Dragon's Dogma 2 (as well as the first game, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen) are incredibly unique games in a lot of ways. Of course, the Vocation system and general combat are the primary things people think in regard to this, but certain choices when using the character creator to make your Arisen or Main Pawn in this game can actually have some pretty noticeable gameplay ramifications.
Dragon's Dogma 2: Best Pawn Vocations
Pawns are a players best friend in Dragon's Dogma 2, so it's important to choose the right vocation for them. Here're the best options.
Things like height, weight, gender, race, and more all actually have different results in this game, so let's go over the biggest ways character customization affects gameplay in Dragon's Dogma 2 so you can avoid having to go through the arduous process of deleting your save and starting over to re-make your Arisen.
Quick Overview
How These Aspects Work Differently In Dragon's Dogma 2
First, it should be said that, at the time of writing this, Dragon's Dogma 2 is a brand-new release. So, while everything on here is true, some of the finer aspects of character customization and how it impacts gameplay could still be missing for now. But, from what we've seen and experienced so far, these are the effects that different choices in character creation can have:
Height Affects | Weight Affects | Gender Affects | Race Affects |
|---|---|---|---|
Carrying Capacity, Stamina Regeneration, Hitbox Size, & Jogging Speed | Carrying Capacity & Stamina Regeneration | Certain Enemy Behaviors & Specific NPC Interactions | Certain NPC Dialog & Border Permit Entry |
It's also worth mentioning that Dragon's Dogma 2 seems to have put less of an impact on the gameplay differences certain character customization choices make compared to the first game. An Arisen's weight class no longer affects their max encumbrance nearly as much, a higher weight doesn't seem to affect total stamina amount, and so on. In general, the two choices you have in character creation that'll actually have a noticeable effect on gameplay is the overall size of your character (weight and/or height together) and the height of your character. Everything else, whether that's gender, race, or the smaller details such as longer arms/legs will barely have much of an effect on gameplay at all.
Height Differences
How Height Impacts You Arisen's Stride & Weight Capacity
First up is height as this seems to have the most gameplay impact overall in Dragon's Dogma 2 (with gender being a close second). Depending on the height you pick for either your Arisen or your main Pawn in DD2, the two main differences you'll notice have to do with Stamina Regeneration and Weight Capacity.
If you decide to craft for an incredibly short Arisen, you'll have much faster innate stamina regen compared to a character who is very tall. On the other side, if you make a toweringly tall character, you'll be able to carry a lot more items without having to deal with encumbrance penalties compared to a small character. So, if you plan to use Weapon Arts constantly, a smaller-built Arisen might be a good choice. But, if you plan to use heavier weapons and carry most of the gear as a Warrior, a tall Arisen is the obvious way to go.
Additionally, while not nearly as much as in DD1, both your height and leg length (funnily enough) seem to impact your walking and jogging speed (Dash speed seems to remain the same, thankfully) with tall characters covering more ground compared to shorter characters. Just keep in mind that your character's actual hitbox will also increase or decrease depending on their height, which is another reason why people tend to recommend a shorter Arisen if you plan on using the Thief Vocation primarily.
Gender Differences
No Statistical Advantage But Certain Enemies Do Pay Attention To It
While all of the impacts of gender have yet to be fully explored in Dragon's Dogma 2 as of yet, there are some differences we can confirm pretty early on. For one, there will be differences in dialogue for certain NPCs based on whether you're a masculine or feminine character. These will be very rare and very minor, but it can happen.
Two, and this is the most obvious difference that fans weren't sure would make it to the sequel game, is the way Ogres act around feminine characters. If there are any women or feminine characters (aka feminine body type) in the group when fighting an Ogre, that Ogre will absolutely target them more often if not target them entirely. And, if an Ogre manages to grab one of these feminine characters, they'll run away from the battle quite a ways before slobbering all over the character in question and doing quite a bit of damage. Additionally, it does seem like Ogres still become enraged quicker and attack with more frequency when feminine characters are in the battle.
In the first Dragon's Dogma there was a bit of a bait and switch with Elder Ogres, as these monsters would showcase this same unique behavior, but towards masculine characters instead. It's not fully confirmed if this is also the case in Dragon's Dogma 2, but considering how faithfully this mechanic transferred between the games for regular Ogres, the chances are relatively high.
Weight Differences
Weight & Height Differences Have a Lot of Overlap
Moving on to Weight. In DD1, Weight had a pretty massive gameplay effect, as higher-weight characters would benefit from higher Encumbrance and Max Stamina but be at a severe disadvantage when it came to Stamina Recovery. Meanwhile, lighter characters would have a much faster stamina recharge rate (around 70 percent faster) but would have less overall Max Stamina and Encumbrance.
In Dragon's Dogma 2, this mostly still seems to be true. High-weight characters still have more Max Encumbrance and low-weight characters still have faster Stamina Regeneration, but the effects of both of these are now less pronounced. While the effects are still noticeable, it's nowhere near as noticeable as it was in DD1. Additionally, it seems like weight class no longer determines your base Max Stamina either, which is probably for the best.
Race
Very Minimal Differences, If Any
Last up are racial differences in Dragon's Dogma 2. While there are only two playable races in the game, Humans and Beastren, the Beastren are a brand new addition to the franchise so players are eager to see if there are any gameplay differences between them.
However, as of yet, players haven't really discovered much outside of being able to skip a step involving getting a 
Beastren Mask when you try and access the desert region of the map (where the Mystic Spearhand Vocation can be found). The developers did confirm that some NPC dialogue and/or dialogue options would be different for Beastren characters given their apparent tumultuous history with humanity, but outside of that the two races function about the same. From what we can tell and what we've found, the differences mostly seem to be relegated to the border permit Quest and slight differences in the way other Beastren talk to you while you're in Battahl.
Dragon's Dogma 2
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Released
- March 22, 2024
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
