"Nobody Told Me!" Part 2 - How to Maximize Rift Crystal Earnings and Become An In-Game, Multi-RC-Millionaire!

The currency used by all but one of the Vendors in the game is gold, but the REAL money (as far as most players are concerned), is RIFT CRYSTALS. You know this, that's why you're here. You need more. How much more? Enough to not ever have to worry about it, ever again. Right? So, obviously the easiest method is to sit back and wait for your Pawn to get hired out ("yeah right!" I hear you say). I have a separate guide that covers how to set up your Pawns. That won't be discussed here. BUT, did you know there is a way to 100% guarantee that your Pawn will be hired out, AND generate tons of RC for you, that doesn't involve begging people on forums to "please, please, please" hire them, AND costs exactly ZERO dollars to do? Well, there is! Now I'm not gonna lie, this does take a little time, but it's time well spent - having fun playing the game! Here's how -> FAMILY SHARE.

Steam allows you to create up to five different profiles and share ONE legal copy of Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen across all five accounts FOR FREE. What does this mean for you? 5 Pawns and 5 Arisens who can HIRE EACH OTHER'S PAWNS while playing the game. Instead of making someone else's Pawn a ton of RC, each of your own hired Pawns is earning RC for one of your own Arisens during every playthrough! Now, rather than detail the how-to of setting up Family Sharing, I'll let Steam tell you all about it here -> https://store.steampowered.com/promotion/familysharing
Copy and paste that URL into your web browser of choice and read up on getting your family accounts set up. Just be advised - if you aren't worried about the four new accounts being hired out by anyone else besides yourself, it's 100% free. If, however, you want your four new Accounts to be able to communicate with others and make friends, Steam WILL require that you upload $5 into the individual Steam Wallets of those accounts. It's completely optional, and although ideal, it's NOT required for you to be able to play the game simply using your own Pawns.

Now just to clarify - You don't NEED to setup *five* accounts, that's just the maximum number allowed. Secondly, each account will be an entirely new/separate game. So your new account will have to start the game from the beginning, and it will have it's own saves and levels and such. Thirdly, you can only use one account at a time, so you can't ask your friend/brother/sister/cousin to hop on your alt-account(s) and play the game at the same time. Only ONE copy of DDDA can be active at any given time.

Moving right along, obviously you know that RC is earned directly from killing enemies and completing quests or just just found as an item, like an RC chunk in a chest for example. But, in order to maximize how much RC is earned while you play, you need to take advantage of an in-game mechanic called "Weal". Weal DOUBLES Experience Points, Discipline Points, and (most importantly) *Rift Crystals earned* while playing. Simply playing the game while Weal is active on your character is like earning double-time pay at work! Sounds good, right? So, how do you get some Weal? Well, there are FIVE different items that you can use:

1)Blessed Flower: This is a quest item and can be easily missed. Google it if you're unfamiliar.
Fun Fact: Once you obtain it, you can make unlimited copies (forgeries) at The Black Cat. Just remember to put it in storage if you don't plan to use it right away. They wilt after one in-game day sitting on your character and then become useless, but they last forever in storage. Trust me, they're expensive to copy (about 180,000 gold), so you don't want to forget. P.S. - They make great gifts to friends! ;)

2)Veteran's Periapt: You can buy these from Fournival during Post-Game or find them in the game world.
Fun Fact: Combine Malecryst & Black Crystal *OR* Septiscopic Crystal & Moonstone and make your own for free.

3)Pilgrim's Charm: You can buy these from Fournival, Madeleine or Aestella or find them in the game world.
Fun Fact: Combine Veteran's Periapt and Banker's Periapt and make your own for free.

4. Martyr's Talisman: You can buy these from Barroch or find them in the game world.
   Fun Fact: Combine Mage's Talisman and Wailing Crystal and make your own for free.

and finally,

5) Mage's Talisman: Inflicts "Cursed" as a side effect, so I say - hard pass. Curse reduces your attack and defense for 90 seconds. Not a good idea.

