Dragon’s Dogma 2 has arrived, and it’s been a fantastic experience so far. In my 60 hours of playtime I’ve conquered many a Dragon on my way to becoming the true Arisen. While my hours are numerous, it feels as though I’m not even halfway through this saga. However, let us start at the beginning of this tale with the Mage.
See, I started the game as a Mage, which is what I played for quite a bit in Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen. It’s a blast to be able to self-heal without having to rely on pawns to do it for you. The flip side is that you’re now the one responsible for keeping everyone else alive!
Before jumping on Mage, check out our Vocation guide to see all your options first. Mage may or may not be for you, so do yourself a favor and look them all over to see which play style suits you best. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter, as you can swap to another Vocation quickly enough.
What is a Mage and how to play it
The Mage excels at being everything it needs to be at a given moment. It’s a flawless support Vocation that players gain access to from the start. I picked it up to begin my adventures, playing the roles of healer, damage dealer, and enchanter.
The Mage can be played in different positions depending on party makeup from one quest to the next. The builds can be so different that often, two Mages can work in a group together. One can main a healer role with a dash of enchanting while the other can dedicate themselves to dealing damage.
While their overall damage potential is outclassed by Sorcerer, the Mage has access to one of the few Holy damage abilities in the game. This proficiency is paramount in multiple fights against dark/shadow enemies, as it deals massive chunks of damage when used. It’s time to glide around as the Grand Master of the battlefield. Meet the Mage.
Mage Skills and Augments
The following lists include every Weapon Skill, Core Skill, and Augment that the Mage can purchase through Vocation Guilds in main cities like Vernworth and Battahl. You can unlock more abilities by increasing the rank of your chosen Vocation.
It takes over 27,000 Discipline to reach level 9, the max level for all Vocations.
Weapon Skills list
Weapon Skills are powerful abilities that players can use at the cost of Stamina. Many Skills are learned by leveling the Vocation Rank they are under, while others are learned via Scrolls given by Vocation Maisters. All Skills can be swapped in and out freely at Vocation Guilds.
Weapon Skills:
| Name and Dep cost to unlock | Description | How to activate |
|---|---|---|
| Flagaration | Unleashes a swirling jet of flame straight ahead for a period of time. The flame ignores Defense and can pass through multiple targets. While active, the caster can still move. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast. While casting, use the right stick or mouse to change direction. |
| High Flagaration | An advanced form of Flagaration that unleashes a more powerful jet of flame. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast. While casting, use the right stick or mouse to change direction. |
| Levin | Strikes the enemy from above with tongues of lightning. Can summon additional lightning bolts by consuming Stamina. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast. More button presses yield more lightning. |
| High Levin | An advanced form of Levin that summons a greater number of lightning bolts when cast. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast. More button presses yield more lightning. |
| Frigor | Conjures a giant pillar of ice that lingers for a period of time and can serve as a stepping stone. After the pillar is destroyed, grabbable blocks of ice will remain. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. |
| High Frigor | An advanced form of Frigor that unleashes a wave of cold when cast, dealing damage to any target it touches. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. |
| Spellhold | Temporarily stores an incanted spell in the staff, to be cast instantly at the wielder’s discretion. Slows Stamina recovery while storing, and consumes increased Stamina when casting. | Press the assigned button when another spell’s incantation is complete to store it. Press the assigned button again to cast the stored spell. |
| High Spellhold | An advanced form of Spellhold that consumes less Stamina when casting the stored spell. | Press the assigned button when another spell’s incantation is complete to store it. Press the assigned button again to cast the stored spell. |
| Empyrean | Conjurs an orb of holy light that deals immediate damage to nearby targets in all directions. The light remains for some time, even after the attack concludes. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. |
| High Empyrean | An advanced form of Empyrean with an extended attack range and longer-casting light. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. |
| Solemnity | Silences the target for a period of time, preventing them from speaking and incanting spells. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. |
| High Solemnity | An advanced form of Solemnity that extends both the spell’s effective range and the debilitation’s duration. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. |
| Palladium | An advanced form of Solemnity that extends both the spell’s effective range and the debilitation’s duration. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. |
| High Palladium | Conjures a cluster of magickal energy that blocks up to three attacks from targets. The cluster will also dissipate after a time. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. |
| Fire Boon | Enchants the caster’s weapon or that of a single ally with fire. The enchantment persists for a period of time. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. Cast on yourself with a right stick click or middle mouse on your PC. |
| Fire Affinity | An advanced form of Fire Boon that grants a longer-lasting enchantment. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. Cast on yourself with a right stick click or middle mouse on your PC. |
| Ice Boon | Enchants the caster’s weapon or that of a single ally with ice. The enchantment persists for a period of time. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. Cast on yourself with a right stick click or middle mouse on your PC. |
