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Introduced in Dragon's Dogma
Fighter
One of the basic vocations available in the early game and the most straightforward to play as, the Fighter wields a sword and shield, fighting on the frontlines to sway the enemy's attention away from their squishier teammates while using their defensive abilities to take the brunt of their attacks and deal it back in return.
- Anti-Air: Downplayed. While the Fighter has skills like Skyward Lash to help deal with flying enemies, their range is still limited. Thus they have to rely on either baiting said enemies into attacking them to get them in their range, or have someone else of a ranged vocation shoot them out of the sky.
- Carry a Big Stick: In Dragon's Dogma II, Fighters can now equip maces and cudgels, which could only be wielded by Mystic Knights in the first game.
- Close-Range Combatant: Up close, the Fighter can dish out huge damage and their shield allows them to stay in their effective range much longer with little risk compared to the Mage and Strider who focus on staying out of the monsters' attacking range. However, they lack any ranged attack of their own and must rely on waiting for the enemy to lunge at them if they are out of reach. Notably, they struggle against flying enemies such as Harpies and Griffins.
- Counter-Attack: The fighter has multiple means of inflicting this upon their enemies, such as the Deflect core skill which lets them deal huge knockback to an assailant upon blocking right as the attack hits their shield, in addition to inflicting any debilitation depending on the shield equipped. Dragon's Dogma II also introduces the skill Counter Slash/Vengeful Slash, where the fighter gets into a defensive stance and immediately counters upon being hit in that stance.
- Dash Attack: The Fighter's Blink Strike and its variants let them dash forward, usually towards an enemy in their sight, and thrust their sword in that direction.
- Draw Aggro: They can use Shield Summons/Drum to bang their shield and draw enemies towards themselves, in addition to having an augment that makes them more likely to target them in a fight. It is useful for keeping them away from the Arisen or Pawns of a strong but frail vocation, such as Sorcerers who need to spend a long time undisturbed by enemy attacks while casting powerful spells.
- Fastball Special: Springboard/Launchboard has the Fighter use their shield as a platform that allies can use to jump from, helping them scale large monsters.
- Feather Fall: The Fighter has the Controlled Fall core skill that tucks their into a roll or uses their shield as a cushion to reduce damage taken from falling, as well as to stand back up from it faster.
- Heavy Equipment Class: The Fighter, alongside other martial vocations, are notable for having access to heavier, more protective armor that other vocations otherwise cannot wear. Likewise, they also cannot wear armor worn only by Mages, Striders or other vocations either.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: So iconic is the Fighter that they are the default vocation of Savan in the Distant Prologue and then the Arisens in both games prior to getting their hearts stolen by the Dragon.
- Immune to Flinching: Stone Will (Perfect Defense in Dragon's Dogma II) has the Fighter stand completely still and take half of the damage received while making them immune to being knocked down for as long as they have enough stamina to maintain the stance.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Flesh Skewer, Gouging Skewer and their upgraded variants
- Lightning Bruiser: The Fighter's attacks come out hard and quickly, and they are no slouch when it comes to defending themselves thanks to both heavy armor and a shield.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: The Fighter carries a shield that lets them block any attack from a direction they are facing provided they have enough stamina to burn and that said attack isn't so powerful that it knocks them off-guard. In addition to having skills tied to the shield such as the Shield Bash,
- Shield Bash: The Fighter has a skill that lets them strike an enemy with their shield as an attack. While this does little damage, it deals greater Knockback, sending small enemies flying while pushing larger foes off-balance.
- Spin Attack: Compass Slash/Full Moon Slash has the Fighter spin around with their sword extended, slashing enemies caught in the full circle of their swing. Similarly, Impeccable Guard/Flawless Guard lets them spin around, except as a defensive maneuver to move out of tight spots in battle.
Strider
Another basic vocation for beginners, the Strider specialises in using the shortbow to pelt enemies with arrows from a safe range. And if they get in close, they can switch to their dual daggers that deal low damage but with a faster swinging rate than swords. Of all the Vocations in Dragon's Dogma, they have the most tools when it comes to scaling up large monsters and/or hitting them in their weak spots.
In Dragon's Dogma II, the Strider is split into two classes, Archer and Thief, who take after aspects of their bow and daggers respectively.
- Blade Spam: Scarlet Kisses and its upgraded variants Hundred Kisses and Thousand Kisses let the Strider swing their daggers rapidly for as long as the player mashes the button. This can also be used while climbing a large monster, making it good for dealing massive damage to its weak points.
- Bow and Sword in Accord: The Strider can carry both a short bow and dual daggers, switching between them upon the press of a button.
- Colossus Climb: One of its specialities is climbing up large foes and stabbing them in the weak points on their bodies. Compared to all other vocations in the first game who all climb at the same speed barring the Assassin who climbs the second-fastest, the Strider has the fastest climbing speed. Combined with Gloves of Might, this lets the Strider climb so fast to the point where it is hard to control.
