Elvish Grace or Qunari Brawn?

Woo...first week of school (which was actually two days) down.  Phew.  Now I can get back to the serious business of comparing characters in video games.  I started with a comparison of warriors who are often put into the tank role from Dragon Age II and Dragon Age:  Inquisition.  How about your bruisers though?  Would you choose Fenris, the broody elf from Dragon Age II, or Iron Bull, the Qunari mountain from Dragon Age:  Inquisition?

Dragon Age II--Fenris

Fenris.  He's tattooed and elfy.

 I have always thought that Fenris is a bit of an odd character.  Firstly, an elf as a two-handed warrior always seemed to ben the traditional stereotype of the typical hulking warrior.  I've always wanted my non-tanking warriors to 1.) wield a weapon whose seize is completely inconceivable 2.) be hulking masses of muscle that tower above the bad guys.  Fenris carries a big sword but is still lithe like an elf.  What?  It's different, but it works.

Fenris's story is interesting.  He's a former slave bound to a powerful Tevinter magister.  This magister had him branded with lyrium in order to augment his powers.  As a result Fenris sports some interesting body art that makes him stand out from other elves.  This magical brand is also the explanation for his exceptional skills.  Due to his torture and mistreatment at the hand of Danarius, Fenris hates magic.  He also hates slavery and anything associated with it.  Fenris's personality tends to be pretty serious.  He's not cracking jokes and is completely focused on eliminating his former master and all slavers.  At the end of Dragon Age II your choice to support either kill, exile, or save Anders and to support either the mages or templars can affect Fenris's support.  If you choose to save Anders and support the mages, Fenris will leave your party and fight on the side of the templars (unless you romanced him...I think).  If you oppose the mages, he will stay in your party.  Unfortunately in my latest playthrough I may have accidentally skipped his companion quest to kill Danarius and ended up having to kill him along with the templars at the end of the game.

Fenris's talents have never impressed me.  His talents revolve around the lyrium brands on his body and can give him a very high magical resistance.  There are several talents in his tree that do give him some handy battle talents--particularly those that increase his stamina regeneration and attack speed.  His talents tie in well with his story, but seem to have somewhat limited usefulness.

Dragon Age:  Inquisition--Iron Bull

Iron Bull

Iron Bull definitely falls into the stereotypical warrior category.  He's big, brawny, and wields a huge weapon.  Having Iron Bull be the two-handed warrior of choice in Inquisition seemed to be a return back to more traditional character type.  As you start to learn about Iron Bull you learn that he is anything but traditional.  He's a Qunari, but he's not exactly wrapped up in following all the traditional Qunari rules.  He does what he wants and leads a very ragtag but talented group of mercenaries known as the "Bull's Chargers."

As a character, Iron Bull is a big change from the seriousness of Fenris in Dragon Age II.  Iron Bull cracks jokes and seems to enjoy hanging out in the tavern drinking all day.  Although he seems to reject the values of the Qun he still maintains ties to the Qunari.  In your first encounter with Bull you learn that he is Ben-Hassrath, the Qunari equivalent of a spy, and that he regularly sends reports to the Qunari.  It's obvious that he still feels ties to his people, but he also revels in his independence.

One of the more curious aspects of both Fenris and Iron Bull's personalities is their willingness to be romanced by both male and female characters.  In Dragon Age II there isn't really a story explanation about why Fenris is open to a relationship with either sex.  There was the odd decision in Dragon Age II to make all the available romanceable characters (except Aveline and Varric) open to relationships with male or female characters.  In your many conversations with Iron Bull in Dragon Age:  Inquisition you learn that the Qun has very loose rules regarding sexuality and that it's completely acceptable in their society to choose whomever you want.  Romancing Iron Bull is fun as there are lots of jokes about his size and one funny scene where the leaders of the Inquisition walk in on your character and Bull and proceed to make a number of pointed remarks about Bull's state of undress.

I prefer Iron Bull's talents as a reaver over Fenris's talents.  As a reaver, the more damage Bull takes to more damage he puts out.  This is handy as I find my two-handed warriors often end up in an off-tanking kind of role and can successfully keep the baddies off squishier characters.  I do find that Iron Bull can seem pretty squishy himself and in dragon fights I have to be extra careful about his positioning.

Do you opt for Fenris with his magical tattoos and elvish grace (and fantastic anime-like white hair!) or Iron Bull with his bulging...muscles...and carefree attitude?

Personality:  Iron Bull
I like a character with a sense of humor and there is a lot of humor built around Iron Bull.  His laid back personality and general bloodlust make him a fun character to keep in the party.  Romancing Bull is a hoot and you will often find yourself laughing.

Talents:  Iron Bull
I really like my warriors to be wrecking balls of fury.  Having so many of Fenris's talents revolve around seemingly defensive qualities have never endeared him to me.  Bull can soak up some damage while simultaneously increasing his damage output.  That's a very handy set of talents!

