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[Nameless]

^^^^^

Ended up going with a dw-Warrior.


I just played for a solid 7-8 hours straight. I cant even remember the last time I 'marathoned' like that, god damn. Any tips on party(and leveling party members)? Right now I'm rolling with Alistar, Morrigren and Sten, who I just recruited before retiring for the night. Not a big fan of him so far, my dog seemed more useful to be honest.

No spoilers please, but while I would like to keep Alistar as the resident tank of my party, dude is acting like a bit of a bitch. He's not going to bail if I keep-up my not so friendly approach to The Chantry, is he? Overall he disapproves of the bulk of my actions. Morrigren not so much.

Absolutely phenomenal game, though. Loving every bloody second of it.

 

[Patryn]

Bought Awakening recently. As I'm kind of odd, I decided to restart Origins, simply because I decided that I really wanted to play as a Rogue in Awakening and I didn't want to start a new character, and I had only beaten Origins as a Warrior.

So I've been trucking along in Origins, went Ranger/Assassin and I'm suddenly reading that on the console version (yes, I'm a console peasant) ranger pet kills give no EXP. That stopped me in my tracks.

So my question is this: I know that the PC got a patch that fixed this. Did the console version of Awakenings also fix this? Or did I just waste four talent points on a skill that doesn't really benefit me long term?

 

[GillianSeed79]

Oh my god. I'm 8 hours into Awakenings and just realized side quests have stopped giving me experience points. What the fuck! I'm hoping I don't have to start over.

 

[HadesGigas]

Something new is coming, and it's only $5:

May 18: Dragon Age: Origins “Darkspawn Chronicles”, 400 Microsoft Points

Hopefully not as lame as the April Fools stuff.

 

[Cep]

Bought Awakening recently. As I'm kind of odd, I decided to restart Origins, simply because I decided that I really wanted to play as a Rogue in Awakening and I didn't want to start a new character, and I had only beaten Origins as a Warrior.

So I've been trucking along in Origins, went Ranger/Assassin and I'm suddenly reading that on the console version (yes, I'm a console peasant) ranger pet kills give no EXP. That stopped me in my tracks.

So my question is this: I know that the PC got a patch that fixed this. Did the console version of Awakenings also fix this? Or did I just waste four talent points on a skill that doesn't really benefit me long term?

I do not know, but you can re-spec in awakening anyway.

 

[Patryn]

I do not know, but you can re-spec in awakening anyway.

Yeah, I found that out. Respec'd to a Assassin/Duelist/Shadow.

Which leads to my new problem: Awakening is BORING. There is NO challenge. I'm playing on hard, I've been playing for almost 9 hours, and I've only had to use 2 health potions. I even beat what I assume is one of the special uber-bosses:

Spoiler

The spectral dragon.

It wasn't even like I started the expansion at level 26. I started at level 23, and I'm apparently not even the game-breaking class of Arcane Warrior/Spirit Healer.

Did Bioware cave to complaints about Dragon Age being too hard or something?

 

[Edgeward]

Seemed like it. Hard feels even easier than vanilla DA O normal. And yes, that is what I considered the hardest fight of the game and it wasn't even that bad.

 

[Kinan]

Yeah, I found that out. Respec'd to a Assassin/Duelist/Shadow.

Which leads to my new problem: Awakening is BORING. There is NO challenge. I'm playing on hard, I've been playing for almost 9 hours, and I've only had to use 2 health potions. I even beat what I assume is one of the special uber-bosses:

Spoiler

The spectral dragon.

It wasn't even like I started the expansion at level 26. I started at level 23, and I'm apparently not even the game-breaking class of Arcane Warrior/Spirit Healer.

Did Bioware cave to complaints about Dragon Age being too hard or something?

I also think it a bit too easy when you start with imported character. Probably starting with lvl18 new char will up a difficulty a bit.

Still I had a few good fights in Awakening. If you want some additional challenge, use only 1 mage in a group.

It was pretty good expansion. Took me around 20 hours, I think, and it was a good ride. Well worth 19€ I paid for it.

 

[Agyar]

Do Bioware have plans to patch Awakening soon? I started playing it just after it was released and stopped partway in, as I realised I would not be able to complete a number of quests, including some companion's quests due to bugs. I'm not normally the type of person to get up in arms about bugs in games ruining the experience but in an RPG such as Dragon Age, not being able to complete content like companion's loyalty quests is a big deal.

