Your Pawn, Your Shadow, and Your Reflection - Writings of an Aged Arisen

This is a guide for those wishing to learn more about Pawns and how to set them up to be the best Pawn companion in any party, not only for themselves but for the Rift for other players.

Introduction

Welcome Arisen, to this guide about your Pawn. This guide assumes you are about to get your Pawn or just got your Pawn from the Encampment, the camp Rook leads you to. If you're past this, do not worry, as this guide contains knowledge and tips to be able to improve your Pawn beyond this very early stage in the game, and not only make them a powerful and vital party member, but an attractive Rift hire for other Arisen.

Your Pawn

Your Main Pawn is your constant companion in your adventures through Dragon's Dogma, and is obtained early in the game after Rook, the first Pawn you meet, leads you to the Encampment. They are in essence, a permanent addition to your party, fully customizable by you, a sort-of guide to the world, a companion in combat, your representative in the Rift for other Arisen, and much more.

Since your Main Pawn is always going to be there, it would be wise to spend time setting them up, from equipment to Vocation, behaviors and knowledge. All of these add to their capabilities and performance in and out of combat. Most common Arisen decide to set up their Pawn to be a companion to their play-style. Fighters may want a support Mage ready with healing magic. Striders may prefer a Fighter to draw attention, or another fellow Strider to set things up. Mages may prefer a Fighter to be the front-line combatant to create openings for them to safely cast magics, and so forth.

Your Pawn's character creation and Vocation aren't the only things you need to consider. During Pawn Creation, you are asked a series of questions that affect a lot of statistics. These statistics are your Pawns Inclinations, and are the primary mechanic that decides your Pawn's behaviors in and out of combat. Pawn Inclinations run as a hierarchy of actions your Pawn will take, with Primary, Secondary, and a hidden, un-displayed Tertiary Inclination, and your Pawn will take actions according to these Inclinations.

The usual way to control and direct your Pawn and its Inclinations is via consistent action, and thereafter the use of a Knowledge Chair[dragonsdogma.wikia.com], found in many safe places and town inns. Your Pawn will talk about topics that they may need clarification on, like the preference to go after the toughest enemy in a group, or the small fry first, usually after watching you do the same for a while. Or they may ask if you want them to be more quiet from now on, of which, I highly recommend you tell them to do so. Less noise headaches for yourself and other Arisen :P

Another more direct way of changing your Pawn's inclinations is to use Inclination Elixers, purchased from Johnathan in the Encampment. Using such Elixers directly increase these Inclinations, and with proper use, can alter the order of Inclinations to give you a new set of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Inclinations. More on this later.

Another facet of your Pawn is its knowledge of areas, quests, and Bestiary Knowledge[dragonsdogma.wikia.com]. Well-learned pawns will enact more and more effective tactics to use against the many enemies you will face during your adventures, give more helpful advice to progress quests, or general area advice if they are more familiar with the areas you are going through. This is doubly important with their Bestiary Knowledge, as more refined knowledge of enemies can dictate your Pawn's combat actions to more efficiently dispatch enemies, and, if combined with equally well-trained Pawns in a party, can lead to some awesome double and triple-team tactic execution.

You are the Light that Shapes the Shadow (Pawn Inclination Types)

As stated before, Pawns act upon the gameworld through their Inclinations, which denote their actions before, during, and after combat. They influence what they'll do, what they'll say, and more.

The primary way to ensure desireable behavior in one's Pawn is to properly train its Inclinations constantly. Inclinations decide the range of actions your Pawn will likely do given the circumstances you will face during combat. There are good, and there are bad inclinations to consider depending upon Vocation, and good and bad ones depending upon circumstance. Lets run down the list of Inclinations for Pawns, and give examples as to which does what and when.

As stated before, Pawn Inclinations run in a hierarchy, with a Primary, Secondary, and a hidden Tertiary Inclination that denotes the actions of your Pawn in and out of combat. Combine this with the aformentioned Bestiary Knowledge and you have a picture of what your Pawn is most likely to do in your party in combat, or in someone else's.

