Dragon’s Dogma 2, just like Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen, features a highly unique system called the Pawns system. This system allows players to have companions that accompany them as party members in their travels. Pawns also let players help each other out, lending them to other players in need through the use of Riftstones and venturing beyond the Rift.
What Are Pawns?
Pawns are mysterious otherworldly beings dedicated to aiding the Arisen with their characteristics shaped by player action but cleverly controlled by AI to providing a better sense of fellowship and adventure during gameplay in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Alongside the Arisen, up to three Pawns can be brought on adventures, with each acting as valuable companions that learn through shared experience.
The Arisen forms a special bond with their main Pawn early in their journey. The main pawn is customizable just like the Arisen, and will grow in strength and skill alongside them.
Additionally, players can enlist support Pawns from other players, which fill up two of the three slots in their party. However, support Pawns will not level up alongside the Arisen unlike their main Pawn.
Pawns will also autonomously gather resources, engage in combat, and utilize curatives, although players must provide specific items for their use, lending help to the knowledge gathered from traversing to other worlds.
The Pawns’ AI system let them acquire useful knowledge and guiding the Arisen to various destinations, including dungeons and hidden treasures. However, there are places where Pawns are unwelcome, requiring temporary separation from the Arisen, though they will reunite once the Arisen leaves the restricted area, ensuring continued companionship on their journey.
Hiring Pawns (SUpport Pawns)
Throughout your journey, you’ll encounter wandering pawns whom you can recruit as support for your party. These pawns are called support pawns. Unlike your main pawn, support pawns won’t level up while with you, so you’ll need to hire new ones regularly. You can also hire pawns through riftstones found all over Vermund and Battahl.
You can hire pawns of higher levels than your own by spending rift crystals, earned during your adventures. If your party is full, you’ll need to dismiss a support pawn to make room for a new one.
When dismissing a pawn, you can rate their service and even leave them a present for their master. Keep in mind that any equipment changes made to a support pawn will be gifted to their master upon dismissal.
Additionally, items held by a dismissed or forfeited pawn will be automatically sent to item storage. Overall, hiring pawns adds variety to your party composition and fosters a sense of community in the single-player experience, with customization options available for your main pawn and opportunities to form alliances with other players’ pawns, both online and offline.
Pawn Specializations
Specializations are a unique new feature of pawns. They add color to a pawn’s personality and will sometimes provide valuable aid to your adventure.
All Pawn Specializations (Warning: Spoilers!)
- Chirurgeon: allows a pawn to use curatives on the Arisen and other allies on their own initiative.
- Logistician: allows a pawn to combine materials and move items between allies’ packs as they see fit.
- Forager: allows a pawn to mark location of enhancement materials on the map.
- Hawker: allow a pawn to purchase items from the inventory for a fair sum of gold.
- Woodland Wordsmith: allow a pawn to comprehend (and translate) Elvish.
- Aphonite: abstains a pawn from speaking except very select circumstances.
Pawn Inclinations
Pawns have four inclinations, and when you partner with your main pawn, you choose one for them. This choice affects how they speak and act, but they always remain loyal to you.
All Pawn Inclinations
- Kindhearted Pawns
- Attentive to the Arisen and allies,
- Quick to aid when needed, and
- They prioritize support by holding down foes and casting beneficial enchantments.
- Calm Pawns
- Strategic thinkers,
- Concerned with survival, favoring defense and evasion, and employing clever tactics,
- Shrewd and efficient, and
- They dispose of unneeded items in their pack.
- Simple Pawns
- Earnest and adventurous,
- Keen explorers, brimming with curiosity and highly observant,
- They are most concerned with gathering items and examining surroundings, and
- Generous by nature and often gift their finds to their companions.
- Straightforward Pawns
- Candid and impulsive,
- Adept at spotting enemies from afar, blessed with fighting spirit,
- They rush headlong into battle and tackle larger monsters with unflinching courage, and
- Delivering bold and decisive assaults.
main pawn vocations
A limitation Pawns have is only being able to use non-hybrid vocations. This means they can have the vocations Thief, Archer, Fighter, Sorcerer, Mage, and Warrior. While this may hinder players in what they initially want to do, this limitation lets everyone try to be creative and smart with their pawn’s vocation.
Dragonsplague
Dragonsplague is a contagious condition that affects pawns as they travel between worlds. Infected pawns often display perform better and act bolder as noticed through their speech and behavior. However, dragonsplague can lead to catastrophic consequences when it reaches a terminal stage, and should be looked out for.
Pawns with Dragonsplague will often have signs (akin to symptoms) such as red eyes, inaction to your commands, and brazen attitude. There is no sureway cure for the Dragonsplague, but there is a way to remove it.
pawns dragons dogma 2
