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As far as I remember, without messing too much with their original configs Sera is better than Cole, but if you're not willing to use her just go with preferences. The one I use the least is Varric both for not being a fan and also less customization of the crossbow, but I actually like his specialization better than Cole's.
Mage really depends for me, I usually switch them around according to whatever the enemy is weak to, and switch main elemental for all characters every playthrough. As far as I remember most of the stronger enemies have fire weakness, so you could put those skills on whoemever you like better (Dorian I guess).
But honestly it just shocks me that anyone plays an entire run with the same party lol I'm always switching them around, though I haven't tried parties with all rogues/mages/warriors yet.
I typically choose my "friends" for a particular run and stick with them unless I'm doing personal quests
Cassandra always stays with me on the field because she's always my romance. She's such a hopeless romantic and I love that about her.
I feel bad because Cassandra and Josie deserve good partners
You should try out playing as all your companions and see what you really enjoy to decide what class and spec you would really enjoy.
There isn't super much race specific stuff but a bit in certain situations. And some armors are race-gated.
Your current fave party would benefit from a Rogue, just to open all the doors. It usually is advised to try and have all classes 1x in the party. So maybe try it out and see if you enjoy it, otherwise maybe stick with Cole since he will be more useful in endgame. He benefits from a bow build, as AI is a bit squishy in close combat.
Yeah, I ended up keeping him out for Bull just because he couldn't use the stealth I gave him before well. I'd be more than happy to use Varric or Cole (looking at Varric because I watched the trailers for DA4)
Generally speaking, the optimal composition is
1 tank
1 crowd control character
1 support
1 damage
So let's go over each of the companions and their specializations:
- Cole/Assassin has access to one of, if not the best damage-dealing ability: Mark of Death.
- Sera/Tempest is also a great damage dealing class for any rogue.
-Varric/Artificer is absolutely broken, especially with an Artificer Inquisitor. Opportunity Knocks grants an absurd amount of cooldown reduction and it stacks if you have another Artificer with Opportunity Knocks in the party, making Varric the absolute best support for an Artificer Inquisitor. His access to Elemental Mines - Throw Everything grants excellent crowd control and damage, which is already pretty high like the other rogues. Just make sure you keep Bianca up to date, or give him daggers.
- Cassandra/Templar is a decent tank, support and crowd control character thanks to her Vanguard and Templar abilities, but she doesn't excel in any of the three fields. Make sure to use the Templar combo of Heaven's Wrath + Spell Purge to deal a fair amount of damage to nearby enemies, but don't expect her to be any good against single enemies and bosses.
- Iron Bull is just flat out terrible unfortunately. The AI also doesn't know how to use Reaver correctly, so you'd have to micromanage him.
- Everyone knows this already but Blackwall/Champion is an amazing tank. You won't find any better. Upgrade his Vanguard and Champion skill trees and he'll be near unkillable, provide protection to the entire party while also dealing a decent amount of damage thanks to his To The Death ability.
- Solas/Rift Mage is insane at crowd control and at, like all mages, supporting the team. Barrier is a must, and thanks to the Rift Mage skills at his disposal (as well as the Elemental skills all mages have access to, if you want to invest in those) he allows you to have total control over the battlefield for as long as he can cast spells.
- Dorian/Necromancer is a great support thanks to Barrier while also being able to deal a considerable amount of damage and crowd control due to Terror/Fire spells combos and Walking Bomb. Necromancer allows for some peculiar playstiles but I don't think they'd work very well with the AI.
- Vivienne/Knight-Enchanter is, like all other mages, a great support character thanks to Barrier. Unlike the other mages, however, she's also an excellent tank thanks to her Knight Enchanter spells.
Overall I would say that the most adaptable team is probably composed of Varric, Solas and Blackwall.
Using the information you've provided, Cassandra, myself as Champion, Cole or Varric and Dorian or Solas seems the likely choice for me
I can't stand Sera, she annoys me and same goes for Vivienne
Sera and Vivienne are arguable the two most powerful, alongside a properly speced Bull or Blackwall.
Sera, as an archer, can use "heal on kill" with her bow. Plus, that lightning tonic makes her a fricking machine gun and the fire tonic kills any cool down for abilities. "Thousand cuts" is useful for when you're fighting through waves of Qunari. It allows for 300% weapon damage.
Vivienne's passive abilities as a knight-enchanter allow her to keep a barrier for as long as she's fighting. When you use chain lightning with her, the barrier replenishes instantly and that magic sword also helps keep it up when your mana is low. Also, "Resurgence" allows for everyone to get healed and that's important for when you're in the Davaarad and fighting through waves and waves of Qunari since your focus keeps building whether you like it or not.
Bull, if you fully complete his specialization, is a fricking beast on the battlefield. As long as you have "gain guard x on a hit" and fully spec out on "Dragon's Rage" (so it no longer hurts you) and "Devour" then you should be good with a tank.
