Ready to become the unshakable shield your party needs? Our guide to the best Fighter build in Dragon’s Dogma 2 shows beginners how to master powerful skills like Blink Strike and Shield Bash, wield sword and shield combos, and tank enemy attacks with expert blocking and crowd control. Whether you’re on PC, PlayStation, or Xbox, this build turns you into the ultimate frontline defender who protects allies and dominates the battlefield from the very start.
The Fighter is the most cookie-cutter of the starting vocations, with the perfect blend of offensive and defensive skills, all of which are focused on melee combat, and is a solid choice for anyone who is new to RPGs of this ilk. You can change vocations at any Vocation Guild throughout the game, though, so don’t feel like you’re locked into your choice.
Once you’ve ranked up your Fighter a few times, you’ll need to choose between weapon skills, core skills, and augments, along with different equipment to improve your stats. Here’s a breakdown of the best Fighter build for beginners in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Best Fighter weapon skills to get first in Dragon’s Dogma 2
The best Fighter weapon skills to prioritize early in Dragon’s Dogma 2 include Blink Strike, Airward Slash, Shield Bash, and Impeccable Guard. Blink Strike is essential for closing the distance quickly and dealing a powerful initial blow, making it a reliable damage dealer. Airward Slash is invaluable for handling flying enemies like harpies and large foes by striking from above. Shield Bash helps to knock enemies off balance, especially useful against shield-carrying opponents or large monsters. Impeccable Guard significantly enhances your defense by allowing you to block attacks from all angles while moving, which is crucial for surviving overwhelming encounters. These skills create a balanced mix of offense and defense, ideal for beginners aiming to tank damage and protect their party effectively.
Once you’ve used the Fighter vocation for a little while, more weapon skills will become available to you. Our Fighter build is designed with offense in mind, but is still capable of solid defense where necessary, because after all, you will be wielding a shield. If there are any weapon skills listed here that you haven’t unlocked yet, just keep ranking the Fighter up until they become available. Also, upgrade each of these to the High variant of the skill as soon as you can as that simply makes them more powerful.
- Blink Strike
- Airward Slash
- Shield Bash
- Counter Slash
There’s nothing too complex here, so don’t worry about learning combos or anything like that. Blink Strike is an excellent combat traversal skill that makes you charge at your target before delivering a stab attack forwards. It’s especially useful at the start of fighting a new enemy when there’s some ground to cover before you’re in melee range.
Airward Slash is vital when fighting airborne – or humongous – enemies, as it allows you to swing your sword into the air while jumping. Harpies can be found all over Vermund and while Mages and Archers are capable of ranged attacks, Airward Slash allows you to join in the fun too without having to wait for those enemies to be knocked down. You can also use this skill on Ogres, Cyclops, and the like, as you can effectively hit them in the head rather than scrapping with their lower torso this way.
As you’d expect by the name, Shield Bash lets you use your shield to bash a target. What this means is you charge forward a few steps and put all your weight behind the shield, which will send smaller enemies flying and cause them to be knocked over. If you want to put distance between yourself and the danger, this is a great skill to use before following up with another Blink Strike.
Finally, there’s Counter Slash, which is essentially the skill version of a timed parry from a Soulslike. You don’t need to worry about timing it though as your character will block until the enemy attacks before repelling it and following up with a quick horizontal slash. An excellent choice against enemies that block your attacks and can be hard to break.
Best Fighter core skills and augments in Dragon’s Dogma 2
The best Fighter core skills in Dragon’s Dogma 2 focus on a balance of offense and defense to maximize survivability and crowd control. Key core skills include True Deflect, which allows you to parry attacks with no stamina cost, and Tusk Toss, a powerful upward blade arc that sends lighter enemies flying, setting them up for aerial attacks like Airward Slash. Onslaught provides a quick flurry of sword strikes for consistent damage, while Steeled Foundation reduces fall damage and speeds recovery, essential for exploration. Complementing these are weapon skills such as Blink Strike and Shield Bash for aggressive and defensive maneuvers. For augments, prioritize Mettle to boost physical defense, Provocation to draw enemy attention, and Vitality for overall durability, ensuring your Fighter can both absorb damage and control the battlefield effectively.
The Fighter has four core skills available to it and as with all the classes, you should obtain all of them, along with the first three augments. Tusk Toss and Steeled Foundation are the two most useful core skills, with the former sending lightweight enemies flying into the sky and the latter protecting you from taking as much fall damage by using your shield to ease the impact.
Being a Fighter means accepting you’ll often be receiving a lot of the aggro from enemies too, so the Provocation augment stops your pawns from dying as frequently. Meanwhile, Mettle and Thew are both no-brainers, increasing your defense stat and the amount of weight you can carry respectively.
