After having played both the Mage path and the Templar path as well as allying and conscripting them, I am of the opinion that the Templar path is better than the Mage path, regardless of alliance or conscription. Here are my reasons.
1) Faction Aversary - Here we have Samson versus Calpernia. Since Samson was introduced in Dragon Age 2, you would think that he has the edge on Calpernia since he has a one game head start but he does not. Personally, I found myself sympathizing more with the ex-slave turned Tevinter nationalist Calpernia over ex-Templar turned Red Templar Samson. To elaborate, in Dragon Age 2, we see Samson being extremely disenchanted with the Mage cause but in Dragon Age Inquisition, we somehow see him allying with one of the most notable Mage villain of all time, an ancient Tevinter magister turned Darkspawn. We could also have a civilized conversation with Calpernia and let her go which is refreshing for a villain encounter. Lastly, I find the notion of Samson being the Vessel instead of Calpernia absolutely preposterous and laughable. I mean, what does Samson know of ancient magics and knowledge ?
2) Faction Leader - This one is a match up between Barris and Fiona. Fiona has been introduced to Dragon Age fans twice via 2 books, The Calling and Asunder. Naturally with her head start, you would expect Fiona to be better than Barris but like Samson, Fiona flounders. In both The Calling and Asunder, Fiona is portrayed as a rebel and a someone who is anti status quo. She is someone who has rebelled against the Circle system and the Chantry but she can't rebel against a single Tevinter magister ? That is completely ridiculous and out of character for her. Furthermore, unlike Fiona, Barris actually recognizes that the Templars screwed up and helps the Inquisition during Champions of the Just whereas Fiona does absolutely nothing to help you and goes along with Alexius' plans despite her career as an ex-Grey Warden and the Grand Enchanter. This trend continues after the quests where Barris continues to be productive regardless of alliance of conscription of the Templars. He can either lead the reformed Templar Order if the Herald chooses alliance or he will become Cullen's agent anyway. Meanwhile, Fiona just hangs around the library doing absolutely nothing for the Inquisition. This is despite the fact that she is a Spirit Healer, the Dragon Age wiki lists her as one (http://dragonage.wik...i/Spirit_healer), which theoretically makes her a someone that could be very useful but we never see her healing anybody throughout the game.
3) Recruitment Questline - In Hushed Whispers takes you through the Redcliffe Castle and a journey through the future, courtesy of time magic. Much of the quest is carried by the awesome Dorian. However, time magic is supposedly something that is revolutionary and dangerous. Yet, we never hear about it at all after the whole quest is over. There is no discussion about timelines, about alternate universes, parallel realities, etc.Moreover, the whole "Elder One" title is poorly done because if you have lived for a year under Corypheus' rule, you must know who he is, you must know what he is and accordingly must inform Dorian and the Herald instead of just calling him the "Elder One". This is especially true of the Dreadegg Wolfhead. There is also the painful reality that you technically did absolutely nothing during portions of the In Hushed Whispers. I mean, you went one year forward, did some stuff and then returned one year back to the present moment. 1 + (-1) = 0. If there was some effect due to our future actions then yeah, I can see the time travel having meaning but there wasn't any effect. Last but not the least, we have Cole, who has a very weird introduction if you complete In Hushed Whispers. He just pops out, says Templars are here and that the Elder One is angry. I mean, Cole is a unique phenomena in Dragon Age Inquisition and he deserves a proper exposition. On the other hand, Champions of the Just starts out as a political quest which then takes grim and exciting turn into confronting the Envy Demon while its trying to steal your identity followed by saving Templars and then having an epic battle with the Envy Demon. In my opinion, the Fade is safer than the Dark Future. What's more, you get to see your advisors and Cassandra being mean and evil which is a nice touch. Cole's introduction and character is properly fleshed out in Champions of the Just and Dorian's Haven introduction also makes a lot more sense to his "I am a Tevinter mage but I am different" characterization because he shows up to warn you of the invading Venatori mage cultists and help Roderick. To top it all off, Champions of the Just has more Codex and more notable loot compared to In Hushed Whispers. Champions of the Just have 6 notable loot and 13 Codex Entries (http://dragonage.wik...ons_of_the_Just) compared to In Hushed Whispers which have 5 notable loot and 7 Codex Entries (http://dragonage.wik...Hushed_Whispers). On a side note, as a mage Herald, The Sunless Staff which you get from Champions of the Just is better than Staff of Stasis which you get In Hushed Whispers and as a rogue Herald, Audacity which you get from Champions of the Just is better than Bleeder of Souls which you get In Hushed Whispers.You also get extra Attribute points by besting Envy in the Fade but you do not get anything of the sort in the Dark Future.
