Like the majority of action RPGs set in fantasy worlds, Dragon’s Dogma 2 features a high-speed, high-damage glass cannon class in the form of the Thief. With twin daggers in hand, these agile fighters dart around the battlefield, causing chaos and eliminating priority targets in the blink of an eye.
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Despite the risky playstyle, the Thief Vocation is actually one of the easiest classes to play. They may not be able to take as much punishment as Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Fighter or Warrior Vocations, but completely throw tankiness out of the window by avoiding damage entirely. This guide covers the very basics of playing as a Thief as well as the best skills, Augments, and gear for you and your Pawns to use.
How To Play Thief
The Thief in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a mix of the Strider and Assassin Vocations from the first game, albeit limited to using only dual daggers. They’re nimble fighters with the potential to deal extreme damage to stationary or incapacitated targets thanks to Twin Fang, the Thief’s special heavy attack that allows for follow-up strikes on enemies that are pinned or knocked down. Use this to assassinate small targets or deal huge bursts of damage to anything bigger than the average person.
Thief is also the only class in Dragon’s Dogma 2 that can dodge traditionally. Their Swift Step ability lets them leap out of harm’s way without any other sort of follow-up, allowing them to reset and approach their target again from a fresh perspective. This is unlike the dodges of the Fighter and the Mystic Spearhand in the sense that Swift Strike is not bound to any of a character’s four skill slots.
Best Thief Skills
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Best Thief Skills For The Arisen |
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|---|---|
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Skill |
Description |
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Biting/Cutting Wind |
Dash past an enemy with blades extended, dealing damage on hit. Can be cast again to follow up with additional slashes. |
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Gut and Run/Draw and Quarter |
Stab and gouge a target, dealing more damage if you hit a weakspot. Can only be used when clinging onto or grappling a target. |
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Ensnare/Implicate |
Wrap a target with cords and pull them closer, knocking down small monsters and toppling larger beasts that have been knocked off balance. |
|
Powder Charge/Blast |
Plant an explosive that can be manually detonated from afar. Can be used while clinging to or grappling an enemy. |
The following skill setup focuses specifically on fighting the larger monsters of Dragon’s Dogma 2. Gut and Run is immensely strong if you’re able to reach a weakpoint. Plant a Powder Charge before stabbing — once you’re nearly out of stamina, jump off and detonate the charge to knock the target off-balance. When it’s stumbling, use Ensnare to knock it down, then do the Gut and Run/Powder Charge combo again.
Biting Wind is here as your general mobility skill. It’s great for slicing up groups of smaller enemies like goblins and wolves, and you can use it to get out of an incoming attack’s way too. Use it in every fight, and never leave home without it.
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Best Thief Skills For Pawns |
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|---|---|
|
Skill |
Description |
|
Biting/Cutting Wind |
Dash past an enemy with blades extended, dealing damage on hit. Can be cast again to follow up with additional slashes. |
|
Gut and Run/Draw and Quarter |
Stab and gouge a target, dealing more damage if you hit a weakspot. Can only be used when clinging onto or grappling a target. |
|
Ensnare/Implicate |
Wrap a target with cords and pull them closer, knocking down small monsters and toppling larger beasts that have been knocked off balance. |
|
Formless Feint |
Dodge all incoming attacks but continuously lose stamina while the skill is active. |
Skills for Pawns remain mostly the same. Unfortunately, they don’t do anti-boss combos as effectively as players can, but they still do a decent job of gouging out weakpoints. As such, Powder Charge is replaced here by Formless Feint, one of the two legendary skills players can learn from Thief Maisters. You can get it by progressing through the story in the Nameless Village as part of the main questline.
Single-target boss damage is the Thief’s specialty. If you’d rather have your Pawn perform more of a support role, replace Gut and Run with Smoke Bomb. This will let them cause chaos among enemies by obscuring their vision, making them easier to exploit. Ensnare/Implicate remains a must-have, as its sheer utility makes it one of the best skills for Pawns (and players) in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
As for Augments, you can use whatever you prefer to improve your general quality-of-life. However, if you want to double-down on your damage, take the following to further improve your Thief’s boss-killing potential:
- Lethality (Archer) – Increased weakspot damage.
- Dominance (Warrior) – Improved Knockdown Power.
Recommended Gear
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Recommended Thief Gear |
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|---|---|
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Item |
Source |
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Peltflayers (Daggers) |
Waterfall Cave – Borderwatch Outpost in Vermund (near the game’s starting area). |
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Bolts From The Blue (Lightning Daggers) |
Windworn Gully – East of Checkpoint Rest Town |
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Spite (Blighted Daggers) |
Awaran Arms – Bakbattahl |
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Dragon’s Vein (Endgame Daggers) |
Sold by the Dragonforged – Post-Dragon Story |
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Ring of Vehemence |
Improves Knockdown and Stagger Power – Exchange 5 Seeker Tokens |
With how gear works in the game, players will usually be left choosing between what has the bigger numbers or which piece looks more visually attractive. Your choice of early game armor in Dragon’s Dogma 2 won’t matter much as a Thief, but weapons are a different story.
The Peltflayers are free and can comfortably carry you all the way to Bakbattahl. If you don’t find the ones in the Waterfall Cave, you can get a pair inside the Thieves’ Guild’s den in the Nameless Village after running through their obstacle course. You can always buy something else if you have the Coin, however, which is something you should do once you get to Bakbattahl and get access to Spite or any other of Awaran Arms’ offerings.
Dragon’s Dogma 2
- Released
- March 22, 2024
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
