How would you build the Dragon Age Origins companions?

Rook · Thu, 30th Jun '11, 12:07am

I'm thinking of doing a run through of IWD2 as a 6 man party made up of companions from Dragon Age: Origins. Problem is I haven't played IWD2 in ages and have forgotten completely how the character building system works (I'm used to IWD/BG, 2nd Ed).

The party I'm going to use is:

Alistair - Probably a Paladin mostly
Morrigan - I can't remember if you can mix mage and druid, I definately think of her as more of a Druid than a mage
Wynne - Would ideally need levels in mage and cleric, if its possible, its a valid dual class in 2nd ed though so i should think so
Leliana - The problem in 2nd Ed is I'd like to pump many pips into archery but you can't do this with the Bard class, can you in IWD2? Also the Bard in DA:O can't cast spells... hmm, you think a fighter thief, or a bard?
Sten - Barbarian of some sort I imagine
Zevran - Gotta be a dual wielding Fighter Thief... you can dual wield in IWD2 right?

How would you build these characters, a balance between RP and powergame is my usual approach btw. Let me hear your ideas, as im pretty clueless on the 3rd ed rules used in IWD2.

Paracelsi · Thu, 30th Jun '11, 2:31am

Optimizing characters like Sten and Alistair is gonna be tricky since powergaming in IWD2 basically means tacking lots of caster levels on your characters (cleric, sorcerer, wizard, druid, bard).

Alistair - Paladin of Mystra/Mage or a Paladin of Helm/Fighter, depending on how you usually play Alistair. In my games Alistair spends more time chasing and disabling enemy mages than tanking stuff, so Paladin of Mystra/Mage (defensive/buff spells only) suits him better than Paladin of Helm/Fighter. The Paladin of Mystra backstory also suits him (their task is to ensure magic is not used for evil) and the wizard levels will definitely help come HoW.
Lawful Good, suits him best. Has chaotic good tendencies.

Morrigan - a pure druid. IWD2 druids can shapeshift, cast lots of lightning/cold/fire spells and use disabling/healing spells - this pretty much sums up Morrigan. You could add in a monk level for the wisdom to AC bonus and shapeshift flurry of blows. You'd have to make her Lawful Evil though.
Note: Since you won't be shapeshifting as much in IWD you can use her shapeshifting background to rationalize the use of summon animal spells.
Neutral Evil, though she has true neutral tendencies. Especially towards those who manage to get on her good side.

Wynne - a caster cleric (Lathander, for the nukes). There's no reason to give Wynne mage levels, clerics already have a few powerful nukes in IWD2.
Lawful Good, definitely.

Leliana - Bard, Rogue or some combination of the two. DA:O bards don't have spells, but their abilities closely resemble some bard spell effects like Emotion: Hope. Also while DA:O bards can't cast spells, the amount of firepower/support they offer is enough for the Ferelden setting. A DA:O bard who finds himself in the Spine of the World mountains in HoF mode will not survive long.
Anyone can pick bow-related feats in IWD2. If your Leliana took Ranger then you'll be right at home with IWD2 bard's powerful summoning spells.
Note: While Bard 9 /fighter 8 or x/rogue x is closer to archer-Leliana archetype, consider this only if your PC is some kind of arcane caster. BTW Bard 9 gives Siren's Yearning, aka Captivating Song.
True Neutral.

Sten - Fighter or Ranger. The thing about Sten is that he's lawful (neutral or evil, depends on who's talking) so Barbarian is out. If you make him a ranger model him after Minsc - the KGB version. Favored Enemy - Human.
Note: This character won't have much in the way of survivability, so give him a two-handed weapon make his damage output count.

Zevran - Fighter/Rogue or Ranger/Rogue. You can dual wield in IWD2. Dexterity/finesse character, so you better have lots of rogue levels (sneak attack). Give him weapons with %chance to do x damage on hit. He'll have Improved Evasion and Hide, so he should have better survivability than Sten.
Note: Sadly two weapon fighting is not as powerful in IWD2 as it is in DA:O.
Chaotic Neutral. Lacks malice that defines truly evil characters.

Rawgrim · Thu, 30th Jun '11, 5:35am

Bards in DAO can cast "spells". They sing and yell, and it stuns enemies. If there isn`t magic involved with that, its just silly (wich it actually is).

Rook · Sun, 3rd Jul '11, 7:47pm

Hey thanks, great guide to making DA:O companions. I will give it a try when I finish my current run-through of DA:O.

Mikaal · Fri, 22nd Jun '12, 6:37pm

Hi! Does anybody know the stats of the characters? Thanx

Darion · Fri, 22nd Jun '12, 10:51pm

Awesome Work Paracelsi!

coineineagh · Tue, 26th Jun '12, 4:10am

Alistair should be a sword&board paladin, no doubt about that. If you feel obnoctious, you could powergame him, and make him a pal1/sorcX. His templar abilities seem very magic-related. But I am aware of the irony of having him be a character that was born with magic..

