Behind every strong Arisen is a great Pawn. The Pawn system is the backbone of Dragon’s Dogma 2 and makes up the party-building part of the new RPG title. To get the most out of the game and stop yourself from being beaten by the world’s many deadly foes, you will need to have a clear understanding of how the Pawns operate. Luckily, you’ve come to the right place. Allow us to break down everything you need to know about Pawns in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Making Your Main Pawn
During the Quest “Tale’s Beginning” at the very start of the game, you will be prompted to create your Main Pawn who will accompany you for the full duration of your adventure in Dragon’s Dogma 2. You will gain access to the full Character Creator that you used for your own Arisen character, allowing you to make the perfect partner in crime.
Your Main Pawn will be with you throughout the whole game and is the only Pawn that will level up alongside you. Just like your Arisen, you can change your Pawn’s look at a Barberie. Things like hair, tattoos, and markings will only cost you some Gold, but you will need to get the Art of Metamorphosis item from the Pawn Guild to change their appearance.
Pawn Vocations and Inclinations
Also just like your Arisen player character, your Pawn will be able to choose your Pawn’s Vocation, Dragon’s Dogma 2’s equivalent of a class or Job that you would see in other RPGs. These Vocations will decide what Skills your Pawn will be able to learn as well as the weapons and armor they are allowed to equip. You can choose between the same Vocations that are available to your Arisen when selecting your Pawns, with the list expanding for both of you as you discover more of these classes over the course of your playthrough.
You can also change your Pawn’s Vocation at any time by visiting a Vocation Guild like the one found in Vernworth. Along with the Vocations that decide your class type, you will also be able to choose your Pawn’s Inclination. This decides how your Pawn talks as well as how they act when exploring the world and in combat.
There are a total of 4 Inclinations that you can choose from when creating your Pawn:
- Kindhearted Pawns will keep themselves ready to support you and your party as they will prioritize aiding allies when necessary.
- Calm Pawns are more defense-focused since they will prioritize their survival above all, meaning that they are less likely to run into a fight and put themselves at risk.
- Simple is all about curiosity and exploration. These Pawns are more likely to venture out when in the world to discover new things and collect items for you to use.
- Straightforward is the opposite of the Calm Inclination. These Pawns think with their weapons instead of their head, charging ahead of the party and right into battle.
You can change these Inclinations later in the game but doing so isn’t as easy as swapping a Vocation. You will need to get a Rift Incense item that corresponds to the Inclination that you want to change your Pawn to and then use it on your Pawn at a Campsite. These Incense items can be found at the Pawn Guild Vendor next to the Riftstone in Vernworth.
Skills and Specializations
Once a Vocation is chosen for your Pawn, you will be able to start buying new Weapon Skills and Core Skills. The Vocation Guild is also where you can purchase these new abilities for yourself and your Pawn. Just like your Arisen, you will have 4 slots for Weapon Skills that your Pawn can use, so pick and choose which abilities you want for your Pawn to maximize how you want their build to be and how you want them to play.
Core Skills that you unlock are added to the character’s basic moveset without the need of being put onto their Ability List. Make sure to really take into consideration how you want your Pawn to battle and what Skills go well with your chosen Inclination.
Finally, there are Specializations that will allow you to teach your Pawn specific passive Skills that won’t be found at the Vocation Guild and aren’t limited to any single class. These range from making your Pawn more likely to use healing items to marking items that you can collect on your map to even allowing them to learn the Elvish language – an invaluable skill when exploring the Sacred Arbor. You can only equip 1 Specialization at a time and can switch them at any time by finding a Tome that corresponds with a specific Specialization. Simply use the Tome on your Pawn to activate it.
Pawn Commands
While you can’t take direct control of your Pawns, you are able to issue certain commands that will loosely direct your Pawns in both open-world exploration and combat. You can see your command list in the bottom left of the screen next to your minimap.
There are a total of 4 commands:
- The “Go!” command tells your Pawns to act independently of you. This means they won’t stick right next to you when exploring and will often run a small distance ahead of you, grabbing items they come across. You can also issue this command to have your Pawn do something like destroy a rock or open a chest nearby. This can also be done in response to when your Pawn mentions that they see something that might be of interest. In combat, “Go” will see your Pawns spread out and will act according to their Inclination.
- “To Me!” will have all of your Pawns gather to your side. This can be used when exploring to have all of your Pawns group up so you can move ahead as a team. During combat, all combatants will fall back on you, giving you a chance to provide healing if necessary or escape a bad situation.
- “Wait!” will see the Pawns remain still during exploration and will have them stop attacking and aiding the Arisen while in combat.
- The “Help!” command will see all of your Pawns prioritize healing and supporting you instead of fighting or exploring.
Understanding these commands is key to mastering the Pawn system. Make sure you know which command is active and be ready to change between them when the situation calls for it.
Hiring More Pawns: Riftstones and Wandering Pawns
While your Main Pawn will always be at your side, you can have a party of up to 4 characters. The remaining two spots can be filled with other Pawns that you can hire. Throughout the world, you will find stone sigils known as Riftstones. Interacting with one of these stones will bring you to a realm where you can hire the Pawns created by other players by spending Rift Crystals.
The cost of these Pawns can range from free if they are at or around the same level as you to extremely expensive if you try to get an over-leveled character on your team. You can also look at a list of officially made Pawns as well as a full list of every pawn currently available to you in the Rift.
