Trying to understand augments

[Jivebot]

So I wanted to go for a pure DPS build. So I was thinking i'd start as a Strider, switch to Assassin soon as I hit lvl 10 and never look back.

Then I read about Augments. Now, if I hit lvl Cap as an Assassin can I still switch to other classes and learn their augments or not?

[Wii remote gaming]

yes afaik

[a bad driver]

You can change your class at any time during the game so long as you visit one of the NPC's that gives you that option.

I'm fairly new to the game as well. At first I started off as a single class for both me and my pawn. But then around level 35 or 40 I changed it, cause why the hell not and it was game changing. Like I never really considered the possibilities. Still, I had that mindset where I only wanted to be dual-class. But again I caved because the idea of fine tuning my augments even further was just too hard to resist. Also, part of it was that I wanted to try out some of the different classes because I was a ranger like the whole time. The gameplay and strategy is very different when you go from one class to the next. I guess that is why some people choose to stick with a pure build. In some respects, it's a completely different game with each class you choose.

[Jivebot]

I dont mind hopping around but I figure Assassin is what I will always come back to, and if you want optimum stats for your favored class you do the bulk of your leveling as that class. If I can go back to other classes later and still get the augments I want, great. That's what I am mainly concerned about.

[just.nuke.em]

Yes, you can.

[Drazruin]

You even can change your classes after lvl 200 xD , but if you want to get some stats before go with the class to lvl 100 or higher first xD

[wh1sper_123]

just my 2 cents. max build doesn't pay off well, especially if you change to strider later. this build was good until BBI

maxed assassin has no defense at all because most of his moves are packed with i-frames or invincibility which works with it.

striders on the other hand aren't and you tend to get one shot even with best gear in the game if you maxed out. second reason is that magic will be nonexistent with that build making some enemies practical impossibility in BBI.

while they look alike, they play nothing like similar. assassin strength is in countering and stunning packed with i-frames, strider is exact opposite. you need to rush into trouble and kill face on as fast as you can.

strider is defacto most universal kill machine in this game, but you need to take it with a grain of salt that you'll get hit and you need to be able to survive it. in short, the faster you kill, the more you survive (which is why gloves with "restores stamina on kill" are blessing for strider)

at least for my taste best strider build is something like hp3500, st4500, str600, mag400, def420+, mdef 320+

at this point i fail to see difference from my maxed out in terms of damage. with periapts you can kill firedrake in 6-10 seconds flat without climbing or take out 6 bars of hp from death just in time of blue light without blast arrows with daggers only.

the big difference is that if you go lower with magic, enemies like living armor become total pain in the ass, his second phase grows exponentially with lower magic. at 400+heavens key and no augments you can dish him out pretty quick. same thing for wraiths which can be one shot with splitter at 400

[flex.headstrong]

If you primarily want class augments without levelling other classes, but ranking them up vocationally, that is rather easy to do. Once your character is close to 100ish level, the xp required for level vs the points required to rank up a vocation become very wide so you can switch vocation, max it's rank (or get it to what you need for the augments you want), switch again, rinse, repeat.

Keep an eye on your XP required to next level so you don't level in a class you do not want to level in. Get a ring or pair of rings of perseverance (BBI moonbeam gem chest) and Asura armor, to make vocation grinding much faster (I use the word grind here cause you aren't out adventuring, it goes so fast it really isn't a grind though).

If you get close to levelling up, switch back to your preferred class, level up, then switch back to a vocation you want just the augments in.

You want to stick to enemies that don't give high xp but do give good dcp. Rats, rabbits, birds, cows, etc. Some farm the king's guardsmen once he wants you dead, if you don't mind that type of activity. Some prefer the skeletons generated by a lich near the great wall encampment.

[wh1sper_123]

Originally posted by flex.headstrong:

If you primarily want class augments without levelling other classes, but ranking them up vocationally, that is rather easy to do. Once your character is close to 100ish level, the xp required for level vs the points required to rank up a vocation become very wide so you can switch vocation, max it's rank (or get it to what you need for the augments you want), switch again, rinse, repeat.

Keep an eye on your XP required to next level so you don't level in a class you do not want to level in. Get a ring or pair of rings of perseverance (BBI moonbeam gem chest) and Asura armor, to make vocation grinding much faster (I use the word grind here cause you aren't out adventuring, it goes so fast it really isn't a grind though).

If you get close to levelling up, switch back to your preferred class, level up, then switch back to a vocation you want just the augments in.

You want to stick to enemies that don't give high xp but do give good dcp. Rats, rabbits, birds, cows, etc. Some farm the king's guardsmen once he wants you dead, if you don't mind that type of activity. Some prefer the skeletons generated by a lich near the great wall encampment.

can't beat those methods. only thing is that both later methods are less predictable than controlling exp/dcp by killing small enemies. it can be speed up though

two rings of preservation help a lot there and it is easy obtainable at game start without killing one single BBI enemy and without any leveling that breaks your wanted build. practically only exp is the one you get for taking Rook to encampment and killing cyclops

easiest way to do that is start easy game, and go to BBI as soon as possible where you run to midnight helix to pick up the key and then pick up moonbeam gem in Warriors respite with which you can unlock the ring of preservation. then you start hard game for reset, switch to back to easy and repeat same thing to get another ring

two rings of preservation give Dcp*1.5*1.5

easy mode gives least exp, so it is best if you want to keep level as low as possible. this way you end up in your real game with 2 rings before reaching level 10.

another way to speed this up is getting someone to give you blessed flower (or you can just play as this is obtained pretty soon in the game) and then you simply copy it for 180k when needed. this gives another *2 boost to Dcp.

and if someone rushed trough the game there is asura armor which boosts Dcp again. full setup 2 rings+asura+blessed flower boosts it to 9xDcp

sad truth about builds is that from all my planned builds, my best one is from when i just played randomly how i felt like it without giving a ♥♥♥♥ what will i end up with. and it was by far most enjoyable playthrough

[Smug Kot]

dont min-max, its stressful and will remove all the fun of the game.

