Dragon Nest What Class to Play Guide

Dragon Nest What Class to Play Guide by xanplease

Dragon Nest currently has nine base classes or 1st job each with their own subclasses to specialize in. Those classes are Warrior, Archer, Sorceress, Cleric, Academic/Tinkerer (same thing, depends on version), Kali, Assassin, Lancea, and Machina. There are also Spinoff classes (Dark Avenger and Silver Hunter with the Heretic/Dark Apostle hero coming soon) that are mentioned further down.

Each class has a 2nd job advancement at level 15 and a 3rd job advancement at level 45. These advancements can be accessed through your class’s instructor. I will be focusing mainly on defining the pros/cons of 3rd job classes because as of 93 cap awakening changes (coming soon, Korea already has a lot), each class is heavily focused on their specific tree of skills within 2nd job and 3rd job and many classes can completely ignore the commonalities they have between their sibling class they share a 2nd job tree with.

In parenthesis I’ll also list the main reason you’d bring each class to your party. For example: yes, every class has 1 buff, but the main reason I want a Gladiator in my party is their great DPS. Or even though a few classes have a few debuffs, they last 5 seconds and have a 20 second CD. That’s not a debuffer, that’s a damage skill on a damage class that has a debuff attached.

—————– The Classes ———————

WARRIOR

The warrior uses two-handed swords, axes and hammers and focus on hitting hard. They focus on the STR stat for damage (except Lunar Knight who uses INT). At level 15 you can specialize in swords (Swordsman) or axes and hammers (Mercenary) or dark sword skills (Avenger).

Swordsman

This 2nd job of Warrior focuses on swordplay. Swordsman split into two very different trees, one focusing on close range sword hits and the other focusing on ranged beams of magic damage. At level 45 you can specialize as a Gladiator or Lunar Knight.

Gladiator (DPS)

The classic melee-ranged sword wielder. They focus on DPS and close-ranged sword skills. A great class if you love the traditional sword wielder with many slashes, jumps and stabs. They use their sword to inflict massive damage to single targets.

Lunar Knight/Moonlord (DPS)

Lunar Knights use mid and long ranged beams and whirlwinds to inflict damage. They keep their sword but trade in their physical damage for magic damage, focusing on INT instead of STR.

Mercenary

Mercenaries are a bit more tank than a Swordsman. Mercenaries focus on axes and hammers, crushing their enemies with spins and blows to break armor. They have many howl attacks that buff themselves and debuff enemies to make foes die a little quicker. Both Mercs have a self-heal after Awakenings.

Barbarian (DPS, debuffs)

Barbarians focus on swinging their axes hard. They do more damage than their brother Mercenary class, Destroyer and focus more on damage than tanking for their team. Their Awakening skills can add massive damage at the expense of their Fury.

Destroyer (tank, debuffs, DPS)

This Mercenary 3rd job focuses on tanking for their team and breaking the enemy’s defenses. They draw aggro to themselves away from their allies and cripple foes with their strong hammer attacks. Blocking attacks can increase their Fury, granting them more damage.

ARCHER

Archer focuses on bow skills with her shortbow, longbow and crossbow. From close combat kicks to long range snipes, this class never puts down their bow. At level 15 you can specialize as a Sharpshooter, Acrobat or Silver Hunter.

Sharpshooter

Sharpshooter focuses on long-ranged arrow skills with her longbow or crossbow for a mix of physical and magical shots. Stay away from enemies and kite them all day. At level 45 you can advance to either Sniper or Warden. Warden focuses on INT and magic damage.

Sniper (DPS)

Sniper focuses on staying in one spot and sniping enemies from afar. They use physical damage and focus on AGI. Snipers love to crit and even have a skill that gives them bonus crit damage. Snipers destroy bosses and especially dragons with long cooldown burst attacks that hit many times. The goal with a Sniper is to stay far away from enemies so you can keep firing arrows uninterrupted or stay close to make sure every single arrow hits (especially after Awakening).

Warden/Artillery (DPS)

Warden focuses on INT and magic damage, using their crossbow to fire magical arrows with great AOE from a distance. Warden has less trouble stacking crit than the other magic classes because of self-buffs that give AGI and crit. Cooldowns are mostly medium to short time and Warden is great at raining down terror on anything from weak mobs to dragons.

