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[WanderingWind]

The PS3 version is still wholly enjoyable, right? It hurts me a little that I'm going to be playing an inferior version of the game, due to my computer's inability to run this game adequately.

I'd like to think the story and elements are all the same, but I simply couldn't see playing this on anything besides a PC.

 

[Rabbit Lord]

About becoming a Blood Mage...

Spoiler

no one in my party ever said anything to me about it, I used Wynn and Alister

 

[TheFallen]

The PS3 version is still wholly enjoyable, right? It hurts me a little that I'm going to be playing an inferior version of the game, due to my computer's inability to run this game adequately.

Yes, it is. You will likely enjoy it regardless of what platform you decide on.

 

[Fredescu]

PC snobbery aside - so if even if I have previous multiple saves, I won't have access to them after passing the game?

You should be able to load a previous save and do whatever you want with it. That's the official suggestion for playing the upcoming Return to Ostagar DLC by the way.

 

[Johnlenham]

Well after beating the wolfs quest I went on to do the mage tower and it was a hell of alot easier after I picked up the rogue dude and had the woman whos basically a healer. Also after going through it all by the time I was almost done in there I had gained loads of STR points and was able to equip some armour I found that made everything do 1dmg to my main guy :lol

Should be alot easier now that I have a proper healer!

 

[LoganKnight4949]

Goddamnit!

So I skipped the blood mage thing for no good reason?! BOOOO!!!

Time to reload a save from 5 hours ago.

 

[Boss Man]

I got the game on PS3 and I'm really liking it so far (a few hours into two separate origins). I love the lore, and if you like playing RPGs for that aspect you'll definitely appreciate this game. The battles were a little iffy at first, and they haven't sunken in completely. I like to swing the sword myself, not command my character to swing until I tell him otherwise. It seems like I enjoy the battles more and more after each encounter though, as it becomes more familiar.

 

[Johnlenham]

Thats a point is there a guide or something as to where to pick up the warrior specializations as its annoying I dont have any atm

 

[I'm an expert]

Grabbed the PS3 version from Amazon. This will be my first Bioware style RPG ever.

Is this the kind of game that requires a wiki/walkthrough at hand at all times if I don't want to miss important things? I've been playing Demon's Souls for 2 months and that game without a reference is a giant mystery. I'm a big JRPG fan so I'm used to the developers putting in secrets you have no way of figuring out without a guide, but this is my first real Western RPG so I don't know what to expect.

 

[Zzoram]

Grabbed the PS3 version from Amazon. This will be my first Bioware style RPG ever.

Is this the kind of game that requires a wiki/walkthrough at hand at all times if I don't want to miss important things? I've been playing Demon's Souls for 2 months and that game without a reference is a giant mystery. I'm a big JRPG fan so I'm used to the developers putting in secrets you have no way of figuring out without a guide, but this is my first real Western RPG so I don't know what to expect.

No. One massive advantage of Western RPGs over JRPGs is that they don't have ridiculously convoluted, easily missable, requires a guide to even know it exists, secret items or bosses.

However, since Western RPGs often have multiple branching paths, you may miss content simply because your choices steer you another direction. Generally speaking, these branching paths are pretty obvious so it's not like you didn't realize you sided with 1 faction over another, or that you betrayed someone. However, that's where replaying comes in, you can try to play again making different decisions to see the differences.

 

[Dark Octave]

I got the game on PS3 and I'm really liking it so far (a few hours in). I love the lore, and if you like playing RPGs for that aspect you'll definitely appreciate this game. The battles were a little iffy at first, and still haven't sunken in completely; but the more time I spend with the game the more I enjoy it.

Same here. I just got it yesterday at Besy Buy for $35. I couldn't believe it. Anyway, the combat is growing on me quickly because it's exactly what I expected, even though it's not my favorite type of combat style in an RPG.

