41 réponses à ce sujet

[sylvanaerie]

a cheat way to get banters from all the companions is go to orzammar and run up to where the Provings are, hit that banter point, then go ouit the door and hit the other banter point by the paragon statues. You can switch and mix/match companions and giggle to your heart's content listening to them.

Alistair is almost always in my party unless I am an S&S myself and then I tried respeccing him to 2hander and OMG he was a freaking BEAST with that blade. Massive amounts of DPS AND he could take a hit too unlike Sten and Oghren who seem entirely too brittle, or the rogues who can't take a hit in leather/medium armor.

Leliana makes a fine companion if her tactics are set to ranged and you put a bow in her hand. I find tactics settings work well for any of the companions with little to no prompts. Wynne makes an excellent healer, with little to no micromanaging on my part, Morrigan...not so much, but she's good with DPS. The problem with a mage DPS is you run out of mana quickly and are reduced to popping Lyrium potions like a junkie on a crack binge or using those staves which...are not dps by any stretch of the imagination.

Zev does well with DW mellee and is one of the more laid back companions rarely taking a ding on faction hit for most things you do (Just be nice to elves/the downtrodden cause he seems to have a soft spot for those types) and he makes a great companion to travel with. If lockpicking is a concern throw some points into that stat and he makes a decent scout rogue as he strts with a couple levels of stealth. My problem with Zev is he is very britttle (like Leliana) because he can't wear the heavy armor and he dies quickly if aggro isn't well managed. This is one of the reasons I sometimes prefer Leliana because she is back from the fight usually pelting the mobs whereas Zev is front and center occasionally getting pounded.

Course a good "threat display" from the tank usually solves that problem.

[Ryzaki]

Hanz54321 wrote...

Wow. I'm kind of suprised, Sylvan. You've been around awhile - your experience has been different from mine.

I've found all the companions to be equally effective at the end of the day. I customize all my tactics, build and gear them all to their strengths and they all do well. I certainly do not find Zevran, Oghren and Sten to be "brittle". What they lack in a shield they make up for in dodge (Zevran) and getting things dead faster than Alistair.

I tell all my friends who are new to the game that if they find one character to be weaker than the others, it's because they are still inexperienced and haven't found that character's niche build/gear/tactics yet.

I have to agree with this. All of the companions can be downright lethal when they have the right build. 

[Herr Uhl]

sylvanaerie wrote...

Alistair is almost always in my party unless I am an S&S myself and then I tried respeccing him to 2hander and OMG he was a freaking BEAST with that blade. Massive amounts of DPS AND he could take a hit too unlike Sten and Oghren who seem entirely too brittle, or the rogues who can't take a hit in leather/medium armor.

Over the course of levels until, lets say 14, they could have pretty much identical stats, with the difference that Oghren has a magic resistance.

I really don't see where you're coming from here.

Edit: But I might be biased since I seldom use tanks, and if I do I use Shale most of the time.

Edit 2: Or Loghain.

Modifié par Herr Uhl, 21 octobre 2010 - 10:41 .

[sylvanaerie]

Admittedly I do not use Oghren (aside from the Deep Roads where he really seems to shine in an RP sense) so I don't really pay attention to his build that much. I just know that given similar stats, Alistair (and Ser Gilmore who I used for a while with the mod) seemed better able to take a hit than Sten, Shale or Oghren and deal out crazy damage as 2handers.

Sten annoyed me once too often with his "Mutilate the mages and chain/leash them because they're beasts" crap. Since my favorite PC is an Elven Mage, I trust you can see without too much explanation why he isn't one of my favorite companions anyway. Aside from doing his personal quest, I really don't have much to do with him. Lately I've been leaving him cooling his jets in the cage in Lothering. Let him try that philosophy on Emmissaries. I'm sure they will be more receptive...they seem like really nice guys. Plus he murdered an entire family including the kids. I mean, honestly CHILDREN? I'm not required to take him and I don't anymore, since I have a decent group make up already by this point.

My point with Leliana and Zevran was merely to point out both have decent DPS with their respective specs and different survivability depending on how much aggro they pull vs someone in heavier armor (IE I don't prefer one over the other as that goes, both are about equal fun as companions and rogues if you play on their strengths). If I play a rogue PC, though, they are consigned to the camp to tend the fire and play fetch with Dog.

TBH the only companion I would find extremely difficult not to run with (and I tried this my last run through) was Wynne. Aside from micromanaging the occasional group heal, she does an admirable job of keeping the group alive with little or no prompting from me and can do some DPS to help out though her main focus is on support while my party does the damage.

[Herr Uhl]

Well, Gilmore and Alistair seemingly being able to take and deal more damage with similar stats is placebo from you liking them then.



That is not valid.

[Addai]

Hanz54321 wrote...
I've found all the companions to be equally effective at the end of the day. I customize all my tactics, build and gear them all to their strengths and they all do well. I certainly do not find Zevran, Oghren and Sten to be "brittle". What they lack in a shield they make up for in dodge (Zevran) and getting things dead faster than Alistair.

I tell all my friends who are new to the game that if they find one character to be weaker than the others, it's because they are still inexperienced and haven't found that character's niche build/gear/tactics yet.

I know what she's talking about.  2H warriors do need some help when you first pick them up, not just in physical resistance and constitution but in stamina.  They hit slowly and have low dex so they take hits.

The same is true of Alistair's default setup, but he's got more defensive skills if you keep him S & S.  A two-hander is not built for defense.

