Dragon’s Dogma 2: All Pawn Inclinations (& What They Do)

Pawns in Dragon’s Dogma 2 have a wide variety of functions, characteristics, and personality traits that will dictate the level of assistance they can provide to Arisen in and outside combat. One of the categories of characteristics, called Inclinations, focuses particularly on the behavior of the pawn in battle.

Depending on the player’s preference for the pawn to be more aggressive, more support-based, or just fairly balanced, there are various approaches to take when assigning an inclination to the main pawn. The guide below covers all four inclinations that can be assigned to the Pawns and how well these inclinations align with the vocation of the given pawn.

What Are Inclinations?

Inclinations are traits that define the deposition of the pawn and govern how their AI behaves in the midst of battle. In total, there are four inclinations in the game: Calm, Kindhearted, Simple, and Straightforward. In essence, these inclinations determine the effectiveness of the pawn in providing a specific function, whether it’s being more defensive or aggressive, or just merely helping outside the combat scenario. Inclinations are better paired with relevant vocations and specializations to maximize the effectiveness of the pawn’s role.

What Does Each Inclination Do?

Simple Inclination

To get the outlier out of the way, the Simple Inclination is the only one that emphasizes exploration out of combat. The nature of the Simple Inclination is to highlight loot and chests as players explore the map and gather resources throughout their traversal. This is particularly useful to combine with the Logistican specialization, as the paw with the Simple Inclination will now also be able to craft items from the materials they have gathered. Given the nature of the Simple Inclination, it can be aligned with any vocation as it does not have a direct influence on combative abilities. However, it’s a good idea to use vocations that are lighter and have more mobility like thieves.

Calm Inclination

Next is the Calm Inclination, which relies on strong defensive strategies to increase the pawn’s survivability in battle. This would involve evasion and blocking maneuvers, as well as utilizing items that strengthen defense. The ideal vocations for the Calm Inclination would be those that keep themselves out of harm’s way and do not attract aggro, like archery, trickster, mage, and sorcery. Since these vocations boast lower health and require the pawns to fight from a distance, it is best for them to play defensively. One thing to note is that the pawn with the Calm Inclination shuffles around the inventory quite often, and this involves discarding certain items, so it’s good practice not to entrust Arisen’s valuables to a pawn with this Inclination.

Kindhearted Inclination

The Kindhearted Inclination is purely a support-based role. Pawns with such Inclination will prioritize regenerative spells and apply buff status effects on the player’s party. Since the Arisen will always need at least one strong healer in the party, it’s advisable to mandate the Kindhearted Inclination on at least one pawn. Due to the nature of the Kindhearted Inclination, it is most suitable for the Mage, Sorcerer, and Magick Archer vocations. This inclination can be paired up well with the Chirurgeon specialization, naturally, as it allows the pawn to apply and enhance restorative effects via items and spells.

Straightforward Inclination

Finally, the Straightforward Inclination is as straightforwardly aggressive as a pawn can get. Pawns with this inclination can functionally act as pawns by drawing aggro on opponents, dealing massive damage, and always changing the tide of the battle in the player’s favor. By default, they will take on stronger foes, charge into battle, and always bring the fight to themselves instead of dragging the Arisen and other pawns to the fight. It goes without saying the best vocations for the Straightforward Inclinations are Fighter, Warrior, and Thief because these always prefer their battles up close and personal.