Best Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocations – class tier list

What are the best Dragon’s Dogma 2 classes? Known officially as vocations, these archetypes define how your character plays as you explore Capcom’s expansive open world, slaying griffins and goblins galore. From basic vocations like Archers and Mages to advanced roles such as the Mystic Spearhand and Trickster, there’s a lot to consider when picking your class, choosing which to put effort into leveling up, and which vocation to pick for your Pawn to complement your pros and cons.

The Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocation system gives you a ton of different ways to approach the RPG game, but which is the best? We have all the information on Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocations, including a tier list detailing the most powerful classes. Before you jump in, check out the Dragon’s Dogma 2 system requirements to make sure your system can handle the amount of destruction you’ll likely wreak on your enemies.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocation tier list

While you can make any vocation work in Dragon’s Dogma 2 so long as you have the right party composition, there are a few classes that excel when controlled directly. We’ve played each of the vocations and have created a handy tier list so you know what to commit your time to.

Best Dragon’s Dogma 2 Pawn vocations

While you may want to go all Thanos and do it yourself, you’ll only get so far trying to solo every enemy in Dragon’s Dogma. Thankfully, your Pawns are capable fighters, and are an essential asset in battles, but which vocations are they best suited to?

Here are the best vocations for your Pawns in Dragon’s Dogma 2:

Every Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocation

There are ten vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2, with four starting vocations and six advanced vocations.

Here is a full list of Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocations:

• Fighter
• Archer
• Thief
• Mage
• Warrior
• Sorcerer
• Magick Archer
• Mystic Spearhead
• Trickster
• Warfarer

Dragon’s Dogma 2 basic vocations

The basic vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2 are the ones available to you at the start of the game, during the character creation screen. You can choose from a Mage, Fighter, Archer, or Thief, all of which have different specializations, skills, weapons, and attack styles. We’ve dissected all of them, so you can better learn which is the right fit for you before starting your playthrough, or when it comes to changing your vocation later on should you choose to.

Fighter

• Weapon: Swords, Shields
• Equippable by pawns: Yes
• Attack type: Melee

The Fighter vocation is a good fit for anyone who appreciates a balance between offense and defense. Fighters are a great choice for both your Arisen and your Pawn if one or the other is a more fragile class like a Mage because they can draw enemy attention.

The Fighter was included in the original game, so may be one of the more familiar options to choose from. They deal moderate DPS to enemies but also have defensive tactics such as shields and the skills that come alongside them.

They’re also the second-best basic class to pick if you want to climb on massive enemies like griffins and ogres right away, rather than keep your distance, as they have the durability to survive such heroics. Here is every Dragon’s Dogma 2 Fighter skill that you should be unlocking.

Archer

• Weapon: Bow and Arrow
• Equippable by pawns: Yes
• Attack type: Ranged

Replacing half of the bow-and-dagger-wielding Strider vocation from the original Dragon’s Dogma, the Archer specializes in keeping their distance and targeting enemy weaknesses. The Archer’s arrows may deal less damage than other vocations, but their rate of fire is high, meaning they can exploit enemy weaknesses quickly.

They’re a great supporting vocation for either the Arisen or a Pawn as they help create opportunities for your band of adventurers to strike, such as knocking down flying enemies that a melee character cannot reach, or toppling an enemy from a high vantage point. Here is every Dragon’s Dogma 2 Archer skill, and which you should be unlocking.

Thief

• Weapon: Daggers
• Equippable by pawns: Yes
• Attack type: Melee

Replacing the other half of the original game’s Strider vocation, the Thief focuses on dual-wielding daggers and speed. While not defensively strong, their skills give them great mobility to avoid enemy attacks while dealing massive damage with consecutive strikes.

The Thief relies on impressive speed to position themselves well throughout any combat encounter, enabling them to get swift, painful stabs in with their twin daggers. These stabs do cause less damage than other vocations, but the amount of hits they can make in a short amount of time more than makes up for it. Try clinging to a huge enemy and laying as many blows into them as possible. With a bit of support, the Thief vocation is all set. Here is every Dragon’s Dogma 2 Thief skill, and the most powerful ones you should be aiming for.