Pawn Inclinations in the game are:

• Scather. Entering battle aggressively with enemies as they appear, or when using the "Go" command during combat will tend to train this in your Pawn. This Inclination increases the likelyhood of your Pawn to go after the strongest enemy in an encounter first, and increase the likelyhood they'll attempt to climb onto a boss and attack it. This is great for high-attack power melee pawns and Striders, but can cause some behavior oddities when the Pawn is a Ranger with the Longbow, as the Longbow requires range to deliver more damaging hits, instead making the Pawn close the distance and use their daggers. This is also not idea for magic-casters, as they will tend to stick close to said strongest enemy, leading to more incidental interruptions during casting.
  
  
• Medicant. Commanding "Help" out of combat and "Come" in combat trains this Inclination. Medicant-aligned Pawns will prioritize healing and support of the party. This is great for Mage Pawns with status removal spells, or Anodyne healing if available. Again, this may be to some detriment for a more offensive-set Pawn wherein they will interrupt themselves to heal the party first before (re)casting offensive spells, and is entirely not desired for Pawns with no access to healing or curing magic.
  
  
• Mitigator. Trained by the act of taking down weak enemies first, Pawns with this Inclination will attempt to follow suit, oftentimes preferring area-effect abilities and spells. Great for when you want to focus on the boss first before handling the mob, letting the mob be handled by your Pawn.
  
  
• Challenger. Trained by focusing on long-range attackers and spellcasters, Pawns will attempt to do the same. If spells are on hand, they will tend to cast area-of-effect spells more often the more ranged or spell-casting enemies are in view. Great for training a specialist sniper.
  
  
• Utilitarian. Trained by using a lot of support skills and enchantments, or by Commanding "Help" whilst in combat, Pawns with this Inclination favor support group tactics, pairing off actions with other Pawns, and encourages Spell-Syncing[dragonsdogma.wikia.com] for Sorcerers. Warrior and Fighter Pawns will tend to grapple and hold targets down to create openings, and Mage Pawns will tend to cast enchantments and Spellscreen more often. This is one of the best Inclinations for highly-trained Pawns with very good Bestiary Knowledge, as they will "call" the proper tactic or the weakness of encountered enemies. Combine this with other Utilitarian Pawns and said other Pawns may attempt tactics as they are "called", leading to a far more dynamic and effective group combat experience.
  
  
• Guardian. Trained by Commanding "Come" and "Help" very often, avoiding the "Go" Command, Pawns will learn to protect the Arisen first, preferring to stay close to the Arisen even in combat. This is fine for when both the Arisen and the Pawn are melee characters, but will prove to be a large detriment for ranged Pawns and is mostly a generally undesireable Inclination, as the Pawn's focus will be on the Arisen above actually encountering enemies and dealing with them, reducing their effectiveness. This is actually very easy to train on a Pawn unintentionally, and is something that should be avoided as much as possible.
  
  
• Nexus. Reviving Pawns that are downed and wearing a specific item in the game will tend to train the Pawn with this Inclination. It is similar to Guardian, but instead focuses more on the party in general, and will encourage your Pawn to bring downed Pawns to your feet for you to revive them. Ideally suited to support magic casters in the early game, and when the behavior is desired in a fast, support pawn.
  
  
• Pioneer. Trained by using the "Go" Command outside of combat, Pawns with this inclination will tend to scout out ahead of the party, oftentimes ending up in engagements before the rest of the party is in position to assist. Another undesireable Inclination in general outside of specific circumstances, and another one easily trained unintentionally.
  
  
• Acquisitor. Trained by by the general act of looting, especially during combat, Pawns with this Inclination will tend to do the same, to the detriment to the rest of the party. Another one to avoid in general, but is also a rarity to find on Pawns who are at least taken cared for. Pawns will loot things as they find them anyway, so this is essentially more of a "dud" Inclination that could take up a spot.

