Dragon’s Dogma 2 Archer Build – Basic Vocation (Class)

This build guide focuses on the key aspects of a Basic Vocation (Class) Archer in Dragon’s Dogma 2, including skills, gameplay, and pawns.

Best Archer Build – Basic Vocation (Class)

In Dragon’s Dogma 2, the Archer vocation is a formidable choice for players seeking high damage output and agility in combat. The Arisen or Pawns can use the Archer Basic Vocation to make an excellent pawn range damage dealer build. With its emphasis on ranged attacks, the Archer excels at dealing substantial damage from a distance while maintaining increased mobility compared to heavier vocations. The Archer’s arsenal also includes crowd-control abilities, allowing players to hinder or stun enemies from afar.

However, the Archer comes with its own set of drawbacks. Its lower survivability makes it vulnerable in close-quarters combat, as it sacrifices defensive capabilities for offensive prowess and agility. Moreover, unlike other vocations, the Archer lacks access to magical spells or abilities, limiting its utility in providing support or additional utility to the party. Furthermore, the Archer is predominantly locked into ranged combat, as its skills and abilities are optimized for attacking from a distance, restricting its effectiveness in melee encounters.

Using a Bow and Arrows, we’ve crafted this Archer Build focusing on range burst damage.

Archer Build Features

The following list presents all the essential Archer Build Mechanics and Features in Dragon’s Dogma 2:

• Skills: Barrage Shot, Torrent Shot, Dire Arrow, Whirling Arrow
• Augmentations: Lethality, Endurance
• Best Pawns: Fighter (main pawn), Mage, Thief
• Primary Stat: Strength
• Weapons: Bow & Arrows
• Armor: Light Cloth or Leather
• Rings: Skullduggery, Quickening
• Race: Human

Weapon Skills

The best skills for the Archer Vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2 are Barrage Shot, Torrent Shot, Dire Arrow, and Whirling Arrow. Barrage Shot is used for single-target damage, while Torrent Shot does damage over time. Dire Arrow helps crowd control enemies, while Whirling Arrow deals area damage. Dire Arrow can be swapped out for Exploding Shot if you have Explosive Arrows in your inventory and want more damage.

The Following List presents the best Dragon’s Dogma 2 Archer Build – Basic Vocation (Class) Weapon Skills:

• Barrage Shot (Manifold Shot): single target burst damage.
• Torrent Shot (Tempest Shot): damage over time stationary skill.
• Dire Arrow (Deathly Arrow): crowd control skill.
• Whirling Arrow (Spiral Arrow): area damage skill.

Barrage Shot (Manifold Shot)

The Barrage Shot skill and advanced version of the Manifold Shot rapidly shoot arrows, causing serious damage to one target. The benefit of this skill is it can be used on the move. You want to use this later after you obtain the Manifold Shot version. Early on, Barrage Shot won’t outperform Steady Shot and drain a lot of your stamina. However, after you get the upgraded version, use Manifold Shot as your single target damage skill when stamina is high.

Barrage Shot: This shot Fires arrows rapidly, allowing for concentrated attacks on a single target. It can be employed while moving.

Torrent Shot (Tempest Shot)

The Tempest Shot skill and Torrent Shot advanced version is a powerful rapid-fire arrow ability. The downside of this skill is that it cannot be used while moving; however, the upside is massive damage. You’ll want to use this when movement isn’t needed and you don’t expect pressure.

Consider this your “flex” skill on your build. Swap in Exploding Shot requires the use of Explosive Arrows (craftable). That skill is effective against weak points on large monsters and can be used when taking on large enemies, and mobility is imperative.

Torrent Shot: Fires multiple arrows in rapid succession, with the rate of fire increasing with consecutive shots. Prevents movement while active.

Dire Arrow (Deathly Arrow)

The Dire Arrow skill is your knockdown and stun skill. This is helpful to crowd control enemies and useful when handling pressure or if your Pawns get attacked and you need to peel. However, this skill will not be effective in large monster or boss fights as they cannot be pinned down. Thus, it is situational and can be flexed out for a Blighting Shot or another arrow-specific skill.

Dire Arrow – Fires a devastating shot that knocks down smaller targets. When using Steady Shot, arrows become even more powerful if they are loosed when the bow is fully drawn.

Whirling Arrow (Spiral Arrow)

The Whirling Arrow skill is your area damage (AOE) and does spread-out damage. Use this skill when multiple enemies are in the area, and you must land additional attacks on more than one. While you aren’t an AoE damage machine like an archer, having some AOE is useful when exploring and combating.

Whirling Arrow – Loses a spinning arrow that delivers a barrage of hits to an area.

Core Skills

In Dragon’s Dogma 2, Core Skills act as passive perks or basic attacks for your Archer Class. The Loose skill is your “light attack,” while the Front Kick is your “heavy attack.” The front kick is a melee skill and shouldn’t be used unless you must hit a target already stunned. Your main bread-and-butter skill is Steady Shot, which will be explained in detail below in the gameplay section.

You’ll want to rely heavily on light attacks and steady shots for damage, not spam skills draining your stamina. With Fire Boon from a Mage, passive damage will be high, and not draining your stamina is important for survivability.

