Eye of the Sphinx in Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen

The Eye of the Sphinx is an implement that puts the locations of strong, loot-carrying enemies onto your map. You pick it up early in the Norgan story, and the game leans on it again later during Ruin-Night to find Rancor’s Vortexes. Getting it does not cost anything and does not depend on solving a puzzle first.

Quick answer: During Seeking the Sage, speak to the Sphinx at the Shrine of Wisdom and listen to each of her three riddles. Select “Never mind.” afterward; she gives you the Eye of the Sphinx before you depart.

How to get the Eye of the Sphinx in Seeking the Sage

At the Shrine of Wisdom, you’ll find the Sphinx on a raised stone platform; this is where the main quest Seeking the Sage concludes. No row in the talk asks for the eye. She gives it on her own when you end the conversation.

Make your way to the Shrine of Wisdom and approach the dais. Your arrival triggers a scene. When it finishes, the quest displays “You encountered the sage.” You’ll be on the steps facing her.

Use “Hail (Hold to Talk)” on her. The objective changes to “Speak with the sphinx.” and a single option appears: “Tell me of the Fallen Dragon.” Pick it.

She explains the Fallen Dragon and says she will pose three riddles. The menu now shows three rows: “Hear the Riddle of the Body”, “Hear the Riddle of the Soul”, and “Hear the Riddle of the Will”. Choose each row in turn and let her finish. Going top to bottom works fine.

After all three riddles have played, a fourth row appears at the bottom: “Never mind.” Pick it to close the talk.

After cautioning you about the riddles’ importance, she gives you an eye that can sense monsters. You regain control with the objective “Answer the sphinx’s riddles.” At the right edge of the screen, the Eye of the Sphinx banner appears.

The Sphinx on her dais with the item banner Eye of the Sphinx at the right of the screen and the objective Answer the sphinx riddles — After "Never mind." the banner "Eye of the Sphinx" appears at the right edge of the screen. Shown at 95:24 in Shirrako’s video. Image: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.

A few seconds later, three quests begin one after another: Sage’s Wisdom – Riddle of the Body, Sage’s Wisdom – Riddle of the Soul, and Sage’s Wisdom – Riddle of the Will. The eye is already in your inventory at that point. It is not a reward for finishing any of the three.

A little later, the upper-left corner displays an “Eye of the Sphinx” notice and the prompt “View Tutorial Logbook”. This opens a new Tutorial Logbook page, explaining that the item marks map locations for powerful enemies with a higher chance of dropping relics when defeated.

Where the Eye of the Sphinx sits in your Items menu

Find the eye in the Implements tab, which comes third after All and the curatives tab; it isn’t in Valuables. For the quickest route, use All, where the eye appears close to the top of the grid. Its icon is a circular silver token bearing a blue eye at its centre, and its weight is 0.01 kg.

Its item text reads: “An eye obtained from the Sphinx. Using it will indicate the location of fearsome foes who carry spoils.” When you highlight it, the item menu offers these rows, top to bottom: Use, Give, Give Multiple, Discard, and Cancel. Discard is greyed out, so you cannot throw the eye away from this menu.

You can place the eye into inn storage like any other implement. If you have stored it, pull it back out before you need it, because it only works from the Items menu.

How to use the eye and read the map markers

Nothing on the HUD triggers the eye. You activate it from the Items menu, and the game opens the map for you once it finishes.

Bring up the pause menu, enter Items, and highlight the Eye of the Sphinx. Confirm your selection, then choose Use.

A centred dialog displays “Locating Fearsome Foes” and provides just one button, “OK”. Confirm to continue.

The display fades to dark as a large blue-grey eye opens at the centre, surrounded by tiny lights. Next, the Map screen opens automatically, focused on your current position and showing the newly added markers. Place the cursor over a marker to see its label.

A large blue-grey eye opens over the map of Norgan after the Eye of the Sphinx is used — After "Locating Fearsome Foes" is confirmed, an eye opens over the map before the markers appear. Shown at 658:31 in Shirrako’s video. Image: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.

What the markers point to

The eye’s description says it leads to “fearsome foes who carry spoils”, while the Tutorial Logbook says powerful enemies have a greater chance of dropping relics when defeated. In practical terms, it points you toward tough targets worth pursuing for their loot.

The eye serves an additional purpose during Ruin-Night. At Abyss Ridge, as the quest Into Rancor starts, a tutorial box called “Eye of the Sphinx and Rancor’s Vortexes” explains that the eye reveals on your map where rancor’s vortexes appear in the Norgan region.

Use the eye then and purple swirl symbols appear across the map, with several scattered through the region. Each symbol consists of three small spirals joined together inside a darker border. Hover over one to see the label Rancor’s Vortex. From there, choose a swirl close to a portcrystal and travel to it.

Map of Norgan with purple swirl markers and the label Rancor's Vortex under the cursor — During Ruin-Night the eye adds purple swirl markers; the one under the cursor reads "Rancor's Vortex". Shown at 658:46 in Shirrako’s video. Image: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.

The eye comes into your possession well before vortexes appear, so don’t leave it behind. The game calls on it again at Ruin-Night.