Best Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocation for beginners

Dragon’s Dogma 2 lets you choose from the character class-style vocations at the start of the game, but one is better suited for beginners.

When you start a new save in Dragon’s Dogma 2, you’ll be given the option to choose from one of 4 vocations: Archer, Fighter, Mage, and Thief.

If you haven’t played the original Dragon’s Dogma or aren’t a huge fan of action RPGs, then there’s one class best suited for you, as you can assign other roles to your Pawns.

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Dragon’s Dogma 2’s best starter pick is Thief

The Thief is the best vocation for beginners in Dragon’s Dogma 2. They’re extremely fast and can dish out tons of damage with their dual blades, making them extremely satisfying to play, as you can always go on the offensive.

Regarding defense, the Thief’s Swift Step shoots you forward and grants you invincibility frames, helping you escape the more significant attacks used by larger foes.

The Thief has some amazing special attack options. Implicate lets you shoot a grappling hook that can grab enemies, which is excellent for dealing with annoying flying foes. Draw and Quarter deal an incredible amount of damage to larger foes when you’re climbing on them.

The Thief also gets the Masterful Kill parry/counter, which is extremely helpful when facing groups of enemies, as it deals a ton of damage and grants temporary invincibility during its animation.

The Thief is also a great vocation for people who have played the later Souls-like games, as the speed, I-frames, and counters are a natural fit for Sekiro or Elden Ring.

The other vocation options in Dragon’s Dogma 2 aren’t bad, per se, and if you really want to play a spellcaster/tank, go for it. It’s just that some aspects of those vocations are trickier to play due to how the enemies function.

The Archer and Mage take time to line up attacks, especially when preparing spells. Meanwhile, it’s easy to get stunlocked, with many enemies able to leap across the battlefield or strike from long range. This can make it frustrating when you rely on slower attacks and have few short-range defensive options.

The Fighter isn’t a bad choice for a beginner, but it’s slower, which means it’s not as safe to go on the offensive, especially when facing faster enemies that attack from your blindspots, like wolves.

As you can have three Pawns with you, the ideal setup is to have a healer Mage, a Fighter, and either an Archer or offense Mage for your party. These will fill the less fun roles, allowing you to fight like an action hero.

You will eventually unlock advanced vocations for your Arisen, but the Thief is so good that you might be tempted to stay with it for the duration of Dragon’s Dogma 2.

To learn more about Dragon’s Dogma 2, check out more of our guides below:

Does Dragon’s Dogma 2 have romance | Does Dragon’s Dogma 2 have multiplayer | Dragon’s Dogma 2 PC system requirements | Is Dragon’s Dogma 2 a PS5 exclusive | Is Dragon’s Dogma 2 coming to Xbox game pass | Dragon’s Dogma 2 Editions and pre-order bonuses