Which THREE DA2 companions are must-have for you?

For the final mission of eac hact yeah I tend to do the same although in the case of Act 2's finale I usually bring Fenris rather than Aveline due to his knowledge of Qunari from his time in Tevinter lands. Because most of my Hawke's usually feel that that knowledge might come in handy during this crisis.

Can't believe how many people seem to like that whiny little drip Carver. He does my flippin' head in and I can't wait to be rid of him. Off you go Carver... off to the Templars for you! Bye bye!

My core team is Mage Hawke, Isabella, Aveline and Merrill. That's the A squad, capable of resolving any and all situations with style, flair and finesse.

Occasionally I'll switch Bella for Varric, but only in very specific situations, or when forced to by the game (DLC, end of Act II etc.).


Sebastian stays in the Chantry for 98% of the game, only coming out for his recruitment mission, and personal quest. Just talking to that sanctimonious little twit is a major chore. Fenris comes out on the odd occasion when Aveline isn't available, and he's usually my romance option of choice. Anders also largely stays in his clinic. I can't be done with his constant caustic remarks.... which is a switch, given that I took him everywhere in Awakening.

Having said that, if you're ever in the mood for a pure hate fest Anders, Fenris and Merrill are a good choice.

My ideal party largely depends on what class my Hawke is. I never feel the need for more than one tank in my party so the one time I played a warrior Hawke I had very little need for Averline and less use for Fenris than I normally have. However, I usually play either rogue or mage so my use of Averline or Fenris is something I generally role play.

Around town, so long as we aren't doing anything too illegal, then I invite along Averline so that I can argue we are acting semi-legitimately as part of the official policing of the city. However, if I deem it not appropriate to involve the Guard Captain so she can more easily turn a blind eye to my activities, then I invite Fenris. Outside the city I nearly always take Fenris as I role play that on the whole Averline wouldn't be able to spare the time.  This was particularly true when we went to the Deep Roads.   There it is a case of whether or not I listen to my mother about taking my sibling with me.

With my mage Hawke I generally always take Anders on quests because of his healing abilities and because the majority of my Hawkes like Anders and agree with his politics if not his methods at the end. The only mage Hawkes who didn't were my female Hawke who strongly disapproved of allowing himself to become possessed but didn't agree with Merrill either so ended up the only mage in the party most of he time, and my mage Hawke who romanced Merrill so naturally wanted her around as much as possible. My mages tended to prefer having Varric in the party for his ranged ability but would swap in Isabella or Sebastian as seemed appropriate.

My rogue Hawkes also tended towards just one mage, Anders, for the same reasons given above. As I prefer playing a dual wielder rogue, that made Isabella somewhat redundant. However, I could get the various banters with everyone one simply by taking a different set of characters with me each time I went on a shopping trip around Kirkwall. It was one of the things I like about DA2 (and regretted not having in DAI) that if you wanted to hear your companions talking you could just take a stroll around the city during the day and this had the added advantage that you weren't likely to have anyone attack you in the middle of a conversation.

Same team as mine then, though I freely admit that I 'cheat' by using a mod that allows all classes to learn all roles within that class - so Merril can heal. I also strip away all weapon restrictions, so Aveline can equip a bow if she so chooses etc. etc. This gives the game the same open endedness as DA:O, but I guess some people will consider it cheating, as I'm deliberately circumventing the game's limitations.

I find that a party consisting of two mages, both with AOE capability, plus the big CC spells from the Force Mage tree, high DPS duel-wield rogue with high burst/spike damage, and Battlemaster tank can literally beat any situation presented by the game even without Merril having an additional emergency heal available.  I've yet to encounter any scenario that this party cannot easily overcome, because our two Mages keep large groups of enemies locked down, Aveline keep their attention upon her, while Isabella quickly burns down the tougher attackers with massive Twin Fang crits and then quickly dances out of danger.

I also like the relationship that gradually develops between Isabella and Aveline - starting out as frosty and rubbing each other up the wrong way... but gradually warming to each other. As far as I know they're the only two characters who's relationship actually evolves in such a manner.