26 réponses à ce sujet

[The-Oracle]

Hello forums, I recently made a male human archer named Finn. I have a few things really want to address in this thread so please help.
1.Best Specialization for Finn.(I'm guessing Tempest but that can change.)
2.Best Romance for him!
3. Party setup so that Finn doesn't have to do the heavy lifting.
Please help me out guys and gals!

[Captain Wiseass]

As for 3, I'd recommend Iron Bull, Cassandra, and a mage of your choosing. Load up the mage with Barrier, Revival, and a selection of spells from each of the elemental trees. Fill out Sword & Shield & Templar on Cassandra and Two-Handed and Reaver on Bull, and make sure they both have War Cry and/or Challenge.

 

Romance is incredibly subjective, depending on your take on Finn's personality, but Josephine and Cassandra give you somewhat traditional romance arcs, Dorian is a bit of a bad boy but otherwise similar, and Bull's romance can be either serious or friends-with-benefits. You gotta have at least a moderate kink-tolerance level for Bull, though.

[Forsythia77]

I'd roll Cass, a mage of your choosing (Dorian), and either another mage or another archer like Sera or Varric.  I personally don't like mucking about with my companion's specs (so Bull is always a 2H warrior), and the AI is terrible with Bull and a DW rogue like Cole.  I don't think you'd need a second warrior though,  Just Cass or Blackwall (no seriously, pick Cass) to draw aggro.  Just make sure she follows or defends herself in the tactics rather than your archer or she will draw the aggro over to you because she is set to follow you, and ain't nobody got time for that.  I'd romance Dorian, but I have a pro-Dorian bias.  I'm no help with an archer as it is personally my least favorite class to play. 

[Gya]

For specialisation, I'd recommend either artificer or assassin, though you can't really go wrong regardless of which you choose. You can always look up gameplay vids on youtube to see which playstyle you would prefer.

[PapaCharlie9]

For specialisation, I'd recommend either artificer or assassin, though you can't really go wrong regardless of which you choose. You can always look up gameplay vids on youtube to see which playstyle you would prefer.

^This. For a controlled Archer, Artificer and Assassin are more fun. Tempest Archer is fun as an AI controlled character -- I love seeing Sera turn her bow into a machine gun. Otherwise, use DW.

Although, if you specifically build Tempest for Flask of Fire/Flaming Chain and take no other flasks, that is pretty fun too as a controlled Archer.

I can't argue with any of the party recommendations. Personally I run my Archer Artificer with Blackwall/Cass (swap them depending on number of demons in the quest), Vivienne and Dorian. Although, I can't recommend Blackwall/Viv for banter, some of the worst in the game. You could also go Cass, Sera, Dorian, that's really good both for combat and banter. And if you really want to do some Tempest Archer, you can control Sera.

All the HM romances are good, I recommend all of them. Do the one you haven't tried yet. If you are still not sure, do Josie -- although you don't literally get to "do" Josie, if you know what I mean. You'll either love it or hate it, but you won't be bored -- well, maybe a little with all the War Table nonsense leading up to the finale.

[The-Oracle]

Hmm I see so I shouldn't double up on Warriors? So I've decided I'll go assassin so one problem down. So back to the party woukd it be better to switch to a dual wield and run with Iron Bull, Solas, and Varric?

[nightscrawl]

Hmm I see so I shouldn't double up on Warriors? So I've decided I'll go assassin so one problem down. So back to the party woukd it be better to switch to a dual wield and run with Iron Bull, Solas, and Varric?

 

For party organization, it really depends on the situation and the difficulty level you're playing at. You can have a reaver (Iron Bull) and a tank (Cassandra, Blackwall) in the same party and they bring different things to the table. Similarly, you can have a SnS warrior not speced into tank, but be around for buffs (I spec Cassandra this way when I play a tank). But if you really like a particular person and want to bring them around, then just go ahead and do that; you can make it work.

