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[Patryn]

Beat Awakening.

Um, yeah.

I give them credit for doing a true expansion pack, but talk about an abrupt ending.

At least the final boss actually was a challenge (something that it had been missing up until that point). Of course, that's mainly due to the cheapness of Overwhelm. It become purely annoying when your character can regen health faster than it gets taken away during the attack.

 

[jackdoe]

Awakening is actually not half bad. What also helped to shape my opinion is that I essentially got Awakening for free; I complained to EA customer service about how my Dead Space 2 (PS3) Isaac Armor didn't work for the PC and they gave me a $20 EA store gift certificate. Awakening and Pinnacle Station, FTW.

 

[Leucrota]

Can anyone offer me some advice on dealing with Broken Circle and the Fade? My nightmare run has been going smoothly until now, as I made a stupid decision and entered the Circle of Magi with myself (mage), Morrigan and Wynne with Sten providing tanking duties. My biggest problem is that Sten takes so much damage but deals very little, is the two-handed weapon style really as crap as I think it is? Also in the Fade

Spoiler

at Weishaupt fortress I'm getting my ass handed to me by fake Duncan and his friends. My mage is specced for support and I just can't survive this specific encounter without getting slaughtered by D or stunned/knocked back.

Should I pussy out of Nightmare or load back to the camp before the quest? Now I'm in the Fade I'm almost at the stage with

Spoiler

multiple forms and the final boss

but the first area is impossible for my character. It would be a shame to lose all the time and frustration from the tower just to do it all over again. Level 8 here.

I am having a similar problem in a lot of my battles lately. Alistair, my tank, isn't taking much damage, dies quite quickly in battles, while everyone else, including mages, survive. Sort of weird, I guess I need to change up my tactics a little.

 

[Songbird]

I am having a similar problem in a lot of my battles lately. Alistair, my tank, isn't taking much damage, dies quite quickly in battles, while everyone else, including mages, survive. Sort of weird, I guess I need to change up my tactics a little.

I would be fine with Sten taking lots of hits if he could make his own. But with 20 strength and dexterity he misses a lot - even with Heroic Offense active.

 

[Leucrota]

I would be fine with Sten taking lots of hits if he could make his own. But with 20 strength and dexterity he misses a lot - even with Heroic Offense active.

Yea, say here. Only mages are doing anything. The tank is more like a jalopy.

 

[Ledsen]

I am having a similar problem in a lot of my battles lately. Alistair, my tank, isn't taking much damage, dies quite quickly in battles, while everyone else, including mages, survive. Sort of weird, I guess I need to change up my tactics a little.

Yeah I'm having the same problems, although I'm only on Hard. I've done the Mage Tower and the Forest, am currently in Redcliffe. Alistair takes a fuck-ton of damage and has to constantly be healed by Wynne and Morrigan. I'm using two-handed weapons since I think they're pretty cool, but now I'm thinking I should've gone with sword/shield... it's too late now though since I've invested so many points in two-handed skills

 

[Gvaz]

I found sword and board to not be nearly as useful as Shale. She could absorb tons of damage comparatively.

 

[ProtoCents]

So I suppose that this is the thread for Awakenings too?

I ran into quite the glitch in my play through. After I secured the Keep Anders was completely gone. I was stuck with just Oghren and Nathaniel until I ran into Velanna. Has anyone else heard of such a thing? I realize DA:O Awakenings is known for its fair share of glitches but god damn if that wasn't a big one.

Edit: Also, I am trying to play through the remaining DLC (Golems and Witch Hunt) using my DA:O Awakenings save from the epilogue but only the auto-save before the boss fight with The Mother is there. There is no epilogue save like with DA:O. What gives?

 

[Mikey Jr.]

So I want to play this game again, but roll a rogue whose primary is archer. I heard there was a bug though with this or something? Like the bow doesnt level? Not sure. 360 here.

So what does strength do for a rogue/archer? Nothing? Just dex?

 

[ExMachina]

So I want to play this game again, but roll a rogue whose primary is archer. I heard there was a bug though with this or something? Like the bow doesnt level? Not sure. 360 here.

