Avowed backgrounds: Which one should you choose for your character?

Which background should you give to your character in Avowed?

It’s something you may be curious about when you first start the game and are creating your new hero.

After you finish their appearance, you’ll reach a section called Background where you have five different backstories to choose from.

This may be a tricky decision to you, because the game makes a point of telling you that the background you choose can affect dialogue, and which weapon you start with.

Thankfully, I’m here to reassure you that the decision shouldn’t be as difficult it seems, because while your character’s background can affect conversations and their starting weapon, it’s not as game-changing as you may expect.

Avowed backgrounds: Starting weapons and stats

There are five backgrounds to choose from in Avowed, ranging from an intelligent scholar to a grizzled war veteran.

When you choose a background your character’s default stats change to suit their style, and you’ll also be assigned a specific weapon when you start your journey. The game doesn’t tell you what this is, however.

Here’s a list of each background, their stats and the weapon you get. Afterwards I’ll explain how the dialogue is affected.

Note: These are just the default stats the game recommends. Before you start the game you can reassign these stat points however you see fit, but the starting weapon and the dialogue changes will be locked in.

Arcane Scholar

• Weapon: Common Dagger
• Might: 2
• Constitution: 0
• Dexterity: 2
• Perception: 2
• Intellect: 3
• Resolve: 1

Court Augur

• Weapon: Common Mace
• Might: 0
• Constitution: 0
• Dexterity: 2
• Perception: 3
• Intellect: 3
• Resolve: 2

Noble Scion

• Weapon: Common Sword
• Might: 2
• Constitution: 1
• Dexterity: 2
• Perception: 2
• Intellect: 2
• Resolve: 1

Vanguard Scout

• Weapon: Common Axe
• Might: 1
• Constitution: 2
• Dexterity: 2
• Perception: 3
• Intellect: 1
• Resolve: 1

War Hero

• Weapon: Common Spear
• Might: 3
• Constitution: 2
• Dexterity: 1
• Perception: 1
• Intellect: 0
• Resolve: 3

Avowed backgrounds: How dialogue is affected

As the game says, the character background you choose in Avowed can affect the in-game dialogue.

However, it’s not the sort of thing that will entirely change the story or anything like that.

As you can see in the screenshot above, the game will sometimes simply add new dialogue options which are exclusive to the background you selected.

You should also note that even though you get a different weapon depending on which background you choose, you very quickly find other new weapons, and you’re free to use anything you come across in the game. In other words, just because you start with a sword if you choose a Noble Scion, there’s nothing stopping you from later switching to a pistol, or a dagger, or a bow or a grimoire.

In short, then, you really should just choose the background that best fits the character you want to create. Choose which of the five backstories you like the best, because it’ll play a (very small) role in the conversations you have with people, and won’t affect your combat or skills in any meaningful way. Have fun!