Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a mammoth of an adventure. It features countless hours of exhilarating combat and intriguing exploration. Nestled within the confines of its combat are featured vocations that the player can learn and change into, each with its own unique set of abilities and feats. In addition to the available vocations when creating a character, the Arisen can unlock further vocations or advanced vocations as they progress through Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Dragon’s Dogma 2: All Conditions, Elements, And Debilitations
DD2 has a ton of things that can influence battles. Some of these include Conditions/Debilitations and Element Damage. Here’s a breakdown of those.
One such vocation, the Warrior, is unlockable early and easily, but it features some incredibly powerful weapon skills that will make cleaving through enemies a cinch. Not all skills are created equal, however, with only a handful that can be useful in any scenario.
12 Bellow (Roar)
Upgraded Skill: Roar
While not by any means a worthless ability, Bellow and its advanced form of Roar is moderately useful at best. As a Warrior, the Arisen is tasked with both dishing out large swaths of physical damage while also drawing away the ire of enemies from their squishier pawn counterparts. Bellow helps the Arisen accomplish this by serving as a taunt.
By bellowing near the average enemy, the Arisen can gain the enmity of nearby foes. The problem is that neither form is guaranteed to work, and the ability would take the place of much more important weapon skills. It is most useful as the Arisen is starting out as a Warrior, as it is a rank one skill, and it should mitigate part of the damage disparity an early and maxed Warrior vocation will deal, therefore pulling more aggro early on.
11 Ladder Launch
Upgraded Skill: Catapult Launch
The idea of ladder launch is pretty cool. The Arisen braces themself as an allied pawn charges toward them and an enemy. Once the pawn jumps onto the Arisen’s massive weapon, they launch that pawn onto a large enemy. This is particularly useful when battling heavily armored large enemies that the pawns are struggling to climb.
With that said, however, most pawns (especially of the thief vocation) will already climb and strike large enemies in their weak points. Other pawns of magical vocation have no business climbing larger foes. Party composition and whether allies will take initiative to mount and scale mountainous creatures will determine how useful ladder launch may be for any given Arisen. That unreliability makes it less desirable to equip, as it would indubitably take the place of a weapon skill the Arisen will surely use.
10 Surging Strike
Upgraded Skill: Diluvian Strike
If this Warrior weapon skill did not actually inflict damage on enemies, it would easily top the list of worst Warrior skills. Surging strike launches the Arisen up into a lunging attack that penetrates the area immediately in front of them in a downward stab or smash.
The problem with this attack is it hits a small zone in front of the Arisen, and if they charge the attack, it takes a good amount of time to execute. During that time, most smaller enemies have either moved around the Arisen or struck them enough to disrupt the attack. If the attack does launch, it almost never strikes its intended target, leaving the Arisen a bit embarrassed and winded. Leave this skill on the bench for just about any other weapon skill.
9 Skyward Sunder
Upgraded Skill: Heavenward Sunder
Much like Surging Strike, Skyward Sunder is not super effective. It is very convenient to have a weapon skill that strikes airborne enemies, but most Warriors will have one or two pawns that naturally strike aerial targets with ease (like an archer and/or sorcerer, for example).
While Skyward Sunder certainly works at dropping flying monsters in a pinch, it is equally easy to smack them at the end of an attack. Other abilities on this list are significantly more useful to the Arisen as a Warrior, so while Skyward Sunder does have an effective place in any given arsenal, it is overshadowed by other weapon skills that yield much better results.
8 Savage Lash
Upgraded Skill: Indomitable Lash
The Warrior’s savage lash weapon skill sees the Arisen striking enemies for large amounts of damage. It is a very serviceable skill, especially at rank 4, when it is initially purchasable. There is very little to expand on for savage lash, which many players will remember from the original Dragon’s Dogma.
It is a reliable weapon skill that the Arisen can rely upon, but it will quickly be replaced as they continue to increase vocation rank. Still, savage lash works as the most useful weapon skill that deals damage to this point, and it really comes down to play style for how long any given player will keep it around.
7 Tidal Fury
Upgraded Skill: Tidal Wrath
For players skilled with timing, the tidal fury weapon skill can be a great addition to an Arisen’s skill slots. Tidal fury requires precise timing when in use, but when done correctly, it can turn the tides of battle. As an enemy readies a strike, the Arisen will use tidal fury to counter incoming attacks.
Dragon’s Dogma 2: 15 Best Weapons In The Game
Choosing the best weapons in any game is hard. We scoured the world of Dragon’s Dogma 2 to present to you the best weapons available in the game.
If timed properly, the counter strikes deals significant damage to the striking enemy while also disrupting them. There are many scenarios where the Arisen will find themself surrounded by numerous foes, and a strong counter game can shift the odds in their favor. Again, this weapon skill will be useful to players dependent upon their play style and skill at pulling off a good counter, but tidal fury serves as a useful skill by itself.
6 Revivify
Upgraded Skill: Inspirit
One thing the Arisen will notice when donning the Warrior vocation is their newfound vulnerability to status ailments. Some of enemies they may least expect to provide a struggle will suddenly slap the Arisen with detrimental status effects that can effectively shut down a skirmish. Assuming the Arisen’s pawns evaded those same status effects, they may be able to pull the Arisen out of whatever effect they are stunned with. Revivify, however, can guarantee the Arisen never is stricken with those effects to begin with.
By consuming a portion of their stamina bar, the Arisen can shake off any impending status effect before it takes hold. By rank 6, the Arisen can upgrade Revivify to Inspirit, which consumes less stamina to clear negative effects. Having this weapon skill in their back pocket can save the Arisen from an abrupt game over and is certainly worth considering when equipping skills.
5 Knoll Breaker
Upgraded Skill: Mountain Breaker
Fighting large enemies can be a struggle in Dragon’s Dogam 2, especially when utilizing a new vocation or at lower levels. Knoll breaker and its advanced counterpart, mountain breaker, will help even the playing field. Both skills will deal a small amount of damage to any given large enemy, but it will unbalance them, too. When charged, the Arisen will launch upward in a thrust that can hit a large monster multiple times, effectively toppling them in the process.
While that in itself is useful enough, knoll breaker becomes tantamount in scuffles involving two large creatures. Whether the idea is to topple one and pound it into submission or knocking one down to focus on the other, knoll breaker can ensure victory in uncertain times. It is a skill that will most likely remain in the Arisen’s skill slots during their time as a Warrior.
4 Rending Sweep
Upgraded Skill: Razing Sweep
The best part of rending sweep is that it comes as a rank 1 weapon skill for the Warrior vocation. The Arisen should immediately equip this skill and use it as often as they would like in combat. At rank 4, they can upgrade it to razing sweep, which increases damage dealt when charged. When charged, this weapon skill will not only deal huge chunks of damage in a two-stroke attack, it will also knock over many smaller enemies – if they survive the initial onslaught.
Rending sweep deals so much damage and disrupts the enemies so severely that they are often dead or nearly dying by the end of the charged attack, especially if the Arisen’s party is full of ranged pawns. In addition to its useful offensive uses, the Arisen can use rending sweep defensively to clear enemies off of their allies. Many encounters can begin and end quickly thanks to this sweeping assault.
3 Gale Slash
Upgraded Skill: Windstorm Slash
Gale slash and its advanced form of windstorm slash can deal seemingly endless strikes of solid damage. This weapon skill is particularly useful against toppled giant enemies (ala knoll breaker, perhaps), as it unleashes an unending series of strikes if timed correctly.
While the Warrior vocation does have an innate ability to strike endlessly with properly timed normal attacks, gale slash and windstorm slash deal more damage and work much better on giant enemies. Some may argue that the similarity between the base ability of a Warrior to endlessly attack makes gale slash a curious skill, but when executed properly, it can bring even the mightiest foes down with ease.
2 Goring Lunge
Upgraded Skill: Ravening Lunge
There are few things more satisfying as the Warrior vocation than using goring lunge at the onset of a battle, impaling the nearest enemy, and either tossing them off a cliff in a dead sprint or impaling them against the nearest wall or mountainside. Both outcomes lead to a fatal amount of damage for most enemies and can disrupt the tide of battle from the start. If no cliff is in sight to toss the impaled enemy off of (the fall damage usually finishes off most targets), ramming them into a sturdy wall will do just fine.
Not only does this deal a solid amount of damage, but the follow through sees them dropped into a prone and stunned position for a few moments. This gives the Arisen enough time to drop a power strike on the downed enemy, which will often turn into a follow-up attack that finishes them off. The Arisen can also avoid damage while engaging in the attack animations, so charging into a group of enemies to split them up and deal some splash damage is just an added bonus to this monster of a weapon skill.
1 Arc Of Might
Arc of Might is a maister skill for the Warrior vocation earned from helping Beren on a few side quests. Arc of Might is a two-part attack that depletes the entire stamina bar of the Arisen to deal unreal damage. Obviously, they will not be smacking every small enemy with Arc of Might, and it is not particularly ideal in a battle with many foes; however, Arc of Might can completely kill a wide range of giant enemies or clear three full bars of health from boss creatures.
It does also have powerful knockback and knockdown prowess, but its real strength lies in sending giant enemies or bosses to the morgue quickly. If the stamina depletion causes hesitation, remember to craft or purchase stamina potions to quickly recover the Arisen after using the skill – if anything is left to battle.
Dragon’s Dogma 2: All Maister Locations
Maisters allow you to master a Vocation and obtain its Ultimate Skill. Here’s the location of all those Maisters and the skills they unlock.