So what does strength do for a rogue/archer? Nothing? Just dex?

The bug is only with crossbows - they should have Str as a damage modifer but it actually has no effect.

Shortbows and longbows both have 50% Dex / 50% Str contributing to damage, though you can replace Str with Cunning as the bonus damage modifier with the skill Lethality, which is recommended since Cunning is more useful for rogue-specific abilities (lockpicking, disabling traps, persuasion, armor penetration, attack talents, buffs, etc.).

The only reason to put any points into Str is if you want the option of equipping better armor, pump the rest into Dex/Cun.

 

[Lostconfused]

Two Handed style is kind of marginally ok but its not meant for tanking. It does decent but not great damage. I probably wouldn't recommend for any optimal party build though. But part of that is because Bioware is fucking awful when it comes to creating a working combat system. Now if you get the combat tweaks mod then two handed style becomes significantly better. My main character can take out any single mob in two or three hits unless you get a lucky crit.

So what does strength do for a rogue/archer? Nothing? Just dex?

Yeah screw strength its useless, want to wear better armor? Get some gear with +STR so you can put on that gear and then forget about it.

 

[Leucrota]

Well I just figured out I didn't really have a healer/buffer/debuffer, so I made my character take on these duties, and now my squad is doing well. In the past 3 battles, we have not lost a single character to unconsciousness, and a battle that totally ruined my squad before was a cake walk.

I hate archers though.

 

[Songbird]

Yeah screw strength its useless, want to wear better armor? Get some gear with +STR so you can put on that gear and then forget about it.

Also the attribute fonts in the Fade are a good source of a few points. 22-24 strength is all you need for the top-of-the-line light armour or Ancient Elven (which you need a mod for a complete set of).

Well I just figured out I didn't really have a healer/buffer/debuffer, so I made my character take on these duties, and now my squad is doing well. In the past 3 battles, we have not lost a single character to unconsciousness, and a battle that totally ruined my squad before was a cake walk.

I hate archers though.

Using the respec mod Wynne uses only Spirit and the Creation sigil spells with Morrigan staying in the Entropy school. My mage is Creation/Primal but he's getting massacred without many magical attacks.

 

[vareon]

So what's the best medium armor for my dual wielding warrior? I don't really want to make him wear a Heavy/Massive armor since I spam skills a lot.

 

[kai3345]

Currently replaying this to get a good save for DA2. I remember when I originally did it I tried to side with the Wolves over the elves. No matter how hard I tried I always sided with the elves.

How do you side with the wolves?

 

[ProtoCents]

So in anticipation of DA2 I checked out youtube for some best party banter videos and wasn't disappointed. On both of my play throughs I limited myself in character selection and thus didn't get to witness all of the banter.

Anyways, these videos really deliver.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZdY0zN86tA&feature=channel_video_title

 

[gdt]

Finally sort of getting a hang of the combat (360 version). Fine tuning my tactics helped alot, especially setting Heal/Potion tactics.

Entering the Deep Roads now.

 

[Yu Narukami]

Which DLC besides Awakening doesn't require the full game for playing?

 

[HadesGigas]

Which DLC besides Awakening doesn't require the full game for playing?

They all require the full game. Even the dlc version of Awakening. Awakening has a standalone disc version, though (similar to Episodes from Liberty City or RDR Undead Nightmare discs)

 

[2San]

So in anticipation of DA2 I checked out youtube for some best party banter videos and wasn't disappointed. On both of my play throughs I limited myself in character selection and thus didn't get to witness all of the banter.

Anyways, these videos really deliver.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZdY0zN86tA&feature=channel_video_title

The Morrigan Sten banter is pretty hilarious. Never saw it, because I never actually use Sten.

 

[Fix The Scientist]

I've done a shameful thing, i don't have time to finish this before DA2 comes out so i switched to casual difficulty in order to quickly get through the remainder of the game. I lowered the difficulty at the landsmeet part and i'm now just obliterating everything in sight. I hate myself for doing this.

