Companion builds and tactics

[elysium_fic]

If there has been one feature of DAO I feel I have been missing getting the most out of in the time I've been playing, it's the more challenging combat. Mostly, this hasn't been a problem because I've been doing RP playthroughs where it doesn't matter that I'm on easy mode. But even with mods that should make it possible for me to be able to play on Normal or even Hard mode, I still can't.

Part of the problem is, I think, that my computer is a bit too slow for the game. I meet the minimum specs, but there still seems to be some sort of response lag. I can throw a bomb and it will be well over a minute before it detonates. I can take aim at a TRASH mob and be attacking it for 30-60 seconds before its health bar ever drops below 100%. So it's taking a prohibitively long time for me to clear out even trash, and all the while the trash is pounding on my companions. I had to download a mod that added a bunch of elite militia at Redcliffe to have even a hope of getting through the siege with any of the town's militia alive. And that was on Normal mode.

Lag issues aside, I suspect my other problem to be that I'm not building my companions or using the tactics efficiently. Mostly, I take the "default" tactics set and tweak it a little to add things like lyrium and health potion usage.

I've decided before DA2 comes out, I want to do one final playthrough of DAO and Awakening, and I want to challenge myself a bit and do it on a harder mode. I think I will uninstall all but the most crucial mods (the ones that fix bugs and things like Advanced Tactics) to see if that helps the response lag. But I also want to get the most out of my companions and their tactics.

So, hit me. How do you have your companions built and how do you deploy them?

Comments

[elysium_fic]

Hmm. I may try closing FF when gaming, perhaps.

[elysium_fic]

I usually have Thunderbird, Firefox, and sometimes Open Office running. And, of course, my on-access virus scan.

[lemontwisted]

Haha, nice. Rogues can surely put out some impressive damage. I actually haven't tried the duelist spec yet, I'll have to give it a go on my next rogue.

As for dirty cheaters, I think mages take the cake... glyph of repulsion followed by an overlapping glyph of paralysis for a nice aoe paralyze, and it can be done from out of line of sight, around a corner, before the enemies even know even know you're there. Then its firestorm, lightning storm, and sit back and watch them all burn. :)

[visser]

I need to try this tactic on Cauthrien in Howe's estate >=D

[visser]

I'd switch to Chrome, as it is VERY light and fast, but I am way too paranoid to run without NoScript and AdBlock =X

[darkrose]

I don't know about NoScript, but there is a version of AdBlock for Chrome. Between that and FlashBlock, I've been very happy with Chrome. The only downside is that occasionally, I'll run into sites that don't render properly because they're only designed for FF or IE.

[darkrose]

Try turning off Thunderbird, and either switching browsers, or cutting down to 3-5 tabs max.

[lemontwisted]

The only problem with it, is on mobs that have stuff to say (like Cauthrien). If you try and play sneaky, and cast it on her and her guards before you've triggered her talk, they won't take any damage, and then when you go in and the fight starts, all your best stuff is on cooldown.

I, uh, might be speaking from experience here. >.>

(Never had my happy ass landed in Fort Drakon so fast, lol).

[visser]

*cackles* Oh lord, I can imagine XD

[seven_corbies]

In DA, I fail at rogue and my. Mage skills are dire. So I always end up playing warriors. The sad part is that I like to hack and slash, so my character ends up as a spare Alistair. His gear I fuss over as much as my PC's. I usually go Ali: defender/defensive, zev: spec him duelist and get cautious/ defensive going (I have a lock bash mod), wynne: healer/ ranged so she's not wanderring iinto combat.

The only problem I run into is having a computer so old and junky that I have to play with the dev console enabled. Any more then four enemies on screen at a time and I have to use the killallhostiles cheat or my system crashes.

[sakuratea]

ditto to the comment above. Never a problem for me with either L or A, though, and I am almost always a stabby dual heal rogue.

[sakuratea]

open office is the biggest RAM hog in the history of ever. Just xing that might help.

