What graphics setting are you playing on? There's a noticeable difference between low and medium, and I know that on my old machine, medium was pretty much unplayable because it was so slow and choppy.
I usually play on easy because I use grenades and AOE's a lot, and I don't want to have to worry about friendly fire, but I'm anal-retentive enough that I have to go in an mess with everyone's Tactics settings. I do use three mods that are really cheating: the mod that allows you to make Stamina potions in Origins, the unlimited tome mod, and the respec mod. I always respec my companions as soon as I get them, and I generally add between 4-10 extra attribute points, a skill point or two, and a couple of talent points. Especially with Alistair, Sten, and Oghren, I feel that the game default of giving them only a 10 or 11 in Cunning is ridiculous: these guys are experienced fighters, and they should be able to have at least two levels in Combat Tactics to start with.
As far as companions and tactics, it varies a lot depending on my Warden. The one constant is Alistair: I always have him as my tank. I use the Defensive set as a base, and then tweak from there, adding an item to use Cleanse Area when going up against any enemy with short-range buff, and Holy Smite on the nearest visible enemy mage.
I try to get as many tactics slots for Zev as I can, because I use him as both an archer and melee DPS. With Mira, he tends to do more archery, while she handles melee combat; it's much easier to manage her sneaking around and using poisons and grenades. I also give Zev a big boost from the tomes, so that, you know, he isn't lying like a cheap rug when he says he can pick locks. (Although I also use the Lock Bash mod in case I don't have a rogue handy right then.) I generally set him to start off using his bow, and then switching to melee once the opponent gets into range.
Leliana is exclusively ranged. I have her start off with one of the bard songs, and then rapid shot, and cycle through the archery attacks. I try to make sure her Con is high enough that she doesn't get two-shotted all the time, and to boost her Willpower enough so that she can have two sustained abilities active at once.
I use Wynne almost exclusively as a healer, and Morrigan as a damager. With Wynne, I set her to fire off Group Heal when any party member is below 50% health. I generally give her Arcane Warrior for her second specialization, but I don't take any of the spells. I also have her using lyrium potions midway through the cycle. Morrigan usually gets respecced to focus more on the Primal school. I never use her shapeshifting, and even though I make her a blood mage, I've found that the specialization requires too much micromanagement for an NPC to use effectively.
I rarely use Sten or Oghren; when I do, I mostly focus on compensating for the poor defense of the 2-handed style. I do use the Faster 2-Handed Weapon mod, which makes them marginally more useful, but not enough to compensate for their personalities. I almost never use Shale because her abilities are also kind of micromanagey, and the stomping annoys me after a while. I always have Dog, due to the Extra Dog Slot mod, but he's mostly there for RP reasons.
no subject
I usually play on easy because I use grenades and AOE's a lot, and I don't want to have to worry about friendly fire, but I'm anal-retentive enough that I have to go in an mess with everyone's Tactics settings. I do use three mods that are really cheating: the mod that allows you to make Stamina potions in Origins, the unlimited tome mod, and the respec mod. I always respec my companions as soon as I get them, and I generally add between 4-10 extra attribute points, a skill point or two, and a couple of talent points. Especially with Alistair, Sten, and Oghren, I feel that the game default of giving them only a 10 or 11 in Cunning is ridiculous: these guys are experienced fighters, and they should be able to have at least two levels in Combat Tactics to start with.
As far as companions and tactics, it varies a lot depending on my Warden. The one constant is Alistair: I always have him as my tank. I use the Defensive set as a base, and then tweak from there, adding an item to use Cleanse Area when going up against any enemy with short-range buff, and Holy Smite on the nearest visible enemy mage.
I try to get as many tactics slots for Zev as I can, because I use him as both an archer and melee DPS. With Mira, he tends to do more archery, while she handles melee combat; it's much easier to manage her sneaking around and using poisons and grenades. I also give Zev a big boost from the tomes, so that, you know, he isn't lying like a cheap rug when he says he can pick locks. (Although I also use the Lock Bash mod in case I don't have a rogue handy right then.) I generally set him to start off using his bow, and then switching to melee once the opponent gets into range.
Leliana is exclusively ranged. I have her start off with one of the bard songs, and then rapid shot, and cycle through the archery attacks. I try to make sure her Con is high enough that she doesn't get two-shotted all the time, and to boost her Willpower enough so that she can have two sustained abilities active at once.
I use Wynne almost exclusively as a healer, and Morrigan as a damager. With Wynne, I set her to fire off Group Heal when any party member is below 50% health. I generally give her Arcane Warrior for her second specialization, but I don't take any of the spells. I also have her using lyrium potions midway through the cycle. Morrigan usually gets respecced to focus more on the Primal school. I never use her shapeshifting, and even though I make her a blood mage, I've found that the specialization requires too much micromanagement for an NPC to use effectively.
I rarely use Sten or Oghren; when I do, I mostly focus on compensating for the poor defense of the 2-handed style. I do use the Faster 2-Handed Weapon mod, which makes them marginally more useful, but not enough to compensate for their personalities. I almost never use Shale because her abilities are also kind of micromanagey, and the stomping annoys me after a while. I always have Dog, due to the Extra Dog Slot mod, but he's mostly there for RP reasons.