 

[HadesGigas]

I've done a shameful thing, i don't have time to finish this before DA2 comes out so i switched to casual difficulty in order to quickly get through the remainder of the game. I lowered the difficulty at the landsmeet part and i'm now just obliterating everything in sight. I hate myself for doing this.

You should just take your time and then once you start DA2 it'll probably have a patch fixing whatever game ending bugs are found day one.

 

[Stallion Free]

I rolled through the Fade in two sittings and it wasn't quite as bad as I remembered. Also, after being stuck with that filter for a couple hours, coming out of it made the game look incredibly sharp and pretty.

Everything else has been great so far though. I think I am enjoying this replay more than my first run through (that I never finished).

 

[Lostconfused]

Everything else has been great so far though. I think I am enjoying this replay more than my first run through (that I never finished).

Same here. Playing the game again I enjoyed it a lot more than playing it the week it came out. But at least part of it can probably attributed to using a bunch of mods to fix some stuff up.

 

[Stallion Free]

Same here. Playing the game again I enjoyed it a lot more than playing it the week it came out. But at least part of it can probably attributed to using a bunch of mods to fix some stuff up.

What mods are you using? I'm currently only using a custom armor set, forcing the finishing moves, and one other that seems to be slipping my mind now.

 

[Lostconfused]

What mods are you using? I'm currently only using a custom armor set, forcing the finishing moves, and one other that seems to be slipping my mind now.

http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=354
http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=248
http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=647

The tooltips one is really useful because it clears up some of the things that Bioware decided to not tell you in their infinite stupidity. The combat tweaks "attempts" to rebalance some abilities and skills in the game, I primarily use it because it fixes some bugs that I noticed in the combat mechanics that never got patched and it gives a decent buff to some specs like two handed weapons. I am using the armor set because I primarily like the way it looks but it is a bit OP as well. Because of all these mods I bumped up the difficulty to hard, but at around lvl 19 even nightmare isn't challenging anymore.

Edit: Oh right I forgot DA redesigned and the JBtexture mod. http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=686

Honestly don't remember my first playthrough of Origins too much so I can't say how much of a difference the redesigned mod makes but so far the game looks more or less ok and I haven't noticed anything too ridiculouse so I am sticking with it. JBtexture mod might not be all that hot, it looks ok sometimes and ot other times the textures look like they clearly got put through a photoshop filter.

Edit2: Oh and this tactics mod http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=181 I think I used some of the new conditions it gives you but its nothing major, just nice to have.

Also about all that bitching about rogues back stabbing. Is there a mod that fixes that which I am using or what? Because honestly I am having no problems with it, the rogue in the party automaticaly moves into a flanking position for the backstab and everything works out fine. I have no idea why everyone is saying that some shit was broken and now its "fixed" in DA2 by completely removing that mechanic.

 

[Stallion Free]

Oh snap I'm a two-hand focused warrior. Will I be able to apply that mod to my 15-20 hour save? Or would I have to start fresh (which I am not going to do).

 

[Lostconfused]

Oh snap I'm a two-hand focused warrior. Will I be able to apply that mod to my 15-20 hour save? Or would I have to start fresh (which I am not going to do).

Yeah you can just toss it into the middle of your game and it will work. Just read up on the shield bit in the mod instructions. Apparently DA:O does some funky math when it comes to equipment so you have to unequip them from all your party members before you apply the mod.

Edit: Hmm some posts suggest removing all equipment from all characters before installing the mod because of the way the game calculates stats. But its probably not a big deal since the mod only changes the values on the shields.

 

[Nemesis_]

I can't beat The Harvester in the Amgarrak DLC.

Anyone got ANY hints? It seems near impossible to do enough damage AND keep everyone alive.

I'm a Mage. =(

 

[kai3345]

Currently blowing through the game on easy in hopes of beating the game to get an importable DA2 save by tuesday. Nearing the end of the Urn Quest and then all I have left is Landsmeet + Endgame.

I'm wondering if I could also get through Awakenings too. How long does Awakenings take to beat on Easy?

