Dragon's Dogma 2: All Vocations and How to Unlock Them

How do you unlock all vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2? Vocations are basically character classes, and they determine how your Arisen, and your pawns, function in combat. Each vocation has its own weapon and armour requirements, while boasting unique attacks, skills, and perks that define your style of play.

In this Dragon's Dogma 2 guide, we're going to provide an overview of the game's available vocations, along with details on how to unlock both advanced and hybrid vocations.

Dragon's Dogma 2: All Vocations and How to Unlock Them

There are a total of ten vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2. Right near the very beginning of the game, you'll choose one starting vocation — from an initial four options — and then a little later, you'll be free to switch between vocations if you feel like it, by visiting a Vocation Guild.

However, in order to unlock the remaining six vocations, you'll need to do some exploring (and some questing). Several vocations are typically unlocked much later in the game.

Fighter

Weapon: Sword or mace and shield

Strengths:

• The best defensive vocation
• Excels at melee combat
• Can block incoming attacks, both physical and magical
• Can perform parries and counterattacks with the right timing / skills
• Can equip heavy armour, significantly boosting defensive stats
• Boasts high stagger damage, knocking enemies down more often
• Can deal massive damage to downed foes with finishing blows

Weaknesses:

• Equipment tends to be heavy, leading to higher stamina consumption
• Guard can be broken, leaving you completely vulnerable for a time
• Struggles against airborne enemies
• No means of magical damage without an enchanted weapon

How to Unlock Fighter:

Fighter is one of the game's four starting vocations, and is automatically unlocked at the beginning of the game.

Archer

Weapon: Bow

Strengths:

• Excels at ranged combat
• Can strike enemy weak spots with ease; capable of massive damage output using skills
• Evasive movement options, like sliding and leaping off enemies
• Perfectly counters airborne enemies
• Can equip medium armour, boosting defensive stats

Weaknesses:

• Struggles in enclosed areas where there's little room to aim
• Limited defensive options when surrounded
• No means of magical damage without an enchanted weapon

How to Unlock Archer:

Archer is one of the game's four starting vocations, and is automatically unlocked at the beginning of the game.

Mage

Weapon: Staff

Strengths:

• Excels as a supportive party member
• Has instant and permanent access to healing magic
• Can imbue allies' weapons with elemental magic, allowing them to deal magic damage
• Learns an array of elemental magic skills
• Learns a selection of supportive magic skills
• Can levitate in order to reach higher platforms or cross large gaps
• Can combine spell casting with other Mages or Sorcerers to increase casting speed

Weaknesses:

• Low health and light armour makes them fragile
• Needs time to cast magic
• No defensive options when surrounded
• Lacks powerful offensive skills

How to Unlock Mage:

Mage is one of the game's four starting vocations, and is automatically unlocked at the beginning of the game.

Thief

Weapon: Dual daggers

Strengths:

• Excels at close combat
• The only vocation with an evasive dash
• Can perform counterattacks with certain skills
• Very fast attack speed
• Boasts decent stagger damage, unbalancing enemies quite often
• Can deal massive damage to downed foes with finishing blows
• Learns a variety of skills, making them a versatile vocation

Weaknesses:

• Struggles against larger foes without climbing them to exploit weak points
• Lighter armour makes them fairly fragile
• No means of magical damage without enchanted weapons

How to Unlock Thief:

Thief is one of the game's four starting vocations, and is automatically unlocked at the beginning of the game.

Warrior

Weapon: Two-handed swords, hammers, or axes

Strengths:

• Excels at melee combat
• Long-reaching attacks
• Can charge attacks to deal significantly increased damage
• Boasts huge stagger resistance, especially when charging attacks
• Boasts immense stagger damage, often knocking foes down
• Can deal massive damage to downed foes with finishing blows
• Can equip heavy armour and has the largest health pool of any vocation

Weaknesses:

• Very slow attacks require thoughtful positioning and timing
• Seriously struggles against airborne enemies
• No means of magical damage without an enchanted weapon

How to Unlock Warrior:

To unlock the Warrior vocation, you need to find a two-handed weapon. At the beginning of the game, two-handed weapons aren't sold at shops, so you'll need to procure one from a treasure chest out in the world.

