How to best use Archer vocation in Dragon's Dogma 2

The Archer vocation in Dragon's Dogma 2 is easily the best early-game option for players who want an easier time, at least in the first few hours. Yes, the Mage vocation is also a pretty good option for a ranged playstyle, but let's be real, sorcery never feels nearly as satisfying as nailing a perfectly timed arrow to the enemy's head.

However, despite being one of the starter options, the Archer vocation is quite difficult to master, especially if you're new to Capcom's Dragon's Dogma 2 or similar action role-playing games. The efficiency is very much reliant on your chosen loadout, skills, and also the vocation of the support pawns you have in your party.

Here's a comprehensive guide on the Archer vocation in Dragon's Dogma 2, and how to best use it in combat.

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How to unlock the Archer vocation in Dragon's Dogma 2?

The Archer vocation in Dragon's Dogma 2 is one of the four starting classes that you can choose from after making your Arisen. Given it's one of the starting options, it is also available as an option for your main pawn. Even if you don't want to go for the Archer vocation yourself, I highly recommend giving it to your main pawn.

Much like the Mage vocation, Archer synergizes well with the melee vocations. While yes, once you unlock the Magick Archer, there's very little reason to equip the standard one. However, certain weapons and skills remain exclusive to the Archer vocation, which does make it stand out against other late-game ranged options in Dragon's Dogma 2.

Also, the Magick Archer is only equipable by the Arisen. Hence, the standard Archer vocation is still the only choice you have for your main pawn in terms of ranged classes, apart from Mage and Sorcerer of course.

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How to best use the Archer vocation in Dragon's Dogma 2?

The Archer is best used as a support class, alongside melee-focused pawns. The best party loadout would be to have a Fighter or Warrior as your main pawn, and a Mage and a Sorcerer as support/additional pawns. Surprisingly, the biggest issues with choosing the Archer as your primary vocation are the combat skills itself.

Similarly to the skills available for Warrior, most of what the Archer has access to in terms of combat skills rely on charging downtime for maximum efficiency. While you are charging an attack, the Arisen is left pretty much vulnerable, unless aided by their pawns.

There are a few Archer skills that don't require charging, but those aren't primarily meant as damage dealers; instead, you are meant to use those skills to divert the enemy's attention to yourself or your party. Fortunately, you can get your hands on some of the best skills without having to max out the Archer's ranks.

The best skills for the Archer are:

• Barrage Shot
• Manifold Shot
• Dire Arrow
• Deathly Arrow
• Keen Sight
• Exploding Shot
• Torrent Shot
• Heavenly Shot

Heavenly Shot is arguably the most damaging ranged combat skill in Dragon's Dogma 2, aside from the Meteor Shower spell available to Sorcerer. However, to get access to Heavenly Shot, you will need to max out Archer.