How to open locked doors in Dragon’s Dogma 2

Have you come upon locked doors in Dragon’s Dogma 2 and you’re not sure how to open them? I was in the same boat and was pretty confused with how the locked door mechanic worked. Here’s how you can get through any locked door you come across.

Dragon’s Dogma 2: How to open locked doors

Oftentimes in this fantasy RPG you’ll come across a door that you cannot walk through. It’s locked, but there’s no lockpicking mechanic, so how does it work? You can open locked doors in Dragon’s Dogma 2 by simply waiting for them to unlock at different times of the day, find a hole in a roof, or an open window.

Time of day

If you find yourself with a locked door and there’s no other way through, you’ll just have to wait around until a different time of the day. Either rest at an Inn or doze off on a bench to pass the time. In this game, doors can lock at certain times of the day depending on certain conditions.

For example, I found a locked door in the basement of a building in Vernworth that was locked during the daytime. But during the night I was able to freely enter this room. Sometimes doors will only unlock upon venturing a specific side quest.

I found another locked door inside a cave when I was doing one side quest. But then on a different side quest, I came to the same cave, yet this side quest allowed me to enter this locked part of the cave.

Roof or window

Other times if there’s a house with a locked door you can typically find a hole in the roof leading into the home. I have my Sorcerer (Mages can do this too) Levitate onto the roof, or use a Fighter/Warrior to boost you up.

One other way that you can get through locked doors is by finding an open window that allows you to aim for the lock holding the door closed. Look for an open window and if you’re a ranged fighter (Archer, Mage, Sorcerer), aim at the door from the inside and see if you can break the lock.

Hidden entrance

Doors may be locked because they’re the exit and you must find a different entrance. To avoid spoilers, I essentially found a locked room in a house but eventually found a secret underground area that led to this door from the other side. I was able to then unlock it from the other side, allowing me to enter this underground area the easy way next time.

How to open barred gates

Other than Doors, you can find gates with bars blocking the way. Whether the beam is on your side or the other side, it needs to break before you can open the door. You can open barred gates and doors by breaking the wooden beam with either fire, explosive, or bludgeoning damage.

Since wood burns easily with fire, I’ve found that you can break these wooden beams using fire spells like Flagration easily. If that doesn’t work, try carrying over an explosive barrel and throwing it against the door.

When all else fails, some players have discovered that throwing large objects at the beams breaks them. One player in a YouTube video found that nothing worked until they picked up a deer and threw it at the door.

Other than these scenarios, one of the more annoying aspects of Dragon’s Dogma 2 is finding yourself stuck in the gaol. Unlocking that door requires something else entirely, so you’ll need to know how to get out of the gaol.