A Game of Wits is a side quest in Dragon’s Dogma 2 involving the Sphinx. The quest begins when you reach the Mountain Shrine in north Vermund.
A Game of Wits WALKTHROUGH
When you reach the Mountain Shrine in north Vermund, you will find the Sphinx. The Sphinx is a mysterious, majestic, and creepy monster with intelligence capable of communicating with adventurers that find it. Encountering the Sphinx, it will immediately engage a quest that aims to test your brains: A Game of Wits.
How to get to the Sphinx? (Mountain Shrine)
First, how do we get to the Sphinx? There are two main ways of getting to the Sphinx: through the Ancient Battlegrounds and the Misty Marshes.
The more popular way of getting to the Sphinx is through the Ancient Battlegrounds where you have to pass through Skeletons, Harpies, Goblins, and Ogres.
If you came from the far western path, you might even have to fight a Cyclops and Drake.
Going through the Misty Marshes isn’t much easier as there are undead that are lurking out of sight. Finding the way up to the Mountain Shrine is also a bit tricky, easily missed if you aren’t a keen-eyed adventurer. The difference between the two is really just accessibility and your desire for challenge.
Ancient Battlegrounds
The path to the Mountain Shrine through the Ancient Battlegrounds is much longer than the path to the Mountain Shrine through the Misty Marshes.
After reaching the Ancient Battlegrounds, make your way to the top of the castle. You can choose to scale the castle’s side, where Harpies and Hobgoblins may attack you, or enter through the front and face the undead inside.
Upon reaching the top, if it’s morning, you won’t encounter any monsters. However, at night, you may come across a cyclops, which drops a pretty cool helmet.
Once you’re at the summit, search for a ladder attached to a wooden platform, usually located on the left side of the area.
After climbing the wooden platform, proceed to the back of the area where a broken wall is visible.
Pass through the broken wall, and you’ll come across a cave entrance leading to the World’s End Cavern. This cavern is linear and relatively easy to navigate. Further inside, you’ll find a campfire where you can rest if needed. However, be cautious as the World’s End Cavern is populated by enemies such as bandits, undead, and saurians.
Continue exploring the World’s End Cavern until you reach the Ancient Ruins. Walk forward and you may encounter a Golem which stands up from a rubble. Defeat the Golem and get to the other side of the Ancient Ruins. If you look around you may find signs of the Sphinx on the broken down walls.
At the opposite side of the Worldsend Cavern entrance in the Ancient Ruins, you will find the entrance to the Shrine Corridor. Simply pass through this linear cave until you reach the other side.
The outside of the Shrine Corridor is an overlook of the Misty Marshes. You can even see Vernworth far off in the distance.
On the right of this exit is where you should go to next.
Climb up to the broken staircase, go up and right. Just follow the stairs you find.
At the apex of the stairs is the Mountain Shrine where the Sphinx sits, staring and waiting for you.
Misty Marshes
The way to the Mountain Shrine through the Misty Marshes is fairly simple. Make your way to the broken down village with a firepit then stick to the edge of the Misty Marshes.
You should see a climbable slope of rocks and keep moving up until you find yourself out the mist and fog of the Misty Marshes.
Keep following the path upward and move toward the northeast direction.
Eventually, you may find a campfire where you can rest. Keep moving northeast and you will see the Mountain Shrine and the stairs leading up to it. Just check on the map posted right at the start of the article if you feel lost.
Sphinx Riddles
When you first encounter the Sphinx, it will greet you and initiate a conversation. It will then invite you to participate in a game of riddles. Engage with the Sphinx by standing on the little platform in front of it and then speaking to it. Attacking the Sphinx will cause it to become hostile and eventually leave the area.
During the riddles, you’ll only have one chance to answer each riddle. Providing an incorrect answer will not end the quest entirely, but it will prevent you from answering that particular riddle and receiving the reward associated with it. However, answering a riddle correctly will allow you to open one of the red chests behind the Sphinx, which contains valuable loot.
You can choose to start any of the five riddles offered by the Sphinx in any order; the next five will become available when it moves to the other shrine.
Sphinx Riddles number 1: The Riddle of Eyes Solution
“Our eyes are our allies, yet oft do they betray, for eyes tell lies, so I advise, and thence do lead astray. Yet how will your eyes advise you? Venture through yonder door, and retrieve that which of greatest value.”
The Riddle of Eyes, Sphinx Riddle in Dragon’s Dogma 2
The Sphinx’s first riddle is the Riddle of Eyes. The Sphinx directs you to the door nearby which leads to a dungeon and find a certain treasure to offer back to it. The treasure the Sphinx wants it the most valuable loot in the dungeon.
