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[RS4-]

Are the gems used for anything at all? If not, I'm going on a mass selling spree.

About tactics, is there a way to use a toxin on my weapon one time? I noticed that when I had it set on
self > any > use ____
the character will just sit there during a fight and use said item over and over again.

The only way around it is by manually doing it myself, I guess?

Unless it's the "any" part of the equation lol.

30hrs played!

Edit- I like the amount of strategy involved later on. Before I'd just run in and pound the fuck out of everything. Now I have to make sure my tank plays a serious threat and has the attention of everyone; then micro the flanking attacks and disengage when attention is moved to the non-tank.

 

[bengraven]

Isometric view, I <3 you.

 

[jabipun]

I've played through all the parts I've seen in live streams on PC now, and the PC version seems to be clearly harder. Much harder. No less obvious than the 360 stream I saw of him taking the Ogre on nightmare. It consisted of him selecting all and attacking. On hard I couldn't let him hit me more than like 3 times on any character. His special attacks killed the guys I picked up in 1 hit a couple times.

Really, wow?

Console version's difficulty is a fucking joke.

Playing on hard mode confirmed. I knew something was wrong with normal mode when I'd hardly access the menu (other than for the use of the occasional healing potion). Sure, the game would probably get harder once you get past the first areas of the game - but it'd have to significantly get harder for me to actually stay on normal.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

well shit, after playing a few more hours I'm really warming up to the combat. I just got past the

Spoiler

joining ceremony

, holy shit, that was awesome. This game is reminding me of A Song of Ice and Fire in a lot of ways (Grey Wardens=Night Watch) and considering ASoIaF is my favorite book series, this is definatley a good thing

I'm currently on my second reading of the ASoIaF series and you can really tell the writers of Dragon Age were influenced by it. The whole human noble origin quest gave off a strong ASoIaF vibe. And yeah, when I first learned about the Darkspawn and the Grey Wardens I instantly thought of The Others and the Night Watch.

 

[Fredescu]

All they did was reduce the total number of enemies and increase the difficulty of the remaining enemies. You're exaggerating the difference.

You're just repeating what I said basically. How is that an exaggeration?

My point is, there is plenty of challenge and tactics in the console version, it's not baby mode.

I'm not trying to call it baby mode either. I think you exaggerated my comments in your head and responded to those exaggerations.

 

[Tobor]

I'm currently on my second reading of the ASoIaF series and you can really tell the writers of Dragon Age were influenced by it. The whole human noble origin quest gave off a strong ASoIaF vibe. And yeah, when I first learned about the Darkspawn and the Grey Wardens I instantly thought of The Others and the Night Watch.

Yeah, DA is a Tolkien/Martin mash up, which is unsurprisingly awesome.

You're just repeating what I said basically. How is that an exaggeration?


I'm not trying to call it baby mode either. I think you exaggerated my comments in your head and responded to those exaggerations.

Fair enough, let's drop it and get back to the awesome.

 

[MirageDwarf]

Really, wow?

Console version's difficulty is a fucking joke.

Playing on hard mode confirmed. I knew something was wrong with normal mode when I'd hardly access the menu (other than for the use of the occasional healing potion). Sure, the game would probably get harder once you get past the first areas of the game - but it'd have to significantly get harder for me to actually stay on normal.

I think you should really pick one by now. Or keep changing based on your encounter difficulties.

 

[-tetsuo-]

Isometric view, I <3 you.

O ya. I'll grab some more screens and post em when I start playing again.

 

[jabipun]

I think you should really pick one by now. Or keep changing based on your encounter difficulties.

Yeah, seriously huh.

I did though - I'm playing on console hard.

Every poster who's said that the game gets harder on normal when you get access to the world map for example, is a PC player.

Ultimately though, the reason why I've asked about it here was because I don't want to get into a habit of changing the difficulty every time I get a challenged.

But, it really does seem that Console Hard = PC Normal.

So now I have to worry about friendly fire. Question, how do I make sure my A.I MAGE avoids friendly fire.

Just set her (Morrigon - the only mage I have so far) where she only uses spread damage spells against enemies away from party members? Is there even an A.I tactic for that?