 

[SenorDingDong]

I found the conclusion too way to abrupt, so it ended on a disappointinng note for me. I didn't mind the overall shorter length of the game, but they really could have fleshed the ending out a bit more.

Edit: I'm talking about awakenings.

 

[Basileus777]

Announcement from the Bioware forums:

The Darkspawn Chronicles.

You now fight as the Darkspawn! The city of Denerim, jewel of Ferelden, girds itself for war. As a hurlock vanguard, you alone hold the power to make thralls of your fellow darkspawn and drive them into the heat of battle. Heed the archdemon's call--Denerim must burn!

You can read more about the Darkspawn Chronicles and see screenshots here. There will be a video added to the page tomorrow after it goes live on Gamespot later today. Make sure you check out Gamespot around 5pm PST today for your first look.

 

[Patryn]

I also think it a bit too easy when you start with imported character. Probably starting with lvl18 new char will up a difficulty a bit.

Still I had a few good fights in Awakening. If you want some additional challenge, use only 1 mage in a group.

It was pretty good expansion. Took me around 20 hours, I think, and it was a good ride. Well worth 19€ I paid for it.

I am only using one mage in my group.

I guess this is just the result of having a defense rating of 170 and crit rates of 53%/51.4%. The only thing that hits me at this point are special attacks, and with my phys resist rating of 105, most phys specials don't really faze me either. Then, when I crit, which is often, all my skills add ridiculous modifiers to the damage.

Which makes me wonder just how broken the game is for AW/SH.

 

[lastplayed]

Announcement from the Bioware forums:

The Darkspawn Chronicles.

You now fight as the Darkspawn! The city of Denerim, jewel of Ferelden, girds itself for war. As a hurlock vanguard, you alone hold the power to make thralls of your fellow darkspawn and drive them into the heat of battle. Heed the archdemon's call--Denerim must burn!

You can read more about the Darkspawn Chronicles and see screenshots here. There will be a video added to the page tomorrow after it goes live on Gamespot later today. Make sure you check out Gamespot around 5pm PST today for your first look.

Interesting.

You know what this makes me want? A "Dragon Age Wars" type RTS.

 

[bwtw]

Likely been asked already but having not played DAO at all, is it worth buying the expansion - i.e. does it add anything to the main game or is it only additional storyline/features only during the expansion portion?

 

[Edgeward]

If you're expecting any continuation of the main storyline or loose ends being resolved, none of that happens. In essence, it's more quests and skills/talents.

 

[Odrion]

Yeah, the expansion pack is self contained and doesn't add to the vanilla product.

 

[lastplayed]

Likely been asked already but having not played DAO at all, is it worth buying the expansion - i.e. does it add anything to the main game or is it only additional storyline/features only during the expansion portion?

It's worth playing as a stand alone game, I ran through it in about 13 hours, so it's longer than some full priced games at least.

It does throw you into it pretty quickly though, there's not much of a tutorial or introduction, so it can be a little overwhelming for newcomers.

 

[Patryn]

Likely been asked already but having not played DAO at all, is it worth buying the expansion - i.e. does it add anything to the main game or is it only additional storyline/features only during the expansion portion?

Buy DA:O and play through that first. It's a longer and better experience. Plus, Awakening was somewhat designed to be played by someone who has already played DA:O, so while it's far easier, it would probably be confusing for a new player due to the sheer amount of skills and the like thrown at them right away.

 

[HadesGigas]

Trailer is up at Gamespot

 

[Vamphuntr]

Something new is coming, and it's only $5:

May 18: Dragon Age: Origins “Darkspawn Chronicles”, 400 Microsoft Points

Hopefully not as lame as the April Fools stuff.

Jesus... They will probably reused the whole Denerim final battle scenario and gives you the ability to summon darkspawn instead of the archers/werewolves/wizard/gnomes/archer. Paying 5$ to kill the npcs of the game.

They are still not adding anything to awakening yet?

 

[firehawk12]

I don't know why, but it's sort of strange that the DA DLC is cheaper than the ME2 stuff. Still, I guess for 5 bucks I can't complain.

 

[Lucky Forward]

Help! My party keeps getting gang-raped by spiders!