| Ice Affinity | An advanced form of Ice Boon that grants a longer-lasting enchantment. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. Cast on yourself with a right stick click or middle mouse on your PC. |
| Lightning Boon | Enchants the caster’s weapon or that of a single ally with lightning. The enchantment persists for a period of time. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. Cast on yourself with a right stick click or middle mouse on your PC. |
| Lightning Affinity | An advanced form of Lightning Boon that grants a longer-lasting enchantment. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. Cast on yourself with a right stick click or middle mouse on your PC. |
| Halidom | Conjures a magickal sigil that cures the caster and their allies of certain debilitations (caught fire, frostbite, unconscious, sleep, silence, drenched, and tarred) while within range. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. |
| High Halidom | An advanced form of Halidom that has an extended duration and cures debilitations of caught fire, frostbite, unconscious, sleep, silence, drenched, tarred, torched, ice-bound, and blighted. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. |
| Celerity | Conjures a magickal sigil that hastens the speed of allies with range. The effect persists for a period of time. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. |
| High Celerity | An advanced form of Celerity that conjures a longer-lasting magickal sigil and extends the ensuing speed boost’s duration. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. |
| Argent Tonic | Fully and instantaneously recovers the Health of the caster or of a single ally. Does not recover the loss gauge. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. Cast of self with right stick click or middle mouse on PC. |
| Argent Succor | An advanced form of Argent Tonic that gradually continues to recover Health for a period of time. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. Cast of self with right stick click or middle mouse on PC. |
| Celestial Paean | Summons a wave of holy light that hastens both the Stamina recovery and speed of allies who touch it, while reducing damage taken. Consumes all of the caster’s Stamina and knocks them off their feet. | Press the assigned button to begin incanting, and press it again when the incantation is complete to cast the spell. |
Core Skills list
Core Skills are special traits that augment existing moves or allow a player to perform unique actions. They are generally unique to each Vocation. However, some Core Skills can be the same between Vocations, such as Follow-Up Attacks being used by all melee Vocations.
Core Skils:
| Name and Dep cost to unlock | Description | How to activate |
|---|---|---|
| Curative Magick | Inanct Anodyne and conjure a curative sigil, healing yourself and any allies within range. Pay close attention to the Health of your party and cast Anodyne as needed to keep everyone fighting fit. | Press Y on Xbox or V on PC to cast. |
| Auxilary Incanting | Attack magicks must be incanted before they can be cast, and this takes time. However, if you approach a fellow caster while they are incanting and begin intoning the same spell, you can help them to cast it more quickly. This is known as auxiliary incanting, and it will allow you to cast powerful spells with greater frequency. | Press the corresponding spell button to Auxiliary Incant. |
| Focused Bolt | Fires a condensed magickal burst that differs based on active enchantment. | Hold X Xbox or left-click on PC, then release. |
| Quickspell | Greatly hastens incantation speed. Consumes Stamina while active. | Hold RB on Xbox or right-click on PC while incanting the spell. |
| Levitate | Manipulates the caster’s weight through magickal means, allowing them to float temporarily. | While jumping, press A again. Hold the button to float slightly higher. Press A again while levitating to cancel the effect. |
Augments list
Augments are special abilities that can be equipped regardless of your current Vocation. Meaning if you earn an Augment for Sorcerer, it can be equipped on the Fighter. Augments are acquired by spending Discipline at a Vocation Guild. You are able to equip up to six Augments at any given time. Increase the rank of the Vocation to unlock more Augments.
| Name and Dep cost to unlock | Description |
|---|---|
| Apotropaism | Augments your Magick Defense. |
| Beatitude | Increases the amount of Health recovered by curatives and curative magicks. |
| Intervention | Reduces the duration of debilitations you are afflicted with. |
| Perpetuation | Extends the duration of enchantments and invigorations. |
| Exaltation | Augments your Stamina recovery speed. |
Where to find the Mage Maister
The Mage Maister is located just northwest of Melve. This probably signals something in your brain that says, “Oh, this is going to be easy!” Your brain is wrong. We’ve got some dilemmas to get through.
Once you’ve reached the Maister, you’ll find out it’s a little girl named Trysha. She’s asking for five different books to be delivered, which are the same books that her father wants in Checkpoint Rest Town. Her quest is called “Spellbound“. Following the link, you’ll find three books required for this venture.
Make forgeries of the first three books, “Let There Be Light,” “Fulminous Shield,” and “Towering Earth.” You’ll want to save the forgeries for “The Sorcerer’s Appraisal” later. Trysha needs the real books, and she requires all five of them to obtain the Mage Maister skill.
The last two books are in the same chest, and they’re not far from Trysha. Head east to a place called “Waterfall Cave.” It’s here that you’ll make your way through the cave system until you come across a cavernous research library. In the center of the room is a chest that contains “Nation’s Death Knell” and “Howling Blizzard.”
You can grab these and run or fight against what appears to be a lich king! If you came in running High Empyrean, this fight will be easy. Without it, you’ll struggle a bit. The lich is strong against all forms of magick besides holy, which he is severely weak against.
