Good AI Tactics presets

[Gorwe]

Really, I've no wish microing Alistair while he's watching a Darkspawn running by him. Or such things. I'd much rather focus on my own character. So:

What are some good Tactics presets? Which is the best behavior for various characters?

[Ilja]

Alistair is sort of easy to manage. Mages and rogues require more work than him. Luckily. :)

• If Alistair is your only tank, then set him to use Taunt often, or use it manually. If your own character is a tank, then Alistair should use Threaten instead and your character should use Taunt. Both characters can use Taunt, but Alistair is usually a lot weaker tank than Warden, which causes your team to waste healing spells and pouches, if enemies are swarming over two tank characters.
  
  
• Set him to use Shield Defence in melee and Shield Cover against ranged attacks. If you are playing unpatched game (meaning that you have not added fixes from Nexus), then just use Shield Wall all the time. If you have patched your game from Nexus, then you will have to decide if you want the constant -20% damage reduction from Shield Wall, or just set Alistair to use it against Boss level enemies.
  
  
• Use Shield Bash as default talent (closest enemy). I am usually setting Assault to target more robust enemies, because it can drain Stamina from other talents. That 15 points makes a difference, if you are using it constantly.
  
  
• There is no reason to add any Templar abilities to Tactics. Cleanse Area is conditional and you should use it manually, or you might end up clearing friendly spells as well. Alistair's Holy Smite is very weak and there is little reason to progress that far in the tree anyway, if he is your only tank. Focus to Champion talents instead.
  
  
• You might want to set him to use pouches in early game. Set him to use them in mid health. Alistair stops his tactis run to sip the pouch, so there is no point of using one, if it does not heal him a lot. Later it depends what sort of mage you have and if anyone is actually making pouches that would make a difference enough to have Alistair stop his tactics run to sip them. I usually rather rely on my healer to keep him going.

It is hard to say more, when we don't know what sort of character you are playing and who else is in the team.

[K00lex]

Check the existing presets: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Tactics/Presets
For Tactics: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Tactics_(Origins)

Don't forget to change Behavior (upper right corner of Tactics screen) to suit the playstyle of the characters, such as Default or Aggressive for Alistair/Tank, Ranged for Mage/Archer. I never bothered with Cautious or Passive. Sometimes, I'd use Defensive.

Remember that a currently selected character will have his/her Tactics deactivated (unless you are using Advanced Tactics Mod), so I normally controls my Warden and leave the others on auto-pilot.
Oh, there should be no reason to spend Skill Points on Combat Tactics to get additional tactic slots. You will gain them automatically when you level up. (I use Raven Respec Mod to rid off the default one on my Mage Warden and Wynne's excessive slots.)

[Gorwe]

Originally posted by K00lex:

Check the existing presets: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Tactics/Presets
For Tactics: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Tactics_(Origins)

Don't forget to change Behavior (upper right corner of Tactics screen) to suit the playstyle of the characters, such as Default or Aggressive for Alistair/Tank, Ranged for Mage/Archer. I never bothered with Cautious or Passive. Sometimes, I'd use Defensive.

Remember that a currently selected character will have his/her Tactics deactivated (unless you are using Advanced Tactics Mod), so I normally controls my Warden and leave the others on auto-pilot.
Oh, there should be no reason to spend Skill Points on Combat Tactics to get additional tactic slots. You will gain them automatically when you level up. (I use Raven Respec Mod to rid off the default one on my Mage Warden and Wynne's excessive slots.)

Oh yes, I use both the Advanced Tactics and the Advanced Party from anakin. It's fun to go overboard with CC from the first moment with Morrigan(just...don't forget the Mind Blast!). :D

I don't like Aggressive very much tbh. AI running off to attack an obvious bait then springing traps everywhere...uh-oh! The best example is the Darkspawn caster in Korcari(or the Emmisary in the Tower of Ishal). I mostly run with Defensive on my melee with Enemy: Nearest Visible -> Attack.

I like the Combat Tactics on my mages(Wynne, Morrigan) very much. With ~20 slots, you can prepare them for ANY emergency! You can even mix two presets into one(say, Debuffer and Controller). But I wouldn't take more than two CT levels on anyone else. And on a main character, it's a waste of points(especially if you want to play it like I do and just control it ~90% of time).

Thank you for in depth advice!