I'm on the Deep Roads (Orton Thaig or something) and I've been successfully dealing with spiders by having my party "hold" in a tunnel while my elf-warrior scouts ahead to draw the spiders back to my party one or two at a time. But now I have this cut-scene where a guy who drinks darkspawn blood is looting a corpse, and the scene overrides my hold command on the party, so when he is finished talking I have about eight spiders swarm my party, and my elf keeps getting webbed and eaten while the other party members are decimated.

Any strategies to counter a swarm attack by spiders?

 

[Vamphuntr]

Help! My party keeps getting gang-raped by spiders!

I'm on the Deep Roads (Orton Thaig or something) and I've been successfully dealing with spiders by having my party "hold" in a tunnel while my elf-warrior scouts ahead to draw the spiders back to my party one or two at a time. But now I have this cut-scene where a guy who drinks darkspawn blood is looting a corpse, and the scene overrides my hold command on the party, so when he is finished talking I have about eight spiders swarm my party, and my elf keeps getting webbed and eaten while the other party members are decimated.

Any strategies to counter a swarm attack by spiders?

Do you have the mass paralysis spell? It's so broken it works on almost anything.

 

[Edgeward]

Do you have a tank that has taunt? Always start off with that. Also breaks the game if you pair with force field and bust out a AoE spell. Mind blast + cone of cold? Hard to say when I don't know your party/skills available.

 

[Patryn]

Help! My party keeps getting gang-raped by spiders!

I'm on the Deep Roads (Orton Thaig or something) and I've been successfully dealing with spiders by having my party "hold" in a tunnel while my elf-warrior scouts ahead to draw the spiders back to my party one or two at a time. But now I have this cut-scene where a guy who drinks darkspawn blood is looting a corpse, and the scene overrides my hold command on the party, so when he is finished talking I have about eight spiders swarm my party, and my elf keeps getting webbed and eaten while the other party members are decimated.

Any strategies to counter a swarm attack by spiders?

Focus on one or two spiders and always try to knock over, paralyze, stun, whatever. You want to take them out of the fight. It's the number one rule of Dragon Age: Always be disabling.

Have your rogue backstab any stunned opponents for faster kills.

Shield Bash, Stone Fist or Shale's Slam has a chance of knocking a spider off a person who has been overwhelmed.

Alistair's (or any templar's) cleanse area skill may free any person currently held by webs. I haven't tried it, though, so I could easily be wrong.

Also, make sure you deactivate hold or your party will sit there and do nothing. (Your command isn't overridden, your party is just moved to a new location, as far as I remember).

Out of curiousity, what's your party config and level and what other treaty missions have you undertaken?

Finally, if all else fails, you can always lower the difficulty for that one fight and bring it back up right after.

 

[Lucky Forward]

Do you have the mass paralysis spell? It's so broken it works on almost anything.

I don't have the mass paralysis, but I do have Mind Blast, which I sort of forgot about. I set that as one of my mage's tactics, and that bought me enough of a breather that I could defeat them. Thanks everyone!

 

[Darklord]

Just wondering does Awakening still import your choices if you don't import a character? My mage at the end of Origins

Spoiler

died while fighting the archdemon

and I don't want to just retcon that ending. So will it still count? Or does it pick a default ending like MassEffect 2 does when you start a new character?

 

[Patryn]

Just wondering does Awakening still import your choices if you don't import a character? My mage at the end of Origins

Spoiler

died while fighting the archdemon

and I don't want to just retcon that ending. So will it still count? Or does it pick a default ending like MassEffect 2 does when you start a new character?

Default ending.

 

[Truant]

Why does every BW game involve huge armies and gathering allies? Can't they just make a nice cozy adventure like Torment or or Betrayer, instead of all the political bullshit from Dragon Age. Smaller scale, deeper narrative.

 

[Darklord]

Default ending.

Lame.

(Origins spoiler)

Spoiler

Why give the option of killing off the main character and then completely ignore that ending? Fucking stupid.

 

[Ventrue]

I just finished Awakening. It was nice, but soured by the ludicrously low difficulty. 'Nightmare' was more like 'Wet Dream.'

 

[Cep]

I just finished Awakening. It was nice, but soured by the ludicrously low difficulty. 'Nightmare' was more like 'Wet Dream.'

Well 'nightmare' in the original was not really very challenging either.

Yeah, I found that out. Respec'd to a Assassin/Duelist/Shadow.