There are two more direct methods of training your Pawn. One is via the previously mentioned Knowledge Chair. You may want to use said Knowledge Chair often to make sure that your Pawn's normally talkative nature is kept on a short leash, not only for youself, but for other prospective Arisen who are looking to hire your Pawn in the Rift.

Another direct way to modifying your Pawn's Inclinations can be done by using Inclination Elixers and the Neutralizing Elixer. The Neutralizing Elixer "resets" a Pawn's Inclinations to a baseline balanced figure across all possible Inclinations, which makes it more of a clean slate to work off on to train via battle actions, or more directly with Inclination Elixers.

Inclination Elixers, when used, will turn the Inclination in question into the Primary (by increasing its value behind the scenes). Using another of the same kind will reinforce it and lower all others. Using a different Inclination Elixer will set that as the Secondary if you already have a Primary as per above (2x Elixer). Using the same one as the Secondary will turn it into the Primary, with the former Primary becomes the Secondary, and all other Inclinations are reduced.

So a procedure if you want to use Inclination Elixers with a baseline from using the Neutralizing Elixer is:

• Use Tertiary Elixer
  
• Use Secondary Elixer x2 (aka, buy and use two)
  
• Use Primary Elixer x3

Normally to "max out" an Inclination, you would need about 3-5 Elixers of the chosen Inclination, so plan out the order.

For a more focuxed Inclination setup, you'd probably go:

• Use Neutralizing Elixer
  
• Use Tertiary Elixer
  
• Use Secondary Elixer x2-3
  
• Use Primary Elixer x3-5

Another (supremely over-doing it) method is portrayed in this animated GIF[imgur.com]. I would hasten to add that doing this is really over-doing it and is not permanent, so somewhat needless to push this far as the Tertiary is barely there by doing it this way, and may not be desired.

Remember that your Pawn will always continually learn from your actions, so the training never really ends. Keep this in mind when playing the game, as the Pawn will attempt to copy, and react, to your actions and commands in the game.

Your Reflection, the Rift be thy Mirror 1/2 (Pawn Inclination Recommendations)

Your Pawn is your representative in the Rift, and it is a real reflection of you as an Arisen. Having an ill-equipped Pawn with bad Inclinations and lack of knowledge does not shine a good light upon you, and the opposite being true. If you want to earn the most out of the Rift and your Pawn, you need to put the work into the Pawn and making them an attractive party hire.

To start, Good Pawn Inclinations to pair up with Pawn Vocation, skill layout, and gear is always a good first step. The second step is the Pawn's general knowledge of areas and quests. And the third and arguably the most important is the Pawn's bestiary knowledge, as this'll dictate how effective the Pawn is in handling the enemies it'll face as well as imparting that knowledge upon the Arisen and fellow party members.

But keep in mind that since the Pawn continuously learns from their Arisen, Pawn Inclinations are not the only step to consider. Play-style also counts, as well as Vocation and gear setup as well.

To Start, on Pawn Inclinations:

• Inclinations to avoid in general are Acquisitor and Guardian, as many play-styles do not gel well with said Inclinations, with one outright greedily preventing the Pawn from participating in combat and instead focusing on looting, and the other a detriment if the Arisen is not attacked by close-enough enemies.
  
  
• Inclinations highly desired in any Pawn in any situation is some Utilitarian. This encourages party dynamic tactics, and Pawns with this inclination will oftentimes work together to take down foes as best they can. Combine this with high bestiary knowledge and you may find them to be better combatants than you.
  
  
• Fighters work best with aggressive, close-ranged Inclinations like Scather and Mitigator, with good secondaries like Utilitarian (for tactical execution and team play with fellow Pawns) and maybe Pioneer in a Tertiary (so that they'll tend to be in the front). Keep in mind that Challenger may not be a good choice if you want your Fighter to focus more on drawing aggro from the pack versus going for a bee-line for the spell-caster in the back, unless that's your intention for the Pawn. If this is the case, an offensive-set Warrior with good closer skills may be useful.
  