[|(°....°)m]

Originally posted by Number nine with extra dip:

dont min-max, its stressful and will remove all the fun of the game.

not true. you need to do that for epic hybird builds.
also, there is no weak class, because this game is well balanced.

--------
@ OP

check out this stats planner for the best possible outcome.

https://stackoverflow.github.io/dragons-dogma-stat-planner/

nobody wants to go unprepaired into a battle!

gl

[Jivebot]

Wow. So i've done alot of stat growth research since starting this thread and...wow. It's more than a little overwhelming. I've racked up my first twelve levels as a strider, and my last five as an Assassin.

I want to be primarily a fast, mobile physical DPSer so I appear to be on the right track so far. But I dont want to be ravaged everytime I come across someone who dishes more damage than I can take or is impervious to my assaults. I figure I can mitigate much of this by having my main pawn focus on magic damage but i'd still welcome a more comprehensive leveling plan if anyone has something to offer that would hit my preferred play style. Cuz these guides I am looking at are just really overwhelming.

[konn]

Originally posted by Jivebot:

Wow. So i've done alot of stat growth research since starting this thread and...wow. It's more than a little overwhelming. I've racked up my first twelve levels as a strider, and my last five as an Assassin.

I want to be primarily a fast, mobile physical DPSer so I appear to be on the right track so far. But I dont want to be ravaged everytime I come across someone who dishes more damage than I can take or is impervious to my assaults. I figure I can mitigate much of this by having my main pawn focus on magic damage but i'd still welcome a more comprehensive leveling plan if anyone has something to offer that would hit my preferred play style. Cuz these guides I am looking at are just really overwhelming.

if you want pure physical they're likely stronger in terms of dps if said enemy isn't immune to magic (which is not a lot i think). If enemies are immune to physical dmg there should be ways around it either with your party members or create your own scrolls that deal magic damage (might want to double check on this one). I personally went to level up as both a warrior and sorcerer before changing to assassin cuz i want more balanced character. The transistion from warrior to sorcerer was a bit of a pain though.

[flex.headstrong]

The upside to what you are currently doing is this: End game you have a functional Assassin/Strider/Ranger, all of which are mobile dps, with your assassin/ranger being more pure strength based and the strider more balanced if you later decide to add a bit of Sorcerer for some magic defense. I have not played a strength based Magic Knight, that might also be good once you get your assassin completed.

[ShinkuTear]

The majority of your stats come from your equipment, especially offensive stats. If you are going to mix-max, do it because you enjoy the classes.

If an enemy is immune to Physical damage, either swap to an enchanted weapon, or have your Sorcerer pawn cast some elemental enchant on you. You can now deal reasonable Magical damage with your weapon, and fight as if the enemy wasn't immune to phys.

[wh1sper_123]

Originally posted by Jivebot:

Wow. So i've done alot of stat growth research since starting this thread and...wow. It's more than a little overwhelming. I've racked up my first twelve levels as a strider, and my last five as an Assassin.

I want to be primarily a fast, mobile physical DPSer so I appear to be on the right track so far. But I dont want to be ravaged everytime I come across someone who dishes more damage than I can take or is impervious to my assaults. I figure I can mitigate much of this by having my main pawn focus on magic damage but i'd still welcome a more comprehensive leveling plan if anyone has something to offer that would hit my preferred play style. Cuz these guides I am looking at are just really overwhelming.

you can't really avoid magic. 400 is a nice cap where you don't even notice enemy is physical damage resistant when switch to ire/heaven's key (HK is far superior to sapfire in most aspects). you deal damage to living armor without any problem. where difference between 600 and 900 is merely a second or 2 since most of damage is done by weapon, magic 200 and 400 on the other hand means a lot since 200 with available weapons ends up being just above the cap without magic augments where 400 you don't need any to dish out damage

https://stackoverflow.github.io/dragons-dogma-stat-planner/#as050a0005000500320f005500000000000f00

nice things about this build. after level 50 it is about 5 levels to level up vocation you don't even need to bother counting much

build like this will work really well for strider/ranger/assassin/fighter as you can take two hits from daimon and still live. if you'd want to mix other classes as well, then aim for 500/500.

just my 2 cents. if you want to be fast mobile dpser strider is much better class than assassin. all assassin skills are either dealing less damage or they rely on countering where you need to wait for enemy to make the move. strider on the other hand is pure agression

since you mentioned fast dpser.

this goes even better once you get "daredevil hat" aka. "raises strength with enemy count" ;) each enemy that sees you adds to the count for period about the same as periapt even after he dies. 1-2 raises 5%. 3-4 raises 10% and so up to 25%. the faster you run and kill the bigger bonus you keep on you. although description is misleading as it also raises magic the same way, but this effect only works on BBI