# Dragon Age 2: Best Gender/Class Choice for Story



## ferratus

So Bioware games always give you a choice of races and classes, but some choices are always more equal than others for reasons of gameplay or story.

In Knights of the Old Republic, the best romance option was Bastilla and the best ending was Darkside, so a Male protagonist who chose the darkside was the best character choice.

In Mass Effect, John Sheppard is all about leading a squad and commanding a military vessel, so taking Soldier is class that best fits the theme of the game rather than worrying about the psychic biotic stuff that isn't really supported in the story.

In Dragon Age 1, you are forced to join an order of knights who wage war against the darkspawn, which makes the rogue and mage classes more of an afterthought (though they did a good job of supporting all the races).

So without too many spoilers, which class suits the ambiance of Dragon Age 2 best?  Will the game take me to battlefields, urban squalor and intrigue, or will I be doing magical things?  Who is the best character to romance?  Could anyone who is part-way (or has finished) the game, tell me which option gives the best story experience?


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## Krensky

ferratus said:


> So Bioware games always give you a choice of races and classes, but some choices are always more equal than others for reasons of gameplay or story.
> 
> In Knights of the Old Republic, the best romance option was Bastilla and the best ending was Darkside, so a Male protagonist who chose the darkside was the best character choice.




I strongly disagree. The Lightside ending is both canonical and far more narratively interesting. Redemption is a powerful theme.



ferratus said:


> In Mass Effect, John Sheppard is all about leading a squad and commanding a military vessel, so taking Soldier is class that best fits the theme of the game rather than worrying about the psychic biotic stuff that isn't really supported in the story.[/qupte]
> 
> All of the classes were supported in the story. The Male Urban Youth Sole Survivor Soldier is the canonical version of Shepherd, but all of the classes are supported in the story and dialog of both games.
> 
> 
> 
> ferratus said:
> 
> 
> 
> In Dragon Age 1, you are forced to join an order of knights who wage war against the darkspawn, which makes the rogue and mage classes more of an afterthought (though they did a good job of supporting all the races).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There was no canonical version of the Warden, although there are canonical choices. All three classes were equally supported narratively and game play wise. The different classes offered different play experiences, but that's sort of the point.
> 
> 
> 
> ferratus said:
> 
> 
> 
> So without too many spoilers, which class suits the ambiance of Dragon Age 2 best?  Will the game take me to battlefields, urban squalor and intrigue, or will I be doing magical things?  Who is the best character to romance?  Could anyone who is part-way (or has finished) the game, tell me which option gives the best story experience?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> Any. The only effect your gender has is whether or not you can engage in a romance with the character in the Exiled Prince DLC (Only female Hawke's need apply), some banter, and how the Seeker's opinion develops over the story. The other four romance options are all available for both sexes.
> 
> Class wise, there's no real difference narratively, although the Mage has more skin in the game because it's about the conflict between the Templars and the Circle. The Mage is probably the easiest class to play, and the Warrior is the hardest and most technical.
> 
> Your dialog choices and relationships with your companions matter more for the story then your class or gender. Well, that and your choices in DA:O and it's DLC featuring the Warden if you choose to import a save. Different choices there cause different quests, plots, and banter choices.
Click to expand...


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## Whizbang Dustyboots

Yeah, "best" is really an individual taste/feel issue. Lots of female gamers I know think that human woman was the best way to play DAO, for instance, because that was the only way to marry Allister (who arguably was the real star of DAO, with the Warden as Lancelot to his Arthur).

Conversely, I think the dwarves' stories were much more fleshed out than the other races, and find playing a dwarf in DAO is much richer than the other races.


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## ProfessorCirno

Dwarf Noble, City Elf, and Human Noble are the three best origins in DA:O, with Dalish Elf at the bottom.  Mage and Dwarf Commoner are ok-ish, with dwarf being more interesting then Mage.