  
• Striders and Rangers work best with focused aggression. Scather sees some use for Striders (so that they'll tend to grapple onto large enemies), whilst Challenger is more preferred to give Rangers the range they need to apply their Longbow's effectiveness. Mitigator is a common Secondary, alongside Utilitarian. Avoid Scather on a Ranger, as this'll nullify the ranged advantage they're meant to use. Also avoid Pioneer, as they're not meant to be away from the party.
  
  
• Offensive magic casters benefit the most from a mixture of Challenger, Utilitarian, and Mitigator, with Utilitarian usually the first choice Primary (to encourage team-play and spell sync for Sorcerers) with Secondary Mitigator. Medicant is a good Tertiary, but may not be desirable if the magic caster Pawn does not have any support magic. A common magic caster Inclination setup is Utilitarian/Challenger/Mitigator combo especially on Sorcerers to guarantee Spell-Syncing. Avoid Pioneer and Nexus as Primary/Secondary in the late game, as in the late game, no one should be downed lest you risk failure.
  
  
• Support magic casters usually prefer Utilitarian and Medicant in the Primary and Secondary position. Medicant isn't desired as a Primary because they would oftentimes interrupt an offensive or support spell in lieu of trying to heal a party member who may only have a slight scratch. Challenger sees use as per norm, as that keeps the Pawn's focus to range, magnifying their already ranged basis. Mitigator also sees use as a Tertiary, as well as Nexus. Common setups are Utilitarian/Medicant/Mitigator or Utilitarian/Challenger/Medicant. Again, avoid Pioneer, as they're not meant to be away from the party.

Your Reflection, the Rift be thy Mirror 2/2 (Pawn Vocation, Skills and Arisen playstyle)

To continue, Pawn Vocation and Skill Recommendations:

• Fighter Pawns are best equipped with high Physical Defense gear, complimented with a solid shield and sword. Blink Strike should be a standard, as it is a closer to the enemy. Another standard is Skyward Slash, to deal with flying enemies. Shield Summons is a standard for Fighter Pawns as this allows them to draw aggro. Springboard is an excellent party dynamic skill, as it allows for another party member or the Arisen to gain some height, either to grapple onto a large enemy, or to use said height for a ground slam. Compass Slash is a great crowd pleaser, perfect for crowd specialists.
  
  
• Warrior Pawns forego the shield for a larger, two-handed sword or war-hammer, thereby gaining more reach and savagery, and oddly enough rely more on their base attacks rather than their Skills, which means they benefit the most from learning from their Arisen a play-style that maximizes this (like jump-attacking more often, or positioning themselves in the middle of a pack). Savage Lunge should be in every setup, as a closer is always desired for melee Pawns. Ladder Blade is the Springboard of Warriors, also recommendable. Spark Strike always knocks down the crowd, and don't discount Pommel Strike, as a momentary stun may be the opener you need to take down a particularly difficult foe. There are also charged and absorb-style Skills that end in spectacular damage if executed well. War Cry draws aggro if you feel the Warrior needs to do so.
  
  
• Strider Pawns with Dual Daggers are probably the most flexible of Pawn types you can have in any party. Their Daggers make them better at dealing damage when grappled onto larger foes, with their Shortbow giving them ranged options. On the Daggers, Biting Wind is both a closer and an escape in one attack, and can be spammed, leading to a Pawn that can weave through a crowd of enemies. Scarlet Kisses is a flurry of slashes, great for quickly destroying a target, and it works when climbing on a large enemy. Helm Splitter is a good choice for team-oriented Striders, as this attack gets better with height, preferably from a toss from a teammate. Toss and Trigger, Ensnare and Dazzle Hold are the Strider's choice for stuns, either singularly or for a crowd, all of which see use from a well-trained Pawn.
  
