Dragon Traveler Subclass Guide: Every Subclass by Class and User

Quick answer: Each class has its own subclasses, and each subclass adds two stat bonuses plus one effect. Across the recommended builds, 28 subclasses appear: 6 for Guardians, 5 each for Assassins and Mages, and 4 each for Warriors, Archers and Priests. The most common picks are Templar for Guardians, Vanguard for Warriors, Sharpshooter for Archers and Executor or High Priest for Priests.

Key takeaways

• Subclasses are class-locked. No subclass in the recommended builds appears on more than one class.
• Every recommended subclass is Tier 3 except Martyr, which is Tier 2 and only appears on Gudong.
• The two Priest energy subclasses, Executor and High Priest, do not stack if two Luminaries carry the same one. Run one of each at most.
• Several Luminaries switch subclass by role: Loki and Talos take Astrologer for support and Grand Archmage for damage, and Thor takes Lord in PvP and Vanguard in PvE.
• Match the effect to the kit. Sword Master resets when the target changes, Outlaw needs damaged enemies, and Executioner needs kills.

How subclasses work

A subclass gives two fixed stat lines, for example HP +8% and PDEF +16%, plus one effect. The stat lines are small and similar across options. The effect is what you are choosing.

Where an effect shows a range, such as 1.2-1.92%, those are the low and high ends of the effect. The tables below list every subclass that at least one Luminary's recommended build uses, with the Luminaries that use it. Other subclasses exist in the game: Sword Master's text mentions one called Gladiator, which no build recommends.

Guardian subclasses

Subclass	Tier	Stat bonus	Effect	Recommended for
Templar	3	PDEF +16%, MDEF +16%	After taking damage equal to 70% of Max HP (52% at the high end), gains 2 Defense Stat Buffs	Caesar, Dvalin, Heidren, Helveil, Herman, Pompey, Prometheus, Salome
Guardian	3	HP +8%, Damage Reduction +8%	The first time another Luminary drops below 20% HP, spends 20% of its own current HP to shield that ally for 28-40.6% of its own Max HP for 8s. Up to 3 times per battle	Anubis, Drasill, Oberonnie, Salome, Xuanwu
Lionheart Knight	3	ATK +8%, PDEF +16%	Any control it applies also cuts the target's Attack by 21-30% for 10s	Athena, Goren, Xuanwu
Avenger	3	ATK +8%, HP +8%	Hits deal extra Adaptive Damage equal to 4.5-8.1% of its Max HP (not from DoTs). Its own Physical Defense, Magic Defense and Damage Reduction drop by 10% in battle	Prometheus
Martyr	2	HP +11%	On taking fatal damage, cuts all enemies' Attack by 10-19% for 8s and adds an Attack debuff to the killer	Gudong
Vanguard Warrior	3	HP +8%, MDEF +16%	With no allied melee Luminaries nearby, Physical and Magic Defense rise by 20-30.8%	Athena

Templar is the default for main tanks. It needs the tank to soak a large share of its HP before it pays off, which is exactly what a front-line Guardian does, and both stat lines are defenses.

Guardian suits tanks whose job is to keep a fragile carry alive. The shield costs 20% of the tank's own current HP, so it works best on high-HP builds like the Longevity plus HP gear that Anubis, Drasill and Oberonnie use.

Lionheart Knight pays off on tanks that control. Athena's Martial Verdict taunts a whole area, so every taunted enemy also loses Attack. Athena's other option, Vanguard Warrior, is for formations where she stands alone at the front.

Avenger turns Prometheus's large HP pool into damage, at the cost of 10% of his defenses. Take Templar instead when you need him purely as a wall.

Warrior subclasses

Subclass	Tier	Stat bonus	Effect	Recommended for
Vanguard	3	PDEF +16%, MDEF +16%	Each enemy Luminary it damages adds 6-8.7% Physical and Magic Defense, up to 30-43.5%	Ares, Asteros, Azure Dragon, Brynhild, Guna, Hitomi, Thor, Tyrfing
Sword Master	3	PDEF +16%, MDEF +16%	Each basic attack or skill lowers the target's Defense and Resistance by 1.8-2.7%, up to 18-27%. Clears when switching targets. Does not stack with Gladiator	Asmodeus, Asteros, Beowulf, Marylis, Siegfried, Tyrfing
Lord	3	ATK +8%, MDEF +16%	On Overdrive, gains 30-39% Overdrive damage per buff it holds, up to 120-156%, then consumes all its buffs	Arthur, Brynhild, Hitomi, Thor
Berserker	3	HP +8%, PDEF +16%	Hits deal extra Adaptive Damage equal to 3.6-5.4% of its own Max HP (not from DoTs)	Ares, Asmodeus, Brynhild

Vanguard rewards area damage: the more enemy Luminaries a Warrior hits, the tougher it gets. It is the safe pick for Warriors who fight in the front line.