The easiest way to get your hands on one is to follow through with the quest Vocation Frustration. This is an early-game quest that you can learn of by talking to the Vocation Guild receptionist in Vernworth.

You'll be told of the local weapons shop, which has had its incoming stock hijacked by monsters out on the roads. You'll be tasked with going to a nearby mining cave that goblins have taken over, called Trevo Mine, located just to the north west of Vernworth. In this cave, you'll find a treasure chest that contains a basic greatsword.

This is the same mine that you'll be sent to as part of the main story quest, Monster Culling, so you can effectively complete two quests in one go by visiting the cave and clearing it out.

Bring the greatsword back to Vocation Guild and you'll be able to unlock the Warrior vocation.

Sorcerer

Weapon: Archistaff

Strengths:

• Excels at dealing ranged magic damage
• Learns a wide variety of offensive magic skills
• Learns magic skills that have wide areas of effect, making them great at crowd control
• Can exploit elemental weaknesses to deal massive damage
• Can combine spell casting with Mages and other Sorcerers to increase casting speed
• Can quickly recover stamina with their unique vocation ability, Galvanize

Weaknesses:

• Needs a lot of time to cast most magic
• Low health and light armour makes them fragile
• No defensive options when surrounded

How to Unlock Sorcerer:

To unlock the Sorcerer vocation, you need to find an archistaff. Around the start of the game, archistaves aren't sold at shops, so you'll need to discover one in a treasure chest out in the wilds.

The easiest way to get your hands on one is to follow through with the quest Vocation Frustration. This is an early-game quest that you can learn of by talking to the Vocation Guild receptionist in Vernworth.

You'll be told of the local weapons shop, which has had its incoming stock hijacked by monsters out on the roads. You'll be tasked with going to a nearby mining cave that goblins have taken over, called Trevo Mine. In this cave, you'll find a treasure chest that contains an archistaff.

This is the same mine that you'll be sent to as part of the main story quest, Monster Culling, so you can effectively complete two quests in one go by visiting the cave and clearing it out.

Bring the archistaff back to Vocation Guild and you'll be able to unlock the Sorcerer vocation.

Mystic Spearhand

Weapon: Duospear

Strengths:

• The most outwardly aggressive vocation
• Excels at close and midrange combat
• Utilises both physical and magical damage, making them effective against any enemy
• Normal attacks are fast, long-reaching, and combo effectively
• Can temporarily slow enemies with the vocation's unique magic ability
• Learns some surprisingly defensive skills
• Can deal massive damage to downed foes with finishing blows
• Medium armour provides good defensive stats

Weaknesses:

• Has to expend a lot of stamina to be as effective as possible, and recovers stamina slowly depending on used skills
• Lacks immediate defensive options when surrounded

How to Unlock Mystic Spearhand:

Unlocking the Mystic Spearhand vocation may take some time. There are essentially two quest paths that you need to complete before you can unlock it.

Quest Path 1:

To begin this quest path, you need to make your way to the ransacked village of Harve, which is located directly west of Vernworth, on the coast. This settlement has a saurian problem, and if you hang around, a beastren man by the name of Fyoran will ask for your help in clearing out the monsters. Accept the quest, Scaly Invaders, and defeat the Saurians.

When you're done, you'll need to return to Harve after a few days have passed — and guess what? More saurians have attacked. Defeat the latest pack of monsters, and you'll complete the quest.

Now that Harve is relatively safe, you'll unlock another quest on your next visit to the village, titled Trouble on the Cape. Speak with Fyoran, and you'll learn that villagers are trapped within the nearby Stormwind Cave. Agree to the rescue mission, and defeat all of the saurians that have made the cave their lair.

With the villagers safe, Fyoran will be dragged into an argument with the mayor, and he'll be exiled, despite his efforts in aiding the village.