4) Plot Coherence - The Templar path makes a lot more sense to the whole story compared to the Mage path. For one, Calpernia's Under Her Skin quest prepares you for What Pride Had Wrought quest because of all the references to Elven ruins, references to Calpernia being the Vessel and because of Corypheus' own reference to the Well of Sorrows. The Templar path also introduces us to the Memory Crystal which prepares us for the one we might get in Trespasser from Dorian. There is also the fact that Cassandra's personal quest, Promise of Destruction, ties in with the Templar Path since we actually know that Envy impersonated Lord Seeker instead of just hearsay. Finally, Varric's personal quest, Well Sh*t, explains how Corypheus got hold of Red Lyrium and what it actually is. This means that Samson's quest is quite pointless because we will know about Red Lyrium from Bianca. Finally, the killing blow comes in the form of the Temple of Dumat quest which will be further elaborated below.
5) Corypheus Himself - I often hear from many people that Corypheus is blank nonentity who is a lame villain. However, when you play the Templar path, Corypheus' motives are very well explained. In the Temple of Dumat quest, we come across Corypheus' journals where he talks about his agony over the silence of Dumat, his respect for Calpernia's abilities and subsequent elevation of Calpernia and his regret at using her as the Vessel. All of a sudden, this blank nonentity villain becomes someone that you can understand and someone that had emotional complexity. By contrast, the only interesting thing with Samson's quest was Maddox, who has next to nothing to do with Corypheus.
6) Sound & Animations - The stabbing of the weapon to the ground is something that Templars do. They did it once during Champions of the Just to fight the Envy Demon and it makes sense for you to see them doing it again to help the Herald close the Breach. In fact, the sound effect that plays is metal striking ground and the light that comes out when they do that move is also similar to the move Templars did when facing Envy. As for the mages, the only time mages slam their staff to the ground is when casting Horror, which doesn't really help. Lastly, in the Temple of Mythal questline, we see a cutscene where either the Venatori or the Red Templar kill an Ancient Elf by burning them with fire. Red Templars are not know to be able to conjure fire.
To conclude, I think that the Templar path is better than the Mage path. To add on this, I think the one of the main reason people choose the Mage path is because it is littered with cameos and recurrent characters such as Fiona, Connor, Alistair, Anora, and Samson. If you did not have them, I think the Mage path would be far less appealing.
Personally, my canonical world state is a Male Elven Mage Inquisitor who conscripted the Templars, managed to let Clan Lavellan become Wycome's ruler, had Cullen try to cure himself of Lyrium addiction, have Cassandra reform the Seekers, united Celene & Briala, romanced Josephine and made Leliana the Divine. That way the lyrium addicted Templar Order is gone, we only have reformed Seekers now, there are Elves ruling a human city without issues, we have good pro-Elven reforms from the Chantry and from Orlais, future mages have a fresh start and Lavellan can live a happy chill life in Antiva when its all over. As for how I justified not helping the Mages, Lavellan took one look at the Tevinter allying and enslaving with the Mages and gave the finger to the whole thing. Dalish Elves are not fond of Templars or Tevinter but he'd take a Templar over Tevinter slaver any day. He recruited the Tranquil Clemence before leaving though.
Thoughts & Comments ?
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