This paper provides a concise overview of the ductility dip cracking (DDC) phenomenon in austenitic alloys. A summary of proposed mechanisms of void nucleation and cracking, role of alloying elements and impurities, and crack mitigation approaches is provided. Alloy 52i filler metal weld was utilized to demonstrate a new approach for quantifying the thermo-mechanical effects of welding on formation and mitigation of DDC in highly restrained narrow groove welds. High DDC density in the weld lower region and DDC-free upper region were respectively related to a lower heat input GTAW pulsed process at lower restraint vs. higher heat input GTAW hot wire at higher restraint. Finite element analysis (FEA) of weld thermo-mechanical histories demonstrated a complex, three-dimensional asymmetric cyclic loading in the as-solidified weld metal. The DDC region was subjected to larger number of reheats and multiple lower-temperature compressive loading cycles, while the DDC-free region experienced larger magnitude of compressive strains. FEA quantification of imposed mechanical energy (IME) provided an efficient approach for evaluating the thermo-mechanical effect of welding on DDC formation and mitigation. Predicted IME correlated well with the weld metal DDC and dynamic recrystallization (DRX) distribution. Compared to the DDC region, the crack-free region experienced significantly higher IME in the recrystallization temperature range and lower IME in the DDC and low temperature ranges, indicating higher propensity for crack mitigation through DRX and lower probability for DDC nucleation and propagation. The DDC-free region contained multiple small, localized regions of DRX (referred to here as “pockets of DRX”) and had significantly lower average grain size area, higher grain boundary density, and lower relative strain intensity than the DDC region. It appeared that pockets of recrystallization functioned as strain sinks, minimizing strain accumulation along DDC susceptible grain boundaries. This study established a foundation for future studies on DDC mitigation through process optimization to promote DRX in high-Cr Ni-based filler metal welds.