Quest Path 2:

This quest path begins when you return to the village of Melve — the settlement where you first wake up after escaping atop the griffon at the start of the game. Upon your return, you'll find the village under siege from a drake, and you'll start a quest called Readvent of Calamity. It's highly likely that this opponent will be far too powerful for you to slay at this point in the game, but you'll be assisted by Ulrika — the woman who nursed you back to health — and a number of armed guards.

Among them is a powerful Mystic Spearhand by the name of Sigmund, and his abilities will be enough to make the drake retreat after a few minutes of fighting. With the drake gone, speak with Ulrika and then leave the village when you're ready to move on.

Check back in on the village after a few days, and visit Ulrika's house at the back of the village. You'll overhear her talking with a man named Martin. Speak with Ulrika and you'll spend the night in the village. When you awake, you'll learn that Ulrika has disappeared, and the village's protector, Lennart, will ask you to look out for her on your travels.

Ulrika has actually fled to Harve, the seaside village. Find her standing on the pier and speak with her, before returning to Melve and informing Lennart that she's okay. This completes the quest.

Return to Melve yet again once some time has passed, and you'll discover that it's been taken over by soldiers, beginning a quest called Home Is Where the Hearth Is. Instead of bribing the guard at the entrance, simply climb over one of the nearby walls and enter the village. Make for Ulrika's house, where you'll find Lennart. He'll explain that the villagers need weapons if they're to survive.

You can either hand Lennart four swords that you've obtained from elsewhere in the game, or you can take four swords from the storeroom, which is located just down the village's main path. You can talk with the nearby villagers and have them distract the guards, before grabbing the swords from the chests inside.

Once you've delivered the swords to Lennart, you'll fight a number of soldiers alongside the villagers. Once they're defeated, Lennart and his people will decide on Harve as their destination, where they'll join Ulrika.

When some time has passed, make for Harve yourself and speak with Ulrika. The seaside village is once again a thriving little community, and the quest will be completed.

Now then, with all of that out of the way, take the path that leads up the hill. At the top, you'll find Sigurd's house, and he should be inside. Simply ask him about his style of fighting, and you'll finally unlock the Mystic Spearhand vocation.

Magick Archer

Weapon: Magickal bow

Strengths:

• Excels at ranged combat
• Normal attacks deal magic damage
• All normal attacks and most skills can be locked on to an enemy, ensuring accuracy
• Can lock on to and strike enemy weak points with relative ease
• Can use elemental magic skills to exploit enemy weaknesses
• Learns several support skills, including healing magic
• Learns a variety of skills, making them a highly versatile vocation

Weaknesses:

• Struggles in enclosed areas where there's little room to aim
• Struggles against enemies that have high magic resistance
• No defensive options when surrounded

How to Unlock Magick Archer:

To unlock the Magick Archer vocation, you'll need to travel down to the far south of the map, to a location called the Volcanic Island. However, actually getting to this area is incredibly difficult during the earlier hours of the game; the connecting roads are peppered with dangerous high level enemies, and you'll need to be aware of various shortcuts in order to reach your destination.

As such, it's probably best to pursue the Magick Archer once you're at a higher level, and you're equipped with better weapons and armour.

When you're ready, head all the way south until you come across a dwarven man named Gautstafr on the main road (he's very hard to miss). He'll complain of having a bad back, and will ask if you have any wildflowers, which can be used to mix a cure. Hand him three wildflowers — any will do, including ones that can be found in the immediate area — and then escort the man back to his home on the small island that lies just off the main road. It's called the Windwalker's Home.

At the house, you'll meet his partner, an elven woman named Cliodhna. Despite your earlier aid, the dwarf's back will start acting up again, and you'll be tasked with escorting him to the volcanic hot springs that can be found even further south.

Escort him to the baths and you'll be met by Cliodhna. She'll ultimately thank you for your assistance, and you'll unlock the Magick Archer as a vocation.

