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Post by eireicon on Sept 14, 2017 15:00:17 GMT
So how do you all decide your party comp?
Do you have something set in mind before a playthrough? Do you tend to pick people due to how you are role playing your Hawke and do you have a set formation in mind ?
For me I tend to decide who my Hawke is before I start a playthrough, class personality etc and then I choose a party to compliment that whilst also maintaining a balance on the battlefield.
For my current playthrough I’m playing (on Normal as I haven’t played the game in about 3 years) a Female 2H warrior. I tend to go with a 1 warrior 1 rogue 2 mages comp
I’m on act 1 currently and have settled on the following comp: Hawke – Izzy – Bethany – Anders (Unfortunately)
I’ve benched Merril until Act 2 whilst I pump her magic and constitution and she’ll come in at that stage
What about everyone else?
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Post by Iddy on Sept 14, 2017 15:51:03 GMT
In DA2, it is mostly based on what friendship/rivalry points I'll get. But occasionally it can be because I think a specific companion should be there, like bringing Varric with me when I fight Corypheus.
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Post by Catilina on Sept 14, 2017 17:22:09 GMT
So how do you all decide your party comp? Do you have something set in mind before a playthrough? Do you tend to pick people due to how you are role playing your Hawke and do you have a set formation in mind ? For me I tend to decide who my Hawke is before I start a playthrough, class personality etc and then I choose a party to compliment that whilst also maintaining a balance on the battlefield. For my current playthrough I’m playing (on Normal as I haven’t played the game in about 3 years) a Female 2H warrior. I tend to go with a 1 warrior 1 rogue 2 mages comp I’m on act 1 currently and have settled on the following comp: Hawke – Izzy – Bethany – Anders (Unfortunately) I’ve benched Merril until Act 2 whilst I pump her magic and constitution and she’ll come in at that stage What about everyone else? For fun + RP. My warrior's main group was same as my mages' group. Mostly Anders (even with spirit healer Hawke), Fenris (even with a two-handed warrior) and +1 (Carver/Bethany in Act1), sometimes Fenris or Anders leave at home (mostly depend on, who is the actual LI), for the others personal quests and for party banters. I don't really care about the approval, only Isabela's hard in the current game: I never tried rivalry with her before, and now I will in trouble with her, probably. In romance sometimes I like the personal quest only with Hawke and Anders/Fenris. Especially the Dissent (needless to involve others). But I mostly play as normal/casual. |
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Post by Catilina on Sept 14, 2017 17:29:52 GMT
In DA2, it is mostly based on what friendship/rivalry points I'll get. But occasionally it can be because I think a specific companion should be there, like bringing Varric with me when I fight Corypheus.You can leave Varric at home in Legacy. And you even can replace him at the Carta Hideout. Bethany/Carver more important/interesting here. And Anders – as possessed Grey Warden, + he has an interesting reaction at Corypheus. |
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Post by melbella on Sept 15, 2017 3:09:58 GMT
I usually play rogue or mage (only warrior once) but I don't balance the party like I do in DAI. I tend to bring whomever I plan to romance and fill in with who I want to get F/R points with or who might have some good lines in a side quest. In Act 1 I tend to bring sibling along since they'll be gone after the Deep Roads. Whether I bring sibling on the trip depends on how I want them to end up but if I do, I usually bring Anders so they don't die. Unfortunately, that leaves out LI unless I'm romancing Anders, which I've only done twice.
In Legacy, I almost always bring Varric, sibling, and LI. MotA is a bit more difficult since you only have 2 open slots. I had the most fun with LI Fenris + Carver with purpleHawke.
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Post by patrickbateman on Sept 15, 2017 14:58:21 GMT
I play the game on Nightmare so I bring a party that I believe is the best for that challenge :
Spirit healer Hawk : Aveline, Varric and Merril.
2h Warrior Hawk : Anders, Varric and Merril.
DW Rouge Hawk : Aveline, Anders and Merril.
2h Warriors are annoying on Nightmare as they do way to much friendly fire, need to micro manage them constantly as they one shot companions like Varric all the time in tight spaces which is why I only bring Fenris for his personal quests, 2h warrior tank is a lot of fun though.
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Post by Sah291 on Sept 15, 2017 15:38:17 GMT
In DA2, and pretty much all Bioware games, it's role play for the most part. Unless I am just struggling with a certain part and need a specific character combination or whatever reason. Or when party members are required.
Romanced character is almost always in the party though...I like to get see the most amount of content and banter with that character, so naturally they get dragged everywhere. But there are a few times they don't, for roleplay reasons.
