There are ten vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2, four of which are basic vocations you start the game having access to, then Warrior and Sorcerer can be unlocked shortly after reaching Vernworth. The other four are a bit more obtuse, and if that wasn’t hassle enough, merely unlocking a vocation doesn’t entitle you to the full range of each vocation’s skill set. You have to earn Discipline to increase your Vocation Rank to do this… but it gets even worse, as many vocations have one or more “maister skills” that can only be unlocked by appeasing a maister representing said vocation. This generally involves completing any quests they’re part of and increasing their affection towards you, and while these typically go hand-in-hand, there are some pitfalls to watch out for. This page will explain in detail how to obtain every maister skill in Dragon’s Dogma 2, earning the Master of the Maisters achievement in the process, which is otherwise fairly missable.

Unlocking Maister Skills¶

As mentioned above, the way you’ll earn most maister skills is by completing a maister’s side quest(s) and increasing their affection enough. In most cases completing the aforementioned quests is enough to also become chummy with the maister, but failing that, you may need to complete some escort quests or give gifts. Escort quests are random - sometimes the NPC in question will show up at your house asking you to take them to some location or another, other times you’ll have to find them wherever they are for these quests to proc. It’s generally easier to just give them a gift; talk to the NPC in question and press the / button while they’re talking to enter the gift menu. Everybody likes Wyrmslife Crystals, if you want to be safe, but giving Bundles of Flowers is usually appreciated, as well.

All Maister Skills and Maisters¶

If you’re looking for assistance on a specific Maister skill, check out the table below to be taken directly to it:

Arc of Might (Warrior Maister Skill)¶

Pretty straightforward, as far as maister skills go; you’ll encounter Beren at the Moonglow Garden, which is north of Melve. Complete his quest Claw Them Into Shape and you’ll get the ball rolling - this can be done before you even travel to Vernworth, so very early-game stuff. His next quest, Beren’s Final Lesson cannot be started until you reach Vernworth and complete Seat of the Sovran, after which return to Moonglow Garden to find out the bad news from Beren. Kill the Cyclops, rest at the nearby campsite, then talk to Beren again and he’ll leave for greener pastures. Figuratively, anyway.

After those two quests are complete you’re functionally done. Huzzah! The only complication? Beren will now depart the northern reaches of Vermund for the northern reaches of Battahl, and while there are ways to get past the gate and into Battahl, neither of them are great. If you sneak into a carriage you may get attacked by guards, which can complicate matters with Beren. At the very least it can be annoying getting back into Vermund. If you take the Guerco Cavern route to Battahl you’ll have to travel on foot from Bakbattahl to Beren’s Childhood Home. For this reason, we suggest you just press on with the main questline until you get the Battahl Border Entry Permit, which will allow you to stroll right through the gate. From here you just need to walk down the road until you find Beren’s Childhood Home on the left. Ply him with some gifts, escort him if asked, and eventually he should initiate conversation and give you the Champion’s Fable scroll, which will teach you the Warrior skill Arc of Might.

Blades of the Pyre (Thief Maister Skill)¶

Celestial Paean (Mage Maister Skill)¶

Hoo boy, here’s where things get a bit complex. The Mage maister skill and the two Sorcerer maister skills are all lumped up together in the quests The Sorcerer’s Appraisal and Spellbound. These quests both involve getting the same five tomes for either Myrddin or Trysha respectively, and if you give Myrddin the tomes he’ll teach you the Maelstrom skill while giving Trysha the tomes should secure you the Celestial Paean and Meteoron skills. In addition to being able to botch Spellbound, you can also lock yourself out of these maister skills by giving away the tomes to one party or another.

