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Each of Dragon's Dogma 2's vocation classes feature a wide variety of different skills for players to unlock and experiment with, but none hold a candle to the power of maister skills. Unlike the regular Weapon or Core Skills you get access to by leveling up your Vocation Ranks, these unique talents can only be learned by seeking maisters. These vocation masters can teach you special high-risk, high-reward techniques that have a huge impact in battle when used properly, but you'll have to find and help them first before they'll be willing to pass on what they know.
One of the tougher maisters to find and study with is the Archer maister. Not only are they located in a place you can miss very easily if you're not exploring Vermund thoroughly, but there's also a full questline you have to complete as well.
Hoping to find the Archer maister and learn from them yourself? Read on, then, because I've put together a complete walkthrough guide that goes over everything you need to know. This includes how to start and finish the important "Gift of the Bow" and "A Trial of Archery" quests, as well as where you'll find the maister in the vast and rich fantasy world of Dragon's Dogma 2.
Dragon's Dogma 2: 'Gift of the Bow' quest guide and walkthrough
The first step in your journey to find the Archer vocation maister and learn his skill is to start and complete the quest "Gift of the Bow." Here's what to do:
- While you're an Archer, visit the Roderick's Smithy shop in the northwestern corner of the Merchant Quarter market in Vernworth. The shop has racks of weapons near its front counter along with a black and red sign with crossed weapons on it leaning against it, so it's hard to miss.
- You should see an elf here; speak with him and he'll tell you he needs a human-made bow to use for his archery practice. This is Glyndwr, the NPC at the heart of this Archer-specific questline.
- Buy a bow from Roderick's Smithy and give it to Glyndwr. Note that any bow from the shop will do, so I recommend getting him the cheapest one — the Hunter's Bow — to save yourself some Gold.
- Glyndwr will invite you to his training grounds so that you can help him learn to shoot; he can be found at the Mountain Ruins, which are located far northwest of Vernworth. Make sure you check the map in the gallery above for the area's highlighted location. Note that the conversation with Glyndwr will begin the "Gift of the Bow" quest.
- Once at the Mountain Ruins, speak with Glyndwr and shoot the nearby targets with your bow when he asks you to. After studying your form, he'll shoot the targets as well.
- Talk to Glyndwr again and he'll thank you, completing the quest; then head back to Vernworth. This is where the next quest will begin.
Note that Glyndwr will give you 8,500 Gold and the Ring of Proximity, which strengthens the power of your bow attacks as enemies get close to you. Though the latter seems like it would be counterintuitive to Archer gameplay, the bonus damage does come in handy whenever monsters run or leap at you in an attempt to close the distance.
Dragon's Dogma 2: 'A Trial of Archery' quest guide and walkthrough
The first of Dragon's Dogma 2's Archer quests is done, but you still need to begin and finish the second. Here's a full walkthrough for it:
- In Vernworth, return to Roderick's Smithy and Glyndwr will approach you again. Try passing time once by dozing off on a bench if he doesn't.
- Glyndwr will tell you he wants you to join him for his archery trial in the elves' hidden village, so head back to the Mountain Ruins to the meeting spot he suggests. The conversation will begin "A Trial of Archery," which you can mark as a Priority Quest to get a precise waypoint for the rendezvous.
- Speak with Glyndwr at the meeting spot and he'll guide you to the elves' Sacred Arbor village. Note that the gallery above shows the location of the settlement highlighted.
- Go with Glyndwr to the Arborist's Home in the southwestern corner of the village and you'll meet his father Taliesin, who explains that archery trials are suspended because Glyndwr's sister Doireann has been kidnapped by an ogre. Though the Custodian elf guards that protect the village were dispatched to save her some time ago, they have not returned.
- Glyndwr will ask for your help to save Doireann before heading off to the ogre's den, so make sure you follow him. If you fall behind, you can use the highlighted map location of the Ancestral Chamber shown in the gallery above to find your way.
- When you and Glyndwr reach the entrance to the Ancestral Chamber dungeon the ogre is in, start heading in. The entrance is pictured above; a few elf Custodians will exit and warn your party of the power of the ogre within, but Glyndwr will insist that you press on.
