This rather loveable character is your first true companion, and while you will have followers in your party during your origin story, Alistair will be the first one you will meet who can be controlled during the rest of the campaign.

Abandoned by his father, and then having lost his mother, Alistair was sent to Chantry and raised in a monastery before being recruited by Duncan into the Grey Wardens. From his training in the monastery, Alistair derives his specialization -- Templar. Which gives him a starting bonus in damage against mages, who are plentiful in the game and are a major headache during battles lasting over some 30 seconds to a whole minute, that being only a quick fight, when considering that some can and will last for over 20 minutes.
His specialization grants Alistair +2 on his Magic, which in turn increases his Resistance to Magic, and +3 to his Mental Resistance, a critical bonus when playing against enemies who use mind-control spells or abilities.

When first encountered, Alistair will have a low-tier Splint Mail, however, you should avoid equipping him with anything lower than Heavy Armor, with Massive Armor being the preferred choice. Since heavier armor sets drain stamina, thus limiting your use of talents, upon leveling-up, you should increase Alistair's willpower and strength with a 2-1 ratio in favor of willpower over strength.

Raising dexterity over constitution is not advised, since Alistair does not have any inate bonus to dexterity and since Defense doesn't matter to a heavily armored character, investing points into dexterity might render him unable to endure punishment he should or must take.

Alistair is proficient with Weapon&Shield, and is able to withstand longer barrages of arrows because of his Shield talents. It is in that section of the talent list where most of your point should go, since that section has talents like Shield Bash, Assault and Pommel which enable him to knockout or stun your enemies, and Shield Cover and Defense which allows him to take more damage while in battle.

Ultimately, Alistair is best used up front to divert damage from your rogues and mages, and to give damage (albeit less than other companions) to your enemies. He should also be used to quickly dispatch mages. An inherent weakness of all warriors are multiple rogues or one high-level one, who can dodge from his attacks and score easy critical hits on him, so an advice would be to have him concentrate on dispatching foes, and then using the Warden or the other party members to keep his back firmly secured.

Later on in the game, his talents in the Templar talent tree will allow you to sustain the whole party during lengthy battles. He should also be given at least Threaten from the Warrior tree, and so allow him do draw away attention from weaker party members. Aside from a sword, Alistair should be given a mace, to help him get around enemies with high (or even epic) armor ratings

Oghren has the capability to be the single most powerful companion in the game, but only if recruited early on in the game. This, however, is very hard to do, because to recruit him you must start (and complete, eventually) the quest Paragon of Her Kind, which is one of the hardest ones in the whole campaign. Even getting to Orzammar is challenging, because of two extremely difficult fights you have to take on.

The first one would be agaisnt some Bounty Hunters, and the other against the men of the traitorous Teyrn Loghain. Below level 12 this fight will be extremely hard, and might be unwinnable, and does require a mage with a high Spellpower and the spell Mass Paralysis. to even consider winning. Those inclined to take their chances should, at least lower, their difficulty to easy, and those playing on normal should take maximum precautions. On hard and nightmare difficulties, this quest is nigh on impossible to under take with our previously grinding to higher levels (15-20).

However, if recruited early, Oghren can ease many pains in other quests, mostly because of two things: being a dwarf, he has an inborn Spell resistance of 10%, while this might sound small, it quickly becomes critical in fights against mages and demons. His specialization, Berserker, allows him to give out extra damage and take more damage, but receiving hefty penalties in stamina. So, he can become a mobile fortress coupled with an array of deadly weapons, but only for a very brief amount of time, during which he will become more and more tired and will eventually not be able to use most of his talents.

Because his Berserker talents drain some much stamina, sustained Warrior talents such as Threaten and the Two-Handed talent Indomitable should be avoided, in order to preserve as much stamina for the Berserker ones.

Conversly, most Heavy Armors will further drain his stamina through fatigue, and Massive Armors should be avoided completely. High-tier Medium Armor will work best, because of his high constitution rating, which should be increased on par with his strength. In a 3 per level ratio, that is to say, every level you should put all three point into either attribute.

In general, he'll do fine with crossbows as his ranged weapons, but don't expect miracles out of him on that field, as two handed weapons are his proficiency. He should be armed with either greatswords or battleaxes as his main weapon, keeping a maul close by for enemies in Heavy and Massive armor.