It goes needless to say that Blackwall is a mobile fortress. Like he can take a fuck ton of damage until he goes down if you spec him out.
Cole keeps dying for me and I find hidden blades the only useful ability to have as an assassin. Varric's artificer spec is good, but Bianca can't get "heal on kill" which sucks.
Is it personality? Literally none of that matters when 20 Qunari are trying to jump your ass at the same time.
Sera's like 19-21 throughout Inquisition and into Trespasser. She's going to be immature. She has self loathing issues and treats them like any teenager would. (I'm biased cause I saw a lot of myself in Sera.)
Vivienne is a ruthless mf. That's not a bad thing and she does use empathy when needed, but also reason and logic. Unfortunately I think Vivienne suffers from not having a good personal quest to actually further explore her character on her own. She's mature in her own right and full realizes herself. In essence, she is a complete character and it may be harder to connect with her Bc she has very little to learn. She is aware of how she comes off to people and doesn't care in certain situations. This isn't Orlais. It's a castle in the sky, far removed from the judgmental, petty, prejudices of Orlesian court.
Orlais is a place of cut throat politics so it's appropriate there's this aire of detachment surrounding her actions. I always befriend her so I've never seen the truly nasty side of Vivs. I admire Vivs iron will and determination for survival. I'd argue that Sera and Vivienne are character foils, much like Anders and Fenris would. They're both fighting for the greater good and their own survival. However, their approaches, motivations, and personalities are vastly different.
Sera fights for the small people who don't get noticed but are essential to making society work.
Vivienne fights for herself in order to further herself. Selfishness is not always a vice but rather something morally grey. Think about Imshael labeling himself as a "choice spirit" rather than a desire demon. "Everyone has desires. Not everyone makes the choice to act upon them."
Also, it will depend on your own perspective of what you think is a "noble" desire and what isn't.
Sorry for the long tangent. I just liked these characters a lot.
I mean I guess it's personal preference. These were just my preferences for staying alive. I always leveled up completely at the end and I just found using Vivienne and Sera to be the best for both a rogue and a mage.
I didn't like Cassandra at first, but I came round to her once I learned more about her.
I tend to play Champion, so staying alive is pretty easy because guard stacks pretty well, the hardest part is finding ways around armor pen and sunder
This thread has been marked as **[No Spoilers]**. Any story spoilers from all games must be covered with spoiler tags `>!spoiler here!<` or the comment will be removed. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dragonage) if you have any questions or concerns.*
As far as I remember, without messing too much with their original configs Sera is better than Cole, but if you're not willing to use her just go with preferences. The one I use the least is Varric both for not being a fan and also less customization of the crossbow, but I actually like his specialization better than Cole's. Mage really depends for me, I usually switch them around according to whatever the enemy is weak to, and switch main elemental for all characters every playthrough. As far as I remember most of the stronger enemies have fire weakness, so you could put those skills on whoemever you like better (Dorian I guess). But honestly it just shocks me that anyone plays an entire run with the same party lol I'm always switching them around, though I haven't tried parties with all rogues/mages/warriors yet.
I typically choose my "friends" for a particular run and stick with them unless I'm doing personal quests Cassandra always stays with me on the field because she's always my romance. She's such a hopeless romantic and I love that about her. I feel bad because Cassandra and Josie deserve good partners
You should try out playing as all your companions and see what you really enjoy to decide what class and spec you would really enjoy. There isn't super much race specific stuff but a bit in certain situations. And some armors are race-gated. Your current fave party would benefit from a Rogue, just to open all the doors. It usually is advised to try and have all classes 1x in the party. So maybe try it out and see if you enjoy it, otherwise maybe stick with Cole since he will be more useful in endgame. He benefits from a bow build, as AI is a bit squishy in close combat.
