Help with party build

[fgpack90]

Hello everyone. I'm going to play Dragon Age Inquisition for the first time after playing Origins and 2 and i would like some help on the party to build. I'm not looking for best comp or anything "mage or templar sided", considering i did play Origins and 2 with characters from every side (for example in Origins i played with a rogue MC, Alistair, Morrigan and Wynne, while in 2 it was with a mage Hawke, Aveline, Isabela and Varric). All i want is a good enough performing party to enjoy the game. Any roleplay choice will be made on the go.

The point is that while i was looking at companions and specializations i ran into some doubts. And please no spoiler since this is going to be my furst run as i said.

The only 2 certain things is that i don't wanna play a warrior, so it's gonna either be mage or rogue, and that i want Cassandra in party cause she'll be my romance option.

The biggest problems i had was with choosing party mates and specializations. Considering i would need at least one rogue for lockpicking i don't seem to like Sera or Cole, or even Artificer or Tempest. But i also read in various places that Varric is not good like he was in DA2. So i thought i could go with an assassin rogue myself, but then problems start with mages too.

I read something about knight enchanter and it seems more like a warrior than a mage, and boring too gameplay wise. Dorian is also a no-no for me because of Tevinter (i'm trying to play a no blood mage or Tevinter characters run considering also Corypheus and all that lore about Darkspawn). So the only option available is Solas. But even if i choose Solas and i do another mage myself i only would like to do Rift Mage and wouldn't i have problems of dps on bosses? Because i read that Rift Mage is like in DA2: good at pulling mobs but not really good on bosses for its low single target damage.

So how can i resolve this? Can i go with Blackwall, make Cassandra 2h templar, go with Solas and make myself an assassin rogue? This is the best option that i was able to come out with but i'm not 100% sure. is it a good enough choice for having some CCs, good damage and combos? Thanks for any answer :)

[Eddie Latium]

I'll play a bit the devil's advocate here and encourage you to roleplay first and firemost.

If you're not playing at higher difficulties then any composition will do, if you are playing at higher difficulties then as long as you have at least one of each class you can pull it off with a bit of strategy (by difficulty I also mean Friendly Fire and the Trials, Inquisition is pretty "modular" in this regard).

The game can be long, very long in fact, all companions have a lot of banter to hear and can be built differently, so I heavily suggest to use them all and decide in-game who and when to bring along, just choosing a bunch will severely limit your experience. For example, if you are doing X quest or Y area some might be more relevant than others, just focus on which composition fits, either gameplay or roleplay wise.

Knight Enchanter can sustains attacks but it's still a Mage first and foremost, it's different from Origin's Arcane Warrior, its "trademark" is the use of a magic blade but that's still an AoE spell at the end of the day.

As for your class just think about what you are more interested in, they're all pretty versatile as you level up. :)

[Firehawk]

A lot of this depends on the difficulty you'll be playing on. Higher ones require a lot of micromanaging with very different strength and weaknesses for party members. On normals most any comp is fine so long as you're not going after dragons underleveled.

Intentionally ditching Dorian simply because he's from Tevinter would be a big mistake though, because it doesn't indicate what kind of person he is. By the same logic, you'd have to completely ignore Iron Bull since he's a qunari, and one that's acting as a spy for his people to boot. On top of that, it's a widely known fact that the qunari launched an invasion against Kirkwall in DA2, so if you exclude Dorian because of perceived untrustworthiness, then he shouldn't be the only one.

[Vashra]

Originally posted by fgpack90:

Thanks for any answer :)

I...uh...there's a lot to unpack here.

If you're doing your first run on casual (if you're not into combat and just wanna button-mash your way around it) or normal (if you enjoy doing a bit of strategy and micromanaging), you can pretty much put *anyone* into your party and survive.

What I mean is I have run around with a party made up of all rogues, all warriors, all mages, whatever. It's doable.

Part of why it's doable is that everyone you recruit levels with you always just one level away from you at worst, whether you take them around to fight or not. Part of the reason it's doable is that you can craft fire-resistant heavy armor and put it on your MAGE if you wish....without suffering any particular penalty other than heavy armor doesn't usually have the option to be +mage stats or whatever (no armor fatigue like in origins, thank God). Most of the reason it's doable is that unless you seriously slack, you can always hit the blacksmith and *make* gear that will get a neglected companion into updated fighting shape in short order, if nothing else. And on normal or lower, elmental damage bonuses are nifty...but not required...you'll kill it eventually with even the element it's all but immune to, if you try long enough.

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Every companion is technically built around a special talent tree (though with respect amulets you may do as you please with them). I like to build them up based specifically on those unique abilities. Some things everyone should probably have, like all my mages have at least basic barrier, and all my rouges have stealth and "easy to miss." Though...honestly, you *can* do it other ways... There are umpteen build guides out there for what actually plays well when the AI is controlling your companions, because on hard/nightmare, it's *rubbish* with some talents, and flatly seems to be working to get your killed with a few of them. ;)

I generally like to play a rogue, and I think it fits in a cool way into the role-play of the story to NOT be mage when you start, but others prefer to be a mage for other rp reasons. I wouldn't say warrior is *boring* in this game, but trying to keep aggro over the top of the AI's stupid attempts to steal it out from under me with tactically unsound magical mag dumps just isn't my idea of a fun combat experience. Or maybe I suck as a warrior and it's not the AI's fault LOL. I'm just saying throwing an aoe into a ball o' untaunted mobs more than 150 yards from your tank isn't the wisest choice....(I'm lookin' at YOU Dorian!!!)

This game is like any other when it comes to locked doors and chests, best have someone along who can pick locks at all times, unless you're game experience isn't "broken" by having to go back to camp...or rarely to a previous save...and grab a lock picker. There are a few areas where you get "locked" in once you start, so if you didn't bring a rogue and a warrior (they have a unique wall breaking/thing bashing ability no other class can do) with you on those missions/quests, you're kinda hosed for those bits. It doesn't impede game-play or stall a quest (well...maybe one quest I think?), but it cuts you out of the occasional sweet piece of gear and/or collection bauble. I'm pretty sure all of those "locked in" areas you enter via the proverbial war table missions marked with green storm clouds, but I could be wrong.

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If you are into stories and roleplay, who you have with you on any given quest will arguably be decided more by their relationship to the area/mob/story at hand than their class. Varric has reason to hate the Red Templars, Cassandra seems to take the military corruption in Emerald Graves personally, Dorian *really* wants to have it out with all the evil mages, etc. Iron Bull gets ... really ... excited if you're taking out a dragon, whatever.

If you're trying to manipulate romances and personal relationships, who you have with you when you talk to NPCs to start or turn in quests becomes *far* more important than who you have along for the combat. I've thrown heavy armor on my rogue, set my twin strike upgrade for frontal assault and death blow for "fresh targets" and *cough* tanked *cough* a dragon on normal mode with all 3 mages in the party as my back up (all respeced for that dragon's elemental weakness)....

Do what's fun :)