And there is one part in DA2 I always enjoy doing with just the LI present in the party (and Dog), Aveline's quest, the Long Road where you are trying to fix her up with Donnic.
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Post by eireicon on Sept 15, 2017 16:27:00 GMT
I play the game on Nightmare so I bring a party that I believe is the best for that challenge : Spirit healer Hawk : Aveline, Varric and Merril. 2h Warrior Hawk : Anders, Varric and Merril. DW Rouge Hawk : Aveline, Anders and Merril. 2h Warriors are annoying on Nightmare as they do way to much friendly fire, need to micro manage them constantly as they one shot companions like Varric all the time in tight spaces which is why I only bring Fenris for his personal quests, 2h warrior tank is a lot of fun though. Agree completely thats why I went with a 2H warrior this playthrough and am bringing Isabela - you just can't do that on Nightmare with the friendly fire. I'm gonna play Nightmare next time and I think I'll use Sebastian for the first time instead of Varric |
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Post by boxofscreaming on Sept 15, 2017 19:22:18 GMT
Generally Aveline and Varric plus one. I tend to use Bethany/Carver a lot in act 1.
For my mage I used Merill a fair bit - she's a beast once you get her health up a bit.
With my rogues, I tended to rely on Anders. It feels wrong to me playing without Heroic Aura on, like I'm neutering my character.
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Post by fylimar on Sept 15, 2017 21:26:28 GMT
I'm with Catilina : fun and rp reasons. And I like diversity, so I don't have a main group. Varric is often in the group, because he is my favorite, but apart from that, whatever my mood tells me or whoever would fit for the current quest |
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Post by Lazarillo on Sept 16, 2017 5:23:33 GMT
I switch party members in and out constantly, but my "main" team for my "canon" DA2 playthrough was Varric (because I like to use the carry-across companions, and he's in two games, plus, c'mon he's Varric), Anders (because he's the other carry-across, and he was my canon Hawke's romantic interest), and Isabela (because she's a good complement to my Warrior-led team and because she's got some pretty major ties to the Qunari side of the plot).
In my not-so-canon playthroughs, it's generally Varric + romantic interest + whichever Warrior is most plot-appropriate (Aveline if it's something related to keeping the peace, Fenris if it's shenanigans, and Carver supersedes them both if he's available).
One little exception I used to make: I never used Varric for DLC content initially, since my little headcanon is that he didn't include those adventures in his story until asked, because those were the only times he wasn't actually there. Of course then Inquisition just kinda went and contradicted that pretty wholeheartedly, unfortunately.
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Post by boxofscreaming on Sept 16, 2017 20:08:52 GMT
I don't normally take Aveline on illegal quests. That'd be silly.
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Post by Catilina on Sept 16, 2017 20:58:30 GMT
I don't normally take Aveline on illegal quests. That'd be silly. Now I try to involve her in every mess to annoy her, but still hard to be rival with her. |
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Post by boxofscreaming on Sept 16, 2017 21:04:25 GMT
I don't normally take Aveline on illegal quests. That'd be silly. Now I try to involve her in every mess to annoy her, but still hard to be rival with her. I like having Hawke be shady or annoying when Aveline's there as I enjoy being the friend who drives her nuts, but I can't justify taking a cop on a quest I got from Athenril or some such! |
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Post by Catilina on Sept 16, 2017 21:21:40 GMT
Now I try to involve her in every mess to annoy her, but still hard to be rival with her. I like having Hawke be shady or annoying when Aveline's there as I enjoy being the friend who drives her nuts, but I can't justify taking a cop on a quest I got from Athenril or some such! My Hawke was a mercenary but already killed that bastard, and Aveline enjoyed... But... she's my cop, she grumbles, but still trustworthy. |
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Post by themikefest on Sept 17, 2017 4:01:42 GMT
Act 1 I usually have Isabela, sibling, Fenris
Act 2 Isabela, Sebastian, Fenris/Aveline
Act 3 Isabela, Sebastian, Fenris/Aveline. Sibling for end fight
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Post by sageoflife on Sept 17, 2017 19:03:31 GMT
I play Hawke as a Sword and Board Warrior, so Anders is stapled into my party. From there I typically alternate between Isabella and Merril for a classic Final Fantasy 1 party and Fenris and Varric for the Fighter-Mage-Thief trio plus Hawke. I also use Aveline and Sebastian together if I feel the mission calls for one of them.
