Roderick

Dragon Age

Recommended Posts

Alistair is horrible at drawing aggro IMO. I used Shale for most of the game because he will always have aggro since he has 2 passive and 2 active skills for that, but at the end I saw the potential for Alistair because of some items that would render him invincible (magic resistance and +% healing) but he couldn't hold the enemies off me... I had to use him for the final quests anyway so it wasn't wasted money at least.

I'm finding him really good if I play it like an MMO. Don't use too much AOE nonsense, and he does great, especially if he has both his passives on.

Also, I somehow played it for 12 hours in a row the day I got it. Going back in now to Wizard up some Dwarves.

Wizaaaaard.

Oh also, can anyone suggest how I get the Mage specializations? So far, I got shapeshifting from Morrigan, but I want the healing/battlemage specs too. Thanks in advance <3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've been slowly making my way through, and just hit something kind of lame.

When wandering around Denerim after calling the Landsmeet, I get attacked by members of the Crows after Zevran. The game forces Zevran into my party, but because I haven't been using him, he has seven levels of unused stat and skill points. Then, combat is immediately initiated, and I can't access the "Level Up" menu to distribute those points. I almost got wiped by the encounter because Zevran was underpowered, leaving me with, at best, three and a half party members instead of the four encounters are balanced to. I don't mind character-specific encounters, but maybe they should only activate when the member is already in your party, so the game can ensure you can handle them.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ran into the exact same situation, Korax. I always find that when I enter an encounter I play it cautious and when I die and realize the enemies were for real, the next time I just unleash every spell I have, take a potion and do it again until everyone is dead... I'm not sure why I even give people the opportunity and just not do that every time, I'd probably die less.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So I skimmed this thread but I'm way to early in to read any of the blacked-out business ... but here's my take on how the game is shaping up.

I'm level 10ish now after probably 16-17 hrs in, playing on normal, 360 version.

The difficulty level seems completely all over the place. I'll steamroll through a battle and then get completely wasted in literally 5 seconds at the next one - which, due to the almost nonexistent autosaving, has resulted in significant hours of replaying. I started saving obsessively, but each character is limited to 31 (!?) save slots, so I can no longer use the "save new slot" button (irritating UI oversight).

I am to a battle now - the dungeon is irrelevant - and I think it's the final encounter, but I get wasted right after I enter the room. Plus, I have 2 health potions & the guys in my camp and in the nearby town aren't selling any more, and don't appear to refresh their stock often.

I've found that the more difficult encounters basically require me to immediately rush the most powerful character ("Gang Leader", for example), else they lay waste to my party. Feels awkward, tactically speaking.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

F5 quick saves, F9 quick loads

I just used the Save through the menu when it seemed to be a pinnacle in the story... which was less than 31 times easily

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Doing the mages tower at the moment, it seems immensely broken. Laggy quests or just weird enemys.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just finished the mage tower. that was the most irritating example of the unevenly balanced fights mentioned above, at least for me. I kept getting completely smacked by apprentice mages, then totally wiped the floor with the demons. Maybe I just can't set tactics for crap. I switched difficulty back and forth a lot.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I just finished the mage tower. that was the most irritating example of the unevenly balanced fights mentioned above, at least for me. I kept getting completely smacked by apprentice mages, then totally wiped the floor with the demons. Maybe I just can't set tactics for crap. I switched difficulty back and forth a lot.

I found it easy till the last boss. And I didnt pay attention and ended up completely breaking the mage order down. Ooops

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

What are you playing? I always end up playing lunkhead warriors so that I can be lazy and stupid and think about battle strategy as little as possible, but that's not serving me well in this game. My rogue keeps dying and my mage wasn't healing anyone. Oops.

I'm starting to get the hang of setting their tactics now. Not enough MMO experience, I guess.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Is this a game that will require MMO experience? I have exactly a week of Anarchy Online that I didn't care for. Am I in for a hell of a learning curve when I boot this sucker up?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
What are you playing? I always end up playing lunkhead warriors so that I can be lazy and stupid and think about battle strategy as little as possible, but that's not serving me well in this game. My rogue keeps dying and my mage wasn't healing anyone. Oops.

I'm starting to get the hang of setting their tactics now. Not enough MMO experience, I guess.

Elf mage, using her to heal and nuke basically. I set Alistair up as my tank, gave him taunt and intimidate, and he keeps aggro off me pretty well. Then Morrigan and the Assassin dude do damage too. Try and pick up some form of crowd control, like Cone of Cold. It really helps.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh also, can anyone suggest how I get the Mage specializations? So far, I got shapeshifting from Morrigan, but I want the healing/battlemage specs too. Thanks in advance <3

I got the Arcane Warrior specialization from a book that some vendor had. I suspect that you would have to convince Wynne to teach you how to be a Spirit Healer. Also, you only get 2 specialization points over the course of game, at level 7 and 14, so you'll have to choose one over the other.

