6 réponses à ce sujet

[Lynx7386]

My first character through (only recently got to skyhold) has been a human male 2h warrior, completely buying into the andraste's chosen plotline and aiming for the templar specialization (when do those unlock btw?  I heard skyhold but havent seen an option yet).  I try to run his party with cassandra, blackwall, and cole - or alternatively cassandra, vivienne/dorian, and cole if I need the barrier - to try and keep an all-human, all-righteous/holy style party setup.  I prefer to play without mages for that character, and take a strictly anti-mage stance, but it seems the game forces you to have one of each party member type to get through some content.

 

Now I'm wanting to try a mage out, which I'll level up to the same point and see which one I end up liking more before continuing.  I'm going to go with a female human mage (wanting to romance sera this time around, I really like her but she doesnt like my templar much).  I'm thinking about running sera, varric, and iron bull as my party setup, with iron bull as a hybrid damage/tank character.  I think the banter and personality of three jokester party members would be awesome, and I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of interactions varric and sera have since they both like to comment on everything happening.

My mage will probably go knight enchanter, no interest in necro and while I like the idea of the rift mage's abilities tying into the inquisitor's mark I also like to build my characters with some defense in mind.

 

Questions:

-Can a knight enchanter + two archer + reaver tank party work out?

-In the later game after unlocking knight enchanter, is it possible to basically play as the group's tank due to the barrier generation, or is it better to still use a warrior companion to handle taking the damage?

 

Lastly, can a group survive without barrier?  I usually hate having a mage in my templar's group out of principle, but running with more warriors makes the mage less necessary it seems (all the guard generation helps).  Playing as a mage though, I dont want to be the one constantly having to spam barrier on the rest of the party to keep them alive, I'd rather be in the thick of it fighting with the spirit blade and spells.

[Bigdawg13]

Knight enchanter can solo the game. So yeah you can take that party.

[capn233]

Second visit to Skyhold unlocks the war table operation which then starts you on the way to getting a specialization for the inquisitor.  The companions will get their specializations directly after reaching Skyhold and traveling with them to another area.

 

1. That party will work fine, although usually I wouldn't recommend Reaver as a tank.  However, pre-specialization all of the warrior companions are essentially the same, so built with the same power set it won't matter. SnS is certainly better than 2H for tanking early game, so Iron Bull will need to be respec'd.

 

2. KE can tank insofar as they have a large capacity to absorb damage as long as they are dealing damage.  What they give up relative to a warrior tank is a couple abilities that will actively draw threat via taunts.  Of course how important that will be in reality is going to be fairly dependent on how you manage the squad.  But it is doable.  In some situations it is actually preferable to go with an all-ranged party composition (although mostly that is if you want to exploit AI limitations... like marching through Emprise way underleveled).

[PapaCharlie9]

What difficulty are you playing? Having no mage at all is pretty challenging pre-Skyhold on Nightmare. You appear to have done it with your 2H already, so I'm assuming you are playing Normal?

After Skyhold you can go without a mage even on Nightmare.
 

I try to run his party with cassandra, blackwall, and cole - or alternatively cassandra, vivienne/dorian, and cole if I need the barrier - to try and keep an all-human, all-righteous/holy style party setup.  I prefer to play without mages for that character, and take a strictly anti-mage stance, but it seems the game forces you to have one of each party member type to get through some content.

All the "mage required" content is optional. You could skip most of it, though there are some pretty nice loot items that need veilfire puzzles and such.

Are you playing Cole DW or Archer? If you aren't taking Sera, I'd suggest specing Cole as Archer. He'll have better survivability without sacrificing much/any damage output.

With Cole leveled up to have Mark of Death, and Cass and Blackwall with complementary warrior skills (like go deep in Vanguard with Blackwall and deep in Battlemaster with Cass), you should have a lot of fun without a mage.
 

Now I'm wanting to try a mage out, which I'll level up to the same point and see which one I end up liking more before continuing.  I'm going to go with a female human mage (wanting to romance sera this time around, I really like her but she doesnt like my templar much).  I'm thinking about running sera, varric, and iron bull as my party setup, with iron bull as a hybrid damage/tank character.  I think the banter and personality of three jokester party members would be awesome, and I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of interactions varric and sera have since they both like to comment on everything happening.

Varric/Sera banter isn't as good as some other pairings, probably not worth doubling up on Archer. Respecing Sera to DW is a possibility, but kind of a waste -- she has more bow options than Varric.

Sera/IB on the other hand has some of the funniest, but vulgar, humor of the lot. Sera/Dorian banter is also very good, and Dorian/IB is also very good, particularly if you romance one of them and then dump them early on, so if you want good banter, go Sera/IB/Dorian.
 

Questions:
-Can a knight enchanter + two archer + reaver tank party work out?
-In the later game after unlocking knight enchanter, is it possible to basically play as the group's tank due to the barrier generation, or is it better to still use a warrior companion to handle taking the damage?
 
Lastly, can a group survive without barrier?  I usually hate having a mage in my templar's group out of principle, but running with more warriors makes the mage less necessary it seems (all the guard generation helps).  Playing as a mage though, I dont want to be the one constantly having to spam barrier on the rest of the party to keep them alive, I'd rather be in the thick of it fighting with the spirit blade and spells.

Meh, I don't think Reaver + double archer is that great. Kind of unbalanced and a bit squishy midgame.

As already noted, KE can certainly take the aggro, but lacks the Taunt generation skills of warrior. It might not matter, if you spread your attacks around early on, like AoE a whole mob and then Frost Step into the middle and swing away with SB. You'll aggro the whole mob on you.

As noted, you can solo as an archer, warrior, even DW rogue, on Nightmare, so yes, you can survive without barrier. You'll have an easier time of it with some planning and preparing. Proper defensive gear, regen passives, good tactics, etc., and you'll never miss barrier. Or, you can go the other way and buff out offense and take down enemies in one-shot, or at least before they can do any serious damage. In some cases, that's way easier to gear for, but I find is actually less fun. I like long, drawn out battles!

All MHO, of course.

[Lynx7386]

I always run sera and/or cole as an archer, not a big fan of dual wield.  Unfortunately, nobody likes cole as far as I can tell, so he's hard to fit into the group.  I had planned on going sword and shield with iron bull, obviously, I just think he'd fit the mage-oriented team (as a mercenary) better than the templar or grey warden.

 

Thanks for the info on sera-varric, though.  Maybe I'll throw dorian or someone else in there instead of doubling up on archers.

[Mordray Darkblood]

IHMO, Cole provides some very interesting insights into your companions and the quests...

[tcun44]

As was mentioned if you go KE- any party combo will work- just depends on who you like/don't mind listening to. I usually run a 3 Rogue party if playing as a KE. Stuff dies really quickly. But- then I have to listen to Cole and Sera.