• Know How The Choice Works - The Beloved is chosen based on the NPC with the highest Affinity score. In the event that two or more characters have the same amount of Affinity, the game will choose one based on it's internalized list, Aelinore usually being the one who eats the other choices since she is extremely high, if not the highest on that list. The actual check for Affinity and kidnapping of the Beloved by the Dragon happens during the main story quest Deny Salvation, specifically after the rooftop fight with the two Wights;
  
  
• Know Who You Want Ahead of Time - The majority of characters intended to be Beloved disappear from the game world after their questline is over, and increasing their Affinity after that point is impossible outside of New Game Plus;
  
  
• The Arisen's Bond Won't Save You - A more sane video game would make this kind of item just lock in the choice, you are however playing Dragon's Dogma, and it is instead just an extremely effective gift that kicks up someone's Affinity by a lot. It is rather helpful however to see if you've actually acquired the Beloved you wanted, since at the end of Deny Salvation after the Dragon flies away, there's an extra piece of cutscene where the Arisen's Bond falls from the sky and drops to the ground in front of you, if the person that was kidnapped had been gifted the ring previously.
  
  
• Where's Your Save and How To Use It - Your save data is located in the Steam folder, under Steam\userdata\<Account ID>\367500. To back it up, copy the entire 367500 folder to the desktop, or some other safe spot. To reload your backup save data, open the game, go to the main menu, overwrite the save data in the game folder with your backup, then load the game from the main menu.

Barring some exceptions, it is possible for basically any existing NPC in the world to become Beloved, but these are the 8 characters that are clearly intended for the role. They have unique dialogue when receiving the Arisen's Bond, at Cassardis after the Dragon's defeat, and at the end of the game after your Pawn inherits your body, provided they were the person you last talked to before completing Fathom Deep.

The difficulty listed here is in respect to getting them as Beloved based on how long the character is available before Deny Salvation. The quests written are the necessary ones to keep them available as long as possible.


The soft-spoken healer.
Difficulty:★★★★☆
Quests: Lost and Found, Talent in Bloom, and A Parting Gift.
Your last chance to gift and talk with her are either when searching for the Pilgrim's Charm with her after entering from the back of the Catacombs during A Parting Gift, or once she returns there afterwards, before handing the Charm to Clarus. That quest expires upon finishing Reward and Responsibility, as such, it has to be completed before entering the Treasury with the Duke. After gifting her and finishing her quest, you should avoid doing any other than ones that lead you to Deny Salvation, similar as with Mercedes.


The overly-adventurous aspiring scientist.
Difficulty:★★☆☆☆
Quests: Dying of Curiosity, Farewell, Valmiro
The last opportunity for gifting is before you give him the Pilgrim's Charm for Farewell, Valmiro, since afterwards it's likely your pawns will interrupt you and end the quest by carrying his cargo.


The thrifty shopkeep.
Difficulty:★★★☆☆
Quests: Guard Duty, Chasing Shadows, Bad Business
The final opportunity to gift her with anything is during Bad Business while hiding from the guards by the Gran Soren walls. Be careful to not advance the dialogue, as the option to Present is only available during the first line.


The traveling salesman searching for his father.
Difficulty:★★☆☆☆
Quests: Unmarked Goblin fight on the way to the encampment, Search Party
Once Search Party is complete by talking to him with all 6 Journal Fragments in your inventory, he will leave the game upon exiting the dialogue. Gift him anything you need before completing the quest.


The earnest backup from Hearthstone.
Difficulty:★★★★★
Quests: Pride Before a Fall
Getting her as Beloved is the most difficult of all the characters, as she disappears from the game after a main mission that comes a good while before Deny Salvation. Her last appearance is at the end of Pride Before a Fall before checking in with Aldous, giving you the last opportunity to gift and interact with her after the duel with Julien, and forcing you to beeline for Deny Salvation afterwards - avoid any quest that isn't leading towards it. Use the guide below with consideration for that.