Sword Master rewards staying on one target, because the Defense shred clears on a target switch. It fits single-target pressure and long fights against one tough enemy.

Lord is for Warriors whose Overdrive is their main hit and who collect buffs before casting. Four buffs reach the cap. Note that it consumes those buffs, which matters if your team relies on them for anything else.

Berserker adds damage that scales with the Warrior's own HP, which suits HP-built bruisers like Ares, whose first build is four HP pieces.

Assassin subclasses

Subclass	Tier	Stat bonus	Effect	Recommended for
Forest Bandit	3	HP +8%, PDEF +16%	Each damage instance adds 1.2-1.92% Attack, up to 20 stacks	Lancelot, Lilith, Pan Junbao, White Tiger, Zagreus
Executioner	3	ATK +8%, MDEF +16%	Each kill adds 14-21.2% Attack and 6-8.7% Crit Damage, up to 3 stacks	Fenrir, Hades, Jormungandr
Outlaw	3	HP +8%, MDEF +16%	+36-54% Attack Speed for each enemy Luminary below 60% HP, up to 108-162%	Lilith, Rin, Zagreus
Masked Thief	3	ATK +8%, Crit +120	Each Overdrive cast adds 250-385 Crit, up to 4 stacks	Mordred
Shadow Dancer	3	ATK +8%, PDEF +16%	After any skill, the next 3 basic attacks deal 78-118.5% bonus damage	Nemesis

Forest Bandit favors Assassins that hit many times. Twenty stacks come quickly for a unit like Lilith, whose Overdrive hits a cone three times.

Outlaw is the alternative for Lilith and Zagreus and the only listed choice for Rin, whose builds stack Attack Speed. It does nothing until enemies are below 60% HP, so it is best in teams that spread damage early.

Executioner snowballs on kills. It is strongest on finishers like Hades and weak in boss fights where nothing dies.

Masked Thief gives Mordred a path to very high Crit: four Overdrives at the top value is 1,540 Crit, above the 1,500 cap.

Archer subclasses

Subclass	Tier	Stat bonus	Effect	Recommended for
Sharpshooter	3	ATK +8%, Attack Speed +16%	After 5 basic attacks, the next one gets +1,500 Crit and +90-144% Crit Damage	Artemis, Himiko, Huginn & Muninn, Medusa, Mimir, Ningrose, Orion, Van Helsing
Bloodhunter	3	ATK +8%, PDEF +16%	Each buff gained adds 3-4.8% Attack, up to 10 stacks	Apollo, Artemis, Lorilin
Light Ranger	3	ATK +8%, PDEF +16%	Critical hits fire a light arrow for 80-125% of Attack, at most once per 0.3s	Ifrit, Lorilin
Bounty Hunter	3	HP +8%, MDEF +16%	Every 30s, enters Frenzy for 10s: +160-187% Attack Speed, but loses 2% Max HP per second and Silences itself	Jing

Sharpshooter is the standard Archer pick. Every sixth basic attack is a guaranteed crit with a large Crit Damage bonus, and the +16% Attack Speed line means those attacks come faster.

Bloodhunter is for Archers that receive many buffs, from their own kit or from supports. Light Ranger needs a high crit rate to fire often, which is why Ifrit's first build stacks the Crit set.

Bounty Hunter is a special case for Jing. The self-Silence stops her skills during Frenzy, so it only suits a unit that does most of its damage with basic attacks.