 

[water_wendi]

So i finally got around to fiddling with my graphics settings. The config utility suggested Medium settings when i first installed. i turned everything up to max, v-sync on, and the resolution i kept at 1280x800 because at 1680x1050 the text is too small for my liking.. and im surprised to say the game seems to run about the same. If there is a hit to performance i cant tell (i didnt have fraps on to check fps). Here are my specs btw:

Core2Duo 6320 @ 2.3GHz
4GB memory
8600 GTS
Windows 7 64-bit

Afterward i decided to start a new character.. a Dwarf Noble Rogue.. to test Fraps recording performance. Before with those high settings i was getting 30+ frames.. but with Fraps going i get drops to about 15 fps or so. The frames always seem to drop in iso view.. just too much stuff going on i guess.

i plan on recording a Nightmare run. i think i have a well enough grasp of combat where i wont have to F5/F9 so much any more. Also since im constantly recording myself i find it helps to curb my inquisitve "lets reload and see what would have happened" nature :lol Already uploading the first part to Youtube.

 

[eznark]

So I just picked up a couple of new party members (man I do not like juggling characters!) and was wondering if unused characters scale with the rest of my team or if they just sit there becoming uselesser and uselesser.

 

[REV 09]

so how do you make potions?

I bought a recipe.
I bought a flask.
I have a lot of random ingredients.
I don't know where to find the recipe.

 

[water_wendi]

so how do you make potions?

I bought a recipe.
I bought a flask.
I have a lot of random ingredients.
I don't know where to find the recipe.

Click on the Herbalism skill.. it should show up there.

So I just picked up a couple of new party members (man I do not like juggling characters!) and was wondering if unused characters scale with the rest of my team or if they just sit there becoming uselesser and uselesser.

Your other characters still get xp even out of party.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

so how do you make potions?

I bought a recipe.
I bought a flask.
I have a lot of random ingredients.
I don't know where to find the recipe.

I don't recall having to buy a recipe, but I may be wrong.

I am pretty sure Morrigan starts with the ability to brew various potions as long as you have the ingredients.

 

[Shawsie64]

Harder difficulty?

Didn't bioware themselves say the console version and PC versions have similar difficulty (not to mention the same settings - easy, normal, hard, nightmare. the only difference is that PC throws more enemies at you, and the console versions compensate by having what enemies that are on-screen, be at more challenging. That it evens out.

...BUT THEN, I read posts like this:



I feel, the game is easy on normal mode on console - but like I've said, I'm still at the beginning (just got Morrigon - about 4 or so hours in). So, three scenarios:

1) The game gets harder (on any difficulty setting) as you push onward through the game past the first 5 hours or so.

2) The PC version is indeed significantly harder than the console versions.

3) I'm the awesome and you're the suck in wrpg's. (I doubt this).

:lol im not good at WRPG's and it does get harder (playing on PC)

 

[eznark]

Your other characters still get xp even out of party.

Awesome, thanks. At a slower rate I assume?

Also the more I play this game the happier I am that I read Stolen Throne. It's essentially about Loghain, which gives the character a ton of depth that I wouldn't otherwise have picked up.

 

[water_wendi]

Are the gems used for anything at all? If not, I'm going on a mass selling spree.

i was curious about this and after checking online it seems the gems are used when dealing with the dwarves.

Awesome, thanks. At a slower rate I assume?

As far as ive heard its at the same rate.

 

[-tetsuo-]

I need to pick up trap making. I'm sure they can get pretty useful for the hordes of enemies. That encounter with those 16 bandits really opened my eyes O_O

 

[Not a Jellyfish]

I am loving this game. I am a Commoner Dwarf and he is a bad ass.

 

[Y2Kev]

Wow at

Spoiler

Demon connor

...that was really funny....seeing his

Spoiler

uncle

roll around was awesome :lol

 

[Tideas]

why is there charged DLC already on the week this game is released?

That just doesn't seem too...right

 

[Masta_Killah]

So i finally got around to fiddling with my graphics settings. The config utility suggested Medium settings when i first installed. i turned everything up to max, v-sync on, and the resolution i kept at 1280x800 because at 1680x1050 the text is too small for my liking.. and im surprised to say the game seems to run about the same. If there is a hit to performance i cant tell (i didnt have fraps on to check fps). Here are my specs btw:

Core2Duo 6320 @ 2.3GHz
4GB memory
8600 GTS
Windows 7 64-bit

Afterward i decided to start a new character.. a Dwarf Noble Rogue.. to test Fraps recording performance. Before with those high settings i was getting 30+ frames.. but with Fraps going i get drops to about 15 fps or so. The frames always seem to drop in iso view.. just too much stuff going on i guess.

i plan on recording a Nightmare run. i think i have a well enough grasp of combat where i wont have to F5/F9 so much any more. Also since im constantly recording myself i find it helps to curb my inquisitve "lets reload and see what would have happened" nature :lol Already uploading the first part to Youtube.

