Dragon's Dogma 2 Vocation: Archer
Find out how to unlock this Vocation and all others HERE
Welcome to the Archer Vocation for Dragon's Dogma 2. Vocations are a very important factor that will determine the skills and weapons available to your character, influencing your overall approach to combat situations in Dragon's Dogma 2. Some Vocations and unique abilities can be unlocked by gaining the favour of Maisters. These are masters of their respective Vocations, and can be found in various locations around the world.
How to Use Effectively
The Archer Vocation is a back-line combatant that shines in a damaging role. They are capable of dealing consistent damage either to a single enemy or to several at once, and can apply several status effects, but aiming these attacks is incredibly difficult at close-range. Therefore, keep them at a distance from the battle, and allow them to do what they do best without having enemies hindering their abilities, so cover them as needed.
Weapon Skills
Barrage Shot:
Fires two consecutive arrows while moving, dealing high damage. Upgrades to Manifold Shot, which fires three arrows.
Blighting Shot:
Fires an arrow that builds up the Blighted status effect, and requires Blighting Arrows to use. Upgrades to Nocuous Shot, which fires faster and can be used as a melee attack while clinging to an enemy.
Dire Arrow:
Fires a particularly powerful single shot that will knock smaller enemies down. While using Steady Shot, deals more damage in the sweet spot while drawing. Upgrades to Deathly Arrow, which pins enemies to surfaces.
Drenching Shot:
Fires an arrow that sticks to targets or terrain. When approached, or after a delay, explodes and causes Drenched to nearby enemies. Requires Drenching Arrows. Upgrades to Delugeing Shot, which fires faster and can be used as a melee attack while clinging.
Exploding Shot:
Fires an arrow that sticks to targets or terrain. When approached, or after a delay, explodes, dealing area damage. Requires Exploding Arrows. Upgrades to Erupting Shot, which fires faster and can be used as a melee attack while clinging.
Keen Sight:
Can be used to zoom in, increasing accuracy and range, allowing the user to hit far away targets more easily. Upgrades to Lyncean Sight, which has increased zoom and uses less stamina to sustain the skill.
Sweep Shot:
Fire a cone-shaped spread of arrows that is capable of hitting multiple enemies that are grouped together. Upgrades to Cascade Shot, which fires the spread of arrows twice.
Tarring Shot:
Fires an arrow that sticks to targets or terrain. When approached, or after a delay, explodes, covering enemies in tar. Requires Tarring Arrows. Upgrades to Incendiary Shot, which fires faster and can be used as a melee attack while clinging.
Torrent Shot:
Fires a consistent barrage of arrows that can be channelled to deal more damage over a longer period of time. Upgrades to Torrent Shot, which deals a lot more damage with a greater number of arrows.
Whirling Arrow:
Fires a whirling arrow that zooms around a wide area, dealing several hits to anything in the area. Effective at dealing with groups of enemies or very large enemies. Upgrades to Spiral Arrow, which deals more damage over a longer period.
Heavenly Shot:
Special skill of the Archer. This attack fires a single shot that deals incredibly high damage at the cost of your entire stamina pool. The amount of damage this skill deals is based on the total amount of stamina drained.
Core Skills
Front Kick:
Deliver a swift kick forwards, which will also knock an opponent back and stagger them for a moment, allowing for you to create some distance.
Steady Shot:
Draw your bow and aim carefully. The longer you draw your bow, the further your arrow will reach, and the more accurately you will aim.
Leaping Punt:
Jump and kick your opponent in the head, knocking them back and allowing you to jump backwards to safety. Can be followed up with Parting Shot.
Parting Shot:
Follow up from the Leaping Punt or Front Kick abilities with a swift mid-air shot fired as you move backwards to safety. The full combo deals a lot of damage.
Swift Knock:
The Steady Aim and Loose abilities are now more swift, allowing you to smoothly and more quickly fire consecutive attacks.
Puncture Dart:
Allows you to fully draw your bow to deal a lot more damage per hit. This comes at the cost of accuracy, making it more challenging to use at long range.
Loose:
Fires an arrow at a nearby enemy. If this is used while clinging to a large enemy, you will instead perform a melee range attack on them directly with the arrow.
The Archer Vocation is designed to be incredibly versatile at long range, capable of applying potent status effects that can harm or debilitate opponents from the safety of the back lines. It is also easy to target enemy weak spots to trigger special animations on powerful creatures that leads to their defeat.
One bonus of having an Archer on your team is the ability to hit flying enemies. Some enemies, such as Harpies, have an annoying habit of staying out of reach of melee characters, and a shot from an arrow will help to bring them down quickly, leaving them wide open for a devastating attack from your melee team members.
Archers may have a difficult time fighting in melee range, since it can be quite hard to target enemies that are close-up. If you are playing as an Archer, it is recommended to stay back and fight from the back lines, allowing your Fighters and Thieves to take the brunt of the damage while you support them with well-placed shots.
In terms of overall DPS, Archers have some of the best. They can fire devastating shots and combos to open up combat, and have access to consistent, high-damage channelled attacks for long-term DPS as well, making them versatile for all stages of a fight.