Support NeoGAF

[Lafiel]

DAO's combat is some of the best in the genre for a long time--mostly because of the difficulty level and because party-based combat will almost always trump single-character combat--but I still don't like it as much as BG2's. Why? Because:

* there's much less enemy diversity (being set exclusively in Ferelden and with Bioware going for a dark/low fantasy tone this was likely to happen, but it's disappointing nonetheless)

* the mechanics are much less transparent. Apparently Bioware didn't want it this way but they couldn't keep the in-game documentation up-to-date quickly enough

* the combat moves so fast (even with frequent pausing in between) that lots of the subtleties of your party's various abilities are basically irrelevant. This is an inherent limitation of real-time combat, but BG2 managed to transcend it to some extent by having pen-and-paper mechanics that were easier to process mentally

* there are four-character parties instead of six-character parties, and the characters are less distinct from one another as compared with the characters in BG2

This post is spot-on, i agree with every point you have made.
The enemy variety is definitively a big problem with the game, i feel like for the majority of the game. 80% of the time, i've fought either darkspawn or humans. They need to improve this in the sequel.
A 6-party limit instead of 4 would be wonderful, didn't NWN2 have a mod that added this? i wonder if the same will happen with DA. Though they'd need to re-balance the entire game in addition.
I've noticed, that pretty much every party-based w-rpg post-kotor has had a limit of 4-party members. Is there a reason for this like - it's easier to program / balance the game for 4-party members instead of 6?

 

[Wallach]

This post is spot-on, i agree with every point you have made.
The enemy variety is definitively a big problem with the game, i feel like for the majority of the game. 80% of the time, i've fought either darkspawn or humans. They need to improve this in the sequel.
A 6-party limit instead of 4 would be wonderful, didn't NWN2 have a mod that added this? i wonder if the same will happen with DA. Though they'd need to re-balance the entire game in addition.
I've noticed, that pretty much every party-based w-rpg post-kotor has had a limit of 4-party members. Is there a reason for this like - it's easier to program / balance the game for 4-party members instead of 6?

I think in this game the party limitation was done to place more emphasis on the player making choices against class balance. I personally think 5 would have been the sweet spot rather than 4 to allow a little more party freedom (DPS Warriors have slightly too much "opportunity cost" it feels like).

 

[gotee12]

BTW, for those of us with Zune Pass, the DA:O soundtrack is now available for download in the Zune Marketplace...

 

[kitzkozan]

DAO's combat is some of the best in the genre for a long time--mostly because of the difficulty level and because party-based combat will almost always trump single-character combat--but I still don't like it as much as BG2's. Why? Because:

* there's much less enemy diversity (being set exclusively in Ferelden and with Bioware going for a dark/low fantasy tone this was likely to happen, but it's disappointing nonetheless)

* the mechanics are much less transparent. Apparently Bioware didn't want it this way but they couldn't keep the in-game documentation up-to-date quickly enough

* the combat moves so fast (even with frequent pausing in between) that lots of the subtleties of your party's various abilities are basically irrelevant. This is an inherent limitation of real-time combat, but BG2 managed to transcend it to some extent by having pen-and-paper mechanics that were easier to process mentally

* there are four-character parties instead of six-character parties, and the characters are less distinct from one another as compared with the characters in BG2

Enemy diversity is something that can be improved in a sequel,although the setting doesn't really lend itself to it(with the darkspawn being mostly the same and humanoid like).One of the best way to improve upon this would be having outdoor area,so you walk/run to your destination and encounter the wild life which include plenty of animal or creature diversity(FF XII had outdoor areas connected to dungeons and important locations).I'm old school on this matter,but I would prefer the FF XII approach with this franchise.If I'm going from X town to Y dungeon,there should be a Z area which connect the 2 together.It's the landmass or roads between them,instead of seeing a glimpse of the world in a random encounter on the map.

