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Companion armor icons (Dragon Age II)

Companion armor icons

In Dragon Age II, the player has little control over what armor Hawke's companions wear. Even though companion armor can be customized with a number of upgrades and may change appearance depending on certain story choices, it cannot be replaced or unequipped. On the upside, it improves with level-up and is among the best armor available in the game.

Armor[]

Aveline's armor changes when she enlists in the guard and when she is promoted. Similarly, Bethany and Carver switch to the uniform of the faction they join. Fenris, Isabela and Merrill change appearance during Act 2 if romanced. Anders replaces his coat if the Act 3 quest Justice is completed. Varric's armor may change its name during the Act 3 quest Haunted, however, the appearance stays the same.

Armor Act Companion Acquisition Armor
modifier
Modified Officers' Issue 0 Aveline Starting armor 92.5%
Hawke's Pinions 0 Bethany Starting armor 85%
Fereldan Man-at-Arms Issue 0 Carver Starting armor 100%
Renegade's Coat (1) 1 Anders Starting armor 85%
Guardsman Plate and Chain 1 Aveline Equipped automatically
at the beginning of the act
100%
Guard-Captain's Ranked Plate 1 Aveline Completing The Way It Should Be 100%
Grafted Spirit Hide (1) 1 Fenris Starting armor 100%
Threads of the Eastern Seas (1) 1 Isabela Starting armor 92.5%
Vestments of the First 1 Merrill Starting armor 85%
Varric's Tailored Leather Duster 1 Varric Starting armor 92.5%
Bethany's Circle Mage Robes 2–3 Bethany If joined the Circle of Magi 85%
Bethany's Grey Warden Robes 2–3 Bethany If joined the Grey Wardens 85%
Knight-Corporal Plate 2–3 Carver If joined the templars 100%
Plate of the Warden-Ensign 2–3 Carver If joined the Grey Wardens 100%
Grafted Spirit Hide (2) 2 Fenris Romance armor 100%
Threads of the Eastern Seas (2) 2 Isabela Romance armor 92.5%
Raiments of the Dalish Pariah 2 Merrill Romance armor 85%
Renegade's Coat (2) 3 Anders Completing Justice 85%
Varric's Armored Leather Duster 3 Varric Completing Haunted 92.5%
Vael Family Armor 2 Sebastian The Exiled Prince DLC 92.5%
Where the Heart Lies Tallis Mark of the Assassin DLC 92.5%

Upgrades[]

A Friend in Need

There are four upgrades available for each companion. In the first two acts they are usually sold in stores, while all of the Act 3 upgrades are found during quests. Bethany and Carver receive the last three upgrades automatically with their armor changes after the Deep Roads Expedition.

I Got Your Back

The achievement "A Friend in Need" can be earned by upgrading any of the companions' armor once. "I Got Your Back" can be earned by completely upgrading the armor of one of the party members, except for Bethany and Carver, who each only have one upgrade that can be applied through Hawke.

Upgrade Act Companion Acquisition Effect
Underpadding – Guardsman Pattern 1 Aveline Available at Armor Stand for 1Gold 82Silver 60Bronze +(0.5 * ATK(LVL)) attack
Heirloom Amell Protective Sigils 1 Bethany Found in a Chest in the Amell Estate Cellar during Birthright +10% magic resistance
Fereldan Girded Plating 1 Carver Found in a Chest in the Amell Estate Cellar at the end of Birthright +(10%) armor
Inscribed Leather Harness 1 Varric Available at Apparel Shop for 1Gold 82Silver 60Bronze Extra rune slot
Lyrium Weave 2 Anders Available at Mage Goods for 2Gold 28Silver 25Bronze +(0.5 * ATK(LVL)) attack
Armor Struts 2 Anders Available at Lirene's Fereldan Imports for 1Gold 82Silver 60Bronze +(10%) armor
Spirit Essence 2 Anders Found in a crate in Gallows Dungeon during Dissent +10% magic resistance
Flex-Chain – Guardsman Pattern 2 Aveline Found on Fell Orden during Raiders on the Cliffs Extra rune slot
Impact Plating – Guardsman Pattern 2 Aveline Available at Armor Merchant for 1Gold 82Silver 60Bronze +(10%) armor
Lyrium Scales 2 Fenris Available at Shady Merchandise for 1Gold 64Silver 34Bronze Extra rune slot
Reinforced Straps 2 Fenris Found in a Chest in the Abandoned Slaver Den during A Bitter Pill +(0.5 * ATK(LVL)) attack
Tevinter Spirit Symbol 2 Fenris Available at Robes by Jean Luc for 2Gold 28Silver 25Bronze Extra rune slot
Lambswool Insoles 2 Isabela Found in the Lost-End Foundry during To Catch a Thief +2% critical chance
Rigid Boning 2 Isabela Available at Apparel Shop for 1Gold 82Silver 60Bronze +(0.25 * DEF(LVL)) defense
Supportive Corselet 2 Isabela Available at Robes by Jean Luc for 2Gold 28Silver 25Bronze Extra rune slot
Carved Ironwood Buttons 2 Merrill Available at Master Ilen's Shop for 2Gold 28Silver 25Bronze +(10 + 2 * LVL) health
Samite Lining 2 Merrill Available at Robes by Jean Luc for 2Gold 28Silver 25Bronze Extra rune slot
Silver-Threaded Dalish Embroidery 2 Merrill Found in a pile of bones on Sundermount, past the Sundermount Passage and east of the graveyard +20 health regeneration rate
Enhanced Articulation 2 Sebastian Available at Armor Shop for 2Gold 28Silver 25Bronze Extra rune slot
Mail Undertunic 2 Sebastian Found in a chest in the Harimann Estate during Repentance +2% critical chance
Reinforced Bracers 2 Sebastian Available at Olaf's Armory for 2Gold 28Silver 25Bronze +(0.5 * ATK(LVL)) attack
Coat Lining with Concealed Pockets 2 Varric Available at Shady Merchandise for 1Gold 64Silver 34Bronze +(0.5 * ATK(LVL)) attack
Silverite-Reinforced Buckles 2 Varric Found in a chest in the Bartrand's Estate during Family Matter Extra rune slot
Sigil of the Mage Underground 3 Anders Found in a chest in the Docks warehouse during Best Served Cold Extra rune slot
Deflecting Joints – Guardsman Pattern 3 Aveline Found on Jeven during Favor and Fault +(0.25 * DEF(LVL)) defense
Enchanted Resin 3 Fenris Looted from the High Dragon at The Bone Pit during Mine Massacre Extra rune slot
Boiled Leather Plates 3 Isabela Found in a pile of bones in the Mountain Cave during A Murder of Crows Extra rune slot
Halla Horn Buckles 3 Merrill Looted from Audacity in Pride's End during A New Path. Extra rune slot
Protection of the Faith 3 Sebastian Found on Templar Lieutenant during Best Served Cold Extra rune slot
Drakeskin Leg Straps 3 Varric Found in a chest in the Deep Roads during Finding Nathaniel Extra rune slot

Notes[]

  • Roughly half of the armor upgrades are rune slots, allowing you to better customize each character's armor with the corresponding armor runes. As the armor improves with level up, the runes installed into them will improve with level up as well.
  • One of the most useful applications of a rune slot is with the "Warding" runes; they will confer the numeric value of an elemental resistance such that it equates to resisting 90% of that element's damage at the companion's level. The value of the rune will increase with level up in companion armor, effectively granting them 90% resistance to that element throughout the game. This is particularly useful against the fire, electricity, and spirit elements, all of which are at the core of certain enemies' persistent AoE attacks (namely faction mages and equivalents like Arcane Horrors), and especially so against the spirit element, which chews through 50% of ordinary damage and magic resistance by default.
  • ATK(LVL) refers to the attack value required for a character at a given level to have a 60% hit rate against Normal enemies. Upgrades that increase Attack will provide 50% of this value regardless of how high the companion's Attack actually is. As Attack increases are fixed according to the number of attribute points invested in the attribute, but becoming less valuable as the ATK(LVL) scale increases, these upgrades are exceedingly valuable for maintaining high Attack rates (see Combat mechanics (Dragon Age II)#Attack and Defense for more details):
  • ex.) Varric at 30 Dexterity has 164 Attack. At Level 14, this amount of Attack provides a hit rate of 64%, but only 62% at Level 15, 60% at Level 16, and diminishes sharply to 45% at Level 17 and 34% at Level 18.
  • At each of these levels, the Coat Lining with Concealed Pockets upgrade provides +72, +77, +82, +88, and +95 Attack. These additions into the 164 value grant hit rates of 75%, 73%, 72%, 70%, and 69%. Thus, even as the raw score of 164 depreciates in value with each level up and Varric slips below a 50% hit rate, the upgrade maintains Varric's Attack in the low-to-mid 70s throughout that same window of time.
  • DEF(LVL), similarly, refers to the Defense value required to have 20% Defense against Normal-ranked basic attacks. The upgrades that boost this will determine this number and provide 25% of it.
  • ex.) Isabela, at Level 14, achieves 20% Defense with a score of 143. The Rigid Boning upgrade provides +25% of this, or 36 Defense. For reference, the new score of 170 provides her 29% Defense, a 9% increase, which becomes a lower percentage as she increases Cunning or unlocks the Sea Legs passive, but it's still nice to have.
  • Armor upgrades simply add 10% to the companions' armor value, which in turn improves with level up. It does not improve the armor achieved from regularly upgrading one's shield, so while the upgrade does not provide a great boost to Aveline's armor (once the shield is taken into consideration), it consistently gives Anders an additional 10% on top of armor that scales sufficiently to keep him at 20-21% armor throughout the game, increasing this to 30-31%.
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