To keep it short, the loot you are trying to find is found in the chest right on top of the entrance. Simply move to the staircase inside the dungeon and look back to find a chest lit up by a blue glow.
You can climb up to it through a set of stone steps arranged almost like a staircase. Open the chest and find the Sealing Phial to deliver back to the Sphinx. Do not use the Sealing Phial as you will not be able to finish the riddle. Forging it and delivering the forgery will also not work.
The Riddle of Eyes Rewards
Sealing Phial and Wakestone.
You can choose to explore the dungeon further since it has loot, but it’s fine to end it here and explore the dungeon another time. There are also tons of monsters in the dungeon, so be The Riddle of Madness Reward:.
Sphinx Riddles number 2: The Riddle of Madness Solution
“Love is as twin to madness, they say. They are bound fast as night is to day. So bring forth your most beloved one to me, that I might gauge the depth of your insanity.”
The Riddle of Madness, Sphinx Riddle in Dragon’s Dogma 2
The Sphinx’s second riddle is the Riddle of Madness. The Sphinx asks you to bring to it the NPC you are most attached to. This can be taken as the person you long for the most or the person with the highest relationship status. However, the real answer to the Sphinx’s riddle is to bring it a person with which you have a high affinity with, this can be identified when speaking to an NPC and the NPC has blushing cheeks and a big smile. Simply bring this NPC to the Sphinx.
How to bring an NPC to the Sphinx?
You can bring an NPC to the Sphinx by carrying the NPC all the way to the Mountain Shrine, using the Sealing Phial from the first riddle to carry the NPC, or grabbing the NPC and using a Ferrystone back to the Mountain Shrine (you will need to place a Portcrystal at the Mountain Shrine for this to work). The best alternative, fortunately, is by presenting your main pawn to the Sphinx instead. Surprisingly, this works and you can save yourself the trouble.
The Riddle of Madness Rewards
Portcrystal
If you choose to present your Main Pawn or have multiple persons you have high affinity with but only present one to the Sphinx, it will tell you that it expected more. However, bringing multiple NPCs with high affinity together with your character poses a risk of them fighting each other.
Sphinx Riddles number 3: The Riddle of Wisdom Solution
“The parent knows the child, yet the reverse is far from true. The child knows not the parent: such is the parent’s due. I am a lost child; for kinship do I yearn. So bring to me my “Parent”. that might better learn.”
The Riddle of Wisdom, Sphinx Riddle in Dragon’s Dogma 2
The Sphinx’s third riddle is the Riddle of Wisdom. The Sphinx asks you to bring it its “parent.” This can be tricky at first but the answer to this is found in the Rift, using a Riftstone.
Head into the rift and look for a pawn with any of these names “SphinxFather,” “SphinxMother,” or “SphinxParent.” Hire one of these created by Capcom, otherwise it might not work. Once you’ve recruited one of these pawns, return to the Sphinx and present them to answer the riddle.
To find the required pawn, access the Riftstone of Fellowship or access a large Riftstone in Vernworth or Bakbattahl then select “View Linked Riftstones,” then choose “Riftstone of Fellowship.”
If you keep on finding Pawns with the correct names but are made by players, you can turn of the Network Features of the game in “System” then “Options.” This should solve your problem very easily.
The Riddle of Wisdom Rewards
1,200 Rift Crystals
Sphinx Riddles number 4: The Riddle of Conviction Solution
“Life is an enigma – a lender of mortal debt. Yet lighter pack makes fleeter foot and challenge nimbly met. So grant to me what you most prize, and thence elude your pondrous demise.”
The Riddle of Conviction, Sphinx Riddle in Dragon’s Dogma 2
The Sphinx’s fourth riddle is the Riddle of Conviction. The Sphinx asks the player to hand over their “most prized possession.” The solution to the Riddle of Conviction is quite clever. You can give any item to the Sphinx and claim it as your most prized possession. Even if it’s something insignificant, the Sphinx will accept it. Then, when you check the chest she opens, you’ll find the exact item you handed over, duplicated as your reward.
So, the trick lies in understanding that the real challenge is not in choosing your most prized possession, but in demonstrating conviction by agreeing to part with it. Once you’ve handed over the item and agreed to the Sphinx’s terms, you’ll have successfully answered the riddle.
The Riddle of Wisdom Rewards
The item you gave and its duplicate.