The political visitor from Voldoa.
Difficulty:★☆☆☆☆
Quests: Pride Before a Fall
While his last appearance can be during Pride Before a Fall, if you kill him there, and revive him with a Wakestone, he will be permanently available for the rest of the playthrough in the dungeons of the Duke's Demesne.


The devil that takes the Beloved's place for most playthroughsDuke's young bride.
Difficulty:☆☆☆☆☆
Quests: Arousing Suspicion, Duchess in Distress
Your last chance to interact with her is while escorting her through the sewers of the Blighted Manse during Duchess in Distress. Not sure if you'd want to though, if you do that quest before Deny Salvation she's assured to be kidnapped.


Difficulty:★☆☆☆☆
A family member of the witch of Witchwood and ex-pawn of a previous Arisen.
Quests: Lost and Found, Witch Hunt
After Witch Hunt is completed, she permanently takes up residence in your house in Cassardis, possibly making any Ale Brewing easy if you still need to.

1. IMPORTANT! - Unless you're going for Aelinore, do NOT complete the quest Duchess in Distress before doing Deny Salvation - if you do, Aelinore's Affinity will max out, she will not be available to decrease it in any way, and it will be extremely difficult to have any character other than her as Beloved;
   
   
2. Make sure that the character you're going for is still available. The final phase of every character's questline aside from Mercedes' will give you an opportunity to increase their affinity, and/or gift them the Arisen's Bond;
   
   
3. (Optional) Back up your save - It's possible for things to go wrong from this point on, especially if you complete any quests other than the character's sidequest and Deny Salvation;
   
   
4. Go to an inn or camp, and sleep for at least 10 days, 7 days is usually not enough if you've completed someone's quest or escort not long ago, but you can sleep up to 2 weeks to be sure. Even for characters with maxed Affinity or are not in the game anymore, time-caused Affinity decay still applies, and this amount of no interaction with NPCs will drop everyone's by a few points at the very least;
   
   
5. Be a menace to people you talk to often - I don't recommend punching or throwing, but picking up people and immediately putting them down, or unsheathing weapons in front of them so they wince and flinch will piss them off slightly but won't get you arrested. This step is intended if any of these people have high affinity, which they probably do if you've completed any of their escort quests. In particular, do this to vendors you sell and buy stuff often from (Mountebank, Fournival, Caxton and Camellia in Gran Soren, Aestella in Cassardis), innkeepers (Asalam in Gran Soren, Pablos in Cassardis), and quest givers you're forced to interact with several times (Ser Maximillian, Aldous, Arsmith);
   
   
6. Go and do the final sidequest for the character you want, or just drop by if they're still in the game after their quests, giving them the Arisen's Bond along the way if you still have it. If you don't, gift them a dozen or so Harspud Juices to make sure they're maxed;
   
   
7. Head for The Greatwall, and make a Checkpoint Save by interacting with the Riftstone outside the keep. Fight your way all the way up to the top, stopping at the room with the Skeleton Lord right before the entrance to the roof. If you accidentally go too far, you can reload your Checkpoint Save;
   
   
8. Once the entire way is clear, go back down and overwrite the checkpoint save at the Riftstone in front of the Greatwall. BACK UP YOUR SAVE (MANDATORY);
   
   
9. If you've gifted the Arisen's Bond to your intended Beloved and it worked, the ring will drop from the sky in front of you, and will be possible to pick up again after the cutscene. Mission accomplished.
   
   
10. If it didn't, and you didn't get the person you wanted, run all the way to the Dragon, and see who it is. If it's an NPC you can still access, reload your backup save, find them in the world, and unsheathe your weapons in front of them a few times, then go back to step 8. If it's a character that you can't talk to anymore, unfortunately you're boned until New Game Plus.

The Quests page on the Dragon's Dogma wiki[dragonsdogma.fandom.com] - Shows what quests are available when, and when they expire
The Ur-Dragon PC Tracker[ddda.lennardf1989.com] - Please for the love of god use this thing when hunting the Online Ur-Dragon, it's better for everyone to know how this fat purple bastard is doing