Acrobat

Acrobat is a 2nd job of archer that never learned to aim a bow. They use a shortbow and focus on kicks and close-ranged skills. Fancy aerials and dodges help them stay close and dealing damage, making them a high-risk, high-reward DPS class. Timing and skill are key to staying relevant. Show Time is an amazing buff that gives the yourself lower animations and cooldowns for a bit. Acrobat advances to either Tempest or Windwalker at 45.

Tempest (DPS)

Tempest focuses more on single-target damage and kicks. Instead of getting out of the way, Tempest has more skills that help them stay invincible. They can even hit through blocks and other invulnerabilities. Tempest is notorious as one of — if not the best — PvP class in the game.

Windwalker (DPS)

Windwalker focuses more on aerials to stay out of enemy reach. They specialize toward AOE attacks with bigger whirlwinds and spins. Windwalker wants to stay in the air as long as possible because your ultimate attack resets after a certain amount of time in the air, letting you constantly slam the ground with comet-like strength.

SORCERESS

Sorceress is your mage class. They use a staff and book/orb/puppet and blast enemies from afar with big AOE magic spells. At level 15, you have the choice of 2nd jobs focusing gravity, lasers and CC (Mystic) or fire and ice (Elementalist).

Mystic

Mystic crushes its foes with their high crowd control, be it large AOE damage or debuffing enemies til they can barely move. They can also give themselves a buff that lowers cooldowns by 80%, letting them spam their strongest skills with ease for a short time. Mystic specializes to her 3rd job of Chaos Mage or War Mage at level 45.

Chaos Mage/Majesy (DPS)

Chaos Mage focuses on her dark elemental magic, crushing enemies with strong gravity and detonating gravity balls with more gravity to bend the strongest foes to their knees. Chaos Mage likes to stay mid-range, having many attacks that fall a certain distance away that cannot be made to hit closer/further. Many attacks do multiple hits so immobile bosses are preferred.

War Mage/Smasher (DPS)

Welcome to the laser light show, starring War Mage. War Mages smite enemies with light from who knows where. From enormous lasers falling from the skies to giant blasts of laser from their staffs, War Mage carves a warpath. After Awakening, their laser energy allows them to spam some of their spells or enhance others with bigger laser damage. I hope you brought sunscreen (even though they don’t do light damage heh).

Elementalist

Elementalists sing a song of ice and fire. Use your magic to burn enemies or freeze them solid. Elementalist advances to 3rd job choices of Pyromancer or Ice Witch at level 45.

Pyromancer (DPS)

Your traditional fire mage. They focus on burning enemies and keeping them burned. Big fire attacks are their specialty and they (of course) have fire element on all their attacks. They maintain access to ice skills but don’t use them often. After Awakening, they have even more massive fire hits.

Ice Witch (DPS, debuff)

The cold never bothered her anyway so she kills things with it. Ice Witch deals great damage with her ice elemental attacks. Her ice freezes enemies solid so she can break the ice and snap their bodies. The ice hurts so bad it partially freezes even bosses, leaving them to attack a little slower than normal. Slower bosses is great for any party.

CLERIC

Cleric contains your classic light-wielding, goddess-worshipping devotees. All clerics can take a hit with their shields but suffer lower mobility. Using a mace, flail or wand and a mix of physical and magical skills, your 2nd job advancement into Priest or Paladin determines your role in the party.

Priest

Priest have tons of useful totems and lightning attacks that disable enemies and help allies. They wield a wand and shield and deal light-based magical damage. They’re much tankier than your average squishy mage and can help out allies in a pinch. 3rd job advancement determines DPS Inqusitor or healer Saint at level 45.

Saint (heals, buffs)

A Saint’s main focus is their ally’s HP bar. They drop totems or relics that buff allies and electrocute foes. With many heals and buffs to choose from, no one out-heals a Saint and no one is a better team player. Saint trades in a lot of potential DPS for more defenses and utility.