There should be numbers to indicate how much damage an ability can deal.Heck,each new skill or spell should tell you how much damage it can possibly deal.Number crunching can always be fun,especially in a rpg with mmo mechanics. :lol

I think 5 characters in a party would be good enough for Dragon age.It work well enough for World of Warcraft,so you have 1 tank+1 healer+3 dps.It would definitively make dps warriors wanted(by default) in the group,as right now it's better to have your PC be a rogue or mage or the dps warrior(with dual wield) than using Sten or Oghren.

 

[Walshicus]

If I'm going from X town to Y dungeon,there should be a Z area which connect the 2 together.It's the landmass or roads between them,instead of seeing a glimpse of the world in a random encounter on the map.

Might make survival skill worth a damn.

 

[Ricker]

I love this game but man the spikes in difficulty(playing on normal on the 360) is pretty annoying sometimes...for example,I won't spoiler this because it's a sidequest,with no real story,that you don't even have to do,but in case some don't want to know it...

A good example of uneven fights is a sidequest in Denerim...they ask you to go in the warehouse to stop bandits looting in there or something,it's a small room and I swear to god,there's about 10 guys in there that rush you as soon as you open the door...I can't even stealth pull some guys out of the room or anything...once the battle starts it's complete chaos,if I target an archer in the back,when I unpause,my guy struggles to get over there because he paths bump to everything,etc...I don't have the best guys right now,Zevran is a Rogue like me and Wynn,even though I have her set-up as a healer can only do it early on because she runs out of mana way too fast... I can't see anyone beating this on Hard,yet alone on nightmare...

 

[Ysiadmihi]

So has there been a mod released that lets you skip the Fade yet? I'm about to hit it on my 3rd playthrough and reeeeeeeally don't feel like doing it again.

 

[Meier]

Holy crap, the sloth demon is hard. So many freaking forms! Got him down to the last one but ran out of potions and it was just me and Wynne left for like 2 forms before that.

Spoiler

Any suggestions on whether to fight him as Burning Man or Golem?

 

[Doytch]

Holy crap, the sloth demon is hard. So many freaking forms! Got him down to the last one but ran out of potions and it was just me and Wynne left for like 2 forms before that.

Spoiler

Any suggestions on whether to fight him as Burning Man or Golem?

I'd say you're probably better off fighting it as your default class. Both of those forms become good only when you use the AOEs, which you can't use when you're with your party.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

Can't find something in the Dalish Camp.

Zathrian tells me Varathorn can give me equipment. Varathorn tells me it's in a chest. Where is the dumb chest at?

Edit: I guess it's the one near Zathrian? All I found was a song book in it.

 

[koji]

All I found was a song book in it.

Yes,

Spoiler

and that might come in handy later on

 

[clashfan]

So has there been a mod released that lets you skip the Fade yet? I'm about to hit it on my 3rd playthrough and reeeeeeeally don't feel like doing it again.

I like it because of all the boost you find for your character.

 

[Minsc]

I like it because of all the boost you find for your character.

I'm sure the fade-skipping mod will give you the 20 or so skill points you'd normally get, and also any other amount of items or gold. It may even let you spend those skill points as you see fit instead of having them be made pre-determined.

I actually found it starting to get a bit ridiculous with all the stat bonuses given out in the fade, it's got to be like 5 or 6 levels worth. Every area seems to have at least 2 or 3 spots in it.

 

[clashfan]

Yes,

Spoiler

and that might come in handy later on

I found it but can't figure out what to use it for?

 

[C.Dark.DN]

How do you trigger female romance with Lelina?

 

[theMrCravens]

How do you trigger female romance with Lelina?

You can only go for Morrigan as female.
Edit: NM. I got it backwards. Morrigan is pro male.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

You can only go for Morrigan as female.

Not according to some resources i'm looking at:

http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Romance

Leliana is one of the romance options for a male or female player character[1].

I just found the following, don't know how accurate it is:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=950918&topic=52110277

Female PC + Leliana
Raise her relationship to between 25 and 50 and you will get 2 conversations
1) the first is on minstrels being spies
2) the second ( u must leave and re-enter camp ) and she'll talk to you about a lie
Now you must wait for a random encounter where people attempt to assassinate her, afterwords go to camp to her about her past lover.
Now raise her to 100 relationship and she will give you the option.