Morrigan could be either Druid or mage. If you require more magic, sorceress fits her heritage more. The druid similarity is only due to living in the wilds, and the types of magic her sorceress mommy taught her. You can do much of the same with sorceror spell picks.

Wynne should definitely be a full cleric. Dual class is 2nd edition. IWD2 is unforgiving if you don't have a (nearly) single-class casting class. Considering there is no clerical magic in DA:O, Wynne actually is the closest thing to a cleric in that world.

Leliana is a bard, and I suggest you keep her that way for the game. Mixing in too many rogue levels won't give much Sneak Attack bonus, and you'll want access to strong Bard spells quickly.

Sten is a Qunari. Half-Orc is the closest approximation I can think of. Barbarian's can't be lawful anyway, and it would fit Ohgren more. Ranger is a good suggestion, since he is an advanced scout. Full rangers are weak in IWD2, so perhaps a ftrX/rgr1 would get better feats. Non-casting classes tend to become dead weight later in game, though. Especially rangers (their spellbook is so poor, I almost forgot about it). Perhaps you might want to bring a different party member? [you can make a druid and call it Dog, or Shale

]

Zevran. Well, full rogue fits him best. They can be strong, but require careful management in combat, since they are fragile. A level fighter allows him to equip better gear.

If you allowed for Awakening characters to join in, then you'd have some awesome options for Velanna and Anders..

Mikaal · Mon, 6th Aug '12, 1:09pm

Well, I made Sten as a Tiefling Ranger 1/Fighter x

Thu, 30th Jun '11, 12:07am	#1
Rook Gems: 2/31 Latest gem: Fire Agate Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 27 Like: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 347 Level: 6 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 80.77% Daily Activity 2.55% Weekly Activity 0.73% Monthly Activity 1.73% Achievements	How would you build the Dragon Age Origins companions? I'm thinking of doing a run through of IWD2 as a 6 man party made up of companions from Dragon Age: Origins. Problem is I haven't played IWD2 in ages and have forgotten completely how the character building system works (I'm used to IWD/BG, 2nd Ed). The party I'm going to use is: Alistair - Probably a Paladin mostly Morrigan - I can't remember if you can mix mage and druid, I definately think of her as more of a Druid than a mage Wynne - Would ideally need levels in mage and cleric, if its possible, its a valid dual class in 2nd ed though so i should think so Leliana - The problem in 2nd Ed is I'd like to pump many pips into archery but you can't do this with the Bard class, can you in IWD2? Also the Bard in DA:O can't cast spells... hmm, you think a fighter thief, or a bard? Sten - Barbarian of some sort I imagine Zevran - Gotta be a dual wielding Fighter Thief... you can dual wield in IWD2 right? How would you build these characters, a balance between RP and powergame is my usual approach btw. Let me hear your ideas, as im pretty clueless on the 3rd ed rules used in IWD2.

Thu, 30th Jun '11, 2:31am	#2
Paracelsi Gems: 13/31 Latest gem: Ziose Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: East Coast Posts: 598 Like: 5 Liked 32 Times in 31 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 1,384 Level: 12 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 63% Daily Activity 2.55% Weekly Activity 0.73% Monthly Activity 8.31% Achievements Awards	Optimizing characters like Sten and Alistair is gonna be tricky since powergaming in IWD2 basically means tacking lots of caster levels on your characters (cleric, sorcerer, wizard, druid, bard). Alistair - Paladin of Mystra/Mage or a Paladin of Helm/Fighter, depending on how you usually play Alistair. In my games Alistair spends more time chasing and disabling enemy mages than tanking stuff, so Paladin of Mystra/Mage (defensive/buff spells only) suits him better than Paladin of Helm/Fighter. The Paladin of Mystra backstory also suits him (their task is to ensure magic is not used for evil) and the wizard levels will definitely help come HoW. Lawful Good, suits him best. Has chaotic good tendencies. Morrigan - a pure druid. IWD2 druids can shapeshift, cast lots of lightning/cold/fire spells and use disabling/healing spells - this pretty much sums up Morrigan. You could add in a monk level for the wisdom to AC bonus and shapeshift flurry of blows. You'd have to make her Lawful Evil though. Note: Since you won't be shapeshifting as much in IWD you can use her shapeshifting background to rationalize the use of summon animal spells. Neutral Evil, though she has true neutral tendencies. Especially towards those who manage to get on her good side. Wynne - a caster cleric (Lathander, for the nukes). There's no reason to give Wynne mage levels, clerics already have a few powerful nukes in IWD2. Lawful Good, definitely. Leliana - Bard, Rogue or some combination of the two. DA:O bards don't have spells, but their abilities closely resemble some bard spell effects like Emotion: Hope. Also while DA:O bards can't cast spells, the amount of firepower/support they offer is enough for the Ferelden setting. A DA:O bard who finds himself in the Spine of the World mountains in HoF mode will not survive long. Anyone can pick bow-related feats in IWD2. If your Leliana took Ranger then you'll be right at home with IWD2 bard's powerful summoning spells. Note: While Bard 9 /fighter 8 or x/rogue x is closer to archer-Leliana archetype, consider this only if your PC is some kind of arcane caster. BTW Bard 9 gives Siren's Yearning, aka Captivating Song. True Neutral. Sten - Fighter or Ranger. The thing about Sten is that he's lawful (neutral or evil, depends on who's talking) so Barbarian is out. If you make him a ranger model him after Minsc - the KGB version. Favored Enemy - Human. Note: This character won't have much in the way of survivability, so give him a two-handed weapon make his damage output count. Zevran - Fighter/Rogue or Ranger/Rogue. You can dual wield in IWD2. Dexterity/finesse character, so you better have lots of rogue levels (sneak attack). Give him weapons with %chance to do x damage on hit. He'll have Improved Evasion and Hide, so he should have better survivability than Sten. Note: Sadly two weapon fighting is not as powerful in IWD2 as it is in DA:O. Chaotic Neutral. Lacks malice that defines truly evil characters.
	Last edited by Paracelsi; Thu, 30th Jun '11 at 4:06am.

