How to get a Medusa Head in Dragon’s Dogma 2

A Medusa Head is a powerful item in Dragon’s Dogma 2 that lets you inflict the petrification effect on almost any enemy — including drakes and griffins (like for the “A Case of Sculptor’s Block” quest). Medusa Heads come from, unsurprisingly, a Medusa, so you’ll have to find one.

Our Dragon’s Dogma 2 guide will show you where to find a Medusa (and how often she’ll spawn). We’ll also tell you how to cut off the Medusa’s head and how to get a Preserved Medusa Head.

Before you try to find the the Medusa, switch to Thief

Before we get into where to find the Medusa, you’ll need to do a little prep work. Cutting off the Medusa’s head means you’ll have to play as a melee vocation like a Thief or Fighter since you have to, you know, cut. Mages and Archers just won’t deal the right kind of damage here. They can kill the Medusa, but she doesn’t drop her head as loot — you have to actively cut it off.

And since weapons are tied to vocation, Thief is easily the best vocation to do this for a couple of reasons:

• The Vigor augment reduces your stamina loss when clinging to an enemy
• The Powder Charge and Powder Blast skills allow you to plant an explosive on the Medusa’s head that will stun her
• The Gut and Run and Draw and Quarter weapon skills are both great for dealing a huge amount of targeted damage

Technically, you can do all this as a Warfarer, but you’ll be so Thief-focused that there’s not much difference.

Where to find the Medusa in Dragon’s Dogma 2

Medusa was the first monster you fought way back at the beginning of the game in the Excavation Site. She fled that encounter, and it’ll take a long time to find her again.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin/Polygon | Sources: Capcom via Polygon

It turns out, she went to the Wyrmsblood Forest in Battahl. From Bakbattahl, head a little west to the Battahl Ropeway Central Station (you can take the ropeway from Bakbattahl to the station, too). Climb up to the ropeway carriage(?) that heads south, and take it to the end.

From the ropeway stop, follow the path north and take the first left to head back to the south. Just a little way down, you’ll see a bridge on your right. Cross it, and keep following the path into the canyon on the other side.

Image: Capcom via Polygon

Eventually, you’ll start seeing statues (definitely not petrified people) along the path and might run into a beastren named Torrence who will drops some hints about what’s coming.

Watch along the right side of the path for a cave marked by two fallen trees in an X shape. Head inside to find Nera’Battahl Windrift Cave and the Medusa.

How to cut off the Medusa’s Head in Dragon’s Dogma 2

There’s not really a secret here — to cut off the Medusa’s Head, you have to attack her head with a bladed weapon. Getting to that point can be a little tricky, though.

Image: Capcom via Polygon

The Medusa is hard to climb around on. She moves and changes positions often, so it’s mostly about trying to convincing the game to let you climb in the direction you want to when hanging onto her. That’s why the Vigor augment comes in handy.

Image: Capcom via Polygon

She’ll also throw you off every chance she gets. A good way around this is to plant Powder Blasts on her torso — basically as close to her head as you can get without her tossing you across the room.

Image: Capcom via Polygon

When you can get her stunned and she falls down, immediately focus your strong attacks on her head. And that’s it. You don’t even have to get through her health bars — her head isn’t a drop.

How to get a Preserved Medusa Head

Image: Capcom via Polygon

In fact, how much health she has left determines the quality of the Medusa Head you pick up.

• If you cut off her head pretty quickly (like, within the first health bar), you’ll get a Preserved Medusa Head.
• Chip down her health a bit more before cutting it off, and you’ll get a regular Medusa Head.
• Keep going before decapitating her, and you’ll get a Withered Medusa Head.

Like food, the Medusa Head item decays in your inventory — eventually becoming a Decayed Medusa Head — so if you’re not going to use it right away, drop it in your storage at an inn or a house you own.

How often does the Medusa spawn in Dragon’s Dogma 2

When you kill the Medusa, she’ll remain dead for 14 in-game days before she respawns in Nera’Battahl Windrift. Head back to Bakbattahl and sleep in your house for two weeks. If you already have a head and are going for another, just make sure it’s in storage so it doesn’t rot.

For more Dragon’s Dogma 2 walkthroughs, here are all Sphinx riddle solutions, how to get all maister skills, the best order for Captain Brant’s quests, plus how to rescue the caged magistrate, how to reach the Nameless Village, where to find Rodge, how to confront the Arisen’s shadow, and when to attend the coronation.

You can also peruse our interactive Dragon’s Dogma 2 world map.