With the new release of the long-awaited sequel, Dragon’s Dogma 2, comes 10 versatile Vocations to choose from. Each vocation entails different abilities, strengths (and weaknesses) to suit different playstyles. You can select from four Starter Vocations for your character during Character Creation, and subsequently, your main Pawn after the tutorial.

As you progress, you can unlock two Advanced and four Hybrid Vocations, accessible through a Vocation Maister or by completing specific quests. While the Arisen can switch to any unlocked vocation, Pawns are limited to Starter and Advanced Vocations. Choosing and potentially switching Vocations requires careful consideration of skills, weapon types, and combat styles. Below is a ranking of all Vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2, based on their effectiveness, utility, and combat efficiency.

10 Trickster

Hybrid Vocation

To unlock the Trickster class, you must complete the 'Flickering Shadows' quest. This unique hybrid vocation is only available for playable characters. It employs the Censer, a weapon that creates smoke and illusions to deal direct damage. As a Trickster, players can manipulate enemies into fighting one another, or moving into vulnerable positions that you can then exploit.

Tricksters excel at creating manic chaos on the battlefield. They can conjure illusions to provoke and distract them with spectral clones. Their abilities also include crafting invisible hazards that enemies cannot detect and enhancing your strategic options. Furthermore, Tricksters can temporarily boost their Pawns' abilities and grant access to specialized buffs that enhance their ive role in combat.

Tricksters' superior crowd control capabilities make them an invaluable asset for those who prefer a strategic approach to direct confrontation. However, their overall damage output is significantly lower than that of other Vocations. At the later stages of the game, higher damage becomes crucial, and it is recommended to prioritize other classes that give you better combat benefits.

9 Mage

Starter Vocation

The Mage vocation emerges as a versatile starting class for both the Arisen and Dragon's Dogma 2 Pawn, and is one of the classes that specializes in ranged attacks. Through the mastery of magick cast by staves, this class excels in ing allies through healing abilities, while also capable of dealing significant elemental damage to enemies covering a wide area. Their unique offensive and defensive features, such as levitation and granting elemental boons, underscore their indispensable role in any party composition.

Although Mages face vulnerabilities against melee attackers, maintaining distance allows them to unleash powerful offensive spells. This vocation is a great option for those who want to achieve a balanced playstyle, leveraging a ive role while dealing damage. However, it also requires strategic thinking, as Mages' damage output is considerably slower due to the need for a prior spell incantation.

To effectively counteract slow casting times, coordinating with another Mage in your party can significantly speed up your spellcasting, allowing you to deal more magick-based damage.

Instead, Mages serve better as ive Pawns, offering healing, so you can focus purely on damage output. As a playable character, choosing Mage places the burden of healing your party upon you, making it a less effective vocation choice.

8 Sorcerer

Advanced Vocation

The Sorcerer vocation is available upon completing the 'Vocation Frustration' quest, initiated at Vernworth, and elevates the Arisen and Main Pawn's ability to wield offensive magick. This offers a significant upgrade from the Mage class. As advanced spellcasters, Sorcerers utilize archistaves to unleash powerful area-based spells from a distance, requiring careful timing and considerable stamina.

The Sorcerer's ability to cast additional incantations means reduced casting time for their spells, making them a formidable presence on the battlefield. This also conveniently eliminates the problem that Mages face with casting time.

Despite their potent offensive capabilities, Sorcerers must manage their vulnerabilities, such as low defense and the risk of spell interruption from enemy attacks. Employing a ive party and strategic positioning is crucial to keep Sorcerers out of harm's way, ensuring they can successfully cast their high-stamina, long-charge spells. Mastering this vocation demands skillful management of its challenges but rewards players with unmatched destructive power for those who want to wield magick.

7 Archer

Starter Vocation

Available as a starting vocation in Dragon's Dogma 2, Archers specialize in long-range combat, skillfully using their bows to damage enemies from a distance. They are adept at moving and shooting simultaneously, unleashing rapid arrow volleys, and targeting enemy vulnerabilities with precision. Archers can also inflict various debilitations on their foes, increasing their susceptibility to attacks. Their arsenal includes special arrows and skills that enhance their strategic advantage on the battlefield.

Despite their agility and prowess at a distance, Archers lack robust defense, necessitating defensive from comrades and constant movement to maintain a safe range from enemies. Their approach to combat is heavily based on sustained damage through speed and skill, firing multiple arrows quickly, rather than delivering single, powerful strikes.

As Archers progress, they gain skills that boost their firing rate and mobility, crucial for evading attackers and managing stamina consumption, which is vital against foes that quickly close distances. There are better range-based Vocations that players can acquire later in the game, but at the early stages, this is a great option for those who are less inclined towards melee or magick playstyles.

6 Fighter

Starter Vocation

The Fighter vocation serves as the first foundational melee class utilized by players and their main Pawn, specializing in close combat and robust defense. Equipped with one-handed weapons and shields, Fighters excel at engaging enemies head-on, capable of absorbing and deflecting attacks while retaliating with powerful melee strikes. They shine particularly when exploiting foes upon staggering them, or targeting the vulnerabilities of incapacitated monsters, showcasing their prowess in battle.

Acting as the tank within a party, the Fighter's role extends beyond personal defense to safeguarding allies, positioning themselves strategically to bear the brunt of enemy aggression. By progressing the game, Fighters can further develop their shield techniques to bolster defense for themselves and their team. Skills include the taunting of enemies, ideal for a pawn designed to divert attention and withstand assaults, thereby allowing you to focus on damage output. It is overall a great starting choice for those who enjoy melee playstyles.