The environments and graphics are kind of bland and rooms appear too big and empty. Add to that how far back the character is and how fast the camera rotates and you can tell this was a PC game to start with. My final complaint is that I wish the main character spoke his lines.

Other than that, I think I really like the game so far. The story, music, characters and lore are cool so far.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Goddamnit!

So I skipped the blood mage thing for no good reason?! BOOOO!!!

Time to reload a save from 5 hours ago.

I think that after you unlock it in a previous save you are able to become one in a current save. I didn't really care for blood mage though. My mage probably needed more constitution. If I ever play mage again I think I may try a blood mage/arcane warrior combo.

Thats a point is there a guide or something as to where to pick up the warrior specializations as its annoying I dont have any atm

http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Classes

Spoiler

Butter up Alistair and you can get Templar pretty quick. If you don't have Oghren you can buy berserker from a shop somewhere. The other two will take more work.

 

[gotee12]

... I love the lore, and if you like playing RPGs for that aspect you'll definitely appreciate this game. ...

This is what I am hoping for. I'm a huge Morrowind fan. It's the only game I've ever played obsessively (quit counting after I'd passed 150 hours on my first char). What absolutely wowed me about Morrowind was the amount of lore to research and learn. Which is what I thought Oblivion lacked (at least from the standpoint of NEW ways to research/learn TES lore).

I haven't rec'd my copy in the mail yet (black friday'd the PS3 version), but I think I remember reading/hearing somewhere that there are a couple novels worth of text lore to read ingame. Is this true? If so, I could care less about the inferior UI for the consoles. As long as the controls/UI are on the same level as KotOR was...

 

[voltron]

I'm not sure how you missed Oghren because the game forces him to your party at one point and he will stick with your party regardless. Unless you pissed him off really hard after the event. About others, well ... good luck next play through I guess ...

Actually I believe you can get most of personal quests with conversation only. Approval rate is easy this time (except Sten I guess). And about gift, you gotta find the right thing for the right guy/girl. The effect of gift decreases each time.

I do have Ohrgren in my party, I just never spoke to him enough (until now) to get his personal quest.

Actually it is possible I did speak to him and get his quest while I was in Orzzamar, and just forgot about it. Ill check my completed quests when I get home.

 

[Wallach]

Odd thing I just figured out - 8xAA runs significantly better than 4xAA on my 9800GTX+. Driver issue maybe? I have the latest official drivers. Either way, works for me but figured I might mention it in case someone else wanted to try it. Definite improvement for some reason @ 1920 x 1080 (16:9).

 

[mentalfloss]

You should be able to load a previous save and do whatever you want with it. That's the official suggestion for playing the upcoming Return to Ostagar DLC by the way.

Ah, thanks for the heads up.

 

[I'm an expert]

No. One massive advantage of Western RPGs over JRPGs is that they don't have ridiculously convoluted, easily missable, requires a guide to even know it exists, secret items or bosses.

However, since Western RPGs often have multiple branching paths, you may miss content simply because your choices steer you another direction. Generally speaking, these branching paths are pretty obvious so it's not like you didn't realize you sided with 1 faction over another, or that you betrayed someone. However, that's where replaying comes in, you can try to play again making different decisions to see the differences.

Great to know. One of the reasons I asked is through browsing this thread a bit I saw a lot of people with comments like 'argh I missed this or that'. Heck, even a few posts above this one there's a similar post. So I was wondering if it was a good old cryptic style RPG. But I think it's just this game has so many reputation/popularity meters and dialogue choices to manage that it's a natural occurence in the game to miss certain quest lines or characters. Or maybe I'm wrong?

 

[Pancakes]

I think that after you unlock it in a previous save you are able to become one in a current save. I didn't really care for blood mage though. My mage probably needed more constitution. If I ever play mage again I think I may try a blood mage/arcane warrior combo.

Confirmed, happened to me a while back.

 

[ACE 1991]

Any word on BioWare patching the PS3 framerate issues? I've heard rumors, but I doubt they're true.

