Who to bring on "that mission"? ((spoilers))

Bull/Cole/Sera, everyone is having a bad time, it's glorious.

I just finished that mission on my current PT and that's exactly the party I brought. All three of them have great unique reactions and contributions. Afterwards in Skyhold, Iron Bull gave me a good laugh because of the way he reacted to the mere idea of being in Fade and facing demons. I'll have to bring him along next time. 

Sera/Cole/Bull was mean but hilarious.

I'll probably leave Sera behind next time because I think her scene where she thinks you're possessed is just as good (or... bad, depending on how you look at it?) as the stuff in the Fade. I definitely like having Dorian there because the Tevinter-breaching-the-physical-Fade aspect is fun.

I like Vivienne there too, because out of everyone I trust her to kick the Fade's ass if it comes to it.

yeah I think I've used everyone at least once in that mission as well. But yeah my usual go to team for it is usually Varric, Cassandra,Bull and Solas. I just generally drop one of those for myself depending on what my Inquisitor is. Although in my last playthrough I ended up using Dorian a lot rather than Solas.

Dorian has his fun bit about being in the Fade, but the hard-hitting stuff comes in the discussion back at Skyhold. In that scene, does Dorian have different dialogue if you don't bring him along? If you're his friend, he was concerned, with an extra bit if romanced, and then he goes on about what it means to break open the Fade, as the original Seven did ages ago. IMO you can tell that he was bothered by Nightmare's taunt (about his father) because his only response is, "Rather uncalled for," instead of some smartass remark.

The only specific reference I know is if you say that you're "fine," as part of his response is "I was there."

I like bringing Cole, especially if you've heard him mention Adamant before, so you might think, "Hey, Cole's been there, let's take him," and then the poor dear freaks out.

I always bring Dorian for the above reasons, and he's also my LI, so I bring him everywhere.

The third spot is usually a toss between Cassandra and Varric. I like Cassandra a lot and typically bring her most places, but Varric has that Hawke connection, so that makes me lead toward him.

I don't bring Solas around, typically. Even though seeing him in the Fade is interesting, my RP justification is that we don't know we're going into the Fade at that point. This applies to Cassandra as well, since we don't know that we'll be meeting "Justinia" when the decision is made.

If I were going to truly go with roleplay, my choices would be Blackwall for the Warden connection, since we still think he's a Warden at this point, Cole for his previous mention of Adamant in investigate dialogues, and Varric for the Hawke connection.


The other three have no consideration for me at all.

First run I took Solas, because he was my love interest, Cole because he had previously been to Adamant and Cassandra because I knew I could rely on her and we knew we might be running into some dangerous Grey Warden mages.

Thereafter, I always took Dorian, because he was my love interest and went everywhere with me, and Cassandra for same reason as previously (not using meta knowledge) but swapped out Cole for other people - Blackwall, Varric, Vivienne (because I was interested in seeing her reaction) or Solas again.

Whilst I could imagine that Iron Bull and Sera would freak out, I had no real reason why I would want them on that particular team.

Unlike other main quests, "Here Lies the Abyss" (Fade section specifically) has more banter, comments and in-cutscene reactions from companions. Some of the banters are interactive for Inquisitor, like with Solas or Cole. Most of them are not.
Solas, if brought along, takes precedence over other companions' commentary. Mr. Fade Walker
Companions with major freaking-outs: Cole, Sera, Iron Bull.
In Solas' absence Dorian (or Vivienne or Cole) becomes a fade-guide.
Cassandra (has a special dialogue option with Justinia) and Blackrain are mildly disturbed. Varric has one banter with Hawke (reference to DAII "Night Terrors" quest).

After:
Cole: cutscene about binding that starts his quest "Subjected to His Will" (does not have any differences.) If was brought along: has a non-cutscene dialogue about Adamant events. Also if you ask Cole about Adamant from "tell me about your past" branch, Cole will thank you for not bringing him along.
Sera: cutscene about the Fade and the Wardens. If was brought along: significant differences, cutscene itself is longer.
Vivienne: has a non-cutscene conversation asking Inquisitor about their experience in the Fade (some lines will differ depending on mage/non-mage class). If was brought along: not a single line of a dialogue, none.
Cassandra: cutscene about the Fade and Justinia. If was brought along: quite a few significant dialogue changes.
Varric: cutscene concerning the Warden/Hawke fate, doesn't lament about the Fade itself. Not a single difference.
Dorian: cutscene about the Fade trip, if approval's high enough (35+) will ask about Inquisitor' well-being. If was brought along: some of the lines will vary. Also if Inquisitor's in romance with Dorian.
Solas: has a non-cutscene conversation about Wardens that varies if you talk to him before or after going to Adamant. So if you talked "before", there is not a single line "after".
Rainwall: cutscene about Adamant and the Wardens (not a single mention about the Fade). If was brought along: only one dialogue line differs.
Iron Bull: cutscene about a fear of demons. If was brought along: quite a few lines will vary.

There is also some open world banters that depends on which party members you had in the Fade: Dorian with Solas and/or Vivienne, Cass with Solas and/or Sera, Iron Bull with Vivienne.

Personally I prefer Cassandra, Solas and Dorian/Sera.