  
• Strider Pawns with Bows are deadly ranged combatants and can switch back to their Dual Daggers at will. For the bow, Threefold Arrow is 3 arrows in one attack, great for more damage, and Triad Shot spreads that attack out in a horizontal line from the Strider, perfect for crowds. For more single-target-focused Striders, Full Bend charges then looses a straight shot, with area specialist striders can choose Cloudburst Volley to shoot arrows into the air to have it rain down upon a chosen area. For ranged stuns, Whistle Dart produces a loud whistle, halting enemies for a time.
  
  
• Ranger Pawns forego the Bow and use the more longer-ranged Longbow, and thusly are more focused on range, as they should be. Inheriting nearly all the same Dagger skills from the Strider, the Ranger benefits from a whole new slew of options with their Longbow, with some returning favorites, upgraded. Sixfold Arrow is to the Strider's Threefold Arrow. Dire Arrow is an upgraded form of the Strider's Full Bend, with vastly increased damage, and can be charged. Heptad Shot is 7 arrows in a horizontal sweep in front of the Ranger, perfect for crowds. Foot Binder pins an enemy to a wall for a time, perfect for taking out said enemy for a moment. Flying Din is a stun grenade in arrow form coupled with insane knock-up. Whirling Arrow is basically an arrow drill that goes through enemies in its flight path, delivering multiple hits along the way, great for specialist arrow types like Oil or Poison.
  
  
• Mage Pawns are also equally as flexible as Strider Pawns, except their focus is on the magical. Mages are also the only ones with access to healing and curative magic. Anodyne is a standard on any Mage, as it is the one healing magic that will see much use in any Arisen's party, though limited by the nature of Dragons Dogma's restorable HP and full HP. Halidom is another one that will see much use, as it clears Poison, Torpor, Silence, Burning, and Frozen status ailments (with High Halidom able to cure Blindness and Skill Stifling). Mages can also cast Boons of fire, ice, and lighting elemental types to themselves and to party members, adding their elemental effects to their attacks, whilst changing the behavior of a Mage's own. There are also Holy and Dark Boons with their corresponding effects. Spellscreen increases defense, stagger and knockdown resistance, which can be stacked. Grapnel is a dark magical anchor that holds down an enemy. Halidom clears Poison, Torpor, Silence, Burns, and Frostbite from allies, whilst Blerium and Silentum apples Blind and Silence to enemies, respectively.
  
  
• Sorcerer Pawns are some of the most damaging Pawns you can have in any party, with some of the most awe-inspiring and dangerous spells at their command, with matching cast times and vulnerability states. Well-trained Sorcerer Pawns can Spell Sync[dragonsdogma.wikia.com] and cast same or similar spells much faster, together. Since their focus is more on the enemy, they have a wider set of wider-area spells at their command, with many from the Mage carrying over. Miasma is one of the new choices a Sorcerer has at their disposal, and is a dark-based magical attack that can apply poison effects. Lassitude is a sigil that applies Torpor upon enemies in range, and Petrifaction can petrify enemies caught in it. Necromancy summons forth the spirits of the dead to protect them and attack their enemies. Seism is another new option to a Sorcerer that causes the very ground they stand on to explode, damaging foes, whilst Maelstrom is a pocket tornado. Lastly, a Sorcerer is the only magic class with access to Voidspell, which removes all negative physical and magical debuffs to defense and attack, and importantly in the High Voidspell version, cures Petrification, a very difficult to cure ailment and one of the most dangerous to be afflicted with, ending in guaranteed death if not cured.

Lastly, Arisen playstyle is equally important to a Pawn's performance in another Arisen's party. They will attempt to emulate their Arisen's playstyle as much as possible (via Inclination influence). As much as making a compliment Pawn to your playstyle is a good step in the game, later on for optimal Pawn performance, spending time as the Pawn's own Vocation to "train" them how to fight is apt as well. You can easily see this problem for ranged Pawns seemingly staying in the melee range (or worse, Ranger Pawns climbing onto enemies) because their Arisen in their source game is a melee Vocation and thus trained the wrong Inclinations too much.