Is this a game that will require MMO experience? I have exactly a week of Anarchy Online that I didn't care for. Am I in for a hell of a learning curve when I boot this sucker up?

No. The only thing really MMO-y about it is that instead of having a spells-per-day casting system that requires you to rest a lot, you're given a mana pool and all the spells have a cooldown. If you know the combat system from Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights, you'll have no problem.

How many side-quests are people doing? I keep seeing that people have problems with the Deep Roads or Mage's Tower, but I haven't had more than a few encounters that I couldn't handle on Normal. I was thinking that my compulsion to complete side-quests is giving me a nice level boost that others may not have.

Edited by Lord Korax

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
snip .

I may or may not have killed Wynne because she said something that rubbed me the wrong way.

Mostly may...

But fear not, a buddy told me I can get it in some sort of spirit caves.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Is this a game that will require MMO experience? I have exactly a week of Anarchy Online that I didn't care for. Am I in for a hell of a learning curve when I boot this sucker up?

It's basically Knights of the Old Republic in a fantasy setting. All of the special Jedi abilities and such are replaced with spells and so forth. If you liked KOTOR (everything from characters, plot, gameplay) you'll like this.

Based on your previous posts you'd want to stick it on easy, and download the 'respec' modification so that once you've become accustomed to the particular special abilities you'll want or need you can easily fix it later on, correcting the mistakes you'll inevitably make. There was an article on RPS about this not long ago in fact. You will pick shitty spells/skills and waste points on your first run, so keep it in mind at least.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Is this a game that will require MMO experience? I have exactly a week of Anarchy Online that I didn't care for. Am I in for a hell of a learning curve when I boot this sucker up?

Yeah, what I was referring to was not being accustomed to the group dynamics in approaching battles like this. I think people who play MMOs are more used to thinking about what various fighters' skills can contribute, even though they're actually only controlling one character. Usually I play games that have only one controllable character or multiple characters that you control directly in a jRPG kind of way. I haven't played a lot of games that have multiple characters that you indirectly control by setting tactics and require consideration what each of the characters could best be doing all at the same time. This is the same reason that the battle system in FF12 threw me off.

How many side-quests are people doing? I keep seeing that people have problems with the Deep Roads or Mage's Tower, but I haven't had more than a few encounters that I couldn't handle on Normal. I was thinking that my compulsion to complete side-quests is giving me a nice level boost that others may not have.

I think I should do more. This may be the key to me successfully attempting to make all games into a melee-smashy, brainless, beat-em-up. :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So, I consider this important:

Around the 14-hour mark, I had one encounter trigger where I died LITERALLY LIKE 30 TIMES IN A ROW HELLS NO. I tried every tactic ever, and kept having my whole party knocked down by explosions coming from (I thought) the main bad guy in the room.

Turns out there is an option in the menus to turn ON having spells/abilities show up as text over the characters' heads (good and bad guys). TURN THIS OPTION ON - it makes all the difference. After doing so I discovered there was a mage in the corner one-two punching my entire party with Fireball and a Blood Magic spell. Once I figured that out, ran over with my rogue, stabbed the mage in the face and finished the encounter basically unscathed.

Since then I've been going into encounters more alert and tactically-minded and doing just fine. 20 hours in and haven't changed the difficulty from Normal. Maybe all the perceived imbalanced encounters just require some strategy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was fine with the graphics but after I finished the game I started playing Mass Effect and that made them look rubbish! I'm now pretty much playing Mass Effect like I played Dragon Age - I'm a mage (adept) and I'm constitently pausing and issuing instructions to my (fucking stupid in this game) team mates.

I love both these games!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just got mine and I'm loving the world and story so far...

They did do something I consider rather "sneaky"...

I don't know if other games do this but I encountered an elf who told me about a quest that sounded awesome, and then.... the options said it was DLC....:blink:

Do any other games do this kind of thing? It's a good way to get you interested in a DLC quest, but I do find it kinda sneaky... I got it anyway....:gaming:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Crackdown did this to an extent, the free DLC included a load of markers which basically said "HEY look a cool thing you just have to pay for it first".

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I just got mine and I'm loving the world and story so far...

They did do something I consider rather "sneaky"...

I don't know if other games do this but I encountered an elf who told me about a quest that sounded awesome, and then.... the options said it was DLC....:blink:

Do any other games do this kind of thing? It's a good way to get you interested in a DLC quest, but I do find it kinda sneaky... I got it anyway....:gaming:

All in all I think the DLC integration was probably the biggest innovation in Dragon Age. It's something to admire and fear because if all games are like this by the end of next year I'd really be surprised.

