Dragon’s Dogma 2: Best Fighter build | Augments, Abilities, and Gear

The Fighter is one of four starter vocations you can pick at the beginning of Dragon’s Dogma 2. This sword and shield user is squarely among the most useful vocations in the entire game, even when compared to later-game vocations.

It’s my favorite class in Dragon’s Dogma 2, but the Fighter is admittedly relatively basic. If you want to be able to dish out significant combat damage without putting yourself at risk, then the Fighter is for you. The augments and abilities of the Fighter are designed for a perfect mixture of offensive and defensive capabilities.

Abilities, skills, augments, and equipment are all vital parts of making the optimal Fighter. Here’s our top picks on how to style and build your Fighter.

Best Fighter abilities in Dragon’s Dogma 2

After you arrive in Melve and speak to your Fighter Maister, you can start to build out your weapon skills and abilities. Every vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2 contains its own unique abilities, with the Fighter focused on using equal parts sword and shield. Below are the four abilities I’ve found to be the most useful:

• Blink Strike
• Shield Bash
• Airward Strike
• Compass Slash

The key difficulty with melee vocations is closing the gap. Blink Strike addresses this issue, as it launches you forward with a powerful slice. Airward Strike covers a similar weakness, as you may notice early on Harpies and other airborne enemies usually have the drop on you. Having both a vertical and horizontal charge equals the playing field for this melee class.

The Fighter thrives on staggering enemies. Whether it’s a Goblin or Cyclopes, your biggest hits come from downed opponents. Shield Bash is a great way to send enemies flying across the battlefield or to one knee for easier attacks. Compass Strike is an area-of-effect slash with a wide swing, perfect if you are surrounded. Although more powerful abilities open up in later levels, I’ve found these core weapon abilities to be perfectly serviceable, even in the endgame.

Best Fighter Augments in Dragon’s Dogma 2

Mettle and Provocation are two early yet extremely useful Augments to equip for Fighters. As a high defense character, it falls on you to protect your caster or archer spawns that will tend to fall in the backline. Provocation makes it more likely for enemies to attack you, while Mettle increases your overall defense. Although you’ll be a bigger target on the battlefield, both your increased defense and Pawn healing should counter this.

Best Fighter Core Skills in Dragon’s Dogma 2

Core Skills are additional active abilities useful in and out of combat. As with all classes, you can get all Core Skills for your class, which I highly recommend doing. If you’re only able to get a few due to Discipline point restrictions, I would prioritize Tusk Toss and True Deflect.

Both these Core Skills work to better your defensive abilities and make more use of your shield. Tusk Toss gives another layer of crowd control, allowing you to send enemies high into the air. Alongside Shield Bash, you can stagger or temporarily hinder most enemies on the battlefield.

True Deflect requires perfecting timing, but it negates damage from enemies and staggers the attacker. The stagger gives a perfect opening for a counterattack while costing zero stamina. If you’re familiar with the Dark Souls parry, this is for you.

Best Fighter starting gear in Dragon’s Dogma 2

When you arrive in Vernworth, stop by Bjorn’s Armory to pick up the basics. As a chivalrous knight, the Fighter is inclined to shields and heavy armor. The Iron Helm and Guardian Plate armor set, including both chest and legs, are a great starting position.

In terms of Fighter weapons, the Vermundian Brand is easily the best early-game sword, while the Feather-Light Pelta is the best shield to start with. As you level up and get closer to DD2’s endgame, you’ll naturally find more powerful gear in Battahal and below, but this starting gear will get you an excellent head start on your enemies.