Best Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocations: Every vocation ranked

The best Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocations for beginners, veterans, pawns, and everyone else

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Looking for the best Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocations? There are ten vocations in total in Dragon’s Dogma 2 , ranging from RPG mainstays like the Fighter and Mage to more unorthodox fare like the Mystic Spearhand. You’re also not locked into a single vocation, and there’s nothing to stop a particularly adventurous Arisen from ranking up every single one. Even if you stick to a single vocation, you may want your main pawn companion as well as all of the other pawns you recruit to specialise in other vocations in order to create a party suited to all situations.

In other words, every Arisen who sets out to vanquish the titular winged boss of Dragon’s Dogma 2 will eventually come into contact with the game’s many classes. We’ve ranked each of these vocations in the guide below to help you decide which is right for you and your squad.

• All Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocations
• Best Dragon’s Dogma 2 basic vocations
• Best Dragon’s Dogma 2 advanced vocations
• Best Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocation for pawns

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All Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocations

The following table lists all of the vocations of Dragon’s Dogma 2, as well as a description and categorisation for each. Dragon’s Dogma 2 features four basic vocations available at the start of the game, and six more advanced ones are available through story progression. Of those six advanced vocations, four are exclusive to the player’s Arisen, and cannot be taken by pawns.

Best Dragon’s Dogma 2 basic vocations

If you’ve just begun your journey as an Arisen, you’ll have four basic vocations available to you at the start of the game, and choosing the right one can be daunting. Here’s our ranking of each, from the easiest choice to the trickiest.

1. Fighter

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It wouldn’t be a roleplaying game without the tried and true Fighter class, and with a well-balanced skillset revolving around swordplay and shield usage, the Fighter is our top pick for the best Dragon’s Dogma 2 basic vocation, especially for newbies who didn’t play Dragon’s Dogma 1. Playing as the Fighter will give you great practice at getting in close, cutting enemies down, and protecting both yourself and all nearby allies. This is also an easy vocation for beginners to grasp but one that holds excellent depth. Longtime players will get a lot out of mastering the Fighter’s ability to parry strikes with their shield, and it certainly takes practice to serve as the Dragon’s Dogma equivalent of a tank.

2. Archer

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For those who prefer the ranged approach over melee attacks, the Archer is an excellent vocation that can fire arrows at the speed of light. You needn’t worry about aiming so much, since Dragon’s Dogma 2 features a fine-tuned auto-targeting system, but the Archer does get skills that enable them to zoom in on foes. Even more fun are the Archer’s trick arrows, which can explode, tar, or drench enemies with water and blight. In short, the Archer simply has lots of versatility at their disposal, albeit a tad more inventory management than other vocations. Also, you can jump kick goblins in the face, which is always a plus.

3. Mage

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With vital skills like Anodyne , Clerity, and Halidom - which respectively heal, hasten, and cure debilitations - the Mage is a classic support spellcaster through and through. They’re not as flashy as the other basic vocations, and their light armour restrictions mean that they’re the weakest. But choosing a Mage allows you to heal yourself via magick instead of popping a constant stream of Salubrious Droughts, and you’ll also have foundational attack spells to help you hold your own. Additionally, you can enchant allies’ weapons with potent elemental buffs. If the thought of healing your pawn and blessing them with fire magick before flamethrowing a foe yourself with Flagration sounds appealing, you should be a Mage.

4. Thief

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The Thief has one of the more complex and diverse skillsets out of the starting vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2. You’re essentially a melee DPS-dealer, but with less durability than the Fighter and the tendency to make swift moves that can easily miss. But if you can master the Thief’s dexterous moves, you’ll have a wide variety of tactics that deal massive damage. Thieves can pin foes to the ground for a fatal stab, slice away at weak points as they climb the backs of massive bosses, use gimmicks like ropes to make a foe fall to their knees, and even steal stuff on a successful strike. All of these options might be a bit overwhelming, which makes the Thief rank lowest on our list here, since we’re ranking in order of easiest-to-use to most challenging. If you love the idea of swift damage and a wide selection of skills, though, the Thief is right up your alley.

Best Dragon’s Dogma 2 advanced vocations

The advanced vocations of Dragon’s Dogma 2 are gated off via story quests and will take some time to completely unlock. Two of them - the Warrior and the Sorcerer - are similar to the Fighter and Mage, but with a fair degree of complexity, while the rest range from magick and melee hybrids to the truly unusual Trickster. Here’s our ranking, from best to toughest-to-play.

1. Warrior

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The Warrior is for folks who like oversized weapons that require finesse to use properly. (Those of you who exclusively prefer greatswords and similar heavy weapons in Monster Hunter, you know who you are!) Unlocked fairly early in Dragon’s Dogma 2 after the player completes the quest Vocation Frustration , the Warrior takes our top spot largely due to the huge damage that results in mastering this vocation’s many charge attacks . The slow nature of the Warrior is certainly a learning curve compared to speedier classes, but when it comes to slicing the legs of bosses and knocking off large sections of their health bars, the Warrior has no equal.

