Dragon Age: The Ultimate Party
The results are finally in on that stupid "Ultimate Party" tournament that the Dragon Age Facebook and Twitter in and, unsurprisingly, the Origins fanboys won out. The only representation the other games got was Varric as the rogue, but, even then, a lot of people were complaining that Leliana didn't win. Of ALL the characters from ALL the games, and leave it to us to decide that all the other games can go FUCK THEMSELVES, we just want Origins. Wow.
Since my disappointment in this fandom continues to grow, I'm posting my own personal "Ultimate Party" -one that consists of my favorite of each slot, and then one that consists of who I personally think is the best person to have in a party in terms of usefulness and skill.
ULTIMATE PARTY: FAVORITES EDITION
LEADER: Garrett Hawke (sarcastic personality). Obviously, because he's my favorite. He has more personality, an emotional arc, and is just tons of fun. In my opinion, no other DA protagonist compares.
MAGE: Anders. Also obviously. Not only is he The Character of my Heart and Soul for a multitude of reasons, he's also a healer.
WARRIOR: Cassandra Pentaghast. This actually surprised me, but in the end, there could be no one else.
ROGUE: Zevran Arainai. The decision was very difficult, and was actually one of the most difficult because, as it turns out, most of the rogue characters are around the same area on my Favorite DA Character list. In the end, I picked Zev because I adore him and we don't see enough of him.
ULTIMATE PARTY: SKILLS EDITION
LEADER: The Inquisitor (rogue/archer). They have the anchor, they have the political power, and they've shown they can make the hard decisions. Then, I chose rogue because the rogues in DA: I are arguably the best, speaking as someone who's played every class in that game and has also played a rogue in every game, and then an archer because you can never have too many ranged characters.
MAGE: Anders. Not only The Character of my Heart and Soul and a healer, but a very proficient healer that can turn into a Spirit of Vengeance in a bind. Useful, that.
WARRIOR: Alistair Theirin. In the same way the rogues were difficult last time, the warriors were difficult this time, and, really, we need a warrior who is 1. a tank, 2. can hold aggro, and 3. has good abilities. In the end, it was between Cassandra and Alistair, who have essentially the same abilities, and while I prefer Cassandra as a person, if there's one good thing about Origins, it's their Warrior Class, so had to go with Alibear (just shoot me, jfc).
ROGUE: Cole. Between Varric's crossbow and Cole's stealth, I had to pick Cole. From my experience, Cole's more useful, though does tend to die more in dragon fights because he's melee. Other than that, he also brings his unique POV to every situation, which could be useful as well.
There are my "Ultimate Parties" as of today. It's liable to change, but for now I'm confident (enough).
Now I'm going to ignore the existence of this entire Tournament and its bogus final results, because it's really pissing me off. It's like, Origins isn't even that great. (No, seriously, it isn't. It's slow, clunky, and you're stuck with WYNNE and DOG. At least the mabari had the decency to not be wasting a party slot in DA2. It's just people and nostalgia, or something, because I seriously have no idea why so many people pray at the altar of DA: O when the other games exist. Seriously.)
Since my disappointment in this fandom continues to grow, I'm posting my own personal "Ultimate Party" -one that consists of my favorite of each slot, and then one that consists of who I personally think is the best person to have in a party in terms of usefulness and skill.
ULTIMATE PARTY: FAVORITES EDITION
LEADER: Garrett Hawke (sarcastic personality). Obviously, because he's my favorite. He has more personality, an emotional arc, and is just tons of fun. In my opinion, no other DA protagonist compares.
MAGE: Anders. Also obviously. Not only is he The Character of my Heart and Soul for a multitude of reasons, he's also a healer.
WARRIOR: Cassandra Pentaghast. This actually surprised me, but in the end, there could be no one else.
ROGUE: Zevran Arainai. The decision was very difficult, and was actually one of the most difficult because, as it turns out, most of the rogue characters are around the same area on my Favorite DA Character list. In the end, I picked Zev because I adore him and we don't see enough of him.
ULTIMATE PARTY: SKILLS EDITION
LEADER: The Inquisitor (rogue/archer). They have the anchor, they have the political power, and they've shown they can make the hard decisions. Then, I chose rogue because the rogues in DA: I are arguably the best, speaking as someone who's played every class in that game and has also played a rogue in every game, and then an archer because you can never have too many ranged characters.
MAGE: Anders. Not only The Character of my Heart and Soul and a healer, but a very proficient healer that can turn into a Spirit of Vengeance in a bind. Useful, that.
WARRIOR: Alistair Theirin. In the same way the rogues were difficult last time, the warriors were difficult this time, and, really, we need a warrior who is 1. a tank, 2. can hold aggro, and 3. has good abilities. In the end, it was between Cassandra and Alistair, who have essentially the same abilities, and while I prefer Cassandra as a person, if there's one good thing about Origins, it's their Warrior Class, so had to go with Alibear (just shoot me, jfc).
ROGUE: Cole. Between Varric's crossbow and Cole's stealth, I had to pick Cole. From my experience, Cole's more useful, though does tend to die more in dragon fights because he's melee. Other than that, he also brings his unique POV to every situation, which could be useful as well.
There are my "Ultimate Parties" as of today. It's liable to change, but for now I'm confident (enough).
Now I'm going to ignore the existence of this entire Tournament and its bogus final results, because it's really pissing me off. It's like, Origins isn't even that great. (No, seriously, it isn't. It's slow, clunky, and you're stuck with WYNNE and DOG. At least the mabari had the decency to not be wasting a party slot in DA2. It's just people and nostalgia, or something, because I seriously have no idea why so many people pray at the altar of DA: O when the other games exist. Seriously.)