Playing on hard mostly occasionally dropping back to normal if a battle is just too annoying.
Companion suggestions for DW Hawke after Deep Roads.
Débuté par
wanderon
, juil. 23 2012 03:37
#1
Posté 23 juillet 2012 - 03:37
wanderon
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Swapped party around quite a bit before Deep Roads - probably going to romance Aveline and leave Varrick behind. Party has just returned from deep roads. Looking for some interesting party suggestions going forward from here but one that will not get their butts handed to them at the end.
Playing on hard mostly occasionally dropping back to normal if a battle is just too annoying.
Playing on hard mostly occasionally dropping back to normal if a battle is just too annoying.
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#2
Posté 24 juillet 2012 - 12:13
wanderon
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Hmmm... It appears Aveline is not a romance option or if she was I seem to have blown it - I think Merrill would be my second choice.
#3
Posté 24 juillet 2012 - 12:14
LolaLei
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Aveline isn't a romance option sadly, though you do get to flirt with her later in the game lol.
#4
Posté 24 juillet 2012 - 12:59
coldwetn0se
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I would suggest working with a variety of companions (that way you get to hear the banter between them. Some of it is truly funny, and you can learn new things about your companions....). Also, try utilizing CCC's (cross class combos) for some nice "hits" during combat. It makes combat a bit more thought out and interactive (if that even made sense...ha!). Also helps when you have a tougher fight to deal with. Based on CCC's alone, here are some tips: *slightly spoilery*
1) Aveline and Fenris can Stagger (Aveline is better at it than Fenris, but he can set up a number of them when he slides in for a swing....her when sliding in with her shield.)
2) Varric is best for setting up Disorients (will gladly give you the talents that will help with this, if you want; didn't want to spoil to much though...)
3) All mages are capable (with the right spells) to set up Brittles.
From there, just look at the talent trees to find those that can exploit them (example: Varric sets up Disorient on a clustered group of enemies, and Aveline can assault them for the CCC....this equals lots of dead guys or nearly dead guys; all kinds of fun!)
1) Aveline and Fenris can Stagger (Aveline is better at it than Fenris, but he can set up a number of them when he slides in for a swing....her when sliding in with her shield.)
2) Varric is best for setting up Disorients (will gladly give you the talents that will help with this, if you want; didn't want to spoil to much though...)
3) All mages are capable (with the right spells) to set up Brittles.
From there, just look at the talent trees to find those that can exploit them (example: Varric sets up Disorient on a clustered group of enemies, and Aveline can assault them for the CCC....this equals lots of dead guys or nearly dead guys; all kinds of fun!)
#5
Posté 24 juillet 2012 - 07:17
Renmiri1
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You need a rogue on party, unless you are one I suggest keeping Varrik, he has higher lockpick than isabella
#6
Posté 24 juillet 2012 - 11:40
wanderon
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Yeah I was surprised to learn Aveline was apparently not an option - I had never attempted to romance her before but had noted that she had dialoge options with the romance "heart" in other run throughs so just assumed she was available.
I've taken numerous Hawkes through the early game but only one (Mage Hawke) all the way to the Arishok battle where that group failed miserably before a HD crash wiped out all my old save games. I am not very familiar with much of the late game since my one foray that went that far was somewhat rushed and incomplete so I'd rather not see any plot spoilers about the later parts of the game just in case they are still likely to surprise me.
I was aware of the availabilty of CCCs but have not really worked on setting strategy based on using them so I have never got much benefit from them perhaps I should fool with that. I rarely fool much with setting tactics either other than to choose the generic options like scrapper or defender and perhaps add some auto healing options - I tend to pause and micromanage instead except for the warrior types which I just let run on auto unless they are hurting.
This Hawke is a rogue DW altho he occasionally switches to bow and runs & snipes if he is hurting and no healing is immediately available.
Since coming out of the deep roads I have been using Merrill and Sebastion mostly with either Aveline or Fenris - I did Legacy prior to deep roads and IIRC everyone is now level 16 or 17. Sebastion has been somewhat useful - not as good as Varrick and a little low on health with some interesting banter. My Hawke went with Assassin & Shadow currently using Hawke Key and Jarvis Dagger.