 

[water_wendi]

Great to know. One of the reasons I asked is through browsing this thread a bit I saw a lot of people with comments like 'argh I missed this or that'. Heck, even a few posts above this one there's a similar post. So I was wondering if it was a good old cryptic style RPG. But I think it's just this game has so many reputation/popularity meters and dialogue choices to manage that it's a natural occurence in the game to miss certain quest lines or characters. Or maybe I'm wrong?

Afaik the only things that are possible to miss are certain NPCs. This can happen with the Dog and a rogue.. both early on. The Dog can be missed by not completing the quest and moving on with the story instead. The rogue NPC can be missed if you dont enter one of the main buildings in the first place you go to after the world map opens up.

 

[Superblatt]

So I'm in the middle of the mage tower (almost at the end) and still don't have a healer. I don't know how I let it happen, but I had to turn the difficulty down to casual so I could get through the last 3 or 4 hours. Do I need to turn Morrigan into a healer and just hope I can level her in a decent amout of time? I made the mistake of leaving leveling on auto early on, and that obviously is now causing me issues.

Other problems I need guidance with...how do i use crafting? I've got all of these items and can't do jack sqaut with them.

 

[Doytch]

Afaik the only things that are possible to miss are certain NPCs. This can happen with the Dog and a rogue.. both early on. The Dog can be missed by not completing the quest and moving on with the story instead. The rogue NPC can be missed if you dont enter one of the main buildings in the first place you go to after the world map opens up.

You can also kill the other rogue, one of your mages, skip a warrior, and kill another all before them joining your group. I didn't know about one of them until I finished the game and started highlighting spoilers.

So I'm in the middle of the mage tower (almost at the end) and still don't have a healer. I don't know how I let it happen, but I had to turn the difficulty down to casual so I could get through the last 3 or 4 hours. Do I need to turn Morrigan into a healer and just hope I can level her in a decent amout of time? I made the mistake of leaving leveling on auto early on, and that obviously is now causing me issues.

Other problems I need guidance with...how do i use crafting? I've got all of these items and can't do jack sqaut with them.

Pretty sure you killed the mage that you can pick up in the tower.

Spoiler

Wynne, the old woman who confronts you about Morrigan/templars.

 

[kamspy]

Odd thing I just figured out - 8xAA runs significantly better than 4xAA on my 9800GTX+. Driver issue maybe? I have the latest official drivers. Either way, works for me but figured I might mention it in case someone else wanted to try it. Definite improvement for some reason @ 1920 x 1080 (16:9).

My game runs better on my ati 4770 with higher AA. Go figure. NFS Shift did this too.

First I tried for 2xAA, ran better, 4xAA ran even better, and now 8xAA has the game almost locked at 60fps. When it ran with no AA it was closer to 35-40.

God bless Bioware.

 

[Grayman]

So I'm in the middle of the mage tower (almost at the end) and still don't have a healer. I don't know how I let it happen, but I had to turn the difficulty down to casual so I could get through the last 3 or 4 hours. Do I need to turn Morrigan into a healer and just hope I can level her in a decent amout of time? I made the mistake of leaving leveling on auto early on, and that obviously is now causing me issues.

Other problems I need guidance with...how do i use crafting? I've got all of these items and can't do jack sqaut with them.

If you are on PC you can get a mod to reset a character's stats

To use crafting you need the abilities trained, these are the ones you only seem to get every few levels. Then hotbar the ability or use the crafting menu. I cannot help you with recipes yet because I have not found any.

 

[DimmuBurgerKing]

So are most of you playing through the game making decisions based upon how you would react in a given situation, or how your character would? i.e. if your character is "evil," one would make decisions that are decidedly sinister.

I play according to the personality I had in mind for my character, which is great fun. He's a Dalish Elf and a Rogue/Ranger, so he's not very worldly, distrustful of humans (though he's starting to open up quite a bit) and, by extension, their religion and the Chantry. He's a good guy, though.