Which leads to my new problem: Awakening is BORING. There is NO challenge. I'm playing on hard, I've been playing for almost 9 hours, and I've only had to use 2 health potions. I even beat what I assume is one of the special uber-bosses:

Spoiler

The spectral dragon.

It wasn't even like I started the expansion at level 26. I started at level 23, and I'm apparently not even the game-breaking class of Arcane Warrior/Spirit Healer.

Did Bioware cave to complaints about Dragon Age being too hard or something?

Play that shit on Nightmare so that you are less bored.

Also, I think I realized one of the big reasons why I dislike DA as much as I do; I thought it was too easy. I dunno why I never realized this before.

I think I should try that hardcore mod.

 

[Ventrue]

DAO was far tougher at times though. I mean, it's not the most difficult game in the world, but it offered a passable degree of challenge. In Awakening, I didn't even need to use abilities; auto attacking would get me through the vast majority of fights.

 

[Rufus]

DAO was far tougher at times though. I mean, it's not the most difficult game in the world, but it offered a passable degree of challenge. In Awakening, I didn't even need to use abilities; auto attacking would get me through the vast majority of fights.

I finally got my hands on Awakening and I have to agree. The only time I've had to use potions so far was during the

Spoiler

spirit dragon fight

. I'm controlling only my main character for 99% of fights and I haven't really implemented any of the new abilities. Maybe it's because I'm playing an Arcane Warrior. I didn't even mess with his equipment besides giving him a new shield.

 

[Gouty]

If I wanted to make this game as easy as possible what are some of the best classes, spells etc to know from the outset?

 

[viewtifulsub]

Mage
Cone of Cold
Blood Magic + Blood Wound
Virulent Walking Bomb
Force Field

Grats, you just beat the game.

 

[Ventrue]

Mass Paralysis as well.

 

[bwtw]

Can't verify any DLC because of some weird internet quirk here. Am I missing out on much by not getting Stone Prisoner?

 

[Rufus]

Can't verify any DLC because of some weird internet quirk here. Am I missing out on much by not getting Stone Prisoner?

Stone Prisoner is the best DLC, because it actually adds a fully featured character who is on par with the others. So, you should try to resolve your problem there, Shale should not be missed. Have a look at Bioware's support forums for the game, I bet there's someone who had the same problem as you already.

 

[Patryn]

Can't verify any DLC because of some weird internet quirk here. Am I missing out on much by not getting Stone Prisoner?

Yeah, you should not miss it. Shale's the best and funniest party member, IMO.

 

[bwtw]

Frustrating.

I'm behind a proxy server (university network) which I'm guessing is why it just won't work. Probably put the game into the backlog till I can get the DLC and play it in full.

Edit: Or can I just start a game and then verify it later whilst in mid-save?

 

[subversus]

Ok, I'm going to get the game in 2 weeks (PC version). I haven't played BG1-2, so this type of RPG is new to me. Is it easy to pick up for a noob? I heard the game is pretty difficult, so should I start with easy difficulty to actually enjoy it?

Also what graphic mods should I get?

 

[DanDeschain]

I'm about to get the game on Steam. I just wanna know if the crap that comes with the digital deluxe edition is worth the extra 10 bones?

 

[MechaX]

I should really just go ahead and get Awakening at this point, but going through Origins a third time sounds rather appealing, especially since I always wanted to go through an "evil" playthrough.

But so far, I have a male warrior and jeez... after my rogue and mage playthroughs, the warrior is absolutely boring. Plus, I can't be a silver-tongued god with the dialogue checks with a warrior that well since Cunning isn't really important for the class. That, and I absolutely cannot make a decent looking male character for my life. I have already had two successful female characters (which is good considering I can't make decent looking characters for any WRPG) and this male character has a permanent Keeanu Reeves "Whoa" face that I cannot take seriously. Is there a site for some character sliders anywhere like for Mass Effect?

Also, what is the most citing origin story anyway? I've heard that City Elf was pretty exciting. Given what I heard, it might be more fitting to play as a manipulative bitch rogue under the City Elf origin.

 

[Coverly]

Ok, I'm going to get the game in 2 weeks (PC version). I haven't played BG1-2, so this type of RPG is new to me. Is it easy to pick up for a noob? I heard the game is pretty difficult, so should I start with easy difficulty to actually enjoy it?

Also what graphic mods should I get?