- Close-Range Combatant: Only in comparison to the Ranger. Whereas the Ranger's longbow maximises its damage output in the middle range, the Strider's shortbow deals more damage the closer they are to the target.
- Dash Attack: Biting Wind and Sprint, as well as their respective upgrades Cutting/Shearing Wind and Mad Dash.
- Dual Wielding: Carries a pair of daggers that they wield to dish out attacks that deal small damage each, but also come out quickly.
- Double Jump: A trait it shares with the Ranger, Assassin and Magick Archer is their ability to jump in mid-air
- Lag Cancel: The daggers skill, Reset allows the Strider to immediately cancel their attack animation at the press of the button, making it handy for quickly moving out of a misaimed attack or chaining skills together. Its upgraded version, Instant Reset lets the Strider instantly recover from stagger/knocked-down animations to escape a Cycle of Hurting. Or get up right after jumping a great height.
- Multishot: Threefold Arrow and Triad Shot, and their upgraded variants, shoot a rapid volley of arrows in a straight direction and a spread of multiple arrows respectively.
- Rain of Arrows: Cloudburst/Downpour/Hailstorm Volley shoots arrows upwards to shower an area in them.
- Short Range Guy, Long Range Guy: The Strider is the Short Range Guy to the Ranger's Long Range.
- Spin Attack: Helm Splitter along with its upgraded versions Skull Splitter and Brain Splitter has the Strider jump in the air and rapidly spin in a vertical direction, dealing many hits that add up to immense damage to any monster it hits, and also inflicting debilitations quickly.
- Trick Arrow: The Strider, as well as the Ranger and Assassin, can equip one on their bow and shoot it to inflict a debilitation or explode upon hit.
- Unnecessary Combat Roll: The Strider, alongside Ranger, Assassin and Magick Archer, has a core skill for daggers that lets them roll forward as an evasive manoeuvre, useful for avoiding attacks.
Mage
A basic vocation that focuses on staying behind friendly lines to provide support for their allies with the use of their magick staff, casting spells that can heal them, cure status effects or enchant their weapons with the elements to deal more damage against foes weak to a particular element. The Mage deals magick damage primarily, making them useful in dispatching enemies that are resistant to physical attacks such as Ghosts, though more offense-oriented magick vocations like the Sorcerer and Magick Archer have them beat in damage output.
- An Ice Person: Frazil and Frigor. The former creates a cloud of ice around the user that damages nearby enemies while the latter summons pillars of ice that sends enemies flying upwards and can also be used as platforms.
- Anti-Magic: Silentium and Solemnity in the first and second games respectively. Both inflict the silence Status Effect on enemies to prevent them from casting magick spells, but Silentium does it in an Area of Effect around the user while Solemnity is cast from afar to a single target.
- Attack Speed Buff: Celerity conjures a magickal sigil that enhances the speed of any ally that steps within range.
- Charged Attack:
- Deflector Shields: Mages can cast Palladium to summon a cluster of magickal orbs around an ally that each negates an incoming attack once.
- Elemental Weapon: The Mage can cast an elemental boon to enchant their staff or their ally's weapon in an element to help them take advantage of an enemy's elemental weakness. These include Fire, Ice, Lightning, Holy and Darknote .
- Fireballs: Ingle shoots orbs of flame in a straight line that set nearby
- Light 'em Up: Empyrean creates a ball of holy light that damages all enemies within the area, and is especially effective against undead creatures.
- Lightning Lash: Brontide in the first game. It conjures a lightning whip that the Mage can swing around for as long as it is active, summoning bolts of lightning.
- Magic Staff:
- The Medic:
- Playing with Fire:
- Shock and Awe
- White Mage
Warrior
Ranger
- Great Bow
- Long-Range Fighter
- Short Range Guy, Long Range Guy: The Ranger is the Long Range Guy to the Strider's Short Range.
Sorcerer
- Black Mage: Differentiating them from the support-oriented Mages, Sorcerers have access to more spells that focus on dealing a lot of damage and inflicting status debuffs upon enemies.
- Boring, but Practical:
- Dishing Out Dirt: Seism conjures a quake that launches pillars of stone from the earth, sending enemies flying upwards. As it deals physical damage, it is useful against enemies who naturally resist or No-Sell magical attacks such as Golems.
- Magic Staff
- Meteor-Summoning Attack: Bolide and Meteoron are identical, long-casting skills that, upon completing their incantations, summons meteors from above to wreak armageddon across the battlefield. The latter is a Maister Skill that can be obtained through a scroll given by Trysha after saving her from her Power Incontinence during the Spellbound quest.
- One-Hit Kill: Exequy in the first Dragon's Dogma summons a magickal aura that slowly counts down until the circle is complete, upon which any creature caught within its radius is killed instantly. It has the longest casting time out of all the skills though, so good luck trying to not get hit while casting it.