Trickster

Weapon: Censer

Strengths:

• Can control the battlefield with illusions, keeping enemies busy
• Can force enemies into fighting amongst themselves
• Can buff allies
• Can debuff enemies
• Can make more difficult encounters laughably easy with the right tactics

Weaknesses:

• Incapable of dealing effective damage alone, and so must rely heavily on pawns
• Lacks defensive options when surrounded
• Struggles to make an impact in shorter battles, or in battles with lesser enemies

How to Unlock Trickster:

Unlocking the Trickster isn't tricky at all — but you will need to be a fairly high level in order to make the journey. In the desert land of Battahl, there's a small temple called the Reverent Shrine. It's quite far to the north west of the nation's capital city, Bakbattahl.

Simply visit the shrine and talk to the ghostly-looking woman, called Luz, who resides there. Ask her a question or two, if you like, and when you finish talking, you'll unlock the Trickster vocation.

Warfarer

Weapon: Can use all available weapons

Strengths:

• The most versatile vocation, able to equip any weapons and unlocked skills from other vocations
• Can switch between weapons in combat to suit the situation
• Only the heaviest weapon that you have equipped counts towards your weight
• Capable of dealing with any situation or enemy depending on their loadout
• Gains access to all unlocked core skills from other vocations
• When Warfarers gain discipline points (DP) from victory in battle, the vocation rank of all other unlocked vocations will slowly increase as well (unless they're maxed out already)

Weaknesses:

• Is balanced through having lower overall stats
• Can only equip a total of three previously learned skills
• Cannot use ultimate skills from other vocations

How to Unlock Warfarer:

To unlock the Warfarer vocation, you'll need to travel to one of the game's southern-most locations, the Volcanic Island. If you've already unlocked the Magick Archer, you'll know exactly where to go: the volcanic hot springs. There, you'll find a rather laidback man called Lamond, who's lazing around just outside of the hot spring reception desk.

Talk to him and he'll mention his thirst for a good drink. Alcoholic items are almost nonexistent in Dragon's Dogma 2, but there is a kind of booze that you can make yourself. It's called Newt Liquer (it has a tempting orange hue to it), and to make it, you'll need to combine Fruit Wine with a Saurian Tail.

Saurian Tails are really easy to find — just kill a saurian (a normal one, not a poisonous or rock-coated one) but make sure to hack its tail off before it dies. Using a slashing weapon, like a sword, greatsword, axe, or duospear makes this much easier. Most of the time, you'll be able to loot the tail itself.

Fruit Wine is much harder to track down. It can be given to you as a seemingly randomised quest reward and it can be found in treasure chests. The problem is that Lamond will ask for three bottles of Newt Liquer before he's finally ready to tell you of the Warfarer vocation.

So, chances are, you'll scrap the idea of making the drink yourself, and instead purchase it from a shady bar in Bakbattahl. In order to do this, go to Higgs's Tavern Stand in the capital city. Speaking to the bartender does nothing — but there's actually a secret Newt Liquer seller upstairs.

However, gaining access to the seller is a bit of a pain. For starters, you must be a beastren — not a human. Fortunately, if you are playing as a human Arisen, you can buy a Beastren Mask from a travelling beastren merchant who hangs around the Checkpoint Rest Town.

Once that's sorted, head to the front entrance of Higgs's Tavern Stand and pick up a bundle of the sandbags. Place the sandbags in the nearby fenced pen, and you'll be taken upstairs to the secret seller. You can find out about this special service by listening in on a bunch of humans who stand around the well at night.

The seller has several Newt Liquers to sell at any one time, and each bottle costs 5,000 gold — so make sure you've got the cash. Once you've finally got the booze, head back to Lamond, have him drink up, and he'll unlock the Warfarer vocation for you.

However, in order to use Rearmament, the Warfarer's unique skill that lets you swich between weapon types in combat, you'll need the teaching scroll Lamond. Chances are, you'll get the scroll as soon as he unlocks the vocation for you, but if he doesn't hand the scroll over, come back once you've played more of the game.

Did you find this Dragon's Dogma 2 vocation guide helpful? Which is your chosen vocation? Check out the rest of our Dragon's Dogma 2 guide, and then champion your favourite in the comments section below.