Discover what to expect from this Starting class in the upcoming sequel with Dragon’s Dogma 2 Thief Vocation Gameplay Preview.
In Dragon’s Dogma, traditional RPG classes are called Vocations. So far the developers of Dragon’s Dogma 2 have confirmed nine available Vocations for the sequel. These are divided into three categories: Starting, Advanced, and Hybrid. In this gameplay preview guide, we’ll look at the Thief vocation, its playstyle and abilities, its strengths and weaknesses, and it’s viability as a Pawn vocation.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Thief Vocation Gameplay Preview
In the Dragon’s Dogma series, the Thief Vocation is one of four main starting classes which will be available in the sequel. These include the Fighter, Mage, Thief and Archer.
For players who are familiar with the original game, you will likely recognize the Thief vocation as having a strong similarity to the Strider class. However, instead of having access to both daggers for melee and the bow for range, the new Thief vocation is restricted to the daggers only. (Likewise, the Archer will only be able to use the bow.)
The Thief vocation primarily focuses on delivering quick bursts of melee damage to enemies. A Thief will not have the defensive capabilities of the Fighter. Consequently, you will need to be careful that you don’t get caught in the middle of a group of enemies. Unfortunately, in the previous game Thieves also lacked any area-of-effect attacks. However, this could change in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Moreover, Thieves made up for their lack of AOE by excelling against Bosses or other durable solo enemies.
As a Thief you will be highly mobile and strike quickly many times, rather than dealing a single powerful blow. A Thief’s damage done per strike will typically drop with each successive hit, but this is balanced by the sheer number of times they can cut and stab. As a Thief levels up they can improve not only their damage, but also their mobility. Enabling them to nimbly dodge attacks and also giving them an easier time climbing up onto large creatures. From there, they can use their daggers to deal critical blows.
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Thief Skills and Abilities
An Exclusive Gameplay preview video from IGN gives us a look at some of the abilities which will be available to players of the Thief vocation. So far what we’ve seen of the Thief is fairly standard, expected gameplay. Only a handful of the Thief skills have been revealed so far, so it will be very interesting to see what they are fully capable of when the game releases in March.
The Thief is restricted to dagger weapons, instead of also having access to range attacks with a bow as the Strider did in the first game. Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume that the developers will create new special attacks and skills for the vocation in order to balance out this difference.
Here are the known skills and abilities for the Thief in Dragon’s Dogma 2 that we’ve seen so far:
Core Skills
- Carve – In the original game, Carve was a Core Skill for the Strider class which triggered “continuous attacks with a dagger.”
- Scarlet Kisses – Unleashes a flurry of forward slashes.
- Swift Step – Use to quickly move away from enemies after an attack. Likely a class specific dodge.
- Twin Fangs – Short stabs of your blade, once right after the other.
Weapon Skills
- Biting Wind – Dashes past the target with blades extended. Followed by further slashes when using the same attack on contact.
- Enkindled Blades – Brings the daggers together to ignite, wreathing them in flames for a short time. Can also be employed while clinging to or pinning down a foe.
- Helm Splitter – Leaps up, then dives through the air while spinning, blades extended. More powerful when performed from high places. Also employable in mid-air.
- Powder Charge – Places an explosive on the ground at the user’s feet that can be detonated from afar at a moment of their choosing. Can also be employed while clinging to or pinning down a foe.
- Shadow Cloak – Enables the user to blend into their surroundings, rendering them more difficult for hostile targets to detect. Less effective when attacking or dashing. Consumes Stamina while active.
- Smoke Screen – Throws a smoke bomb that blinds nearby targets. Useful for creating chaos when counterattacking or withdrawing. Can also be employed while clinging to or pinning down a foe, or in mid-air.
Thief Strengths and Weaknesses
The following is a list of the pros and cons of the Thief Vocation/Class in our Dragon’s Dogma 2 Thief Gameplay Preview:
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Highly Mobile | Low Defense |
| More easily climb to attack a large enemy’s weak points | No long range attacks |
| Powerful damage dealer against single enemies | No area-of-effect skills against groups |
Should You Choose the Thief Vocation For Your Pawn?
The Thief would be a good secondary choice for a Pawn, provided that either your Arisen or another Pawn in your group could provide your allies with good defense. A Thief can be a powerful melee damage dealer, but they can’t really offer a party much in the way of protection. Moreover, all of their DPS won’t do you much good if they’re having trouble with survivability.
However, the quick and agile Thief would be great compliment to any Arisen party, given the amount of damage they can do. While they can be weaker against groups of enemies, they will likely be powerhouses against many of the larger, more challenging boss monsters. Thieves can seek out a weak spot and cripple an opponent. Additionally, as their vocation name suggests, you can use a Thief Pawn to steal from enemies. Advanced levels of this skill could grant your Arisen rare and valuable items.
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When starting the game, each player will get to create their own Arisen character. Additionally, you will also get to make a custom-designed Pawn. Within the world and story of Dragon’s Dogma, Pawns are said to lack emotion and a true will. Their one purpose is to follow and aid the Arisen. You can only create one single Pawn with the vocation of your choosing. You can recruit other Pawns from within the game if you want to bring along a full party.
Pawns can have any of the Starting vocations, and can eventually choose an Advanced vocation. However, they cannot use Hybrid Vocations. Those are only available to the Arisen character.
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