Dragon’s Dogma 2 players discover hidden Pawn Affinity system

Rejoice, Arisen: It turns out you can rizz up your Main Pawn in Dragon’s Dogma 2.

The Affinity system in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a mechanic carried over from the first game that essentially determines who your character ends up with in the epilogue, and it was previously thought the system was only in place for select romanceable NPCs. A few days ago, a redditor revealed they discovered a hidden Affinity system assigned to your Main Pawn—and raising it high enough even unlocks a different true ending cutscene.

The ending isn’t the only thing that changes when you raise your Main Pawn’s Affinity high enough, though. A separate Steam user on the community forums expressed their confusion when they noticed their Main Pawn had begun blushing when speaking to the Arisen—a mechanic reserved for NPCs with maxed out Affinity who are potential romance options. It turns out, this player had unwittingly maxed out their Main Pawn’s affinity, inadvertently unlocking the altered endgame cutscene.

I’ll spare you the disappointment later by breaking the bad news now: The cutscene you unlock by “romancing” your Main Pawn in Dragon’s Dogma 2 isn’t steamy in the slightest. In fact, it boils down to just some altered dialogue. If you’re confused about why Capcom would make the effort to create a hidden Affinity system for your Main Pawn with such an underwhelming reward, you aren’t alone. Unfortunately, the only romantic activity you can get up to with your Main Pawn is standing around and blushing.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t any steamy implications, however. Another Reddit user noticed something peculiar about the timing of Pawn blushing. The game’s two officially romanceable characters, Ulrika and Wilhelmina, only blush when you give them gifts after maxing out your Affinity with them. If you’ve maxed out your Affinity with your Main Pawn, they will blush before and after you sleep in an owned bed. The reason for that post-nap blushing is between the Arisen and their Pawn, but I think we can all put two and two together.

In addition to suggestively timed blushing and an underwhelming cutscene, maxing out your Affinity with your Main Pawn will change their body language and posture when speaking to the Arisen and add some new voice lines into the mix of one liners that Pawns spew out on repeat. While intimate, the voice lines aren’t outwardly romantic—although I don’t believe anybody has quite heard them all yet, especially as the Pawn’s inclination seems to influence which lines are added.

If you’re curious to know exactly how to max out your Affinity with your Main Pawn, the Reddit post linked at the start of this article includes some number crunching on what actions raise or lower Affinity. Just be warned, there are some minor spoilers in the post as well. The spoiler-free and short answer is talk to them constantly—and don’t let them die.