I may try a morally ambiguous mage type for my next play through.

 

[JWong]

So yeah, can someone here convince me to not buy the PS3 version?

Really not feeling the controls on PC

Do you enjoy playing precise point click games on console? Like RTS?

I suggest sticking to PC because the game will hand you a new one once it gets really deep into the strategy, which is early on.

 

[Ventrue]

I think most people chose to (spoiler for dungeon near end game)

Spoiler

break out of Fort Drakon. However, I would highly recommend letting your party rescue you. You get to pick two party members and they each have their own 'bluff' dialogue. I picked Sten and the Dog, which made for the least convincing cover story ever. "I'm a dog trainer." "YOU are a dog trainer?" "I HAVE a dog, what more do you want!?"

:lol

 

[ethelred]

No. One massive advantage of Western RPGs over JRPGs is that they don't have ridiculously convoluted, easily missable, requires a guide to even know it exists, secret items or bosses.

:lol

Said on the very same page that someone was complaining about needing to reload a save from 5 hours earlier to get access to blood mage.

There are two specializations that are unlocked through quests where it's very, very easy to miss getting them and there's no neon sign saying Specialization Here. You can pretty easily miss getting three characters permanently without batting an eye. It's pretty easy to miss out on companion quests altogether. And there are plenty enough items in the game that are secret in the sense that they come as the result of quests that someone might not find on their own if they're not being absolutely thorough about everything, and some of them might even be said to require convoluted efforts!

If you want to drag WRPGs vs. JRPGs into this without just answering the dude's question honestly, you could at least do better than that piss-poor effort.

Do you enjoy playing precise point click games on console? Like RTS?

I suggest sticking to PC because the game will hand you a new one once it gets really deep into the strategy, which is early on.

Oh, come on. Even on the highest difficulty, the game never requires super-precise clicking and it never plays out like a real time strategy game. The game is very much playable on consoles.

 

[DimmuBurgerKing]

I think most people chose to (spoiler for dungeon near end game)

Spoiler

break out of Fort Drakon. However, I would highly recommend letting your party rescue you. You get to pick two party members and they each have their own 'bluff' dialogue. I picked Sten and the Dog, which made for the least convincing cover story ever. "I'm a dog trainer." "YOU are a dog trainer?" "I HAVE a dog, what more do you want!?"

:lol

Spoiler

I chose Sten and Oghren. They were supposed to be entertainers. Guard: "So, what do you two DO?" Oghren: "Well, the big guy there is a comedian. And I, uh.. I juggle swords." Sten: "...On fire." Oghren: "Aye, on fire!" Guard: "Fascinating. I think we'll pass." Oghren: "Ah, forget this. *attacks*"

 

[Pancakes]

I think most people chose to (spoiler for dungeon near end game)

Spoiler

break out of Fort Drakon. However, I would highly recommend letting your party rescue you. You get to pick two party members and they each have their own 'bluff' dialogue. I picked Sten and the Dog, which made for the least convincing cover story ever. "I'm a dog trainer." "YOU are a dog trainer?" "I HAVE a dog, what more do you want!?"

:lol

Spoiler

I was sooo pissed at that damn princess bitch for ratting me out. Killing all those guards made feel alot better

 

[I'm an expert]

:lol

Said on the very same page that someone was complaining about needing to reload a save from 5 hours earlier to get access to blood mage.

There are two specializations that are unlocked through quests where it's very, very easy to miss getting them and there's no neon sign saying Specialization Here. You can pretty easily miss getting three characters permanently without batting an eye. It's pretty easy to miss out on companion quests altogether. And there are plenty enough items in the game that are secret in the sense that they come as the result of quests that someone might not find on their own if they're not being absolutely thorough about everything, and some of them might even be said to require convoluted efforts!