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## Ahnehnois

In Dragon Age I think the biggest thing is looking at the NPCs and seeing what they can (and can't) do for you.

In DA:O, fighter was a poor choice because there were a boatload of decent NPC fighters but only two mediocre rogues and two decent mages (and a good party generally had at least two mages). As mages are powerful, they are the 'better' choice, although the background isn't as interesting and being a rogue was nice for the lockpicking and so you didn't have to carry an NPC rogue.

DAII has fixed this problem by giving you an extra mage if you don't play one. The lack of overhead camera means that aiming spells is fairly difficult, and powers have been revised to the advantage of the fighter and rogue. I haevn't identified what I think a clear best choice yet.


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## Quickleaf

Overall I've found it a little hard to get invested in DA2's story as characters come and go, and there are large leaps in time. The framed narrative is really interesting, but the way it's executed is jarring IMO.



> So without too many spoilers, which class suits the ambiance of Dragon Age 2 best?



I have a feeling the warrior is a little more supported judging by the scarcity of warrior companions and more common warrior-centric magic items.

That said, I am playing with a rogue and I *love* it, so much better than the DA:O rogue. I get to teleport around the battlefield like crazy without worrying about perfect positioning.



> Will the game take me to battlefields, urban squalor and intrigue, or will I be doing magical things?



Refugee camps, urban squalor, noble intrigue, mountain wilds, deep roads - that's what I've encountered so far.

As an aside, I had to laugh at the number of mages getting possessed by demons, it became kind of silly after the 3rd one.



> Who is the best character to romance?



Isabella the pirate captain.



> Could anyone who is part-way (or has finished) the game, tell me which option gives the best story experience?



I just made it through the Deep Roads as a rogue, and I get the sense that all the classes are fun and viable.

However, I felt cheated at the end of the Deep Roads when a critical character was killed off. Apparently if I hadn't brought them on the expedition, they would have been taken out of the story anyhow. I've heard that if I had brought Anders the death would have been averted, but the character would still be taken out of the story. I felt that relationship was driving my character and to have it so abruptly ended made me lose interest in the game for now.


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## Eridanis

Moved to the Media forum (where computer game threads live).

<TARDIS dematerialization sound>


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## Krug

So far for DA2, I find the female main character's voice work far superior to that of the male.


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## LightPhoenix

Ahnehnois said:


> In Dragon Age I think the biggest thing is looking at the NPCs and seeing what they can (and can't) do for you.




By that metric, the best class to play hands-down is a S&S Warrior, unless you don't use a tank.  Hawke is better equipped for it than Aveline due to the companion armors.

The worst is probably Archer Rogue; Sebastian and Varric both get pretty good specialty trees.  Spirit Healer might be a close second; IMO Spirit Healer isn't worth not attacking, and Anders basically gets the tree anyway.


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## ferratus

Thanks everybody.  As far as I can tell, you're saying that the plot involves stuff that the mage would be interested in, the ambiance of Kirkwall suits the rogue best, and the warrior gets the best loot and party synergy.  I think that has pushed me towards the rogue and the mage, though I'm still left wondering which to choose.  I like Bethany in the demo better than the Hawke brother, so I'm leaning towards rogue because otherwise she'll die.

For romance options, I found Isabella in the previews to be too ludicrously sluttish for my interest (I was Leilani rather than Morrigan guy in DO:A).  I like a little bit of foreplay in my RPG romances.  Merrill the elf though seems to be rather boring.  Maybe I'll just forget about romance for this game.


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## jonesy

ferratus said:


> In Knights of the Old Republic, the best romance option was Bastilla and the best ending was Darkside, so a Male protagonist who chose the darkside was the best character choice.



I'll also disagree, but in the other direction. The best option was playing a darkside female, romancing Carth, and then you and Bastila killing him together.


