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[Minsc]

So when running this on pc I am getting really bad preformance its struggling to stay at 20fps.

Windows Vista
Core 2 Duo E6700
8800 GTX
4GB ram

Anyone else having similar problems I should be able it fine with my system shouldnt I?

Naw, you seem to be getting about the right level of framerate for that CPU, it's pretty slow, and Dragon Age gets huge boosts for multi-core setup as you can see above.

The only way to get close to a locked 60 fps at higher settings is with a faster quad-core CPU (3+ Ghz). A 3.6 Ghz Core2Duo (~40% faster than your CPU) is struggling to hold 30 at times.

I've never had any problems with degrading performance myself, or weird load times, everything loads pretty much faster than I can read the loading screens.

 

[Xdrive05]

Wow, what a CPU hog! Thank goodness I went for an X4 PII AMD setup recently.

Thanks for the opinions at the top of the page, btw. I'm looking for more of an adventure/open-ended RPG for now, but I know I'll get around to this game soon enough.

 

[pseudocaesar]

I have a quad core CPU and my game rarely dips below 50 and sits at 60 for the most part. I love it. It gets lower averages when I am out of iso view, but I love Iso view so im lucky!

 

[water_wendi]

Dragon fighting (will spoiler to be safe):

Spoiler

Easy fights to do with three mages and one tank. One healer, one DPS and one DPS with two healing abilities (my mage). One being self heal only though (drain life). Also with life bloom to keep back on the mages while keeping Alistair healed (with shielding talents that give him bonus resistances). It came down to just making sure I had enough mana pots. I fought both Flemeth and the other dragon (around the Urn of Ashes) at level 12 with ease.

So when it boils down to it, it's all about the team you have with you. I'm sure it would have been a lot hard with more melee seeing as the dragons have a nasty aoe but with ranged and one melee it was a cake walk.

Difficulty normal though so the next challenge will be on a higher difficultly level.

Every fight is easier with 3 mages and a tank. Even two mages is pushing it.

 

[suikodan]

Quick question about Tactics, I notice that my selected characters will not use them while the other non-selected will. How can I make my selected character use tactics?

 

[Gino]

My Dog is a dragon slayer. I've killed 2 dragons with all my party dead except for Tilla(my dog) who seems to be invulnerable to most of the dragons attacks.

Also Maybe I'm running the dragon out of stamina because after a while it seems like they are only attacking every 15 seconds or so.

 

[Caspel]

Hey guys, I am giving away a lot Dragon Age items including: 4 signed books (The Stolen Throne (x2) and The Calling (x2)) by the author David Gaider, 2 Xbox 360 copies, 1 Dragon Age: Origins T-Shirt, and 4 blow-up swords.

I could provide more information through the thread if someone feels it's necessary, but if not, for those that are interested, PM me for more details.

 

[Gowans]

Thank Christ that Fade bit is over and done with in the Mages Tower. Felt like I had vasoline over my eyes the whole time, the low point of the game for me so far, loved the shapechanging stuff though.

Now where the hell do I find the Dwarfs?

 

[sublime085]

Thank Christ that Fade bit is over and done with in the Mages Tower. Felt like I had vasoline over my eyes the whole time, the low point of the game for me so far, loved the shapechanging stuff though.

Now where the hell do I find the Dwarfs?

Frostback Mountains.

 

[Gowans]

Frostback Mountains.

cheers I'll get on my way laters.

 

[IoCaster]

Thank Christ that Fade bit is over and done with in the Mages Tower. Felt like I had vasoline over my eyes the whole time, the low point of the game for me so far, loved the shapechanging stuff though.

I love the Fade. I picked up close to twenty attribute points in there. It's always the first main quest I do.

Cool spell combo I've been using lately with either Shale or Alistair tanking a swarm of mobs. Force Field-->Virulent Walking Bomb-->Fireball. <<<KABOOM>>> with awesome secondary 'splosions'o'blood. So good even Alistair was compelled to say "That's a lot of blood". :lol

 

[Gowans]

How does the game level?

It's it always matching you, I feel like I'm getting stronger but I'm still putting just as much effort it.

 

[Rufus]

How does the game level?