 

 

For the romances, along with others I will say that they are incredibly subjective.

 

Males have four options if you don't care about gender.

Cassandra (straight); she's a romantic at heart

Josephine (bisexual); termed "the Disney princess of Dragon Age" for the flavor of her romance

Iron Bull (bisexual); there is a kink factor to his romance, and it starts out as friends with benefits before going deeper

Dorian (gay); some angst, some fluff, lots of nuance and opportunities to roleplay and taking different paths (stop by the Dorian thread for questions!)

 

And in case this matters...

Spoiler

Both Cassandra and Iron Bull have sex scene. Dorian has an optional sex scene (the romance continues even if you refuse). Josephine does not have a sex scene.

[The-Oracle]

For party organization, it really depends on the situation and the difficulty level you're playing at. You can have a reaver (Iron Bull) and a tank (Cassandra, Blackwall) in the same party and they bring different things to the table. Similarly, you can have a SnS warrior not speced into tank, but be around for buffs (I spec Cassandra this way when I play a tank). But if you really like a particular person and want to bring them around, then just go ahead and do that; you can make it work.
 
 
For the romances, along with others I will say that they are incredibly subjective.
 
Males have four options if you don't care about gender.
Cassandra (straight); she's a romantic at heart
Josephine (bisexual); termed "the Disney princess of Dragon Age" for the flavor of her romance
Iron Bull (bisexual); there is a kink factor to his romance, and it starts out as friends with benefits before going deeper
Dorian (gay); some angst, some fluff, lots of nuance and opportunities to roleplay and taking different paths (stop by the Dorian thread for questions!)
 
And in case this matters...

Spoiler

Both Cassandra and Iron Bull have sex scene. Dorian has an optional sex scene (the romance continues even if you refuse). Josephine does not have a sex scene.

Ah so my setup with Bull as a tank can work out? He's my favorite character btw.

[Crowsfeet]

Ah so my setup with Bull as a tank can work out? He's my favorite character btw.

Yes! I'm using Bull as a tank in my current NM run and he's great. My shred everything party is tank + archer + 2 mages, but half the fun of the game is trying out different set ups and finding what works for you. Dorian is my favourite character and romance, but as has been said, it's subjective. I've had a lot of fun with the other romances too.

[thats1evildude]

For your romance options, may I suggest Princess Bubblegum or Rey?

[nightscrawl]

Yes! I'm using Bull as a tank in my current NM run and he's great. My shred everything party is tank + archer + 2 mages, but half the fun of the game is trying out different set ups and finding what works for you. Dorian is my favourite character and romance, but as has been said, it's subjective. I've had a lot of fun with the other romances too.

 

Ah yes, I did forget to mention that you can respec people out of their pre-defined roles if you want to do that*. Cassandra and Blackwall are tanks, but you can make them 2h damage if you want. Iron Bull is a 2h reaver, but you can make him a tank if you want. The only downside is that you don't get the specialization that supports the given playstyle. A 2h Cassandra cannot spec into reaver because that is not available to her, and so on.

[The-Oracle]

Yes I understand im sure if I can make it work! Does anyone know of a good build involving Bull's reaver spec and the vanguard tree? Also for support reasons is Dorian or Solas better with their respective specializations?

[HannahRose]

Since part of this discussion is about IB, I figured I'd throw my favourite build for him into the mix. I've had IB in my party on almost every new file since the game came out because I looooove the character, but a certain accessory that was added with the Trespasser DLC *really* makes him shine. And speaking of Trespasser, the newish upgrade for Dragon Claw is neat too since Bull can't kill himself with it, but the AI still uses it about as often as the other more risky one. lol Anyway here's the build. Last post in this thread: http://forum.bioware...ty-combination/

I find that if you equip him with Kitty's Collar, he not only ends up doing a ton of damage thanks to the damage buffs Reavers get that are tied to having low health, but he's also pretty much unkillable (or at least he doesn't stay dead), even on nightmare with all the trials enabled. He basically becomes a high DPS tank monster, and then you can do just about whatever you want with the rest of your party (within reason of course). Just make sure you have a mage with revive, or fully upgraded healing mist grenades equipped to at least one character on the off chance that things go wrong, since running over to IB and holding down a button to revive him isn't always an option, eeeespecially if you're trying to avoid having to enter into the melee zone personally.