- Playing with Fire: Besides Ingle, Comestion and Flagration, the Sorcerer also has Salamander which blasts a cone of lingering flames in front of them that burns enemies within it, and Bolide/Meteoron that summons fiery meteors from the sky.
- Shock and Awe: On top of retaining Levin and Brontide from the Mage, the Sorcerer also gains access to Fulmination/Thundermine, which summons orbs of lightning that will zap any enemy within their area.
- Taken for Granite: The Sorcerer in the first game has Petrifaction, a spell that summons a magick fog that slowly turns enemies to stone if they enter it.
- Tornado Move: Maelstrom summons a giant tornado that sucks in all nearby small foes and hurl them into the air, while also dealing immense damage to bosses. It is so powerful that it became a Maister Skill in Dragon's Dogma II, obtained through a scroll as a reward from Myrradin after completing The Sorcerer's Appraisal quest.
Assassin
Mystic Knight
- Carry a Big Stick
- Elemental Weapon
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me
- Magic Knight
- Player-Exclusive Mechanic: As a hybrid vocation like the Assassin and Magick Archer, only the Arisen can become this vocation.
Magick Archer
- Cast from Hit Points
- Energy Bow
- Macross Missile Massacre
- Mage Marksman
- Pinball Projectile: Ricochet Seeker/Hunter fires off bolts of lightning magic that bounce around walls and actually get stronger the more they ricochet. As a skill, it is extremely useful in tight indoor environments such as dungeons and caverns and can make short work of enemies (especially those with a weakness to lightning). Dragon's Dogma II turns this skill into a Charged Attack
- Player-Exclusive Mechanic: Like the Assassin, Mystic Knight and other 'hybrid' vocations in the sequel, only the Arisen can become this vocation.
- Red Mage: In addition to its damage-dealing skills, the Magick Archer also has access to other weapon skills that place them closer towards the support role, letting them fire magic arrows that buff Pawns in ways such as reviving them from afar, casting a barrier around them that reflects damage back to the enemy, and healing them by draining the enemies' health.
- Wreathed in Flames
Introduced in Dragon's Dogma Online
Shield Sage
Seeker
Alchemist
Spirit Lancer
[[folder:High Scepter]]
Introduced in Dragon's Dogma II
Archer
- Blowing Stuff Up
- Decomposite Character: Downplayed. The Archer borrows the bow-and-arrow aspect from not just the Strider, but the Ranger too, combining most of their kits into one class.
- Extremity Extremist: Aside from favouring the bow, the Archer trades away daggers in exchange for the ability to kick foes as their only melee option. One of their core skills also lets them jump up and dive kick the enemy, knocking them off balance and letting them follow up with an aerial shot.
- Incendiary Exponent: Tarring/Incendiary Shot shoots an arrow that covers nearby enemies in oil upon exploding. In addition to making the affected enemies more prone to knockdown, setting them alight with fire elemental attacks deal extra damage on top of that.
- Making a Splash: Drenching/Deluging Shot shoots an arrow that soaks nearby enemies in water upon exploding. This syncs well with ice and lightning elemental attacks, which allow for freezing and unconcious debilitations to be inflicted on them respectively.
- More Dakka
- Sticky Bomb
- Trick Arrow
Thief
- Blade Spam: The Thief can use Scarlet Kisses and its upgraded version just like the vocation it split from. Rather than being a weapon skill, however, it is reworked into a purchasable core skill that unlocks at rank 1.
- Decomposite Character
- Critical Hit Class
- Flaming Sword
- Knockback Evasion: The Thief has a core skill that lets them quickly recover upon pressing the jump button as soon as they hit the ground after being Blown Across the Room.
- Rocket Jump: Concussive Jump and Concussive Leap.
- Spin Attack: The Thief retains the Helm Splitter and its upgraded variant from the Strider class.
- Sticky Bomb:
- Wreathed in Flames: Blades of Pyre
Mystic Spearhand
- Flechette Storm
- Grievous Harm with a Body
- Magic Knight
- Nigh-Invulnerability
- The Paralyzer
- Player-Exclusive Mechanic: As with the Trickster, Magick Archer and Warfarer, only the Arisen can become this vocation.
- Storm of Blades
Trickster
- Support Party Member
- Draw Aggro
- Player-Exclusive Mechanic: As with the Mystic Spearhand, Magick Archer and Warfarer, only the Arisen can become this vocation.
Warfarer
- Difficult, but Awesome
- Hyperspace Arsenal: Regardless of the number of weapons the Warfarer can have equipped in their inventory, only the heaviest weapon equipped counts towards the weight of all the items they can carry.
- Jack of All Stats
- Magic Knight
- Master of None
- Player-Exclusive Mechanic: As with the Mystic Spearhand, Trickster and Magick Archer, only the Arisen can become this vocation.
- Walking Armory
