The Archer is one of four default Vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2. The Archer, as the name suggests is a ranged class that excels at defeating enemies at a distance and taking out flying creatures that are otherwise hard to reach.
In this guide, we’ll go over the best Archer build in Dragon’s Dogma 2. We’ll cover the best skills to use with this vocation, the best augments to maximize your effectiveness, and the best equipment. Additionally, we’ll also go over the most suitable party composition for this build.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 Archer Build Overview
In Dragon’s Dogma 2, Archers are adept at Ranged combat and are most effective when engaging enemies from a distance. They make great support characters while your melee-centric Pawns do the heavy lifting.
While Archers are available from the get-go, they have some of the most difficult Stamina management in the game, requiring the player to be very diligent in how they dole out shots. Additionally, Archers are also very limited when it comes to combat options.
When playing as an Archer, you’ll mainly want to use its Core Skill, Steady Shot. This skill not only reduces the amount of Stamina used per shot but also results in more accurate shots overall. Below, we’ve gone over the basic overview of our Archer build:
| Pros | Ranged Effectiveness | |
| Great support character | ||
| Cons | Hard to master stamina management | |
| Limited combat options | ||
| Skills | Torrent Shot / Tempest Shot | |
| Dire Arrow / Deathly Arrow | ||
| Keen Sight / Lyncean Sight | ||
| Exploding Shot / Erupting Shot | ||
| Augmentations | Endurance | |
| Lethality | ||
| Subtlety | ||
| Dominance | ||
| Zeal | ||
| Mettle | ||
| Equipment | Bow | Hydra Husk |
| Head Armor | Confidant’s Hood | |
| Body Armor | Elegant Petticoat | |
| Leg Armor | Eagle-Eye Cuisses | |
| Cloak | Any cloak of your choosing | |
| Ring #1 | Ring of Skullduggery | |
| Ring #2 | Ring of Proximity | |
| Best Party Composition | Main pawn | Warrior |
| Pawn #2 | Mage | |
| Pawn #3 | Thief | |
Character Creation Recommendations
You do not need to build your character in a certain way to get the most out of the Archer in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Build your character however you like; if you want to add a little flair and role-playing into the mix, you can select the Elf race.
Certain choices in character creation, such as your character’s height and body size, affect your knockdown resistance and how much weight you can carry. For melee vocations, you want to ensure that you have decent height and muscle mass. But for a ranged or magical build, you can afford to keep them low since you won’t be frontlining.
Best Weapons For Archer
The Archer can only use Bows and Arrows in Dragon’s Dogma 2. The best bow to use with this Vocation is the Hydra Husk. This weapon has a strength 340 and a staggering Knockdown Power of 268. While it does not provide any Magick or Slash Strength, it can deal 100 Strike Damage. This bow is on the heavier side, however. If carrying weight becomes a concern, you can opt for other bows like the Dragon’s Rancor.
Best Skills Selection For Warrior In Dragon’s Dogma 2
The Skills are the bread and butter of any great Dragon’s Dogma 2 build. Below, we’ve listed the best skills to use with the Archer Vocation.
- Torrent Shot / Tempest Shot: This skill unleashes a barrage of arrows in quick succession. It requires a significant amount of stamina, so be careful not to use it too much, or you’ll be left vulnerable. Combined with a flame affinity, this skill can also quickly set enemies on fire.
- Dire Arrow / Deathly Arrow: The Dire Arrow / Deathly Arrow skill works with the archer’s steady shot core skill. When used right, this skill is excellent for crowd control. If you consistently land shots, you can easily thin out the herd for the rest of your party should they find themselves overwhelmed. You will, however, need to use this skill from a distance as it takes quite a while to fully charge up.
- Keen Sight / Lyncean Sight: Keen / Lyncean sight is perfect for picking off enemies at a long range. This skill also helps if you’re struggling with aiming, as it sets targets automatically. Do note that in its base state, the skill consumes a lot of stamina when aimed down sights.