Mage subclasses

Subclass	Tier	Stat bonus	Effect	Recommended for
Astrologer	3	HP +8%, Haste +8	A further +16-25 Haste, but skills deal 20% less damage	Cleopatra, Faust, Gullveig, Loki, Nanalie, Talos
Elementalist	3	ATK +8%, PDEF +16%	Extra damage equal to 26-35% of Attack per debuff on the target, up to 130-175%	Cerberus, Gullveig, Melina, Poseidon, Telperion, Vermilion Bird
Grand Archmage	3	ATK +8%, MDEF +16%	Each crit adds 2.1-3% Attack, up to 15 stacks. Loses a stack after 3s without a crit	Loki, Nanalie, Talos, Tamamo
Potion Master	3	HP +8%, MDEF +16%	15-24% chance on damage to apply a random Stat Debuff, once per target every 4s	Cleopatra, Poseidon, Tamamo
Rune Mage	3	ATK +8%, PDEF +16%	+8-11% damage per buff on itself, up to 32-44%	Gabriel, Tamamo

Astrologer trades 20% skill damage for up to 33 Haste in total. That is a good deal for Mages whose value is utility, not damage: Talos cutting allies' cooldowns or Loki sealing skills. On a damage build, take Grand Archmage, which needs a steady stream of crits to hold its stacks.

Elementalist scales with the number of debuffs on the target, so it belongs in Elemental Echo teams that stack elemental debuffs. Poseidon takes it in Elemental teams, where targets carry the most debuffs, and Potion Master in other teams.

Rune Mage fits self-buffing Mages like Gabriel.

Priest subclasses

Subclass	Tier	Stat bonus	Effect	Recommended for
Executor	3	ATK +8%, HP +8%	At battle start, slows enemy Overdrive Point recovery by 0.35-0.53 points/s for 8s. Does not stack across several carriers	Atanith, Caligula, Chiron, Morgana, Ophelia, Scheherazade, Spimo
High Priest	3	HP +8%, PDEF +16%	+1 Overdrive Point at battle start, then +1 every 9.5s (6.8s at the high end). Does not stack across several carriers	Atanith, Caligula, Hela, Scheherazade, Venus, Vivienne
Divine Officer	3	HP +8%, MDEF +16%	Heals also grant a random Stat Buff, once per target every 12s (7.5s at the high end)	Ophelia, Spimo, Titania, Vivienne
Bishop	3	ATK +8%, Healing +8%	Heals every buffed ally for 1-1.9% Max HP per second, +25% per buff on them, up to +100%	Chiron

The Priest choice is a team decision more than a unit decision. High Priest speeds up your own Overdrives; Executor slows the enemy's at the start of the fight. Because neither stacks, two Priests should split them: one High Priest, one Executor.

Morgana is listed with Executor only, since her own kit already generates Overdrive Points, so a High Priest slot would overlap. Ophelia and Spimo take Executor in PvP, where denying the enemy's opening Overdrives matters most, and Divine Officer elsewhere. Chiron's Bishop is built for teams that keep many buffs up.

Luminaries that change subclass by situation

Luminary	Situation	Subclass
Loki	Support	Astrologer
Loki	Damage	Grand Archmage
Talos	Support	Astrologer
Talos	Damage	Grand Archmage
Poseidon	Elemental teams	Elementalist
Poseidon	Other teams	Potion Master
Thor	PvP	Lord
Thor	PvE	Vanguard
Ophelia, Spimo	PvP	Executor
Ophelia, Spimo	General use	Divine Officer

For how the stat lines convert (Haste +8, Crit +120 and so on), see the stats guide. For gear that pairs with each subclass, see the gear sets guide, and for team context the team builds.

FAQ

How many subclasses are there in Dragon Traveler?

The recommended builds use 28 across the six classes: 6 for Guardians, 5 for Assassins, 5 for Mages, 4 for Warriors, 4 for Archers and 4 for Priests. The game has more; Sword Master's text names Gladiator, which no build recommends.

Can two Priests both run High Priest?

They can, but the effect does not stack. High Priest and Executor both say their effect does not stack if more than one Luminary carries it, so a two-Priest team should take one of each.

What is the best subclass for a Guardian?

Templar for most main tanks, since its two defense lines and Defense Stat Buffs fit a unit that soaks damage. Take Guardian on protective tanks that need to save a carry, and Lionheart Knight on tanks with area control like Athena.

Should Talos and Loki use Astrologer?

Use Astrologer when they are supports. Its extra Haste speeds up Talos's cooldown cuts and Loki's Seals, and the 20% skill damage loss matters less. Switch to Grand Archmage on a damage build.

Which subclass do most Archers use?

Sharpshooter. Eight of the twelve Archers with kit data list it, because every sixth basic attack becomes a guaranteed crit with extra Crit Damage.

What does the tier number on a subclass mean?

It is shown in the subclass list next to the name. Every subclass in the recommended builds is Tier 3 except Martyr, which is Tier 2.