How to defeat cyclops in Dragon's Dogma 2

So you've stumbled across a cyclops in Dragon's Dogma 2 and it has unceremoniously introduced you to the game-over screen for the first time. It's likely to be the biggest enemy you've encountered in the game so far, and it really doesn't mess around when it comes to making its presence known. So how do you beat it?

You'll likely encounter your first cyclops on the way to the capital and you need to defeat it to continue with the story. It's also possible to find these oversized foes in other places, too: you'll find one such cyclops with far more health to the north of Melve. So without further ado, here's how to defeat a cyclops in Dragon's Dogma 2.

How to beat the cyclops 

Defeating a cyclops isn't as hard as you might think, though the sheer size of it is certainly off-putting when you first stumble across one. The ease of the encounter will largely depend on your level and, by extension, how many abilities you've learned and equipped. There are, however, other things you can do to make the fight easier.

• Have a full party of four
• Knock the cyclops to the ground to deal increased damage
• Aim for the eye where possible
• Use fire if you have a mage

In terms of party composition, I recommend bringing one of each of the starting vocations, but at the very least, make sure you have a fighter with you to help distract it while you deal damage if you're playing a Mage or an Archer. Likewise, if you're a Fighter, bring along a Mage for the damage and healing. 

The cyclops takes increased damage when prone, so your priority should be to try to knock it over. If your party can get enough attacks in, the cyclops will be knocked off balance and you can grab its foot and give it a shove to the ground if you're close enough when this happens—don't worry if you're playing ranged vocation as pawns will do this for you. If successful, you'll want to use this window to hit it with everything you've got, taking full advantage of the free damage window. If you can manage it, hitting it in the head when it's on the ground sometimes triggers a special attack for extra damage.

If you're playing a ranged class, you'll have an easier time of it overall. The eye is a weak spot—which you can climb to reach if you're a melee class, by the way—but even if you have trouble targeting it because it's moving around too much, you have the advantage of being able to stay clear of most of its stomps. A Mage with the Flagration spell can be very useful in this fight too. If the cyclops switches its attention to you (and you're a spellcaster or an archer) evade it until your fighter grabs its attention again.

The rewards for defeating the cyclops seem to vary, though you'll usually get a Misshapen Eye, and a Rugged Bone for your troubles.