It's it always matching you, I feel like I'm getting stronger but I'm still putting just as much effort it.

Here's a detailed explanation:
http://dragonage.gulbsoft.org/doku.php/challenge_scaling

 

[Gowans]

Here's a detailed explanation:
http://dragonage.gulbsoft.org/doku.php/challenge_scaling

Thanka I'll have a read. I have no problem with it just curious how they make you feel powerful as the game scales to you.

Edit: wow that was a great read, all makes crystal clear sense & really works.

 

[Skellig Gra]

cheers I'll get on my way laters.

Make sure you carve out a huge chunk of time for it. Holy crap.

 

[Cornballer]

Make sure you carve out a huge chunk of time for it. Holy crap.

How much time are we talking? I'm just about to finish up the Fade stuff and head over there.

 

[Skellig Gra]

How much time are we talking? I'm just about to finish up the Fade stuff and head over there.

Depending on how many of the sidequests you want to do/how anal you are about exploration. I'd say 6+ hours.

 

[Gowans]

Make sure you carve out a huge chunk of time for it. Holy crap.

Christ really! How big is this game.

Love it but the save system pisses me off at times, then I get pissed off with myself for saving at every doorway.

Right might go & see a certain wild witch before hand.

Also any cheap ways to buy health or ingredients to make them?

 

[Fredescu]

Also any cheap ways to buy health or ingredients to make them?

The dalish elves sell unlimited elfroot. The merchant in your camp should have the rest.

 

[Doytch]

The dalish elves sell unlimited elfroot. The merchant in your camp should have the rest.

Dude in the Mages' Tower sells Lyrium Dust also.

 

[Cornballer]

Depending on how many of the sidequests you want to do/how anal you are about exploration. I'd say 6+ hours.

Oh, that's not too bad. Then again, I tend to take a little longer than the average player, so I could be in for a long trip there. Thanks for the info.

 

[Ashodin]

The Dwarf section of the game is the longest part of the game. I played it through all to the end, started at 8 PM one night, and finished at 5 AM :lol (breaks throughout tho)

It was pretty epic. LOTS of fucked up stuff happen there.

 

[Mar]

My Dog is a dragon slayer. I've killed 2 dragons with all my party dead except for Tilla(my dog) who seems to be invulnerable to most of the dragons attacks.

Also Maybe I'm running the dragon out of stamina because after a while it seems like they are only attacking every 15 seconds or so.

Heh, the first dragon I killed it was only my dog left. I never thought about it before, but maybe it's a glitch or something? I still worked pretty hard though. I was healing often before the dragon finally went down.

The second dragon I killed (high dragon) I did without my dog though. Only lost one dude and just revived him in mid battle. Dragons have gotten easier as my tank has gotten better.

Christ really! How big is this game.

I'm well over 100 hours now and still haven't finished the game.

The Dwarf section of the game is the longest part of the game.

And the most boring before the fighting starts if you ask me. There was a hell of a lot of time spent just running back and forth solving political disputes before anything actually happened. I found it really hard to keep going through that area.

 

[Ashodin]

Heh, the first dragon I killed it was only my dog left. I never thought about it before, but maybe it's a glitch or something? I still worked pretty hard though. I was healing often before the dragon finally went down.

Definitely, when I first faced the dragon in the urn quest, I had a hard long time taking it out, and the first time I did it it didn't drop any loot! :lol

The game definitely gets much easier as you have more tools at your disposal. The first dragon I faced I only had Morrigan (healing), Alistair, Me, and Leliana.

Also, the dwarf section of the game intrigued me the most because I wanted to see the Deep Roads (being the part of the world where the Darkspawn originate is a very curious place to go).

 

[Mar]

Definitely, when I first faced the dragon in the urn quest, I had a hard long time taking it out, and the first time I did it it didn't drop any loot! :lol

Surprised you killed that dragon (the high dragon) on your first go. When did you do that area of the game? Late? The first time I tried to fight it I got completely decimated. My party died in seconds. I came back much later in the game, probably had another 10 levels gained, and the high dragon was tolerable.