Mage

• Weapon: Staves
• Equippable by pawns: Yes
• Attack type: Magick

Unlike the offense-heavy Sorcerer advanced vocation, the Mage leans into a more supportive role, offering weapon buffs for their party members, crowd control for when hordes of little goblins attack, and healing spells to keep their friends in the fight.

They require more patience and timing than the other basic vocations because the more powerful the spell, the longer it takes to cast. You’ll find it useful to have a Fighter in your party to draw attention away from them while casting. Check out our Dragon’s Dogma 2 Mage guide for information on how to play this effective support class.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 Advanced Vocations

Advanced vocations are those that you’ll need to unlock throughout your game, and unsurprisingly are advanced versions of the basic vocations. These enhanced classes feature more intricate combat capabilities and skills and favor different playstyles. There are six to choose from, and we’ve got all you need to know about each of them to decide which to seek out in Capcom’s fantasy epic.

Warrior

• Weapon: Two-handed
• Equippable by pawns: Yes
• Attack type: Burst melee

Unlike the melee-focused Fighter vocation, the Warrior ditches some defense for much more offense, though they’re robust enough to survive plenty of enemy attacks. One huge, effective swing from a greatsword can take out multiple enemies at once, making them useful for crowd control. Their strength can also stun enemies, opening a window for your pawns to lay into them.

Wielding two-handed weapons like greatswords and massive hammers, the Warrior vocation requires patience when winding up debilitating blows, as their more powerful attacks take time to charge up – a great choice for an experienced Arisen that appreciates the satisfying thunk of hitting monsters with a big weapon. We have a Dragon’s Dogma 2 Warrior guide if you want to know how to master this devastating class.

Sorcerer

• Weapon: Staves
• Equippable by pawns: Yes
• Attack type: Magick

While the Mage vocation leans heavily toward support spells, the Sorcerer vocation ditches healing and buffing in favor of incredibly powerful spells, such as summoning tornadoes and throwing spheres of fire around like it’s nothing. You can heal yourself, but that comes at the cost of being unable to heal your pawns. Regardless, the Sorcerer’s abilities with magick make the shift over from Mage worthwhile for the sheer damage output.

The Sorcerer can cast huge area of effect spells that stay active for a long time, but these spells take quite a while to charge up, leaving them open to getting chomped by a dragon or swarmed by goblins. Sorcerers do have the ability to speed up their spellcasting via the Galvanize stance, which requires stamina, meaning they need more resource management than other vocations. You can also shorten your spell cast time using the skill Quickspell, which uses up stamina, too. Check out our Dragon’s Dogma 2 Sorcerer guide to master the arcane arts.

Magick Archer

• Weapon: Bow and Arrow
• Equippable by pawns: No
• Attack type: Magick Arrows/Spells

A fan-favorite vocation from the first game and a hybrid of the Archer and Mage, Magick Archers are one of the most valuable and versatile party members. With the ability to snipe flying enemies out of the sky, they can also heal their allies and cast some devastating spells, including a skill that decimates a wide area of enemies at the cost of their health.

As shown in the Magick Archer spotlight below, this vocation has access to large attacks that extend its usual range, and create a huge area of effect around the arrow’s final destination. Perfect for those who struggle with aiming accurately under pressure, these blast attacks will quickly disperse any threat. This can also be used effectively to blast enemies off cliff edges or into other environmental dangers.

Magick Archer’s ranged attacks have extra effects that almost always guarantee a direct hit, including homing attacks. There are options to sacrifice your own HP for high damage output, so think carefully about when to use these special skills. Their ability to heal your party members is invaluable, but repositioning yourself frequently is key. Consider picking a Magick Archer for your Arisen if you want to make sure your Pawns stay alive while contributing damage yourself. Here’s how to unlock the special vocation and all of the Dragon’s Dogma Magick Archer skills you should be unlocking.

