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

[darkrose]

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.

[elysium_fic]

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.

It appears I had it on medium, which I could have sworn wasn't always the case. But things aren't normally choppy for me. Cutscenes play fairly smoothly at about 12 FPS, FPS during gameplay is around 30 or so. But during combat, commands just don't respond in a timely manner and mobs can take hit after hit without anything registering. I don't know why that would be.

And interestingly enough, I don't appear to have that problem in Awakening. When I tried to play Awakening the other night, mobs took damage the moment I targeted them and initiated combat, and everything responded the way it was supposed to.

[visser]

You know, I noticed Origins is choppy lately for me, too, but Awakening is smoother. I wonder if there's a memory leak that needs to be patched. =/

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, this, for sure. When I first start playing, it's pretty smooth, but the longer I play, the choppier it gets until finally I shut it down and restart my computer. Then it's smooth again. Rinse and repeat.

[visser]

I actually just save, then turn the game off for 30 minutes or so, and that works.