 

[Doytch]

I'm sure the fade-skipping mod will give you the 20 or so skill points you'd normally get, and also any other amount of items or gold. It may even let you spend those skill points as you see fit instead of having them be made pre-determined.

I actually found it starting to get a bit ridiculous with all the stat bonuses given out in the fade, it's got to be like 5 or 6 levels worth. Every area seems to have at least 2 or 3 spots in it.

I noticed that if you respec after the Fade, you can just reallot those points as you see fit. :lol

 

[Minsc]

I noticed that if you respec after the Fade, you can just reallot those points as you see fit. :lol

I was kinda picking on it already when I said the mod would let you take the evenly distributed stat points and allow you to stick them all in STR or a single stat, completely ruining the balance by getting like a +20 bump to a single stat, but I didn't realize you could do it already! Heh, that's got to be pretty broken :lol

 

[Quagm1r3]

I'm having a lot more trouble with the difficulty of this game than I thought I would. It seems like some fights I encounter are literally impossible to win on normal difficulty, even with excessive pausing of the game/use of potions.

I'm currently stuck on a fight in which my main guy (2h warrior) can't even hit his target to save his life, and my rogue (Leliana or something like that) hits for 1-4. Wtf?

 

[Lone_Prodigy]

Question:

Spoiler

Riordan mentions a Warden vault in Denerim: is it possible to access it? He mentions it's in an alley but I got the Traveller achievement anyway. Or was that convo just filler? What about the Denerim Chantry: always blocked? The chests in the middle of Denerim Market: always inaccessible?

 

[Doytch]

Question:

Spoiler

Riordan mentions a Warden vault in Denerim: is it possible to access it? He mentions it's in an alley but I got the Traveller achievement anyway. Or was that convo just filler? What about the Denerim Chantry: always blocked? The chests in the middle of Denerim Market: always inaccessible?

I have a feeling the chests in the market might be linked to the thieving questline in Denerim, but I never did that line.

I'm currently stuck on a fight in which my main guy (2h warrior) can't even hit his target to save his life, and my rogue (Leliana or something like that) hits for 1-4. Wtf?

Come back later?

 

[Moonstone]

Question:

Spoiler

Riordan mentions a Warden vault in Denerim: is it possible to access it? He mentions it's in an alley but I got the Traveller achievement anyway. Or was that convo just filler? What about the Denerim Chantry: always blocked? The chests in the middle of Denerim Market: always inaccessible?

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

The wardens vault is at the end of the alley with the mage's store (Wonders of the World or something like that). You probably were there before for a sidequest, where you need to pickup corpses and dump them in the well, but Riordan should have given you a key for the vault. The Chests are linked to the thiev questline from Slim. Dunno if you can access them if you choose do the burglar questline. The chantry is always locked, I suppose.

 

[Arde5643]

I love this game but man the spikes in difficulty(playing on normal on the 360) is pretty annoying sometimes...for example,I won't spoiler this because it's a sidequest,with no real story,that you don't even have to do,but in case some don't want to know it...

A good example of uneven fights is a sidequest in Denerim...they ask you to go in the warehouse to stop bandits looting in there or something,it's a small room and I swear to god,there's about 10 guys in there that rush you as soon as you open the door...I can't even stealth pull some guys out of the room or anything...once the battle starts it's complete chaos,if I target an archer in the back,when I unpause,my guy struggles to get over there because he paths bump to everything,etc...I don't have the best guys right now,Zevran is a Rogue like me and Wynn,even though I have her set-up as a healer can only do it early on because she runs out of mana way too fast... I can't see anyone beating this on Hard,yet alone on nightmare...

Have you finished the Brecillian forest or Orzammar yet before going to Denerim? Denerim's one place that's very dangerous to go to before you reach certain levels.

 

[Pancakes]

Yes,

Spoiler

and that might come in handy later on

Oh damn really? I sold that .