His second specialization can be Templar, if you don't mind making some character-breaking desicisions. This will further increase his Spell and Mental Resistances, making him more effective against mages. Coupled with having Alistair in the party, with Oghren as a Templar you will have a formidable sway against mages. However, Reaver work better with Berserker, giving Oghren a bit more health and Spirit Resistance, and thus more time to deal critical damage before falling in battle.

Later on in the game, having Oghren can either give you an extra push in the final battle, or he can act as a commander of your auxiliary party. He'll more than prove his mettle in both occasions, so do not fear to take him or leave him when that moment arises.

The Captain of the Beressad, the vanguard of the qunari people, is a rather deceptive companion. Despite his appearance of a bronze skinned Ox-man, he does a rather poor job of being a tank, however, this doesn't mean that he's useless. Far from it. Sten does a a better job at tanking than Oghren, but worse than Alistair, but outclasses them both in the shear amount of damage he can give out.

Sten is best used as a flanker, disengaging at the start of the fight and directing enemies to Alistair or the Warden (if the Warden is tanking) and then rushing them from the sides with a variety of punishing Two-Handed talents, such as Mighty Blow, Pommel Strike, Sunder Arms and the dreaded Two-Handed Sweep. Two-Handed Talent tree should be fully unlocked, as to gain the Destroyer ability, which sunders (lowers) armor in addition of making a critical strike. Destroyer makes the giant a walking storm of swords, reaving and destroying your foes.

To maximize his strength and damage, Sten should be armed with greatswords, possibly enchanted to further increase damage given over damage received. Heavy Armor should be preferred over Massive, so as to conserve stamina for those tiring Two-Handed Talents. Mauls should be preferred over bows and crossbows as his alternative weapons, for above mentioned reasons.

At a certain point, Sten will try to take over command from, and this can be a hard fight if you're not a Warrior yourself. This event cannot be avoided, and is integral to Sten's personality, however, shoud you beat him in that fight you will incur an aproval from him which might enable you to do his Companion quest early. This will not only give him a rather powerful sword, but migh also boost his approval and grant him the Inspired power of +1 strength. Further interactions with him will allow you to get even more +strength bonuses.

The talent Indomitable should be unlocked, but reserved for battles where knockdowns are highly damaging to your party. Powerful is also immensely useful, as it gives you a +25 on his health, but does drain 20 stamina. Threaten should be used only to draw attention from less physically powerful party members.

Sten does not start with a specialization, so it's up to you to choose one for him. While he can keep up as a Templar or a Champion, Reaver and Berserker work best for him, since both go toward increasing his over-all damage and offensive capabilities. A Reaver/Berserker combination might be the best one if you choose to use Sten as a flanker. A more direct Warrior use will be beneficial of a Champion/Berserker combination.

If specialized as a Templar or Champion, Sten can serve as an effective warder to a mage, whether this is Warden, or Morrigan or Wynne.

Later on in the game, he can either be at your side in the final battle, or can be use as the Commander of your auxiliary unit. However, I have noted that he does better in his part when making the final push, or at least, more than Oghren, whom he can outclass if you build him careful, raising strength and willpower over constitution.

At first glance, the Mabari wardog you've been given is little more than a gimmick, but as you've seen with Wynne and Sten, first appearances can be quite deceptive.

Granted, the Dog cannot dispense varying damage as other bipedal companions can, but several Talents like Dread Howl, which stuns multiple opponents , Growl, which lower Defense and makes landing a hit easier. Overwhelm which tosses the victim on the ground and does continuous damage to them.

The Dog is a Warrior, and should be used as such, and leveled as such. Several abilites like the Dread Howl will be of great use when fending off huge numbers of Hurlocks and Genlocks, and having the ability to growl to warn you of the presence of stealthed opponents is always of use. So in the end-game, it pays to have your Mabari Warhound with you or in your spare unit.

Dragon Age: Origins gives you two companions in the rogue profession, the first one you encounter will be a certain Lay Sister of the Chantry, claiming to know how to fight. Well, you better believe her. The rather dextrous Sister will be getting you out of jams more often then you might think, as there are several areas that are covered with traps from corner to corner. You'll be able to recruit her as soon as you enter the tavern in the village of Lothering, doing this will also enable you to recruit Sten without resorting to harassing the Revered Mother in the local Chantry.

