Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen — When the Culling Gets Tough Walkthrough and Ring of Brawling Reward

In Forsaken Dominion, Dwayne offers the side quest When the Culling Gets Tough. He is a beastren who keeps the Norgandian Inn in the Norgandian Settlement. The quest has two sections separated by a wait, and completing it rewards a Ring of Brawling and a substantial amount of experience.

Quick answer: Tell Dwayne “I am.” to start the first cull, kill the beorcan and direwolves, then leave. Return later, pick “I will help you.” when Ilsa goes missing, and kill the two saurians and the griffin in Valgr Ravine to earn the Ring of Brawling.

Requirements to start When the Culling Gets Tough

Reach Norgan before starting this quest. It unlocks after you complete the Forsaken Dominion main quest Chilling Tidings, the mission that first takes you to the Norgandian Settlement.

Giver: Dwayne, a beastren archer dressed in furs. He operates the Norgandian Inn, a settlement hut containing beds and a storage chest.
Prerequisite quest: Chilling Tidings (Forsaken Dominion main quest).
The first half is a light fight; the second half ends in a large-monster battle.

Part 1: The first cull in the Norgandian Foothills

Head for the Norgandian Inn entrance. Dwayne intercepts you there and asks you to reduce the number of monsters near the village. He is willing to join you, and says you can hunt any type of monster.

When he asks whether you are ready to set out, pick “I am.” rather than “Not yet.” A short tutorial box about the Norgandian Inn appears explaining that you can rest at the bed there while Dwayne is at his post. Close it, and the objective “Accompany Dwayne and cull a monster.” appears.

Go out through the settlement gate beyond the large bonfire, then cross the bridge. You will enter Norgandian Foothills. Take the trail through the trees, climb the rocky incline, and head for the quest marker south-east of the settlement.

The trail leads into an open space enclosed by towering standing stones, with a firepit at its center. A notice displays “Encountered: Beorcan and others.” You face one beorcan — a tall, armoured humanoid wielding a large axe — alongside several white direwolves. Defeat the entire group. A Fighter can take them out with straightforward attacks while pawns provide lightning and ice.

Dwayne does not fight. He stays at the edge of the clearing, crouched and shaking. Talk to him. He admits that fear locks him up whenever he faces a monster and asks for another chance once he has trained. The objective then changes to “Wait for Dwayne to complete his preparations.”

If the quest Sticks and Stones is also active, this same clearing gives its line about an abandoned firepit, and a Heatstone lies there for you to pick up.

What “Wait for Dwayne to complete his preparations.” means

There is no marker to follow for this objective, nor anything to turn in. For now, no action will advance it. Head elsewhere and work on other quests; this one will remain in your log in the meantime.

It picks up again on a later return to the Norgandian Settlement. When you arrive back at the central bonfire, Dwayne’s father Dorin walks over to you on his own — you do not have to go looking for him. No timer or day count appears on screen, so get on with other quests and check back at the village.

Part 2: Finding Ilsa in Valgr Ravine

Dorin, the village guardian, reports that serpents attacked the village and his daughter Ilsa is missing. Since he cannot abandon his post, Dwayne rushes over and explains that he saw his sister leave during the raid. He asks you to go with him. Choose “I will help you.” Your objective changes to “Follow Dwayne.”

You can take time in the village to appraise spoils, change equipment, or access the inn chest; Dwayne will not disappear. By the time you rejoin him, he will still be making his way to the gate. Go after him through the palisade gate, cross the stone bridge, and return to Norgandian Foothills.

Run after Dwayne along the road. Direwolves attack the party from among the rocks en route. Continue after him along the wooded trail, wade across the shallow stream, and climb the stony slope until the area is named Valgr Ravine.

A short camera cut shows Ilsa lying on the grass with two purple, spiny saurians carrying spears standing over her and crackling with lightning. The objective updates to “Fell the monsters and save Ilsa.” Kill both saurians — they go down fast.

Beating the griffin that drops into the ravine

Once the second saurian is down, a griffin with white feathers swoops into the ravine. Its health bar has five pips and displays no name. The griffin counts toward the existing “Fell the monsters and save Ilsa.” objective, which only progresses after you kill it, so you cannot bypass the fight.

For a dependable Fighter tactic, latch onto the griffin and climb. While attached to its side or a wing joint, every attack button reads “Follow-Up Attack” — slash until stamina is nearly gone, release your grip, recover, then target its legs. The griffin bucks to dislodge its attacker, then flies off, circles, and dives; the battle consequently shifts back and forth across the boundary of Valgr Ravine and the Norgandian Foothills. Seeing the area name change is expected.

When it lands again, climb to the neck and head while pawn lightning keeps chipping away at it. Once it is knocked flat on its side, pile everyone onto the head to empty the bar. Loot the carcass afterwards with “Examine” for drops such as a Griffin Pinion and crafting extracts. Dwayne stays in this fight rather than freezing, and the moment the griffin dies the objective becomes “Accompany Dwayne back to Ilsa’s side.”

A scene then takes over on its own. Dwayne, amazed that he held his ground against a griffin, finds that Ilsa is only knocked out and carries her home. When control returns you get “You defended Ilsa.” followed by “Completed: When the Culling Gets Tough” — that completion line is your confirmation the quest is done and the reward is yours.

Ring of Brawling reward and stats

Completing the quest pays out 25,000 XP, the Ring of Brawling, and 500 rift crystals. The Ring of Brawling boosts your Strength only when you fight with bare hands, which makes it a natural fit for the unarmed bout that comes later. It weighs almost nothing at 0.01 kg and every vocation can wear it.

Ring of Brawling reward screen — The completion screen that hands you the Ring of Brawling and 500 RC. Shown at 360:33 in Shirrako’s video. Image: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.

Ring of Brawling	Value
Effect	Boosts Strength when fighting with bare hands.
Weight	0.01 kg
Sell price	1,500 G
Vocations	All

Where this quest sits in the Norgan chain

When the Culling Gets Tough is one link in a run of Dwayne and Dorin quests in the north. It requires Chilling Tidings and is itself a requirement for Bout of Passage, the unarmed coming-of-age fight Dorin asks you to stage for Dwayne later in the story.

Later on, Dorin stops you outside the inn at night and asks you to take part in Dwayne’s bout. That conversation starts Bout of Passage, where you lay down your weapons and fight Dwayne with your fists — exactly where the Ring of Brawling’s bare-handed Strength bonus earns its keep.