 

[lastplayed]

Amusing glitch. Apologies if it has been posted before

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF4UIFT47gk

Damn! It's a struggle not to burst out laughing at work. :lol

 

[Gino]

Surprised you killed that dragon (the high dragon) on your first go. When did you do that area of the game? Late? The first time I tried to fight it I got completely decimated. My party died in seconds. I came back much later in the game, probably had another 10 levels gained, and the high dragon was tolerable.

Yea I got destroyed the first time and wasn't sure if I was actually supposed to be fighting it but second time My dog kicked it's ass.

 

[Ashodin]

Surprised you killed that dragon (the high dragon) on your first go. When did you do that area of the game? Late? The first time I tried to fight it I got completely decimated. My party died in seconds. I came back much later in the game, probably had another 10 levels gained, and the high dragon was tolerable.

Oh it definitely took several tries when I was there, but I was there at level 13. It was a total bitch, I had nothing of specializations, I only had Morrigan doing the healing, (with just "Heal" as the spell), and me being melee as Arcane Warrior, and Alistair, the high dragon was jutting all the melee-counter moves every few seconds, making it a bitch. Then I realized that I had one of the uber-staves with me, and I switched everything Arcane Warrior-y off, went back to just being a mage, and with Leliana, Morrigan and I ranged, with Alistair up front, it was a much easier time than the first time that I barely tackled it (in which only I survived, due to exploiting, using the game's environment to take down the beast single-handed). It was pretty funny, really - the dragon has nothing at all to speak of to deal with ranged foes after Alistair is up in his face. It's like the programmers forgot that there were magic users, and thought up only retaliations to melee users (which is not a stretch, considering 2/3 of the game's classes are melee-oriented).

After that, I was so powerful when I took on the other dragon that I just melee'd with Alistair and still won easily. Group Heal is cheats, yo.

 

[Mar]

It was pretty funny, really - the dragon has nothing at all to speak of to deal with ranged foes after Alistair is up in his face. It's like the programmers forgot that there were magic users, and thought up only retaliations to melee users (which is not a stretch, considering 2/3 of the game's classes are melee-oriented).

It all has to do with threat. Alistair must have been doing a good job of keeping agro on the Dragon so the mages stay untouched. Something I am familiar with being a tank myself as my main character in the game.

One thing that seems to pull massive amounts of threat is the Death Hex spell. You put that on something and 80% of the time it just takes off for whoever casted it. In my case, Morrigan.

 

[HK-47]

So ummm is there something I gotta do to get the DLC quests on my game? I preordered and I set up an account (had for the little DA minigame they made before the release) and I logged in and the items downloaded fine but the quests still seem like I have to purchase them. Am I missing something? Or is something wrong? The account bullshit is worse then fucking Securom. I havent even started and I fucking hate it.

 

[IoCaster]

The first time I tackled the High Dragon I didn't know what I was doing. I don't remember what level I was, but it was before the elves and dwarf quests. I did the mage tower and Redcliff and just went straight after the urn. I rang the gong just exploring and clicking on shit. The dragon put a serious ass whooping on my party. I was a mage with Alistair, Leliana and Wynne but I hadn't even bothered with the tactics stuff too much yet. I kept reloading and trying different shit until I took him down after about 7 or 8 tries. I really didn't want to come back later to kill it if I could avoid it so I got stubborn. I finally put everyone but Alistair back up on the ramp chipped away at his health until he went down. At the last minute I had Leliana toss an acid bomb on him and that did the job. One of the toughest fights I've had since Holy Servant in The Last Remnant.

 

[Rufus]

So ummm is there something I gotta do to get the DLC quests on my game? I preordered and I set up an account (had for the little DA minigame they made before the release) and I logged in and the items downloaded fine but the quests still seem like I have to purchase them. Am I missing something? Or is something wrong? The account bullshit is worse then fucking Securom. I havent even started and I fucking hate it.

Assuming you play on PC, have a look at this thread:
http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/58/index/81613

 

[Killthee]

So ummm is there something I gotta do to get the DLC quests on my game? I preordered and I set up an account (had for the little DA minigame they made before the release) and I logged in and the items downloaded fine but the quests still seem like I have to purchase them. Am I missing something? Or is something wrong? The account bullshit is worse then fucking Securom. I havent even started and I fucking hate it.

