Best Dragon's Dogma 2 vocations: Every vocation ranked

Looking for the best Dragon's Dogma 2 vocations? There are ten vocations in total in Dragon's Dogma 2, ranging from RPG mainstays like the Fighter and Mage to more unorthodox fare like the Mystic Spearhand. You're also not locked into a single vocation, and there's nothing to stop a particularly adventurous Arisen from ranking up every single one. Even if you stick to a single vocation, you may want your main pawn companion as well as all of the other pawns you recruit to specialise in other vocations in order to create a party suited to all situations.

In other words, every Arisen who sets out to vanquish the titular winged boss of Dragon's Dogma 2 will eventually come into contact with the game's many classes. We've ranked each of these vocations in the guide below to help you decide which is right for you and your squad.

• All Dragon's Dogma 2 vocations
• Best Dragon's Dogma 2 basic vocations
• Best Dragon's Dogma 2 advanced vocations
• Best Dragon's Dogma 2 vocation for pawns

Dragon's Dogma 2 - Capcom Highlights: March 2024

All Dragon's Dogma 2 vocations

The following table lists all of the vocations of Dragon's Dogma 2, as well as a description and categorisation for each. Dragon's Dogma 2 features four basic vocations available at the start of the game, and six more advanced ones are available through story progression. Of those six advanced vocations, four are exclusive to the player's Arisen, and cannot be taken by pawns.

Best Dragon's Dogma 2 basic vocations

If you've just begun your journey as an Arisen, you'll have four basic vocations available to you at the start of the game, and choosing the right one can be daunting. Here's our ranking of each, from the easiest choice to the trickiest.

1. Fighter

It wouldn't be a roleplaying game without the tried and true Fighter class, and with a well-balanced skillset revolving around swordplay and shield usage, the Fighter is our top pick for the best Dragon's Dogma 2 basic vocation, especially for newbies who didn't play Dragon's Dogma 1. Playing as the Fighter will give you great practice at getting in close, cutting enemies down, and protecting both yourself and all nearby allies. This is also an easy vocation for beginners to grasp but one that holds excellent depth. Longtime players will get a lot out of mastering the Fighter's ability to parry strikes with their shield, and it certainly takes practice to serve as the Dragon's Dogma equivalent of a tank.

2. Archer

For those who prefer the ranged approach over melee attacks, the Archer is an excellent vocation that can fire arrows at the speed of light. You needn't worry about aiming so much, since Dragon's Dogma 2 features a fine-tuned auto-targeting system, but the Archer does get skills that enable them to zoom in on foes. Even more fun are the Archer's trick arrows, which can explode, tar, or drench enemies with water and blight. In short, the Archer simply has lots of versatility at their disposal, albeit a tad more inventory management than other vocations. Also, you can jump kick goblins in the face, which is always a plus.

3. Mage

With vital skills like Anodyne, Clerity, and Halidom - which respectively heal, hasten, and cure debilitations - the Mage is a classic support spellcaster through and through. They're not as flashy as the other basic vocations, and their light armour restrictions mean that they're the weakest. But choosing a Mage allows you to heal yourself via magick instead of popping a constant stream of Salubrious Droughts, and you'll also have foundational attack spells to help you hold your own. Additionally, you can enchant allies' weapons with potent elemental buffs. If the thought of healing your pawn and blessing them with fire magick before flamethrowing a foe yourself with Flagration sounds appealing, you should be a Mage.

4. Thief

The Thief has one of the more complex and diverse skillsets out of the starting vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2. You're essentially a melee DPS-dealer, but with less durability than the Fighter and the tendency to make swift moves that can easily miss. But if you can master the Thief's dexterous moves, you'll have a wide variety of tactics that deal massive damage. Thieves can pin foes to the ground for a fatal stab, slice away at weak points as they climb the backs of massive bosses, use gimmicks like ropes to make a foe fall to their knees, and even steal stuff on a successful strike. All of these options might be a bit overwhelming, which makes the Thief rank lowest on our list here, since we're ranking in order of easiest-to-use to most challenging. If you love the idea of swift damage and a wide selection of skills, though, the Thief is right up your alley.

Best Dragon's Dogma 2 advanced vocations

The advanced vocations of Dragon's Dogma 2 are gated off via story quests and will take some time to completely unlock. Two of them - the Warrior and the Sorcerer - are similar to the Fighter and Mage, but with a fair degree of complexity, while the rest range from magick and melee hybrids to the truly unusual Trickster. Here's our ranking, from best to toughest-to-play.

1. Warrior

The Warrior is for folks who like oversized weapons that require finesse to use properly. (Those of you who exclusively prefer greatswords and similar heavy weapons in Monster Hunter, you know who you are!) Unlocked fairly early in Dragon's Dogma 2 after the player completes the quest Vocation Frustration, the Warrior takes our top spot largely due to the huge damage that results in mastering this vocation's many charge attacks. The slow nature of the Warrior is certainly a learning curve compared to speedier classes, but when it comes to slicing the legs of bosses and knocking off large sections of their health bars, the Warrior has no equal.