 

[Nemesis_]

Currently blowing through the game on easy in hopes of beating the game to get an importable DA2 save by tuesday. Nearing the end of the Urn Quest and then all I have left is Landsmeet + Endgame.

I'm wondering if I could also get through Awakenings too. How long does Awakenings take to beat on Easy?

Less time than Origins, easily.

I researched a bit and you'll probably be best fininshing Amgarrak and Witch Hunt too. I'd put more priority on Witch Hunt though, just quietly.

I fucking want to beat Amgarrak but it's near impossible.

 

[Patryn]

Less time than Origins, easily.

I researched a bit and you'll probably be best fininshing Amgarrak and Witch Hunt too. I'd put more priority on Witch Hunt though, just quietly.

I fucking want to beat Amgarrak but it's near impossible.

Really? What are you having trouble with?

The final fight is tough, but you should be able to get through at least the first form. After that, ignore the army he summons and focus only on the boss, and you can make it through.

 

[Nemesis_]

Really? What are you having trouble with?

The final fight is tough, but you should be able to get through at least the first form. After that, ignore the army he summons and focus only on the boss, and you can make it through.

I'm all Level 33, and he just keeps killing me off. Playing on Hard for the achievement, by the way.

It's mainly the skeletons in the second phase that are doing me problems. I try to get rid of all of them but they just don't die anywhere near as fast as I'd like them to and they knock my party out totally.

It just seems to impossible. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Apparently I have an item to respec but it's not working either. >_>

(360 version)

 

[Patryn]

I'm all Level 33, and he just keeps killing me off. Playing on Hard for the achievement, by the way.

It's mainly the skeletons in the second phase that are doing me problems. I try to get rid of all of them but they just don't die anywhere near as fast as I'd like them to and they knock my party out totally.

It just seems to impossible. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Apparently I have an item to respec but it's not working either. >_>

(360 version)

What class? I was a rogue, and my entire party was dead for that second form, pretty much. My best advice is to pretty much just always ignore the summons unless they're regular tier. The only thing that matters is killing the boss as fast as possible.

At the point you're at, you should easily be doing the most amount of damage with your main character, so the rest of your party is purely there to get attention and absorb damage. Keep the Golem alive as long as possible, and micro him to revive and heal as needed, other than that, never take your focus off doing as much damage to the boss as possible.

Seriously: Just ignore the summons. You're done when the main boss is done.

 

[Nemesis_]

There's a way to tell everyone to focus on JUST the harvester? The "Boss Tier" summons are almost unavoidable, they rack up so much damage so fast.

It seriously feels impossible. >_> I will try though.

I'm a mage.

 

[kai3345]

There's a way to tell everyone to focus on JUST the harvester? The "Boss Tier" summons are almost unavoidable, they rack up so much damage so fast.

It seriously feels impossible. >_> I will try though.

I'm a mage.

Tell everyone in the tactics menu to target whichever enemy the character you are controlling is currently targeting

Edit: Hmm. I may just skip Awakening and dive straight into witch hunt (ive beaten both Origins + Awakening + DLC on 360 so its just a matter of getting a save that will affect DA2, not really a "I want to play all of the content" kind of thing)

 

[Nemesis_]

I've tried to respec, I've tried everything. Everyone just goes down too fast. My mage can do a good job looking after the party but once they go down it's too hard to get a hit in without being flooded by skeletons and just destroyed.

Why the fuck does he summon MORE skeletons in the second phase? They're unkillable without taking hefty damage.

I think I'm doing something wrong, and despite trying EVERYTHING I can't do it. =(

 

[Axiom]

Is there a Steam gift like way to get a hold of that Amazon Ultimate Edition? I figure it's about the only way I'll be completing any of the DLC

 

[jackdoe]

Awakenings is such a glitchy piece of shit. Jesus christ.

I took my time with the lyrium sand for the Bombs Away! quest, doing it one at a time, and yet the game still glitches by marking the quest "complete" after three deliveries. So I figured that, all right, it's all good. One less bomb, but Vigil's Keep is all upgraded. And then I beat the game. And see the epilogue.