Mystic Spearhand

• Weapon: Duospear
• Equippable by pawns: No
• Attack type: Melee/Magick

A new vocation to the series and a more melee-capable alternative to the Magick Archer, the Mystic Spearhand balances both melee attacks and ranged spells, making it versatile in a different way. They alternate between using the Duospear weapon to slay Manticores while throwing spells to paralyze enemies or hurl objects in between. Here’s how to unlock the Dragon’s Dogma 2 Mystic Spearhand so you can get to grips with the powerful vocation.

The Mystic Spearhand’s ability to use both physical melee and magick damage makes it one of the most balanced offensive vocations in the game. Your foes will disappear in a flurry of spells and stabs, linking together seamlessly to create unique attack combinations. The Mystic Spearhand can dash and quickly teleport to improve your position on the battlefield.

Using this high mobility you can position yourself behind or on top of enemies to quickly and efficiently eliminate them. The Mystic Spearhand can use elements of electricity and shadow among others, and can even create a temporary clone of itself to confuse and distract enemies. While the Mystic Spearhands have less support utility, they’re a great choice for the Arisen if you want to be able to attack any foe rather than support your Pawns.

Trickster

• Weapon: Censer
• Equippable by pawns: No
• Attack type: Illusionary

A completely new vocation to the Dragon’s Dogma universe, the Trickster focuses on conjuring illusions with its Censer weapon. A more supportive casting vocation than the Sorcerer, the Trickster can deceive enemies into fighting one another while buffing their Pawns to even greater heights.

In earlier levels, the Trickster does little to no damage, instead inciting aggro from enemies and bringing them towards you, leaving them open for your pawns to attack. By using the Trickster’s unique skill, Effigial Incense, you can create a clone of yourself, tricking the enemies into attacking that instead of you. You can teleport your clone to yourself to entice enemies in your direction. Your clone does have a health bar, so be conscious of that, but you can use it to convince enemies to throw themselves from cliffs, which is nice.

You can also create false walls and floors for a similar effect with the Lucent Divider skill. Combining all of these skills with the ability to create a projection of yourself, you can summon your clone to your projection, place a false floor, and giggle gleefully as enemies throw themselves to a certain death as they’re lured to attack. This won’t be practical in every scenario, so use the Aromatic Resurgence skill to heavily buff all of your Pawns, and let them do the heavy lifting for you. The Trickster can also use Dragon’s Illusion, which summons a false Dragon to terrify any enemy nearby and stun them, giving your pawns plenty of time to get huge damage in. Check out our Dragon’s Dogma 2 Trickster guide to find out how to master this – ahem – tricky class.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 Warfarer vocation

• Weapons: All
• Equippable by pawns: No
• Attack type: All

Still unsure which vocation to play? Another class exclusive to the Arisen, the Warfarer takes skills and weapons from each vocation to become the most versatile class, blurring vocational boundaries. The Warfarer can use every weapon in the game, meaning it can adapt to any situation and blur the boundaries of vocations entirely. This comes at the cost of lower base stats, meaning you’ll need to think on your feet and use those weapons to your advantage.

If you want to cast ice spells, heal your Pawns, and slam a massive sword into a dragon’s face all within the space of 30 seconds, the Warfarer is for you. Even if that’s not the case, it’s a great vocation to play if you want to get a feel for all the other classes without investing too much time into them.

That’s all we have on the vocations available in Dragon’s Dogma 2. If you’re itching to adventure through more fantastical locations like the human kingdom of Vermund and the Beastren nation of Battahl, our best fantasy games guide will have you slaying dragons and orcs in no time. We’ve traipsed across the entirety of the Dragon’s Dogma 2 map to seek out as much information as possible, including answers to those pesky Dragon’s Dogma 2 Sphinx riddles – what on earth is she on about?

Additional contributions from Lowell Bell.