Though she can hold her own in a knife-fight, Leliana is most proficient with bows and starts with several Talents from that tree, including: Pinning Shot, Crippling Shot, Rapid Shot and Shattering Shot. While her melee abilities are confined to the Rouge Talents of Dirty Fighting and Below the Belt. Eventually you can make her better at melee with a few Dual Weapon Talents, this should be done only moderately, because you might risk leaving her underdeveloped as an archer, which is her main area of expertise. In addition of being a power full archer, she is also a Bard, and can give your team some much needed buffs.

As with all rogues, at the start of battle, Leliana should be pulled back in order to cover the rest of the party from a distance. But not so far that her Bard songs lose their effect, and if she gets double-teamed, you must make her move near a Warrior who has Threaten engaged. All rogues will suffer greatly from directed combat, and the melee-weak Leliana will do even worse unless you raised her Dual-Weapon Talents.

The game has plenty of chests that need lock-picking and traps that need disarming, so raising those respected Talents will make your life easier, in addition of bringing you much needed poultices and salves. Stealing is also a valuable skill, but should not be raised over Poison-making, since this skill allows her to use poisons and trow flasks. High cunning is needed for critical hits and beating lock and trap checks, while dexterity is perquisite for Defense (chance to dodge) and landing shot from the bow. Strength is a optional choice, if you choose to make her more formidable in melee.

At a certain point in the game you may choose to betray Leliana, and receive an alternative Bard companion. From a gameplay perspective this is not a major loss or gain, but it is a shame to lose such a wonderful companion.

Leliena can use Dirty Fighting or Below the Belt to render opponents stunned and opened to devastating attacks by other party members, or alternatively she might go on strafing runs, using poisoned weapons to debilitate your foes. A third option would be to use her as a bomber/buffer, using flasks and Bard songs to turn the tides of battle.

In the end-game, Leliana becomes somewhat less effective than the other companions, but she can still use her bow to keep enemies of your back, or pick locks to add much needed healing as the final battle approaches. She can be used effectively in your auxiliary unit.

Addedum:

It would appear that I was wrong concerning the replacement of this character by another, having learned this from a commenter who tested the quest with this in mind. Alas, I have only myself to blame, since I just trusted a rumor rather than testing it myself. Once again -- many apologies.

While Leliana is focused on archery, Zevran is focused mostly on Dual-Weapons, shunning archery for the better part. This means that he is more adept at getting from behind and stabbing – pun not intended – unaware enemies.

You cannot directly recruit him like the others, instead you will have to fight him when he ambushes you on the road. You will have three options: kill him, spare him, or spare and recruit him. The latter will give you an Assassin in your ranks, and as one might think, assassin are best used for covert attacks. Raising Stealth, up to Combat Stealth is a must for Zevran, as is using Deadly Strike, Lethality and Mark of Death Talents.

From the skill section you'll be able to choose from either Poison-making or Trap-making skills, both can be used by Zevran to incapacitate your opponents or slow their advance if overwhelmed by greater numbers. Leveling-up Zevran can be a challenge, since he not only need cunning and dexterity (like all rogues, for Defense and Dual-Weapon) but also strength to add damage bonuses in melee.

Eventually you can make a mostly solid archer our of him, but he will fall short of Leliana in that department. Using him in this manner requires you to move him about quite often, to get a proper spot from where you can use him most effectively. In tight situations, Zevran outclasses Leliana, being able to cripple and cut his way through enemies. Daggers should be placed in your main weapon slot, while a mace/dagger combination should be used in the other, or alternatively a short bow.

Not unlike Leliana, Zevran's effectiveness diminishes in the last stages of the game, though he is still able to back-stab and carry his weight during the last fight, but because he lacks disarm/unlock talents, he will not be able to provide you with poultices or disarm eventual traps.

After Alistair, the next companion you will encounter is Morrigan, a Chasind and the daughter of the Witch of the Wilds, but above all – a rather power full Apostate Mage, which will lend you her arcane power for at least the first section of the game.

Starting out, she is has points Spirit, Primal and Entropy, and I recommend that you stick with these Talent trees, with a focus on either Spirit or Entropy, since both vital debilitation options. Over the course of the game you will often be faced with dreadful odds against large number of enemies, and one of the ways to get through these battle is to either weaken or stun opponents.