Inquisitor (DPS, offtank)

Inquisitors focus on shocking foes with their powerful electric and light attacks, both considered light element magic damage. Electrocution is no joke especially when Inquisitors detonate the paralyzation on an enemy, dealing massive damage. Totems aren’t a huge focus, Inquisitor prefers to just focus on damage. If he so chooses, Inquisitor can take some supporting abilities like the heal relic and cure relic to help out friends. He keeps his shield so he can still take a hit, making him much more tanky than the other “mages.”

Paladin

Paladin is the classic knight of light, wielding a mace and shield to defend his friends. At level 45 for your 3rd job advancement you decide if you want to focus on damage Crusader or being a tank Guardian.

Guardian (tank, buff, debuff)

Guardian stands right in front of the enemy and blocks every attack, all while taunting his foe and laughing off the damage. Guardian is the tankiest class in the game and considered the go-to tank for any raid that requires one and needs to be as safe as posslbe. They keep the enemy firmly angry and draw aggro away from friends so the party can do the damage for him. Their bubble skill gives everyone a massive shield and they can debuff enemies to deal less damage too.

Crusader (DPS)

Crusader can take a hit but they can also give it back. Crusader uses a mix of physical and magical damage, using both sides of the light element. Their main focus is damaging focus but they can still help their friends and take a hit, which is good because their low mobility makes them unable to dodge a lot of attacks.

ACADEMIC/TINKERER

Stuck in the past after a malfunction, the Tinkerer uses her futuristic knowledge to battle. Wielding a hand cannon or a bubble blaster and accompanied by her robot butler Alfredo, the Tinkerer varies from support, DPS and summoner roles depending on specialization. At level 15, Tinkerer chooses a 2nd job of Engineer or Alchemist.

Engineer

Engineer focuses on the physical damage from their cannon. They have many different cannon skills that destroy foes and robot ducks called quackums that shoot turrets and attack enemies. Engineers distract their foes with an army that can freeze, shock, taunt and debuff, though their main use is damage. Engineer chooses a 3rd job advancement of Gear Master or Shooting Star at level 45.

Gear Master (DPS, debuff)

Gear Master doesn’t shoot their cannon very much. They prefer to let their quackums do the fighting. Playing a Gear Master is hard work of micromanaging ducks. They have to keep their 4 turrets active and their quackums running around. Turret placement is key to their DPS. When not placing turrets and ducks, Gear Master uses their Mechanic Mode skill to shoot their turret attacks out of their own cannon.

Shooting Star (DPS, debuff)

Shooting Star doesn’t like to manage an army, they prefer the damage supplied from their trusty cannon and their loyal Alfredo. Shooting Star’s damage comes mainly from a variety of cannon skills, most that splash and do great AOE damage. Shooting Star also upgrades Alfredo and utilizes his damage with a variety of skills that he can use on his own or can be activated by the Shooting Star. Cannon ammo has to be managed because all her powerful cannon attacks take ammo. She has a skill to replenish ammo.

Alchemist

Alchemist uses her futuristic knowledge to concoct elemental potions and other attacks. Using fire, ice and poison skills to deal bursts of damage from her bubble blaster. Alchemist has to keep track of her “bubbles” because these bubbles are used to increase the damage of her skills. Some skills give bubbles, some take bubbles. Alchemists choose to specialize in fire and ice (Adept) or poison and support (Physician) at level 45.

Adept (DPS)

Adept focuses on her fire and ice skills, using them both is harmony. Her attacks do huge blasts of fire to burn enemies or big beams of ice to slow enemies down. She has few escape moves so planning your approach is important. Adept is great at bursting enemies with large AOE and long cooldowns. Knowing when to use a big attack and when to poke with smaller attacks is the difference between a good and a great Adept.

Physician (Debuffs, buffs, heals, DPS)

Physician is a bit of an oxymoron, poisoning enemies while healing friends. She’s not a healer though, at least not as effective as a Saint. Physician focuses on debuffs, utilizing attacks like Love Virus to keep enemies confused and weak so her allies deal more damage. At 93 cap when she has her Awakening, she gets a strong attack buff to help the whole party deal more damage. Post-Awakening she also does a lot of damage through her toxic slimes that chase and attack enemies while she focuses on supporting. Overall, the Physician focuses on making her allies deal the best damage while she deals decent damage and keeps them alive.

