Best Pawn Vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2, Ranked

When we talk about the best vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2, some are better on pawns than others. Whether it’s for your main or side pawns, there are optimal class choices you should always look for in a party. Here are the best pawn vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2.

What Are the Best Pawn Vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2?

Mage (S Tier)

Mage is the best main and side pawn vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2 in the early to mid-game. By making your main pawn a Mage, you’ll get a caster who can heal, support, and deal decent AOE damage. Mainly, they’re great because of the Anodyne skill, which can heal your entire party with its AOE aura.

Furthermore, Mages can also learn Palladium, which places a shield on your Arisen that blocks attacks or even gives you elemental weapon boons. The elemental boons are especially great on Fighters that don’t have elemental attacks early, which are crucial for certain enemies. For example, elemental boons and attacks are great for taking out Ghost enemies or burning the wings of a Griffon so it lands. Overall, Mages just contribute so many useful skill sets to a party that they’re essential.

Sorcerer/Archer (A Tier)

The Archer base vocation and the Sorcerer Advanced vocation fill a similar role in the party with ranged artillery damage. If you’re playing a melee vocation like a Fighter, Thief, or Warrior, you’ll be getting steady damage support from these two pawns. While they don’t have the most supportive abilities in the game, they make up for it in high AOE burst damage.

The Archer has a lot of great crowd-control options, while the Sorcerer is essentially dropping nukes as long as they have the stamina. They’re even better if you or one of your pawns is playing a Fighter so they can draw aggro. It’s up to personal preference, but I would hire these two as side pawns while keeping a main Mage pawn for melee Arisen and a Fighter for ranged Arisen.

Fighter (A Tier)

If your Arisen is a Mage, Sorcerer, Archer, Trickster, or Magick Archer, the Fighter perhaps takes the second spot instead of the Sorcerer/Archer. This is because they come with a slew of abilities to make them tankier and also draw the aggro of all enemies with Shield Summons. Pawns aren’t the smartest of the bunch, so they’ll often get themselves killed. That’s why Fighters are superior to Warriors, though every pawn can just accidentally drop off a cliff and die, unfortunately.

Furthermore, they have neat, supportive abilities like Springboard that can propel your Arisen into the air. I found this extremely useful for reaching platforms during exploration and also for getting a head start on climbing monsters. Overall, a Fighter ensures that monsters stay off your Arisen and the other pawns while being difficult to kill, especially if you also have a Mage pawn. I recommend you teach them Shield Summons and Springboard skills along with Defend and Deflect as soon as possible.

Warrior (B Tier)

While Warriors have the potential to deal incredibly high damage, they’re below Fighters because they’re not that tanky due to poor AI. While you can maneuver well with a Warrior on your Arisen, I found that Warrior pawns often died mid-fight, and I’d have to run in and revive them constantly.

That said, they can still output great damage in the right situation as long as the enemy is grounded. When against Griffons and other flying enemies, they can’t do much. However, their damage potential is still really straightforward, unlike a Thief, who has to do specific things in combat to be effective.  

Thief (C Tier)

Come mid to late-game, I haven’t had much luck with Thief pawns. While having a high-level Thief as my Arisen, I found their true damage potential comes from climbing and targeting specific weak spots. You have to keep your Stamina up with consumables and capitalize on monster behaviors and critical strikes to truly be effective.

This is just not something that a pawn can reliably do in a fight. Thief pawns can indeed dodge attacks and stay out of breath attacks and other dangerous AOEs. However, in my experience, they don’t often deal the best damage since they can’t capitalize on weak spots as well as a player and can’t use consumables efficiently. If you’re playing a ranged Vocation and want melee damage pawns, Fighters and Warriors are usually a better option.

That concludes my list of the best Pawns in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Check out our vast Dragon’s Dogma 2 library for more guides like.