[elysium_fic]

Ah, good to know. I usually keep it running because it seems to have a strange problem where, if I open and close it two or three times, eventually it won't start again unless I restart my computer.

[sakuratea]

I meant dual wield. Maybe I shouldn't post after a visit to the tap house...

[elysium_fic]

LOL I'm the opposite. I can play dual wield or archery rogues just fine (I kinda prefer archery because it lets me see the fight from a distance, and usually I set the NPCs tactics to target my target. So I can hang back, survey the scene, choose a mob and everyone will jump on it.

I've never been able to make the defensive stance work for me. It invariably results in the NPCs just standing there while I get beat on. So I always have my meleers set to aggressive and my archers and mages set to ranged. But of course, that means my meleers keep charging in and setting off traps before I can get to them.

I am now going to make myself forget that there's a killallhostiles command.

[elysium_fic]

I like Advanced Tactics, too. It's one of my must-have mods. But then, I also use Mutator to unlock all tactics spots off the bat, which is cheating, but I just don't see how people function with four tactics spots.

I guess I just don't know the logic to get the most out of the tactics commands, such as choosing the right time to use a sleep/horror combo, or Alistair's templar abilities.

I'm not sure if it's my response lag or a problem with the way I have my commands written, but I find when I try to create a command to get Zevran to automatically apply his poisons, he burns through them too quickly (I think he's using them again before they wear off?) and also there's this weird thing at the end of combat where he keeps giving the acknowledgment for going into stealth repeatedly but takes a minute or two to actually GO into stealth.

It's all very weird. I wish DA had an only interface like WoW does where you can display your builds, so I could see the exact way other people construct their tactics commands. Maybe I'm using the logic improperly or something.

[elysium_fic]

LOL I'm cracking up at the idea of Wynne's dislike of Loghain being built into her AI.

[elysium_fic]

I do set Alistair to defender, and he holds aggro fine for me. I usually just tweak anything that says "enemy: nearest available" to "enemy: target of controlled party member" so that he's taunting on the same mob I'm attacking.

I hadn't thought of using healing pots on the mages. The way they burn through lyrium pots is obscene. I may have to consider taking off her sustained abilities.

No one is mentioning much here that I haven't been trying to do myself. I wonder if I'm just setting the tactics commands up improperly, using the logic wrong.

The other thing that poses a problem for me is having to redo their tactics with each level up. Either I have to manually add in their new skill, or re-choose the pre-programmed tactics set and then add back in the customized touches.

[elysium_fic]

I always give Leliana lots of rapid fire equipment and set her default mode to "aim" instead of "rapid fire" so she does more damage.

Does rapid fire stack? I was under the impression that equipment bonuses didn't stack. For instance, you can't wear two "increases monetary gains" items and get more monetary gain than you would get from a single item of that sort.

I don't micro-manage. I just don't have the attention span for it. Maybe that's why I can't play on the harder difficulties.

[elysium_fic]

Yeah, I've noticed that I rarely agree with most of the choices in the healer default set.

[scarylady]

Pure healer stats are a MASSIVE mana drain. You'll find yourself pouring mana pots down your mage as she pisses them away on unnecessary regens and rejuvs.

I find that heal + group heal is enough for virtually any encounter, which is why I use a tweaked controller rather than a healer tactic. Having half the monsters stand still is worth far more than any amount of extra healing.

[scarylady]

Leliana won't switch to melee weapons if you change her from "Default" to "Ranged". It's not enough just to have her on Archer tactics, you have to set her to Ranged, also.

[sakuratea]

she still does on my xbox, at least.

[sakuratea]

It might just be that the gloves from RTO stack with bows, or I maybe it's all mental, but I swear you can fire faster in "aim" with multiple rapid aim items. Stacking them seems to work in Awakenings, too. But again, it could be all mental.

[sakuratea]

with my custom tactics, it keeps the set of custom tactics and just adds the tactics associated with the new skill (eg, for holy smite, it just adds holy smite nearest visable mage to Alistair's tactics, the rest stays the same).