Appearance: Character Creation

Learn how character appearance, including gender and body type, impacts gameplay in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen. Discover effects on stamina, inventory, and combat.

Before diving into stats and vocations, you'll create your character's appearance in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen. Unlike many RPGs, your character's look has some impact on gameplay.

Gender

Your chosen gender primarily affects aesthetic choices and has minimal impact on how NPCs refer to you, as most use "Arisen" or "Ser." While romances are largely gender-blind, there are minor advantages to playing a female character. One quest may require you to be female or wear women's clothing. Additionally, there are more female-exclusive clothing and armor sets available, some of which are quite powerful and obtainable early. Male characters have fewer exclusive equipment options. However, armor is not a critical factor, so don't feel obligated to choose a gender based solely on equipment.

Size Matters (Kind Of…)

Height and weight are more significant aspects of your character's appearance. According to the game's manual:

How a Character’s Body Type & Gender Affects Gameplay: The bigger the body, the heavier the character. Although this increases the amount the character can hold, it decreases the speed at which Stamina is restored. In addition, although the character will have a wider attack range, there is increased susceptibility to enemy attacks. The opposite holds true for characters with smaller body types. There are also instances where gender affects in-game elements such as battles and storylines.

Height can influence your jumping distance, how easily your character gets wet, and access to certain areas accessible only by very small characters, often containing minor loot. Regarding stamina regeneration, a significant difference was observed between a female character (height/weight 186/73) and a male character (height/weight 197.9/99). The heavier male character took approximately 2 minutes and 4 seconds to fully regenerate stamina, while the lighter female character needed about 1 minute and 46 seconds. Stamina consumption, however, appeared higher on the lighter character. Regardless, stamina can be easily replenished with items.