The Magick Archer is truly a one-of-a-kind signature Vocation/Class in Dragon's Dogma 2—it was OP in the first game, and it's still OP 12 years later. In this guide, I'll provide cohesive tips and tricks for the Magic Archer in Dragon's Dogma 2, including builds, skills, and mechanics you should know about the vocation.
How to play Magick Archer like a pro in Dragon's Dogma 2
The Magick Archer, as the name suggests, infuses their bow and arrow with Ice, Lightning, and Fire. Let's go over the basic default skills of the Magick Archer:
| Skill Name | Description and Mechanics |
| Quickfire | Quickfire is the archer's equivalent of Loose. It allows your character to rapidly fire an arrow without having to aim at the enemy. It has an auto-lock mechanic, but the tradeoff is a much lower damage output. Uses: Close combat encounters |
| Dash | Dash is the basic running skill of the Magick Archer. Pressing the Quickfire button while dashing will allow your Magick Archer to leap over a short distance and fire-off an arrow onto the nearest enemy. |
| Conversion | Conversion allows you to change your primary firing method. There are two firing methods: Rivet Shot and Pinpoint Volley. |
| Pinpoint Volley | This skill gives you a big reticle when holding your R1/RB button. It then locks on to multiple parts of an enemy; the longer you keep the reticle on the enemy, the more arrows. Uses: Large enemy group encounters |
| Rivet Shot | This skill is similar to the Pinpoint Volley, albeit it gives a much smaller reticle, allowing you to precisely lock on to certain enemy parts. Uses: Boss encounters with specific weak parts. |
| Martyr's Bolt (Ultimate/Maister Skill) | Use your Max HP to summon a powerful attack that sends a flurry of arrows at an enemy, dealing massive damage over time. Martyr's Bolt is very overpowered but has a limited use case. Uses: Difficult Bosses like Drakes. |
The Pinpoint Volley, Conversion, and Rivet Shot will be your bread and butter for this class. Using the correct firing mode in a specific situation will greatly improve your damage. Also, do not forget to hold the reticle onto the enemy so you can fire even more arrows for more DPS.
Best Magick Archer Elemental Skills
The Magick Archer has access to all elemental affinities, which include Ice, Lightning, and Fire. This enables them to afflict Debilitation onto their enemies like Frostbite, Unconscious, and Caught on Fire. Here are all of the Elemental Skills of the Magick Archer:
| Skill Name | Description and Mechanics |
| Frostseeker Bolt -> Frosthunter Bolt | The Magick Archer will fire a flurry of tracking and sustaining ice arrows that will hit the designated part of the enemy. This is the best way to build up Frostbite since it's very consistent in dealing ice damage onto the enemy. Uses: Frostbite Infliction to bosses |
| Hailstone Bolt -> Arctic Bolt | Unleashes a whole ice block as an arrow onto an enemy. Although not as good as inflicting Frostbite, it's a consistent way of getting bosses out of balance or stopping powerful attacks. Uses: Topple bosses or stop powerful attacks |
| Ricochet Seeker -> Ricochet Hunter | One of the most iconic skills of a Magick Archer is their patented Ricochet Hunter. Your character fires a lightning arrow that bounces off of walls and hits any enemy that comes within its way. Uses: Closed/Indoor Areas |
| Sparkchain Stake -> Boltchain Stake | The Magick Archer will fire a lightning bolt onto enemies within its reticle. Each Boltchain Stake applied will proc when near one another, dealing constant damage. I found this skill really helpful when dealing with enemies near a body of water (Drenched Debilitation). Uses: Crowd Control |
| Irradiance Orb -> Candescent Orb | Once you use this skill, your character will volley an orb of fire. This orb can stick onto enemies and walls. Any enemy who passes through the orb will take constant fire damage. It also serves as a light-source during night-time or in very dark locations (i.e. caves, ruins, etc.) Uses: Constant fire DPS and illumination during night time |
Magick Archer gameplay tips
The Magickal Archer, daunting as the skills may sound, is a fairly easy class to play once you understand how its mechanics work.
Here are three vital tips and tricks for the Magick Archer:
- Always assess the situation. Stuck in a close-combat scenario? Use the Dash+Quickfire technique. In a boss fight? Use Conversion to transform your firing mode to Rivet Shot and unleash your arrows onto the enemy's weakpoints. A standard open-area battle against a horde of enemies? Use the Pinpoint Volley firing mode.
- Make use of your environment. As mentioned above, elemental skills are the bread-and-butter of a Magick Archer. This means the Vocation can inflict status effects onto enemies, so make sure to take advantage of Debilitations such as Drenched and Tarred to make your attacks more powerful.
- Enhance your Magick stat instead of Strength. Some people may get the wrong concept of enhancing their strength stat, rather than Magick. If it wasn't obvious enough, you need more Magick stat to deal more damage with this Vocation. If you're still unaware of how you can enhance magick instead of strength on your weapons, go to the Sacred Arbor, get a Pawn that has Woodland Wordsmith, and enhance your weapons through Grisha.
Related: How to increase Debilitation Resistance in Dragon’s Dogma 2
Best Magick Archer builds in Dragon's Dogma 2
As for builds, below is my recommended setup for your Magick Archer's skills and augments.
- Exaltation (Mage)
- Catalysis (Sorcerer) can be exchaged with Beatitude (Mage) for Support Build
- Zeal (Warfarer)
- Lethality (Archer)
- Subtlety (Thief)
- Sagacity (Sorcerer)
- Frosthunter Bolt
- Candescent Orb
- Boltchain Stake
- Martyr's Bolt
- Arctic Bolt
- Blazefang Arrow
- Fortalice
- Martyr's Bolt
- Frosthunter Bolt
- Candescent Orb
- Soporific Bolt
- Sagittate Avalanche
- Fortalice
- Lifetaking Arrow
- Sopoforic Build
- Candescent Orb
The Magick Archer is a very flexible ranged Vocation that can definitely deal a ton of damage or provide a lot of utility for your team. If you're lacking a consistent DPS or healer for your party, try this Vocation out, along with the builds listed above!
For more on vocations in Dragon's Dogma 2, check out All Vocations (Classes) in Dragon’s Dogma 2, Explained only here at Pro Game Guides!
Published: Mar 25, 2024 10:33 am