I've taken numerous Hawkes through the early game but only one (Mage Hawke) all the way to the Arishok battle where that group failed miserably before a HD crash wiped out all my old save games. I am not very familiar with much of the late game since my one foray that went that far was somewhat rushed and incomplete so I'd rather not see any plot spoilers about the later parts of the game just in case they are still likely to surprise me.
I was aware of the availabilty of CCCs but have not really worked on setting strategy based on using them so I have never got much benefit from them perhaps I should fool with that. I rarely fool much with setting tactics either other than to choose the generic options like scrapper or defender and perhaps add some auto healing options - I tend to pause and micromanage instead except for the warrior types which I just let run on auto unless they are hurting.
This Hawke is a rogue DW altho he occasionally switches to bow and runs & snipes if he is hurting and no healing is immediately available.
Since coming out of the deep roads I have been using Merrill and Sebastion mostly with either Aveline or Fenris - I did Legacy prior to deep roads and IIRC everyone is now level 16 or 17. Sebastion has been somewhat useful - not as good as Varrick and a little low on health with some interesting banter. My Hawke went with Assassin & Shadow currently using Hawke Key and Jarvis Dagger.
#7
Posté 24 juillet 2012 - 10:08
Renmiri1
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Mmm I always have Anders in my party, he heals and can have great offensive tactics too. I am tank 2handed warrior so my party is Varric, Anders and usually Merril but can be someone else. I think you need a tank with rally and berserker, elemental aegis would be useful too. Fenris is easier on the eyes 
than Aveline so he would be my choice. And I'd switch Sebastian for Varric or Anders. Bianca has some great explosive arrows, she is more a rocket launcher than a bow. 
than Aveline so he would be my choice. And I'd switch Sebastian for Varric or Anders. Bianca has some great explosive arrows, she is more a rocket launcher than a bow.
Modifié par Renmiri1, 24 juillet 2012 - 10:11 .
#8
Posté 24 juillet 2012 - 10:31
PizzaThe Hutt
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Anders makes for a good healer in the party you also have to take Varric with you into the deep roads since he's part of the outing into the deep roads. In the early parts of the game I usually had a Anders, Fenris and Varric group for most of what I'm doing. If you're a rogue it's best to make sure either you or another rogue character work on their cunning so that you can open some of those locked chests you can always use the other rogue as offense. I usually go with a Defender, Tank, Healer and a Rogue to open locks... Maker, I've been rping too much lately...
#9
Posté 25 juillet 2012 - 01:35
wanderon
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Anders seems a real mixed bag to me - what with the surprise visits from Justice lurking around any corner and the fact that to do his best healing he needs to turn off all his offensive spells and to turn on his personal offensive talents he gives up the ability to be healed and he just seems to be a real PITA to keep alive already even without using those talents when he's on the offensive - take your eyes off him for a minute and he's a corpse - maybe I needed to do a better job building him adding some con etc.
I agree Varricks better all around than Sebastion but I almost always keep Varrick around so I wanted to try something different for a while.
I'm beginning to think that Merrill, Aveline & Fenris may be the way to go for the end game and a trip to the market for some ressurection potions altho I kind of want to see what my buddy Anders will pull out of his hat too so maybe I'll save early and try both...I'm getting pretty close now Mother Petrice just went to meet the Maker as the plot thickens...
I agree Varricks better all around than Sebastion but I almost always keep Varrick around so I wanted to try something different for a while.
I'm beginning to think that Merrill, Aveline & Fenris may be the way to go for the end game and a trip to the market for some ressurection potions altho I kind of want to see what my buddy Anders will pull out of his hat too so maybe I'll save early and try both...I'm getting pretty close now Mother Petrice just went to meet the Maker as the plot thickens...
#10
Posté 25 juillet 2012 - 02:20
Renmiri1
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Mmmm Anders never dies on my playthroughs. You need to set him as ranged. And on the tactics screen, make sure you don't have panacea on "auto" and don't use it unless you need to revive someone.
On tactics, add a line on top for "Self"," mana<25% use lyrium potion, that seems to help a lot with his healing and offensive spells. Same for Merril
Also watch buffs on all characters, it tends to eat their mana/ stamina bar. Only time my Anders died was when I had him applying 4 buffs so he just had a sliver of free mana left.
PS: You can also set up your tank to always attack the Enemy attacking your healer and your rogue. That makes squishy healers and rogues survive.