Return to Trysha and give her all five books, the real ones, and let her read them for a day or two. I went and stayed at a campsite for a couple of days. Afterward, come back at night, and a fireworks display will greet you.
She’ll need rest after this ordeal. Go back to the campsite and wait another two days before returning. When she’s awake, the quest will update. So don’t go peaking beforehand; there’s no point. (Image credit: Future via Michael Hoglund)
Trysha runs mad after reading the tomes as her magickal power bursts from her body. Your job is to avoid her spells and expend her mana pool. I rushed the fight by constantly chasing her until I got close enough to grab her. This ended the fight prematurely.
She’ll need rest after this ordeal. Go back to the campsite and wait another two days before returning. When she’s awake, the quest will update. So don’t go peaking beforehand; there’s no point.
Approach her to receive the Sorcerer skill Meteoron and the Mage skill Celestial Paean.
Best Mage character builds
As a Mage, you’ll spend a lot of time mixing your build up depending on where you’re headed. Like in Bakbattahl, there isn’t a reason to run fire-based spells. Too many enemies are strong against them, while plenty are weak to fire in Vernworth. In other areas, it will be more important to dispel poison effects, while in some, you’ll want to bring a shield.
Overall, there are two main builds I suggest players use as a base for early-game and endgame content. These builds will be changed slightly here and there, but they’ll be your must-have in many situations.
Best early-game Mage Weapon Skills
Our Top Gaming Recommendations
Flagaration/High Flagaration is going to be your primary damage spell for quite some time. It lacks range, but it spreads through enemies, which means AoE damage on wolf packs from the start of the game. Even in later content, High Flagaration will stick around.
Levin/High Levin will be your secondary damage skill. One that you’ll dump rather quickly once you’ve obtained better spells. For now, it does decent knockdown damage for flying enemies early in the game. It also provides stuns on ogres, trolls, and cyclops.
Fire Boon/Fire Affinity will increase your entire party’s DPS in the forest areas of the game. Everything except some of the lizardfolk are fragile to fire-based attacks.
Empyrean/High Empyrean isn’t essential, and you could take another Boon or Affinity, but Empyrean provides an unbeatable light source during the darkness. Seeing your opponent is half the game, and many of the other early spells aren’t worth the discipline they cost to unlock yet.
Best later game Mage Weapon Skills
For the late game, we’re dropping Levin/High Levin and replacing it with Celestial Paean as soon as we unlock it. This will provide a staggering buff to your allies as the best support skill in the game—an increase to DPS and a decrease to damage taken, all in one skill. Every Mage should run this.
Secondly, depending on the situation, we’ll be swapping out Fire Boon/Affinity for High Halidom or High Palladium. If you’re entering a place known for debilitation such as blighted, sleep, silence, and more, you’ll want High Halidom. If it’s not, take High Palladium to grant shields to your party.
Best Mage Augments
Mage has a healthy amount of Augments they’ll be taking from everywhere. Four of the six will come from Mage and Sorcerer, while the others are easy to get once you’ve unlocked or used their Vocations.
Here are the best Augments for Mage:
- Exaltation (From Mage): Increasing your Stamina recovery will increase your overall DPS and keep you alive longer as well.
- Perpetuation (From Mage): It’s an obvious win for your party if they remain buffed. This also keeps your healing abilities up for longer.
- Catalysis (From Sorcerer): This Augment exploits the weakness of monsters by a substantial factor.
- Sagacity (From Sorcerer): Increased Magick means increased damage—all the time.
- Endurance (From Archer): We’ll want an inflated Stamina pool to cast more spells.
- Polarity (from Mystic Spearhand): You can swap this out for something else if you desire, but I enjoy the extra boost it gives at night to Magick damage.
Best team composition
First, I recommend a proper tank, a Fighter. While you can take Warriors, you’ll spend more time healing them than you would a Fighter. The shield makes a difference when it comes to staying alive.
Second, I suggest a Thief. Again, you could pick Warrior, but I enjoy having a Thief in the party to help stunlock the enemies. Helm Splitter is no joke for the Thief Vocation.
For the last role, my pick has to be Sorcerer. They’ll balance any elemental weakness of the party while providing tremendous damage potential. While the Mage can compliment whatever element the Sorcerer might be missing, it’s usually guaranteed they’ll double up on fire damage while carrying a much-needed earth-based ability to rock lizards.
Assess, deploy, reassess. Command the field.
That wraps up our guide on Mage. I hope this helps keep you and your party members alive through even the worst fights. Plenty of unknown elements are waiting behind every corner of the world, and the Mage can stop them all!
Make sure to check out some of our other guides for Vocations as well; we’ll update them daily as we encounter more of everything in the world. Until next time, Arisen, slay the Dragon!
Dragon’s Dogma 2 is now available for purchase on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam after releasing on March 22, 2024.