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Post by Akijuro on Sept 17, 2017 20:21:37 GMT
In every DA game I have a constant team in mind or it changes just a little during meeting new companions when I don't know game yet. In DA2, except the time in which i was maximizing friendship/rivalry stats for every companion, I used for my warrior femHawke Anders, Varric and Isabela. Those are my favourite companions in this game.  |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2017 16:16:56 GMT
I play on Normal, so I select the party that fits my Hawke's personality and imaginary relationships. I also try to get different composition every time I replay. My current party, third PT is a sword-shield knightly Hawke (aggressive/direct, but diplomatic with the downtrodden) who sleeps with the Whore but chooses the Maiden in the end. I also want to have max tragedy in his life with his entire family destroyed due to him being sympathetic to the mages. So, it's Isabela, Meril and Bethany/Anders.
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Post by alche on Sept 20, 2017 9:07:30 GMT
After 10 playthroughs on nightmare I’ve found the best fighting party to be Fenris, 2 mages and Varric.
Fenris does need micromanaging big time due to friendly fire but well worth it. Fenris also has high fire resistance to avoid my mages killing him with friendly fire.
Varric (rogue) is essential for traps and chests, needs to be ranged of course.
The 2 mages both have fire and lighting AoE . For Hawke mage go for blood magic later in game with all sustained talents active… makes for one hell of a powerful mage.
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Post by raikas on Sept 20, 2017 13:17:28 GMT
For story and combat reasons I like having Varric, Anders and (when available) Carver whenever possible.
I'd like to use Isabela more (she has some of the most entertaining banter), but she always seems too fragile on the higher difficulties so it's not practical (I'm sure it's possible to use her, but I feel like that would take more active management than I'm interested in).
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2017 14:10:25 GMT
I always go by roleplay. My templar Hawke never had a mage as a matter of principal, taking one just to make the combat easier or open up a dialogue option kind of ruins the realism for me. If my character doesn't want a mage he/she has to suffer the consequences and not get the bonuses (particularly in DAI). Which means I'm the idiot who'll take 3 rogues with a rogue Hawke on MoTA just cos they're my besties in that playthru and I want to hear the banter.  |
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Post by jaison1986 on Sept 21, 2017 11:28:25 GMT
Well, I mostly take gameplay and acts in consideration.
In act 1, my team mostly consists of Bethany, Aveline and Varric, with me ocasionally switching Varric for Isabela
And then in act 2 and 3 I mostly use Aveline, Anders and whoever else strike my fancy. I don't like using Fenris very much, as he is mostly a reaver wannabe.
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Post by vertigomez on Oct 13, 2017 4:17:40 GMT
I normally play as mage Hawke, and I take Carver with me up until I can't. Varric and Aveline are my bros and I'm normally romancing either Fenris or Isabela, so they often come along with me too.
After that it's whoever needs a friendship/rivalry boost.
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Post by Sokemis on Oct 14, 2017 12:25:26 GMT
For all three games I almost always play on the easiest level, so that way I don't have to worry as much about the right party for the right fight (granted sometimes we come out of the fight a little worse for wear, but we usually make it). I try for a combination of group balance (warrior, rogue, mage, +1) and RP. If I have to choose between the two, I go for the RP (also tend to bring the LI as much as possible). Also been known to change up the group when I want to hear some new party banter.
Some examples with my canon Hawke (F!Purple!DW, Bethany = circle mage, no DLC):
In Act 1, used Bethany as much as possible. Never took her to the Gallows though, in fact tried to never take any of my mage companions on trips to the Gallows - just seemed risky and stupid. Always take Isabela there though. (I headcanon that, even as a non-mage, my Hawke is very uncomfortable in the Gallows, especially after Bethany is taken away. So to ease the tension, she and Izzy tease Cullen relentlessly - taking bets on who can make him blush first/the most, lol).
Merrill specific quests are always a "girl's day out". I ship Merrill and Isabela, so it's natural that she comes along; Anders and Fenris are both asses to Merrill so I leave them at home; get the distinct impression that Varric isn't a fan of camping in the great outdoors; that leaves Aveline to fill in the 4th spot.
Slowly work Fenris (LI) in more and more during Act 1, eventually taking him with me to the Deep Roads. Act 2, didn't take him with me immediately after Bitter Pill, until the initial hurt wore off. Act 3 was all Fenris, all the way.
Forced Anders to go on the Deep Roads expedition. Figured if we ran into Darkspawn his Warden senses would start tingling and give us a little advance notice. Hardly used him at all in Act 3, by then he was downward spiraling more and more and frankly made her a little nervous.
Not above taking Aveline on some slightly shady missions, by then she knows Hawke and, although she may not approve, she accepts it. Didn't take her on any blatantly illegal missions - didn't want to risk her being connected to them and therefore threatening her position within the Guard. Those missions where usually Isabela, Varric, Fenris.
Take Varric on most missions around town.
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