On tactics, add a line on top for "Self"," mana<25% use lyrium potion, that seems to help a lot with his healing and offensive spells. Same for Merril
Also watch buffs on all characters, it tends to eat their mana/ stamina bar. Only time my Anders died was when I had him applying 4 buffs so he just had a sliver of free mana left.
PS: You can also set up your tank to always attack the Enemy attacking your healer and your rogue. That makes squishy healers and rogues survive.
Modifié par Renmiri1, 25 juillet 2012 - 02:23 .
#11
Posté 26 juillet 2012 - 01:40
wanderon
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Well Izzie is in the wind and I decided to do MotA before finishing up this run through and it will probably be a few days before I get back to it (sadly about 33 hours of work beckons over the next 3 days)
In any event now would be a good time for any suggestions on companions for my DW Hawke to take along to deal with the Arishok and his compadres when I get back to it next week!
In any event now would be a good time for any suggestions on companions for my DW Hawke to take along to deal with the Arishok and his compadres when I get back to it next week!
#12
Posté 26 juillet 2012 - 02:26
CuriousArtemis
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wanderon wrote...
In any event now would be a good time for any suggestions on companions for my DW Hawke to take along to deal with the Arishok and his compadres when I get back to it next week!
I always took Anders, Fenris, and Aveline. Varric gets squished so easily by all those big Qunari.
Take at least Fenris or Aveline and let him/her deal with the Arishok.
Hawke deals with the Sarebaas (I think there may be two).
Keep your eye on your mage, but still, s/he is probably gonna be the first to fall.
DW Hawke is pretty darn powerful, so as long as Fenris or Aveline is distracting the Arishok you are pretty much just zipping around taking out "regular" Qunari left and right. Just make sure you are fighting them one on one and not one against many.
And summon doggie.
#13
Posté 26 juillet 2012 - 10:31
Renmiri1
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Use Electricity wards, Sarebas usually go for electricity based magic. Do not duel the Arishok one-on-one, my warrior did and took me 3 tries to down him. A rogue would be squished!
Modifié par Renmiri1, 27 juillet 2012 - 08:47 .
#14
Posté 26 juillet 2012 - 11:04
Ferretinabun
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Bare (or is that 'bear'?) in mind there are several ways the Arishok battle can go. I don't want to be too spoilery, but it is possible for you not to have to fight a battle with the qunari at all - or to fight a duel with the Arishok in single combat, or to fight the qunari group-on-group.
If you duel the Arishok, grab your bow and try to fight him from range. Lots of stuns. And grenades. The Arishok is deadly up close. Or you could try going toe-to-toe but constantly dancing round behind him whenever he starts an attack animation. Feels a bit exploit-y but it works. Though one badly-timed dodge and you're toast.
The group fight is considerably easier. Just do what they suggested ^ ^
As a general rule for companions, Sebastian and Isabela are your weakest choices for companions. Seb is a poor man's Varric, Isabela does nothing you don't already do as a DW rogue, and both of them are hamstrung by the AI being too dumb to use Unforgiving Chain or the Archery equivalent (whose name escapes me). Also, range is good. Fenris and Aveline have their uses, but I wouldn't use them both in the same party. Varric, Merril and Anders are a great team no matter who you are in 90% of the fights you'll face.
If you duel the Arishok, grab your bow and try to fight him from range. Lots of stuns. And grenades. The Arishok is deadly up close. Or you could try going toe-to-toe but constantly dancing round behind him whenever he starts an attack animation. Feels a bit exploit-y but it works. Though one badly-timed dodge and you're toast.
The group fight is considerably easier. Just do what they suggested ^ ^
As a general rule for companions, Sebastian and Isabela are your weakest choices for companions. Seb is a poor man's Varric, Isabela does nothing you don't already do as a DW rogue, and both of them are hamstrung by the AI being too dumb to use Unforgiving Chain or the Archery equivalent (whose name escapes me). Also, range is good. Fenris and Aveline have their uses, but I wouldn't use them both in the same party. Varric, Merril and Anders are a great team no matter who you are in 90% of the fights you'll face.
#15
Posté 27 juillet 2012 - 08:44
Renmiri1
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QFTFerretinabun wrote...
Varric, Merril and Anders are a great team no matter who you are in 90% of the fights you'll face.
