Dragon’s Dogma 2: Can you rename your Pawn in DD2?

In Dragon’s Dogma 2, your Main Pawn is your lifelong companion, serving dutifully by your side to slay your foes and protect you from harm. Given that you’ll have them by your side for nearly every minute of this extensive, sprawling RPG, you’ll want to ensure that their every detail is fine-tuned to perfection, including their name.

Although you get to name your Pawn anything you like at the beginning of the game (and pick out an online-friendly Moniker for them as well), you may find that your name doesn’t suit the pawn’s personality, or is at odds with their vocation, or perhaps you just don’t like it very much. Renaming Pawns may not be essential, but it’s still a nice option to have.

How to rename your Pawn in Dragon’s Dogma 2

It seems the local barberie doesn’t also deal in name changes. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Indeed, this is why it’s somewhat perplexing that players don’t have that option. There is no way to rename a Main Pawn once you’ve locked their name in—and this is the only aspect of a Pawn that remains immutable for the entire runtime of Dragon’s Dogma 2. Everything else about your Pawn from their height to their vocation to their personality can be freely changed as you play, but once they have their name, they have their name.

Both Pawns and Arisen (player characters) can be edited using an Art of Metamorphosis, which can be purchased from the Pawn’s Guild for a decent sum of Rift Crystals or alternatively purchased with real money. One is also included in the Deluxe Edition. With this mysterious tome in hand, all you have to do is head to the nearest Barberie to tweak your Pawn as you like—perhaps if their name doesn’t fit them, you can make them fit their name.

It may seem an odd design choice, but it’s likely that this restriction is in place to ensure that the online Pawn Rankings remain intact. Having Pawn names change every time you enter the Rift would make it extremely difficult to keep track of certain pawns you’re interested in rehiring, not to mention that the Rankings would be nigh-incomprehensible. Imagine legions of Pawns with identical names all impersonating each other for a chance at the top spot.

While this makes sense from a game design perspective, there’s no denying it’s a little disappointing for players. Pay close attention to what you’re naming your pawn and make sure you’re happy with it, lest you want to manually rip out your game files to start a new run.