When you start your journey in Dragon's Dogma 2, you assume the role of an Arisen tasked with defeating a Great Dragon to decide the world's fate. But before you set out to hunt down the dragon to reclaim your stolen heart, you have to decide what Vocation to call your own as you begin. There are a total of 10 Vocations available to your throughout Dragon's Dogma 2, but you can select from only four at the beginning: Fighter, Mage, Thief, and Archer. But which is the very best?
Best Starting Vocation in Dragon's Dogma 2
The question is kind of moot because Dragon's Dogma 2 is inherently designed so that your Vocation is flexible. All it takes is a quick trip to your local Inn or Guild Hall to change your active Vocation. So even if you don't like your starting class, you can always change it — and you're forced to learn how as part of the main quest.
That said, if you're looking for a more concrete answer, Game Director Hideaki Itsuno himself told GamesRadar+ outright which starting classes were best:
"If you're an FPS or third-person shooter player and you've got good aim, then the Archers could be a good match because the better you can aim, the better you will do with that kind of ranged character. I think it'll help you get to grips with the game at the start. Alternatively, if you've been playing more close-quarters combat games, and you're playing the kind of game with rolling dodges to get out of the way of enemy attacks before countering, then the Thief is something that will suit that kind of player very well."
If you play a lot of Fortnite or Palworld and are adept at that kind of gunplay, then Archer could be a great fit for you. If you've spent countless hours in Elden Ring or, more recently, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, then something like Thief might be best. You also have to consider that you get a Pawn companion who gets their own Vocation, so from very early on in the game, you can start thinking about party composition. Every party needs a spellcaster for the healing, but that doesn't have to be you.
All that said, here's our ranking of the starting classes from worst to best:
4: Mage
Unless you have a Pawn that can and will distract enemies and take some hits, you might have a tough time starting out as a Mage. You need to have a Fighter partner to watch your back or you're going to get very frustrated very quickly. That said, healing is very limited in Dragon's Dogma 2. There are very few consumables that can heal your party in-battle, so it's a lot of resting in between battles to top off your HP. Some form of healing then becomes essential. Before long, the Sorcerer Vocation outclasses the Mage in every way. However, it's a solid choice for your Pawn, especially if you play as a Fighter.
3: Fighter
You could make the argument that Fighter is technically "The Best" Starting Vocation because it is the easiest of the four to play. Therefore, it can be a great entry point for you to get acclimated to how Dragon's Dogma 2 feels. They're adept at controlling the battlefield by taunting enemies, taking the attention away from your squishier allies. All of their abilities have some measure of utility for their allies. Empale, for instance, is a forceful forward strike that can push back enemies and potentially prevent incoming damage. Whereas more advanced Vocations quickly outclass Mage, a Fighter can find a place in every party even deeper in the game, making it a great option for your Pawn rather than yourself.
2: Thief
How do you approach third-person action games? If you often find yourself spamming the dodge button and wishing you could move even faster, this is the Vocation for you. The Thief can deal more damage than the other Starting Vocations. It has incredible speed thanks to the Swift Step move, which allows them to dodge in any direction at any moment. Their toolkit is varied with tons of ways to buff their damage output. While the outright stealth mechanics are slim in Dragon's Dogma 2, the Thief thrives at leaping attacks from above like an Arkham-style takedown. They even get ninja-style smokescreen abilities to stun nearby enemies for extra damage.
1: Archer
Take it from Game Director Hideaki Itsuno: the Archer is the best Starting Vocation in Dragon's Dogma 2. They're billed as ranged-only characters, and while they do thrive at range, Archers auto-aim at targets and are more focused on mobility than precision. They thrive hopping at close- and medium-range peppering enemies with various types of arrows. They deal a solid amount of damage and even have some crowd-control abilities. You don't need good aim to play as an Archer, but if you are a big fan of third-person shooters of any kind, then you'll find a lot of love here. Not every party needs an Archer, but if it's a role you can fill with gusto and have fun with, it ought to be you.
