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Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen throws players into its biggest challenge with the dungeon of Bitterblack Isle. The monsters here are terrifyingly strong and will smash through your armor with ease. To give yourself a fighting chance, you’ll need to purify the dungeon’s Cursed items.
If you want to bolster your defenses (and get some of the coolest-looking outfits in the game), this guide has the exact locations of all the best Bitterblack Armor.
Retrying And Rift Crystals
Many of the drops covered in this guide will rarely appear, with the chances of getting them from the specified chests being in the 5-15% range. If you want to acquire them, you should be prepared to die, reload, and retry, no matter how many times it takes you to get them to drop. The Godsbane item is the quickest and easiest way to do this, but you can also throw yourself off a high cliff or exit to the main menu (without saving!) and then retry/reload.
You will also need to acquire a significant quantity of Rift Crystals to be able to Purify all the Cursed Armors you farm. Bitterblack Armor Lv.1 will cost 4,200 Rift Crystals to Purify, with the cost more than doubling for each level as you go higher. So, you’ll need to farm RC from the monsters and chests of the Isle to build up a stock. Alternatively, if other Arisen rent out your main pawn, you can gain a great deal of RC very quickly.
Below are the locations of all Cursed Bitterblack Armor items Pre-Daimon, i.e., before you beat the boss of the dungeon for the first time. Some chests will change their drops after this point.
Vault Of Defiled Truth
There are two chests here that can both contain Bitterblack Armor Lv.1. These are actually the same chests that can contain Bitterblack Weapon Lv.1, but the Armor is much more likely to appear.
Gutter Of Misery
A chest here in the flooded sewer area can contain Bitterblack Armor Lv.1.
Fortress Of Remembrance
There are two chests on the Third Level Underground that can contain Bitterblack Armor Lv.1. One is on the outside ledge of the tower, and the other is inside.
A chest containing Bitterblack Armor Lv.2 is located at the bottom of the tower, in a room only accessible by climbing out of the tower’s upper floors and jumping down to open the side gate.
Tower Of Treasons Repaid
A chest here in the room across the bridge over the befouled water can contain either a Bitterblack Armor Lv.1 or a Bitterblack Armor Lv.2.
Forsaken Cathedral
There is a Bitterblack Armor Lv.2 on the right of the two chests before the Gold and Silver Knights (Image 1).
The final chest here (Image 2), containing a Bitterblack Armor Lv.2, is accessible from within the Cathedral, where you fight the Fallen Bishop and his Dragon. To reach it, you must climb up the pillars at the entrance to the arena and then follow the narrow corridors above.
Rotwood Depository
There are three chests containing Armor on this floor — two chests containing Bitterblack Armor Lv.1 at the further ends of the level.
Near the entrance, up a ladder in a room with a large Saurian, is a Bitterblack Armor Lv.2.
The Forgotten Hall
There are two chests here that are only reachable by jumping or levitating from the balconies on the upper level. Both can contain Bitterblack Armor Lv.2.
The Bloodless Stockade
There are two chests here that can contain Bitterblack Armor Lv.2. The first is in an area near the entrance that is swarming with Corrupted Pawns.
The second is in the flooded sewers. This is a dangerous area that will probably drench your lantern and is full of Leapworms. This chest can drop both Armor and Weapon Lv.2.
Sparyard of Scant Mercy
There is a chest here that can contain Bitterblack Armor Lv.2, round the corner from the steps leading down from the entrance.
Fallen City
There is a chest containing Bitterblack Armor Lv.2 located in a courtyard in the city’s center.
There is also a chest on a roof that can contain Bitterblack Armor Lv.3. This is a very rare drop, but it is the only place you can find Level 3 Armor before defeating the boss of Bitterblack Isle, so can be worth repeatedly resetting for.