It was no contest for me--Iron Bull easily wins out as my pick for best two-handed warrior companion.

Next up....the magey types.

Who are the Best Dragon Age Companions? A Comparison for People who like Comparisons.

A piece of fan art depicting the companions from Dragon Age II appeared on my Facebook timeline earlier this week.  The art itself was neat but the comments were what caught my attention.  The comment section was filled with arguments about whether the companions in Dragon Age II were better than those in Inquisition.  Since I had somewhat recently decided to delve back into Dragon Age II and it is fresh in my mind, I decided I would put some serious thought into that question and do a sort of comparison between them to come to a final consensus about which companions are actually better.

I'm going to break down my comparisons by class.  Let's start with our tanks!  Something I've liked about both Dragon Age II and Inquisition is that they made most of the tank characters female.  This seems like a "bucking the system" choice as the stereotypical tank character is usually some hulking male figure.

Dragon Age II--Aveline Vallen

Aveline is your go-to tank in Dragon Age II.  You meet her very early in the game and she's with you until the end.  I will say that I am not a huge fan of the tank talents in Dragon Age II (it's very possible that I am also inept at choosing the correct ones and setting up tactics correctly).  The tank talents in Inquisition are much better even with the small variation between Cassandra and Blackwall.

As a character Aveline has an interesting story--she was raised by her father, a former Orlesian chevalier, with the intent of training her to be the knight he never was.  Aveline seems to have some resentment towards him because of this.  At the beginning of the game she is forced (or your character) to kill her own husband who has fallen victim to the darkspawn taint.  I think BioWare does a great job of finding some small details that make their characters seem more human and Aveline is no exception.  One of the goofier quests in Dragon Age II involves awkwardly trying to set Aveline up with one of her fellow guards.  You realize very quickly how inept she is at capturing his attention and are forced to intervene on her behalf.  Her morality seems to lead toward justice-oriented choices.  As guard captain she's not fond of breaking the rules.  Using BioWare-esque language, she would be more of a paragon-friendly character.

Dragon Age:  Inquisition--Cassandra Pentaghast

Cassandra appears in Dragon Age II as an NPC but becomes a playable character in Inquisition.  Even without being able to play Cassandra in DAII you are already able to get a good idea about her personality--she's strong, serious, and dedicated to the Chantry.

As a playable character in Inquisition you get more opportunities to interact with and learn about Cassandra.  The addition of the "guard" stat in Inquisition made my tanks feel...more tanky--they felt like a damage sponge who could withstand big groups of enemies or just big baddies.  The templar tree specific to Cassandra featured some pretty handy AoE type attacks that were much more useful than Aveline's limited set of group grabbing talents.  In general I felt confident that Cassandra could keep the baddies from whacking my other party members.

Cassandra's personality can feel very stern but it feeds in well with her story of being a dedicated servant of the Divine.  She's focused on her duties to the Chantry and isn't willing to sway much from her goals.  Her story of being Nevarran royalty but giving that up to serve the divine helps define who she is in Inquisition.  She isn't a character who is going to make you laugh, but her interaction with Varric is pretty funny.  They definitely don't like each other after the long interrogation depicted in Dragon Age II.  Like Aveline, Cassandra is made more relatable by her secret love of romance novels.  Late-ish in Inquisition you can set out on a quest to mediate the strained relationship between Varric and Cassandra with the goal of getting Varric to finish writing his romance serial for Cassandra.  It's a light moment for an otherwise serious character.

Dragon Age:  Inquisition--Blackwall

If you're looking for a memorable character...it's not Blackwall.  Blackwall is a former Grey Warden (sort of!  Spoilers!) who you meet as he is travelling through the countryside trying to recruit new wardens.  His talents as a warrior vary from Cassandra's but he is still a very solid tanking character.  I have always enjoyed his "Line in the Sand" ability which can be used to channel the bad guys toward Blackwall and away from your squishy characters.

As a character, Blackwall is not quite as interesting as Cassandra or Aveline.  His dedication to re-building the Grey Wardens is a central theme in your interactions.  A big part of his story is intentionally vague and later on you find out that he is actually faking his identity as a Grey Warden.  He is actually an Orlesian mercenary who had been involved in some intrigue and murder.  Blackwall is actually a man named Thom Rainier and assumed the identity of a Grey Warden who he saw die.

So who's the best tank?  Do you choose someone with an interesting story or with the best tanking talents?

Talents:  Cassandra.  Her templar tree gives you the versatility to be a bulwark against magic attacks but to also use the more AoE oriented abilities to keep the attention of a large group of enemies.

Personality:  Aveline.  Despite being a serious character, Aveline has moments of lightness that make her a fun character to keep in the party.  I've always enjoyed her companion quests that involve her awkward wooing of fellow guard Donnic.

Next:  The Brawny Warrior Men--A comparison!