Yeah this was a bit more of the answer I was expecting. I usually read up hours on an RPG before I start it to avoid issues like that..I don't really count it as spoilers since I feel like I'm missing out on enjoying something in the game if I don't. It's weird but I always do research on games before starting them. Back in the day it was read the manual 2-3 times before starting, but now it's like check the wiki for any game before I start playing.

 

[dreamer3kx]

Sucks that you cant continue playing the side quests or character stories after completing, I kind of understand why you cant but still sucks.

 

[Cheech]

If you want to drag WRPGs vs. JRPGs into this without just answering the dude's question honestly, you could at least do better than that piss-poor effort.

To be fair, I've beaten Demon's Souls and it is FAR more convoluted of a game than Dragon Age. With DA, it's more of a "if you don't know it's there, you won't miss it", but if I hadn't had the Demon's Souls guide, I wouldn't have enjoyed the game nearly as much. For starters, the whole white/black world tendencies are completely obfuscated, as well as what upgrades you can use the major demon's souls for, are less than intuitive.

For the record, Dragon Age is a better game, but they're my #1 and #2 GOTYs. Both required playing for RPG fans, IMO.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

No. One massive advantage of Western RPGs over JRPGs is that they don't have ridiculously convoluted, easily missable, requires a guide to even know it exists, secret items or bosses.

However, since Western RPGs often have multiple branching paths, you may miss content simply because your choices steer you another direction. Generally speaking, these branching paths are pretty obvious so it's not like you didn't realize you sided with 1 faction over another, or that you betrayed someone. However, that's where replaying comes in, you can try to play again making different decisions to see the differences.

Fallout 3 says hello.

How much people got the named chinese assault rifle without looking at a guide?

 

[John Harker]

I convinced Dwyn to join the battle at Red Cliff, and I just found his sword in the fire. I guess that means he dies? Do I miss out on anything new, I kinda liked him,

 

[ethelred]

I convinced Dwyn to join the battle at Red Cliff, and I just found his sword in the fire. I guess that means he dies? Do I miss out on anything new, I kinda liked him,

If any townspeople die, you miss out on getting an okay helm after the battle is over. Or at least you would if this was a Japanese game. Since it's western, though, there are definitely not any unknown missables because you failed to perform certain objectives.

 

[John Harker]

If any townspeople die, you miss out on getting an okay helm after the battle is over. Or at least you would if this was a Japanese game. Since it's western, though, there are definitely not any unknown missables because you failed to perform certain objectives.

How do I end this, anyway? No more undead are coming from either up or down the hill, and this section just wont advance... I just keep wandering around and no scenes trigger or it won't turn to daylight. Both the knight and head of the militia died though

 

[Doytch]

How do I end this, anyway? No more undead are coming from either up or down the hill, and this section just wont advance... I just keep wandering around and no scenes trigger or it won't turn to daylight. Both the knight and head of the militia died though

Look around for more. There were a few stragglers left for me in the town, one near the water, a couple stuck next to some random houses. You need to kill them all.

 

[Mindlog]

(late/end-game related spoiler)

Spoiler

I chose Sten and Oghren. They were supposed to be entertainers. Guard: "So, what do you two DO?" Oghren: "Well, the big guy there is a comedian. And I, uh.. I juggle swords." Sten: "...On fire." Oghren: "Aye, on fire!" Guard: "Fascinating. I think we'll pass." Oghren: "Ah, forget this. *attacks*"

Next time I play through I'm going to have a save right before that starts. I had Dog and Morrigan and let dog do all the talking. It amused the hell out of me.

*conversational bark* :lol :lol :lol

 

[Superblatt]

You can also kill the other rogue, one of your mages, skip a warrior, and kill another all before them joining your group. I didn't know about one of them until I finished the game and started highlighting spoilers.


Pretty sure you killed the mage that you can pick up in the tower.

Spoiler

Wynne, the old woman who confronts you about Morrigan/templars.