KALI

Kali is quick and nimble, with a focus on utilizing spirits for quick burst damage or using her chakram to slash foes. Kali isn’t a summoner class though, she just borrows a spirit for one single attack, like summoning a Genie that quickly buffs allies or summoning a spirit that slams the ground to attack enemies. At level 15 Kali can choose a focus on magic spirits (Screamer) or close-ranged physical spirits and slash skills (Dancer).

Screamer

Screamer uses her powers to deal damage and devastate enemies. Screamer deals maigcal dark elemental damage. They prefer to stay at mid-range, shooting out hands of dark energy and quickly calling upon talismans and spirits that weaken foes. Her choice is to focus on calling upon the dead (Dark Summoner) or calling upon cursing spirits (Soul Eater) for her 3rd job advance at level 45.

Dark Summoner (DPS, debuffs)

Dark Summoner has mobility, AOE, debuffs (thanks to her sister class, Soul Eater) and even a self-heal in case of emergency. She uses the power of dark and dead spirits to drag enemies into the ground or slash at them with undead power. Dealing massive dark damage is her focus but the Soul Eater skill tree helps her keep enemy elemental resistance lowered so she and her party can deal more damage. Dark Summoner is a great solo class thanks to her ult that makes her invincible for a while and access to a self-heal.

Soul Eater (DPS, debuffs)

No one shuts down a boss down quite like a Soul Eater. Soul Eaters constantly berate their foes with curses and spirits that literally slow down even the mightiest of dragons and shred their elemental resistance. Knowing the order to send out your attacks is key to keeping foes debuffed. Staying at mid-range, Soul Eater has trouble taking a hit. Luckily they have high mobility to keep safe with.

Dancer

Dancer quite literally dances around her foes, dodging skills, summoning spirits and spinning her chakram to physical deal damage. She can buff herself and allies by dancing the right dance which helps herself and her party tremendously. Either way, her focus is damage and dancing. At level 45 she will choose to attack with her chakram (Blade Dancer) or attack with her spirits (Spirit Dancer).

Blade Dancer (DPS, buffs)

Blade Dancer dances around her foes with her chakram, slashing them to pieces and elegantly dodging attacks. Knowing which attack to use to dodge with is key to keeping her in the fight and dealing damage, since some of her graceful attacks make her invincible for a fraction of a second. She has high mobility and relies on close combat attacks.

Spirit Dancer (DPS, buffs)

Spirit Dancer quickly calls on the power of spirits to do attacks for her. They don’t stick around though, they’ll shoot a bow or slam the ground once then leave. She stays mid to close range, keeping a little distance while her spirits close the gap for her. Staying invincible isn’t as important since she keeps her distance but you still need to use your mobility to stay out of the line of fire.

ASSASSIN

Assassin focuses on jitsu, daggers and throwing star attacks to stab enemies in the back. They accel at speed and most combos flow together seamlessly. Dodging is made easy with skills that make you invisible, invincible or get your out of the way fast with high mobility. Though frail, they make up for it in heavy damage. At level 15 the Assassin can choose between magical dark and light jitsu as a Taoist or daggers and shuriken as a Shinobi.

Taoist/Bringer

Taoist uses his inner chakra to attack enemies with massive dark and light spells. He gets a good mix of support abilities like a cure and heal while boasting high crit ability for a magic class and single-target damage. Ninja cats can be summoned to restore health and damage enemies. At 45 you pick your role of a light damage focused support/healer as a Light Fury or take the path of dark magic spells as an Abyss Walker.

Light Bringer/Light Fury (heals, buffs, DPS)

Light Fury combines good damage through their light spells with great utility from support skills like a group heal. They’re not full-time healers like Saint but they’ll supplement healing in a pinch. Light Fury has long been known for good burst and decent heals. Out of the three healers, Light Fury does the most damage.

Abyss Walker (DPS, buffs)

Abyss Walkers are a DPS class that stole some support capabilities from their brothers, the Light Fury. They focus on their dark damage skills and great single-target magic burst. Abyss Walker is a strange breed of mage that maintains the ability to evade and crit. They may be frail but taking the light tree’s heal and cure helps themselves and their party immensely. However, their main goal is still dealing damage.

