Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen: Optimize Builds

AntMag.NET

The defining premise of the builds below is that offense trumps all. Strength/Magick > Hit Points. Strength > Stamina. Strength > Defense. All attributes can be boosted with items, but Defense is only important as it fortifies your Hit Points. Hit Points are good, but unless you get one-hit-killed by something (increasingly unlikely as you level up), you can always gobble some consumables. Same for Stamina, save Stamina, while being useful, regenerates on its own, hence needs even less baby-sitting than Hit Points.

Offense, however, has no upper limit, and is ceaselessly beneficial. In fact, the higher your base offensive stats, the more they’ll gain from Augments like Acuity, Clout, Bloodlust, Autonomy, and Exhilaration. Offense can be further boosted by Demon’s Periapts, Conqueror’s Periapts, and Taglius’ Miracles. The upper limit of usefulness for Hit Points is based upon the damage foes can do and your Defense/Magick Defense’s ability to mitigate said damage. The upper limit of usefulness for your Stamina is… well, it funds your offense and, in the case of shield-bearing classes, your defense. Both can be restored at will with curatives. The higher your offense, the faster foes die. The faster foes die, the less you need to worry about your Hit Points (and by extension, defenses) and Stamina. Offense trumps all. The only questions that remain are what Vocations you want to play the game as, and tied to that, what type of offensive scheme you want to pursue…

Hybrid Build

This build is less annoying than the Magick-build simply because you can play your formative levels as an Assassin, and by the time you switch to Sorcerer, you’re pretty strong already… and of course, you’d probably want to keep playing Assassin, only switching to Sorcerer right before you level. It is tied with the Strength-build for the highest combined offense in the game, and is ideal for Mystic Knight players. By using all the offense-boosting skills in the game, you can easily end up with jaw-dropping combined offensive powers… alas for the Magick Archer, their bows only deal Magick damage. Many skills, however, use both, and of course there are plenty of enchanted melee weapons that use both Strength and Magick, most notably Heaven’s Key (daggers). To get this class up to snuff you’ll need to also advance in Vocations as a Warrior, Fighter and Mage… not including Assassin and Sorcerer, which you should do automatically just by leveling them.

Levels	Vocation	HP	ST	STR	MGK	DEF	MDF
Base	Fighter	450	540	80	60	80	60
2-10	Fighter	720	720	116	78	107	78
11-100	Assassin	2700	3150	656	258	287	168
101-200	Sorcerer	3700	4150	656	558	287	268

The Assassin’s leveling stats from levels 11-100 give it the best combined offense (6 Strength/2 Magick, 8 overall) in the game, making it an obvious choice for a Hybrid-build. Vocations that come close include Warrior (5/2), Ranger (4/3) and Sorcerer (2/5), but eight offense per level beats seven, so Assassin it is. Although the Ranger is somewhat tempting as a substitute-90 fewer Hit Points, 270 more Stamina, 90 fewer Strength, 90 more Magick Defense, ultimately offense wins over Stamina.. As for levels 101-200, Sorcerer was obvious, as it’s the only other class that gives three offense, and since the hybrid’s Strength score was 398 points higher by level 100… well, it wouldn’t be a Hybrid-build unless the gap was closed, right? This build ends up with 3700 Hit Points and 4150 Stamina, which are actually pretty good. A combined offense of 1214 is tied for the top spot, but 555 overall defense is lousy… the Hybrid-build largely apes the Strength-build, but promises mediocre returns with Strength and Magick. These will only shine when they’re combined by enchanted weapons and/or skills.

Magick-Based Build

The Magick-build is weaker than the other two builds in single-stat offense as well as in combined offense. Worst of all, it forces you to play 190 agonizing levels as a Sorcerer. The payoff? Probably the strongest version of the Magick Archer in the game. On the plus side, this build only really needs to max the Mage, Sorcerer, Magick Archer and Assassin Vocations… which… well, that’s still a lot of Vocations. Oh well… Still, for pure Magick power, this is the way to go. A potent Magick Archer can kill anything in the game… well, except Metal Golems, but they’re quite rare.

Levels	Vocation	HP	ST	STR	MGK	DEF	MDF
Base	Mage	410	540	60	80	60	80
2-10	Mage	608	720	78	116	87	107
11-100	Sorcerer	2048	2070	258	566	177	557
101-200	Sorcerer	3048	3070	258	866	177	657

The Magick-build ends up 90 points of Magick behind the Strength-build’s Strength, and their total offense of 1124 is likewise 90 points fewer than both other build’s total offensive scores of 1214. Their 3048 Hit Points aren’t too far behind the Strength build, but the Strength-build has 50% more Stamina. Ouch. On the other hand, their Magick Defense is 657-102 points higher than the total defense of the other two builds. Overall the Magick-build enjoys a total defensive score of 834, plainly superior to the 555 total defense of the other two builds… still, offense is king. Combine that with the fact that 200 levels of Sorcerer grinding is just horrible, and this is the weakest-and most difficult-of the three builds to make. If you’re a fan of the Magick Archer, however, you’ll make the sacrifice.