Which Vocation to Choose - Dragon's Dogma 2 Guide - IGN (2024)

Dragon’s Dogma 2 boasts all kinds of wild and technical vocations that can be unlocked later on in the game, such as Trickster, Magick Archer, Mystic Spearhand, and Warfarer but the four starting vocations – Fighter, Archer, Thief, and Mage – are no slouches on their own. They each come with several unique skills and cross-class Augments that can be earned and shared. But which class should you choose to start your adventure? Let’s take a look at all the starting vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2. As you read, focus on finding a playstyle that you enjoy, and don’t be afraid to switch vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2 if you’re not feeling your current build.

Which Starting Vocation to Choose in Dragon's Dogma 2

The terms “vocation” and “class” are used interchangeably in this guide. They mean the same thing in Dragon’s Dogma 2, so don’t worry about the terminology too much.

Best Starting Vocation

This may sound cliché, but the best starting vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2 really does depend on which play style you want to use, as they all specialize in different areas of combat that are equally useful, more often than not. As we explain below, Fighters protect the party from oncoming attacks, Thieves are opportunistic assassins; Archers target weak points from afar; and Mages are the healers with access to elemental attack spells. Read about the unique abilities of each class below to make your own choice, and know you can always switch vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2 quite early on.

Vocations Explained

Before going into each class individually, we’ll go over how they work. You’ll have access to your starting vocation immediately, but the other three must be unlocked at a vocation guild. This can be done very early on and quite cheaply in the starting area. The resource needed to unlock these classes, as well as any skills or augments, is called discipline.

Most skills, however, are specific to each class, and can only be used while playing as that class, even if you’re playing as an advanced version of it. Sorcerers cannot use a Mages’ elemental boons, for instance, even if some of the base offensive spells can be used by both. So, these starting vocations can still be useful well into your adventure.

Fighter

• Fighter Weapons: Sword and shield
• Fighter Unique Ability: Use shield to block or parry attacks

If you’re looking for a well-rounded, melee-focused class, Fighter might be the pick. It’s your standard sword-and-board soldier that has a variety of offensive, defensive, and support skills. Since Archer and Thief are much better suited for high single-target damage, your main role as a Fighter will be crowd control and tanking for your party.

Skills that help with this are Shield Summon, where you bang on your shield to draw enemies’ attention while your damage dealer pawns whack away at them, and Impeccable Guard, which turns you into a defensive spinning top so you can guard against all sides.

When not using Impeccable Guard and blocking normally, you can only block what’s in front of you, but if you press Circle on PlayStation or B on Xbox while pressing a direction on the left stick, you can spin your character to meet any incoming threat to avoid getting hit from behind. The core skill True Deflect turns well-timed blocks into a parry which will stagger your enemy and save your stamina. This should be one of the first skills you spend your discipline on.

As far as offensive skills go, Blink Strike is a great way to close the gap between you and an enemy, Airward Slash sends you skyward to strike above you, and Gouging Skewer can be used while on the ground or already clinging to an enemy. Just don’t hold on too long, or you’ll learn the limits of your stamina the hard way.

Some of the more zany support skills you can learn are Springboard, which can fling pawns toward enemies, and Steeled Foundation, which lets you jump off cliffs without taking damage. Not from too high, though. Once again, you’ll learn your limits the hard way.

As far as Augments go, Provocation is a great one for making sure enemies focus on you rather than your pawns. And speaking of pawns, rolling with two damage dealers of your choice and a support mage is probably the best way to go early on so you can soak up the enemy damage, receive heals, and let your friends lay on the hurt while you draw the attention. You’ll also want to prioritize investing in better armor before better weapons, as you’ll be most useful by just staying alive.

Archer

• Archer Weapon: Bow and special arrows
• Archer Unique Ability: A steady shot that fires with precision and deals massive damage to weak points

Archers, unsurprisingly, shoot arrows. They have a variety of skills to deal damage from afar like Barrage Shot and Keen Sight, but struggle against enemies once they close the distance. You have a kick set to Triangle or Y that can help you get away, especially if you kick an enemy while jumping at them.

You can also buy core skills that let you kick off enemies and shoot them while airborne, creating distance. But you’ll usually want to keep as much distance as you can, picking off enemies before they get to you, and claiming the high ground to avoid close combat whenever possible.

Pressing the attack button will auto-target nearby enemies, but holding down R1 or the Right Bumper will zoom in and aim over the shoulder, allowing you to be more precise. When using this control method, called Steady Shot, you can still activate skills without using L1, so you don’t have to exit precision aiming.

While your normal arrows are unlimited, Archers also have skills named after certain arrows such as Tarring Shot and Debilitating Shot that you can’t use unless you actually buy, find, or craft these particular arrows. This means there’s an added element of resource management to consider here.