Shinobi

Shinobi is what you think of when you think of a classic MMO Rogue or Assassin. They focus on quickly dealing physical damage, utilizing daggers and throwing knives. They can devote a shadow clone to deal more damage or sacrifice it to heal themselves, making them great at staying alive and solo play. At level 45, you choose between mid-ranged throwing stars as a Raven or consistent close-ranged dagger strikes as a Ripper.

Raven (DPS)

Raven prefers to stay a safe distance from enemies and berate them with throwing stars. Using dark damage the Raven is a highly mobile class with quick skills and animations so they can keep on the move. Raven has amazing burst and DPS. Burst is very sought after than DPS because many bosses have small windows of opportunity to attack.

Ripper/Reaper (DPS)

Ripper loves his daggers. Fire daggers, more specifically. His swift movements slice enemies into pieces with unmatched grace. Ripper may be a frail class with little range but they make up for it with mobility and invincibility. It’s hard for bosses to hit a moving target that can always stay behind them. They are prized for their DPS, having unreliable burst (only has a chance to double damage making it high risk high reward) but they always keep the combos going.

LANCEA

Lancea uses a long polearm/spear to stab and pierce enemies. Lancea loves to go fast, having a party buff that increases action speed. Lancea stays close to her enemies and deals melee damage. At level 15 they advance to their 2nd job of Lancer, which is the only choice.

Lancer

Lancer has access to more spear skills that pierce enemies. They get a buff circle on the ground that increases their damage or keeps them alive and can jump on their pole to dodge enemy attacks. They may have mobility but they lack dodge otherwise. That’s why they have a counter that makes enemy attacks obsolete while slashing them to safety. Lancer also has more access to ranged magic skills which is the skill tree utilized mainly by Valkyrie. At level 45 their 3rd job advancement chooses between physical stabs and flips with Dragoon or magical light damage ranged skills with Valkyrie.

Dragoon/Flurry (DPS, debuff)

Dragoon can quite literally pierce the enemy’s defenses, debuffing their physical defense. They can then use other skills to deal massive damage to the exposed weak spot. Dragoon is more in line with a Lancea and Lancer description, staying at close range to flip, slash and stab enemies. Your physical damage friends will love the exposed weakness, allowing them to deal more damage too.

Valkyrie/Sting Breezer (DPS, debuff)

Valkyrie is a really unique class because they use after-images like a Moon Lord‘s beam waves but target a single enemy to destroy with the light-based magical images, somewhat like a detonate ability. They can always keep a boss’s elemental resistances debuffed too. Valkyrie is all about planning and setup. They need time to set down magic spears that they will detonate with their strongest skill to deal massive damage all at once. You can launch 3 different spears and if they are all near the same spot, you bring down a giant spear from the heavens to blow them all up for massive burst. Valkyrie requires patience but the payoff can be well worth the wait.

MACHINA

Machina are everyone’s favorite Dragon Nest furries. They wear a giant “knuckle gear” that’s pretty much a giant fist to punch things. They specialize in punching things. Hard. They have high mobility and fly past enemies through steampunk power, slamming foes along the way. Pretty good aerial attacks too. They lack AOE attacks. Machina classes all fight like a totally different game, chaining combos based on clicks then doing it again to the next skill. At level 15 you have no choice of 2nd job. You will be a Patrona.

Patrona

Patrona is the only 2nd job advancement for Machina. They do more knuckle stuff. Patrona relies on a few different passives that make comboing a necessity. Some skills combo into others, increasing action speed or dealing more damage. Knowing how and when to use your combos is key to proper knuckle gear usage as many skills are left click or right click instead of another skill slot. At level 45 your 3rd job advancement lets you become a knuckle damage focused Ruina or increase your party support through defensive tactics as a Defensio.

Ruina (DPS)

Ruina focuses all its steam and energy into punching harder. Their skills are enhanced to deal more damage and they have improved aerial as well. If you chose Machina for damage, Ruina is your best option. Ruina carries over a little defensive ability from Patrona which is great for their survivability.

Defensio (DPS, tank, buffs)

Defensio focuses on defense, buffing allies, drawing aggro and reducing the damage enemies do. They prefer to use their giant fist to block instead of attack, though they can still pack a punch. Defensio is great for duos because you can bubble an ally to take damage for them. They have a self-heal and can cleanse status conditions too.

