• Guide

Best Pawn vocation - Dragon's Dogma 2

Picking the right job for your little helper.

Josh Broadwell

March 21, 2024 9:37 PM

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Picking your Dragon’s Dogma 2 Pawn vocation is even more important than picking your own starting vocation. Your main Pawn is your biggest helper in battle, the one who’s always around and the only Pawn whose vocation you can actually upgrade like your own. You’ll want to pick a Pawn who complements your own class – for example, a defensive Pawn for a mage. You can opt for a Pawn who matches your vocation if you want, but don’t overthink it, though. You can change your main Pawn’s vocation once you reach your first Pawn Guild in Vermouth. That happens within a couple of hours of starting the game, unless you intentionally go in the wrong direction and explore literally everywhere else except Vermouth.

We’ve listed our top Pawn starting vocations for each of your vocations below.

Best Pawn for a mage

If you’re playing a mage, the only real choice for your accompanying Pawn is fighter. Fighters can keep you safe with defensive skills and draw enemy attention, so you have time and space to cast your spells. That’s especially important against larger foes and bosses, who, despite their size, move so fast that it’s hard to cast spells uninterrupted unless someone’s helping out. Fighters will do most of the heavy lifting in these encounters

Best Pawn for a fighter

Fighters can work well with pretty much any Pawn vocation, since thief, mage, and archer can fill support roles if they need to. Your best bet, though, is pairing up with a mage. Fighters don’t get elemental skills, which puts them at a big disadvantage against certain enemies with resistances to physical attacks.

Mages can also keep your fighter’s health topped up. If you’re fine to heal yourself with potions, though, you could opt for a thief instead. Thieves are speedy and eventually learn skills that imbue their attacks with elements, and

Best Pawn for a thief

Thieves are versatile, but squishy, so you want someone to cover for their weaknesses. Archer is a solid choice. They’ll soften foes so you can deal with them more quickly and help keep other enemies from swarming while you’re busy taking down your target. Fighter is a solid, if slightly tame choice. They don’t do anything flashy, but they do help draw unwanted attention from your foes.

Mage is one you’ll want to avoid as a thief. Their healing is helpful, but since they're equally as squishy as thieves, you’ll have a hard time keeping both of you alive and healthy in battles against bosses.

Best Pawn for an Archer

Archers work with anyone, so pick whatever takes your fancy. Fighter is a natural choice, since archers don’t do well in close combat, but thieves can fill that role just as easily. Their speed draws enemies away and leaves you free to pick off enemies from a distance without interruption. Mage isn’t essential, since the exploding shot skill counts as fire damage, but having someone who can heal you certainly makes life easier.

TL;DR: Pick what suits your vibe.

Best Pawns for advanced vocations

The same general rules apply when you unlock advanced classes and need to upgrade your main Pawn. Aim for vocations that cover your chosen vocation’s weak spots, and make sure to ditch the basic classes if you can. Sorcerer and warrior should replace fighter and mage as soon as you unlock those vocations.

Bear in mind that other advanced classes aside from warrior and sorcerer aren’t available for Pawns.

If you're after more Dragon's Dogma 2 help, check out our guides for where to find Ulrika and just how long it takes to beat DD2.

Josh Broadwell

Contributing Editor

Josh is a freelance writer and reporter who specializes in guides, reviews, and whatever else he can convince someone to commission. You may have seen him on NPR, IGN, Polygon, or VG 24/7 or on Twitter, shouting about Trails. When he isn’t working, you’ll likely find him outside with his Belgian Malinois and Australian Shepherd or curled up with an RPG of some description.