Ready to master the flow of time in Dragon’s Dogma 2? Whether you’re dodging deadly night creatures, chasing elusive NPCs, or managing your quest deadlines, knowing how to pass time strategically is key to survival and success. From cozy inns to risky campsites and even simple benches, discover all the ways you can rest, wait, and leap through the day-and why timing can make or break your adventure in this sprawling fantasy world.
Our Dragon’s Dogma 2 guide will show you how to pass time in two ways – dozing off for a few hours or sleeping for longer – and where you’ll have to be to do each.
How long is a day in Dragon’s Dogma 2?
The length of a full day-night cycle in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is approximately 48 minutes in real time, with about 24 minutes of daytime and 24 minutes of nighttime. This cycle affects gameplay significantly, as different quests, characters, and events appear depending on the time of day. Players can wait out the cycle naturally or speed up time by resting at inns, camping at campsites, or dozing off on benches, with inns providing the most reliable way to skip to a specific time. Managing time is crucial for completing time-sensitive quests and optimizing exploration.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 has a roughly 48-minute day-night cycle, according to our testing. Some quests only take place a certain times of day, different enemies appear at different times, and some resources can only be collected at night.
You can tell what time of day it is by looking at the border of the stylized map in the pause menu:
Confusingly, the ring spins counterclockwise, so it’s better to think of it like a map (or a sundial) than as a clock. The picture of the sun “rises” in the east and then rotates counterclockwise around to “set” in the west.
In the above image, for instance, the sun’s positioning indicates it’s a bit past mid-morning.
Some quests – timed quests – are also impacted by the passage of time, where if you wait too long to complete an accepted quest, you’ll either end up with a “bad” ending or just fail the quest.
Meanwhile, items in your inventory can change as time passes: An apple, for instance, becomes a ripened apple (that heals more) and then a rotten apple (that poisons) over the course of a few days.
How to pass time at an inn or camp
In Dragon’s Dogma 2, passing time at an inn or camp is essential for managing your health and progressing quests that depend on specific times of day. At an inn, you can pay a fee to rest until morning or nightfall, which reliably restores your party’s health and saves your progress. Inns are a safe and convenient option, especially in towns. Alternatively, camping at designated campsites requires a camping kit and allows you to cook food before resting, which is necessary to restore health. Camping offers flexibility for resting in the wild but carries the risk of monster ambushes that can destroy your camping kit. Both inns and camps let you choose to skip to day or night, helping you control the time for quests or exploration, though inns are generally safer and more reliable.
When you’re in the wild, you’ll periodically find campsites. At these campfires, you can use a camping kit to make camp. If you’re in a settlement, you might find an inn – buildings with a blue fireplace sign out front.
In a camp, interacting with your bedroll lets you choose to sleep until the next morning or evening. At an inn, you’ll have to pay for a bed. The price is pretty steep, and will usually cost you about 1,500 to 2,000 gold per night.
Wherever you sleep, you’ll get the option to rest till morning or rest till nightfall. Either option fast-forwards time to the next day or night. If you sleep at an inn, you also create a save you can return to with the load last inn save option – just be aware that doing so overwrites your last autosave.
How to pass time at a bench
Benches in Dragon’s Dogma 2 are scattered throughout cities and settlements, providing a convenient way to pass time by allowing your character to doze off and skip ahead to different parts of the day, such as from morning to noon or dusk to midnight. This method is free and offers more granular control over time progression compared to inns or campsites, though it does not restore health or provide other benefits. Using benches is especially useful for completing time-sensitive quests or finding specific NPCs, but players should be mindful that passing time can affect items in their inventory, like food, which may spoil or become more potent. Benches are a practical tool for managing time safely, especially since traveling at night can be dangerous in the game world.
In cities and settlements, you’ll see benches around that you can interact with. You can only interact with the ones that have red fabric on the seat – the others are just decoration. You can track down which benches allow you to pass time by checking your minimap for a bench-shaped icon.
A couple seconds after you sit on a bench, you’ll get the option to doze off (just like you do in an oxcart while fast traveling).
While sleeping in camp or at an inn fast-forwards time all the way to the next day or night, dozing off takes you about halfway there. If you want to go all the way from day to night, you might have to doze off twice in a row.
How can I efficiently pass time without risking nightfall in Dragon’s Dogma 2
To efficiently pass time in Dragon’s Dogma 2 without risking nightfall, the most reliable method is to rest at an Inn or stay at a Campsite where you can choose to sleep until morning, thus skipping the dangerous night hours entirely. Inns are found in towns and allow you to pay a fee to rest until either night or morning, making it easy to control the time of day precisely, though it can be costly. Campsites require a Camping Kit and are marked by a fire icon on the map; resting there also lets you sleep until morning or night, but you must be prepared for potential enemy attacks while vulnerable.
If you want to avoid spending gold or carrying camping gear, sitting on benches or dozing off at taverns and oxcart stops can pass time, but these methods are less precise and may not let you skip directly to morning, risking unintended nightfall. Additionally, owning a home with a bed lets you pass time for free, choosing to rest until morning or nightfall safely.
In summary, for safe and efficient time passing without risking nightfall, prioritize resting at Inns or Campsites, or use your home bed if available.
What is the most cost-effective way to pass time without risking nightfall
The most cost-effective way to pass time in Dragon’s Dogma 2 without risking nightfall is to use your own home bed once you have completed the “A Place to Call Home” quest. Resting at home allows you to pass time freely from morning to nightfall or vice versa without spending any gold. This method is both safe and free, making it the best option for budget-conscious players.
If you don’t yet own a home, using benches in cities is a free alternative to pass time in increments (morning to noon, noon to dusk, etc.), though it may be less precise. Taverns offer a free option to pass time by simply waiting without buying a round, but inns and campsites require gold or a camping kit, which can be more costly.
Therefore, owning a home with a bed is the most cost-effective and risk-free way to pass time without encountering nightfall dangers in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
