Lots of things impact pawn behavior. Unfortunately not all inclinations work as well with certain vocations or vocation combinations as one would hope, which can cause unwanted behavior, and there are other potential problems. Here's a simple list of common potential problem behaviors and how to fix them. (Potential because they aren't necessarily undesirable, just undesirable for certain pawns.)
Climbing/Grappleing:
Ususally casued by Scather. Remove it or set it as a secondary or tertiary inclination.
With Fighters/Warriors specifically it is also caused by Utilitarian. Removing/demoting Utilitarian will fix it, but it will also stop them coordinating with other pawns to hold down the bosses. Unfortunately there isn't really a middle ground here, either they gladly tackle everything or they won't tackle much at all.
Ranged characters/mages running into melee:
Remove scather.
Pawn standing/running around doing nothing:
Guardian and Nexus are the causes. Remove them.
The other possible cause (at least on consoles) is Scather on a Ranger. Rangers defualt to trying to use a bow, Scather encourages melee, so the Ranger will try to do both and not actually do either. Removing scather fixes this.
Pawn running off and starting fights:
Pioneer, especially in combined with Aquisitor and/or Scather cause this.
Pioneer/Aquisitors do it by accident, Pioneer/Scathers do it on purpose. Remove either Pioneer or it's pair to fix the respective problems.
Pawn collecting stuff mid fight instead of fighting:
Aquisitor, especially paired with Pioneer, cause this.
Pawn won't buff or use appropriate buffs:
Set Utilitarian as primary.
Mage Pawn heals too much/not enough:
Adjust Medicant. As Medicant primary a pawn will drop any and all activities to heal even the slightest injury. A Medicant secondary a pawn will follow their primary inclination untill someone gets a status effect or gets below 50% HP, then drop other activities to heal. A Medicant Tertiary will primarily heal out of combat, and only in the most dire circumstances (if at all) during combat.
Pawn won't shut up:
On PC you can turn off thier chatter in the options menu, otherwise (or if you want the chatter, just less of it) you can use the knowlege chair to tell them to speak less.
Pawn insists on using/refuses to use skill "x":
Pawns mimic players. If you used that move a lot or never used it, the pawns will mirror that. Simplest way to fix it is to switch to the class that has the move you want your pawn to use, and then to enter combat and use it a lot. (Where appropriate, you probably don't want pawns trying to kill standard goblins with meteors)
Pawn is still using "x" skill poorly:
The pawn AI isn't good at properly using every skill. Anything with a charge time (unless the pawn is a mage or sorcerer) is unlikely to be used well, the same is true of many utility skills (like Dazzleblast.) If you've already made your effort to train them to use it correctly, there probably isn't a fix.
Climbing/Grappleing:
Ususally casued by Scather. Remove it or set it as a secondary or tertiary inclination.
With Fighters/Warriors specifically it is also caused by Utilitarian. Removing/demoting Utilitarian will fix it, but it will also stop them coordinating with other pawns to hold down the bosses. Unfortunately there isn't really a middle ground here, either they gladly tackle everything or they won't tackle much at all.
Ranged characters/mages running into melee:
Remove scather.
Pawn standing/running around doing nothing:
Guardian and Nexus are the causes. Remove them.
The other possible cause (at least on consoles) is Scather on a Ranger. Rangers defualt to trying to use a bow, Scather encourages melee, so the Ranger will try to do both and not actually do either. Removing scather fixes this.
Pawn running off and starting fights:
Pioneer, especially in combined with Aquisitor and/or Scather cause this.
Pioneer/Aquisitors do it by accident, Pioneer/Scathers do it on purpose. Remove either Pioneer or it's pair to fix the respective problems.
Pawn collecting stuff mid fight instead of fighting:
Aquisitor, especially paired with Pioneer, cause this.
Pawn won't buff or use appropriate buffs:
Set Utilitarian as primary.
Mage Pawn heals too much/not enough:
Adjust Medicant. As Medicant primary a pawn will drop any and all activities to heal even the slightest injury. A Medicant secondary a pawn will follow their primary inclination untill someone gets a status effect or gets below 50% HP, then drop other activities to heal. A Medicant Tertiary will primarily heal out of combat, and only in the most dire circumstances (if at all) during combat.
Pawn won't shut up:
On PC you can turn off thier chatter in the options menu, otherwise (or if you want the chatter, just less of it) you can use the knowlege chair to tell them to speak less.
Pawn insists on using/refuses to use skill "x":
Pawns mimic players. If you used that move a lot or never used it, the pawns will mirror that. Simplest way to fix it is to switch to the class that has the move you want your pawn to use, and then to enter combat and use it a lot. (Where appropriate, you probably don't want pawns trying to kill standard goblins with meteors)
Pawn is still using "x" skill poorly:
The pawn AI isn't good at properly using every skill. Anything with a charge time (unless the pawn is a mage or sorcerer) is unlikely to be used well, the same is true of many utility skills (like Dazzleblast.) If you've already made your effort to train them to use it correctly, there probably isn't a fix.
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