Yup. She's dead as a doornail. And I had no clue she would have been a party member. Anyone who thinks it's obvious knows a lot more than I do about rpgs.

 

[_Xenon_]

Yup. She's dead as a doornail. And I had no clue she would have been a party member. Anyone who thinks it's obvious knows a lot more than I do about rpgs.

Well, you could check EA's dragon age official website. On character page they list all the party members (except the last one).

How do I end this, anyway? No more undead are coming from either up or down the hill, and this section just wont advance... I just keep wandering around and no scenes trigger or it won't turn to daylight. Both the knight and head of the militia died though

Simply wait there for a minute or two. The game seems have a problem with updating loot / quest / event.

 

[Johnlenham]

Yup. She's dead as a doornail. And I had no clue she would have been a party member. Anyone who thinks it's obvious knows a lot more than I do about rpgs.

Yeah your pretty much fucked :lol the other mage isnt bad but you have to pour alot of tallents into healing which means you need to level her up, which means you have to fight so yeah you can see where this is going.

I mean I DID manage to do the elves section withought one but I think the mage tower is harder by comparison.

 

[Blackace]

Spoiler

I chose Sten and Oghren. They were supposed to be entertainers. Guard: "So, what do you two DO?" Oghren: "Well, the big guy there is a comedian. And I, uh.. I juggle swords." Sten: "...On fire." Oghren: "Aye, on fire!" Guard: "Fascinating. I think we'll pass." Oghren: "Ah, forget this. *attacks*"

:lol :lol :lol

(late/end-game related spoiler)



Next time I play through I'm going to have a save right before that starts. I had Dog and Morrigan and let dog do all the talking. It amused the hell out of me.

*conversational bark* :lol :lol :lol

I did the same combo, and did half and half almost made it in too..

 

[Zzoram]

How many possible endings are there? I only have ~960/1600 achievement points on the PC version after 1 playthrough (and doing all the origins until Ostagar). It said I was 60something% complete. I got the 75% side quests done achievement.

 

[firehawk12]

There's an achievement for visiting every area in the game... other than that, the only other one that would require a second playthrough is sleeping with either Morrigan or Alistair, depending on the gender of your first character.

 

[Ventrue]

There's an achievement for visiting every area in the game... other than that, the only other one that would require a second playthrough is sleeping with either Morrigan or Alistair, depending on the gender of your first character.

There is an achievement for every origin, plus for the different endings, plus for getting all the endings. So you need more than one.

 

[Drek]

Yup. She's dead as a doornail. And I had no clue she would have been a party member. Anyone who thinks it's obvious knows a lot more than I do about rpgs.

You playing on PC or console?

If its on PC you can always get the respec mod. It won't help immediately with you being locked in the Mage's tower though.

There is also a direct character editor that you can use pretty much anywhere floating around on the Dragon Age Nexus as well, but I haven't tried it as it can be game breaking if you let it.

 

[Ventrue]

I have a question about the PC achievements; the 360 sites only list the 54 360 ones.

Spoiler

After 'Complete origin without dying' and 'Complete Ostagar without dying' there are two secret achievements. What are they?

 

[NemesisPrime]

I think most people chose to (spoiler for dungeon near end game)

Spoiler

break out of Fort Drakon. However, I would highly recommend letting your party rescue you. You get to pick two party members and they each have their own 'bluff' dialogue. I picked Sten and the Dog, which made for the least convincing cover story ever. "I'm a dog trainer." "YOU are a dog trainer?" "I HAVE a dog, what more do you want!?"

:lol

Oh wow! I didn't know this. That is great.

 

[Doytch]

Yup. She's dead as a doornail. And I had no clue she would have been a party member. Anyone who thinks it's obvious knows a lot more than I do about rpgs.

Well, make sure you get Morrigan the base heal spell and the Spirit Healer spec from a Denerim merchant, and get her the group heal spell from that. That's two spells with no pre-reqs that'll make it much better. It's how I played the game.