Personally I spec Alistair to DW and he gets things dead verrry fast.  I do use Oghren, Sten and Shale, however, just because I like them.

[sylvanaerie]

I expressed an opinion. Certainly people are entitled to disagree with me and have their own opinions. I am basing my "seems to be able to take a hit better" on the amount of micromanaging I have to do with my healer and tank in support and aggro management. With Alistair and Gilmore I rarely had to worry if they pulled something from my PC unlike Sten or Oghren who get sliced into a lot quicker, requiring more micromanagement for Wynne. And this is early on in the game with similar stats, not end game content.
This doesn't make my opinion a 'placebo' or 'not valid'. You can agree or disagree to your heart's content but it doesn't make my opinion less valid. It's simply what I have experienced in my game, not a statement of fact. And certainly not an attempt on my part to tell you how to play.
Perhaps the fact that they start out as tanks influences this ability I don't know. 

Modifié par sylvanaerie, 21 octobre 2010 - 04:38 .

[jpdipity]

sylvanaerie wrote...

I expressed an opinion. Certainly people are entitled to disagree with me and have their own opinions. I am basing my "seems to be able to take a hit better" on the amount of micromanaging I have to do with my healer and tank in support and aggro management. With Alistair and Gilmore I rarely had to worry if they pulled something from my PC unlike Sten or Oghren who get sliced into a lot quicker, requiring more micromanagement for Wynne. And this is early on in the game with similar stats, not end game content.
This doesn't make my opinion a 'placebo' or 'not valid'. You can agree or disagree to your heart's content but it doesn't make my opinion less valid. It's simply what I have experienced in my game, not a statement of fact. And certainly not an attempt on my part to tell you how to play.
Perhaps the fact that they start out as tanks influences this ability I don't know. 

What Herr Uhl says makes sense - all characters should behave the same with the same stats; however, I agree with you about Sten.  Before I started respecing everyone, he died so easily in virtually every battle.  Even after respecing, with similar stats, I find Gilmore & Alistair much easier to keep alive. 

My guess is that it has to do with the tactics.  I do some tweaking, but for the most part, leave the tactics on the pre-defined settings.  Perhaps, Gilmore & Alistair simply have better inital tactics than Sten and my minor tweaking is not doing enough to really help Sten.  Or perhaps it is the specializations that I pick for Sten & Ohgren for that matter.  I don't like everyone to have the same combination of specializations.

Without respecing, Sten was useless at the lower levels.  I didn't even bother using him on higher levels at that point; so, I can't say if he improves or not. 

[Addai]

It's just the 2H thing. My 2H arcane warrior also died quickly if I didn't pay attention, and with Oghren I always come with armor and weapon upgrades in hand before I take him into the Deep Roads or else he requires babysitting. Once they get some proper equipment and help in setup, they're fine. But all companions will do better if you pay attention to their equipment and tactics, this is just common sense. Only Awakening and Witch Hunt companions are wash n' go.

[ejoslin]

I think a huge part of it is if you like a companion, you're going to give them better gear as well. Hah, I buy the Rose Thorn for Zevran every time. It makes sense, though; if you like a companion, you're going to take them with you, and you're going to want them as effective as possible.



Sten IS weaker than the other warriors though since he only gets one specialization (no clue why they decided this). But Oghren is fine, I think; better than Alistair since his resistances are higher.



I also like Shale though. Things die so fast it's not really an issue who's tanking.

[sylvanaerie]

Perhaps it does have something to do with their specializations. Templar and Champion make great specs (My warriors usually end up with those) and are a lot more useful to me with my playstyle. (Zathrian fight over in record time when you can dispel the paralyze on the wolves, things in the tower with spells disrupting. mana draining every hit, also the ability to dispel spells on characters is nice). Champions with their party buffs make end game battles so much easier too.

Sten not having one (till 14 in which he is still one behind because he didnt get one at 7th) and I really don't get much use out of Berserker (not putting it down it just doesn't fit my playstyle) and I haven't used Reaver much though I may next warrior I play just to be different. These may all be contributing factors too

And the differences in gear might also though I have enough mods on hand in my game to cover everyone in decent armor and weapons. I even have one mod that adds the same armor every time I load which can be a PITA at times but means I can equip everyone in that. Weapons vary though.

Maybe it is the gear, thanks Ejo

[DWSmiley]

I think it is the point in the campaign that you get Sten. Lothering always seems a fair bit harder to me than either the Tower of Ishal or the Circle Tower, if I do that next. So using Sten - or Leliana - in Lothering gives a bad first impression. I've pretty much come to sticking with Alistair (as S&S, more durable) and Morrigan and Dog (more crowd control).



Respecing either Sten or Leli and giving them some of the new DLC goodies makes them more formidable but that feels like cheating.

[ejoslin]

I do respec, but I don't really consider it cheating. I hate autoleveling, and that's what the game is doing.



Zevran isn't the greatest companion to have on an evil playthrough, though, unless you have a fairly high persuade skill. For a pragmatist and assassin, he certainly has a pesky conscious about a lot of things!

[Addai]

Respec'ing is not cheating. Zevran says he comes with lockpick skill and he doesn't, but that's an acknowledgement that he's a rogue so he can go that way. Alistair is DW in his concept art so I'm just bringing him back to his roots. I do leave Sten and Oghren 2H. The finishing moves for Sten are seeexxxyyyy........



oh, lost my train of thought there LOL