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.