Dragon’s Dogma 2 Starting Vocations: Fighter, Mage, Thief, and Archer

When you first begin Dragon’s Dogma 2, choosing your starting vocation sets the tone for your early experience, shaping how you engage with enemies, navigate the world, and form your approach to combat. While later on you can experiment with hybrid and advanced vocations, your starting choice is crucial for understanding the basic flow of the game. Whether you prefer to swing a sword, channel spells, nimbly sneak around your enemies, or strike from afar with a bow, your first steps define your journey. So let's see these starting vocations in more detail: Fighter, Mage, Thief, and Archer. What are their strengths, playstyles, and what to expect as you take your first steps in Gransys and beyond?

Fighter: The Classic Warrior

If you’re drawn to the front lines of battle, Fighter is likely your best bet. Wielding swords and shields, Fighters excel at close-range combat and have a distinct advantage in durability. Their defensive capabilities are crucial for beginners, and you will grind a lot - it makes sense for a starter vocation - as the shield allows you to block incoming attacks, helping to reduce early-game frustration when you’re still learning enemy patterns.

The Fighter’s bread and butter are its simple but effective sword strikes and the ability to lock down enemies with knockdown attacks. You won’t be as fast as other vocations, but the balance between damage output and defense creates a reliable, well-rounded choice. Early abilities like Shield Strike let you create openings for powerful counterattacks, while skills such as Dire Gouge ramp up your offense when you need to put pressure on larger foes.

What makes Fighters in Dragon's Dogma 2 particularly rewarding is their ability to face a variety of enemy types without feeling under-equipped. From humanoid bandits to towering cyclopes, you’ll always have tools to tackle any situation. If you enjoy feeling like the sturdy backbone of the party or prefer a more measured approach to combat where patience and timing are rewarded, the Fighter vocation will feel natural.

Mage: A Master of the Arcane

The Mage vocation offers a completely different experience, prioritizing ranged magical attacks and the ability to support your party. As a Mage, you’ll be more vulnerable to physical attacks, but what you lack in durability, you more than make up for in sheer versatility. Spells like Fireball or Ice Boon allow you to deal elemental damage from afar, exploiting enemy weaknesses to turn the tide of battle.

One of the most valuable aspects of starting as a Mage is the role of a support caster. Early access to spells like Anodyne—which heals your allies—makes you indispensable in longer fights, especially against bosses or during challenging dungeon crawls. As you progress, you can specialize further into destructive or supportive magic, depending on your playstyle, but the starting spells already provide a strong foundation for both offense and utility. Vocations are very important in Dragon's Dogma 2, and players who buy PS5 games in this category or RPG and action role-playing know it is the main element of the gameplay.

Mages, however, are not without their limitations. They are more fragile, so positioning becomes critical. You’ll want to maintain distance from enemies and rely on your pawns to keep the heat off you while you channel spells. The longer casting times for certain abilities can also leave you vulnerable if you misjudge the battle’s flow, requiring you to develop a sense of timing early on. But for players who enjoy calculated approaches and love the idea of commanding the elements, Mage is an enticing choice.

Thief: Stealth and Agility on Display

While Fighters can wade into battle, and Mages dominate from afar, Thieves strike quickly and disappear before the enemy has time to react. One of the key skills you’ll rely on is Backstab, which, when executed properly, delivers massive damage to unsuspecting enemies. You’ll need to focus on dodging attacks rather than blocking, as the Thief lacks the defensive tools of a Fighter.

Another strength of the Thief is their mobility: they can climb large enemies (like ogres and chimeras) much more effectively than other vocations, delivering critical strikes to weak points, and increasing your chances of success (in a way). Their light equipment also makes them more agile in combat, allowing them to dodge heavy attacks that might overwhelm slower vocations. The Thief vocation offers a high skill ceiling, it may be attractive for some players, but not ideal as a vocation for those who love fast-paced, reactive combat it will be better to choose another vocation.

Archer: Precision and Control from Afar

If the thought of hanging back and peppering enemies with a flurry of arrows appeals to you, then the Archer vocation will be your starting point of choice. Archers excel at mid-to-long-range combat, using bows to pick off enemies while staying out of harm’s way. Using skills like Snipe Shot allows you to take out key targets from a distance, while abilities such as Flurry unleash rapid arrows, overwhelming enemies that attempt to close the gap.

Archers also have a variety of arrow types that can exploit enemy weaknesses, so you have to pay attention and choose correctly based on who you want to hit. Early in the game, you’ll gain access to elemental arrows, and these are special: they are invaluable when you come across foes with specific resistances. The Archer’s ability to control the battlefield makes them one of the more tactical vocations, requiring you to pay attention to positioning and environment in ways that other vocations might not.

However, Archers are heavily dependent on stamina management. Fire too many shots in a quick succession and you’ll find yourself gasping for breath at the worst possible moment. Archers, probably as you imagine already (because they strike at a distance) also struggle when enemies manage to close the distance, so keeping an eye on your surroundings is essential. While they have access to daggers for close-range defense, they aren’t as effective in melee combat as Thieves. Nevertheless, with practice, an Archer can turn the tide of battle with pinpoint accuracy, and for players who prefer a calculated, methodical approach to combat, the Archer’s bow becomes a deadly instrument.

Comparing the Starting Vocations: Which Should You Choose?

Each starting vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2 offers a distinct flavor of gameplay that caters to different playstyles. If you enjoy being on the frontlines, absorbing damage while dealing steady blows, the Fighter’s straightforward but reliable approach will be a comfortable fit. The Mage, on the other hand, is ideal for players who love versatility, balancing powerful offensive magic with essential support abilities to aid their party.

The Thief is a high-risk, high-reward vocation that thrives on speed, evasion, and opportunistic strikes, while the Archer excels at controlling the flow of combat from a distance, picking off enemies with precision and finesse. Each class has its own learning curve, strengths, and weaknesses, making the choice both personal and strategic depending on your preferred playstyle.

The beauty of Dragon’s Dogma 2 lies in its flexibility. While your starting vocation shapes your early hours, the game allows for fluid transitions between classes as you progress. This freedom means that you aren’t locked into any one path and can experiment with different vocations to find what suits you best. But for your first steps into Gransys, your starting vocation will set the tone—whether you stand strong with a shield, command the arcane, strike from the shadows, or rain arrows from the sky.

Final Thoughts

In Dragon’s Dogma 2, your choice of starting vocation is more than just a combat style—it’s an introduction to the game’s philosophy of adaptability and experimentation. Warriors - my favorite vocation - will learn the art of blocking punches and choosing their moment to strike, while wizards master spells to heal allies while hurting adversaries. Rogues become masters of stealth and precision by striking from shadowy corners while outwitting their foes, while Bards use music to take control of the battlefield with music buffs that strengthen allies while disempowering foes.

Every class offers unique challenges and rewards; your journey should reflect this fact. Explore your chosen class's strengths but do not be afraid to try something different or hybridize between classes for an exciting journey! Regardless if it remains singular or multiclass-focused - each day promises new discoveries!