Fri, 22nd Jun '12, 6:37pm	#5
Mikaal Gems: 1/31 Latest gem: Turquoise Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Braunschweig, Germany Posts: 13 Like: 1 Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 78 Level: 2 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 96.67% Daily Activity 2.55% Weekly Activity 0.73% Monthly Activity 1.73% Achievements	Dragon Age Character Stats Hi! Does anybody know the stats of the characters? Thanx

Fri, 22nd Jun '12, 10:51pm	#6
Darion Gems: 13/31 Latest gem: Ziose Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Baldur's Gate Posts: 580 Like: 4 Liked 19 Times in 15 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 1,646 Level: 13 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 63.25% Daily Activity 2.55% Weekly Activity 0.73% Monthly Activity 5.02% Achievements	Awesome Work Paracelsi!
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Tue, 26th Jun '12, 4:10am	#7
coineineagh I wish for a horde to overrun my enemies Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Dutch expat living near Chengdu China Posts: 1,319 Blog Entries: 4 Like: 11 Liked 12 Times in 12 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 3,492 Level: 18 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 96.17% Daily Activity 53.57% Weekly Activity 8.01% Monthly Activity 56% Achievements	Alistair should be a sword&board paladin, no doubt about that. If you feel obnoctious, you could powergame him, and make him a pal1/sorcX. His templar abilities seem very magic-related. But I am aware of the irony of having him be a character that was born with magic.. Morrigan could be either Druid or mage. If you require more magic, sorceress fits her heritage more. The druid similarity is only due to living in the wilds, and the types of magic her sorceress mommy taught her. You can do much of the same with sorceror spell picks. Wynne should definitely be a full cleric. Dual class is 2nd edition. IWD2 is unforgiving if you don't have a (nearly) single-class casting class. Considering there is no clerical magic in DA:O, Wynne actually is the closest thing to a cleric in that world. Leliana is a bard, and I suggest you keep her that way for the game. Mixing in too many rogue levels won't give much Sneak Attack bonus, and you'll want access to strong Bard spells quickly. Sten is a Qunari. Half-Orc is the closest approximation I can think of. Barbarian's can't be lawful anyway, and it would fit Ohgren more. Ranger is a good suggestion, since he is an advanced scout. Full rangers are weak in IWD2, so perhaps a ftrX/rgr1 would get better feats. Non-casting classes tend to become dead weight later in game, though. Especially rangers (their spellbook is so poor, I almost forgot about it). Perhaps you might want to bring a different party member? [you can make a druid and call it Dog, or Shale] Zevran. Well, full rogue fits him best. They can be strong, but require careful management in combat, since they are fragile. A level fighter allows him to equip better gear. If you allowed for Awakening characters to join in, then you'd have some awesome options for Velanna and Anders..
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Thu, 30th Jun '11, 5:35am	#3
Rawgrim Gems: 21/31 Latest gem: Pearl Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Norway Posts: 1,363 Like: 0 Liked 8 Times in 8 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 3,337 Level: 18 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 58.13% Daily Activity 2.55% Weekly Activity 0.73% Monthly Activity 1.73% Achievements	Bards in DAO can cast "spells". They sing and yell, and it stuns enemies. If there isn`t magic involved with that, its just silly (wich it actually is).

Sun, 3rd Jul '11, 7:47pm	#4
Rook Gems: 2/31 Latest gem: Fire Agate Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 27 Like: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 347 Level: 6 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 80.77% Daily Activity 2.55% Weekly Activity 0.73% Monthly Activity 1.73% Achievements	Hey thanks, great guide to making DA:O companions. I will give it a try when I finish my current run-through of DA:O.

Mon, 6th Aug '12, 1:09pm	#8
Mikaal Gems: 1/31 Latest gem: Turquoise Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Braunschweig, Germany Posts: 13 Like: 1 Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 78 Level: 2 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 96.67% Daily Activity 2.55% Weekly Activity 0.73% Monthly Activity 1.73% Achievements	Well, I made Sten as a Tiefling Ranger 1/Fighter x