The best Bitterblack Island loot is cursed and has to be purified (aka identified). This is done with Rift Crystals. The average run nets less Rift Crystals than it costs to identify all the cursed items (not by much though). Nefarious souls would accredit that to the fact that Rift Crystals can be bought with IRL-money.

But halt! My pawn can earn Rift Crystals by being summoned by other players, and help in their game. I've gotten up to 100k Rift Crystals thus far, and I intend for my pawn to do even better. Especially once I'll restart the game in Hard Mode, I'll do everything right. Build my perfect little Rift Crystal moneymaker.

At first, all I cared for were looks. The more I *get the game* the more picky I am about stats/loadout too. So it's a two-pronged assault on the *libido* of the Dragon's Dogma enthusiast. Nail the look. Nail the stats/loadout. Now the look is a mix between character creation and gear. The stats are grown via level-ups (depending on vocation). The loadout is matter of smarts.

What do you seek in a pawn, when you're pawn shopping in the Rift? What attracts you? My first pawn is a readheaded Gina Carano-type named Fern, even and pleasant-to-look at features and sturdily put together, with a good muscle tone and thick bullneck. Now I ask you, do all the Loli-types I stumble upon in the Rift make you lots of dough? Or the freakshow characters with outlandish features? And what vocation archetype is most sought after?

Show me the money!

@seppli

I definitely care about the aesthetic look of the character, and I add the ladies more often cuz my Arisen and main pawn are big ugly doods, lol. Anyway, you really do start to look for certain things when you need a pawn like: smartly assigned augs, 3 star or dragon forged gear, high HP and ST, and especially the spells on Mages and Sorcerers. I hire mages that heal most often, so High Anodyne is obviously a must(the new upgraded skill one is really awesome), and then I want some buffs, holy especially. Something offensive is awesome too, fire or ice. I'll also glance at inclinations too if I'm hiring a Fighter or Strider or Sorc; no guardian, challenger or scather preferably.

My main is a huge fighter. He's no looker but has a ton of strength and some decent gear. Despite the challenge of getting people to rent male characters, and tanks somewhat maybe, my Odin has gotten around a dozen rents(he's lvl 79)and I've gotten a ton of RC, over 700k. This is partly from adding friends who post in the G-faqs DD forums, and via related rental threads, but my best RC reward for rental was some random who I guess really liked Odin, and must have stuck with him for quite a while. Gotten a few good weapon gifts too. The whole renting thing you're talking about from renter to creater/marketer is a ton of fun imo. Some people can really make some incredible pawns in that character creator mode.

Hit up my pawn duder(GT=PWEID5), and I'll return the favor.

If you're on PS3, I will. However - you'll have to wait a little while, since I've started an all new game, which inexplicably deleted my previous character altogether (luckily after I beat the game proper and BBI), and I guess I was done with the Strider vocation anyways. Gonna beeline it to the endgame, going Fighter -> Warrior -> Sorcerer -> Mystic Knight and try something new.

Still kinda pissed at how it's set-up. One character per game is pure insanity. All that rift currency (damn - they sell that stuff) and gear lost. Then again, I'm doing what I wanted - starting a fresh career as a magically inclined fighter.

@seppli:

Ah too bad, I'm on 360. First off, I've not heard or read of character deletion, unless it was the result of a corrupted save, which has been a problem for some people. Back up your saves to a USB for sure. Secondly, don't forget you can buy a potion from a dude at that first encampment that'll let you completely redesign your Arisen and your pawn. Just in case you wanna try something different out.

Also, what lvl were you when you went into BBI? I'm currently postgame and accruing many Wakestones in Everfall while leveling and gearing up a bit more. I have a bunch of odds and ends left for quests, especially the endless Skyfall ones. Kinda conflicted about when to go into the island. Capcom has stated players should be over lvl 50, but many peeps say more like 80 or 100+. According to the Van Ord's Gamespot review the last third of the expansion gets pretty ridiculous. Ehhh, having little trouble killing everything in Everfall at lvl 80 so I'm thinking I'll go in soon.

Started mid 70s and beat it with 89. Only died once for real. Probably used up 10 wakestones overall. Used all 3 strider-type specs. It's definitely Dark Souls hard on the lower levels. Death shows up and kills all the pawns, and then you're solo in some dark gutter, water all over the floor, dodge rolls extinguish the latern - nasty stuff. It's a Dark Souls-like experience. Good stuff, if you're into such things. Awesome looking loot too.

There's more to it than that, but I finished the game proper the next day, and was forced into NG+. Is there really a way to have more than one character? I'd love to see my old character again. I don't think so however. I think when I started a proper new game, my old game was lost. Be forwarned. One character is all you get.

I got it bad for this game again. If you're looking for more pawns to rent, or for me people to rent your pawn, count me in.

GT is TheRocketCan, pawn's name is Boudica, ~90 Sorcerer. She is some pretty good gear (mostly L2, some L3 BBI gear), looks pretty cool, and is fairly good at murdering things.