- Explore the dungeon until you reach the northeastern-most room. Here, you'll spot Taliesin fighting the ogre while it's holding Doireann in one of its hands.
- Glyndwr will shoot the ogre in the hand with a precisely aimed arrow, causing it to drop Doireann; after he does, tell your Pawns to "Go!" while you run in and press RT to pick Doireann up. Together with Taliesin and Glyndwr, your Pawns should have no trouble distracting and slaying the beast.
- While Taliesin, Glyndwr, and your Pawns keep the ogre busy, carry Doireann out of the Ancestral Chamber to safety. The others will join you shortly thereafter.
- Taliesin will compliment Glyndwr's improvements, tell him this was a greater achievement than any trial, and thank you for helping him and saving his daughter, completing "A Trial of Archery." Glyndwr will then say that you should speak to him later if you're interested in learning more about archery, hinting that Taliesin is the Archer maister.
When "A Trial of Archery" is finished, Taliesin will give you some excellent quest rewards: 16,000 Gold, a special Repeller Bow that deals bonus damage to chimeras, and a Portcrystal you can use in conjunction with Ferrystones to fast travel to a location of your choosing.
With both "Gift of the Bow" and "A Trial of Archery" completed, all that's left now is to speak with Taliesin like Glyndwr suggested so that he'll give you his skill.
Dragon's Dogma 2: Archer maister skill and location
As Glyndwr implied, his father Taliesin is indeed the Archer maister — and by personally helping his family, you've earned the opportunity to learn his secret technique, Heavenly Shot. To get the Heavenly Shot skill scroll after completing "A Trial of Archery," simply return back to the Sacred Arbor, doze off or sleep at the inn there, and speak to Taliesin in the Arborist's Home. Once it's in your inventory, simply use it and you'll learn the skill, which you can then equip at an inn or Vocation Guild.
Heavenly Shot is essentially a Dire/Deathly Arrow on steroids, and is designed as a heavy all-or-nothing snipe that's extremely high-risk and high-reward. It's capable of dealing absurd amounts of damage and knockdown if you hit a boss in their weakspot(s) with it, but the drawback is that it also consumes all of your Stamina, with the skill's potency determined by the amount of Stamina you have when you go to use it. If your arrow finds its mark, you'll do incredible damage and likely stagger whatever you're fighting; if it doesn't, you won't have any Stamina to use for sprinting or jumping, leaving you completely exposed to any potential counterattacks.
Thou truly art a master now, Arisen
Dragon's Dogma 2 is home to an incredible number of different quests, secrets, and rewards, with some better hidden than others. These Archer quests and the Heavenly Shot reward from the vocation's maister aren't terribly difficult to stumble across as you play, though there's a good chance you'll miss them and the Sacred Arbor entirely if you don't think to speak to Glyndwr in Vernworth.
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Speaking of the Sacred Arbor, you should stay there awhile and investigate the village, as there's some excellent mid-to-late game gear being sold here as well as another quest or two you can pick up before you head back out on your adventure. Since it's far away from the major settlements you'll be frequenting, you may even want to place down the Portcrystal Taliesin gives you there.
Just be aware of the fact that elves speak a language you can't understand — and since Glyndwr is no longer at your side like he was during his questline, you don't have a translator anymore. For that reason, you may want to leave for now and then return when you hire a Pawn with the Woodland Wordsmith specialization (they'll generally tell you they can speak Elvish).
Notably, you can teach your Main Pawn this specialization (and Elvish) by using a Woodland Wordsmith's Tome on them. All the different ways you can obtain this item aren't clear yet, but one confirmed method is to give gifts to elf NPCs in the Sacred Arbor until you reach max affinity with them (they'll blush when you talk to them), then wait for them to give you one of the tomes in return.
Dragon's Dogma 2 is available now, and it's one of the best Xbox games and best PC games you can play in 2024 if you love action RPGs with deep, varied combat and rich fantasy worlds. Capcom's new title is playable on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5 for $69.99.