Best Fighter equipment in Dragon’s Dogma 2
The best Fighter equipment in Dragon’s Dogma 2 focuses on balancing strong offensive capabilities with high survivability to tank hits effectively. For mid to late game, the ideal weapons include the Stalwart Sword and the Continental Shield, both obtainable at the Volcanic Island Armory. These provide excellent strength and defense stats, essential for close combat. Armor pieces like the Fiendish Armet, Thrasher’s Surcoat, and Vigilant Greaves significantly boost defense, helping Fighters withstand powerful enemy attacks. Accessories such as the Ring of Vehemence and Ring of Quickening enhance knockout potential and stamina management, crucial for sustaining combat effectiveness. Early game gear like the Silver Cinquedea sword and Continental Shield also serve well until stronger equipment is acquired. This setup ensures Fighters can protect allies while dealing consistent damage, making it perfect for beginners aiming for a balanced and effective build.
Recommending specific equipment in the early game in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is tough because your options are very limited. You’ll find the odd piece here and there through looting, but most armor and weapons are locked to specific classes. However, in Vernworth, you’ll find Bjorn’s Armory and Roderick’s Smithy, selling armor and weapons respectively. There isn’t a huge amount of choice for each class, but it is worth buying (and enhancing!) the following for the Fighter vocation.
For the head, you can opt for either the Soldier’s Helm (2,250 gold) or the Iron Helm (4,400 gold). The Soldier’s Helm is lighter and cheaper, but has very slightly weaker defensive stats. Make sure you grab the Guardian Plate Armor (12,800 gold) though, as this has the best defensive and resistance stats out of any armor piece at this stage of the game. Then there’s the Guardian Leg Plates (11,550 gold) which are expensive and heavy, but worth it for the extra protection.
The best weapon for the Fighter you can buy here is the Vermundian Brand (13,800 gold), which is worth picking up if you’ve nothing better. However, at some point during the early stages of the game, we found the Steeled Virtue somewhere on our travels, so if you’ve also encountered and acquired this, it has better stats than any of the weapons you can buy right now.
What beginner tips can help me master the Fighter’s blocking and parrying in Dragon’s Dogma 2
Beginner Tips to Master Fighter’s Blocking and Parrying in Dragon’s Dogma 2
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Upgrade Your Shield Early: Maximize your shield’s defense before attempting perfect blocks to increase your chances of success.
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Use Core Skills Like True Deflect: Unlock the core skill True Deflect, which allows you to parry by pressing the class action button just before an enemy attack lands, negating damage and staggering foes.
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Practice Timing and Direction: Learn to time your blocks precisely. You can also adjust your shield’s direction while holding the block button by moving the left stick, which helps block attacks coming from different angles without dropping your guard.
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Manage Stamina Wisely: Blocking consumes stamina based on the attack’s strength. Equip rings that boost stamina or stamina recovery and manage your stamina carefully to avoid being guard broken.
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Balance Blocking, Parrying, and Grappling: Don’t rely solely on blocking; mix in parries and grapples to break enemy defenses and create openings for powerful counterattacks.
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Start Practicing Parry on Smaller Enemies: Practice parrying on weaker enemies like goblins to get the timing down before attempting it on larger foes or bosses.
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Consider Skills That Aid Blocking and Parrying: Skills such as Vengeful Slash can automatically parry attacks and counterattack, which is helpful if you struggle with timing parries manually.
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Avoid Blocking Attacks from Behind: Your shield won’t block damage from behind, so always position yourself to face your enemies and use the shield direction adjustment technique to cover your flanks.
These tips combined will help you become a resilient frontline Fighter, mastering both defensive and counterattack maneuvers essential for survival and control on the battlefield.
How can I improve my timing for perfect blocks in Dragon’s Dogma 2
To improve your timing for perfect blocks in Dragon’s Dogma 2, focus on these key strategies:
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Learn Enemy Attack Patterns: The best way to nail perfect blocks is to study and predict enemy moves so you can anticipate the exact moment their attack lands.
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Use Fighter Augments and Skills: The Fighter augment Prescience increases the perfect block timing window by about five frames, making it easier to succeed. Mystic Knight shield counters also extend this window if you use that vocation.
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Practice the Timing Window: Perfect blocks occur within a very brief window right after you raise your shield. Try to block just as the enemy’s attack is about to hit. Holding your shield up and tapping the block button repeatedly as the attack approaches can help you catch the timing.
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Avoid Using Prescience with Mystic Knight: If you’re playing Mystic Knight, rely on its shield counters rather than Prescience, as mixing both can make timing harder.
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Start with Smaller Enemies: Practice perfect blocking on smaller foes with more obvious attack cues before attempting it on large or erratic enemies.
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Manage Stamina and Positioning: Keep stamina high to avoid guard breaks and position yourself to face attacks head-on, as blocking from behind is ineffective.
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Use Core Skill True Deflect: Mastering the True Deflect core skill helps negate stamina drain and damage when perfectly timed, reinforcing your blocking efficiency.
By combining enemy knowledge, augment choices, and consistent practice, your perfect block timing will improve significantly, turning you into a formidable frontline defender.
