Dragon’s Dogma 2: Where to Find and Restore the Riftstone of the Elite

The Riftstone of the Elite sits inside the Abandoned Village in Norgan, the ruined hamlet east of the Norgandian Settlement. You find it broken at first, a heap of dark rubble on a round, stepped stone base, waiting beside the stream near a small plank bridge. Restore it and it opens a rift stocked with pawns carrying advanced weapon skills.

Quick answer: Walk onto the stone base beside the stream in the Abandoned Village and press Examine (F on PC) to rebuild it, then hold Examine to enter the rift.

Riftstone of the Elite location in the Abandoned Village

Reach the Abandoned Village from the road east of the Norgandian Settlement. A grey stone wall with battlements crosses the path, broken by arched openings with rubble piled on its right side.

Pass through the open arch. The area name “Abandoned Village” appears on the left of the screen as you go under it.

The Arisen passing the rubble beside the stone arch as the area name Abandoned Village shows on the left — The area name "Abandoned Village" shows on the left as you come through the arch in the stone wall. Shown at 31:56 in FightinCowboy’s video. Image: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.

On the far side the ground drops away. Run down the slope and keep the hut with the turf roof on your right.

At the bottom you reach a shallow stream crossed by a short plank bridge marked with wooden posts. The riftstone’s base sits on the near bank, a few steps left of the bridge, a ring of flat grey stones in three low steps with black rubble heaped in the middle.

A round base of flat grey stones in three low steps with black rubble heaped on it, beside a stream and a plank bridge with wooden posts — The broken stone: black rubble on a stepped round base, on the bank just left of the plank bridge. Shown at 41:14 in FightinCowboy’s video. Image: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.

The area name can switch to “Norgandian Foothills” by the time you reach the stream. You are still in the right spot.

Enemies hold the village. “Encountered: Beorcan and others.” shows on the roads around it, and a large beast can be waiting at the stream inside the walls. Clear them before you stop at the stone.

How to restore the Riftstone of the Elite

The prompt alone rebuilds the stone; nothing is taken from your pack, and Rift Crystals are added rather than spent.

Step onto the stone base. The prompt “Examine” appears on the rubble (F on PC).

Use it. The black fragments lift and fit back together into a rounded standing stone, and 90 RC slides in on the right of the screen as it rebuilds.

The Arisen on the stone base in front of the rebuilt rounded riftstone, with 90 RC shown on the right — The fragments have closed up into a standing stone and "90 RC" shows on the right. Shown at 41:19 in FightinCowboy’s video. Image: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.

The prompt on the finished stone now reads “Examine (Hold)”. Hold F. The screen turns blue and the name “Riftstone of the Elite” fades in at the top of the rift.

What the Riftstone of the Elite does

The stone’s text reads “Find pawns with advanced weapon skills equipped.” The pawns waiting inside carry advanced weapon skills, so this is where you go to recruit for that purpose. It is a riftstone, not a portcrystal, so it is not a fast-travel point.

Inside, pawns stand around the glowing blue stone. A small tag by each one shows a name, a level and a hire cost in RC. A header at the top switches the tags between pages with LB and RB (Q and E on PC), and the pages include “General Information”, “Type/Race/Inclination” and “Weapon Skill”. The row of dots under the header has eight dots.

On the “Weapon Skill” page, each tag lists that pawn’s six weapon skills, so you can read the advanced ones before talking to anyone. Skills listed on pawns in this rift included Hurricane Strike, Riotous Fury, Full Moon Slash, Eviscerating Skewer, Spiral Arrow, Cascade Shot, Myriad Shot, High Levin, High Solemnity, Argent Solace, High Frigor, Celestial Paean, High Celerity, High Salamander, High Thundermine, High Hagol, Grand Decanter and Meteoron.

Walk up to a pawn and the prompt reads “Hail (Hold to Talk)”. The menu gives you “Hire” with the cost beside it, “View Pawn Details”, “Add to Favorites” and “Cancel”. Choosing “View Pawn Details” opens the Status screen with the tabs “Status”, “Vocation” and “Pawn”, where “Vocation” lists Weapon Skills and Core Skills with a text and a preview for each.

Hire costs vary with the pawn. On the tags, pawns at level 97 showed “0 RC”, level 98 showed “27 RC” and level 99 showed “61 RC”. Talking to a pawn already in your party instead gives “Talk”, “Dismiss”, “Add to Favorites” and “Never mind.”

How to leave the rift

Use “Examine” on the stone from inside the rift. The menu is titled “Riftstone of the Elite” and has two rows, “Pawns in the Rift” and “Leave the Rift”, with the stone’s text beneath them. Highlight “Leave the Rift” and the hint line reads “Leave the rift and return to your travels.” Select it to step back out and carry on.