Welcome to the Pawn Basics Overview for Dragon’s Dogma 2.
In this short guide, we will explain what Pawns are in Dragon’s Dogma 2 and how they work. You will encounter plenty of Pawns during your playthrough and they are an important aspect of DD2.
What Are Pawns in Dragon’s Dogma 2?
Pawns are characters who are sworn to serve the Arisen (the player). Pawns are marked out by a scar on their hand, the same scar that appears on the Arisen’s chest.
At the start of your DD2 playthrough, you are prompted to first create your Arisen (the character you will play as) and then create your main Pawn. Your main Pawn will be at your service from the beginning of the game and is undyingly loyal to you.
Later on, you can get up to two more Pawns to make up a party of one Arisen and three Pawns. These other two Pawns are usually recruited from a pool of Pawns made by other players. However, if you’re playing in offline mode then these will be replaced by “preset” pawns.
Pawns can appear human, elven or beastren, although this mainly just decides their appearance and doesn’t impact gameplay at all.
Where are Pawns Recruited From?
Pawns originate from a place called the Rift. The Arisen can access the Rift by using one of several Rift Stones found throughout the world in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Once you have accessed the Rift, you can search for Pawns to accompany you on your adventure. Your main Pawn will always accompany you, but your other two Pawns can be freely recruited and replaced as you see fit. Depending on your plans, you might want to select Pawns based on their skills.
How are Pawns Used?
As mentioned above, pawns are extremely loyal companions who will accompany you throughout your adventures. They will assist you however they can, both in and out of combat.
While Pawns are sworn in service to the Arisen, they are not mindless followers without any free will at all – when you are exploring an area your Pawns will explore with you and might find items that can be useful (unless you tell them not to). They also have their own sets of skills, for example, a Pawn who is knowledgeable about the Elven language could help to translate this for you.
In short, your Pawns know things about the world around you and they might be particularly knowledgeable about a particular area, skill or enemy. You should always try to pay attention to what they say so you don’t miss out on any tips or opportunities.
Pawn Skills and Personalities
Pawns possess their own set of skills and abilities that change how they will act both in and out of battle and how proficient they will be at carrying out certain attacks or actions.
Just like the Arisen, Pawns belong to a specific Vocation (Class) which forms the basis of their skillset. You can choose this for your Main Pawn during creation – for your other two Pawns, it is likely to be a strong deciding factor on which you will choose them.
Pawns also have an Inclination, which defines their personality. Each Pawn’s Inclination will impact how they react to the Arisen’s actions and their preferred approach in certain situations. While the Arisen gets the final say, Pawns will have their preferred way of doing things and might not be happy if you constantly do things they disagree with.
Finally, Pawns can have various specialisations. These more precisely define what your Pawn is good at doing – for example, the ability to translate the language of the Elves mentioned above is gained via a specialisation.
