Dragon's Dogma 2 Phantom Oxcart walkthrough and guide

The Dragon's Dogma 2 Phantom Oxcart quest has players track down a mysterious cart that appears after dark, smuggling Pawns across the border to Battahl. There are different ways to go about this, either following in stealth or disguising yourself as one of the Pawns themselves, but the wider goal here is to find out what the cart driver is up to in Dragon's Dogma 2 and what the real purpose of the Pawns is, securing evidence for Captain Brant. 

With that in mind, we'll cover how to find out the truth in our walkthrough and guide for the Phantom Oxcart quest in Dragon's Dogma 2 below.

Full walkthrough and guide for the Phantom Oxcart in DD2

The Phantom Oxcart quest in Dragon's Dogma 2 is one of those with a few possible routes to completion, but here's one we know works and is relatively easy.

1. You can get the quest overhearing NPCs talk in either Bakbattahl or Vernworth, chatting about an Oxcart North of Vernworth that appears after dark.
2. Rest until night time, then head to the objective marker.
3. Get close enough to the Oxcart with blue lights to trigger the cutscene, but keep your distance otherwise. Being spotted can apparently cause problems for the rest of the quest.
4. After the cart leaves, chase the soldier - you can either tackle him or just keep pace until he loses his breath.

5. The soldier Mansenn will offer you a bribe of 5000G to let him go - we took it, and there doesn't appear to be any downside to doing so. However, we can't say what the alternate path is. Either way, you'll get the Merchant's document.
6. Take the document to your buddy Captain Brant at the Stardrop Inn. He'll ask you to investigate the cart again.
7. Head back to the same location after dark. Here's where you get a choice - you can either follow the cart from a distance, or pretend to be a Pawn to go in undercover. I can't speak for the first option, but I did the second, and definitely recommend it - it's quick, easy-ish, and certainly not boring.

8. To do this, you need to disguise yourself. Unequip ALL armor and weapons, order your other Pawns to wait outside the cart's objective zone, and approach the cart. 
9. If done correctly, Mansenn will order you to get in the back - do so.
10. Along the route, the cart will be attacked by Goblins. Help kill them, but don't reequip any weapons or armor, you need to kill them with your bare hands. Afterwards, get back in the cart.
11. When you reach the Checkpoint Rest Town, a guard will have fun hitting you a few times. Tough as it is, do not react in any way and let them strike you. You won't die, another guard will stop them before it can go too far.

12. Finally, you'll be brought to Bakbattahl, and the Flamebearer Palace. 
13. At this point your disguise fails no matter what, and you'll have to kill all the guards (you can use equipment again and summon your Pawns to help now).
14. Kill the guards, and check the bodies until you get a document called the Labor Requisition Orders, DO NOT LEAVE WITHOUT IT. For me it was on Robellt, the Beastern with a red staff that initially orders you to kneel (although he was also the last one to die so that might be the trigger).
15. With this, head back to Captain Brant in Vernworth and hand over the document to complete the quest.

The rewards for this quest aren't bad at all - not including the bribe you can grab off Mansenn, Brant will give you 14500G and a Ring of Momentum, which gives a solid boost to the Stamina of whoever wears it - a good reward for Thieves, or anybody who's unlocked the Dragon's Dogma 2 Mystic Spearhand vocation. Or, while you're bouncing between these two capital cities, you can also work on completing the Dragon's Dogma 2 A Veil of Gossamer Clouds quest that links them.

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