Alistair

Class and Subclass

Warrior

Alistair’s main class is warrior, and that’s one of the three base classes you can choose at the beginning of the game along with mage and rogue. If you played rpgs, you are certainly familiar with this class which is mostly based on melee, but they can be also good in use of ranged weapons. They have special abilities and all of their work is based on stamina. And this is a class that all the races can do.

By how this class is specific with everything, the character with it, it’s the front liner, or how I call them “tank”. They go body to body and deal great deal of damage. Warrior has the ability of some talents divided in: dual weapon, archery, weapon and shield (this is Alistair’s talent), two-handed.

The class then has specializations or what I call the subclasses and the choice is of berserker, champion and templar. Those can be learned from other characters or similar. And you also have the possibility of having dual specialization. I did give a second one, along with the Templar, to Alistair – he has Champion qualities.

Templar

First thing to say about the Templar is that, they are specialized in anti-magic, which comes quite handy against darkspawns believe me, Alistair is one of the characters that I had with me for 95% of time, while I rotated the others.

- Mages who refuse the Circle's control become apostates and live in fear of a templar's powers--the ability to dispel and resist magic. As servants of the Chantry, the templars have been the most effective means of controlling the spread and use of arcane power for centuries. – dragonage wikia

Templar codex entry: - Often portrayed as stoic and grim, the Order of Templars was created as the martial arm of the Chantry. Armed with the ability to dispel and resist magic in addition to their formidable combat talents, the templars are uniquely qualified to act as both a foil for apostates - mages who refuse to submit to the authority of the Circle - and a first line of defense against the dark powers of blood mages and abominations.
- While mages often resent the templars as symbols of the Chantry's control over magic, the people of Thedas see them as saviors and holy warriors, champions of all that is good, armed with piety enough to protect the world from the ravages of foul magic. In reality, the Chantry's militant arm looks first for skilled warriors with unshakable faith in the Maker, with a flawless moral center as a secondary concern. Templars must carry out their duty with an emotional distance, and the Order of Templars prefers soldiers with religious fervor and absolute loyalty over paragons of virtue who might question orders when it comes time to make difficult choices.
- The templars' power derives from the substance lyrium, a mineral believed to be the raw element of creation. While mages use lyrium in their arcane spells and rituals, templars ingest the primordial mineral to enhance their abilities to resist and dispel magic. Lyrium use is regulated by the Chantry, but some templars suffer from lyrium addiction, the effects of which include paranoia, obsession, and dementia. Templars knowingly submit themselves to this "treatment" in the service of the Order and the Maker.
- It is this sense of ruthless piety that most frightens mages when they draw the templars' attention: When the templars are sent to eliminate a possible blood mage, there is no reasoning with them, and if the templars are prepared, the mage's magic is all but useless. Driven by their faith, the templars are one of the most feared and respected forces in Thedas.
- --From Patterns Within Form, by Halden, First Enchanter of Starkhaven, 8:80 Blessed.

It's said that while training to become a templar, that Alistair was using lyrium, but in an interview David Gaider confirms that Alistair stopped using it when he was taken to become a Grey Warden, but was still able to use Templar powers. - from an Interview