Best Pawn Vocation: Choose a Role Your Party Needs

Start with the role your party lacks

Look at what your Arisen does before choosing the Main Pawn's vocation. A player focused on close-range damage may value healing or protection, while a ranged player may want someone occupying the frontline. The best companion choice depends on that relationship, rather than on a ranking considered in isolation.

You can hire additional pawns to cover the remaining roles. Think about the complete party instead of expecting the Main Pawn to supply every kind of support and damage at once. If the group repeatedly struggles in the same way, identify the missing role before changing equipment or replacing every companion without a clear reason.

Why Mage is a useful default

Mage is useful when the team needs healing, protection or elemental assistance. Those functions support many different player vocations, which makes it a convenient starting recommendation. A Main Pawn in that role can also let you choose your own class for the combat style you enjoy.

The recommendation still depends on the skills and equipment the pawn actually uses. A vocation name is not a complete description of the companion's setup. Review the available tools and behavior alongside the class, and use hired companions to fill other needs rather than expecting support alone to solve every encounter.

Fighter or Warrior for a frontline need

Consider Fighter or Warrior if enemies repeatedly reach a ranged Arisen and the party needs a stronger frontline role. These are eligible pawn choices with a different purpose from the Mage recommendation. Select between them according to the companion role and setup you want rather than assuming every party requires the same exact frontline class.

A frontline choice also changes what you may want from hired pawns. If your Main Pawn covers that role, another companion can provide support or ranged pressure. The useful composition question is whether the group covers the jobs you need, not whether all companions share the vocation that one article ranked highest.

Archer for ranged physical attacks

Archer contributes ranged physical attacks and gives the party a role distinct from close-range damage and supportive magic. It can fit a group whose Arisen and Main Pawn already cover other needs. The class is a legitimate pawn option, unlike the special ranged-magick vocation reserved for the Arisen.

Compare the actual pawn's skills and equipment rather than judging solely from the weapon silhouette. A ranged role can be useful, but it is only one part of the complete team. If healing or frontline support is the unresolved problem, adding another ranged damage companion may leave that original gap unchanged.

Sorcerer for offensive magick

Sorcerer adds offensive magick and should be considered separately from Mage's support role. Both use magick, but that shared theme does not make their contribution to the party interchangeable. Choose a Sorcerer when offensive magick is the role you want to add, then account for the other support functions elsewhere.

A party with a Sorcerer may still benefit from a companion whose main job is protection or healing. Look at what each member contributes in practice instead of using a broad label such as magic party as a complete plan. The research supports the role distinction without declaring one historical damage build the current expansion's strongest.

Thief for close-range damage

Thief supplies close-range damage as another eligible pawn choice. It can complement an Arisen whose own role is ranged or supportive, provided the remaining party needs are covered. The recommendation is about adding that style of offense, rather than assuming a damage-focused pawn replaces every frontline or healing function.

If you choose Thief for the Main Pawn, review what the hired companions will supply alongside it. A clear division of roles can help you understand why the party works or where it struggles. Equipment, skills and behavior remain part of that assessment, so the class alone does not guarantee the same result as someone else's build.

Which vocations can pawns use?

Pawns can use Fighter, Archer, Thief, Mage, Warrior and Sorcerer. Mystic Spearhand, Magick Archer, Trickster and Warfarer are Arisen-only and cannot be assigned to your Main Pawn. Check eligibility before planning a team around a class you saw in a player-build video.

Pawn vocation	Practical role to consider
Mage	Healing, protection and elemental assistance
Fighter	Frontline support
Warrior	Heavy frontline role
Archer	Ranged physical attacks
Sorcerer	Offensive magick
Thief	Close-range damage

Hiring the remaining companions

Hire the additional pawns to fill the gaps left by the Arisen and Main Pawn. If support and frontline work are already covered, a damage role may be the next useful addition. If all current members focus on offense, another damage specialist may reproduce the same weakness rather than fix it.

Replace hired companions as your needs and level change. The setup that helped in one stage of the adventure may no longer match the equipment, vocation or encounters you are pursuing. Reassess the complete party when you change your own role rather than retaining the old composition simply because it once worked well.

Skills, equipment and behavior matter

Inspect more than the pawn's vocation when judging whether it fits your plan. Skill selection determines the tools it can use, while equipment and behavior influence the role it actually performs. A convenient support recommendation should therefore lead to reviewing a real pawn's setup rather than selecting every Mage indiscriminately.

The collected rankings come from the base game's earlier balance, and the current update context includes later changes. Do not force an old four-skill layout onto the current options simply because a historical video used it. The enduring advice is to match the role and setup to your party, then adjust when your needs change.

A practical first party recommendation

For a first playthrough, start by considering Mage support for the Main Pawn and choose hired companions around your Arisen's role. Add a frontline companion if you need one, then use the remaining slot to cover an offensive gap. This is a flexible starting approach, not a mandatory team or an objectively measured ranking.

If the group already has effective support, choose the Main Pawn's class by the role still missing. The vocation roster confirms eligibility and unlock context, while the Arisen comparison helps when your own class is the question. Keeping those decisions separate makes party selection more useful than repeating a single best-pawn label for every character.

Common questions

Is Mage a mandatory Main Pawn choice? Mage is a practical support starting point rather than a universal requirement. If healing, protection and elemental assistance are already covered, another eligible role may fill the more important gap. Judge the complete party and the real pawn's skills and equipment before treating the vocation label as the whole setup.

When should I add a frontline companion? Consider Fighter or Warrior when enemies repeatedly reach a ranged Arisen and the group needs frontline support. That recommendation addresses the observed party gap rather than prescribing one class for every team. Keep the remaining hired companions focused on the other roles still missing from the group.

Why replace hired pawns as the adventure changes? Your level, vocation and encounter goals can change what the team needs. Reassess hired companions when their role or setup no longer matches that plan. A previously useful composition is a starting point for review rather than proof that the same exact companions remain the best fit through every later stage.