You have to redeem the DLC code included with the game. The Stone Prisoner comes included in all versions; Warden's Keep comes with the CE/DDE.

 

[Fredescu]

So ummm is there something I gotta do to get the DLC quests on my game? I preordered and I set up an account (had for the little DA minigame they made before the release) and I logged in and the items downloaded fine but the quests still seem like I have to purchase them. Am I missing something? Or is something wrong? The account bullshit is worse then fucking Securom. I havent even started and I fucking hate it.

Just wait until the DLC decides to disable itself mid game and half your gear disappears.

Login to the Bioware site to check that everything is registered properly. http://social.bioware.com/user_entitlements.php That should list what is registered against your account. Login to the game with that account and tick the boxes to enable the content. You won't be able to tell that the full quests are enabled for a while into the game when you get access to the world map, but the bonus items etc should show up in your inventory straight away.

 

[HK-47]

Just wait until the DLC decides to disable itself mid game and half your gear disappears.

Login to the Bioware site to check that everything is registered properly. http://social.bioware.com/user_entitlements.php That should list what is registered against your account. Login to the game with that account and tick the boxes to enable the content. You won't be able to tell that the full quests are enabled for a while into the game when you get access to the world map, but the bonus items etc should show up in your inventory straight away.

Wow I think I hate Bioware for doing this shit.

So if the items show up the quests should be okay too?

 

[Fredescu]

So if the items show up the quests should be okay too?

Yep.

 

[Ashodin]

It all has to do with threat. Alistair must have been doing a good job of keeping agro on the Dragon so the mages stay untouched. Something I am familiar with being a tank myself as my main character in the game.

One thing that seems to pull massive amounts of threat is the Death Hex spell. You put that on something and 80% of the time it just takes off for whoever casted it. In my case, Morrigan.

Yeah, I had figured out about aggro since I started playing (definitely HOPED there was aggro ala WoW, more games need WoW's system of fighting imo) and I definitely started working the tactics by level 13, but this fight made me work the tactics hard, and eventually I came up with my optimal tactics load-out, making Alistair pretty much spam his aggro moves and potion himself whenever he got low, and Morrigan casted Winter's Grasp when Alistair got grabbed, every single time. Interrupting that is pretty much priority A-1 when healing that fight singularly.

Other than that, it's a breeze not to pull aggro, and I think I also had gear on Alistair that drew more threat to him. I think there's armor that does that.

 

[HK-47]

Yep.

Okay under entitlements its got The Band, the Many Pockets and the Wicked Oath. All those appear under installed with checks next to them. Should the quests appear there to though. Wardens Keep was part of the preorder right? Why is this so convoluted? I just wanna play your fucking game!

I should have just goddamn passed and waited for a Complete or GotY edition. I hate DLC.

 

[GillianSeed79]

Is it it me or is this game like twice as big as Mass Effect? I've put in close to 40 hours and have only done the Mage's Circle and Redcliffe quests plus a bunch of side quests.

 

[Fredescu]

Okay under entitlements its got The Band, the Many Pockets and the Wicked Oath. All those appear under installed with checks next to them. Should the quests appear there to though. Wardens Keep was part of the preorder right? Why is this so convoluted? I just wanna play your fucking game!

I should have just goddamn passed and waited for a Complete or GotY edition. I hate DLC.

Warden's Keep was part of the digital special edition or whatever, so if you didn't get that you won't have it. Stone Prisoner isn't listed though, and that comes free with everything. If you're using Steam I think you have to right click DA in the game list and choose "view CD keys", then register that key on the website.

 

[Gattsu25]

So I'm playing as a Rogue and just got the ability to specialize my character class. I have Ranger and Bard available.

Part of me wants to put a point into Ranger just so I can get a pet as an option, but I want to know...how useful are the pets? How do they work?

Is there another rogue specification I should save up for? Is it naive of me to ignore the bard?

 

[Brashnir]

I'm well over 100 hours now and still haven't finished the game.

While it's obviously possible to play the game this way, and there's enough content to satisfy it, it should also be noted (since he's asking how long the game is) that most people finish the main story in under half that time. My playthrough was 46 hours, and I tend to play pretty cautiously, have a low-DPS party, and did both of the DLC quests.