The solution, of course, is to gather all five tomes you need and forge them all via Ibrahim’s Scrap Store at the Checkpoint Rest Town. This will cost tens of thousands of gold and take quite a few days of waiting around, but it will enable you to get all three maister skills in a single run. That being the case, the five tomes you need are the real meat of the matter, and their locations are as follows:

Whew. Now for Celestial Paean, specifically. To earn this you must complete the quest Spellbound, which you can start by talking to Trysha in Eini’s Home, far to the north of Melve. If Trysha doesn’t start the quest and just whines about wanting to learn magic, pick her up, carry her outside the house, and talk to her again. Now you just have to fetch and deliver the five tomes she wants - we recommend collecting all five, forging copies of each one, and giving the fakes to Myrddin during The Sorcerer’s Appraisal and the real ones to Trysha.

Wait a few days and return only to see the signs of magical mayhem outside of Eini’s House. Trysha has been burning the midnight oil when it comes to studying magic, and the results are obvious… but her control and discretion leave much to be desired. To get the maister skills you must subdue Trysha without killing her, which entails either casting the Spellbound spell on her or simply waiting until she runs out of stamina, dodging her spells in the meanwhile. Either way, once she’s vulnerable, tackle her. Wait a few more days and return to Eini’s House again and talk to Trysha, who should reward you, completing the quest. If this gets her affection high enough, she should hand over both the Conjurer’s Jottings and Enchanter’s Almanac, which will teach you the Meteoron and Celestial Paean skills, respectively. If not, give her gifts and/or complete escort requests until she gives you what you want.

Dragon’s Delusion (Trickster Maister Skill)¶

A surprisingly easy maister skill to unlock, you need to head over to the Reverent Shrine a good ways north of Bakbattahl and talk to Luz, the oracle in charge. Or rather, talk to the phantom masquerading as Luz. Surprisingly this ghostly apparition isn’t the real deal! You’ll need to do this during the main quest Flickering Shadows, so you don’t really need to make a special trip here unless you’re dying to unlock the Trickster vocation early. Talk to phantom Luz in the shrine, then head to the northern end of the exterior to find a ladder leading to the roof. Climb it and work your way to the front of the shrine, where you’ll find the real Luz hiding. For discerning that the phantom was indeed a fake and finding her hiding spot she should teach you this maister skill.

Formless Feint (Thief Maister Skill)¶

There are actually two Thief maisters and hence two Thief maister skills, and both can be found in the Nameless Village, during the quest of the same name. After speaking to Flaude in the Old Noble Manor, search a short distance northwest of said house to find a hole in the ground. In this hole is a cave housing an obstacle course, and if you complete it, you’ll be able to talk to Srail. Suitably impressed by your display of agility he’ll give you the Pilferer’s Handbook, which will teach the Thief skill Formless Feint. If the obstacle course is too much of a bother, good news! You can bypass most of it by heading to the far end of the pit (where you’ll be knocked if you fail) and using Concussive Leap to ascend the far ledge. Suppose this is another way to prove your competence and worthiness as a Thief?

Heavenly Shot (Archer Maister Skill)¶

Elves are archers. It’s just the way things are in fantasy settings, and that holds true in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Fittingly enough, you’ll learn the Archer’s maister skill by completing the questline that takes you to Sacred Arbor, homeland of elves. This consists of two quests, Gift of the Bow and A Trial of Archery, and while Taliesin is the maister Archer, the major NPC of this questline is his son, Glyndwr. You’ll find this wayward elf in Vernsworth, standing outside Roderick’s Smithy, fascinated by bows of human-make. Give him any human bow of any quality - the cheapest is a Flute Bow which you can get by changing your vocation to Archer, which, incidentally, is a requirement for completing this quest. Give Glyndwr a bow, then rendezvous with him near some ruins far to the northwest. Make sure you’re an Archer before going, as once you arrive you’ll need to demonstrate your archery skills by shooting a stationary target, which will inspire Glyndwr, completing this quest.

After a few days pass you’ll find Glyndwr at his usual haunt outside of Roderick’s Smithy. Talk to him again and he’ll ask you to witness his archery trial, starting the quest A Trial of Archery. You do not have to be an Archer for this, so switch to whatever vocation you prefer and meet up with Glyndwyr at a campsite near the ruins where you demonstrated archery to him earlier and he’ll guide you to Sacred Arbor. Here you’ll meet Taliesin, who will inform Glyndwr that his sister was abducted by an ogre. Naturally, Glyndwr asks for your assistance in rescuing his sister, which requires you to make your way to - and through - the Ancestral Chambers dungeon.

