Balanced party?

[Kagiyama]

Hi, I'm playing the main campaign for the first time on normal difficulty. Being paranoid, I'm wondering if my current party is optimal enough to survive the entire game. I have completed the Mage Tower quest. I also have some Sacred Ashes now. I haven't done much with dwarves and elves yet :)

 

My main char is a 2h sword warrior. I have Alistair as a shield tank, Leilana mostly as a ranged rogue and Morrigan is doing healing, minor debuffing and some crowd control. I haven't gone wild with mods, but I'm keeping a potion of respec in my backpocket.

 

Depending on a number of factors, I either manage to win a battle with or without potions, or I get slaughtered. Should I replace Leilana with Wynne, as she is already a great healer? I like Leilana's detect traps and lockpicking. Or should I respec my warrior into a shield tank and replace Alistair with Wynne? I'm also considering buying spirit healer manual for Morrigan.

 

Anyway, I'd like to keep Alistair, Leilana and Morrigan in my party for this playthrough. Any thoughts?

[Thandal]

Welcome, Kagiyama!

 

I've created over two-dozen Wardens, completed over a dozen full play-thoughs, and twice that number of partials. I played exclusively on "Nightmare" after my first time, but have now switched to "Casual" because I'm not trying to beat the game any more, but just have fun with all the different Companions.

 

I say all that to let you know that your "Big Al/Leli/Morri" Party is one of my favorites. That may be simply because it's the first one you get, and there's a little Team Loyalty thing going on, but it's also true that it works well for almost all situations.

 

At some point, I started leaving Alistair in Camp regularly to check-out the other companions, and he's certainly the first one I let go when I'm forced to have someone else with me. And of course Shale and Morrigan share some of the best banter in the whole game! :laugh:

 

As far as "balance", it seems like you know the drill. A Healer, (or LOTS of potions!) a Rogue for traps and locks, a Tank to engage the critters up-close while everyone else does their thing, and whatever you want your own character to be. So you could substitute Zev for Leli, Wynne for Morri, Sten for Al, etc., depending on what personalities you prefer. (Shale I count as a "Bunker", not a Tank, but that's just me! Still fun.)

 

While I currently run with approx. 3.5 GB in mods, I recommend doing your first play-though using only the vanilla game. Or maybe with two specific bug-fixes, "Qwinn's Unofficial Fixpack", and the "Morrigan Restoration Patch". (Be warned though, the MRP re-enables a built-in dialogue choice that can cause her to leave the Party permenantly when you didn't intend that outcome. :whistling: ) That way, you'll have a much better idea of the types of mods you'd like, and a much better appreciation for the improvements they make.

 

Dragon Age definitely rewards replaying! :thumbsup: