In this Dragon’s Dogma 2 Fighter Build Guide, we’ll be talking about the Fighter Vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2. The Fighter vocation is arguably the most popular of the four basic vocations in the game, as it has a good balance between offense and defense. It has different aspects compared to the other classes that should be focused on, and we’ll be talking about it in this guide. We’ll be focusing on mechanics that are going to be a huge part of playing a Dragon’s Dogma 2 Fighter Build.

A Fighter’s Role in Dragon’s Dogma 2

The fighter vocation is essentially the tank of the group in Dragon’s Dogma 2. As a fighter, you will be standing in front of the enemy to try to keep attention away from the backline of the group, such as Archers and Mages, so that they can deal damage uninterrupted. Most of the time, you will be in melee range of enemies. You will be playing defensively in order to stay alive, while your DPS units attack from a safer position. Your priority will be to stay alive, keeping enemies away from your ranged units, while also dealing damage.

Fighter Build Character Creation Tips

In Dragon’s Dogma 2, character size gives different characteristics for your character. When choosing your character’s size as a Fighter, you are going to want to create a large character, as there are characteristics that will be beneficial for a Fighter. First, the larger your character is, the more weight you can carry. This means that you can carry more items and wear heavier armor, allowing for more room before becoming penalized with your character’s mobility. Second, the taller and heavier your character is, the harder it is to be knocked down. These two characteristics will be beneficial for you to commit to your role as a tank, so try to make your character large if you choose to play as a Fighter.

As for choosing pawns, or your companions, you would want your character to be accompanied by either a Mage or an Archer. With a mage as a pawn, they can heal and support you while in combat. As for archers, they can help you by picking off enemies. These two can fill the gap for whatever the Fighter vocation would lack in, so they’ll be excellent to have as pawns, at least early on in the game.

Weapons for a Fighter Build in Dragon’s Dogma 2

Dragon’s Dogma 2 Fighter Builds can choose between using a sword or a mace, while also wielding a shield. They deal different types of damage as a sword deals slashing damage, while a mace will deal strike damage. Shields, even though they’re used as a defensive tool, would deal strike damage. Personally, I like using the sword and shield combination, as it gives me the option to deal both types of damage. Using a shield also gives you the ability to block attacks, which is one of the most important aspects of being a Fighter.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 Fighter Build – Blocking Tip

When playing a Dragon’s Dogma 2 Fighter Build, it is important to know how to block and when to block attacks. It’s a bit tricky at first, as there’s kind of a soft target lock system that keeps the camera pointed towards enemies that you are fighting, although sometimes it wouldn’t. Your shield would sometimes point in the wrong direction if the target lock system doesn’t do what’s it supposed to do, so it’s going to take some time to get used to. A trick here is to learn how to quickly point your shield in the right direction, as you won’t be able to block attacks from behind. While you’re holding down your block button while holding the left stick, you can press B to change the direction of your shield without moving your character at all.

Once you get the blocking mechanics down, you can learn how to parry. After you get the core skills for your character, you will be able to do this action. If you time your block right on an attack, you will be able to parry it. You can practice it on weaker enemies such as goblins so you can get the feel and timing for it.

Stamina Management – Fighter Build

Blocking an attack consumes stamina, and the kind of attack will determine how much stamina will be consumed. For example, blocking an attack from a Goblin will consume little stamina compared to blocking a tail swipe from a dragon. If the attack consumes more stamina than you have, you’ll be guard broken which will make you vulnerable for a few seconds. You don’t want that to happen, so you’ll need to learn how to manage your character’s stamina effectively.

When you sprint, it will consume stamina, so always be careful if you’re sprinting out on the landscape. Keep it in mind as you can run directly into combat while having low stamina due to sprinting. This will make you susceptible to being guard broken. If you see a fight coming up, let go of your sprint button to recover stamina before engaging in the fight. Also, you can’t recover stamina while holding block, which means that you’ll need to figure out when to block and when to not block. Being a good Fighter in this game is knowing when to block, and when to use your different skills to deal damage. Regular and heavy attacks will not consume stamina, so don’t be afraid of using those when you’re recovering your stamina.