This quest is already much more involved than the last one, but nothing you do in this dungeon affects this maister skill until the end, when you’ll need to rescue Glyndwr’s sister from the Ogre. Your budding archer pal will display his newfound skills by shooting the Ogre and creating a distraction, and you need to either grab Glyndwr’s sister and flee or defeat the Ogre. Either one works, as long as the damsel survives, and this is a call that really comes up to your level and competence. Once you leave the dungeon with Glyndwr’s sister alive you’ll earn the thanks and approval of both Glyndwr and Taliesin, and the quest will end. In a perfect world this will be enough for Taliesin to start asking you on escort dates, but you can also ply him with Wyrmslife Crystals to further boost his affection. Either way, once he likes you enough he’ll give you the tome that teaches you the Heavenly Shot skill.

Maelstrom (Sorcerer Maister Skill)¶

To learn this maister skill you need to complete the side quest The Sorcerer’s Appraisal, which shares most of its content with the side quest Spellbound inasmuch as you’ll need to find five tomes and give them to the quest-giver to get the maister skill(s) you’re after. Of course, if you give the five tomes to one character you can’t give them to the other, so a bit of forgery (courtesy of Ibrahim’s Scrap Store at the Checkpoint Rest Town resolves this conflict admirably. Check out the entry for the Celestial Paean to learn how this works in detail and for the locations of the tomes you need.

Now, as for this maister skill and the quest The Sorcerer’s Appraisal, here’s what you need to do. First you need to equip courtly attire, including a Courtly Tunic and Courtly Breeches. You can get your hands on these in various ways, including:

• Purchase them from Philbert’s Sundries in Vernworth for an astronomical amount of money.
• Search the Comptroller’s Home in the Noble Quarter of Vernworth.
• Plunder the Watchmead’s Home in the Noble Quarter.
• Find them in a chest inside the masquerade hall.
• Complete the Ornate Box Quest and get it as a reward.

Once you’re dressed up appropriately Myrddin - very much keen to judge a book by its cover, ironically - will let you into his home, which can be found in the Checkpoint Rest Town. Talk to him inside and start this quest, which is mostly a scavenger hunt for the aforementioned tomes. Find them, forge them, and give Myrddin the fakes. He’ll give you the scroll that teaches the Maelstrom skill, and you’ll be free to give the real tomes to Trysha, thus securing the Celestial Paean and Maelstrom skills.

Martyr’s Bolt (Magick Archer Maister Skill)¶

Like the Archer maister skill, Heavenly Shot, the Magick Archer maister skill is a bit odd in that the maister isn’t a quest-giving NPC, but rather a family member of a quest-giving NPC. This functionally doesn’t change much in terms of how we have to unlock the maister skill, but it’s interesting to note, nonetheless.

To start the quest you’ll need to complete for this maister skill you’ll need to make your way down to Agamen Volcanic Island. You can do this by waiting until damn near the end of the game, where you’ll have to go to said island during the main quest The Guardian Gigantus. Better yet, you can head there pretty much any time by going through the Drabnir’s Grotto dungeon, although since it’s far to the south of Bakbattahl, it’s probably best saved until you’ve free access to Battahl - ideally you’ll have a Portcrystal placed in Bakbattahl so the journey is only moderately arduous, and a spare Portcrystal ready to be placed in the Volcanic Island Camp so you don’t have to make the trek a second time. There are other plot-related reasons to take this approach, which we won’t spoil for you here, but safe to say it’ll be much less of a bother if you make your way to the Agamen Volcanic Island on your own initiative sometime after the main questline takes you to Battahl. This will also help with the Rearmament maister skill, which will get to shortly.