Now, let's go over a real world example of how to become "Rift Crystal Rich". Once you've setup your new alt Steam Account(s), you'll need them to friend request your Primary Account. Steam Friends can hire each other's Pawns for free. (BTW - Don't make the mistake of thinking you're gonna get rich by "paying yourself" RC to hire your own higher level, primary Pawn by paying RC in the Rift to use them in your new game. RC paid to hire Pawns in the Rift gets sucked into the void. Your Primary account DOES NOT earn the hiring fee. OK?)

So anyway, you play the game normally and only hire your own Pawns. As you progress and earn gold or discover items to sell, you buy (or craft) Veteran's Periapt, Pilgram's Charm, or Marty's Talisman. Then you USE THE WEAL ITEM right before entering boss battles or almost anywhere in the BBI area of the game. Using one of them increases not only YOUR earnings, but the earnings of your hired Pawns as well - which ALSO happen to be YOUR PAWNS!

And, it goes wothout saying that - the bigger the baddie, the bigger the payday. So, you'll want to focus on using these time sensitive (and expensive) Weal items immediately before fighting Dragons and other high RC kills. Then, every time you load up a game on any one of your accounts and sleep at an Inn or rest at a bench, your Pawn will say "I brought this back for you!" and the RC will come pouring in.

But, that's just the beginning. If you REALLY want to earn "the big RC", you'll want to have other players hire your Pawns as well. Now, that DOES mean you'll want to upload $5 to the Steam Wallet of each Alt-Account, however, *it's still your money*. You can use it towards other games or items in the future, so it's not like you're "losing it". And once you do, you can then communicate with other DDDA players, hire each other's Pawns, gift each other items, etc. Now if you go this route, you'll want to "put the word out" as they say. Folks need to know your Pawns exist and are available. And, as you've already learned, it costs RC to rent Pawns of a higher level....UNLESS THEY ARE STEAM FRIENDS. So, you advertise your Pawns, and you let folks know that they can rent your Pawns for free because you WILL accept their "Friend Request" on Steam. Then you advertise.

Two main websites are dedicated to Dragon's Dogma Pawns. The first is "Pawn Guild" -> https://pawnguild.xyz/faq/

And, the second is "Original Pawn Sharing Club" -> https://opsc.dark-arisen.com/index.php

Upload the details of your Pawns to each of those sites. Be advised that you'll have to check-in with each at least once a week to prove you are still active in the game. They both update/reset on Sunday evenings. Details can be found on those sites.

Additionally, once a week, the Reddit Forum dedicated to Dragon's Dogma (https://www.reddit.com/r/DragonsDogma/) posts a thread where folks can list their Pawn(s) who are available for hire. If you're not already on Reddit, obviously you'll have to join that, then join the Dragon's Dogma forum. But - it's an invaluable resource of information and discussion of the game, AND - tons of Pawn Rentals and new Steam Friends. More friends = more rentals = more RC.

How much more? Well, let's just say that one of my Pawn's first taught me this-> The very most RC the game will allow you to have, the MAXIMUM amount of RC your Arisen may have at any given time? It's 99,999,999. That's not a typo. The game will not allow you to be a 100 Millionaire in Rift Crystals. But one of my four Pawns has the max. The other three have a bit less, but still more than I could ever spend. And the game WILL NOT allow you to directly gift RC to other players OR refuse RC earned from your Pawns being rented. If it did, I would. Honestly. At this point in my journey, I just enjoy letting others have the benefit of being able to play the game with max level Pawns and helping them out with questions and such.

But, along the way - it sure is fun knowing that you have enough RC to purify as many BBI items as you could ever find or receive as gifts. You can open every rift gate. You can buy everything Jonathan at The Encampment has on offer, INCLUDING his exclusive Inclination Elixirs (which is Important, see my other Guide). And even if you take a break from the game, with minimal effort, your Pawns keep on earning you RC, so you never run out.

So, there it is. If only getting rich in "the real world" was as easy and fun, right?

Anyway, if you have any good tips on helping others maximize their RC earnings, be sure to let me know in the comments. Otherwise, "Be well Arisen!"