Sphinx Riddles number 5: The Riddle of Rumination Solution
“It’s ever the first we keep fond in our breast, and ever the first that eclipses the rest. You know of the Seeker’s Tokens, I trust? Those keepsakes of a fondly remembered journey? Yet where was it that you found your first? Retrace your steps, if you can – you might make a new discovery. Seven days, shall we say, ere you return? May your journey be a pleasant one.”
The Riddle of Madness, Sphinx Riddle in Dragon’s Dogma 2
The Sphinx’s fifth riddle is the Riddle of Rumination. The Sphinx asks the player to return to the location where they found their first Seeker Token and deliver it to the Sphinx within seven in-game days. Remembering the location depends on your memory and gameplay choices. If you placed a Portcrystal at the Mountain Shrine, it will help you reach the location quickly.
Once you find the spot, you’ll discover a new token called the Finder’s Token in place of the original Seeker Token.
This riddle can be challenging if you don’t remember where you found your first Seeker Token. Retracing your steps from the beginning of the game may help. You can also try using the Detection augment from the Trickster Vocation if you can’t find it.
If you find the Finder’s Token, it might also be useful to forge it for future runs! Finder’s Token is one of the few items in Dragon’s Dogma 2 that can be perfectly replicated by Ibrahim in Ibrahim’s Scrap Store. This means you can forge as many as you want if you are too lazy to find one in future runs, or if you want to help other Arisens who cannot find their Finder’s Token
The Riddle of Rumination Rewards
Three Ferrystones
If you fail to find the location within the time limit, you can still continue the Sphinx quest, but you’ll miss out on the associated treasure chest and won’t receive the completion trophy.
If you really can’t find one, go ahead and contact me on Twitter and I’ll hand one to your Pawn. Just send me their Pawn ID, and I got you!
Sphinx Riddles number 6: The Riddle of Reunion Solution
“Five riddles have I posed, and five answers have you given. Perhaps you expected more, but I’m afraid that’s that. Our next game shall have to take a different tack.”
The Riddle of Reunion, Sphinx Riddle in Dragon’s Dogma 2
After completing the fifth riddle of the Sphinx, it will tell you meet it somewhere else in the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2. The Sphinx will fly away and immediately start the Riddle of Reunion, the sixth riddle.
Upon encountering the Sphinx at the Frontier Shrine, you’ll automatically solve the Riddle of Reunion. It’s essentially about meeting the Sphinx at its second location.
The Riddle of Reunion Rewards
100,000 Gold
How to get to the Sphinx? (Frontier Shrine)
If you didn’t climb on the Sphinx from the Mountain Shrine to the Frontier Shrine, you will have to pass through the cave entrance west of Checkpoint Rest Town. Through here, you move forward and climb up until you find a wooden log bridge. Walk across the log bridge and keep following the path until you find an actual rope hanging wooden bridge. Get across the bridge and keep following the path until you find a cave entrance once again. Walk inside it to find yourself in a misty valley where your light does not work. Keep following the path until you notice a left path on your mini-map, check the side path where you should find a boulx der blocking your way. Destroy it and get in the newly opened path to find the Frontier Shrine at the end of it.
Sphinx’s Riddles in the Second Part are in random order!
If you read the header correctly then there’s no need explanation. But still, let’s give out another warning. The riddles the Sphinx will give you at the Frontier Shrine will be in random order. So, riddles 7 to 10 will be given to you in any order the Sphinx desires it to.
Sphinx Riddles number 7: The Riddle of Recollection Solution
“Now, questions beget questions, and I have one for you. How many riddles have you solved thus far? My memory fails me, you see. Remind me, and make it plain. Let yonder statues be your means. For every question aptly answered, bring one here before me.”
The Riddle of Recollection, Sphinx Riddle in Dragon’s Dogma 2
One of the last few riddles in the Sphinx’s Game of Wits quest is the Riddle of Recollection. The Sphinx asks the Arisen how many riddles they’ve answered up to that point. Then, move the same number of statues to the platform or anywhere directly in front of the Sphinx. Talk to the Sphinx and confirm your answer to solve the riddle.
The Riddle of Recollection Rewards
Unmaking Arrow
Sphinx Riddles number 8: The Riddle of Contest Solution
“Though ours is a battle of wits, tests of mettle are more to your strength. Is that not so? Come, try your arm – though he shall be your opponent, not I. However, I am not one to be amused by a simple duel. Bear this ring into battle, that I might gauge your true strength.”
