Fire, Ice, and Possession...The Battle of the Mage Companions

I started on my quest to debate the companions of Dragon Age II and Dragon Age:  Inquisition at the time in my life where my casual summer intersects with my hectic return to work.  As a result I haven't had the time to continue this very urgent argument.  With all my chores done I feel ready to take on this seriously pressing issue--which mage companion is the best?  Do you feel the need for magical vengeance and side with Anders or do you like the swagger of Tevinter and opt for Dorian?  Today I'm going to focus on our magey friends from Dragon Age II.  (I'm leaving Bethany out as she is fairly limited as a character)

Dragon Age II--Anders

Anders is a character who is initially introduced in the Awakening expansion.  He's an apostate who has narrowly escaped capture by the templars and who is completely unapologetic about having killed his captors.  He opts to become a Grey Warden and joins your crew of misfits (really....they are misfits in Awakening).  Anders' personality in Awakening is good-natured and somewhat goofy.  The one serious part of his personality is his concern for the fate of his fellow mages.  He despises the Circle and has no desire to return.  That's about as far as it goes in Awakening.

When you meet Anders in Dragon Age II, he has changed drastically.  He's very serious and has taken on the plight of the mages in a much bigger way.  You learn early in the game that the spirit of Justice (who possessed the corpse of the unfortunate warrior Kristoff in Awakening) was looking for a new home and Anders decided to allow it to take up residence.  Essentially Anders is possessed by a spirit (not to be confused with a demon...which is bad).  The goofy, joke-telling Anders, from Awakening is gone, replaced with the vengeance seeking, templar-slaying, mage-freeing, spirit of Justice.  (Spoilers if you haven't played Dragon Age II!!!) At the end of the game Anders makes the drastic decision to use a bomb to blow up the Chantry temple in Kirkwall.  He's made himself into a terrorist for the sake of his fellow mages.  You get to decide his fate--he can accompany you and try to make up for his horrible deed or you can exile or kill him.

It's very difficult to compare Anders talents to the other mage characters from Dragon Age:  Inquisition.  His special talents as a healer make him an indispensable member of your party in Dragon Age II.  Somewhere along the line the decision was made to do away with healing spells in Inquisition.  I can understand why this decision was made--on more taxing fights it was necessary to play as the healer to keep everyone alive rather than as the main character.  It was possible to spec other characters as healers but it really made no sense due to Anders set of talents.  I always liked his healing talents and found them to be very useful.  Offensively his talents are pretty lackluster.

Merrill

Merrill makes her first appearance in the Dalish elf origin quest in Dragon Age:  Origins.  Her brief appearance isn't one that you would pay much attention to but she's another character who is reborn in Dragon Age II.  Merrill is surrounded by mystery--at first you don't really know much about why she is choosing to leave her clan of Dalish elves.  The other elves seem spiteful and opposed to Merrill and she will often side-step questions about her past or what exactly she is doing.  You discover very early that Merrill has no opposition to the use of blood magic.  She is also is willing to consort with demons and generally engage in behavior that is at the worst questionable and at best downright hazardous.  Befriending Merrill is difficult for a more upstanding Hawke character.

As a character Merrill is very quirky.  She's a Dalish elf who's not accustomed to living in a city full of humans.  Her desire to engage in dangerous magical activities make her an outcast even among her fellow mages.  After you've gotten to know your Hawke character in Dragon Age II she reveals that she has rescued an Eluvian (the same possessed Eluvian from Origins) and wants your help to reconstruct this valuable Elven artifact.  This can become a major point of contention between your character and Merrill.  In continuing the quest you learn that Merrill has been consorting with demons and that the keeper of her clan sacrificed herself to those demons to keep Merrill safe.

Unless you play a more rebellious character it can be difficult to make Merrill happy.  I've always enjoyed the quirkier aspects of her personality.

Merrill's talents reflect her Dalish heritage as well as her dalliance with blood magic.  I have never been a big fan of the blood mage talents and Merrill's talents utilize many of those abilities.  Sacrificing health to cast spells can work in some situations but mages are so squishy that it's hard to justify using that specific ability.  Abilities like Wrath of the Elvhen are more interesting and allow her to utilize nature damage.  I never really understood the Stone's Throw ability but could see how when used in conjunction with Wrath of the Elvhen it could be very useful.