SPINOFF/DARK/HERO Classes

Why could we not settle on one name for these guys? Anyway, these classes are available to make through a special button next to “create character” and “delete character.” Some servers will not have creation available at all times. There will be more but currently there is two: Dark Avenger and Silver Hunter. They keep the 1st job advancement of another class (right now warrior and archer respectively) but “spinoff” due to their story and past. They each have a form they can turn into that increases damage and opens up some new effects. This is where their true power lies. Also as a side note, these classes will NOT be getting an Awakening. Maybe way in the future but Eyedentity said no for now.

Dark Avenger (DPS)

The warrior spinoff. Dark Avenger wields a giant sword like Gladiator and Moonlord but uses it a little more like a Moonlord. They rely on physical fire damage, blasting waves or fire at their enemies to burn them. They still fight at close and mid range. Transforming into the Dark Avenger (level 45 skill) grants you more damage on some of your skills. They have a few aerial skills too but mainly play like a mix of a Gladiator and Moonlord.

Silver Hunter (DPS)

The archer spinoff. They use a crossbow and rely on INT and magic damage, yet get a lot of free AGI so crit comes naturally. No class in the game can fight in the air like a Silver Hunter. They can stay in the air until they run out of MP and are the highest mobility class in the game. They have a falcon that fights with them and they can lay traps but their main damage comes from sitting high in the air and berating enemies with arrow skills. They fight at about mid range like a Warden. Transforming into the Silver Hunter gives you way more aerial ability with shorter cooldowns and transforms your falcon into the Silver Falcon.

—————- What class fits my style? ——————-

Just like any game, every class has its role. Some are more useful than others. First, I want to categorize each role then suggest a class that fits that role. (Note: Many of these fall into multiple categories)

—————– Damage —————-

Melee DPS – You like to be on the front lines, dodging skills and destroying enemies from up close. Maybe a sword, spear or dagger is your weapon of choice.

• Gladiator
• Barbarian
• Dark Avenger
• Wind Walker and Tempest
• Blade Dancer and Spirit Dancer
• Reaper
• Dragoon
• Ruina

Ranged DPS – You like to sit back and blast enemies with long-range attacks. You wanna put out damage while staying safely out of enemy range.

• Moonlord
• Dark Avenger
• Sniper
• Warden
• Silver Hunter
• Shooting Star and Gear Master
• Dark Summoner and Soul Eater
• Raven
• Valkyrie

Mages/AOE – You like big flashy spells and magical explosions. Maybe you like to freeze enemies, burn them, crush them or just blow them up in general with big AOEs.

• Moonlord
• Warden
• Silver Hunter
• All Sorceresses
• Inquisitor
• Gear Master and Shooting Star
• Adept
• Dark Summoner and Soul Eater
• Abyss Walker
• Valkyrie

Bruiser/Offtank – You like to be in the enemy’s face to hurt them but also laugh at their damage. Why bother dodging when they don’t hurt much?

• Barbarian and Destroyer
• Crusader
• Inquisitor
• Defensio

————- Utility —————–

(A class can have utility while still being a damage class)

Tanks – You want to protect your friends by keeping the boss attacking you. You’d rather block and stop an enemy from hurting your allies than actually do damage.

• Guardian
• Destroyer
• Defensio technically but please don’t try to main tank as Defensio

Debuffers – Shut down the boss by crippling their defenses and helping yourself and allies deal more damage to the target. I’m only counting those who can keep up two or more debuffs constantly, literally no stopping.

• Barbarian and Destroyer
• Shooting Star and Gear Master
• Physician
• Soul Eater – best debuffer in the game
• Dark Summoner

Buffers – Give your allies useful damage and defense increases so you can all work together to kill the enemy.

• Saint
• Guardian
• Physician (after Awakening especially)
• Blade Dancer and Spirit Dancer
• Light Bringer
• Defensio

Healers – Health bars are your priority. You want to make sure everyone on your team is good and healthy. A dead DPS is no DPS after all.

• Saint. If you want to be a healer, you need to be Saint.
• Physician has heals but isn’t really a full-healer. Great for 4-man nests that don’t need much cure though!
• Light Bringer also has heals but isn’t a full-time healer. Great for 4-man nests that don’t need a much curing.