Alistair Build Guide (Dragon Age: Origins) - B-Tier Guides

[@albertoknoxx1309]

a DAO vid in 2024? my my

[@alyxxpratt678]

Replaying origins right now and this was the best, most cohesive Alistair build guide I could find. Thank you!

[@btiermutineer]

Glad you found it useful!

[@Stephen-sj8jn]

This has inspired me for another play through but with a warden tank. This is because I nearly always have Alistair in my party so if I'm the tank I can try different members that don't normally get used.

[@justrobin8155]

Thank you!!! I am FINALLY coming back to replay this series that I loved so much as a kid, but back then I could never finish them. I just loved the world and characters so much that I wanted to experience them anyway Now as an adult, I wanna finish all 3 of these games and then play the 4th. I'm no good at builds though, and I know nothing about the systems at play, so you made my life a lot easier!

[@btiermutineer]

Glad to hear it!

[@LumosSpirit]

That's an amazing guide, just what I was looking for! Thank you so much! 😊

[@btiermutineer]

Glad it helped!

[@osz08]

i love ur videos!! very straightforward and i appreciate not wanting to minmax since i also hate when people assume that sjndfjkdf thanks for the guide!

[@btiermutineer]

i'm so glad to hear it!

[@AlexMercer00]

what about tactics?

[@BelieveIt1051]

I always recall Alistair being pretty trash in terms of damage output. Couldn't really take a hit either. He mainly played the role of a tank/off-tank for my own off-tank who also had to play the role of a tank now and then when Alistair lost threat. I also didn't use him all that much except in quests where he had more involvement with the story. Loghain was an upgrade for sure.

[@btiermutineer]

I mean, it really depends on how you build him. Alistair is more versatile since you get him at a very early level, so you can control where you put his attribute and talent points. Of course, a sword and shield character isn't gonna do as much damage as other damager builds, but it's decently tanky as well just from having a shield and the talents. You just have to put most of the attribute points in Strength, as well as focus on gear that has bonuses that help on the damager front!

[@beardedassailant3732]

I just started the game and I have some of that stuff already to equip him with. If it's on this list then it is basically end game gear, idk rly why they just gave it to me from the start.

[@btiermutineer]

You might be talking about the DLC items! Some of them just appear in your inventory at the start of the game, and they are indeed good endgame items. It feels a bit like cheating when you use them, but they're too good not to use!

[@beardedassailant3732]

@@btiermutineer I just hope it's not too overpowered, cos I can't really tell now since I have no idea what I'm doing or how valuable stats are. I think I will be doing a second playthrough cos the game is surprisingly fun. Then I just won't be using the items until some certain level I guess. Thanks for the guide btw! I spent like 30 mins figuring out what to pick for Alister on my own and I'm not even sure if I'm doing it right for my mage. Just hope it's not one of those games where if you mess up you can't finish the game lol

[@btiermutineer]

@@beardedassailant3732 with mages you can't really mess it up because spells are quite powerful. With warriors and rogues it's a bit harder but if you stick to one weapon style and mainly put points in the attributes the class likes (warriors = strength and dexterity, rogues = dexterity and cunning, mages = magic and willpower) you should be good. I always recommend for new players to not feel bad if you have to lower the difficulty because it's an older game and it's not super well balanced. But I'm really glad to hear you'll want to play it again! Dragon Age Origins is my favorite 😊

[@beardedassailant3732]

@@btiermutineer Yea I'm smacking magic 2 points and 1 willpower, but now that I am getting companions comes in handy to know what to give them too. I am managing on normal so far, but there are some corridors where the difficulty goes way up and then gotta load a couple of times. I will lower the difficulty if I can't progress no moral qualms there :D I want to be able to finish it on the hardest difficulty on my second playthrough though :D Anyhow thanks for the tips mate and keep the vids coming, content for this game is a decade old and I avoid those old vids cos Idk if something changed since then or how much the game was even updated over time, I guess minimal but still.