Thief

• Thief Weapons: Dual daggers
• Thief Unique Ability: A dodge that doesn’t cost stamina

Thief has by far the greatest mobility of any of the starting classes. Where Fighter has Block, and Archer has Steady Shot, Thieves have a dodge bound to the same button so you can quickly dash out of danger. They’re all about avoiding attacks, repositioning, and doing damage, which means you’ll need to be careful about conserving stamina if you don’t want to have to stop and catch your breath. A slow thief is a dead thief.

Biting Wind is one of the first offensive abilities you can get, and it chains with itself as long as you have the stamina. You can keep pressing the skill button and dashing around enemies, slashing them. Enkindled Blades lights your daggers on fire, and while this can be handy in a pinch, most early-game mage pawns will have Fire Boon, so you’ll most likely have fire attacks a lot of the time, anyway. And Scarlet Kisses allows you to continue your basic attacks indefinitely if you start pressing the button faster.

One of the most important Thief skills is your secondary skill, Twin Fangs. This move can trigger a follow-up attack if enemies are staggered, or even pin smaller enemies to the ground for high single-target damage and control. You can also use Twin Fangs to stab your way into bigger monsters instead of just grabbing. Since thieves are great at doing single-target damage and can reposition quickly, you’ll be jumping on a lot of big monsters in order to stab their weak spots.

The last early offensive skill you’ll need to worry about is Helm Splitter – an attack that sends you airborne and back down with your knives attacking the entire time. It does more damage if used from a greater height, and can be activated while airborne, so positioning on ledges will be paramount to make the most out of it.

Outside of its strong offensive abilities, Thieves also have great utility. There’s Shadow Cloak, which makes you harder to see, but it consumes quite a bit of stamina. Ensnare will bring aerial creatures to the ground, and pull grounded enemies prone, allowing you to follow up with attacks for major damage. The skill can also topple big enemies that have been knocked off balance.

Powder Charge sets an explosive on the ground to blow up a group of enemies, or it can be used while holding onto an enemy to blow them off balance. Follow up with Ensnare, and you’ve got a one-two combo for knocking big guys down.

Concussive Step can be used as a double jump, letting you easily clear gaps you’d otherwise have to go around, and it combos with Helm Splitter for a little bit of extra height and a lot of extra style points.

If you want quick movement, flexibility in playstyle, and the ability to create some undeniably cool moments, the Thief vocation offers a ton of options for you to consider.

Mage

Mage Weapon: StaffMage Unique Ability:Can cast Anodyne, an area of effect spell that will target multiple members of your party at once.

Mages bring a mix of offense and utility in Dragon’s Dogma 2, but can mainly be thought of as a support class. You can hold Triangle or Y to cast Anodyne (an AoE heal), shoot rapid Magick Bolts by pressing the attack button repeatedly, or you can learn Focused Bolt, which lets you hold the button down to release a stronger blast. Neither Magick Bolt nor Focused Bolt do much damage because your real offense comes by way of elemental spells.

There’s no MP system in Dragon’s Dogma 2, so spells take two resources – time, and stamina. You hold spells to charge, then release them once they’re fully charged by spending a small amount of stamina. Or, you can learn Quickspell, allowing you to hold R1 or the Right Bumper to speed up the casting time at the cost of using more stamina. This is a dramatic increase in casting speed, so you’ll want to use it a lot. Just make sure to keep an eye on your stamina bar to avoid exhausting yourself.

For offensive spells, you have Flagration for fire, which acts like a small flamethrower, and Levin for lightning, which brings bolts down from the sky. Once you gain a few vocation levels, Frigor becomes an option, sending a line of ice magic directly ahead of you, flinging enemies into the air while leaving a small pillar in its wake.

One special note about the Levin spells is that you can keep on mashing the button used to cast the spell to continuously call lightning down from the sky until you either stop pressing the button, or you run out of stamina.

For utility, you have elemental boons that coat your or your party members’ weapons in either fire, ice, or lightning magic. Since each element takes a single skill to be equipped, you’ll have to choose which boon to bring with you unless you want to strictly stick to a support role.

Once you gain a few more levels, you also have Celerity, which gives a small AoE boost to speed. You only have to pass through this AoE dome for it to apply, though, so there’s no need to stand in it to maintain the buff.

There are two more skills we need to mention: Levitate, which allows you to hover a short distance, which is great for getting to out-of-reach chests, and Empyrean, a big ball of light that does quick burst AoE damage. It also leaves actual light behind which can be incredibly useful when fighting at night.

All in all, sorcerers will deal bigger damage, but mages offer a better balance of full-party support. If you want to stay on the backline, heal your team, buff their weapons, and occasionally bring the elemental smackdown yourself, choose the Mage vocation.

These four are just the starting classes in Dragon’s Dogma 2. There are plenty of advanced vocations, secrets, bosses, collectibles and more to be discovered, so be sure to check out our ever-growing list of guides on Vocations and Classes.

Or, if you've already explored some of the Vocations, you can participate in the Face-Off below to see what the community recommends: