A good Dragon’s Dogma 2 Sorcerer build gives your Arisen access to almost every enemy weakness and a powerful set of ways to exploit them. Sorcerer is a straightforward class whose utility lies as much in its core skills as it does in their spells. The only downside is that their augmentations aren’t that spectacular unless you keep playing as a Sorcerer.
Our Dragon’s Dogma 2 Sorcerer build guide breaks down the best skill in each category and how to use them effectively. If you’re wondering where Sorcerer falls in the hierarchy of Vocations, check out our Dragon’s Dogma 2 Vocation tier list.
How to play Sorcerer in Dragon’s Dogma 2
Sorcerer is a pretty straightforward class. You cast powerful elemental spells that consume large amounts of stamina, and you get a weaker magic bolt for your basic attack that automatically targets nearby foes. Casting spells takes several seconds during which you’re vulnerable to attack, but the tradeoff is that, in addition to the mage’s basic skills, sorcerers get access to several high-powered, multi-use spells that affect wide areas.
The short version of all that is: You play sorcerer by avoiding enemies and casting spells. There are some other tips to bear in mind, though.
- Stay back – Sorcerers have no defensive skills for close combat, and even a goblin’s well-timed rock toss will interrupt your spellcasting. Stay away from a battle’s front lines, and let your Pawns distract enemies while you sling spells from safety.
- Plan your Pawns – Since Sorcerers rely on someone else drawing enemies away from them, you’ll need the right Pawn Vocations to make it through tough fights. A Fighter or Warrior can take the lead, with a Mage for healing, unless you’re well-stocked on potions and have enough to share with all your Pawns.
- Galvanize is not your friend – The initial Sorcerer tutorial says the stamina-restoring Galvanize ability is your most important tool, as spells cost a fair amount of stamina. It lied. Galvanize takes several seconds to restore your stamina, reduces your movement speed, and prevents you from casting any spell.
- Use spuds instead – Keep a supply of (not rotten) Harspuds and Harspud Roborants instead. These should automatically show up in your quick-use item slots, so you can consume them while holding the skill select button without interrupting your spells.
- Levitate isn’t foolproof – Levitate might seem like a fun little spell that lets you float, because it is, but it doesn’t save you from fall damage. If you jump from a high place, levitate, and fall far enough to take damage, you’ll take the same amount of damage that you would’ve taken by jumping without levitating.
- Diversify your spell portfolio – Don’t stock up on multiple spells with the same elemental alignment, or you’ll find yourself at a disadvantage if your foes are resistant to that element.
Best Sorcerer skills in Dragon’s Dogma 2
Sorcerer skills do different versions of the same thing – deal elemental damage – but the most useful spells are the ones that give you more flexibility. You want to avoid getting too close to an enemy and get as much damage from your spell as possible.
You can unlock Meteoron and Maelstrom, two of the game’s strongest spells, by completing certain side quests. They’re powerful, but come with a few caveats. The Quickspell ability has no effect on either, and you can’t aim Meteoron. Both spells are certainly useful, but we’ve focused on the four that will see you through almost every situation.
We’ve named the basic skills here, but once they’re upgraded versions unlock, you should purchase them immediately.
Levin
Levin is one of your starting spells, but it’s worth keeping it around for a long time. This one summons multiple lightning bolts, and if you continue pressing the spell button after the initial cast, you’ll summon additional bolts at a slightly lower stamina cost. Unlike Thundermine, Levin targets specific points on large enemies, so you can hit weak spots repeatedly and incapacitate boss foes if you aim well.
Also unlike Thundermine, you don’t have to mess around with luring enemies to a very specific place so they’ll actually take damage.
Salamander
Salamander is a convenient step up from Flagration and one that’s easier to control. While Flagration lasts a bit longer, the camera angle makes aiming and judging the space between you and your target a challenge. Salamander races out ahead of you and ignites the ground, so you can stand away from danger and still ignite your enemies. Better still, it lingers for several seconds after you cast it.
Hagol
Hagol creates a whirlwind of ice that covers a broad area and inflicts frostbite on affected foes, regardless of whether they were drenched before you cast the spell. Frostbite slows enemies down and inhibits their actions, which is perfect when you’re surrounded by enemy mobs.
Prescient Flare
Prescient Flare sticks an energy orb on a single target that explodes after a few seconds, and it’s one of the most important spells in a Sorcerer’s arsenal. It deals damage unaligned with any element, so it ignores enemy resistances and works on Drakes and Griffons alike. Once you hitch it onto your target foe, any additional attacks before the orb detonates will make the explosion deal even greater damage. The downside is that it only affects a single target, but you can use the Quickspell ability to spin up several orbs swiftly.
Best Sorcerer core skills in Dragon’s Dogma 2
One of the Sorcerer’s core skills is absolutely vital to playing this Vocation. The rest are nice to have, but don’t feel like you have to spend your discipline points on them right away.
Quickspell
Quickspell is the most important core skill, a passive that’s essential to surviving as a Sorcerer. True to its name, quickspell shortens your cast time, so you can fire off the likes of Salamander and Prescient Flare in roughly a second, instead of five seconds.
Levitate
Levitate gives you extra height when you jump, which makes it exceptional for exploring. You’ll still suffer fall damage – see above – but crossing gaps and grabbing out-of-reach chests is much easier with this skill.
Bursting Bolt
Bursting Bolt upgrades your magic bolt standard attack and lets you charge it to deal extra damage. One charged bolt is enough to take a big chunk out of a harpy’s or goblin’s HP without having to stop and cast a proper spell. It should make dealing with weaker enemy groups easier, so you can get back to exploring more quickly.
Best Sorcerer Augments Dragon’s Dogma 2
Sorcerer Augments are a mixed lot. Some are helpful for any class, though a few are only worthwhile if you plan on sticking with magic-based vocations.
Sagacity
Sagacity boosts your magic power, which is pretty helpful if you stick with Sorcerer or swap to something like Magic Archer – not so much for anything else.
Stasis
This one is excellent if you’re an item hoarder like me. It keeps perishables, such as plants and meat, fresh for longer, which gives you more time to explore before you have to combine them or drop them with an innkeeper.
Catalysis
Catalysis increases damage dealt when you target an enemy’s elemental weakness, and since non-magic classes can imbue their weapons with elemental power, this is a handy augmentation to take with you once you change vocations.