5 Warrior

Advanced Vocation

In Dragon's Dogma 2, the Warrior vocation is also available after completing the 'Vocation Frustration' quest. This vocation represents an advanced melee class compared to the Fighter, wielding formidable two-handed greatswords and hammers. These weapons, though slower to maneuver, deliver devastating blows capable of sweeping through groups of enemies with sheer force, great for crowd control.

Warriors excel at unleashing charged attacks that have the power to send smaller adversaries flying, and also stagger larger foes. During these recharging moments, Warriors benefit from reduced damage intake and increased resistance to flinching, allowing them to absorb hits and wait for the opportune moment to counterattack.

Foregoing the Fighter's shield, Warriors rely on their heavy armor and strong constitution to endure the threats of battle, positioning themselves as a more offensive alternative with the ability to taunt and engage multiple enemies. Their specialization in two-handed weaponry enables them to execute powerful, charged strikes and leverage unique skills that enhance their ability to control the battlefield. Essentially an upgraded Fighter, the skills honed by Warriors further distinguish it as a vocation that combines formidable offensive abilities with strategic utility.

4 Magick Archer

Hybrid Vocation

The Magick Archer, one of the hybrid Vocations exclusive to the Arisen in Dragon's Dogma 2, drastically elevates the Archer class by integrating magick into its core mechanics. This vocation is accessible upon completing the 'Put a Spring in Thy Step' quest. It stands out for its ability to allies and unleash devastating elemental and debilitating effects with its Magickal Bow.

Unlike the Mystic Spearhand's blend of melee and magic, the Magick Archer focuses solely on long-range magickal attacks, employing magical arrows for precise shooting and ranged spellcasting. What sets the Magick Archer apart is its unparalleled targeting accuracy due to its auto-aiming feature, and, like the Mage, can be tailored with elemental attributes to exploit enemy vulnerabilities, adding a tactical depth to combat. This capability, combined with crowd control, enhances the strategies available to players but also diversifies party composition.

3 Thief

Starter Vocation

In Dragon's Dogma 2, the Thief vocation offers one of the most dynamic melee starter classes, available for both the Arisen and Main Pawn to equip. Characterized by a unique melee style that emphasizes dexterity, speed, and agility, thieves excel at evading attacks and delivering rapid, successive strikes with their daggers. This offensive style makes them formidable in swift, close-quarters encounters.

This class comes with a versatile skill set, allowing for stealth, the use of powder charges, and the trapping of enemies with rope cords, among other tactics. The Twin Fangs skill becomes particularly effective against staggered or incapacitated foes, highlighting the Thief's opportunistic combat approach.

Unlike the more defensively oriented Fighter, Thieves rely on their mobility and quick-strike capability, compromising powerful single hits for a flurry of attacks that, while decreasing in damage per hit, overall inflicts significant harm. As Thieves progress, enhancements in both their offensive capabilities and agility enable them to climb onto larger creatures for critical assaults. It offers an experience rich in skill and tactical prowess, complete with I-Frames to navigate through and survive battles.

Thieves make for an optimal early playable character rather than a pawn, due to their complex maneuvering and the AI's limitations with fast-paced actions. It is also the only vocation that grants the ability to dodge attacks in Dragon's Dogma 2.

2 Mystic Spearhand

Hybrid Vocation

The Mystic Spearhand, a hybrid vocation only available to players in Dragon's Dogma 2, uniquely combines the finesse of melee combat with the strategic use of magick, wielding the unique Duospears for versatile attacks. It becomes available to learn upon talking to Sigurd first located at Melve, or Dragonsbreath Tower later on in the game. This class excels in both close-quarters and ranged engagements, allowing for a dynamic combat style that can adapt to various battlefield scenarios.

With their Duospears, Mystic Spearhands can engage multiple foes at once, delivering slashes and thrusts that capitalize on the weapon's dual-ended design. Beyond the vocation's physical prowess, Mystic Spearhands harness magick to control the battlefield, binding enemies to immobilize them, and even using telekinesis to hurl adversaries or objects as projectiles. It's ability to reach and combat targets in the air further showcases its role as a versatile and formidable force.

Like Thieves, unique to this vocation are I-Frames during certain attacks, providing brief invulnerability periods that greatly enhance survival. By playing as the Mystic Spearhand, Pawns are able to fulfill more straightforward ive or tank roles. This setup ensures the player can fully exploit the vocation's rich tactical and combat potential.

1 Warfarer

Hybrid Vocation

As shown by the Vocation preview released by Capcom USA, the Warfarer is the most versatile and adaptable vocation in Dragon's Dogma 2, offering an unparalleled hybrid class experience for the Arisen. Acquired through completing 'The Sotted Sage' quest, this class stands out by allowing players to seamlessly switch between class types and weapons mid-combat, enabling a dynamic and fluid approach to battles.

Whether casting grand spells, raining down elemental arrows, or delivering devastating blows with a greatsword, the Warfarer adapts to any combat scenario, catering to a wide range of playstyles with its customizable arsenal. As a late-game option, the Warfarer demands mastery over multiple weapon types and the strategic repertoire to exploit enemy weaknesses effectively.

While this class offers the freedom to combine skills from different Vocations, it comes with the challenge of not being able to level individual skills as intensely as more focused builds. This makes the Warfarer ideal for experienced players looking for a dynamic and engaging gameplay experience in Dragon's Dogma 2, ready to invest time in unlocking its full potential.

Source: Capcom USA/YouTube