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## Krensky

Quickleaf said:


> I just made it through the Deep Roads as a rogue, and I get the sense that all the classes are fun and viable.
> 
> However, I felt cheated at the end of the Deep Roads when a critical character was killed off. Apparently if I hadn't brought them on the expedition, they would have been taken out of the story anyhow. I've heard that if I had brought Anders the death would have been averted, but the character would still be taken out of the story. I felt that relationship was driving my character and to have it so abruptly ended made me lose interest in the game for now.




Your sibling, if you leave them behind or take Anders with you, makes some cameos in Act II and can be re-recruited in Act III depending on your choices in this game and Awakenings (or what Warden preset you took). As an aside, it's not the only loss you'll face.

Also, frankly, Aveline is an excellent tank. Companion armor upgrades make a big difference come Act II, especially once she gets some rune slots. Also, the Shield of the Knight Herself is an amazing shield (190 armor, 1 rune slot, +88 attack, +5% critical chance, and anytime someone hits her in melee she smacks them back for her full basic damage instantly without interrupting her tactics or actions.. Lastly, Indomitable in her skill tree and Resolute in Defender make her peerless. No one pushes her around.

Fenris, like Carver, is not a very good tank, but the two handed bit should have made that clear. He's great for dishing out pain, and can pull the largest magic resistance in the game.

Carver is ok, but he's temporary, doesn't have a specialized tree, and only has one armor upgrade.

Although not a companion (he's a summon mode), the Dog is does OK tanking and decent damage.

For Rogues, Isabella brings tons of damage and some light tanking ability and some fun crowd control abilities. I also found her romance more interesting then Merrill's. It requires some more effort and is more emotionally rewarding because she has more issues then Merrill.

Varrc is the man, a virtual paragon of masculinity (even Isabella says so) and with Bianca, an early armor upgrade and his plot immunity are great. Sebastian is interesting, but I found Varric more fun.

Anders is a pain as a healer. To use the group heal or resurection ability he needs to reserve 40% of his mana. I've found that potions and resurrection grenades to be more useful. The lack of Ser-Pounce-Alot is keenly felt.

Merrill is a delight, even if she's crazy and dangerously naive. She also requires more thought in leveling since she really benefits from maxing out Con for her Blood of the First mode, along with hunting down gear with the Blood Magic quantity. I've been playing her more normal though, and she still does great laying tons of magical smackdown. Not having access to creation (and hence Heal) is a big minus though.

Bethany suffers the same issues as Carver, but she's more useful while shes's around in act one with decent damaging spells and access to Creation. 

For the record, Aveline and Varric are not romance partners, and Sebastian is only available for romance by a female Hawke and it'll be a chaste relationship. The other characters (well, other then your siblings) are available to either a male or female Hawke, but they all take work.

I'm playing a Rogue with Duelist and Assassin. My default party is Aveline, Merrill, and Varric, but I mix it up a lot since the banter's half the fun and I wanted to max out my relationships (which is harder then it looks for some characters). Sebastian is my problem child there.


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## Votan

Krensky said:


> Varrc is the man, a virtual paragon of masculinity (even Isabella says so) and with Bianca, an early armor upgrade and his plot immunity are great. Sebastian is interesting, but I found Varric more fun.




Good point; it would be awkward if Varric was killed during the storyline . . .  

My major trouble is that I seem to uniquely capable of making any character into a rival . . .


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## Krensky

Votan said:


> Good point; it would be awkward if Varric was killed during the storyline . . .
> 
> My major trouble is that I seem to uniquely capable of making any character into a rival . . .




Even Varric?

Wow.


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## Votan

Krensky said:


> Even Varric?
> 
> Wow.




I was amazed as it was happening.


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## Krensky

Votan said:


> I was amazed as it was happening.




Yeah, it takes a special sort of absolute bastard to build a rivalry with Varric.

Conversely, I can't seem to keep Sebastian from liking my Hawke. I tell the grand cleric she's worthless and I gain friendship. I tell her she's doing a great job, I gain friendship. I can't seem to get his relationship to move consistently in any direction.


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