Dragon's Dogma 2: Best Mage skills and augments
Best Mage skills and augments in Dragon's Dogma 2
Interested in the best Mage skills and augments in Dragon's Dogma 2? Mages are the iconic support spellcasters of Dragon's Dogma 2, equally capable of firing flames at opponents and popping a healing aura in rapid succession. Mages are also the most vulnerable starting Vocation, since their reliance on light armour makes them susceptible to heavy damage, and it takes a fair bit of time for their spells to actually kick in.
If you're a lover of standing in the backrow as your spells help allies and hinder enemies, grab your pointy hat and robe, as the Mage is tailor-made for you. In this guide, we've delved into the best Mage skills and augments, giving you the rundown on what you need to know to make this magick-wielding spellsmith your own.
In this guide:- Dragon's Dogma 2 Mage weapon skills
- Dragon's Dogma 2 Mage core skills
- Dragon's Dogma 2 Mage augments
Dragon's Dogma 2 Mage best weapon skills
As a Mage, your go-to weapons will be staves, which unleash the following useful magicks. Also, while I haven't listed them here specifically, it's worth experimenting with the Mage's various elemental boons - for instance, Fire Boon or Ice Boon, which can come in handy for enchanting the weapons of allies if you come across an enemy weak to a specific element.
Flagration
One of your earliest weapon skills as a Mage, Flagration turns you into a flamethrower, unleashing a jet of fire that erupts through all foes ahead of you for a period of time. The fire ignores Defense and hits multiple targets, and you can move while casting it. Flagration is my go-to AoE spell for roasting mobs of goblins or other attacking groups, and seeing as how it's unlocked with the Mage's first staff, it provides a great chance to get used to the Mage's lengthy incantation times. Don't let those goblins interrupt you with their clubs before you've actually set the flamethrower off!
Like other weapon skills, once you've ranked up your Mage vocation, you'll be able to access a higher rank of this skill dubbed High Flagration that deals a more powerful fire jet.
Levin
Levin summons a bolt of lighting from on high, dealing substantial damage to whichever enemy you've selected as the primary target while nearby enemies take splash damage. You can keep summoning lightning bolts over and over again, but note that your Stamina will go down as you do so.
While I tend to prefer Flagration for overall AoE damage, Levin is excellent when you need to focus on individual targets, making it preferable for boss encounters. There's nothing like standing behind a rock for cover while you endlessly zap a cyclops to smithareens as your pawns attack it head-on, after all. If lightning strikes are your thing, be sure to take High Levin when it becomes available.
Frigor
Your holy trinity of elemental attacks ends with Frigor, which sends a pillar of jagged ice rushing through the battlefield, slicing through (and potentially freezing) a primary target and dealing splash damage to bystanders.
While Flagration is good for overall AoE and Levin excels at damaging a single target, Frigor (and its elevated version, High Frigor is excellent for the many options it presents. The ice pillar can be used as a stepping stone if you wish to launch yourself onto the back of a colossal foe (or perhaps provide an opportunity for your main pawn to take the initiative), and Frigor also leaves behind ice blocks that can be tossed about at will
Palladium
This is your equivalent of a shield spell, and very handy in the early game of Dragon's Dogma 2 when your Mage is especially squishy. Activate Palladium to unleash a yellow orb of magick that floats beside you and absorbs up to three attacks before dissipating.
Good Palladium management will greatly assist your Mage when it comes to surviving combat encounters long enough to activate your bigger spells. I recommend popping this before every boss encounter, and keeping an eye on the yellow orb to make sure it's still there if you ever end up in the thick of things.
Halidom
Halidom brings forth a bluish wave of magick that can cure either your Mage or their allies of negative conditions, including Caught Fire, Frostbite, Unconscious, Sleep, Silence, Drenched, and Tarred. This skill, along with Anodyne (described below), should be one of your main support go-tos in a crowded battle, especially if your pawns are unable to fight on account of being trounced about or frozen in place. High Halidom, its more powerful variant, has extended duration and is even better at curing conditions.
Dragon's Dogma 2 Mage best core skills
Core skills are general abilities possessed by every Vocation in Dragon's Dogma 2, and the Mage has a very good selection at their disposal. The available options range from healing allies to levitating through the air like a true magical maestro - which is really fun, but a bit less useful than the following three pivotal choices.
Anodyne
For a good amount of healing and a not-too-lengthy cast time, Anodyne impresses out of the gate as one of the most important core skills in a Mage's arsenal. Activating it creates a curative magickal bubble that heals anyone in the vicinity.
Casting Anodyne during a fight usually gets most of your low-on-health pawns to come rushing to your side for a quick pick-me-up, and both Anodyne and Halidom will probably be your most used support skills for much of your Dragon's Dogma 2 adventure. You can also never have too much Anodyne at your disposal, so this is one skill to look out for when recruiting Mage pawns.
Focused Bolt
Your standard attack spell as a Mage is Magick Bolt, which shoots a little burst from your staff and can be spammed as many times as you like. It's quite weak, but since this isn't a Vocation that specialises in close combat, it'll do in a pinch. Focused Bolt is a stronger version of Magick Bolt that's basically a charge attack. Hold down Magick Bolt, then press to unleash a much better missile. If you've enchanted your staff with a particular element (by using weapon skills like Fire Boon or Ice Boon, for instance), Focused Bolt will shoot off a missile infused with that element, which can deal quite a bit of damage depending on a foe's elemental resistances.
Focused Bolt's main drawback is that your Mage needs to stand still while casting it, which they don't have to do with Magick Bolt. You're something of a sitting duck during these moments, but if your pawns have good synergy and are ordered to stay close to you, your Mage should be safe and sound.
Quickspell
Speaking of sitting ducks, if you're a fan of the Mage's gameplay but can't stand waiting through the hand waves and magick-gathering animations that go along with most of the skills here, Quickspell is just what you've been looking for. This core skill greatly reduces the casting time of any spell in exchange for sapping your Stamina.
Figuring out when it's best to use Quickspell versus the instances when you should endure a long casting period is pivotal for managing the Mage's skillset. If you always spam Quickspell during a lengthy fight, your Stamina will deplete in a jiffy, leaving you breathless and vulnerable. That said, the first time you use Quickspell to fast cast Levin, obliterating a pack of harpies in an instant, will be a moment you won't soon forget.
Dragon's Dogma 2 Mage best augments
Augments are passive boosts that all Vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2 receive as they rank up. Seeing as how the Mage deals double duty as a support caster who can also deliver potent damage, the following two options are a no-brainer.
Apotropaism
Apotropaism boosts your Magick Defense stat, letting you weather whatever enemy spellcasters toss at you with gusto. You're the one who's supposed to be casting Frigen to knock foes about like ragdolls and inflict Frostbite - don't let them freeze you first.
Beatitude
Beatitude goes hand in hand with Anodyne, increasing the amount of health you receive from curative magicks. Remember, you're not a frontline combatant, and while you may be able to summon lighting, your constitution is still much weaker when compared to the Fighter, Thief, or Archer Vocations. Take this augment as soon as you can.
That concludes our magickal deep dive into the Mage's best skills and augments. For more on tackling the wild world of Dragon's Dogma 2 and becoming the legendary Arisen that all your pawns praise you as, keep your eyes on Rock Paper Shotgun as we delve into all the other Vocations of this epic adventure. You can start with our deep dive into 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.