The Tool Desk
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What does a background change in Avowed?
Your background gives your character an origin story and can shape roleplay dialogue. It also affects starting equipment and your initial attribute distribution. Obsidian says background choices provide stat boosts alongside species-specific boosts in its anniversary update announcement.
That makes a background a meaningful starting preference, not a class selection. Your starting weapon and attributes are a head start; they do not permanently determine which equipment or skills you can use. You can adjust attribute distribution during character creation, and guides report that gear and skills are not exclusive to a background.
Which background should you choose?
For a spellcasting-oriented start: Arcane Scholar
Game8 recommends Arcane Scholar for spellcasting, pointing to its Intellect and Perception. Treat that as a practical suggestion rather than a required setup: attributes can be edited, and the recommendation is not an official universal ranking. See Game8’s Arcane Scholar guidance.
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#1 Best Overall
- Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger.
- Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
- Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem
- Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way
- Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities.
For roleplay: choose the origin you want to inhabit
If a particular character concept matters more to you than an opening stat advantage, choose the background that best matches it. Backgrounds establish origin and can inform dialogue, so the narrative fit may be the most satisfying reason to pick one.
For another combat style: use the starting loadout as a nudge
Consider the opening equipment and attribute boosts as a small convenience for your preferred approach, then customize attributes around the weapons and abilities you want to use. Because backgrounds do not lock you out of gear or skills, you do not need to choose an origin just to preserve access to a combat style.
Rank #2
- Requires base game, Game Pass Ultimate, or PC Game Pass Membership (Sold Separately)
- Premium Upgrade includes: Premium Skin Packs: 2 sets of bonus skins for your companions, and access to Avowed Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack
- Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
- Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.
- Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way.
Does your background lock in your build?
No. Backgrounds influence your origin, dialogue, starting equipment, and initial attributes, but they are not permanent class assignments. A character who starts with one weapon or stat distribution is not thereby restricted to it. For an overview of the background’s role in character creation, see this GamesRadar+ guide and the character-creation reference.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Are there exact best-background stat comparisons?
A complete, current comparison of every background’s exact attribute bonuses after the 2026 update is not established by the sources cited here. Check the values shown in the in-game character creator for your version rather than relying on an older stat table. The official update confirms that backgrounds now provide stat boosts, but that announcement does not provide a full background-by-background breakdown.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- What's in the box: Xbox Series X console, 1 Xbox Wireless Controller - Carbon Black, Ultra High Speed HDMI cable, Power cord.
- Equipped with AMD's Zen 2 and RDNA 2 architectures, DirectX ray tracing delivers true-to-life lighting, shadows and accurate reflections to create dynamic, living worlds.
- Memory: 16GB GDDR6 w/320 bit-wide bus; Memory Bandwidth: 10 GB @ 560 GB/s, 6 GB @ 336 GB/s; Internal Storage: 1TB Custom NVME SSD
- Gaming Resolution: True 4K; Performance Target: Up to 120 FPS; High Dynamic Range: Up to 8K HDR; Optical Drive: 4K UHD Blu-Ray; HDMI Features: Auto Low Latency Mode, HDMI Variable Refresh Rate, AMD FreeSync.
- Bundled with HDMI_Cable
Rank #4
- L'édition Premium SteelBook comprend: le jeu de base Avowed, jusqu'à 5 jours d'accès anticipé, le SteelBook Avowed, la carte des Terres Vivantes, deux packs de skins Premium et l'accès à l'Artbook numérique Avowed et à la bande-son originale
- Vous êtes l'envoyé d'Aedyr, une terre lointaine, missionné pour enquêter sur les rumeurs selon lesquelles une épidémie se propagerait dans les Terres Vivantes, une île pleine de mystères et de secrets, de dangers et d'aventures, de choix et de conséconsés. quences, et d'une nature sauvage
- Explorez une île qui abrite de nombreux environnements et paysages différents, chacun avec son propre écosystème unique
- Mélangez et associez des épées, des sorts, des armes et des boucliers pour vous frayer un chemin
- The compagnons d'un large éventail d'espèces se battront à vos côtés, avec leurs propres capacités uniques
Rank #3
- Premium Edition includes: Avowed base game, Premium Skin Packs: 2 sets of bonus skins for each of your companions, and access to Avowed Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack
- Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
- Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.
- Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way.
- Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities.
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