There are also Forgotten Riftstones scattered in the wild which function similarly to regular Riftstones but will only present you with Pawns that match the theme of that Stone. For example, this Forgotten Riftstone found when you are on your way to Vernworth during the early hours of the game is known as the Rift of Robustness and will only show you brawny Pawns. At normal Riftstones, you can select View Linked Riftstones to add the characteristics of discovered Riftstones to the one you are currently at.
You can also find Pawns that are just walking around the world and are known as Wandering Pawns. When hiring Pawns to fill out your party, whether you are at a Riftstone or out in the wild, make sure to check Vocations and Inclinations but especially their Skills and Specializations. The former will allow you to know exactly what actions Pawn is able to do while the other can fill a specific role that your party might be missing.
Having a translator on hand is always helpful. You can build your party in any way that you see fit and it is this freedom that is one of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s greatest strengths. You can build your party in a variety of different ways, from a group of quick-moving thieves that swarm foes, to a well-balanced combination of sword-wielders, spellcasters, and archers.
Note: Have fun experimenting with the different make-ups, but we do suggest always having a Mage as this class will be a steady supplier of healing to you and your other Pawns. No matter how deadly you might think your team is, they can’t do anything if they are dead.
Pawns you hire will not level up, so don’t get too attached to them. You will eventually need to dismiss them so that you can get new Pawns that are more attuned to your level. When you send them back, you will also be able to give that Pawn’s Arisen a gift as a thank you for their help. Also, any gear or items you put on the Pawn will also go back with them so make sure you take back any items you might have them carrying or wearing unless you are willing to part with it for good.
Getting Your Pawn Hired
Getting your Pawn hired is completely random and relies on them simply catching the eye of other players. This can be done by having good gear and weapons or having the right Skills and Specializations that a certain player is looking for. At a Riftstone, you can also assign Pawn Quests for your companion’s excursions. These are small missions that the player that summons your Pawn will be able to optionally complete for a reward of your choosing.
Rewards can be any item that you currently have or even a large sum of Gold. The right combo of Quest and Reward might also draw the attention of certain Arisen. There are also Pawn Badges, small tokens that are tracked on your Pawns to show their proficiency in certain actions. These can be like their ability to take down certain monsters.
As showcased in the video above our Pawn’s current Cyclops Badge progress which tracks how many of these monsters they have beaten. Getting this Badge will make them better at taking down this type of enemy and will lead see them advise their Arisen on its weaknesses. These Badges can be progressed in the worlds of other players as well as your own, so make sure to fill the bar as these Accolades can also be helpful in getting your Pawn chosen.
Upon returning from another player’s world, you will get the gift that they provided to your Pawn and will get a briefing on their journey. This can clue you in on what your Pawn learned during their adventure. Speaking of which…
How Pawns Learn from the Player
The AI of the Pawns is constantly adapting to the playstyle of the Arisen as well as gaining new information about the world as they explore. Pawns will see how you approach the game and will try to adopt things about how their master approaches situations. This includes how they fight to how they gather items.
Example:
During a certain difficult fight, one of my Pawns was defeated. Unable to run in and revive them right in the midst of combat, I went in and picked up their body and brought them to safety, allowing me to revive them while the others continued to fight the beast.
After doing that, my Pawns would carry any downed allies to me to help me revive them instead of me having to go in and carry them myself. There are many small nuances just like this that makes this game’s world just that much more dynamic and exciting.
Pawns Can Learn Even More:
Pawns can learn are where to find certain items and how to complete Quests. If a Pawn sees something like a rare mineral or a Chest while in another world, they will offer to lead to their location when in your party. This extends as far as even Quest objectives. Some missions don’t clearly mark where you need to go or where to find certain items on your map but a Pawn can make up for that by leading to them. You can also see if a Pawn knows about your current Priority Quest by checking if the Quest Guide part of their Description is marked “Yes” or “No.” This system is fantastic and will lead to many stories of Pawns taking action that will be exclusive to your playthrough.
The Dragonsplague
While Pawns are great and are integral to the Dragon’s Dogma 2 experience, they are also where the biggest threat looms within. This might be a rare occurrence, but this tip here can make or break your entire save file. We aren’t joking. This is serious. You might sometimes overhear your Pawns discussing something called the Dragonsplague that can infect Pawns as they journey through the Rift.
This isn’t flavor text or some neat lore, this is very real and very deadly. This illness can be passed between Pawns, so you will need to make sure you spot it early and deal with it. Pawns with the infection won’t have it in their stat menu, instead, you will need to look for visual cues to see their sickness.
What To Watch Out For:
You will see an infected Pawn’s eyes glow and pulse red, something that is easier to see in the nighttime. They will also start to grab their head and be more brash like mouthing off to you and your comrades, something that other Pawns will notice and mention.
They will also stop listening to your commands. If you see this, you can dismiss the Pawn (unless it’s your main Pawn), but there is a chance that it has already passed the infection to someone else.
How To Deal With Dragonsplague:
The only way to get rid of the Dragonsplague is to have that Pawn become “forfeit” or in other words, kill them. And we don’t mean like knock them down in a revived state, no they fully got to go. It seems harsh but the alternative is even worse.
If left unchecked, then your Pawn will eventually give into the Plague when you rest at an inn. A cutscene will play that sees the Pawn overtaken by a shadowy dragon. When you awake, nearly all if not all people in the town you rested in will be dead. Quest givers, vendors, all of them slaughtered by the Pawn. This can completely cripple your save and makes it paramount that you make sure the Dragonsplague stays away.