2. Magick Archer

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Why shouldn’t arrows be magickal in nature? The Magick Archer answers this question with an impressive collection of skills that run the gamut from firing ice and flame shots to healing allies with Remedy and Recovery Arrows. Unlocked late in Dragon’s Dogma 2 after you complete the quest Spring in Thy Step and speak with the NPC Cliodhna , the Magick Archer’s wild abilities are nevertheless worth the wait. I’m personally partial to their Ricochet Seeker skill, which looses a magick arrow that bounces all across the battlefield, dealing additional damage the more it collides with walls. For those who like magick but would rather tweak their bow string than utter incantations, the Magick Archer is a tonne of fun.

3. Mystic Spearhand

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If the Magick Archer excels in ranged magick strikes, the Mystic Spearhand is a maestro when it comes to infusing spells into their Duospear . Unlocked after you fight a dragon alongside the NPC Sigurd , who can be found during the Readvent of Calamity quest in Melve or at his home in Harve Village, the Mystic Spearhand utilises a robust playstyle that balances deft strikes from the spear with magickal capabilities. These include catapaulting through the air, levitating nearby objects, and briefly nullifying all enemy attacks with temporary barriers. It’s certainly a complicated advanced vocation that lacks defensive abilities, but the Mystic Spearhand is flashy, fun, and a logical step for Fighters and Thieves who are curious about spellcasting.

4. Sorcerer

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While the Mage possesses a smattering of attack magicks and a hefty number of support spells, the Sorcerer goes all-in on damage . Unlocked after completing the quest Vocation Frustration , the Sorcerer’s not quite as exciting as the other advanced vocations in my eyes, mostly because several of its base skills are shared with its basic vocation cousin. But if you like fancy spells, there’s a lot to enjoy here. Expect to be whipping out fiery vortexes, lightning storms, and epic blizzards at a moment’s notice, ending with meteor-summoning magicks like Meteoron.

5. Warfarer

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Warfarer only becomes available after you’ve made your way to the Volcanic Island Camp in the southern reaches of the map, around the same time as unlocking Magick Archer. You need to go to the hot springs and repeatedly interact with the NPC Lamond , completing the quest The Sotted Sage by giving him three bottles of newt liqueur. Once he accepts the booze, every weapon, armour, and skill in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is at your disposal. The Warfarer has lower base stats than more specialised classes, but their ability to mix and match skills and armaments to develop their own jack-of-all trades playstyle is endlessly complex and satisfying. In many ways, this is the best class in the entire game, but it’s also potentially the hardest , with zero new skills at its disposal unless you’ve been steadily ranking up your other vocations. Since it’s best suited to the endgame of Dragon’s Dogma 2, it ends up at a lower spot on our list by default.

6. Trickster

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Unlocked partway through the quest Flickering Shadows after you interact with the NPC Luz , the Trickster doesn’t exactly attack - instead, they summon forth illusory smoke and various mirages through their special weapon, the Censer . For instance, their Delusory Screen skill conjures a wall that stops enemies in their tracks and blocks vision, while Aromatic Rally boosts the offensive capabilities of allies. Skilled Tricksters can even create illusory bridges and swiftly remove them, making any foes standing on top fall to their deaths. While this is certainly an intriguing class, it’s difficult to use properly and ends up at the bottom of our list for its niche appeal. For those with a keen understanding of enemy behaviour, the Trickster might have something to offer, but most will want to look elsewhere.

Best Dragon’s Dogma 2 vocation for pawns

When it comes to deciding the best vocation for your main pawn, it’s important to abide by the following guidelines:

• For non-magick Arisen, Mage is the best choice to give your main pawn healing and support spells.
• If your Arisen is a Mage, or simply prefers items for healing, Fighter and Warrior are good choices to allow your main pawn to tank and defeat foes quickly.

It’s of course possible to make your main pawn an Archer or a Thief, especially if you’ve got a good selection of trick arrows in your inventory or need an ally to scale large bosses. Remember, main pawns can swap their vocations just like Arisen, so it’s worth ranking up all of their vocations if you’ve got time to spare.

Here, we have my Fighter attacking a griffin’s underbelly while the Warrior pawn has climbed onto its neck, ready to unleash severe blows. Meanwhile, the Archer’s delivering shots from afar while the Mage prepares to heal. That’s a well unified party! |Image credit:Capcom/Rock Paper Shotgun

When recruiting NPC pawns or other players’ pawns via Riftstones, the only thing to pay attention to is a healthy party composition . When in doubt, follow the classic RPG code, filling your party with a tank, a damage dealer or two, and at least one supporting pawn who can heal .

For instance, if your Arisen is a Fighter and your main pawn a Mage, you’d probably want to recruit a Thief or a Warrior to your cause. If your Arisen is a Warrior and your main pawn an Archer, then you’d best get a spellcaster on your side quickly.

That said, if you want a unique experience, you can certainly run around with an unbalanced party or one composed of an Arisen and pawns who are all the same class. An all-Mage group will sure have a lot of healing magick at their disposal, making for some memorable times - though you should note that taking down massive monsters might be a challenge!

That finishes our comprehensive look at the best vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2. If you’re looking for more detail on the vocations listed here, start with our deep dive into the magickal ways of the Mage , the smooth firing of the Archer , the sword and shield tactics of the Fighter , or the shifty dagger action of the Thief . For more advanced vocations, check out our guide to the greatsword swings of the Warrior , the extreme magick of the Sorcerer , the Duospear slices of the Mystic Spearhand , the crafty illusions of the Trickster , the bow spell combos of the Magick Archer , or the many weapon skills of the Warfarer .

Dragon’s Dogma 2

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

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Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

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Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

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Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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