Which THREE DA2 companions are must-have for you?

Merrill! What a beast.
Aveline and Bela, Bela especially if I'm playing warrior - sometimes I just get tired of hacking at things with a giant sword. Bela and her battle comments are much more fun.

Aveline and Merrill.

God, this is impossible! Good question.

I'm gonna say Aveline, Carver, and... eugh, Isabela or Fenris? I'm not sure I can choose. Aveline's friendship really transcends friendship (to me). She's been with you since the beginning so she feels like family. She's the only one who was there when your sibling died, you were there for Wesley, and if Hawke doesn't romance anyone she comes to comfort them at their estate. And then she comforts them some more.

And I love Carver. I always have. His and snarky Hawke's dynamic is one of my favorites across the series. I find him grouchy but sympathetic, a try-hard with a good heart, a person with a very "normal" perspective which I always love (Lukas seems to write a lot of these characters, see also: Aveline and Sera).

Isabela's friendship (and love) is so meaningful; Hawke's the only person who's ever really stuck around for her, and I'd miss her if she weren't in the game. That's not even getting into the whole Qunari business. The fight with the Arishok has that much more weight if you care about Isabela.

And Fenris's romance is my favorite in the game. It was the most emotional and hard-won for me, and easily the most rewarding... but even outside of his romance, I love his unique perspective on the Qunari and the mage/templar issue. He's the first Tevinter companion we've ever had and is the only companion besides Bethany who really seems to like Sebastian as a person. So far he's the only elven companion we've had who isn't a rogue or a mage (unless you count Ariane).

If Varric gets to stick around as an important NPC, I think that's fine. I love his friendship with Hawke but I don't necessarily think him being a companion is essential to that; he lives at your regular hangout and is going to be a big part of your life no matter what, so...

Carver ( I love him!), Isabela, and Anders.

Fenris, because I love to crack this nut with my canon mage Hawke and I like his background story, too. I like when he comes to trust a mage, it's great.
Aveline, because I just love her character and she's so adorable with Donnic.
Varric, because I really like him and is my Hawke's bro!

I generally went with Varric or Isabella, Merrill and Aveline. I do like Bethany, but since you lose her fairly quickly, I think Merrill is the best fighter and one of the funniest characters.

Playing as my preferred mage class:

Anders -- of course. Favorite companion/LI of DA2, and we kick serious ass together. My Hawke and Anders are inseparable.

Carver -- another favorite character, I always use him whenever I can even though I technically use Aveline more. Ironically, his Templar class is also immensely helpful.

...Isabela -- It was painfully difficult for me to chose which rogue, but I decided to stick with my comfort combat balance of 2 ranged/2 melee even though I love using Sebastian and would like to have him with me... I'm still not sure if this is the "right" decision but I'll stick with it.

yes.


And the banter between these three...

 I noticed we picked the exact same crew and tossed you a like.

Great minds, yeah?

Same. I play a mage first and my canons are mages -- but so are most of my other characters. Magic is just superior. Fact.

Anders (.. kittens)
Varric (.. his beard fell on his chest.. close enough)
Isabella (.. banter.. so much funny banter)

Varric and Aveline. The third would depend on the character of my Hawke.