Yes, it's pretty easy once you get the healer, you'll be fine. Once you're done with your beginning quest head to the mages tower to pickup the healer.

For mods, it's not graphical, but I had fun with the one that lets you keep your dog by your side, even in a full party.

If you want to make things even easier, if you make Leilana into a hunter, at least on my game, there is a summoning glitch that can get her to summon two pets at once:

1. for leilana's tactics put a rule: Self ->Any -> Activate wolf summon.
2. In an area where you are going to fight, make sure she has nothing summoned.
3. Summon the spider.
4. Go to any random/small battle. Leilana will self activate the wolf summon, killing the spider summon. The spider's body will remain for a period of time.
5. Once you finish the skirmish, the spider will revive by itself and follow you! It has no icon but you can manually select it. Now you have a wolf and a spider you can run around with.

I'm about to get the game on Steam. I just wanna know if the crap that comes with the digital deluxe edition is worth the extra 10 bones?

Yes. Extra storage (only weps and armor). Extra character. More weps/items. The smith in the DLC was able to craft a really cool star sword from a meteorite and it's the best sword in the game so far.

 

[Patryn]

I should really just go ahead and get Awakening at this point, but going through Origins a third time sounds rather appealing, especially since I always wanted to go through an "evil" playthrough.

But so far, I have a male warrior and jeez... after my rogue and mage playthroughs, the warrior is absolutely boring. Plus, I can't be a silver-tongued god with the dialogue checks with a warrior that well since Cunning isn't really important for the class. That, and I absolutely cannot make a decent looking male character for my life. I have already had two successful female characters (which is good considering I can't make decent looking characters for any WRPG) and this male character has a permanent Keeanu Reeves "Whoa" face that I cannot take seriously. Is there a site for some character sliders anywhere like for Mass Effect?

Also, what is the most citing origin story anyway? I've heard that City Elf was pretty exciting. Given what I heard, it might be more fitting to play as a manipulative bitch rogue under the City Elf origin.

City Elf was good, IMO. It's also the only origin in which the story is different depending on your gender.

So far I've done that, Human Warrior and Dalish Elf, and all I can say is that the Dalish elf origin sucks. Unlike the other two, it has little to no impact later on in the game, because you don't run into anyone from your origin story later on. That really disappointed me, because I like the idea of the Dalish quite a bit.

From what I understand, Dwarf Noble is another good origin.

If you want to make things even easier, if you make Leilana into a hunter, at least on my game, there is a summoning glitch that can get her to summon two pets at once:

1. for leilana's tactics put a rule: Self ->Any -> Activate wolf summon.
2. In an area where you are going to fight, make sure she has nothing summoned.
3. Summon the spider.
4. Go to any random/small battle. Leilana will self activate the wolf summon, killing the spider summon. The spider's body will remain for a period of time.
5. Once you finish the skirmish, the spider will revive by itself and follow you! It has no icon but you can manually select it. Now you have a wolf and a spider you can run around with.

Note that unless you're fully patched on PC, pet kills DO NOT give EXP.

It should also be noted that the console version has never fixed this, so bear that in mind that rangers may be costing you EXP.

 

[Edgeward]

I'm about to get the game on Steam. I just wanna know if the crap that comes with the digital deluxe edition is worth the extra 10 bones?

In short, no. Mods allow you to get a chest at camp for free, and outside of the sword from Warden's keep, the rest is really incosequential. Although the grimoire is tempting, it's unnecessary and would only help in the beginning.

Plus, I can't be a silver-tongued god with the dialogue checks with a warrior that well since Cunning isn't really important for the class

Most, except the really difficult ones, really soley on the skill lvl for persuasion. So after the Circle of Magi/Fade quest you should be back to being a very persuaive man.

 

[JustHadToJoin]

thinking of buying this game, but i remember from way back when that you only get certain things if you buy new. is that still the case?

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

thinking of buying this game, but i remember from way back when that you only get certain things if you buy new. is that still the case?

Whatever you buy the game new or not, you have to pay for that stuff,the reason is the codes for the new things "expired" this month, for EA if you don't buy the game new in a specified amount of time, you are like a little dirty second hand buyer.

 

[JustHadToJoin]

for EA if you don't buy the game new in a specified amount of time, you are like a little dirty second hand buyer.

well I wouldn't want them to be liars now. thanks for the info!