VSync will cause a performance dip when turned on. So will AA. Fraps will also cause a peformance drop when used. As for my setup, I have:

C2D 4500 oc'd at 2.75
ati x1950 pro 512
Win 7 32-bit
3.5GB Ram

Im running the game at:

1440 x 900
AAx4
Very High Graphics settings
High textures
VSync- Off
Frame Buffer- On

Getting solid fps(no slowdown at all), no dips, and rare screen hitching. I can run the game at AAx8, but the hitching becomes a little bit more prevalent and I can't tell the difference between AAx4 and AAx8. Also, even with VSync turned off, I rarely get screen tearing. It only happens during cutscenes and even then it is hard to notice(unless you're actively looking for it).

 

[water_wendi]

why is there charged DLC already on the week this game is released?

That just doesn't seem too...right

The day-1 DLC is there because the game was finished ages ago. It just took them like 6 months to get the console versions up and running. In this time they had teams working on DLC. i think its a dick move but whatever.

stuffs

ill probably fiddle around with things.. drop AA down and experiment with V-Sync off. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[eznark]

why is there charged DLC already on the week this game is released?

That just doesn't seem too...right

There was also pretty significant free DLC (if you preordered) with Stone Prisoner. Well, supposedly it's significant, havent gotten to it yet.

The paid stuff is hardly integral, so it's not like a Prince of Persia/Tomb Raider situation where they hacked off the end of the story just to sell it to you.

 

[RS4-]

i was curious about this and after checking online it seems the gems are used when dealing with the dwarves.



As far as ive heard its at the same rate.

Thanks for the gem thing.

About recipes, some shops sell various ones.

 

[tadcalabash]

No. But Steam is the better service! Like the best thing ever tbh.

Steam IS amazing... however I was quite angry at it today when my internet went out for several hours and for some reason Offline Mode wasn't working.

Dragon Age was sitting on my computer, Redcliff needed saving, and Steam wouldn't open!

 

[slayn]

Holy balls Revenants are tough monsters. That thing took like 3/4 of my entire parties' hp away in a single attack while simultaneously killing the surrounding NPCs.

 

[water_wendi]

Masta_Killah you were right. V-Sync has almost no discernable effect gives another 5-7 fps.. havent seen any tearing but im sure some slight stuff will turn up. Dropping from 8xAA to 4x adds about 3-5 frames.. no difference between 2x and 4x in framerate from what i tested. No AA adds another 5 frames or so.

edit: ive just did a recording of the different diffiiculty levels of the first fighter in the Proving Grounds. Wow.. backstab hits much higher on Easy and Normal.

 

[wolfmat]

Desslock loving the shit out of Dragon Age: Origins:
http://www.pcgamerpodcast.com/?p=277

 

[Tobor]

There was also pretty significant free DLC (if you preordered) with Stone Prisoner. Well, supposedly it's significant, havent gotten to it yet.

The paid stuff is hardly integral, so it's not like a Prince of Persia/Tomb Raider situation where they hacked off the end of the story just to sell it to you.

You don't need to pre-order to get The Stone Prisoner, you just have to buy it new. It's one of the new tactics to curb used game sales.

 

[eznark]

You don't need to pre-order to get The Stone Prisoner, you just have to buy it new. It's one of the new tactics to curb used game sales.

Oh yeah, that's it.

 

[bengraven]

Okay, riddle me this:

Why is it my online profile still only shows the characters I manually uploaded ffrom the character creator last month, but no recent information? I'm always logged into the EA servers while playing.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

You don't need to pre-order to get The Stone Prisoner, you just have to buy it new. It's one of the new tactics to curb used game sales.

The only reason I am against this tactic is that 10 years down the road when you want to play through the game again, you are screwed because the whole system behind this DLC will probably be gone. Hell Bioware and EA might even be gone in 10 years, we never know. If they don't release some kind of game of the year edition with all of the content on a single disc then everyone will have to download cracked versions of the game just to access the content they bought 10 years ago.

I hate DLC because of this and think they only belong in MMORPGs.

 

[eznark]

The only reason I am against this tactic is that 10 years down the road when you want to play through the game again, you are screwed because the whole system behind this DLC will probably be gone. Hell Bioware and EA might even be gone in 10 years, we never know. If they don't release some kind of game of the year edition with all of the content on a single disc then everyone will have to download cracked versions of the game just to access the content they bought 10 years ago.

I hate DLC because of this and think they only belong in MMORPGs.

In 10 years you'll be able to buy a Gold Edition for $5 Ameros on Wal-Mart owned Steam. All content will be there.