2. Magick Archer

Why shouldn't arrows be magickal in nature? The Magick Archer answers this question with an impressive collection of skills that run the gamut from firing ice and flame shots to healing allies with Remedy and Recovery Arrows. Unlocked late in Dragon's Dogma 2 after you complete the quest Spring in Thy Step and speak with the NPC Cliodhna, the Magick Archer's wild abilities are nevertheless worth the wait. I'm personally partial to their Ricochet Seeker skill, which looses a magick arrow that bounces all across the battlefield, dealing additional damage the more it collides with walls. For those who like magick but would rather tweak their bow string than utter incantations, the Magick Archer is a tonne of fun.

3. Mystic Spearhand

If the Magick Archer excels in ranged magick strikes, the Mystic Spearhand is a maestro when it comes to infusing spells into their Duospear. Unlocked after you fight a dragon alongside the NPC Sigurd, who can be found during the Readvent of Calamity quest in Melve or at his home in Harve Village, the Mystic Spearhand utilises a robust playstyle that balances deft strikes from the spear with magickal capabilities. These include catapaulting through the air, levitating nearby objects, and briefly nullifying all enemy attacks with temporary barriers. It's certainly a complicated advanced vocation that lacks defensive abilities, but the Mystic Spearhand is flashy, fun, and a logical step for Fighters and Thieves who are curious about spellcasting.

4. Sorcerer

While the Mage possesses a smattering of attack magicks and a hefty number of support spells, the Sorcerer goes all-in on damage. Unlocked after completing the quest Vocation Frustration, the Sorcerer's not quite as exciting as the other advanced vocations in my eyes, mostly because several of its base skills are shared with its basic vocation cousin. But if you like fancy spells, there's a lot to enjoy here. Expect to be whipping out fiery vortexes, lightning storms, and epic blizzards at a moment's notice, ending with meteor-summoning magicks like Meteoron.

5. Warfarer

Warfarer only becomes available after you've made your way to the Volcanic Island Camp in the southern reaches of the map, around the same time as unlocking Magick Archer. You need to go to the hot springs and repeatedly interact with the NPC Lamond, completing the quest The Sotted Sage by giving him three bottles of newt liqueur. Once he accepts the booze, every weapon, armour, and skill in Dragon's Dogma 2 is at your disposal. The Warfarer has lower base stats than more specialised classes, but their ability to mix and match skills and armaments to develop their own jack-of-all trades playstyle is endlessly complex and satisfying. In many ways, this is the best class in the entire game, but it's also potentially the hardest, with zero new skills at its disposal unless you've been steadily ranking up your other vocations. Since it's best suited to the endgame of Dragon's Dogma 2, it ends up at a lower spot on our list by default.

6. Trickster

Unlocked partway through the quest Flickering Shadows after you interact with the NPC Luz, the Trickster doesn't exactly attack - instead, they summon forth illusory smoke and various mirages through their special weapon, the Censer. For instance, their Delusory Screen skill conjures a wall that stops enemies in their tracks and blocks vision, while Aromatic Rally boosts the offensive capabilities of allies. Skilled Tricksters can even create illusory bridges and swiftly remove them, making any foes standing on top fall to their deaths. While this is certainly an intriguing class, it's difficult to use properly and ends up at the bottom of our list for its niche appeal. For those with a keen understanding of enemy behaviour, the Trickster might have something to offer, but most will want to look elsewhere.

Best Dragon's Dogma 2 vocation for pawns

When it comes to deciding the best vocation for your main pawn, it's important to abide by the following guidelines:

• For non-magick Arisen, Mage is the best choice to give your main pawn healing and support spells.
• If your Arisen is a Mage, or simply prefers items for healing, Fighter and Warrior are good choices to allow your main pawn to tank and defeat foes quickly.

It's of course possible to make your main pawn an Archer or a Thief, especially if you've got a good selection of trick arrows in your inventory or need an ally to scale large bosses. Remember, main pawns can swap their vocations just like Arisen, so it's worth ranking up all of their vocations if you've got time to spare.

When recruiting NPC pawns or other players' pawns via Riftstones, the only thing to pay attention to is a healthy party composition. When in doubt, follow the classic RPG code, filling your party with a tank, a damage dealer or two, and at least one supporting pawn who can heal.

For instance, if your Arisen is a Fighter and your main pawn a Mage, you'd probably want to recruit a Thief or a Warrior to your cause. If your Arisen is a Warrior and your main pawn an Archer, then you'd best get a spellcaster on your side quickly.

That said, if you want a unique experience, you can certainly run around with an unbalanced party or one composed of an Arisen and pawns who are all the same class. An all-Mage group will sure have a lot of healing magick at their disposal, making for some memorable times - though you should note that taking down massive monsters might be a challenge!

That finishes our comprehensive look at the best vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2. If you're looking for more detail on the vocations listed here, start with our deep dive into the magickal ways of the Mage, the smooth firing of the Archer, the sword and shield tactics of the Fighter, or the shifty dagger action of the Thief. For more advanced vocations, check out our guide to the greatsword swings of the Warrior, the extreme magick of the Sorcerer, the Duospear slices of the Mystic Spearhand, the crafty illusions of the Trickster, the bow spell combos of the Magick Archer, or the many weapon skills of the Warfarer.