The Following List presents Core Skills for Archer Build:

• Loose: Aims and fires an arrow at a nearby foe. Can be employed while moving. If employed while clinging to or pinning down a target, the user pierces the target with the arrow directly.
• Front Kick: Unleashes a swift kick that causes the target to flinch. Launches the user backward if the kick connects in mid-air.
• Steady Shot: Draws the bow carefully, allowing for precise aim. Can be employed while moving. Length of the draw affects arrow impact and distance flown.
• Leaping Punt: Delivers a weighty kick that can knock foes off balance. Launches the user backward after it connects.
• Parting Shot: Fires an arrow while jumping back after performing a Leaping Punt or a mid-air Front Kick.
• Puncture Dart: Draws the bowstring to its absolute limit before firing. Makes aiming more difficult, but allows arrows to pierce targets with greater impact.
• Swift Nock: Enables the user to nock arrows more quickly when using Loose or Steady Shot.

Maister Skills

In Dragon’s Dogma 2 you can learn an ultimate ability for your vocation from Maisters after earning their approval. Acquiring these abilities can often change the way you play your class, and are worth taking the time to earn.

Additionally, there is no set Vocation Rank you are required to have before you can unlock ultimate abilities. However, you must have unlocked the Vocation itself. Since Archer is one of the Starting vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2, you will already have access to it.

The Following Lists presents the Archer Ultimate Ability and How to Unlock:

• Maister: Taliesin
• Location: Sacred Arbor
• Required Quest: ‘Gift of the Bow’. Before you can meet Taliesin, you first need to interact with this son Glyndwr. You’ll find him in Vernworth looking at the bows near Roderick’s Smithy. Give him a bow and he’ll tell you to meet him at the Sacred Arbor to the far northwest of town. Then rest and back again to Vernworth to meet with Glyndwr where he tells you about the Trials of Archery.
• Quest Timer: There is likely time for you to make your way to Sacred Arbor. However, once you arrive and start the Trial of Archery you should stay on that quest path in order to rescue Glyndwr’s sister. Do so, and then talk to their father Taliesin for the Hunter’s Secret scroll.
• Ultimate Ability – Heavenly Shot: Fires an almighty arrow that consumes all your stamina. The arrow’s potency is determined by the remaining stamina when it is loosed.

Augmentations

In Dragon’s Dogma 2, Augmentations function as passive boosts to your character’s overall power and build. These bonuses are acquired through leveling vocations, and you can equip up to 6 of them. Additionally, you can equip augmentations from other vocations if you have Ranked up that class high enough to unlock them. Therefore, it’s crucial to strategize your leveling process to acquire the most effective Augments early on in DD2. For this Fighter build, we recommend focusing on leveling the Warrior and Archer to unlock four specific Augments. These are the recommended mix of augmentations which will give you the most power and efficiency out of your Fighter.

The Following List presents Augmentations for Archer Build:

• Endurance (Archer Vocation): Increases your maximum stamina. Requires Archer at Vocation Rank 4 to unlock with 900 Discipline.
• Lethality (Archer Vocation): Increases damage dealt when striking a target’s vitals. Requires Archer at Vocation Rank 8 to unlock with 3,000 Discipline.
• Exaltation (Mage Vocation): Increases your stamina speed recovery. Requires Mage at Vocation Rank 9 to unlock with 5,000 Discipline.
• Verve (Thief Vocation): Augments your Strength. Requires Thief at Vocation Rank 9 to unlock with 5,000 Discipline.
• Vitality (Warrior Vocation): Increases your maximum Health. Requires Warrior at Vocation Rank 2 to unlock with 300 Discipline.
• Voracity (Mystic Archer Vocation): Recovers a small amount of Stamina when you deliver the killing blow to a target. Magick Archer ranks 4 and 900 Discipline.

Best Pawns for Archer Build

The best Pawns for your Archer Build are a Fighter for crowd control, a Mage for support, and a Thief for melee damage. In Dragon’s Dogma 2, Pawns act as companion allies. Each Arisen (player) will have one main pawn who can pick vocation and skills and two additional support basic vocations. Below are the best pawns for the Fighter vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2:

Below are the best pawns for the Archer vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2:

• Fighter (main pawn): the Fighter’s role is to taunt and crowd control enemies off of your Thief. This frees you up to attack from the rear and do more damage.
• Mage: your support healer can also do damage. You’ll want the Mage to apply speed and healing and remove harmful effects with the Ice spell for damage.
• Thief: provides melee damage and is helpful against large enemies.

Archer Gameplay Tips and Tricks

The most important aspect of gameplay playing an Archer is managing your stamina by using Steady Shot as your primary damage source vs skills. While skills are effective as an Archer, using your basic attacks and pinpoint aiming will do good damage without draining your stamina. However, you’ll want to focus on weak points and exploding arrows or other types of elemental arrows later in the game for optimal damage.