Anywho, from the eastern exit to Drabnir’s Grotto, follow the road until you run across a dwarf named Gautstafr, who is as incapacitated as his name implies. He’ll talk to you and ask you to fetch him some herbs - scouring nearly any part of the map should be sufficient to find something he’ll need. Anyways, this bit of trivial busywork will start out the quest Put a Spring in Thy Step, and once you’ve provided Gautstafr the foliage he needs to temporarily cure his ailes, he’ll ask you to visit his home, which is both nearby and rather out of the way. Follow him to Windwalker’s Home to meet the dwarf’s elven wife, Cliodhna, who just so happens to be the maister we seek. It’s apparent she doesn’t trust us right now, and that’s something we’ll need to fix.

Fortunately Gautstafr is the key to earning Cliodhna’s approval, as the overly-trusting dwarf wants a more permanent solution to his enfeeblement. Long story short, you need to escort him to the hot springs located at the Volcanic Island Camp, which is great news, because you want to go there anyway to rest, recover, store plunder and plop down a Portcrystal. Agree to do this and carry out your task successfully without letting anything happen to Gautstafr and Cliodhna will show up, informing you she was following you to make sure you were on the up and up. Since you did them a solid, she’ll do you a solid, teaching you the Magick Archer vocation. If she likes you enough she’ll also give you the tome that teaches you the Martyr’s Bolt maister skill. If not, you know the drill - Wyrmslife Crystals and escort quests until she likes you enough to teach you.

Meteoron (Sorcerer Maister Skill)¶

You’ll earn this maister skill at the same time and in the same way as Celestial Paean, see above.

Rearmament (Warfarer Maister Skill)¶

There’s a lot of overlap between this maister skill and the Martyr’s Bolt maister skill, as they both require you to venture to the Agamen Volcanic Island. In fact, the quest to earn this maister skill should effectively kick off just before you’re done with Put a Spring in Thy Step, and we recommend finishing the former if at all possible.

Read the beginning of the entry for the Martyr’s Bolt maister skill for more detail, but essentially you want to advance the main questline until you reach Battahl, put a Portcrystal in Bakbattahl, then explore south to reach the Drabnir’s Grotto dungeon. Pass through this dungeon and exit out the eastern side to reach Agament Volcanic Island, then follow the road east to reach the Volcanic Island Camp, particularly the hot springs south of town. This is where you’ll need to escort Gautstafr during Put a Spring in Thy Step, and it’s also where you’ll find Lamond.

Lamond should talk to you as you approach the hot springs, lamenting the absence of Newt Liqueur. This should start the quest The Sotted Sage, and your sole objective here is to give him some Newt Liqueur. Unfortunately Newt Liqueur isn’t terribly common - you can craft it using Fruit Wine + Saurian Tail, but failing that you’ll have to find the rare bottle or two scattered around the world. It doesn’t help that Fruit Wine isn’t terribly common either, but as long as you have either Fruit Wine or, preferably, Newt Liqueur, you can just have them duplicated by paying Ibrahim’s Scrap Store in the Checkpoint Rest Town. It’ll cost 1,600G to duplicate Fruit Wine or 6,000G to duplicate Newt Liqueur - if you have plenty of Saurian Tails, the former is cheaper. Just don’t get rid of all your bottles of either and you’ll have options. If you need help finding Newt Liqueur to get the forging operation started, check out the page Where to Find Newt Liqueur.

Get your hands on at least three bottles of Newt Liqueur (not a bad idea to keep on in reserve, just in case, for forging purposes) and then offer one to Lamond. You need to give him enough Newt Liqueur to get him to talk to you - if he’s still too sober, he’ll be sure to let you know when you try to talk to him. It should take around three Newt Liqueurs to get his lips loose, and his revelation will complete the quest The Sotted Sage, earning you substantial affection in the process. This should also unlock the Warfarer vocation, and in our experience, earn you the scroll that’ll teach you the Rearmament maister skill. You may have to talk to Lamond a few times to get this to happen, and if he’s not being forthcoming, just gift him some Wyrmslife Crystals until he gives you what you need.

