Selecting the right vocation for your main Pawn in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is just the first step in customizing them according to your playstyle. Choosing the right Inclination will determine how your Pawn behaves in battle, which can be vital to the party’s survival.
While an aggressive Mage is nice and all, considering Mage is the only vocation with healing spells, you might need your pawn to focus more on support to keep you and the other hired pawns alive. This behavior will be determined by the Inclination of your pawn.
Even though you are free to choose any Inclination for your Pawn’s vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2, selecting the ones we are recommending below will maximize your pawn’s usefulness in combat.
Here, in this guide, I will be going over the best Pawn Inclinations that are best suited for each vocation. Pawns cannot use the Hybrid classes so they only have access to the 4 starting vocations and 3 advanced ones.
The table below summarizes the roles each inclination serves in combat and exploration so you have an idea of what to expect from your Pawn before we dive deeper into the best inclination for your Pawn’s vocation.
| Inclinations | Role | Suggested Pawn (Vocations) |
| Kindhearted | Obedient, Supportive, Medicant, Guardian | Mage, Fighter, Sorcerer |
| Calm | Favors defense and Evasion, uses clever tactics to survive, Utilitarian, Challenger | Mage, Thief, Archer |
| Simple | Curious, Adventurous, Loves to gather items, Acquisitor, Pioneer, Mitigator | Sorcerer, Mage |
| Straightforward | Impulsive, Aggressive, charges head-on. | Fighter, Warrior |
Best Pawn Inclination for Fighter – Straightforward
The Fighter is your basic sword and shield class in Dragon’s Dogma 2. Keeping that in mind, the best Pawn inclination for this specific vocation will be selecting Straightforward. Straightforward Pawns love to fight and will always be in the thick of the scuffle. This allows them to draw aggro away from you in combat, so you don’t have to worry about dying.
The Straightforward pawn inclination can come in handy when you are facing a bunch of enemies that need to be taken down immediately, and this impulsive inclination can help you deal with this matter.
Best Pawn Inclination for Warrior – Straightforward
The Warrior vocation is a DPS-focused version of the Fighter. Instead of a shield and one-hand weapon, the Warrior uses giant greatswords. If you are choosing a Pawn with Warrior vocation then select the Straightforward inclination.
The Straightforward inclination is the best choice for your Warrior pawn if you prefer an aggressive playstyle. The Warrior pawn is not going to block attacks with its weapon and will be more focused on swinging the weapon and charging head-on at the enemy.
Lastly, the straightforward inclination is a good choice because it will enhance the impulsive nature of your Warrior pawn, allowing it to taunt enemies and baiting them into receiving more damaging attacks.
Best Pawn Inclination for Mage – Kindhearted
As I mentioned before, the Mage vocation is the only one with access to healing skills outside of spell books. This makes it a highly useful support class and almost a must-have for any party. To go with Mage’s support abilities in Dragon’s Dogma 2, you should pick the Kindhearted inclination.
Having a kindhearted Pawn mage means they will try to focus more on keeping you alive, either with spells or items, instead of focusing on damaging enemies. Kindhearted inclination will also result in your Mage pawn prioritizing Affinity/Boon spells to buff your weapons.
Best Pawn Inclination for Thief – Calm
Easily one of, if not the best starting vocations in Dragon’s Dogma 2, Thief works great not only for Arisen but also their Pawn. Bringing a great mix of damage and survivability, Thief can stand on its own for a while without any external support. When it comes to the best pawn inclination for Thief, then you should opt for Calm instead of choosing Straightforward, even though Straightforward allows for more aggression.
Calm inclination allows your pawn to use clever tactics to survive and seek out enemy weak spots instead of charging in blindly to do damage. This comes in especially handy when fighting large monsters like Cyclops where a Thief pawn with Calm inclination will focus on damaging the cyclops’ eye, or try to topple it instead of just focusing on doing damage.
Best Pawn Inclination for Sorcerer – Simple
A Sorcerer Pawn is a pretty decent choice as it can deliver a massive amount of damage to your enemies. This class is pretty much similar to the Mage class but is superior when it comes to damage stats. That being said, you can easily go with Simple as the best inclination for Sorcerer vocation in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
While Simple pawns are mostly focused towards gathering and exploration, during combat they feature the most neutral playstyle. If you are in need, the Simple inclination Sorcerer will provide you with ranged support, lift you up if you fall down and also focus on using their skills as the situation demands it, thus allowing more versatility.
Best Pawn Inclination for Archer – Calm
Archer Pawns are a really good choice for your early playthrough. Once you pair them with Calm inclination this makes them an even better choice during your battles as they will get better at their aim and will target enemy weak points more effectively racking up some good damage.
The Calm inclination for Archer Pawns allows them to change their playstyle to a more defensive one, which is better suited for them as Archers are not a good choice for close-quarter combat. This means they will be able to survive longer in intense situations as they try to maintain a distance from enemies.
How to change Pawn inclination in Dragon’s Dogma 2
If you are not happy with your Pawn’s behavior or want to change its inclination based on your recommendation, you can do so, but keep in mind that it is very costly.
To change a Pawn’s inclination, head to the Grand Riftstone of Vermund in the city of Vernworth. You will see a large cathedral-type building in the Merchant Quarter. That building houses the Riftstone and an NPC, Neomith, right next to it.
This NPC sells a number of items, including the Art of Metamorphosis book that lets you change your appearance. Among these items are incenses that can change your Pawn’s inclination. The options available to you are
- Ambivalent Rift Incense
- Kindhearted Rift Incense
- Calm Rift Incense
- Simple Rift Incense
- Straightforward Rift Incense
All these incenses cost 2,000 Rift Crystals so think carefully before you change a Pawn’s inclination. The Ambivalent Rift Incense costs 500 RC but that assigns your pawn a random inclination so probably not the best idea to spend precious Rift Crystals on that.