Lastly, your equipment weight is a factor for your mobility and stamina drain. If you have too much equipment weight, you’ll be noticeably moving slower while also consuming more stamina. As positioning and stamina management is a huge part of playing as a fighter, managing your equipment weight will improve your stamina management.

Skills To Use as a Fighter

Blink Strike | Burst Strike

The first skill you want to use on this Dragon’s Dogma 2 Fighter Build is Blink Strike and its upgraded version, which is Burst Strike. This will be your gap-closing skill, which you will probably be using the most out of all the skills. It simply gets you into melee range quickly, while also hitting hard. It’s good for initiating combat. You can also utilize it to dash out of harmful positions, such as being inside enemy AOE attacks. You’ll want to upgrade this skill as soon as possible to have a longer dash.

Shield Bash | Shield Pummel

Second is Shield Bash and its upgraded version, Shield Pummel. This skill is good for two reasons. The first is that it does strike damage to enemies, so it gives you more options when fighting enemies that are slash damage resistant. Second, it can knock an enemy down or backwards. You can use this on enemies you’re having a hard time with, as you can use heavy attacks to finish them off quickly. An option for a combo is to use Blink Strike, then Shield Bash, which sets the enemy up for a heavy attack. You’ll also want to upgrade this skill as soon as possible.

Airward Slash | Cloudward Slash

Third, which is not entirely mandatory for you to use, is Airward Slash, or Cloudward Slash being its upgraded version. This will depend on your party composition so it’s not really mandatory. It doesn’t deal a lot of damage compared to the other skills, but it has it functions. Airward Slash is good to use against aerial enemies, as it allows you to deal damage while they’re flying. It’s also good to use against enemies that are tall, as it allows you to reach their heads. This skill provides you with a way of dealing extra damage to these types of enemies, especially if you don’t have a lot of ranged characters in your party.

Perfect Defense | Flawless Defense

The fourth skill is Perfect Defense, or Flawless Defense when upgraded. This skill makes your character spin around while blocking attacks, dealing a little amount of AOE damage to enemies. It allows you to get out of sticky situations, such as enemies swarming on you. This skill allows you to get out of bad positioning, or even death. However, this skill won’t work if you are guard broken, so you should always keep that in mind.

Miscellaneous Fighter Skills

If you have a Fighter pawn, the skill Shield Summons is a must-have. Having it will keep the enemies aggro’d for a longer time on your pawn. This will give you a significant amount of time to get attacks off on the enemy.

The last skill, Springboard, is a very situational skill. You can use this skill for different situations. It allows you to launch one of your allies onto an enemy. It can also give access to locations that you or your allies can’t reach. You’re predominantly going to use it for positioning in combat, to help allies get to enemies faster.

Fighter Build Augments & Equipment

When it comes to augments, you will want to get all the ones you can for Fighter early on. However, there are augments from other vocations which you might want to spend some time farming for. You’ll want to have the mage’s Exaltation augment, which improves stamina recovery. The archer’s Endurance augment will give you more stamina. These two augments will help with your stamina management, which is a huge part of playing as a tank.

As for the equipment, you should be on the lookout for better gear. Gear progresses in this game, as this is not similar to games like Dark Souls. Better equipment will drop as you progress throughout the game, so you’re going to want to upgrade all your gear. For rings, you would want to have stamina recovery, additional health, or additional equipment weight. These will be helpful for your stamina management.

If you’re good at blocking, you might not need the heaviest armor as to keep your equipment weight down. You can invest more in your weapon and shield first, while also learning how to block. This way, you won’t be dependent on damage reduction from armor upgrades.

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That concludes our Dragon’s Dogma 2 Fighter Build Guide, and we have many others as well for you to check out. And you can use the Dragon’s Dogma 2 Wiki as well if you have further questions.