Riotous Fury (Fighter Maister Skill)¶

If you looked at the table above, you might have gotten spooked by this one - there are a lot of quests listed, but it’s simpler than it looks. Ol’ Lennart is the Fighter maister, and your job is to make him happy enough to teach you his tricks, and there are a lot of quests he’s involved in that you can complete to boost his affection. Before you leave Melve for the first time very early in the game you can complete Nesting Troubles, and after you make your way to Vernworth, return to Melve and you should be able to start Readvent of Calamity.

In a perfect world, anyway. In reality this can take some time to start and there are a few related quests that you may need to advance to get everything moving. Namely, you might want to complete the main quest Monster Culling - especially the bit at Harve village, as well as the related side quests Scaly Invaders, and Trouble on the Cape, the latter of which will take some time to trigger after the former. Once you’ve restored Harve to habitability and have wasted enough time running about, return to Melve. You’ll know Readvent of Calamity has started if Melve is being attacked by a Lesser Dragon - the pustules on the thing are a dead giveaway. Help Ulrika, Sigurd, Lennart and others fend off this lizard and be sure to talk to Sigurd to unlock the Mystic Spearhand vocation.

Once Readvent of Calamity is over, you’re pretty much done with the hard part of this business. Wait a few days and return to find Ulrika arguing with some magistrate. After she flees town, Lennart will ask you to find out where she went. Head down to Harve to find her, then return to Melve again and inform Lennart, completing this quest. This should be sufficient to get his affection high enough for him to give you the Soldier’s Code tome, which will teach you the Riotous Fury maister skill. If not, continue on with the side quest Home is Where the Hearth Is, which will see Lennart and the rest of the notables in Melve relocate to Harve. If that’s still not enough, give Lennart gifts and indulge his escort requests while he’s in Harve until he finally caves.

Wild Furie (Mystic Spearhand Maister Skill)¶

As is the case for many (all) advanced vocations, the NPC who teaches you the vocation also holds the key to its maister skill, and in the case of the Mystic Spearhand, that’s Sigurd. Sigurd’s a rather elusive character who doesn’t actually have any quests that revolve around him, which can make it tricky to raise his affection.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t things you can do, however - he’ll show up to fight the Lesser Dragon that appears during Readvent of Calamity, doubtlessly lured by the appeal of fending off a Lesser Dragon. If you talk to him after the Lesser Dragon flees he should teach you the Mystic Spearhand vocation, otherwise you can find him in his usual haunt, the Coastal Hut in Harve Village. He may only appear here after you complete Monster Culling, Scaly Invaders and Trouble on the Cape.

Either way, it doesn’t matter much, as even if Sigurd teaches you the Mystic Spearhand vocation he won’t be willing to impart his maister skill so soon. You can gain a great deal of affection for him via a freeform quest, although it’s rather dangerous and involved. If you head over to Dragonsbreath Tower, you’ll find Sigurd waiting for you… provided you completed all the aforementioned quests (especially Readvent of Calamity). A Lesser Dragon - presumably the one who attacked Melve earlier during Readvent of Calamity - roosts atop this dungeon, and Sigurd wants to settle the score. Ascend the tower and kill the beast and Sigurd should give you the Paladin’s Enigmata, which you can use to learn the maister skill Wild Furie… not to mention he’ll teach you the Mystic Spearhand vocation, if you haven’t learned it yet.

This isn’t difficult on paper, but Dragonsbreath Tower is far to the southwest of Bakbattahl. It’s a dangerous enemy within a dungeon that you’ll have to clear after making a dangerous trek. Ideally you’ll have gained access to Battahl via the main questline and planted a Portcrystal in the city before attempting this. If Sigurd doesn’t appear at Dragonsbreath Tower, he’s either dead or you likely haven’t chased off the Lesser Dragon at Melve. If for some reason he still doesn’t teach you the maister skill after all this, fall back on the familiar strategy - give him Wyrmslife Crystals and complete any escort requests he gives you until you’re chummy enough to learn his secrets.