It is a good idea to parity with your Main Pawn for a while when playing same or similar Vocations. If you want to guarantee your Pawn using their effective skills, use it whilst playing and they'll take the hint. This works very well with an Arisen and a Pawn who are both Sorcerers and the Pawn trained well enough to Spell-Sync.

Whilst it is not required to do so (as Pawns with the proper inclinations work well enough), it is still a great addition to the Pawn mechanics of Dragon's Dogma, and is one excellent way to refine a Pawn's performance in the field by solidifying their Inclinations via play-style.

Endword and Other Guides

I hope my writings prove to be useful in taking care of one's Pawn during your travels, Arisen, and I hope you find what you seek. Remember to take care of your Pawn as it will take care of you. Safe travels and may you and your Pawns succeed in your adventures.

If you find this writing to be of use to you, please do leave tangible feedback to me as a rating or a comment. Not only does the rating help the guide in general in Steam's search algorithm, it also tells me if the guide is indeed worth your time. Comments also help a lot by telling me what sort of information you need that I may not have covered clearly enough in the guide itself, which helps me help you.

If you wish to know some hints and tips to getting started as a newly Arisen, my first Writing is here:
Tips and Hints to Newly Arisen

If you wish to know more about your Vocations (classes) open to you and your Pawn, that Writing is here:
Vocations, Strengths and Weaknesses, all Part of a Whole

If you wish to know more about Debilitations and Archmagickal effects, that Writing is here:
Debilitatiions and Archmagicks

[Kodaxmax]

@cyanmurder those tactics are linked to bestiary knowledge level.

[Cyanmurder]

Adventuring with your pawn will give them insight on enemies and their tactics. The pawn can learn some moves like climbing a dragon or ogre, take cover if a beholder is blasting death rays, and healing and buffing folks that needs them. Without past experience, your pawns will not do any of these, maybe a little healing.

[Kodaxmax]

Theres also no evidence that you can train or teach your pawns anything outside of inclinations. Eg.. do alot of jump attacks will not necassarily encourage your pawn to do jumping attacks.

Additionally while augments seems to affect their behaviour equipment does not. Taking a pawns mele weapon will not prevent them from trying to mele. However it does prevent them from using associated skills. and removing a rnaged weapon will force them to mele for obvious reasons.

Inclinations do not effect pawn behaviour outside of combat. Util and med will apply buffs when you are in combat, but have not aggroed enemies. Pioneer and aquisitor do nothing out of combat. My personal theory is that pawns will run ahead to scout or loot because their area knowledge or quest knowlege prompts them too and people mistook this for aquisitor and pioneer behaviour.

Inclinations, bestiary knowledge, vocation, augments, skills and party members are the only things that alter pawn behaviour.

[no1schmo]

There is some bad info out there when actual testing is done, but it's widely believed. A few corrections; tertiary inclination doesn't actually affect behavior, utilitarian does literally nothing as far as anyone knows and can prove, no inclination will affect how much climbing a pawn does or whether it prioritizes melee over ranged (or vice versa), and basically everyone besides a support mage is a great Scather (ESPECIALLY sorcerers, as sorcerers will stop charging a spell if their target dies, so you want them targeting the toughest enemies).

[breadboi96]

Wow my fundamental understanding of how the system works was wrong! I was under the impression you could make them complement your playstyle, I had no idea they change their behaviour in response to how you play

[Vulcas]

your wording is immaculate

[Elganif]

An added note I think people should be aware of is caster pawns only cast the highest level version of a spell they know. This sometimes causes them to cast less often sometimes as they may be interrupted. Skipping the high version of spells you want cast but dont need the upgrade effect can really help in those bigger fights. (Anodyne is particularly helpful like this)

[Light]

Thx dude

[Sayuur]

thank youu for the guide

[Atech66]

very informative