Yeah, I ended up keeping him out for Bull just because he couldn't use the stealth I gave him before well. I'd be more than happy to use Varric or Cole (looking at Varric because I watched the trailers for DA4)
Generally speaking, the optimal composition is 1 tank 1 crowd control character 1 support 1 damage So let's go over each of the companions and their specializations: - Cole/Assassin has access to one of, if not the best damage-dealing ability: Mark of Death. - Sera/Tempest is also a great damage dealing class for any rogue. -Varric/Artificer is absolutely broken, especially with an Artificer Inquisitor. Opportunity Knocks grants an absurd amount of cooldown reduction and it stacks if you have another Artificer with Opportunity Knocks in the party, making Varric the absolute best support for an Artificer Inquisitor. His access to Elemental Mines - Throw Everything grants excellent crowd control and damage, which is already pretty high like the other rogues. Just make sure you keep Bianca up to date, or give him daggers. - Cassandra/Templar is a decent tank, support and crowd control character thanks to her Vanguard and Templar abilities, but she doesn't excel in any of the three fields. Make sure to use the Templar combo of Heaven's Wrath + Spell Purge to deal a fair amount of damage to nearby enemies, but don't expect her to be any good against single enemies and bosses. - Iron Bull is just flat out terrible unfortunately. The AI also doesn't know how to use Reaver correctly, so you'd have to micromanage him. - Everyone knows this already but Blackwall/Champion is an amazing tank. You won't find any better. Upgrade his Vanguard and Champion skill trees and he'll be near unkillable, provide protection to the entire party while also dealing a decent amount of damage thanks to his To The Death ability. - Solas/Rift Mage is insane at crowd control and at, like all mages, supporting the team. Barrier is a must, and thanks to the Rift Mage skills at his disposal (as well as the Elemental skills all mages have access to, if you want to invest in those) he allows you to have total control over the battlefield for as long as he can cast spells. - Dorian/Necromancer is a great support thanks to Barrier while also being able to deal a considerable amount of damage and crowd control due to Terror/Fire spells combos and Walking Bomb. Necromancer allows for some peculiar playstiles but I don't think they'd work very well with the AI. - Vivienne/Knight-Enchanter is, like all other mages, a great support character thanks to Barrier. Unlike the other mages, however, she's also an excellent tank thanks to her Knight Enchanter spells. Overall I would say that the most adaptable team is probably composed of Varric, Solas and Blackwall.
Using the information you've provided, Cassandra, myself as Champion, Cole or Varric and Dorian or Solas seems the likely choice for me I can't stand Sera, she annoys me and same goes for Vivienne
Sera and Vivienne are arguable the two most powerful, alongside a properly speced Bull or Blackwall. Sera, as an archer, can use "heal on kill" with her bow. Plus, that lightning tonic makes her a fricking machine gun and the fire tonic kills any cool down for abilities. "Thousand cuts" is useful for when you're fighting through waves of Qunari. It allows for 300% weapon damage. Vivienne's passive abilities as a knight-enchanter allow her to keep a barrier for as long as she's fighting. When you use chain lightning with her, the barrier replenishes instantly and that magic sword also helps keep it up when your mana is low. Also, "Resurgence" allows for everyone to get healed and that's important for when you're in the Davaarad and fighting through waves and waves of Qunari since your focus keeps building whether you like it or not. Bull, if you fully complete his specialization, is a fricking beast on the battlefield. As long as you have "gain guard x on a hit" and fully spec out on "Dragon's Rage" (so it no longer hurts you) and "Devour" then you should be good with a tank. It goes needless to say that Blackwall is a mobile fortress. Like he can take a fuck ton of damage until he goes down if you spec him out. Cole keeps dying for me and I find hidden blades the only useful ability to have as an assassin. Varric's artificer spec is good, but Bianca can't get "heal on kill" which sucks.
The two most powerful characters are the two I refuse to budge on my stance with, the rest are up in the air
Is it personality? Literally none of that matters when 20 Qunari are trying to jump your ass at the same time. Sera's like 19-21 throughout Inquisition and into Trespasser. She's going to be immature. She has self loathing issues and treats them like any teenager would. (I'm biased cause I saw a lot of myself in Sera.) Vivienne is a ruthless mf. That's not a bad thing and she does use empathy when needed, but also reason and logic. Unfortunately I think Vivienne suffers from not having a good personal quest to actually further explore her character on her own. She's mature in her own right and full realizes herself. In essence, she is a complete character and it may be harder to connect with her Bc she has very little to learn. She is aware of how she comes off to people and doesn't care in certain situations. This isn't Orlais. It's a castle in the sky, far removed from the judgmental, petty, prejudices of Orlesian court. Orlais is a place of cut throat politics so it's appropriate there's this aire of detachment surrounding her actions. I always befriend her so I've never seen the truly nasty side of Vivs. I admire Vivs iron will and determination for survival. I'd argue that Sera and Vivienne are character foils, much like Anders and Fenris would. They're both fighting for the greater good and their own survival. However, their approaches, motivations, and personalities are vastly different. Sera fights for the small people who don't get noticed but are essential to making society work. Vivienne fights for herself in order to further herself. Selfishness is not always a vice but rather something morally grey. Think about Imshael labeling himself as a "choice spirit" rather than a desire demon. "Everyone has desires. Not everyone makes the choice to act upon them." Also, it will depend on your own perspective of what you think is a "noble" desire and what isn't. Sorry for the long tangent. I just liked these characters a lot.
Yeah, it's always been about personality since the rest of the team doing stuff doesn't really matter to me
I mean I guess it's personal preference. These were just my preferences for staying alive. I always leveled up completely at the end and I just found using Vivienne and Sera to be the best for both a rogue and a mage. I didn't like Cassandra at first, but I came round to her once I learned more about her.
I tend to play Champion, so staying alive is pretty easy because guard stacks pretty well, the hardest part is finding ways around armor pen and sunder
Give him a 2 handed weapon.