Damage Types and Effects
Every attack in Dragon's Dogma 2 deals either physical or elemental damage, and monsters take more from some kinds than from others. Physical blows land as Slash or Strike, while magick carries Fire, Ice, Lightning or Holy. Beyond raw damage, attacks can knock a foe off balance, bring it to the ground, open it up for climbing and grabbing, or burden it with debilitations.
Damage Types
Physical Damage
Physical damage comes straight from a weapon or an arrow, with no element behind it. The Strength stat sets how hard physical attacks hit, and the target's Defense reduces the damage that gets through. A character draws most of their Strength from the equipped weapon and most of their Defense from head, body and leg armour. The Thief's Verve augment raises Strength, and the Fighter's Mettle augment raises Defense.
Physical damage divides into Slash and Strike, and each has a strength stat on weapons and a resistance stat on armour. Slimes shrug off physical attacks altogether, so the Slime, the Ooze and the Sludge have to be beaten with magick.
Elemental Damage
Elemental damage comes from spells, from weapon enchantments and from weapons that carry an element of their own. The elements are Fire, Ice, Lightning and Holy. The Magick stat drives how much elemental damage lands, and the target's Magick Defense reduces it.
Every element works best against a foe weak to it, and a pawn who knows a monster calls out its weaknesses during the fight. Elements also play off debilitations: fire hits a tarred target harder, and lightning hits a drenched target harder.
Slash
Slash is the physical damage of edged weapons such as swords and daggers, the arms of the Fighter and the Thief. A weapon's Slash Strength sets its slashing damage, and Slash Res on armour reduces the slashing damage a character takes.
Slashing blows can cut parts away from some monsters. The serpent that forms a Chimera's tail can be severed this way, and a Medusa's head comes off to slashing blows from a climber on her back.
Strike
Strike is the physical damage of blunt weapons such as hammers and maces, including the Warrior's hammers. Strike Strength sets a weapon's blunt damage, and Strike Res on armour reduces the blunt damage a character takes.
Blunt damage suits hard targets. A Golem's body of stone turns most attacks aside, and blunt weapons are especially effective against the glowing medals that keep it moving. The stakes that jut from Talos give way most easily to blunt and explosive damage.
Magick
Magick is the stat behind spells and magickal attacks, and Magick Defense is the stat that resists them. The Mage and the Sorcerer cast their spells through staves, the Magick Archer looses magickal arrows, and the Mystic Spearhand mixes melee blows with magick. Levelling as a Mage raises Magick faster than other vocations.
The Ring of Percipience and the Sorcerer's Sagacity augment both raise Magick, and the Mage's Apotropaism augment raises Magick Defense. Magick is the answer to slimes, and the lion head of a Chimera is the part most vulnerable to it.
Fire
Fire sets a target alight, so it keeps taking damage at steady intervals. A Tarred target struck by fire becomes Torched and burns far more fiercely. A Drenched target takes less fire damage and resists tar, and water puts the flames out.
The Mage casts Flagration and the Sorcerer casts Salamander. A Mage can also lay Fire Boon or the longer Fire Affinity on an ally's weapon, and the Thief's Enkindled Blades wreathe the daggers in flame. The Archer's Tarring Shot coats a foe in tar ready for the fire, and a thrown jar or barrel of oil does the same job.
Gore Harpies, Goreminotaurs, Griffins, Grim Ogres, Oozes and the Undead are weak to fire.
| Name | Image | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal Blaze |  |
Staff |
| Cinderspine |  |
Hammer |
| Craos Tine |  |
Archistaff |
| Infernal Edge |  |
Duospear |
| Molten Fury |  |
Mace |
Ice
Ice chills a target with Frostbite, which slows its movements more and more. A frostbitten target that also becomes drenched freezes solid as Ice-Bound and cannot move at all. The Ring of Thawing stops ice building up on its wearer.
Frigor is an ice spell, and the Sorcerer's Hagol summons a blizzard that inflicts Frostbite on anything it touches. The Magick Archer fires Frostseeker Bolt and Hailstone Bolt, and the Mage enchants weapons with Ice Boon or the longer Ice Affinity.
Drakes, Lesser Dragons, Slimes and Sludges are weak to ice.
| Name | Image | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Almace |  |
Sword |
| Frigid Finger |  |
Staff |
| Frosted Edges |  |
Daggers |
| Rhewynt |  |
Duospear |
| Siocadh |  |
Magickal Bow |
Lightning
Lightning hits a drenched target harder, and it can leave a foe Unconscious. The Archer's Drenching Shot soaks a target ahead of a lightning attack.
The Mage casts Levin and the Sorcerer conjures Thundermine, a ball of lightning that lashes out at anything close. The Magick Archer looses Sparkchain Stake, and the Mage enchants weapons with Lightning Boon or the longer Lightning Affinity.
Cyclopes and Medusa are weak to lightning.
| Name | Image | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Bolts from the Blue |  |
Daggers |
| Cyclopean Thunder |  |
Hammer |
| Lion-Lord's Archistaff |  |
Archistaff |
| Tintreach |  |
Staff |
Holy
Holy is radiant power that works best against the undead. The Mage casts Empyrean, an orb of holy light that strikes everything around it, and its stronger form High Empyrean.
The Dullahan, Gorechimeras, Liches, Wights and the Undead are weak to holy damage.
| Name | Image | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Heaven's Key |  |
Daggers |
| Talarian White |  |
Archistaff |
| The Exalted |  |
Mace |
| Volant White |  |
Staff |
Effects
Weak Points
Most large monsters carry a weak point, and blows that land there deal far more damage than hits anywhere else. The eye of a Cyclops, the glowing heart in a Drake's chest, the head and neck of Medusa, the wings and head of a Griffin, the horns of a Minotaur, the medals on a Golem, the cysts of a Lesser Dragon and the tail of an Asp are all weak points.