Spoiler

Vigil's Keep fucking fell and my other party members died. Unbelievable.

And I don't have a workable save that wouldn't be time consuming.

-edit-
Dug around Dragon Age Wiki.

Spoiler

Vigil's Keep falls regardless of upgrades? Son of a bitch. What's the point then?

 

[Nemesis_]

Well I beat The Harvester, but it was really an accident and it kind of glitched out.

There's a point in the area where no enemies can access, but I can fire. >_>

 

[jackdoe]

Well I beat The Harvester, but it was really an accident and it kind of glitched out.

There's a point in the area where no enemies can access, but I can fire. >_>

It's called tactics. No shame about that.

 

[Footos22]

100% on PS3 yesterday, every trophy for every pack.

Phew

Have a perfect save to transfer over to 2 now.

Harvester on hard was a complete walkover with my archer rogue with 130 points in dexterity. and all the archery buffs.

350 damage a hit, 600 when using talents
running from enemies firing of 1 or 2 arrows a sec

was dodging most of the attacks like neo anyway

Archery is so broken after the main game. Was dual wielding before golems dlc
Easy peasy
Rest of team died within a couple of mins though!

 

[pahamrick]

Awakenings is such a glitchy piece of shit. Jesus christ.

I took my time with the lyrium sand for the Bombs Away! quest, doing it one at a time, and yet the game still glitches by marking the quest "complete" after three deliveries. So I figured that, all right, it's all good. One less bomb, but Vigil's Keep is all upgraded. And then I beat the game. And see the epilogue.

Spoiler

Vigil's Keep fucking fell and my other party members died. Unbelievable.

And I don't have a workable save that wouldn't be time consuming.

-edit-
Dug around Dragon Age Wiki.

Spoiler

Vigil's Keep falls regardless of upgrades? Son of a bitch. What's the point then?

I think maybe you just got a nasty glitch, when I did Awakening's I got all the upgrades too but

Spoiler

while the Keep eventually 'fell' and a few people died, all my party member's left behind lived and the epilogue text talked about how bad ass they were at holding off the Darkspawn. Supposedly the party members only die if you neglect to go to the Keep and do the joining ritual for them before the final battle.

 

[Footos22]

I think maybe you just got a nasty glitch, when I did Awakening's I got all the upgrades too but

Spoiler

while the Keep eventually 'fell' and a few people died, all my party member's left behind lived and the epilogue text talked about how bad ass they were at holding off the Darkspawn. Supposedly the party members only die if you neglect to go to the Keep and do the joining ritual for them before the final battle.

I delivered all 4 one by one and got the keep upgrade trophy, but 'bombs away' was still on my list of incomplete quests.

Spoiler

I let Amaranthine burn to the ground in the end anyway! Bandit ridden shithole.

 

[gdt]

Just finished!

Tried to run through it before DAII, so I didn't really get a prime save, I think.

Didn't romance anyone (kinda Leliana though, but didn't stick it in)
Morrigan hated me.
Didn't win the Landsmeet non-violently.

Spoiler

Allaister king.

Spoiler

My guy sacrficed.

On to Awakenings! Can't use my guy though I guess :/.

 

[gdt]

Wait...umm...

I CAN import into Awakenings? Okay....

But my...guy....

 

[Totobeni]

100% on PS3 yesterday, every trophy for every pack.

Phew

Have a perfect save to transfer over to 2 now.

:/
...hmmmm will I lose something if I don't have a Save for DAO and Awakening

I am buying the US version for DA2 but I have DAO/Awakening on PAL so the save won't work, so what am I missing? ( unlockables ? story related thing?)

 

[SpudBud]

Wait...umm...

I CAN import into Awakenings? Okay....

But my...guy....

They retcon it.

 

[gdt]

They retcon it.

Into what?

I just forced a retcon dammit. Who's King then?

 

[Gvaz]

They retcon it.

How? I imported and did the ritual.

Also those of you worrying about the perfect save, gibbed from SA is making a DA:O generator and will release it a little bit after the game officially comes out on the PC, so for those of you playing on the PC, that is an option.