Mind blast will stun opponents, enabling her to run away from a hail of blades, and leave her victims open to attacks from other companions. Several spells from entropy will weaken powerful enemies, making them significantly more easy to take on, or paralyze several weaker opponents and then destroy them with a well placed fireball or a devastating blizzard. I recommend that you stick with one branch of the Primal tree, and leave the others altogether. Various Hexes can mean life or death when faced with more powerful opponents, so Entropy is highly recommended to use if you want to use Morrigan as an Debilitator.

Alternatively, a more destruction oriented Morrigan can be a valuable addition to your party. However, depending on the Primal spell tree altogether can leave you vulnerable against tight corridors and other enclosed spaces, as most spells also have a friendly-fire rating. With the combination of Entropy and Primal you can have Mass Paralyze which will stop your enemies in their tracks, and then Fireball (or Blizzard or Tempest) which will damage them while they are paralyzed.

Morrigan comes with one point in Herbalism, and can make poultices from Elfroot early in the game, so investing in that makes for more healing, she also gains from Combat Training as this gives her a check against attack that may interrupt her spell casting. Her standard specialization is Shape-shifter, which allows her to possibly change the course of a protracted battle by changing into a melee-strong bear, or overwhelming spider. Though she can take on Arcane Warrior and Blood Mage specializations, you will most benefit from the Spirit Healer, which will make her into a capable healer. Albeit, not as proficient as Wynne.

If you couple the Entropy+Spirit and Spirit Healer capabilities, you will have a Mage-Tank, able to dispense damage on the opponents' side, and healing and buffs to yours. Her magic should be raised to a 2-1 ratio with her willpower. Willpower should be ignored if you plan to make her into a Blood Mage, and conversely, her constitution should be raised.

Morrigan may choose to leave the party at a certain point, if the player makes unwise dialogue choices with her, and thus you can be derived of a powerful mage until the end-game. Morrigan can greatly aid you if you choose her to come with you into the last battle, or leave her in your auxiliary unit.

Doing the Broken Circle quest always has many rewards, aside from getting a Templar Armor for Alistair, along with other goodies you can find there, you'll also get Wynne as one of your companions. I can meet her as early as the camp in Ostagar, you can only exchange a few words with her. This lovely lady shall on several occasions be immensely helpful in getting you back on your feet.

Wyne is a mage, specialized as a Spirit Healer, and a rather powerful one at that, because aside from Talents in the Healer tree, she has a few points in the Creation tree. So at the start you will have access to Heal spell, Rejuvenate and Group Heal. A few level later you shall have Revival, which, as the name suggests, raises one of your fallen party members, a vital spell which can often be the one thing between you and failure.

Aside from healing magic, Wynne has several spells from the rock branch of the Primal tree, and can cast Rock Armor and Stone Fist, the latter being extremely helpful by knocking down all the but largest (elite) enemies. Earthquake is made available soon after that, and this spell can be devastating against groups of archers. If necessary, Wynn can stray from the path of healing and buffing into a more combat-active role.

Leveling-up her up as an Arcane Warrior brings her close to a D&D cleric class, a powerful militant healer/priest, that can not only aid fellow party members, but be unleashed on enemies. Allowing her to don armor, shield and mace, by converting the usual strength requirement for a magic-based one, Arcane Warrior also could give her access to Aura of Might, which can make her almost equal to a Warrior in terms of damage, and Fade Shroud, which can help her sustain more damage by adding more Defense.

However, this approach will be only viable in short uses. Combat Magic immediately saps half of her stamina, and donning armor will further deplete it by adding fatigue. A sustained attack with Combat Magic will render her unable to immediately cast spells, and most other Arcane Warrior Talents sap magic and/or stamina, making spells mana-costly.
As with all mages, she'll benefit the most from raising magic and willpower in a 2-1 ratio, unless you intend to level her as a Blood Mage, in which case, constitution should be raised over anything else.

In the latter part of the game Wynne becomes priceless for any party configuration, due to her healing/buffing abilities. In most cases, I recommended taking her with you into the final battle over leaving her in your auxiliary unit, though she can be of use there as well.

The choice of gender is mostly aesthetic, the choice of race is less so, and the choice of class is critical. Your tactics and those of your companions, as well as your selection of companions, are directly tied to the choice you made when selecting your class.