 

[water_wendi]

The only reason I am against this tactic is that 10 years down the road when you want to play through the game again, you are screwed because the whole system behind this DLC will probably be gone. Hell Bioware and EA might even be gone in 10 years, we never know. If they don't release some kind of game of the year edition with all of the content on a single disc then everyone will have to download cracked versions of the game just to access the content they bought 10 years ago.

I hate DLC because of this and think they only belong in MMORPGs.

Well Bioware has already been down the Premium Content road before. DLC before it was called DLC. im sure well see Dragon Age Gold, Dragon Age Platinum, and Dragon Age Diamond down the road :lol

 

[Deleted member 17706]

In 10 years you'll be able to buy a Gold Edition for $5 Ameros on Wal-Mart owned Steam. All content will be there.

That's the thing. You never really know. There are a lot of cool PC games out there that are no longer in distribution. If that isn't going to be a problem in the future then I have no qualms, but who can be sure of that.

 

[Tobor]

The only reason I am against this tactic is that 10 years down the road when you want to play through the game again, you are screwed because the whole system behind this DLC will probably be gone. Hell Bioware and EA might even be gone in 10 years, we never know. If they don't release some kind of game of the year edition with all of the content on a single disc then everyone will have to download cracked versions of the game just to access the content they bought 10 years ago.

I hate DLC because of this and think they only belong in MMORPGs.

I don't necessarily disagree, but it looks like we're stuck with shenanigans until the industry sorts itself out.

 

[markot]

Its all in preparation of their mmos.

 

[eznark]

That's the thing. You never really know. There are a lot of cool PC games out there that are no longer in distribution. If that isn't going to be a problem in the future then I have no qualms, but who can be sure of that.

Yeah, but it has nothing to do with additional content that came out.

 

[j-wood]

The first character I created was a drawf warrior. I'm only like level 3 or 4 at the moment, not too far in the game.

I really was torn about making a mage though. Can someone comment on how good the class is? I was worried about being too weak and not being able to solo stuff.

 

[markot]

Solo stuff?

You have 4 people >.>

No matter what you chose, you have the kind of party you want or need, you have enough members to be able to shore up weaknesses or stuff.

 

[eznark]

As with Mass Effect, I find myself wishing I could just get a PDF of all the codex stuff to read whenever I wanted.

 

[markot]

Yeah, when im in game I want to do other stuff then read tonnes of crap >.<

 

[Y2Kev]

As with Mass Effect, I find myself wishing I could just get a PDF of all the codex stuff to read whenever I wanted.

God, there's so much more here, too. This feels like a really built out old style RPG, whereas Mass Effect felt like the new style toilet paper codex RPG. It was still well done and there was still a bunch to look at, but this game has soooo much.

 

[water_wendi]

Yeah, when im in game I want to do other stuff then read tonnes of crap >.<

Well you dont have to read it. Hell the game already talks to you.. which probably adds another 10 hours of game time if you just sit back and listen.

 

[bengraven]

God, there's so much more here, too. This feels like a really built out old style RPG, whereas Mass Effect felt like the new style toilet paper codex RPG. It was still well done and there was still a bunch to look at, but this game has soooo much.

It seems, at least in the beginning, that every time your character walks a few inches you're adding more and more to your codex. I love it. I can't wait to read it...then again, maybe I can get that PDF... :lol

 

[rSpooky]

Loving this game !!
I am home for this whole week because I have h1n1, locked in the spare bed room .. my wife picked me up this game(ps3) and at first I wasn't really feeling it , but now I can hardly stop playing. Every time I wonder whats around the next corner. Keep wondering off from the quest I am on every time too.. :lol

There are plenty flaws on the console version but I am so over those flaws at the moment..

Now I wonder if it was lucky the game came out it did or that I caught the h1n1 when I did..:lol

 

[lorddarkflare]

I am trying to build a glass cannon physical fighter, do y'all think that a dwarf rogue would be able to do this?

 

[water_wendi]

I am trying to build a glass cannon physical fighter, do y'all think that a dwarf rogue would be able to do this?

Any rogue should be able to i would think. Just never put points into Constitution. Just sink it all into Dexterity, Cunning, Strength (to meet weapon and skill req) and Willpower (to get more stamina for more special moves).

 

[Ulairi]

You don't need to pre-order to get The Stone Prisoner, you just have to buy it new. It's one of the new tactics to curb used game sales.

And it's ass backwards. DLC should be FREE and it should be the reason to keep the game. Charging me for DLC after I already purchased your game isn't going to make me not want to sell it.