First things first, if you've never played Dragon's Dogma then you're missing out on one of the most fun games I've ever played. It was recommended to me by Cannon but I didn't pull the trigger until I read Deeb's Crimson Arisen build and realized the build potential of the leveling system. Anyway, it really is one of those cult classics that not enough people know about.
Character advancement is extremely unique and encourages exploration and combat variety while the party system is really something special once you understand it. (like a lot of games, stupid AI decisions are still prevalent in party members...but in DD you can train teammates and break their bad habits!).
It has it's flaws but the re-release, Dark Arisen, does a pretty good job of addressing a lot of those by balancing broken abilities and implementing much easier/cheaper fast travel. One major criticism, that the core story only starts to show up near the end of the MQ, is still an "issue", but frankly if you're trying to develop your own original character, the narrative freedom is quite welcome!
Anyway, this is my first attempt at a Dragon's Dogma build so it may be a bit on the amateur side of things. I'm honestly pretty new to the game, only started playing it as a re-release on Xbox One. So while my curiosity has lead me to log quite a few hours on each vocation already, this Assassin build was the first one I actually played through to the end. I'll have links to the wiki throughout (in case anything seems confusing or maybe just piqued your interest) and if coarse criticism and off topic questions are encouraged!
ChoosingFighter as your starting Vocation will give you the best Strength stat to work with. You can change it after level ten, but it's best to stick with it long enough to get the Sinew Augment so you can carry more. Any good Tactician is going to have a lot of toys in their inventory.
Strider(Lv13-15)
Striderwon't be a major part of gameplay, but training a level or two early is a good idea. Endurance is probably the quickest/easiest Stamina enhancing Augment to unlock, and you won't regret obtaining it early.
Assassin(Lv15+)
Unlessyou decide to get Morbidly really early, then by level fifteen you'll be able to switch to the Assassin. Combat should be pretty familiar considering the Vocations you experienced already. Now it's time to put it all together into the most versatile class in the game!
Ranger (Intermittently)
TheRanger class is something you can play though all at once before switching to Assassin if you like. However, just occasionally grabbing a longbow for situations where you'd rather keep your distance should train the vocation enough to get Morbidity by the time it becomes relevant (you won't need the boost until you start facing enemies with much higher resistances).
Sinew (Fighter Rank 5) - Increases the weight that you can carry by 20kg, and increases the weight needed to go from all weight burden categories up to the next.
Endurance (Strider Rank 2) - Increases your maximum stamina by 100.
Entrancement (Assassin Rank 2) - Increases max stamina by 100 at night.
Bloodlust (Assassin Rank 4) - At night Strength and Magick are up 20%, plus physical and magick damage is reduced by 30 health
Autonomy (Assassin Rank 9) - When venturing forth alone, Strength & Magick are up 20% and physical and magickal damage are reduced by 20 healthper hit.
Morbidity (Ranger Rank 6) - Increases cumulative damage to foes you debilitate with non-Archmagick attacks. (description may confuse, actually increases the chance to inflict a non-elemental debilitation.
Strider - Solo play can be difficult at first, but for the true experience you should venture out on your own as soon as you can. Just create a standard Strider class Pawn, take their Rusted Bow from them, and then throw them off a cliff so you can go it alone. Eventually, your Augments will reward you greatly for this sacrifice.
Eternal Ferrystone - This is basically a permanent inventory item that allows for fast travel. It can be used in dungeons and even during battle, so for the purposes of this build we'll be using it as sort of a smokebomb for fast escape. This is an unleveled game designed to challenge whole parties, so it's not unlikely for a lone assassin to occasionally get in over their head.
Portcrystal - This item basically let's you set your own fast travel location. Crystals can be placed anywhere in the overworld and picked up to be reused an unlimited number of times, so you really only need to carry one. Placing it at the entrance of a dungeon before entering allows you to immediately return to try again after a Ferrystone escape. The usefulness of this will become overwhelmingly clear once you see how many toys our Tactician has access to (but not enough inventory space for).
Spring Water - One of the easiest health curables for a solo adventurer to obtain, simply head NW of Gran Soren and fill a few empty flasks in the healing spring. That's not to say you should neglect better options when available, but the spring will always be there, so it's a good curative to stock up on and hotkey.
Rusted Bow - A low damage weapon, but once enhanced to three stars or higher it can inflict both Poison and Torpor (which halves movement speed) on enemies. Doing so requires five Trowels which can be purchased from The Black Cat as soon as you reach Gran Soren. It would be wise to do this immediately.
Throwblasts - Always try to have a few of these in your inventory, they're never not useful. They cause a large and relatively static amount of damage (affected a negligible amount by your strength stat) that can be a lifesaver early on. Plus, they can damage enemies that are immune to physical damage. So late gamewhen your enchanted weapons are crippled by your paltry magic stat, Throwblasts can still pack a punch.
Blast Arrows - Unlike Throwblasts, these arrows scale with both your strength stat and your bow damage. They can't hit physical immune targets, but they have a greater range and are much easier to aim. Speaking of range, the explosion damage won't be affected by the diminishing returns of long distance archery. So with good enough aim they can be quite devastating to snipe with.
Blinder Arrows - These are interesting tools to have in your arsenal. As you may have guessed, they cause blindness on foes. What makes them a unique tool is the wide range of reactions that enemies have to being blinded. Some will try to keep fighting (occasionally landing a lucky shot), some run away, others will be prevented from escaping. A few might even become enraged making them even more dangerous!
Silencer Arrows - These are pretty straight forward, they keep an enemy from casting spells for a duration. Not worth the carry weight for dealing with your run of the mill spellcaster, but they can severely (if not completely) cripple the offensive capabilities of some boss types. Definitely have a few handy if you plan to take on one of these baddies.
Sleeper Arrows - These are a fun, albeit niche tool for the aspiring Tactician. They can lull foes to sleep for a short time, though striking them will cause them to wake early. One free hit might not seem that great but attacking unaware enemies grants extra damage and weak points become much easier to reach when large enemies topple over with fatigue. Of coarse, in an unleveled game there's no shame in using them to sneak by overpowered foes.
Oil Arrows - These can be bought, but the crafting materials are so abundant that it's hardly worth the money. They can inflict Tarring on enemies (which doubles fire damage), giving Throwblasts and Blast Arrows the potential to do some insane damage. Oh, and dog-like animals will try to shake the oil off leaving them vulnerable while distracted.
Sword Skills
Dire Onslaught - By pressing light attack, pausing and then pressing it again repeatedly you can perform a heavy downward trust with a chance to stagger, followed by a flurry of quick slashes to take advantage of the opening. If the enemy doesn't stagger then the rest of the animation can be jump cancelled.
Controlled Fall - By pressing jump right as you hit the ground when falling you'll do a little tumble and spring to your feet. This is used to mitigate vulnerability when hit with knockdown attacks.
Full Moon Slash - Swings your sword in a wide sweeping motion in front of you. Has a few invisibility frames that can be used to avoid damage from difficult to avoid attacks. Great when fighting enemies with a long reach.
Dire Gouge - Thrusts your sword deep into an enemy you're climbing. It's useless while standing on the ground, but the skill is still worth it for how quickly you can cause massive damage on a foes weak spot and jump off before becoming fatigued.
Broad Slash - Attack with your sword while falling back or to the side. It's a wide slash that can hit several enemies at once while dodging retaliation, so using it with enchanted weapons works well against groups. As a side step it can also be used preemptively as a way to remain in the blind spot of large enemies while attacking.
Shield Skills
Deflect - If you tap Block just as an enemy's attack lands you can perform a Perfect Block, staggering them. Obtaining Deflect will allow you to also direct some of their damage back at them and inflict any element or debilitation from your shield onto them.
Shield Storm - Bashes the opponent for a low damage, high stagger attack. It can be used to create openings for more powerful attacks, and can also activate any elemental damage or debilitations from your shield. The chance to stagger seems lower than perfect blocking, but you also don't have to wait to be attacked to use the skill. Lower risk, lower reward.
Swift Castle - A quick lunge forward with your shield raised. Adds a bit of mobility to sword and board combat and can somewhat replace your daggers Forward Roll. Doesn't seem to have invincibility frames, but during the animation you'll have raised defense.
Enhanced Response - Utilizes the momentum of a blocked attack to launch you into the air. Makes for a great way to quickly reach the weak spots of climbable enemies. Combine with Dire Gouge to quickly inflict massive damage on large opponents.
Dagger Skills
Engrave - By pressing light attack, pausing and then rapidly pressing it again you can follow up your dagger swipes with a series of kicks. Unarmed attacks are considered blunt damage, making this attack particularly useful against things like skeletons and gargoyles.
Forward Roll - A nice little skill that is essentially acts as your dodge roll while wilding daggers. It's a great way to navigate large groups of unpredictable enemies since it provides invincibility frames while rolling a good distance.
Advanced Trigger - Knocks smaller enemies into the air and throws a volley of small explosives at them. The first strike may stagger mid-sized enemies, and the explosives can cause burning, so it's a good utility skill even if the enemy can't be tossed around by it.
Shirking Offensive - Step back to avoid damage before launching a counter strike. The dodge animation has invulnerability frames and the attack has pretty good knockdown and will hit surrounding enemies. You can also cancel the attack animation by blocking or forward rolling after the backstep. Dodging won't use any stamina if the attack is cancelled.
Masterful Kill - Uses your daggers to parry an attack and strike back with lethal force. The animation is long but also has invincibility frames so it can be quite useful when your surrounded. This skill in particular is also great against large foes, as it can block many attacks and does massive amounts of damage.
Bow Skills
Quick Loose - This simply increases the speed with which you can shoot your bow. Not the flashiest ability, but one of the most useful. Especially when trying to inflict debilitations without wasting stamina.
Fivefold Flurry - Quickly shoots several arrows at once. They land in a small cluster that can easily hit a single enemy at close-mid range. Does decent damage but is most useful for quickly inflicting debilitations.
QLyncean Sight - Zooms in your vision and negates the diminished damage from firing a shortbow long distances. Hits about as hard as your standard close range shot, but makes achieving sneak and weak spot multipliers much easier. Getting Both at once can do some impressive damage.
PentadShot - Shoots several arrows that fan out in front of you. This is good for large groups of small enemies because their low resistances means it can interrupt several of their attacks, temporarily halt them from advancing on you and inflict various debilitations on an entire group simultaneously.
Special Tactics
Remote Detonation - In Dragon's Dogma bows have limited range, with arrow damage dropping significantly past a certain rage. This would make sniping a challenge except that effects from special arrows don't have any such limitation. This means that Blast Arrows will still do significant explosion damage regardless of range while Oil Arrows will still cause Tarring on enemies...a debilitation that doubles fire and explosion damage. Throw in Lyncean Sight to help you aim and you can do some really impressive damage long before enemies even know that you're there.
Requires: Lyncean Sight, Oil Arrows, Blast Arrows
Trebuchet - Often large enemies in Dragon's Dogma will have weak spots that you can exploit...if you can hit them. Most of the time these weak points will be out of reach unless you climb the beast. This requires a lot of stamina and can be dangerous, so I find it's best to limit how long you mount your foe. By blocking an attack with Enhanced Response you can use the inertia to catapult into the air and, with good aim and timing, grab onto (or at least close to) your adversaries weak point. At this point, Dire Gouge is the quickest way to deliver a large burst of damage and dismount while it's still safe to do so.
Requires: Enhanced Response, Dire Gouge
Debuffed, Dumb and Blind - Advanced Trigger inflicts burning pretty reliably on small foes, and can affect several at once if they're close enough together. If you use Forward Roll to cancel the attack animation, Shirking Offensive can then be used to retreat to a safe distance without using any stamina. At this point, Fivefold Flurry can easily inflict even more debilitations with a Rusty Bow firing Blinder Arrows. If you can pull all this off then you'll have a huge advantage over an entire group of enemies, which isn't a bad way to start any fight when mobbing.
Parry Parlay - With such low Defense attributes, the most important thing to remember is that you need to be in a constant state of avoiding damage. Yes, it should always supercede causing damage...but the two don't have to be mutually exclusive. There are several tools in your arsenal for attacking while simultaneously keeping enemies from doing the same. Broad Slash can be used to dodge, or to keep out of an enemy's line of sight. Full Moon Slash has invulnerability frames that can mitigate entire attacks if timed correctly, and timed blocking with Deflect can damage foes with their own attacks while having a chance to inflict the elemental damage or debilitations of your current shield.
Requires: Broad Slash, Full Moon Slash, Deflect+Enchanted Shield
Gameplay
What makes this character so fun to play is that you really do have the toolkit to take on everything on your own (in a predominantly team-based game)...even on Hard. The catch is that you aren't going to be able to carry it all around with you constantly, so a bit of scouting and preparation is involved. This is what makes your Portcrystal and Ferrystone so important: Find a new dungeon? Throw down your Portcrystal at the entrance and go inside to scope things out. If you find a beast within that requires a specific strategy or has a weakness worth exploiting, then use your Ferrystone to escape. Access your storage in town to switch up your equipment, and then return to the dungeon ready to kick some ass.
I've suggested a few mainstays to keep in your inventory while you're exploring (like the Ferrystone/Portcrystal combo, an upgraded Rusted Bow, Springwater and Throwblasts), but your actual arsenal shouldn't be nearly that limited. In fact, your in-town storage should always be filled to the brim with tons of materials, tools, specially arrows and weapons/shields of varying effects and elemental enchantments for you to switch out whenever you see fit. Even Skills, Augments and Vocations can be readily altered at inns. So if you want to train up to the Rangers Morbidity then don't hesitate to change your vocation when the situation calls for it.
That being said, after acquiring all the Augments you want, you shouldn't ever have to switch Vocations unless you want to. For the most part, the suggested skills should cover your bases quite nicely. The bow and dagger have been set up to allow you to quickly dispatch groups of small enemies with nary a scratch while the sword 'n board combat skills are designed predominately around felling massive targets unscathed. After playing as a fighter and a strider for a bit both these combat styles should be rather familiar to you as well, so it may be wise to stick with them at first.
These specializations aren't mutually exclusive, of coarse. You'll often encounter large enemies surrounded by a group of smaller ones so there has to be some overlap. For instance, your swords Broad Slash will excel at mobbing while your daggers Masterful Kill ability can tear through even towering foes. Plus, blocking with your shield and debilitations from your bow are useful in nearly any situation! So don't be afraid to mix and match once you start getting more comfortable with the gameplay of the Assassin class. The Dagger/Shield and Sword/Bow combos are just as useful as your standard setups, and effective juggling of tactics is a sure fire way of keeping your enemies on their toes. Having all four weapon options is what makes playing as The Tactician so much fun after all!
First things first, if you've never played Dragon's Dogma then you're missing out on one of the most fun games I've ever played. It was recommended to me by Cannon but I didn't pull the trigger until I read Deeb's Crimson Arisen build and realized the build potential of the leveling system. Anyway, it really is one of those cult classics that not enough people know about.
Character advancement is extremely unique and encourages exploration and combat variety while the party system is really something special once you understand it. (like a lot of games, stupid AI decisions are still prevalent in party members...but in DD you can train teammates and break their bad habits!).
It has it's flaws but the re-release, Dark Arisen, does a pretty good job of addressing a lot of those by balancing broken abilities and implementing much easier/cheaper fast travel. One major criticism, that the core story only starts to show up near the end of the MQ, is still an "issue", but frankly if you're trying to develop your own original character, the narrative freedom is quite welcome!
Anyway, this is my first attempt at a Dragon's Dogma build so it may be a bit on the amateur side of things. I'm honestly pretty new to the game, only started playing it as a re-release on Xbox One. So while my curiosity has lead me to log quite a few hours on each vocation already, this Assassin build was the first one I actually played through to the end. I'll have links to the wiki throughout (in case anything seems confusing or maybe just piqued your interest) and if coarse criticism and off topic questions are encouraged!
ChoosingFighter as your starting Vocation will give you the best Strength stat to work with. You can change it after level ten, but it's best to stick with it long enough to get the Sinew Augment so you can carry more. Any good Tactician is going to have a lot of toys in their inventory.
Strider(Lv13-15)
Striderwon't be a major part of gameplay, but training a level or two early is a good idea. Endurance is probably the quickest/easiest Stamina enhancing Augment to unlock, and you won't regret obtaining it early.
Assassin(Lv15+)
Unlessyou decide to get Morbidly really early, then by level fifteen you'll be able to switch to the Assassin. Combat should be pretty familiar considering the Vocations you experienced already. Now it's time to put it all together into the most versatile class in the game!
Ranger (Intermittently)
TheRanger class is something you can play though all at once before switching to Assassin if you like. However, just occasionally grabbing a longbow for situations where you'd rather keep your distance should train the vocation enough to get Morbidity by the time it becomes relevant (you won't need the boost until you start facing enemies with much higher resistances).
Sinew (Fighter Rank 5) - Increases the weight that you can carry by 20kg, and increases the weight needed to go from all weight burden categories up to the next.
Endurance (Strider Rank 2) - Increases your maximum stamina by 100.
Entrancement (Assassin Rank 2) - Increases max stamina by 100 at night.
Bloodlust (Assassin Rank 4) - At night Strength and Magick are up 20%, plus physical and magick damage is reduced by 30 health
Autonomy (Assassin Rank 9) - When venturing forth alone, Strength & Magick are up 20% and physical and magickal damage are reduced by 20 healthper hit.
Morbidity (Ranger Rank 6) - Increases cumulative damage to foes you debilitate with non-Archmagick attacks. (description may confuse, actually increases the chance to inflict a non-elemental debilitation.
Strider - Solo play can be difficult at first, but for the true experience you should venture out on your own as soon as you can. Just create a standard Strider class Pawn, take their Rusted Bow from them, and then throw them off a cliff so you can go it alone. Eventually, your Augments will reward you greatly for this sacrifice.
Eternal Ferrystone - This is basically a permanent inventory item that allows for fast travel. It can be used in dungeons and even during battle, so for the purposes of this build we'll be using it as sort of a smokebomb for fast escape. This is an unleveled game designed to challenge whole parties, so it's not unlikely for a lone assassin to occasionally get in over their head.
Portcrystal - This item basically let's you set your own fast travel location. Crystals can be placed anywhere in the overworld and picked up to be reused an unlimited number of times, so you really only need to carry one. Placing it at the entrance of a dungeon before entering allows you to immediately return to try again after a Ferrystone escape. The usefulness of this will become overwhelmingly clear once you see how many toys our Tactician has access to (but not enough inventory space for).
Spring Water - One of the easiest health curables for a solo adventurer to obtain, simply head NW of Gran Soren and fill a few empty flasks in the healing spring. That's not to say you should neglect better options when available, but the spring will always be there, so it's a good curative to stock up on and hotkey.
Rusted Bow - A low damage weapon, but once enhanced to three stars or higher it can inflict both Poison and Torpor (which halves movement speed) on enemies. Doing so requires five Trowels which can be purchased from The Black Cat as soon as you reach Gran Soren. It would be wise to do this immediately.
Throwblasts - Always try to have a few of these in your inventory, they're never not useful. They cause a large and relatively static amount of damage (affected a negligible amount by your strength stat) that can be a lifesaver early on. Plus, they can damage enemies that are immune to physical damage. So late gamewhen your enchanted weapons are crippled by your paltry magic stat, Throwblasts can still pack a punch.
Blast Arrows - Unlike Throwblasts, these arrows scale with both your strength stat and your bow damage. They can't hit physical immune targets, but they have a greater range and are much easier to aim. Speaking of range, the explosion damage won't be affected by the diminishing returns of long distance archery. So with good enough aim they can be quite devastating to snipe with.
Blinder Arrows - These are interesting tools to have in your arsenal. As you may have guessed, they cause blindness on foes. What makes them a unique tool is the wide range of reactions that enemies have to being blinded. Some will try to keep fighting (occasionally landing a lucky shot), some run away, others will be prevented from escaping. A few might even become enraged making them even more dangerous!
Silencer Arrows - These are pretty straight forward, they keep an enemy from casting spells for a duration. Not worth the carry weight for dealing with your run of the mill spellcaster, but they can severely (if not completely) cripple the offensive capabilities of some boss types. Definitely have a few handy if you plan to take on one of these baddies.
Sleeper Arrows - These are a fun, albeit niche tool for the aspiring Tactician. They can lull foes to sleep for a short time, though striking them will cause them to wake early. One free hit might not seem that great but attacking unaware enemies grants extra damage and weak points become much easier to reach when large enemies topple over with fatigue. Of coarse, in an unleveled game there's no shame in using them to sneak by overpowered foes.
Oil Arrows - These can be bought, but the crafting materials are so abundant that it's hardly worth the money. They can inflict Tarring on enemies (which doubles fire damage), giving Throwblasts and Blast Arrows the potential to do some insane damage. Oh, and dog-like animals will try to shake the oil off leaving them vulnerable while distracted.
Sword Skills
Dire Onslaught - By pressing light attack, pausing and then pressing it again repeatedly you can perform a heavy downward trust with a chance to stagger, followed by a flurry of quick slashes to take advantage of the opening. If the enemy doesn't stagger then the rest of the animation can be jump cancelled.
Controlled Fall - By pressing jump right as you hit the ground when falling you'll do a little tumble and spring to your feet. This is used to mitigate vulnerability when hit with knockdown attacks.
Full Moon Slash - Swings your sword in a wide sweeping motion in front of you. Has a few invisibility frames that can be used to avoid damage from difficult to avoid attacks. Great when fighting enemies with a long reach.
Dire Gouge - Thrusts your sword deep into an enemy you're climbing. It's useless while standing on the ground, but the skill is still worth it for how quickly you can cause massive damage on a foes weak spot and jump off before becoming fatigued.
Broad Slash - Attack with your sword while falling back or to the side. It's a wide slash that can hit several enemies at once while dodging retaliation, so using it with enchanted weapons works well against groups. As a side step it can also be used preemptively as a way to remain in the blind spot of large enemies while attacking.
Shield Skills
Deflect - If you tap Block just as an enemy's attack lands you can perform a Perfect Block, staggering them. Obtaining Deflect will allow you to also direct some of their damage back at them and inflict any element or debilitation from your shield onto them.
Shield Storm - Bashes the opponent for a low damage, high stagger attack. It can be used to create openings for more powerful attacks, and can also activate any elemental damage or debilitations from your shield. The chance to stagger seems lower than perfect blocking, but you also don't have to wait to be attacked to use the skill. Lower risk, lower reward.
Swift Castle - A quick lunge forward with your shield raised. Adds a bit of mobility to sword and board combat and can somewhat replace your daggers Forward Roll. Doesn't seem to have invincibility frames, but during the animation you'll have raised defense.
Enhanced Response - Utilizes the momentum of a blocked attack to launch you into the air. Makes for a great way to quickly reach the weak spots of climbable enemies. Combine with Dire Gouge to quickly inflict massive damage on large opponents.
Dagger Skills
Engrave - By pressing light attack, pausing and then rapidly pressing it again you can follow up your dagger swipes with a series of kicks. Unarmed attacks are considered blunt damage, making this attack particularly useful against things like skeletons and gargoyles.
Forward Roll - A nice little skill that is essentially acts as your dodge roll while wilding daggers. It's a great way to navigate large groups of unpredictable enemies since it provides invincibility frames while rolling a good distance.
Advanced Trigger - Knocks smaller enemies into the air and throws a volley of small explosives at them. The first strike may stagger mid-sized enemies, and the explosives can cause burning, so it's a good utility skill even if the enemy can't be tossed around by it.
Shirking Offensive - Step back to avoid damage before launching a counter strike. The dodge animation has invulnerability frames and the attack has pretty good knockdown and will hit surrounding enemies. You can also cancel the attack animation by blocking or forward rolling after the backstep. Dodging won't use any stamina if the attack is cancelled.
Masterful Kill - Uses your daggers to parry an attack and strike back with lethal force. The animation is long but also has invincibility frames so it can be quite useful when your surrounded. This skill in particular is also great against large foes, as it can block many attacks and does massive amounts of damage.
Bow Skills
Quick Loose - This simply increases the speed with which you can shoot your bow. Not the flashiest ability, but one of the most useful. Especially when trying to inflict debilitations without wasting stamina.
Fivefold Flurry - Quickly shoots several arrows at once. They land in a small cluster that can easily hit a single enemy at close-mid range. Does decent damage but is most useful for quickly inflicting debilitations.
QLyncean Sight - Zooms in your vision and negates the diminished damage from firing a shortbow long distances. Hits about as hard as your standard close range shot, but makes achieving sneak and weak spot multipliers much easier. Getting Both at once can do some impressive damage.
PentadShot - Shoots several arrows that fan out in front of you. This is good for large groups of small enemies because their low resistances means it can interrupt several of their attacks, temporarily halt them from advancing on you and inflict various debilitations on an entire group simultaneously.
Special Tactics
Remote Detonation - In Dragon's Dogma bows have limited range, with arrow damage dropping significantly past a certain rage. This would make sniping a challenge except that effects from special arrows don't have any such limitation. This means that Blast Arrows will still do significant explosion damage regardless of range while Oil Arrows will still cause Tarring on enemies...a debilitation that doubles fire and explosion damage. Throw in Lyncean Sight to help you aim and you can do some really impressive damage long before enemies even know that you're there.
Requires: Lyncean Sight, Oil Arrows, Blast Arrows
Trebuchet - Often large enemies in Dragon's Dogma will have weak spots that you can exploit...if you can hit them. Most of the time these weak points will be out of reach unless you climb the beast. This requires a lot of stamina and can be dangerous, so I find it's best to limit how long you mount your foe. By blocking an attack with Enhanced Response you can use the inertia to catapult into the air and, with good aim and timing, grab onto (or at least close to) your adversaries weak point. At this point, Dire Gouge is the quickest way to deliver a large burst of damage and dismount while it's still safe to do so.
Requires: Enhanced Response, Dire Gouge
Debuffed, Dumb and Blind - Advanced Trigger inflicts burning pretty reliably on small foes, and can affect several at once if they're close enough together. If you use Forward Roll to cancel the attack animation, Shirking Offensive can then be used to retreat to a safe distance without using any stamina. At this point, Fivefold Flurry can easily inflict even more debilitations with a Rusty Bow firing Blinder Arrows. If you can pull all this off then you'll have a huge advantage over an entire group of enemies, which isn't a bad way to start any fight when mobbing.
Parry Parlay - With such low Defense attributes, the most important thing to remember is that you need to be in a constant state of avoiding damage. Yes, it should always supercede causing damage...but the two don't have to be mutually exclusive. There are several tools in your arsenal for attacking while simultaneously keeping enemies from doing the same. Broad Slash can be used to dodge, or to keep out of an enemy's line of sight. Full Moon Slash has invulnerability frames that can mitigate entire attacks if timed correctly, and timed blocking with Deflect can damage foes with their own attacks while having a chance to inflict the elemental damage or debilitations of your current shield.
Requires: Broad Slash, Full Moon Slash, Deflect+Enchanted Shield
Gameplay
What makes this character so fun to play is that you really do have the toolkit to take on everything on your own (in a predominantly team-based game)...even on Hard. The catch is that you aren't going to be able to carry it all around with you constantly, so a bit of scouting and preparation is involved. This is what makes your Portcrystal and Ferrystone so important: Find a new dungeon? Throw down your Portcrystal at the entrance and go inside to scope things out. If you find a beast within that requires a specific strategy or has a weakness worth exploiting, then use your Ferrystone to escape. Access your storage in town to switch up your equipment, and then return to the dungeon ready to kick some ass.
I've suggested a few mainstays to keep in your inventory while you're exploring (like the Ferrystone/Portcrystal combo, an upgraded Rusted Bow, Springwater and Throwblasts), but your actual arsenal shouldn't be nearly that limited. In fact, your in-town storage should always be filled to the brim with tons of materials, tools, specially arrows and weapons/shields of varying effects and elemental enchantments for you to switch out whenever you see fit. Even Skills, Augments and Vocations can be readily altered at inns. So if you want to train up to the Rangers Morbidity then don't hesitate to change your vocation when the situation calls for it.
That being said, after acquiring all the Augments you want, you shouldn't ever have to switch Vocations unless you want to. For the most part, the suggested skills should cover your bases quite nicely. The bow and dagger have been set up to allow you to quickly dispatch groups of small enemies with nary a scratch while the sword 'n board combat skills are designed predominately around felling massive targets unscathed. After playing as a fighter and a strider for a bit both these combat styles should be rather familiar to you as well, so it may be wise to stick with them at first.
These specializations aren't mutually exclusive, of coarse. You'll often encounter large enemies surrounded by a group of smaller ones so there has to be some overlap. For instance, your swords Broad Slash will excel at mobbing while your daggers Masterful Kill ability can tear through even towering foes. Plus, blocking with your shield and debilitations from your bow are useful in nearly any situation! So don't be afraid to mix and match once you start getting more comfortable with the gameplay of the Assassin class. The Dagger/Shield and Sword/Bow combos are just as useful as your standard setups, and effective juggling of tactics is a sure fire way of keeping your enemies on their toes. Having all four weapon options is what makes playing as The Tactician so much fun after all!
Man I loved this game. I still have it on the 360. Do you think the graphics are improveed enough to warrant a new purchase?
I loved playing as an Assassin. I had a trickster type Assassin character who pawned a lot of things off to the Black Cat. Try making copies of quest items (some mages grimmoire and the wyrm kings ring come to mind). That'll add some funny cut scenes into the story :)
Good build mate makes me want to dust off my 360 and give DD a go again!!
Man I loved this game. I still have it on the 360. Do you think the graphics are improveed enough to warrant a new purchase?
I loved playing as an Assassin. I had a trickster type Assassin character who pawned a lot of things off to the Black Cat. Try making copies of quest items (some mages grimmoire and the wyrm kings ring come to mind). That'll add some funny cut scenes into the story :)
Good build mate makes me want to dust off my 360 and give DD a go again!!
Man I loved this game. I still have it on the 360. Do you think the graphics are improveed enough to warrant a new purchase?
I loved playing as an Assassin. I had a trickster type Assassin character who pawned a lot of things off to the Black Cat. Try making copies of quest items (some mages grimmoire and the wyrm kings ring come to mind). That'll add some funny cut scenes into the story :)
Good build mate makes me want to dust off my 360 and give DD a go again!!
Never played the original, but the graphics are good and only having to carry one Eternal Ferrystone is a fucking lifesaver (literally, you can use it to escape a losing battle)! That, balancing and BBI make it VERY worth it in my opinion. Plus, I'm pretty into making DD builds now so it would be cool to have a fellow Arisen on the RPG forum.
Man I loved this game. I still have it on the 360. Do you think the graphics are improveed enough to warrant a new purchase?
I loved playing as an Assassin. I had a trickster type Assassin character who pawned a lot of things off to the Black Cat. Try making copies of quest items (some mages grimmoire and the wyrm kings ring come to mind). That'll add some funny cut scenes into the story :)
Good build mate makes me want to dust off my 360 and give DD a go again!!
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Never played the original, but the graphics are good and only having to carry one Eternal Ferrystone is a fucking lifesaver (literally, you can use it to escape a losing battle)! That, balancing and BBI make it VERY worth it in my opinion. Plus, I'm pretty into making DD builds now so it would be cool to have a fellow Arisen on the RPG forum.
Well I might at that then. It'll be good to know someone else who plays DD. You can use other peoples Pawns and give them gifts to take back to the other player. So if I was playing a Sorcerer and you were playing a Ranger I could give you the Ranger gear cause I aint gonna be using it. I wonder if you can port old save files from the orignal over. I got a level 90 somthing character on there with a shit ton of gear lol.
@Tysoyaha
Well I might at that then. It'll be good to know someone else who plays DD. You can use other peoples Pawns and give them gifts to take back to the other player. So if I was playing a Sorcerer and you were playing a Ranger I could give you the Ranger gear cause I aint gonna be using it. I wonder if you can port old save files from the orignal over. I got a level 90 somthing character on there with a shit ton of gear lol.
I think you can. In fact, I seem to recall there being some kind of reward for doing so. Don't quote me on that though... It didn't apply to me so I didn't pay much attention. Lol.
Unfortunately, I don't have internet and I'm still working on really nailing the pawn training so mine aren't worth renting. I can tether my phone occasionally if you want to trade though, so just let me know!
I think you can. In fact, I seem to recall there being some kind of reward for doing so. Don't quote me on that though... It didn't apply to me so I didn't pay much attention. Lol.
Unfortunately, I don't have internet and I'm still working on really nailing the pawn training so mine aren't worth renting. I can tether my phone occasionally if you want to trade though, so just let me know!
Alright, so hot damn I'm kind of digging the build Tyso, it's...no I just am, there's something about the idea of a bit of a jack-of-all-trades / equipment specialist that I think just sorta works with the idea of playing Dragon's Dogma so I'm really interested int rying something like this out. Also, are all the little video clips personal things? It's a bloody awesome idea either way, but a bit distracting with the sheer quantity. Might need to do something to break it up a little more you know?
Either way, damn awesome man, I'm glad that I helped inspire this bad boy, kinda inspiring me to get back into DD as well :D
Alright, so hot damn I'm kind of digging the build Tyso, it's...no I just am, there's something about the idea of a bit of a jack-of-all-trades / equipment specialist that I think just sorta works with the idea of playing Dragon's Dogma so I'm really interested int rying something like this out. Also, are all the little video clips personal things? It's a bloody awesome idea either way, but a bit distracting with the sheer quantity. Might need to do something to break it up a little more you know?
Either way, damn awesome man, I'm glad that I helped inspire this bad boy, kinda inspiring me to get back into DD as well :D
Alright, so hot damn I'm kind of digging the build Tyso, it's...no I just am, there's something about the idea of a bit of a jack-of-all-trades / equipment specialist that I think just sorta works with the idea of playing Dragon's Dogma so I'm really interested int rying something like this out. Also, are all the little video clips personal things? It's a bloody awesome idea either way, but a bit distracting with the sheer quantity. Might need to do something to break it up a little more you know?
Either way, damn awesome man, I'm glad that I helped inspire this bad boy, kinda inspiring me to get back into DD as well :D
Thanks man! I was kind of concerned that the gifs would be distracting...but I wanted to have a bit of a showcase for those who weren't familiar with the game. You're right though, I should thumb through them and trim the fat a bit (for instance, everyone knows what a dodge roll looks like). Anyway, I'll be making more builds soon so you won't be alone if you do decide to pick it up again!
Alright, so hot damn I'm kind of digging the build Tyso, it's...no I just am, there's something about the idea of a bit of a jack-of-all-trades / equipment specialist that I think just sorta works with the idea of playing Dragon's Dogma so I'm really interested int rying something like this out. Also, are all the little video clips personal things? It's a bloody awesome idea either way, but a bit distracting with the sheer quantity. Might need to do something to break it up a little more you know?
Either way, damn awesome man, I'm glad that I helped inspire this bad boy, kinda inspiring me to get back into DD as well :D
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Thanks man! I was kind of concerned that the gifs would be distracting...but I wanted to have a bit of a showcase for those who weren't familiar with the game. You're right though, I should thumb through them and trim the fat a bit (for instance, everyone knows what a dodge roll looks like). Anyway, I'll be making more builds soon so you won't be alone if you do decide to pick it up again!
