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Origins | Ostagar | Lothering | Circle Tower | Warden's Keep (DLC) | Return to Ostagar (DLC) | Stone Prisoner (DLC) | Brecilian Forest | Redcliffe | The Urn of Sacred Ashes | Orzammar | Deep Roads | Denerim | Final Onslaught |
Aldarion | Alistair | Leliana | Mabari War Hound | Morrigan | Oghren | Shale | Sten | Wynne | Zevran | |
ALISTAIR, TEMPLAR / CHAMPION
Strength 20 Dexterity 17 Willpower 15 Magic 12 Cunning 11 Constitution 13
Starting Inventory
Talent Selection
Alistair can present some pretty difficult choices about what you take first. My early priorities were a helpful mix of offence (e.g. Overpower, Assault, Bravery), making sure Alistair draws 'aggro' onto himself and away from his allies (e.g. Threaten), the defensive (e.g. Shield Tactics), and having something in place to recover stamina during battle (e.g. Death Blow). After that, filling out the Templar and Champion talents become my next priorities. I ended up giving the Shield Defense talent tree the lowest priority because Alistair started off without any talents in the tree and thus risked compromising a more effective development in the time it would take to reach Shield Expertise. At least with other trees Alistair was one or two away from rounding things out.
Starting Talents
5th level
Threaten - Alistair is my main tank, so as much as possible I want the monsters to concentrate their efforts on him.
6th level
Overpower - I script Alistair so that he can knock multiple foes off their feet with his shield in succession as they close in. Very handy.
7th level
Shield Defense - I don't have any room in my script for this yet, but it's the only available talent where Alistair hasn't fallen short of the prerequisites.
8th level
Bravery - One of my mottos when playing Dragon Age is "Passive talents are your friend." This is one of the best for a Warrior. It always grants a small bonus to physical resistance and damage. The real kicker is that it provides an increased chance for critical hits that rises in proportion to the number of foes above two that Alistair faces.
9th level
Cleanse Aura - This is one ability that I prefer to use manually since it is useful, but only in select situations since it will remove my own enchantments as well.
10th level
Shield Tactics - A passive ability that prevents the foes from gaining flanking bonuses against Alistair.
11th level
Precise Striking - A 10% slowdown to attack speed is well worth the bonus to attack and the up to maximum +15% chance of scoring a critical hit. This is especially the case when Wynne adds Haste as a sustained ability. *Note* Paracelsi would prefer to have Alistair get this much earlier, since improving attack bonus is much more of a concern at lower levels. It is a valid point. But like I said, developing a warrior who can include the full run of the shield-based talents, as well as the Templar and Champion talents, is always going to confront a player with difficult choices. In my case I prefer that Alistair acquire as many shield-based talents as possible as the first priority. One is not necessarily the better. There is indeed room for subjectivity in how you want to develop your characters.
12th level
Death Blow - Allows Alistair to recover stamina each time he lands a killing blow on his target.
13th level
Assault - A nice talent for scoring quick damage in four blows. I script him to use it on an enemy that has 90% or more of its Health.
14th level
Shield Mastery - A passive ability that improves pretty much every other Shield-based talent for Alistair.
15th level
Shield Balance - A stepping stone to ...
16th level
Shield Wall - Once this is acquired, it becomes Alistair's shield-sustained talent for the balance of the game. It provides a hefty bonus to armor, and a +10 bonus to defense on account of Shield Mastery.
17th level
Shield Expertise - Augments Shield Wall so that Alistair cannot be knocked down, as well as a +5 bonus to defense.
18th level
War Cry - In case Alistair gets surrounded and feels the need to relieve the pressure. It is also a stepping stone to ...
19th level
Rally - A sustained ability that Alistair will always keep active to always provide allies within a certain radius from himself with a bonus to defense. Can be wickedly powerful in conjunction with Miasma.
20th level
Motivate - Enhances Rally so that it also provides a +10 bonus to attack.
21st level
Mental Fortress - Provides a welcome +25 bonus to mental resistance. It could wait though.
22nd level
Holy Smite - A useful anti-magic ability that will stun Mages, and inflict extra spirit damage on them. A frequent tactic is for Alistair to use Holy Smite on the Mage, then close the distance before the Mage snaps out of it. By the time the Mage recovers, it is usually too late. Alistair will keep him knocked off his feet with his shield talents. Death is usually a matter of course. However, considering that Aldarion has anti-mage abilities of his own, this could wait.
23rd level
Superiority - Augmenting War Cry so that it knocks enemies back.
24th level
Taunt - Another method for Alistair to draw aggro on himself. Whereas Threaten is a sustained ability that draws aggro with each blow Alistair lands on his target, Taunt is an activated ability that will increase aggro on all enemies within a certain radius. Other talents were a more immediate priority.
Skill Selection
Starting Skills
6th level
Combat Tactics - One of my priorities for Alistair is for him to have a very extensive script so that he can react to a whole bunch of different situations while on autopilot. Combat Tactics adds another slot to his script menu.
9th level
Improved Combat Tactics - Same thing
12th level
Master Combat Training - This is a prerequisite to some of Alistair's shield and weapon talents.
15th level
Expert Combat Tactics - Rounding out this skill tree.
18th level
Master Combat Tactics - And finishing it off.
21st level
Survival - More of a filler than anything else. The other thief-type skills don't really make sense for Alistair.
24th level
Improved Survival - Another filler.
Script
Self: Any - Shield Wall
Self: Any - Rally
Self: Any - Threaten
Self: Any - Precise Striking
Self surrounded by at least 4 Enemies - War Cry
Enemy over 90% Health - Assault
Enemy over 50% Health - Overpower
Enemy at Short Range - Shield Pummel
Enemy at Short Range - Shield Bash
Nearest Visible Enemy - Attack
Alistair is scripted to keep his crucial sustainables up at all time, and to use his shield to knock down incoming enemies, in succession if he has to. Cleanse Aura and Holy Smite are two abilities I prefer to use manually, since they are very situation-specific.
Inventory
Main Weapon: Keening Blade (Grandmaster Flame Rune x2, Grandmaster Silverite Rune)
Shield: Duncan's Shield
Missile Weapon: Antique Warden Crossbow
Armor: Cailan's Armor set
Amulet: Magister's Shield
Belt: Swordsman's Girdle
1st Ring: Runic Worry Token
2nd Ring: Ring of the Warrior
High defense, attack, and damage are the staples for a shield-wielding warrior. Cailan's Armor set comes with almost no fatigue penalty, allowing Alistair to both use sustainables and his various activated talents. I also used to have Alistair wield the Cailan's Arms set, but I now I consider the Keening Blade and Duncan's Shield as providing greater aggregate benefits.
Attribute Increases
My first priorities are 42 Strength so that Alistair is more or less within reach of Dragonbone massive armor, and 26 Dexterity, which is a prerequisite for some of the shield talents. One thing to keep in mind is that I will up Alistair's Cunning when I want to add a talent like Master Combat Training or Master Combat Tactics. Once I'm getting close to 42 Strength and 26 Dexterity, I go with a steady +1 Dexterity, +1 Willpower, and +1 Constitution. Dexterity simultaneously increases attack and defense. Willpower provides more stamina so that Alistair can use his activated talents. Constitution increases his staying power as a tank.
