You’ve finally made it to Vernworth. The capital is massive, the music is swelling, and you’re ready to finally ditch that starter kit for something with a bit more punch. You head over to the Vocation Guild, eager to swap your basic sword for a Greatsword or a Magick Bow, only to be met with a prompt that basically tells you to go kick rocks. This is where the Dragon's Dogma 2 vocation frustration starts for most people. It isn't just about the grind; it's the fact that the game doesn't explicitly hold your hand through the process of actually playing the classes you saw in the trailers. It feels like a roadblock. It feels intentional. And honestly? It kind of is.
Capcom’s design philosophy for this sequel is "friction." They want you to feel the weight of the world, the distance of the travel, and the scarcity of resources. But when that friction stops you from interacting with the core combat—the literal best part of the game—it stops being "immersion" and starts being a headache. Whether it’s the missing Vocation Frustration quest items or the realization that you can't find the Wayfarer until you've basically finished the map, the struggle is real.
The Quest That Starts the Headache
Let's talk about Klaus. He’s the guy behind the counter at the Vernworth Vocation Guild. When you first talk to him, he drops the news: the shipment of weapons for the Warrior and Sorcerer classes was hijacked by goblins. This triggers the aptly named quest, "Vocation Frustration." You can’t just buy these vocations with Discipline Points (Dcp) like you did in the first game. You have to go find a specific Greatsword and a specific Archistaff in a dark, damp hole called Trevo Mine.
Most players rush there immediately. It makes sense. You want the big sword. But Trevo Mine is a sprawling mess of tunnels that all look the same, and if you miss the specific chests containing the Two-Hander and the Horned Staff, you’re stuck as a Fighter or Mage for hours longer than you intended. It’s a bottleneck. I’ve seen players spend three hours wandering the Vermund wilds because they walked right past the chest in the lower levels of the mine. It’s frustrating because the game doesn't mark the chests; it only marks the cave. If you don't loot every corner, you leave empty-handed, and Klaus keeps giving you that "not yet" look.
Why the Vocation System Feels Restrictive
In the original Dragon's Dogma, you could pretty much swap between Basic, Advanced, and Hybrid vocations the moment you hit Gran Soren. In the sequel, things are... different. The Dragon's Dogma 2 vocation frustration stems from the fact that several "advanced" or "hybrid" classes are locked behind specific NPCs scattered across a world that is four times larger than the first game's map.
Take the Mystic Spearhand, for example. It’s arguably the coolest class in the game—fast, magical, and capable of shielding the whole party. But if you don't happen to revisit Melve at the exact right time to see a dragon attacking the town, you might miss Sigurd entirely. If you miss Sigurd, you don't get the vocation. You could play 40 hours of the game and never even know the class exists.
Then there’s the Trickster. It’s a "love it or hate it" class that focuses on illusions and buffing pawns. To get it, you have to find an old shrine in the middle of a desert mist in Battahl. The game doesn't guide you there. You just have to stumble upon it or look it up. This lack of clear progression paths is what drives people crazy. We’ve been conditioned by modern RPGs to expect a skill tree or a level-based unlock system. Dragon's Dogma 2 throws that out the window in favor of "find the guy in the hut on the mountain."
The "Dcp" Economy Problem
Even when you unlock the class, the frustration doesn't end. You need Discipline Points. In the early game, Dcp feels like gold dust. You earn it by killing enemies, but the scaling is weird. You might spend 1,000 Dcp to unlock a new vocation, only to realize you don't have enough left to buy the basic skills that make that vocation actually usable.
- Fighter to Warrior: You lose your shield. If you haven't bought the "Bellow" skill to draw aggro or the timing-based "Barge" move, you're just a slow target getting staggered by every goblin in sight.
- Mage to Sorcerer: You lose your healing. Suddenly, your party is dying because you switched to a high-damage class but didn't have the points to buy the big AOE spells yet.
The game encourages experimentation but punishes you for it by making the initial transition feel weak. It’s a "V" shaped power curve where you dip into uselessness before becoming a god.
The Wayfarer: The Ultimate Goal or a Tease?
Everyone wants the Wayfarer. It’s the "do everything" class that lets you use any weapon and any skill from any vocation you’ve unlocked. It’s the solution to all your problems, right? Well, sort of. The Dragon's Dogma 2 vocation frustration peaks here because the Wayfarer is located in the Volcanic Island Camp.