This is a convenient time to mention that, while the game is balanced (as much as a game of this scope and scale can be) on the normal difficulty, playing hard or nightmare without power-leveling and generally power-playing, is next to impossible. Add to that the fact that the attribute and leveling system still allows making of weak characters, as opposed to the one in Dragon Age II, you can, unless you're careful, make not only yourself weak but your companions as well, rendering the game unable to be completed.

At leveling-up, you must ask yourself what abilities you are using, and what choices are you going to make or have already made. The next question would be: what are my priorities in attributes?
While all classes benefit from most attributes, some are inherently more important than others. Strength and willpower are important to Warriors, as one controls their Attack (chance to land a hit) and the other their stamina and Fatigue, who are important for the usage of their Talents and wearing Medium, Heavy and Massive Armor.

Mages are tied directly to magic and willpower, as one controls their Spellpower (quite literal: the power of their spells) and the other their mana-pool. But mages specialized as Arcane Warriors can benefit from strength and constitution, and Blood Mages can aslo benefit from a high constitution.

Dexterity is not only vital for rogues, since they depend on having a high Defense (chance to dodge attacks), but it can be useful for all classes in need of a Defense rating. Rogues can also use strength, as it is required by a several longbows, in addition of making their melee attack more powerful. But cunning is their main tool, as it not only derives their abilities to pick locks and disarm traps, but does also control their critical hit rating, making them more inclined to landing critical hits than others. Warriors can also use some cunning to that effect.

Another thing that's worth mentioning, even though it falls under common logic:
warriors take the front in the field, the rogues the center and mages are best kept in the rear. There is no hack and slash in Dragon Age: Origins, and every time you take a careless frontal charge you will die, fairly quickly. Making retreats, luring enemies in traps, not allowing them to use their powers and abilities, flanking and back stabbing will give you victory, while angrily pushing buttons at radnom and calling the game names will certainly not.

Think tactically: if one warrior uses a Talent like Sunder Armor, you might be able to land a devastating hit by using a Mighty Blow of another warrior, or the Deadly Strike of a rogue. If a target is resisting your attacks, Hexes from the Entropy tree branch will lower their ability to resist and make them weaker to your attacks. Use maces or mauls to counter high armor ratings, or bows to strike from afar.

There is little point in trying to make some characters into something they're not. Sten can never be a mage, and Morrigan can never be Zevran, further more – Sten can never be Alistair, and Morrigan can never be Wynne.

A party in Dragon Age: Origins consists of the Warden (you) and three other companions, whom we have covered in previous sections. While you're free to make what ever character or alliance you want to make, some will unavoidably be better than others. There are three classes and nine companions (counting that particular one), of which four are warriors, this immediately indicates the necessity of having at least one warrior in your party. A party having all three classes must have unavoidably a double of one or two classes.
So you could have: a warrior, rogue, rogue, mage.
Or: Mage, mage, rogue, warrior.
Or: Warrior, warrior, mage, mage.
But a party void of one of the classes is inherently weaker than one that as that one. A party without a warrior will be very weak in direct combat which is, for the better part, unavoidable. So a party of three mages and a rogue would quickly fall to even a small group of enemies. Conversely, a party of four warriors will struggle to make any progress when confronted with mages or rogues.

A viable party would be this: warrior, mage, rogue and one more of either which.
A more powerful party would be: warrior, warrior, mage, rogue.
A significantly less easy party would be: warrior, mage, mage and rogue. (having in mind that mages need warders to keep them safe in tight spots)
A hard party would be: rogue, rogue, warrior, warrior/mage.

For an absolute beginner, I recommend: Warrior, warrior, rogue, mage. This is the most balanced party available, without resorting to hard counters like using only a handful spells and talents, which will quickly become tiring.

Coming soon: addendums and updates.

Dragon Age: Origins is a game that keeps on growing as you play it, and so as I keep playing it so will this guide grow. Soon enough, I'll add a few addendums (crediting those who helped me figure those things out) and updates. One major update will be the addition of an Awekening section or sections, dealing with the NPCs from the expansion pack.

Many thanks!

Many, many thanks for playing the game and reading my little guide. I hope it helped those I intended to help, and many more. Thanks for all the nice comments and praise, they have inspired this coming update. So once again -- many, many, many thanks my kadan.

Now start up the game and play Dragon Age: Origins!