My warrior Hawke goes with this team and crushes anything in front of it.
#16
Posté 27 juillet 2012 - 08:45
Renmiri1
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[ duplicate ]
Modifié par Renmiri1, 27 juillet 2012 - 08:46 .
#17
Posté 29 juillet 2012 - 09:15
wanderon
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I took Merril Aveline and Fenris and then took on the Arishok one on one with my DW Hawke and beat the snot out of him - it wasn't until it was over that I realized I had scaled back to normal difficulty for the final battle in MotA and never changed it back to hard which no doubt had a lot to do with my quick success - maybe I'll go back later and try it on hard LOL.
I was also under the impression that the Arishok battle was the end of the game - seems I have another chapter to go tho - I'm up for that!
I was also under the impression that the Arishok battle was the end of the game - seems I have another chapter to go tho - I'm up for that!
#18
Posté 30 juillet 2012 - 12:09
Renmiri1
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Wow, I would not have thought it was possible to beat him one one one with a rogue!
#19
Posté 30 juillet 2012 - 12:10
wanderon
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Well my Hawke is a DW assasin and the one two punch of twin fangs & assasinate does an incredible amount of damage especially when coupled with an active Mark of the assasin. The problem of course with boss types is you can't one shot them so you have to stay alive through the cool down periods until you can use them a second and third time. Abilities like decoy help with this and so does backstabbing and basic hit and run tactics - 
On normal I only had to use one potion to bring my health back up after a couple massive hits from the arishok before I was able to take him down - I'd guess playing this battle on hard (my usual setting) would be much more difficult and would probably entail swapping to bow when health got low and doing a lot of running and sniping using cover to stay out of reach waiting for potion cool downs - not pretty tactics but with a quick finger on the pause button they can be effective!
On normal I only had to use one potion to bring my health back up after a couple massive hits from the arishok before I was able to take him down - I'd guess playing this battle on hard (my usual setting) would be much more difficult and would probably entail swapping to bow when health got low and doing a lot of running and sniping using cover to stay out of reach waiting for potion cool downs - not pretty tactics but with a quick finger on the pause button they can be effective!
#20
Posté 30 juillet 2012 - 12:49
Urazz
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Actually that isn't true. Maybe when you initially get them but lock picking is based on if you have the right amount of cunning to unlock the chest. If I recall I think it's something like increments of 5 or 10 or something like that with 40 cunning needed for masterwork locks.Renmiri1 wrote...
You need a rogue on party, unless you are one I suggest keeping Varrik, he has higher lockpick than isabella
#21
Posté 30 juillet 2012 - 01:30
wanderon
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Ok I just went back and tried the Arishok duel on hard instead of normal and as I suspected it was....harder - go figure
I brought my faithful Mabari to the fight but I still died the first time about the time I had the Arishok down to 1/3 of his hit points when I zigged when I should have zagged on one of his rushes.
Tried again and succeeded but twice during that fight the Arishok seemed to get "stuck" and kind of just stood there for a bit - once after I used decoy - when the decoy was destroyed he still just stood there for a time and the seond time after I used inconspicuios he still stood around after it was timed out so it wasn't really a fair fight.
I didn't try a third go round - after the first two it was apparent to me that I could probably beat him without the stand still bugs but that it would require considerable luck along with whatever skill I brought to the table...
As for not needing a rogue to open locks I don't think thats correct - I'm pretty sure a warrior or mage cannot open locks even if they have a high enough cunning score but I don't have a non-rogue Hawke to test it atm.
I brought my faithful Mabari to the fight but I still died the first time about the time I had the Arishok down to 1/3 of his hit points when I zigged when I should have zagged on one of his rushes.
Tried again and succeeded but twice during that fight the Arishok seemed to get "stuck" and kind of just stood there for a bit - once after I used decoy - when the decoy was destroyed he still just stood there for a time and the seond time after I used inconspicuios he still stood around after it was timed out so it wasn't really a fair fight.
I didn't try a third go round - after the first two it was apparent to me that I could probably beat him without the stand still bugs but that it would require considerable luck along with whatever skill I brought to the table...
As for not needing a rogue to open locks I don't think thats correct - I'm pretty sure a warrior or mage cannot open locks even if they have a high enough cunning score but I don't have a non-rogue Hawke to test it atm.
