Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! It's time to tackle the companions and important cast members of DA2!
Name: Bethany
Race: Human
Class: Mage
Specialization: None at start, Force Mage in Act 2 and 3 DLC and if she rejoins your party
Recruited at: Starts in your party
Romance?: No, she's your sister
Special: Bethany starts with a preexisting slant toward Friendship. Near 75%, in fact, so unless you take the effort to piss her off, she'll begin the slow slide into friendship long before you finish Act 1.
Fate: Bethany's fate is tied to your class and your decision at the end of Act 1. If you're a mage, Bethany dies at the end of the Prologue. If you're a warrior or rogue, she survives to enter Kirkwall. If she lives, her fate in Act 2 and 3 are determined are by your choices with the Deep Roads. If you do not take her, she is finally captured by the Templars and becomes a Circle Mage. There, she retains her sunny disposition and takes on a position of influence in the Circle, teaching young apprentices. However, if you take her into the Deep Roads, you MUST take Anders along if you want her to survive. From there, she can become a Grey Warden, and shows up at the end of Act 2, and again in Act 3 if Nathaniel Howe shows up. From there, she can rejoin your party at the end of Act 3 after you choose your side. As a Warden, Bethany's perspective darkens drastically. If she lives, she can also be brought along in both DLC packs.
Name: Carver
Race: Human
Class: 2 handed Warrior
Specialization: None at start, Templar Mage in Act 2 and 3 DLC and if he rejoins your party
Recruited at: Starts in your party
Romance?: No, he's your brother
Special: Carver starts with a preexisting slant toward Rivalry. Around 65%, in fact, so unless you take the effort to pander to his viewpoint, he'll
begin the slow slide into Rivalry long before you finish Act 1.
Fate: Most of Bethany's entry applies with Carver. If you're not a mage, Carver dies at Lothering. If you take him into the Deep Roads without Anders, he dies. If you take Anders, he becomes a Grey Warden. If you don't take him, he becomes a Templar. However, his personality is the opposite of Bethany when it comes to which organization he joins; he feels better about being a Warden than a Templar.
Name: Aveline Vallen
Race: Human
Class: Sword and Shield Warrior
Specialization: Guardian, making her a tank
Recruited at: Starts in your party
Romance?: No, but you can flirt with her
Special: Aveline will not leave your party unless certain specific conditions are met; she has to be a Rival at the end of Act 3 and she can't be married to Donnic. Furthermore, you have to side with the mages, and Fenris has to remain with your party.
Fate: Aveline is one of the most important figures in Kirkwall, as a guard/guard captain. In Act 2, she could potentially marry Donnic Heydr. In Act 3, whether or not she married Donnic determines how her personal quest goes. Depending on certain choices at the end game, she may return in a War Table mission text in DAI.
Name: Varric
Race: Dwarf
Class: Archer focused Rogue
Specialization: Marksman, which is a bard-like ability that makes him better with his crossbow.
Recruited at: The start of Act 1
Romance?: No
Special: Varric cannot leave the party at all, due to him relating to the story to Cassandra Pentaghast. Varric is the only one with a weapon that upgrades with his level, his crossbow Bianca.
Fate: Varric returns in DAI as a companion. His specialization changes between games, though. He also appears in the comics with Alistair and Isabela.
Name: Anders
Race: Human
Class: Mage
Specialization: Vengeance, which is a combination of Spirit Healer and a damage buff
Recruited at: Act 1, just after being revealed as an Abomination at the Chantry
Romance?: Yes
Special: Anders can leave at several points in the story; in Act 2, at the end of his personal quest, and in Act 3, in the same type of situation. At the end of Act 3, Anders can be killed after he blows up the Chantry.
Fate: Anders does not show up in DAI, though he is mentioned by Hawke if he survived, as well as whether or not Hawke approved of Anders' actions.
Name: Merrill
Race: Elf
Class: Mage
Specialization: Dalish Pariah, a combination of Blood Mage and Keeper from DAA
Recruited at: Act 1, on Sundermount
Romance?: Yes
Special: Like Aveline, Merrill has certain conditions to actually leave the party; first, you must not talk to her after her act 3 quest. Second, she must not be at 100% Friendship/Rivalry. Third, you must be a Rival of Anders. Finally, you MUST side with the Templars. Only then will she leave the party.