Fighter (Lv1-13) 
Portcrystal - This item basically let's you set your own fast travel location. Crystals can be placed anywhere in the overworld and picked up to be reused an unlimited number of times, so you really only need to carry one. Placing it at the entrance of a dungeon before entering allows you to immediately return to try again after a Ferrystone escape. The usefulness of this will become overwhelmingly clear once you see how many toys our Tactician has access to (but not enough inventory space for).
Throwblasts - Always try to have a few of these in your inventory, they're never not useful. They cause a large and relatively static amount of damage (affected a negligible amount by your strength stat) that can be a lifesaver early on. Plus, they can damage enemies that are immune to physical damage. So late gamewhen your enchanted weapons are crippled by your paltry magic stat, Throwblasts can still pack a punch.
Blinder Arrows - These are interesting tools to have in your arsenal. As you may have guessed, they cause blindness on foes. What makes them a unique tool is the wide range of reactions that enemies have to being blinded. Some will try to keep fighting (occasionally landing a lucky shot), some run away, others will be prevented from escaping. A few might even become enraged making them even more dangerous!
Controlled Fall - By pressing jump right as you hit the ground when falling you'll do a little tumble and spring to your feet. This is used to mitigate vulnerability when hit with knockdown attacks.
Broad Slash - Attack with your sword while falling back or to the side. It's a wide slash that can hit several enemies at once while dodging retaliation, so using it with enchanted weapons works well against groups. As a side step it can also be used preemptively as a way to remain in the blind spot of large enemies while attacking.
Shield Storm - Bashes the opponent for a low damage, high stagger attack. It can be used to create openings for more powerful attacks, and can also activate any elemental damage or debilitations from your shield. The chance to stagger seems lower than perfect blocking, but you also don't have to wait to be attacked to use the skill. Lower risk, lower reward.
Enhanced Response - Utilizes the momentum of a blocked attack to launch you into the air. Makes for a great way to quickly reach the weak spots of climbable enemies. Combine with Dire Gouge to quickly inflict massive damage on large opponents.
Engrave - By pressing light attack, pausing and then rapidly pressing it again you can follow up your dagger swipes with a series of kicks. Unarmed attacks are considered blunt damage, making this attack particularly useful against things like skeletons and gargoyles.
Advanced Trigger - Knocks smaller enemies into the air and throws a volley of small explosives at them. The first strike may stagger mid-sized enemies, and the explosives can cause burning, so it's a good utility skill even if the enemy can't be tossed around by it.
Masterful Kill - Uses your daggers to parry an attack and strike back with lethal force. The animation is long but also has invincibility frames so it can be quite useful when your surrounded. This skill in particular is also great against large foes, as it can block many attacks and does massive amounts of damage.
Fivefold Flurry - Quickly shoots several arrows at once. They land in a small cluster that can easily hit a single enemy at close-mid range. Does decent damage but is most useful for quickly inflicting debilitations.
Pentad Shot - Shoots several arrows that fan out in front of you. This is good for large groups of small enemies because their low resistances means it can interrupt several of their attacks, temporarily halt them from advancing on you and inflict various debilitations on an entire group simultaneously.
Remote Detonation - In Dragon's Dogma bows have limited range, with arrow damage dropping significantly past a certain rage. This would make sniping a challenge except that effects from special arrows don't have any such limitation. This means that Blast Arrows will still do significant explosion damage regardless of range while Oil Arrows will still cause Tarring on enemies...a debilitation that doubles fire and explosion damage. Throw in Lyncean Sight to help you aim and you can do some really impressive damage long before enemies even know that you're there.
Trebuchet - Often large enemies in Dragon's Dogma will have weak spots that you can exploit...if you can hit them. Most of the time these weak points will be out of reach unless you climb the beast. This requires a lot of stamina and can be dangerous, so I find it's best to limit how long you mount your foe. By blocking an attack with Enhanced Response you can use the inertia to catapult into the air and, with good aim and timing, grab onto (or at least close to) your adversaries weak point. At this point, Dire Gouge is the quickest way to deliver a large burst of damage and dismount while it's still safe to do so.
Debuffed, Dumb and Blind - Advanced Trigger inflicts burning pretty reliably on small foes, and can affect several at once if they're close enough together. If you use Forward Roll to cancel the attack animation, Shirking Offensive can then be used to retreat to a safe distance without using any stamina. At this point, Fivefold Flurry can easily inflict even more debilitations with a Rusty Bow firing Blinder Arrows. If you can pull all this off then you'll have a huge advantage over an entire group of enemies, which isn't a bad way to start any fight when mobbing.
Parry Parlay - With such low Defense attributes, the most important thing to remember is that you need to be in a constant state of avoiding damage. Yes, it should always supercede causing damage...but the two don't have to be mutually exclusive. There are several tools in your arsenal for attacking while simultaneously keeping enemies from doing the same. Broad Slash can be used to dodge, or to keep out of an enemy's line of sight. Full Moon Slash has invulnerability frames that can mitigate entire attacks if timed correctly, and timed blocking with Deflect can damage foes with their own attacks while having a chance to inflict the elemental damage or debilitations of your current shield.