 

Also, for romance options I really like Josephine and Cassandra. I mean they're all great, but Josie and Cass just feel the most... dramatic. They add that element of a star crossed romance to the Inquisitor's story, especially Josie, and I freakin' love it. You'll understand what I mean if/when you romance either of them. :3 Althooooooough if you're playing as a human male Inquisitor, but might play as something else in the future, you may want to go with Cass or Dorian for Finn, and save the others as options for another play through. IB and Josie are both pansexual after all, so they can be romanced by either gender and any species/race, but Dorian and Cass both have gender limitations (no species/race limits that I know of though).

 

 

+ Go with Artificer for your Inquisitor. If you really want to play an assassin, then you can always experiment on Cole (his party banter is fun and reason enough to bring him along) and it will be pretty much the same experience as if you'd made your Inquisitor one, but an Inquisitor Artificer beats playing Varric any day of the week imo. Although I'd still say it's worth bringing Varric himself along at least from time to time, since his party banter is usually quite entertaining. hehe

 

++ (Just read your last post) Solas is probably better for support, but his party banter is so... boring. If you don't care about that, then you can spec Solas as an ice mage and he'll handle all of your immobilizing needs and do a fair bit of damage to boot, but if you want an interesting party both on and off the battlefield, then I'd go with Dorian. And PS, I know that pyromancer (fire build) seems like the natural fit for him, or necromancers in general, but I personally love speccing him as an electromancer. It's always a lot of fun to literally watch the sparks fly.

[The-Oracle]

Thank you for the tips! I'll add Dorian to my group to make it Iron Bull. Finn, Dorian, and Varric. This should be good considering I'm moving over to help Bull on the front lines! Everyone is still welcome to make suggestions.

[PapaCharlie9]

Look, IB is one of my favorite characters too, but Qunari are handicapped in the early game as tanks. Their vitaar are offensive rather than defensive, so they are relatively squishy (die more often) than other tanks, unless you compensate with OP armor. I struggled using IB as a tank in the early game, even after I switched him to Axe & Shield.

Plus, he doesn't really bring anything to the tanking table. Blackwall has Champion abilities for true tanking, Cass has Templar for Wrath/Purge and demons/rifts. IB's Reaver is all about doing damage while being low on health -- that is, damage dealing, not tanking.

I'm not saying it is impossible to tank with IB, but I am saying he and Reavers in general are the most difficult to tank with. You really need to know what you are doing and pay alot of attention to gear and loadout.

At a minimum, he needs 5 points in Battlemaster so he can spam Horn of Valor with the Fortifying Blast upgrade, set it to Preferred in AI. That gives him and everyone in the party guard on hit. A lot of the rest of his points should go in Vanguard.

In fact, here is the first 12 points I'd spend, before Reaver specialization:

1. Grappling Chain
2. Crippling Blows
3. Coup de Grace
4. Horn of Valor (set to Preferred in AI)
5. Fortifying Blast
6. War Cry
7. Call to Arms upgrade
8. Untouchable Defense
9. Block & Slash
10. Flow of Battle
11. Pommel Strike
12. Lightning Jab upgrade

That is a highly defensive 2H build for any warrior. Should get them through to Skyhold. Notice that attack abilities come last. That means you'll have no special attacks for the earliest part of the game (IHW or CotJ). You are almost pure defense. You still get auto-attacks of course.