 

[JonnyBrad]

Finally beat this on normal. This is my first CRPG type game (have played mass effect but nor really the same) I found that i was just starting to get my head around all the tactics and things whilst i was dieing on the final boss for the millionth time. I used a warrior, Alistair morrigan and Wynne all the way thru and found myself relying on Morrigan a lot. (Cone of Cold FTW)

Only critisms i have is that some areas went on too long (the

Spoiler

Anvil of the Void

just seemed to go on and on. I wish they could have broken that one up a bit more like some of the other mainline quests.

I think i'm gonna go back and get Shale now but another play thru will have to wait next year it took me 40hrs!

 

[Meier]

I'd say you're probably better off fighting it as your default class. Both of those forms become good only when you use the AOEs, which you can't use when you're with your party.

Good call, just beat him in standard form.

 

[Hitmeneer]

DA really feels like BG2, and that is a good thing. So far I am loving it.

So how did you guys kill

Spoiler

the first Ogre (the one at the top floor of tower, where you had to give a signal). I just kited him, tanking was almost impossible, but it felt really cheap (I felt like a was doing a WoW raid ) .

 

[Meier]

Are gems used for anything but selling? Is there a jewelry skill or anything?

 

[avatar299]

I love this game but man the spikes in difficulty(playing on normal on the 360) is pretty annoying sometimes...for example,I won't spoiler this because it's a sidequest,with no real story,that you don't even have to do,but in case some don't want to know it...

A good example of uneven fights is a sidequest in Denerim...they ask you to go in the warehouse to stop bandits looting in there or something,it's a small room and I swear to god,there's about 10 guys in there that rush you as soon as you open the door...I can't even stealth pull some guys out of the room or anything...once the battle starts it's complete chaos,if I target an archer in the back,when I unpause,my guy struggles to get over there because he paths bump to everything,etc...I don't have the best guys right now,Zevran is a Rogue like me and Wynn,even though I have her set-up as a healer can only do it early on because she runs out of mana way too fast... I can't see anyone beating this on Hard,yet alone on nightmare...

Yeah I hated that part as well. My trick was to hold everyone well back and slowly attract enemies across the room to my party. Set traps along the way as well

 

[kittoo]

Only critisms i have is that some areas went on too long (the

Spoiler

Anvil of the Void

just seemed to go on and on. I wish they could have broken that one up a bit more like some of the other mainline quests.

Agree. The Anvil of the void was so long that it became boring. Compared to that the quest for gaining support of the Dalish Elves was so short and easy!

 

[water_wendi]

So how did you guys kill

Spoiler

the first Ogre (the one at the top floor of tower, where you had to give a signal). I just kited him, tanking was almost impossible, but it felt really cheap (I felt like a was doing a WoW raid ) .

How i did that part

 

[Fredescu]

Are gems used for anything but selling? Is there a jewelry skill or anything?

No jewelry skill. There's a sidequest for 10 garnet. The gift ones, remarkable etc, are good for Shale. Once you've recruited the dwarves, you can donate gems to the dwarven army to increase their strength when (if) you use them. Safe to sell otherwise.

So how did you guys kill

Spoiler

the first Ogre (the one at the top floor of tower, where you had to give a signal). I just kited him, tanking was almost impossible, but it felt really cheap (I felt like a was doing a WoW raid ) .

I straight tanked him on nightmare without too much trouble.

 

[Hitmeneer]

No jewelry skill. There's a sidequest for 10 garnet. The gift ones, remarkable etc, are good for Shale. Once you've recruited the dwarves, you can donate gems to the dwarven army to increase their strength when (if) you use them. Safe to sell otherwise.


I straight tanked him on nightmare without too much trouble.

I will also try it, but tbh, my main is a mage and Alistar sucks at tanking tbh (would cost a shitload of pots I presume). And if Alistar gets grabbed it is bye bye tank.

 

[Fredescu]

Alistar sucks at tanking tbh

Compared to who?