The Archer reaches weak points from a distance with Steady Shot, and the Archer's Lethality augment raises the damage dealt to a target's vitals. Melee vocations climb up to reach them, and the Thief's Gut and Run, used while clinging to or pinning down a foe, does extra harm to a weak point. Heavy hits on a weak point can also bring a large monster down: breaking a Minotaur's horns leaves it reeling, and destroying every cyst on a Lesser Dragon topples it.
Stagger
A staggered foe is one knocked off balance, and it is open to heavier follow-up attacks while it recovers. The Fighter's Empale and the Thief's Twin Fangs add a powerful extra strike when they land on a foe already off balance, and the Thief's Ensnare topples a larger target that has been knocked off balance.
The Fighter's Shield Bash, the Archer's Exploding Shot and Leaping Punt, and the Warrior's Repulse, a charged parry, all knock foes off balance. Grabbing a foe and pushing or pulling it can do the same. A tarred target is easier to knock off balance, and the Ring of Vehemence raises the chance to stagger a foe. Knockdown Res on armour lets a character take hits without staggering.
Knockdown
Knockdown Power is the weapon stat that decides how easily attacks knock foes down. Smaller foes are thrown to the ground and large monsters are toppled, and a downed foe cannot interrupt the party's attacks until it gets back up. Heavy weapons carry the most Knockdown Power, so the Warrior's two-handed weapons and the Fighter's Shield Bash are natural tools for it.
The Archer's Dire Arrow knocks down smaller targets. The Warrior's Dominance augment and the Ring of Vehemence raise Knockdown Power. On the defensive side, armour carries Knockdown Res and the Sorcerer's Constancy augment raises it. A Cyclops that loses its balance and falls leaves its head open to the whole party.
Climbing
Making contact with a larger enemy in mid-air while holding the grab button lets a character cling to it and strike from point-blank range. Clinging drains Stamina the whole time, and a climber whose Stamina runs out is left catching their breath, which is a real danger on a flying foe. Grabbing hold of a Harpy or a Griffin as it takes off carries the climber into the air with it.
The Thief excels at clinging to large monsters. The Fighter's Springboard and Launchboard and the Warrior's Ladder Launch throw allies up onto big foes. The Archer's Avidity augment speeds up climbing, and the Thief's Vigor augment reduces the Stamina spent clinging to or pinning down a foe. Large monsters fight back by shaking climbers loose; a Lesser Dragon rears up and roars to throw off anyone holding on.
Grab
A smaller foe that is flinching or knocked down can be picked up, pinned to the ground or thrown at other enemies. A standing grab on a larger foe lets the Arisen push or pull it, drawing its attention or knocking it off balance, and the Warrior's Impact augment makes those pushes and pulls stronger. Monsters grab as well: a Drake seizes pawns in its claws, and a Slime's grab can kill.
Blocking
The Fighter's Defend raises the shield against attacks from the front, and each blocked hit costs some Stamina. Perfect Defense guards against every kind of frontal attack at a heavy Stamina cost. Impeccable Guard spins on the spot to block attacks from every direction and works even while flinching, and Flawless Guard is its form with a lower Stamina cost. The Mage's Palladium conjures magickal energy that blocks attacks until it fades. The Warrior's Pertinacity augment helps break through an opponent's guard.
Deflect
The Fighter's Deflect and True Deflect send blocked attacks back towards the attacker. Counter Slash parries with the shield before a swift slash in return, and the Warrior's Repulse parries with a charged attack. The Thief's Easy Kill follows a parry by darting behind the target and cutting its throat.
Enchantment
The Mage enchants an ally's weapon with Fire Boon, Ice Boon or Lightning Boon, adding that element to every hit for a time, and Fire Affinity, Ice Affinity and Lightning Affinity last longer. Mage pawns lay these enchantments on the party to exploit a foe's weakness, and the Mage's Perpetuation augment extends them. A Fighter with the Enchanted Counter core skill answers blocked attacks with an elemental counter that matches the enchantment. The Thief's Enkindled Blades set the Thief's own daggers alight.
Elemental Resistance
Elemental resistance reduces the damage taken from one element, while debilitation resistance slows the build-up of a debilitation. Armour, cloaks and rings carry these resistances, such as the Ring of Thawing against ice. On the attacking side, the Sorcerer's Catalysis augment raises the damage dealt when exploiting a foe's elemental weakness.
Debilitations
Debilitations are lasting conditions that afflict the Arisen, pawns and monsters alike, and several of them grow out of elemental damage. The Sorcerer's Asperity augment makes attacks more likely to inflict them, and the Mage's Intervention augment shortens those the wearer suffers. The Archer's Tarring Shot, Drenching Shot and Blighting Shot apply them directly. The Mage's Halidom and the Warrior's Revivify cure several of them in the field.
| Debilitation | Cause |
|---|---|
| Torched | Fire on a tarred target |
| Tarred | Oil |
| Drenched | Water |
| Frostbite | Ice attacks |
| Unconscious | Lightning |
| Blighted | Poison |
| Sleep | Monster spells |
| Silence | Monster attacks |
| Petrification | Medusa's gaze |
Repeated poison on a target that is already blighted turns into Fulminant Poison, which deals heavy damage and fills the loss gauge.
Sneak Attack
The Archer's Ambuscade augment raises the damage dealt to targets that have not yet entered battle stance. The Trickster's Obfuscation augment makes hostile targets less likely to notice the Arisen outside battle stance. Some monsters are found asleep, such as Grim Ogres and the Chimera dozing in the pool of Waterfall Cave, which gives the party the first blow.
All Elements
Fire
Ice
Lightning
Holy