- Exploding Shot / Erupting Shot: Choose the Exploding / Erupting Shot for the last skill. This attack is great for staggering foes in the air and on the ground. This pure damage-based skill is great for crowd control and dealing splash damage when overwhelmed.
Best Augmentations
In Dragon’s Dogma 2, you can equip up to six augments at a time. Augments buff your character and complement your build in various ways. These are the best Augments to use with the Archer Vocation:
- Endurance: This Augment increases your maximum stamina. Archers use a lot of stamina through their core and weapon skills, allowing you a little more leeway during battle.
- Lethality: Lethality increases the damage when targeting vital parts of an enemy’s body. Since Archers are about accuracy and landing shots on vital areas, this Augment greatly enhances the damage you deal.
- Subtlety: This Augment reduces the frequency at which enemies attack you. Archers primarily play a ranged role in Dragon’s Dogma 2 and require time to charge up their attacks and aim in for the perfect shot. This augment greatly helps in this regard.
- Dominance: Dominance simply increases your Knockdown power. Considering the Archer’s general inclination at knocking down enemies and the amount of skills that make use of Knockdown in this build, this Augment greatly increases the effectiveness of our Archer during combat.
- Zeal: Zeal greatly reduces the amount of Stamina used when using a weapon skill. Since an Archer’s main damage output is through their skills, using this Augment will allow you to use your Weapon Skills more frequently.
- Mettle: The last Augmentation, Mettle, increases your damage resistance. Archers wear light armor, and even though they’re generally positioned at a distance, there is always a chance of getting hit. This Augmentation prevents you from losing too much health.
Equipment Selection
Archers wear light armor, so the defense provided by their equipment won’t be very effective. As we’ve established above, you’ll have to engage your enemies from a distance for the majority of battles.
- Head Armor—Confidant’s Hood: The Confidant’s Hood provides a Knockdown Resistance of 18 and a standard Defense of 88. Furthermore, it grants the wearer 73 Magick Defense.
- Body Armor – Elegant Petticoat: This body armor provides 160 standard Magick Defense and 23 Knockdown Resistance.
- Leg Armor – Eagle-Eye Cuisses: The Eagle-Eye Cuisses grants the wearer 120 standard Defense and 75 Magick Defense. It also provides 24 Knockdown Resistance and 2 Slash and Strike Resistance.
- Cloak—Any cloak of your choosing: Cloaks don’t significantly affect your character build. Choose whichever Cloak looks the most appealing to you.
- Ring #1—Ring of Skullduggery: This ring increases damage by +20% when attacking enemies from behind. This skill will net you a significant damage buff since you’ll almost always be at a distance while enemies engage your pawns.
- Ring #2 – Ring of Proximity: The Ring of Proximity increases the damage dealt to enemies through bows and arrows, the closer the wearer is to the target. While the very use of this ring goes against the general setup of the Archer, you’ll be surprised at the amount of times enemies will get close to you. Instead of repositioning straight away, this ring lets you get in a good few, high-damage shots.
Best Party Composition for Archer
Since the Archer is best suited to pick off targets at a range, your Party composition should complement this in Dragon’s Dogma 2. The best party composition for the Archer includes two ranged Vocations and two melee Vocations.
- Main Pawn – Warrior: Warriors, are a beefier, stronger version of the Fighter and are great at attracting aggro. This Vocation is also great at tanking, allowing it to take plenty of damage as you pick off the enemies one by one without having to worry about getting attacked.
- Pawn #2 – Mage: Mages are essential to providing support for your Archer. Not only can they heal your entire party but they can also provide several buffs that can enhance your shots. Like the Archer, the Mage is also a ranged character and as such will need to be protected, while the Warrior does a perfectly good job of this, you can employ a Thief to increase the synergy even further.
- Pawn #3 – Thief: The Thief is one of the best Vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Not only can they move extremely fast, but they can also deal tons of damage due to their dual weapon setup. Given their extremely fast speed, Thieves can quickly weaken enemies, letting the Archer finish them off. Additionally, since Thieves move so fast, for the majority of the duration of the battle the aggro will be on them.
