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]

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.

[sakuratea]

me too, I've never played through as a warrior. It's too slow and boring. Have you tried playing two rogues? You stay back as the archer, have Zev go in and disable the traps with in stealth mode, and then let everyone at it? Or I guess Leliana with stealth. It can really help

[visser]

=( I tried having one of my Couslands be a tank.

She sucked at it horribly, so she handed the shield back to Alistair. Gotta suck up his tanking, because that's the playthrough that my Cousland will end up marrying Alistair >

[scarylady]

I really enjoyed tanking, it's a completely diffeent game. You play most of the game with about 4 skills, it's the linear opposite of mages, but your combat awareness has to be spot on. It's all about incapacitating some enemies and getting the attention of others so no-one else gets hit.

Dull at first, but increasingly more interesting as you progress.

[zute]

I tanked with my Aeducan princess. She was an utterly awesome tank. I think I respec'd Alstair to be a dual wield warrior in that one... and left him in camp a lot.