The fact I spent so much time in the game to have someone just ask for some money after telling me a little story is very convenient and compelling to just drop 5 bucks here and there.

Though I think you still have to restart the game after downloading it or something, but as soon as they figure a way around that and have complete ingame transaction/dl/and installation, games that do so may start costing me a lot of money.

The only saving grace I think for this is I got more out of the dialog tree game in DA then the fighting(it was fun, but it was a lot of filler at times) and I don't think their DLC is going to be very robust in that, it'll just be items and combat missions.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Designed and written by the same team that brought you Dragon Age: Origins, the Awakening expansion pack offers a brand new area of the world to explore known as Amaranthine, featuring an epic story that will allow players to unravel the secrets of the darkspawn - and their true motivations! Players will face a range of horrific and terrifying creatures including an evolved, intelligent breed of darkspawn and other menacing creatures such as the Inferno Golem and Spectral Dragon.

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening provides exciting new ways for players to customize their heroes and party, including the ability to re-spec their character attributes, allowing even greater customization and replayability. Featuring an increased level cap, new spells, abilities, specializations and items, plus five all-new party members, players can continue their adventures from Dragon Age, or begin with a brand new party.

“Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening shows BioWare’s commitment to our fans by delivering new story-driven experiences which enrich the dark heroic fantasy universe our fans have come to know and love,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Group General Manager of the RPG/MMO Group, EA, and Co-Founder, BioWare. “The vibrant worldwide community of Dragon Age fans will relish uncovering the secret motivations of the darkspawn, revealing how the darkspawn continue to infest the world despite the defeat of the Archdemon.”

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, BioWare’s next thread in the Dragon Age: Origins tapestry, occurs following the events of Dragon Age: Origins and puts players into the role of a Grey Warden Commander entrusted with rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens. In addition to rebuilding the ranks of the Grey Wardens, you will be tasked with uncovering the mystery of how the darkspawn survive after the slaying of the Archdemon dragon. How players choose to rebuild their order, resolve the conflict with the mysterious “Architect,” and determine the fate of the darkspawn are just some of the many intriguing moral choices that will shape each player’s heroic journey. Players will be able to import their character from Dragon Age: Origins or start out as a new Grey Warden from the neighboring land of Orlais.

Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening will be released March 16, 2010 worldwide on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 console and PC. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening will be available for $39.99 on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles in North America and will require Dragon Age: Origins to play. Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening is rated M by the ESRB and 18+ by PEGI.

I was hoping to go visit those other countries, so that's cool.

Also, what kind of hudsucker proxy is this? Why are the grey wardens continually putting the mail room boy in charge of things like killing arch demons and rebuilding an order?

Also, I wasn't too thrilled with the grey wardens; Duncan was cool, but

he's dead and the other guy ended up in a jail cell then died a ridiculous death

. Something in that organization wasn't working, so I think it needs some reorganization, i'm basically thinking an rebranding it as the Insidious Order of Assholes; which i'm sure will be one of the options and not too far off from what they did to me anyway.

Another thing, if I "import" my character is it considered the same person or just a another guy that looks like my character? I'm not sure if I understand that.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Another thing, if I "import" my character is it considered the same person or just a another guy that looks like my character? I'm not sure if I understand that.
I think it will be your character if you import, BioWare has done that with Baldur's Gate and soon Mass Effect so that makes more sense.

Also, I love it when developers tell us what we like and want. “The vibrant worldwide community of Dragon Age fans will relish uncovering the secret motivations of the darkspawn, revealing how the darkspawn continue to infest the world despite the defeat of the Archdemon.” You have no choice in the matter!

I started another playthrough in this and it still continues to plague me with technical issues, having frozen during several dialog sequences. Very frustrating when my computer meets the system requirements.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I think it will be your character if you import, BioWare has done that with Baldur's Gate and soon Mass Effect so that makes more sense.

Also, NWN's expansions and NWN2 + expansions.

Also, I love it when developers tell us what we like and want. “The vibrant worldwide community of Dragon Age fans will relish uncovering the secret motivations of the darkspawn, revealing how the darkspawn continue to infest the world despite the defeat of the Archdemon.” You have no choice in the matter!

Hey, without the video game industry telling me what I do or do not like, how am I supposed to know what to spend my money on? I refuse to start thinking critically now; it hasn't served me very well so far.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Also, NWN's expansions and NWN2 + expansions.

Hey, without the video game industry telling me what I do or do not like, how am I supposed to know what to spend my money on? I refuse to start thinking critically now; it hasn't served me very well so far.

Why bother playing games when a reviewer can decide for me?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now