Dragon’s Dogma 2: A Detailed Look at the Trickster Vocation – IGN First

ign.com:

Dragon’s Dogma 2 offers a wide variety of playstyles depending on what Vocation you select. Most of these are the kinds of archetypes you’d expect: melee sword fighter, speedy dagger wielding thief, ranged archer, and spell slinging mage – and some are hybrid Vocations, like Mystic Spearhand and Magick Archer, that combine elements of one Vocation with another for a completely new style of play.

But what of the Trickster Vocation? It was revealed as part of the Dragon’s Dogma 2 showcase back in November, but little has been shown of this unique class beyond that quick 45-second look, and a short description on the Dragon’s Dogma 2 website. Fortunately, as part of our visit to Capcom, we got to sit down and play with the Trickster for about an hour, and I can confidently say that this is a style of play unlike anything I’ve ever seen in an open-world action game.

To start, The Trickster is essentially a pacifist. Their chosen weapon, a ceremonial Censer, does little to no damage when it’s swung at an enemy. Instead, the purpose of attacking is to build up aggro and pull an enemy’s attention towards you. To that end, you also have a special ability called Suffocating Shroud that sends your smoke out in a wide area and draws a large amount of enemy attention towards you.

So why would you want to get a whole group of enemies swarming on you if you can’t actually damage them? Ah, see that’s where the word “trickster” comes into play. By using the Trickster’s unique skill, Effigial Incense, you create a Simulacrum (or a clone, for simplicity’s sake) that enemies will perceive as the real you. This clone has its own health bar and will disappear if it’s killed, but you can also teleport the clone to you while it’s still alive