The Riddle of Contest, Sphinx Riddle in Dragon’s Dogma 2
One of the last few riddles in the Sphinx’s Game of Wits quest is the Riddle of Contest. The Sphinx asks you to defeat a guardsman she summons. However, you’re equipped with the Ring of Derision, reducing all damage you deal.
You can swiftly solve this by picking up the enemy and throwing them off a nearby cliff. This can be easily done by dealing heavy attacks, particularly physical ones.
After defeating the guardsman, speak to the Sphinx to complete the riddle.
The Riddle of Contest Rewards
Ring of Ambition
Sphinx Riddles number 9: The Riddle of Differentiation Solution
“So vast is the world, and full of life; you are but one of many. Indeed, in the grand scheme, we are as distinct from one another as pebbles on a beach – yet we do so love to extol our differences. But are these differences so great? If you believe so, this next task should prove exceedingly simple. I seek this man. If men are so distinct, I’m sure you’ll find him in a trice.”
The Riddle of Differentiation, Sphinx Riddle in Dragon’s Dogma 2
One of the last few riddles in the Sphinx’s Game of Wits quest is the Riddle of Differentiation. The Sphinx tells you to locate either Dante or Vergil, who look strikingly similar but are found in different towns.
Dante, with straight hair, is in Checkpoint Rest Town on the Vermund side, while Vergil, with curly hair, is on the Battahl side.
Look for subtle differences in their scars and hair parting to distinguish them. Once you’ve found the correct NPC, bring them back to the Sphinx to solve the riddle.
Remember to save before starting in case you’re unsure which brother you need.
Also, Dante and Vergil are references to the characters in Devil May Cry which was also made by Capcom.
The Riddle of Differentiation Rewards
Whimsical Daydream, a Trickster Vocation weapon
Sphinx Riddles number 10: The Riddle of Futility Solution
“How easily the mind unravels! Some say it’s pain that does it best, others darkness – but I say neither. Rather, I say a mind cannot be more soundly broken than when it beholds its earnest efforts laid low in a single stroke. Could your survive such despair? We shall see. Here I have an amphora destine for Ser Maurits in Battahl. Deliver it to him, but beware; it’s rather fragile.”
The Riddle of Futility, Sphinx Riddle in Dragon’s Dogma 2
One of the last few riddles in the Sphinx’s Game of Wits quest is the Riddle of Futility. the Sphinx, you’re tasked with transporting a fragile amphora to Ser Maurits in Bakbattahl without it getting damaged.
Rather than risking the journey, a smarter approach is to bring Maurits to the amphora instead. Ensure you’ve placed a Portcrystal at the Frontier Shrine beforehand. If not, consider using the Sealing Phial, although it has limited uses.
If you haven’t gained access to Bakbattahl through the main story, approach from the west, but be cautious of the dangerous monsters.
Once in Bakbattahl, locate Maurits near the Sphinx mural. Carry him to the amphora, and either use a Ferrystone to teleport to the Portcrystal or walk him there. Maurits will depart with the amphora, and you’ll complete the riddle.
Remember to save before attempting the riddle to avoid breaking the amphora.
The Riddle of Futility Rewards
Eternal Bond
Can I kill the Sphinx?
Yes, you can kill the Sphinx! When you attack the Sphinx, it will fight back.
Should I kill the Sphinx?
For maxing out the rewards and loot, yes. However, we recommend you attack the Sphinx only after solving all the riddles. This way, you can get all the rewards first before it attacks you. Getting the Sphinx hostile locks you out from solving all the other riddles.
How to defeat the Sphinx?
To defeat the Sphinx, you will need to consume all its health. However, you should avoid attacking its face as the Sphinx will stop the fight and run away if its face gets damaged too much.
Fight the Sphinx just like any other monsters you encounter in the game, just avoid its face. It will fly, lunge, and shoot out magic bolts so be wary of all its attacks. You can also stagger and knock it out so that’s neat to know.
We also recommend avoiding using magic as it can hit the Sphinx’s face pretty easily. You may also use a Medusa Head or an Unmaking Arrow to instantly defeat the Sphinx.
Sphinx Loot
Key of Sagacity
When you defeat the Sphinx, it will drop a bunch of gold and a Key of Sagacity. You can use this key on the middle large chest behind where the Sphinx usually stands to get an Eternal Wakestone.
An Eternal Wakestone is an item that can revive all NPCs within a certain distance from where you are standing when it is used. However, it is a one-time use item just like a regular wakestone. Fortunately, you can forge this Eternal Wakestone to create a perfect duplicate.