 

[Killthee]

Okay under entitlements its got The Band, the Many Pockets and the Wicked Oath. All those appear under installed with checks next to them. Should the quests appear there to though. Wardens Keep was part of the preorder right? Why is this so convoluted? I just wanna play your fucking game!

I should have just goddamn passed and waited for a Complete or GotY edition. I hate DLC.

You have to redeem the DLC code included with the game. The Stone Prisoner comes included in all versions; Warden's Keep comes with the CE/DDE.

Find the code and redeem it either in game or at the social site.

 

[Fredescu]

So I'm playing as a Rogue and just got the ability to specialize my character class. I have Ranger and Bard available.

Part of me wants to put a point into Ranger just so I can get a pet as an option, but I want to know...how useful are the pets? How do they work?

Is there another rogue specification I should save up for? Is it naive of me to ignore the bard?

Assassin and duelist are better for pure damage.

Bard is good for a bit of utility, but I found the crowd control song kind of annoying to use. The stun generates a lot of threat, so in between pulses, with a lot of enemies close by the bard often dies unless you follow it up with a taunt straight away.

The pets work pretty much like an extra party member that you can control independently, but they take half of your stamina and obviously die when you die. They don't have many abilities, and disappear when you change location which can get annoying. I liked them for scouting, but stopped using them for that after a while as it split up encounters and made them a little too easy. If you get master ranger, the bear makes a decent offtank if you're a tank light group.

 

[HK-47]

Warden's Keep was part of the digital special edition or whatever, so if you didn't get that you won't have it. Stone Prisoner isn't listed though, and that comes free with everything. If you're using Steam I think you have to right click DA in the game list and choose "view CD keys", then register that key on the website.

Which key though? There are 3. I redeemed the promo key and registered my game with the Standard CD Key. Even if SP is standard they should at least tell me I've got this thing and it isnt missing.

 

[Fredescu]

Which key though? There are 3. I redeemed the promo key and registered my game with the Standard CD Key. Even if SP is standard they should at least tell me I've got this thing and it isnt missing.

I don't know, I didn't get the Steam version so I don't know how they label them. Try them all I guess.

 

[Sascha23]

Quick question about Tactics, I notice that my selected characters will not use them while the other non-selected will. How can I make my selected character use tactics?

Um, pardon me if I'm not understanding your question correctly, but the Tactics slots are assigned for A.I. This means that they only work when you're not selecting the character. Obviously, you'll be the one assigning commands and doing all those actions when in control of a character.

 

[Minsc]

Which key though? There are 3. I redeemed the promo key and registered my game with the Standard CD Key. Even if SP is standard they should at least tell me I've got this thing and it isnt missing.

The whole process of how the DLC works for this game is fucking ridiculously fucking fucking fucking stupid.

Like fucking stupid. I had to go so far as to edit some .ini files somewhere about the DLC to tell it I had to purchased it so I could load my saved games (the Steam version apparently doesn't edit the inis and the game constantly thinks you haven't purchased anything and tries to re authenticate the DLC every time you launch -and you can't load your games if your DLC isn't authenticated, so you get locked out of the game for buying the DLC). Luckily it hasn't bugged me since I installed it, so once you get it all sorted out, hopefully you'll never have to deal with it again.

 

[Sascha23]

While it's obviously possible to play the game this way, and there's enough content to satisfy it, it should also be noted (since he's asking how long the game is) that most people finish the main story in under half that time. My playthrough was 46 hours, and I tend to play pretty cautiously, have a low-DPS party, and did both of the DLC quests.

Yes, mine was around 50 hours as well. I'm replaying now and I expect it to be at around 40 this time around since I actually know what I'm doing.

Need to refresh and explore as much as possible before Awakening hits.

This game really is single-player crack.

 

[Rufus]

and you can't load your games if your DLC isn't authenticated, so you get locked out of the game for buying the DLC

You can do a force load. You can keep playing, but without the DLC. I think you can re-activate it later.
It's still a big mess though. I had to do some fiddling to get the game to see the downloaded and installed DLC. I'm dreading the migration from the Win7 RC to the retail, because I'll likely run into problems again upon re-installing it...