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To get there, you have to either progress through 80% of the main story or take a grueling, secret path through a series of caves that will likely result in your entire party being wiped out by a Gryphon or a Minotaur. And even when you find Lamond (the Sotted Sage who gives you the vocation), he wants three bottles of Newborn Liquor. Where do you get that? You have to craft it with fruit wine and saurian tails, or find a secret vendor in Bakbattahl who only talks to you if you’re wearing a beastren mask.
It is layers upon layers of "hidden" mechanics. For a player who just wants to play a cool multiclass character, this feels like the developers are gatekeeping the fun.
Managing the Grind and the "Soft Locks"
One of the biggest complaints I hear is about "soft-locking" yourself into a vocation you hate. Let’s say you spent all your Dcp on Trickster, sold your old Fighter gear to afford the Censer, and then realized you hate the playstyle. You’re now in a high-level area with no money, no gear, and a class you don't like.
This happens more than you’d think. Because gear is vocation-specific, switching back isn't as simple as clicking a menu button. You have to carry the weight of multiple sets of armor and weapons, which eats into your inventory space—and in this game, inventory management is already a nightmare. If you don't have a portcrystal nearby, you're looking at a 20-minute walk back to a town just to change your pants.
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Strategies to Overcome Vocation Frustration
It isn't all bad news, though. Once you understand the "rules" the game is playing by, you can bypass most of the annoyance. The trick is to stop playing it like a standard Ubisoft-style RPG and start playing it like a survival game.
1. Don't rush the main quest.
If you're feeling frustrated that you haven't unlocked the Magick Archer yet, slow down. Most of the best vocations are found by exploring the "edges" of the map. If you see a path that looks like it leads nowhere, take it. That’s usually where the Maister (the class teachers) are hiding.
2. The Trevo Mine "Secret."
For the "Vocation Frustration" quest, don't just kill the goblins and leave. There are two distinct paths. One leads to a dead end with a chest containing the Two-Hander (Warrior weapon). The other path leads deeper into a circular room where the Horned Staff (Sorcerer weapon) sits in a chest near the back wall. You must bring these back to Klaus in Vernworth. You don't need fancy versions; these specific quest items are the only ones he'll accept to "reopen" the vocations.
3. Farm Dcp efficiently.
If you're short on points, don't hunt big bosses. Go to the areas around Vernworth and slaughter small mobs like goblins and harpies. Dcp gain is based on the number of kills, not just the difficulty. You get more Dcp for killing ten goblins than you do for killing one Drake, relatively speaking.
4. The Pawn Synergy.
If you’re frustrated because your new vocation feels weak, look at your Pawns. If you just switched from a tanky Fighter to a squishy Sorcerer, you must hire a Pawn with the "Provocation" augment to take the heat off you. The frustration often comes from a party composition that worked for your old class but fails for your new one.
The Nuance of Design
Is the Dragon's Dogma 2 vocation frustration a flaw? Some say yes. They argue that in 2024 (and certainly now in 2026), players shouldn't have to jump through hoops to access basic gameplay features. But there's another side to it. By making these classes hard to find, Capcom makes them feel earned. When you finally unlock the Warfarer or the Magick Archer, it feels like a genuine achievement, not just a level-up notification.
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It's a polarizing choice. It respects the player's intelligence but ignores their time. If you’re a parent with an hour a night to play, spending that hour walking through a cave only to find you're missing a quest item feels terrible. If you’re a hardcore fan, that's just "the experience."
Actionable Steps for Your Playthrough
If you are currently hitting a wall with your character's progression, do these three things immediately:
- Check your quest log for "Vocation Frustration." If it’s not done, go to Trevo Mine (West of Vernworth). Look for the two chests I mentioned. Do not leave until you have both the Greatsword and the Archistaff.
- Travel to the Rose Chateau in Vernworth. Talk to the NPCs there. Sometimes, rumors of "skilled fighters" will mark Maister locations on your map, saving you hours of aimless wandering.
- Prioritize the "Augments." Remember that once you unlock an Augment (passive skill) in one vocation, you can use it in any other. If you're frustrated with your stamina, play Archer for a bit to get the "Endurance" augment, then switch back to your preferred class. This cross-pollination is the key to making any vocation feel "good."
The game is stubborn. It wants you to play by its rules. But once you realize that the frustration is part of the "vibe," you can start to game the system. Stop looking for menus and start looking for people. In Dragon's Dogma 2, the world is the menu. Go find your teacher.