2H is preferable because of Flow of Battle and Pommel Strike, plus it is arguably more fun, plus the Chromatic 2H weapons are arguably the coolest, but if you want S&S instead:

9. Shield Wall
10. Chevalier's Step upgrade
11. Bear Mauls The Wolves
12. Shield Bash

Another idea is to not use IB until after IWH or CotJ. Level up a bit first, using Cass as the tank. Once you've got about 12 ability points to spend on companions, then switch to IB and respec him.

[The-Oracle]

But could I lessen his workload by bringing along a support only Solas upgraded in the spirit tree and his rift Mage specialization?

[PapaCharlie9]

But could I lessen his workload by bringing along a support only Solas upgraded in the spirit tree and his rift Mage specialization?

I don't think that will help. That's exactly the party composition I had, with Solas doing support, and IB still died a lot as my only tank. And that was on Normal difficulty!

[The-Oracle]

It seems Bull may be benched this time around.

[DarkAmaranth1966]

Okay, to simplify you want two melee fighters and two ranged with one melee being Cas or Blackwall and, one ranged being a mage. Beyond that take whom you want. Remember you can respec Sera or Varric as dual wield if you want. Leave Bull as is but, set him to DEFEND you. (he even tells you he's a body guard when you recruit him.) He isn't a tank, he is good at defending you and doesn't die so much that way.

[The-Oracle]

So I tried out the Iron Bull as a tank and he handled it well going through Champions of the Just. I'm going to try him on In your Heart shall burn, if he does well in that I'll keep him as is. Also what tactics should I set Iron Bull, Solas, and Varric too?

[HannahRose]

Blech, so many people's ideas for what constitutes a good tank are painfully traditional. In my mind, an effective tank is any character/build that can absorb damage and draw attention away from the squishier peoples. Sera can do that, Vivienne can do that, and given Kitty's Collar, IB can do that AND still dish out a ton of damage since you can just focus on offensive stats with his gear/weapon, and let KC take care of keeping him in the fight. Though really, almost any character can benefit from using that pendant since it is the most amazing thing ever and I definitely suggest playing around with it, but IB is my personal favourite. lol

Still, at the end of the day it's up to you what you want to go with, and it's definitely worth having a traditional tank on the back bench should you need to bring them along for some of the nastier fights (IE: build Cass or Blackwall as tanks, just so you can use them if/as needed). IB should be more than enough for 90ish% of the game though if you want to use him. You don't even have to go with KC if you don't want to, but I highly, highly recommend it. Anyway, I'm not bashing traditional tanks, or saying that KC IB is necessarily better, I'm just saying that there's more than one way to build a durable yet super strong party/character that can and will see you through even the toughest battles this game has to offer.

[PapaCharlie9]

So I tried out the Iron Bull as a tank and he handled it well going through Champions of the Just. I'm going to try him on In your Heart shall burn, if he does well in that I'll keep him as is. Also what tactics should I set Iron Bull, Solas, and Varric too?

 

That's great! What was your build and gear for IB for CotJ? What level/how many ability points? What difficulty level?

[The-Oracle]

I used the armor you get for killing the boss in the Hunterlands it was from the mercenary fortress. He was like level 12 I believe on Normal difficulty, as for the build I just stocked him with one side of the vanguard tree and gave him some Sword and Shield skills like Lunge and Slash and Payback strike along with the passive abilities.

[PapaCharlie9]

I used the armor you get for killing the boss in the Hunterlands it was from the mercenary fortress. He was like level 12 I believe on Normal difficulty, as for the build I just stocked him with one side of the vanguard tree and gave him some Sword and Shield skills like Lunge and Slash and Payback strike along with the passive abilities.

 

Regarding "level 12", he being IB or the mercenary boss, I'm not sure which you mean? That boss drops the Masterwork Vanguard Armor and Enhanced Belt, both could help IB tank. Nice job!

[The-Oracle]

Oh sorry I meant IB, and yes I equipped both so he could survive longer.