 

[bengraven]

I'm embarassed to admit, but I refuse to restart my game (due to that glitch I've mentioned previously here) because I don't want to redo the Fade and Mage's Tower.

I also don't want to start a new character because I want to see the ending to my first storyline and don't want to confuse the two.

 

[Fredescu]

Do you want to email me your save file? Just in case it's some weird client problem. I'd be interested in seeing the bug in action anyway.

 

[Pancakes]

Dalish Quest spoilers

Spoiler

Werewolf army, fuck yea! It felt so good to kill all those asshole elves.

 

[Hitmeneer]

Compared to who?

It is just a feeling I have, takes to much damage (but does also more dmg than I would expect from a tank in general). It's not like I can throw him in a group of 2-3 guys and really hold it out for a nice time. And I am talking still like in the first hours of the game, so I haven't been able to really adjust his stats & abilities.

 

[Arde5643]

It is just a feeling I have, takes to much damage (but does also more dmg than I would expect from a tank in general). It's not like I can throw him in a group of 2-3 guys and really hold it out for a nice time. And I am talking still like in the first hours of the game, so I haven't been able to really adjust his stats & abilities.

One of the major problem with the game is that they don't really give good equipment to the physical classes until the middle of the game.

Once you've given Alistair some good equipment, he'll really show his usefulness.


Better work on his DEX though since it increases his chances of avoiding attacks.

 

[g23]

I loved Orzammar/Deep Roads...it was long but it was epic, reminded me of the old WoW dungeons in BRD.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

Why are arrows so expensive? I thought it was 10s-50s per stack not per arrow. Am I supposed to blow money on Leliana's arrows? Seems like they are used up fast.

Edit: oh, you have unlimited normal arrows and buy expensive ones?

 

[Sinatar]

Why are arrows so expensive? I thought it was 10s-50s per stack not per arrow. Am I supposed to blow money on Leliana's arrows? Seems like they are used up fast.

Edit: oh, you have unlimited normal arrows and buy expensive ones?

Yea infinite regular ammo, it's the fire, ice and elf arrows that are limited.

 

[koji]

On that song book found in the Dalish camp chest;

Oh damn really? I sold that .

I found it but can't figure out what to use it for?

It's not a superbig deal but it can be used in the forest. There are other routes available so no worries.

Spoiler

You can trade the book with the crazy hermit for the Grand Oaks acorn

 

[legend166]

DA really feels like BG2, and that is a good thing. So far I am loving it.

So how did you guys kill

Spoiler

the first Ogre (the one at the top floor of tower, where you had to give a signal). I just kited him, tanking was almost impossible, but it felt really cheap (I felt like a was doing a WoW raid ) .

That's still the hardest fight in the game for me, and I'm about 20 hours in now. I died about 6-7 times. It was ridiculous.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

By the way, is there any way to dump quest items?

Many quests end and the relevant quest items remain in the inventory taking up valuable space.

 

[Ventrue]

By the way, is there any way to dump quest items?

Many quests end and the relevant quest items remain in the inventory taking up valuable space.

They don't take up space, and you cannot destroy them.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

so I've finally decided to buy this.

goodbye hours of my day (starting tomorrow)

 

[Ricker]

Have you finished the Brecillian forest or Orzammar yet before going to Denerim? Denerim's one place that's very dangerous to go to before you reach certain levels.

I got out of Orzammar,after doing half the stuff in there,I have the "big" quest area left to do in there...the Brecilian stuff is done yeah...I will try controlling Wynn,hopefully I don't drain all her mana in 2 seconds like the A.I. does...I have to admit I didn't play around much with the tactics options for when you don't control the others,maybe I will try that a little more but it's kinda complicated a bit I found so left most of the stuff on default.

 

[Deadly]

I got a weird 'Physx > Cpu' logo error on the upper left corner of my game. I got rid of it by using driver cleaner to get rid of physx and then I reinstalled it. In case someone gets the same error with an nvidia card there is your fix!

I just tried this and the phys>cpu thing doesn't seem to be disappearing. Anyone else encountered this issue?