Best Dragon’s Dogma 2 Mage Build Vocation Class – DD2

This Dragon’s Dogma 2 Mage Build will focus on being a supportive build with supplemental firepower for the group.  The Mage Vocation is a Starting Vocation that will have strong magick and magick defense early on.  The Mage Vocation Build will provide the necessary support to amp your pawns and heal them so they can fulfill more offensive roles.

For a full listing of all of the Mage skills, please see the Dragon’s Dogma 2 Mage Guide.

Table of Contents:

• Skills
• Core Skills
• Augments
• Optimal Party Setup
• Equipment

Skills for the Mage Build in Dragon’s Dogma 2

Here we will discuss the Skills used on the Dragon’s Dogma 2 Mage Build. The Mage Build uses the following Skills:

• Levin – [High Levin]
• Palladium – [High Palladium]
• Celerity – [High Celerity]
• Frigor – [High Frigor]

Situational Skills

• Fire/Ice/Lightning Boon – [Fire/Ice/Lightning Affinity]
• Empyrean – [High Empyrean]
• Celestial Paean

Levin – [ High Levin ]

An offensive skill using elemental lightning damage that is well suited for range and closer range.  It also excels at striking flying targets.  One of the perks of Levin is it can be fired repeatedly to finish off targets you want out of the fight sooner than later.  This skill is great early and holds true as one of your best nuke options later in the game.

Palladium – [ High Palladium ]

Palladium is an effective defensive tool that will block any instance of damage from small attacks to large charged attacks.  This will apply to other group members and will help prevent interrupted casts or party members from being flinched as well on tougher opponents that deal tremendous but slower attacks.  Try to keep this up at all times.

Celerity – [ High Celerity ]

This is a party-wide buff that will increase speed and attack speed.  It also increases the speed at which you are able to cast, benefiting all party members no matter what composition you currently have.  This will increase damage naturally and also further boost the effects of your boon for your party.  Consider calling the group in with a “come to me” command when casting, and then telling them to “go” back into the fight.

Frigor – [ High Frigor ]

The fourth slot can be rotated for various supportive buffs such as Halidom or Empyrean for night enemies.  However, Frigor becomes a powerful elemental damage spell that also provides highly effective knockdown for the group.  Later game, this should remain on bar for damage over other options.

Situational Skills

Fire/Ice/Lightning Boon – [ Fire/Ice/Lightning Affinity ]

Fire Affinity is largely effective early game.  Lightning will gain more effect midgame and still be useful damage without many resists on later game targets.  Ice will scale well and be effective on dragons as well as effective for freezing most targets.  Shift towards Ice in your later game, but feel free to adjust for specific targets.  This is only necessary with at least 2 physical damage dealers that are using non-elemental weapons.

Empyrean – [ High Empyrean ]

An orb of light that deals Holy Damage which is most effective against undead at night.  Additionally, it lights up the night very effectively too.  When going to areas to hunt at night or places with night time, this skill is effective to swap in.  Holy Damage is difficult to find currently in Dragon’s Dogma 2 but can assist in later game undead fights.

Celestial Paean

This Maister’s Teaching is one of the best skills in the game, but generally for pawns.  It is debatable how much your pawns will make use of this skill because they have the opportunity to spam expensive stamina based skills, but likely will not during this.  Thus, it’s generally not the best option for the Arisen since it will also disable you.

Core Skills for the Mage Build in DD2

Here we will discuss the Core Skills (Passives) used on the Dragon’s Dogma 2 Mage Build.  All Core skills can be learned and are passively applied.

Magick Bolt – This is a basic ranged attack that can be weaved in between spells or when waiting for stamina to replenish.

Anodyne – The bread and butter of the Mage Vocation, this is your point-blank AOE heal.  It lasts for about 10 seconds and will replenish any available lost health.  Consider calling the group in for this if they are wounded, or moving up to a point where they may receive it.

Quickspell –  This will hasten your casts as needed at the cost of stamina.  It can be useful when you need to speed up a cast and move, or want to pump damage at a faster pace.  Burning your stamina at a range with a friendly pawn will allow them to help replenish your stamina to keep pushing damage.

Focused Bolt – This is a charged bolt that can do a bit more than Magick bolt, but should still only be considered when stamina is regenerating for the most part.

Levitate – This will halt your stamina regeneration while being used but can be useful for reaching difficult places or preventing fall damage.  It can be used to get in a better range for a flying target or avoid ground melee damage, but essentially costs potential damage if used unnecessarily.

Augments

Here we will discuss the Skills used on the Dragon’s Dogma 2 Mage Build.  While you can use Mage’s Augments only while leveling, the following would be ideal.

• Beatitude (Mage Vocation) – Increases the amount of Health recovered by Curatives and Curative Magicks
• Perpetuation (Mage Vocation) – Extends the duration of enchantments and invigorations
• Exaltation (Mage Vocation) – Improves your Stamina Recovery Speed
• Endurance (Archer Vocation) – Increases your Maximum Stamina
• Constancy (Sorcerer Vocation) – Augments your Knockdown Resistance
• Catalysis (Sorcerer Vocation) – Increases damage dealt when exploiting a hostile target’s elemental weakness

Optimal Party Setup for the DD2 Mage Build

This Dragon’s Dogma 2 Mage Build functions primarily as a support, therefore we will add complimentary damage.  Thus we would benefit from the following pawn members:

• Warrior Vocation – Front line of the group and damage dealing unit that can provide additional knockdown.
• Sorcerer Vocation – A mage can synergize very well with Sorcerer when they cast similar spells.  It’s important to try to align your offensive spells to align with the Sorcerer Pawn.
• Thief or Archer – This last spot is more flexible, but a thief can benefit by adding extra damage with downed targets.  Alternatively, the archer is great for downing flying targets and provides constant pressure on weak spots.

Equipment for the Mage Build

In the early-game, you will need to simply make do with the equipment pieces you find. Once you have enough gold, you can purchase some equipment from vendors to improve your damage and survivability. The Mage is quite vulnerable to physical attacks, so you should attempt to compensate for this when selecting gear as you progress. Look out for rings that boost your Health, this is a relatively cheap way to upgrade your character that will help you to survive, especially in the earlier parts of the game. Upgrade your armour and weapons frequently as you level up to keep pace with your enemies.

As you progress through the game you will find you have more resources and can obtain higher quality items from both NPCs and loot. The table below shows a powerful gear setup for the Fighter in Dragon’s Dogma 2. However, don’t worry if you do not have exactly the same items – just equip the best you have for now and replace or upgrade it later on when you can.

Please note that the Rings mentioned in the table above are partially a matter of preference and playstyle. This setup will make your spells quick to cast and potent, but leaves you a little light on the defence, which can be a problem if your positioning is bad or your Pawns aren’t up to the job of keeping enemies busy. You can switch out the Ring of Percipience for a ring that gives increased Stamina or Health if you prefer.

The purchasable items in the table above may not become available until you progress through the game to a certain point – if you are low level then you will only see fairly weak items in vendors.

When collecting equipment for your build, you may struggle with your Carrying Capacity being too low, especially in the early game. Fortunately, this is something that can be increased in various ways. We have a guide that explains all of the ways to improve Carry Capacity.

Equipment Upgrades

We recommend upgrading your equipment with the Elven Smithing Style for the best possible improvement to your Magick stat.

Related Dragon’s Dogma 2 Content:

• Mage Vocation Guide
• All Dragon’s Dogma 2 Guides and Builds