Dragon’s Dogma 2 Vocations 101: The Archer

Welcome to Vocations 101, where we go through the Basic Vocations of Dragon’s Dogma 2 to help you decide which of the options suits you best! Note, these are mainly my findings playing the game; each player has their own style, so I always recommend experimenting. Without further ado, let us begin our first lesson: the Archer.

Introduction

Do you like to make pinpoint strikes on vulnerable spots, keep the battle at arms reach while you plot the next best stratagem, or end threats before they even realise you’re there? Then the Archer may be the vocation for you! The Archer is most comfortable at mid to long-range, raining down death, picking off stragglers, and excels at hitting weak points and support. However, the Vocation does require you to be cognizant of your surroundings, constantly on the move, and is in a heap of bother if anyone gets up close and personal.

Basics

Normal Attack (left face button): Loose

Your main attack, Loose, is exactly what it seems like; you shoot an arrow with your bow. Don’t fret, however, as there is more to this attack than meets the eye, especially when combined with the Vocation Action which we’ll get into soon. Press the button, and you’ll launch an arrow into the direction you are facing, often auto-targeting the nearest enemy, simple as that! What makes this attack super fun is its more advanced forms, where you can use it while running to perform an epic power slide while shooting your shot, or doing it mid-air! Loose is a great skill to use while mobile, as it offers some built-in ways to keep you out of trouble or get you out of it.

Special Attack (top face button): Kick

My absolute favourite attack in the whole game, bar none. If a nasty baddie does get into swinging distance of you, a standard archer would probably run for the hills, but not the Arisen, oh no! Instead, you have the ability to deliver an absolutely devastating kick that can stagger enemies. Do it while mid-jump and you can use your foe as a springboard to get some air and even fire an arrow at them while doing it! Absolutely amazing, no notes.

Vocation Action: Steady Shot:

Possibly the most useful Vocation Action of the lot, Steady Shot allows you to do something other Vocations dream of: aim. In a game without lock-on, being able to accurately place your shots is a fantastic ability, especially since many of the enemies in Dragon’s Dogma 2 have visible weak points you can aim at to make even the mightiest beasts quiver in fear! What makes Steady Aim even better is the fact that it can be combined with most of the Archer’s skills, allowing you to shower a poor unsuspecting Cyclops with a very painful bit of ocular surgery or determine where exactly you would like to plant that explosive arrow.

Skills

Like many other aspects of a build, the usefulness and fun factor of skills are heavily tied to the player in question; we all like different things, and that is completely fine! The following are skills I found myself using the most, but I always encourage trying out different combinations.

Barrage Shot — Being the first skill you get in this Vocation, some may disregard Barrage Shot in favour of more flashy skills later down the line, however, this skill has some great uses even though it's pretty unexciting. When used, you shoot a volley of arrows at a target or whatever you are aiming at if using Steady Shot. What adds to the uses of this skill is the fact that it can be used on the move, allowing you to keep the heat on enemies while also moving to a more favourable position, or avoiding a trailing mob of goblins! One should also not disregard the, frankly, unbelievable amount of damage a barrage of arrows does when shot at a vital point.

Dire Arrow — Possibly my number one favourite skill in the game. Dire Arrow is amazingly satisfying if pulled off, but it is frustrating when dealing with multiple fast opponents. Upon activation, your Arisen will bend their bow to its absolute limit, charging up a massive attack. When fully charged, you can unleash the skill to deal a single strike with both great damage and knockback! It works well when trying to stagger or hobble larger foes and can send smaller foes flying. But to be honest, I simply love how the skill feels, as the impact is very satisfying. The charge time is a bit of an issue, meaning it may not be very useful against foes that can get out of the way or interrupt your focus.

Honourable Mention: Puncture Dart. A great alternative to Dire Arrow which packs a bit less punch, but goes through multiple foes and can be used on the move! So if you find the charging period to be not to your liking, give this a shot!

Exploding Shot — The final skill I’d like to suggest is one of both utility and strategy. Upon activation, your Arisen will pull out a special Exploding Arrow (this is an in-game item and each use of the skill will consume one) ready to be fired. If you hit an enemy, the missile will stick to them. If hit again by anything, the arrow will promptly explode, bathing the enemy and anyone nearby with flames! This is very useful at the start of the game especially, as elemental attacks are relatively rare. If you happen to be climbing on a large enemy, using the skill will instead have your Arisen simply plunge an arrow near where you are climbing, which is fun. Since this skill uses a limited item, its use should be done sparingly, as running out of arrows means no more skill! Luckily they are relatively simple to craft with materials found in the field.

Weight and Party Composition

In Dragon’s Dogma 2, the weight of your current build can affect your experience quite profoundly: a heavy player will find themselves constantly running out of stamina and trudging on at a snail's pace but being absolutely unbothered by attacks that could send a lighter fighter skywards. On the other hand, a fighter lighter on their feet will have stamina for days and be able to climb, clamber, run, and jump with greater ease. There is no right answer to which encumbrance level is best, so experiment no matter what I say here!

In the case of the Archer, you will spend a lot of time running around looking for a good shot, escaping from enemies, or if you’re like me, charging head-first into the staggered Ogre to kick the daylights out of them! As such, I found a light build to work best, as it allowed me to perform the many acrobatic manoeuvres that make the Archer a joy to play. Additionally, many of the Vocation’s skills rely on using up stamina for rapid attacks, so more stamina, more attacks!

In terms of party composition, the Archer is one of the best ranged Vocations, especially in the hands of a player, in addition to acting as support and dealing a fair bit of damage. However, the Vocation’s few close-range attacks and low defences do mean that you’ll want to have some melee fighter to keep the heat off of you. A magickally infused class can be a great complement to an archer as well, as elemental boon skills can turn your pointy sticks into elemental missiles quite handily. When playing as an Archer, I often had my Main Pawn as a Fighter.

Augments

Each Vocation can unlock a set of Augments which add some passive benefits for said class. What makes Augments amazing is the fact that once unlocked, you can use them with every other Vocation freely! As such, in this section, we look at the Augments that are especially useful regardless of Vocation.

For the Archer, I found Endurance to be a very good general skill to have. Adding to your stamina, it will help any Vocation keep moving and attacking without needing to have a tea-and-biscuit break. It is notably useful with the more heavily-armoured Vocations, as they tend to burn through their reserves quite fast.

And there you have it, you are now Archer certified. Now pick up that bow, find some steel-tipped shoes and show the enemy the meaning of range!