[@btiermutineer]

@@beardedassailant3732 the difficulty does spike in certain fights, but it's also important to know that areas have a general level range for enemies. And the game kind of expects you to do the main quests in a certain order (at least the first two). Redcliffe and the mage tower have the lowest level range. Then it's the Elves, Urn of Sacred Ashes, and Denerim (though you'll have later quests happening in Denerim too, so it has a bigger range considering that). And finally at the highest enemy level range is the dwarven city of Orzammar. I definitely recommend leaving Orzammar for the end because it is pretty hard in a first playthrough (I got stuck in a difficult boss fight there when I first played the game, and I only had one save file lol).

[@nightdoom98]

If you ask me, you get him early enough to build him as a dual wield warrior or even a archer warrior. I would do a two handed warrior but you already get two of them. But good guide.

[@TimothySchulting]

Precise striking is important unless you have a weapon with a high attack bonus. Especially earlier in the game. I give Alistair the reaver specialization. Only because he is a Therein. Calenhad was a a reaver. Champion id actually better.

[@btiermutineer]

Huh, that's interesting, I never noticed an issue hitting enemies in the early game without precise striking but maybe I just wasn't paying as much attention to my tanks, lol. Ooh, it makes perfect sense lore-wise for Alistair to get Reaver since it's kind of in his blood. But I like to give him Champion cause I think it fits his personality better (and I generally don't use Reaver, hah).

[@user-jt3pn8bi5p]

Don't forget that it also improves your chance to crit - something that is not so easily attainable

[@TimothySchulting]

@@btiermutineer the worst is Ogren. He fans out 80 percent of the time. His strength and Dex are not high enough when you get him. Sten has the same problem. It's why using the butterfly sword makes sense. It has +12 attack.

[@d36williams]

Does it matter now if an item is DLC? I'm not really sure but I think the default DAO I got on steam comes with all the DLC baked in. I think this was the default game

[@btiermutineer]

@@d36williams some DLC items are things you only unlock in the main campaign after you get some achievements in the standalone DLCs, for example the Battledress of the Provocateur from Leliana's Song. There are other DLC items that may not be included in the Steam version of the game that need to be unlocked on the Dragon Age Keep website. And finally, some items that only came with the Collector's edition of the game (but which some people, at least on PC, can unlock through a mod). That's why it matters if an item is DLC!

[@justrobin8155]

Do you rhink you could do morrigan at some point? I really have no idea what to do with her...

[@btiermutineer]

Morrigan is the next character in the queue for character builds :)

[@btiermutineer]

Which companions do you tend to leave in the party camp in Dragon Age: Origins, and why?

[@mightyn8]

I don't take the Dog with me cause he's not that good lol, but I choose the others based on my character.

[@mitios333]

Well, I almost always play 2H human warrior as dps mainly. So right now im playing with Shale as Tank, Zevran as Dps, and Wynne with a weird build (Arcane Warrior)

[@user-jt3pn8bi5p]

The most fun and engaging run I've had is probably 3 mages + Alistair. You can have a lot of tricks up your sleeve that way. Chests and traps are your kryptonite, though.

[@btiermutineer]

@@user-jt3pn8bi5p I love using 3 mages! One of my most recent playthroughs was an elven mage, and I took both Wynne and Morrigan with me, and then either Alistair or Shale. I have the Lock Bash mod installed, so at least I can open doors and chests, though I still walk into all the traps lol

[@user-jt3pn8bi5p]

@@btiermutineer As much as I hate Leliana I've come to think that her overall utility input is just too good to pass up if your MC isn't a rogue. Otherwise I'd go with Wynne or the goodest boy Doge anytime.

[@fabio21199]

How can you see the exact numbers of the spells? is it a mod?

[@btiermutineer]

Yes, it's a mod! It's called Detailed Tooltips and it's made by Bibdy. You can find it on nexusmods 😊

[@fabio21199]

@@btiermutineer thank you soooo much!

[@Amazatastic]

what alistair head morph mod are you using?

[@btiermutineer]

I'm using Noble Looking Alistair by legendInMyMind!