Steady Shot

The Steady Shot core skill allows you to aim shots manually. By default, your light attack button will try to track targets but does poorly if movement is high. Thus, use Steady Shot, which will also do more damage. Weak points are parts on large monsters or enemies that deal extra damage. This can be the back, head, or misshapen colors from monsters or bosses. A Steady Shot is best when you are decent at aiming and want optimal damage without using stamina!

Arrows and Ammunition

If you use skills that consume arrows, you’ll need to have them in your inventory. One of the best is the Explosive Arrow, which requires the skill of Exploding Shot or Erupting Shot. These can also be crafted in your inventory but are rare due to resource restraints early in the game. It’s best to focus on crafting one or two specific shots that fill in a weakness for your Archer build. This could be a lack of area damage, damage over time, or weak point damage.

Stamina Sustain

Managing your stamina on Archer means you keep above 20% at all times and do not rely on skill spam for damage. It would be best if you weaved in and out skills rather than clicking them repeatedly. Moreover, sprint to get out of the way when taking aggro, and don’t stand toe to toe with melee enemies.

Your character’s size and weight will also determine stamina regeneration. Thus, smaller characters, with less equipment, will have been more sustained than larger pack mules. Lastly, keep consumables on you to drink when low.

Large Monsters

Unlike other builds, the Archer doesn’t need to climb on monsters to do damage. Your Archer can hit weak points on large enemies with arrows using Steady Shot. Moreover, you can use Exploding Arrows to aim precisely and ramp up the damage. Your goal when facing large monsters is to keep your time on target high by consistently doing damage and moving. Don’t stay in one place for long, or these monsters will randomly jump and attack you.

Equipment for Dragon’s Dogma 2 Archer Build

The best equipment for an Archer increases your strength and stamina. For Rings, look to increase health early on. While you progress, upgrade gear with raw materials to gain additional stat increases. Even one level that only costs gold can increase your survivability.

Additionally, prioritize weapon purchases over armor for the Archer Build. Using the Dragon’s Dogma, 2 Archer Build Basic Vocation (Class), you want higher offensive capabilities rather than damage.

Best Archer Beginner Gear

Gear Slot	Gear Item	Effect
Head	Felt Cap	Defense 5/Magick Defense 4KD Res 2
Body	Deepwood Jacket	Defense 18/Magick Defense 10/KD Res 4
Leg	Woodland Boots	Defense 8/Magick Defense 5/KD Res 4
Cloak	None
Weapon	Fluted Bow	Basic starting weapon
Ring	Ring of Exultation	Increases maximum health
Ring	Ring of Acclamation	Increases maximum health

Below is the location for the best Archer Beginner Gear:

• Felt Cap: Purchase at Borderwatch Outpost for 280 gold.
• Deepwood Jacket: Purchase at Runne’s Apothecary (Melve) for 1,030 gold.
• Woodland Boots: Purchase at Borderwatch Outpost for 415 gold.
• Fluted Bow: Given to you at start of game.
• Ring of Exultation: Reward for completing the quest ‘Medicament Predicament’ in Melve.
• Ring of Acclamation: Purchase at Philbert’s Sundries in Vernworth for 8,000 gold. Also rare drop from Minotaur.

Best Archer Advanced Gear

In general, the best advanced gear in the game comes from the vendors rather than from monster drops. Note that the Charming Corset is the best advanced piece of body armor for any vocation, but you can only acquire it once by turning in 150 Seeker’s Tokens at the Vocation Guild.

Finally, don’t forget to upgrade and enhance your items in order to improve their damage dealing abilities and levels of protection.

Gear Slot	Gear Item	Effect
Head	Confidant’s Hood	Defense 88/Magick Defense 73/KD Res 18
Body	Elegant Petticoat	Defense 160/Magick Defense 160/KD Res 23
Leg	Evergreen Greaves	Defense 94/Magick Defense 94/KD Res 21
Cloak	Commander’s Mantle	Cold Resist and Debilitation Resist
Weapon	Revenant Wail	Strength 280/Strike St 100/KD Power 220
Ring	Ring of Skullduggery	Increases damage attacking from behind
Ring	Ring of Quickening	Increases Stamina recovery speed

Below is the location for the best Archer Advanced Gear:

• Confidant’s Hood: Purchase at Volcanic Island Armory (Volcanic Island Camp) for 55,900 gold.
• Elegant Petticoat: Purchase from Zachary at the Excavation Site for 43,050 gold.
  • The Majestic Armor is not as protective, but can be bought at Bodas’s Armory (Bakbattahl) if you’re looking for something less frilly.
• Evergreen Greaves: Purchase at Grisha’s Armory (Sacred Arbor) for 37,500 gold.
• Commander’s Mantle: Purchase at Celeste’s Smithy (Checkpoint Rest Town) for 12,000.
• Revenant Wail: Purchase at Volcanic Island Armory (Volcanic Island Camp) for 55,000 gold.
• Ring of Skullduggery: Give Everard the Jadeite Orb in the Hunt for the Jadeite Orb quest. Also can purchase from a wandering merchant named Folkes in the Ancient Battleground for 10,000 gold.
• Ring of Quickening: Purchase at Volcanic Island Armory (Volcanic Island Camp) for 10,000 gold.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 Archer Build Summary Guide

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