I think you've already answered your own question. If you feel the Origin characters are the best part of the game, play an origin character. Assume you'll have more play-throughs, so whatever Origin character you use this time can be an NPC next time. It's impossible to experience all the content the game has to offer in one play-through anyway, so trying to maximize for content exposure is folly IMO.
My husband and I are playing as 4 custom characters, no origin characters, and obviously no NPCs in the party. We did this knowing we'd miss out on some stuff, but we had very specific ideas of what we wanted to play. We're both enjoying the campaign immensely. SO glad we were able to get a couple friends to help us set up the two additional characters.
I also have my own solo campaign (also a custom character), who will partake in the NPC questlines, etc.
Last edited by KyaSapphire; 27/08/23 07:49 PM.