Fate: Merrill is mentioned by both Varric and Hawke in DAI, and the romance is remarked on by both.
Name: Fenris
Race: Elf
Class: Two handed Warrior
Specialization: Tervinter Fugitive, a Templar/Spirit Warrior like specialization
Recruited at: Act 1
Romance?: Yes
Special: Fenris can leave the party at many points in the game; first time is in Act 2, if you refuse his personal quest twice. Second is in Act 3, when you can give him to his former owner. Finally, if you side with the Mages and he's not 100% on the Frienship or Rivalry meter. He's also the only companion who never learned how to read.
Fate: He does not return in DAI, and is only mentioned if Hawke romanced him.
Name: Isabela
Race: Human
Class: Dual Wielding Rogue
Specialization: Swashbuckler, which is essentially Duelist
Recruited at: The Hanged Man Bar in Act 1
Romance?: Yes
Special: Isabela leaves the party at the end of Act 2. But she only returns if her Friendship or Rivalry is at at least 50%.
Fate: Isabela returns in the comics take place between DA2 and DAI. Interestingly, her role in those books shows us the first female qunari. She also returns in DAI as a DLC multiplayer character.
Name: Sebastian
Race: Human
Class: Archer Rogue
Specialization: Royal Archer, which gives him abilities that are like Shadow in DAA
Recruited at: Act 2 chantry, but you need to complete his first personal quest before recruiting him
Romance?: Yes, female only, and only if you never touched, or even shown any interest, in the other romance options.
Special: Sebastial will leave the party if Anders is spared at the end of Act 3. This is unavoidable, regardless of your Friendship or Rivalry settings.
Fate: Sebastian returns as War Table Text in DAI. If Anders survived, he becomes extremely antagonistic toward Kirkwall.
Name: Tallis
Race: Elf
Class: Dual wielding Rogue
Specialization: Infiltrator, most like Assassin
Recruited at: Start of Mark of Assassin DLC
Romance?: Yes, but you can only kiss her if your romance option isn't in the party
Special: Tallis is contained entirely in her DLC, and you can choose to leave her behind once you find out she's a qunari spy.
Fate: Tallis returns in war table text if you choose to have Iron Bull save the Dreadnaught.
And now for the important characters;
Name: Cullen
Race: Human
Class: Warrior
Specialization: Templar
Recruited at: Does not join party
Special: If your Warden is a mage, he knows them. If the Warden mage is female, he had a crush on her.
Fate:Cullen returns in DAI after seeing what evils the Templars can commit in this game.
Name: Samson
Race: Human
Class: Warrior
Specialization: Templar
Recruited at: Does not join party
Special: He aids you in 2 quests; 1 in Act 1, another in Act 3.
Fate: If you choose to recruit the mages in DAI, Samson returns as your rival.
Name: Flemeth
Race: Human based, hard to properly codify until all information is revealed
Class: Mage
Specialization: Shapeshifter
Recruited at: Does not join party
Special: Too much to detail. I will handle that in an entry about her alone.
Fate: Integral to the plot of the next game.
Now, here is where I would tackle specializations, but this time, they're easy; you get access to 3 in total for each class, they require no unlocking, you gain them at level 7 and 14. As for what they are;
Warrior: Templar, Reaver and Berserker
Rogue: Assassin, Duelist and Shadow
Mage: Blood Mage, Spirit Healer and Force Mage
Also, other than keeping most of your party in your party at end game, the companion's disposition with dealing with you gives their specializations buffs based on whether they are friends or rivals. For example, Anders gains buffs to his damage output if he's a friend, or a boost to health regeneration if he's a rival. And they're all like this, some better than others for your purposes. Merrill has a buff to her blood magic if she's your friend, which is beneficial if you use her as a blood mage. Aveline's a better tank if you're friends with her.
Next up in the retrospective is DAI, though I will mention the importance of the comics and novels and their placement in the timeline next. Until then, stay beautiful freaks!
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