They'll also take the Paragon Staff from your inventory. Your reward for reaching this ending is 900 XP and 7,500 gold.
2. You Escape with the Staff
You can make a run for it, although the guards outside will turn hostile. Using the secret exit behind the hall can help you get a head start, but your best option is to use a Ferrystone as soon as you're outside. You'll get 900 XP but only 3,000 gold, although you can then sell the Paragon Staff to get 12,000 gold.
3. You Ditch the Staff
If you don't have the staff in your inventory, the guards will have no choice but to let you go. You can get rid of the Paragon Staff by entering your inventory and choosing to Discard the item, although you may need to enter one of the empty rooms in the back of the hall to do so safely. This gives you the lesser reward of ending two.
You can also Discard the staff before apprehending Gunther, and either way you can go on to reclaim it at Ibrahim's Scrap Store in Checkpoint Rest Town. However, the cost of reclaiming the staff is 60,000 gold, or five times its sell price. The staff has no purpose beyond this quest, so there's no point in reclaiming it.
One other way to dispose of the Paragon Staff is to carry a pawn to Vernworth Hall, get the staff from Gunther, and then give it to the pawn before they wander too far away. Pawns aren't supposed to be on the palace grounds, and so the game only checks the Arisen's inventory when searching. This exploit is also compatible with ending one.
4. You Get Caught
The guards catch you with the staff and arrest you. This ending will hurt your reputation with the Vernworth nobility and land you in gaol. You'll still get 900 XP for completing the quest, but you'll get no gold and lose the staff in the process.
Dragon's Dogma 2
- Released
- March 22, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
- How Long To Beat
- 30 Hours
- Metascore
- 88
