Pioneer

 is one of the nine Pawn inclinations in the game Dragon's Dogma.

Details
The Pioneer inclination directs the pawn to scout ahead of the party.

This inclination can be raised by regular use of the "Go!" command, or by using the item Pioneer's Elixir which can be purchased from Jonathan at The Encampment.

When set as their Primary Inclination, Pioneer pawns will stay a few yards ahead of the party at all times. This inclination can cause some critical AI issues if used with Guardian or Nexus in that it can cause the pawn to spastically run back and forth between the Arisen and/or its fellow pawns and the lands ahead, sometimes ignoring combat outright unless directly ordered to with commands.

Setting Pioneer to the Secondary inclination can allow for a pawn to be played defensively if you'd like this pawn to be the first target of enemy attacks, or offensively if you would like this pawn to be the first to strike. If the primary inclination is a battle inclination (for example, Scather), then the pawn will ignore its primary inclination and will scout ahead until a battle starts. If it is a support inclination (for example, Medicant), then the pawn will see to healing or buffing before scouting ahead.

Pioneer, by its nature, can sometimes cause the pawn to run off into the distance if paired with inclinations such as Challenger or Utiltarian. Don't be afraid to use the "Come!" command if you lose track of it. It is not uncommon for a Pioneer pawn to get so far away from the party as to be out of healing range or haphazardly run off a cliff. Also keep in mind that since Guardian or Nexus will typically not be set with this inclination, the pawn will not come to the Arisen's nor his other pawns' aid unless directed to do so and sometimes will fight a few yards away from the rest of the party.

Combination Examples

 * Challenger + Pioneer: Setting this combination will cause the pawn to target ranged and magickal enemies it sees in its aggression range. Since ranged enemies tend to be deeper within enemy ranks, this can sometimes cause the pawn to run into an ambush.
 * Scather/Mitigator + Pioneer: This will cause a similar effect to the above, except that the pawn will target the strong/weak enemies instead of ranged/magickal. This can be useful for a Fighter pawn set to tank as this will typically ensure they are the first target the monsters see, but this can lead to them being swarmed with enemies so plan accordingly.
 * Utiltarian + Pioneer: This pairing works well with ranged pawns such as Ranger or Striders as it tends to encourage the pawn to chase down flying enemies, but if crowd control abilities are set, the AI tends to prioritize them, and this can sometimes be used to great effect. If Pioneer is set as primary, crowd control is used less.
 * Pioneer + Aquisitor: This pairing can cause the pawn to completely ignore battles while running ahead to pick up items, especially so if there are "foraging" areas.  Pawns can, and will, go lemming on you if it sees an item on a ledge off a cliff and as such this combination should not be used regularly.