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Best starting vocation - Dragon's Dogma 2

Get your adventure off to the right start with the best beginner vocations.

Josh Broadwell

March 21, 2024 9:45 PM

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Picking the best starting vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2 feels like a serious task, since this is the class you’re stuck with for a while. You can usually offset weaknesses with a good Pawn choice, which is useful for those who want to make a pick based on vibes alone. That said, if you want the smoothest and most enjoyable experience without having to think too much about strategic Pawn placement, some classes have a distinct advantage over others.

We’ve listed our picks for the best Dragon’s Dogma 2 starting vocations below in order from best to worst. 

Archer – Best Dragon’s Dogma 2 starting vocation

Archer looks like an awful choice at first. Distance fighter with no melee options? What a terrible idea! Except it isn’t. Archer is one of the most versatile classes, one with access to elemental skills and attacks that inflict debilitations. Best of all, though, is the archer’s aimed shots. These deal more damage in general, but they also make targeting enemy vital points much easier, without any climbing required. Any Pawn vocation works well with archer, too. Fighter is ideal, since they can keep you safe, but even mages draw attention and damage multiple foes at once with their spells.

Archers can also deal with flying targets better than most classes.

Sorcerer

Okay, so sorcerer isn’t really a starting class, but you unlock it so early in the game that I’m throwing it in anyway. Sorcerer is essentially an upgraded mage, which is more exciting in practice than it sounds. They have access to more elemental skills, and these skills affect a broader area. My personal favorite is a massive whirlwind you can whip up that drags smaller enemies into it and makes dealing with them en masse much easier.

The downside is that, like the mage vocation, sorcerers are prone to interruption. Make sure your Pawns keep you safe.

Thief

Thief is a brilliant vocation only held back by how fragile they are, though with the right Pawn companion, you can offset most of those problems pretty easily. Thieves are quick, with skills that pin enemies down and debilitate them, which is very useful in fights against sturdier enemies. They even get some elemental skills to help tackle foes resistant to physical strikes, a feature not every class can lay claim to. They’re often the first to die in a party, though, and even updated equipment won’t save them from an ogre’s powerful swipe. If you’re struggling with this vocation and swap to something else, make sure to recruit at least one thief Pawn to soften enemies for you.

Warrior

Warrior is your traditional tank class. They move slow, hit hard, and need a speedy companion to keep them from getting overwhelmed. They also take a bit of practice to master and feel more like playing Greatsword in Monster Hunter. Warriors rely on their charged attacks to take out large chunks of an enemy’s HP, but since these take a bit to prep, you need good timing to pull them off well.

The big drawback is that they have no options against enemies with physical resistances, which you’ll encounter fairly often in the game.

Mage

Mage is an excellent vocation, but playing it well takes a bit more planning and effort than the other vocations require. It’s almost like playing a healer in an MMO. You have to follow the party’s main damage dealer, which often means putting yourself in danger, while still tending to everyone else’s needs and firing off spells of your own to damage foes. That last action will likely attract enemy attention, which is a big problem. Not only are mages squishy, but they also need time to cast their spells uninterrupted. 

On the bright side, mage spells are exceptionally powerful – doubly so if you manage to combine them with the right debilitation, such as using fire on Tarred foes.

Fighter – Worst Dragon’s Dogma 2 starting vocation

Fighter is fine. It’s fine! And it’s not much more than that. This one is your standard fantasy RPG class, with a bit of offense and some defense. A few of the skills are flashy and fun, but there’s just nothing that special or particularly engaging about Fighter. Recruit a Pawn for this vocation, and let them be bored for you.

For more Dragon's Dogma 2 help, check out or best Pawn vocation guide and the 10 things we wish we knew before starting DD2.

Josh Broadwell

Contributing Editor

Josh is a freelance writer and reporter who specializes in guides, reviews, and whatever else he can convince someone to commission. You may have seen him on NPR, IGN, Polygon, or VG 24/7 or on Twitter, shouting about Trails. When he isn’t working, you’ll likely find him outside with his Belgian Malinois and Australian Shepherd or curled up with an RPG of some description.