Dragon Age is out

[charlemagne]

Difficulty just seems to be higher in some rooms/encounters because the harder ones are practically designed to rape you - mages set up so they'll slap you around with fireballs, almost killing your mages with one hit, stuff like that. This situations only stay hard when there's no way to pull with caution, e.g. setting up simple ambushes by putting your party on either side of a doorway and having your tank pulling.

As soon as mobs have to get to you, not the other way around, it's not hard anymore, because enemy mages die just as easily as yours - and practically every white/normal mob is a oneshot for a good equipped/skilled rogue or damage-warrior anyways. In big fights with one boss and many adds - just tank the boss and have your party kill off all the adds first instead of wailing on the boss and eating damage from 5+ other enemies at the same time.

A couple of fights really only are hard because the game forces you to walk right into it - like in one of the back alleys in Denerim: even if you set up your guys far away and have just your tank walk up, there's a little cutscene and after that your whole party is set up just so the mobs can rape you. Or, also in Denerim, one encounter where via script a falldoor is closed, probably trapping half your party to be eaten. In cases like that it helps to have Morrigan cast sleep/waking nightmare/mind blast.

Anyways, maybe I'm just awesome But "normal" really feels... normal. It's not an easy walkthrough, but it's not frustrating hard either. If some situation seems to just casually stomp over your party, it's either just bad luck as I've already mentioned in an earlier post, or you need to stop and think for a minute how to approach the situation differently. Maybe take a ranked mob out of the fight in some way or wait around the corner and pick the mobs off as they run after you. I still find the game very fun and manageable even with Wynne in the party camp 90% of the time. It's actually easier in some cases, because without a dedicated healer you can deal more damage and/or crowd control

[Stofsk]

(I'm pissed off I missed a few things as my Dalish Rogue at the start. Getting an extra backpack in Ostagar for peanuts compared to later, the sidequests in the Korcari wilds as well... the completionist in me wants to reload to an earlier save)

I missed the same fucking things, its driving me crazy all the stuff I've had to destroy due to lack of space- you can actually pick up two backpacks, not one, from the same shop. Before you go to the wilds, and after you come back ...

Good to know.

I'm replaying as a sword and board human male noble before i do any of the other origins (I got the Dual Wield master achievement just last night). This playthrough is 'warm up'.

That's a good way of looking at it. I might just stick with my Dalish ranger then, at least unlock all the specialisations and figure out what the optimal strategies are for each section of the map. Then make another one after I've puzzled out the game.

One thing I've decided to do on my next playthrough is to not go to the Circle Tower or Brecilian Forest first, because both have traps and chests that require level 4 in deft hands. That means Leilana or I need to be level 12. It really made me roll my eyes that you can't open a lock any other way other than using the deft hands skill. What happened to bash? Magic? Heading back to each of the places just to open a lock which contains meh loot isn't my idea of fun, but I hate hate hate the idea that I can't have something and have to leave it just because I haven't leveled up enough for it. Same goes for the backpacks.

How does the Redcliffe bit work in that regards? Are there chests that require level 4 in deft hands to open? What about Orzammar?

I also wasted a shitload of paintings that should've been gifted to Sten. I didn't think that fucker liked anything.

http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Gifts

Although they're spoilers I consider it minor.

[Vympel]

How does the Redcliffe bit work in that regards? Are there chests that require level 4 in deft hands to open? What about Orzammar?

Yes, there are Level 4 chests in all of them (and sometimes level 4 deft hands doesn't even open them, not enough cunning?).

You're best starting off in the Circle Tower. Wynne is too important, IMO. Me doing Redcliff first was a big mistake I think- a lot harder than it needed to be. But then, I was still playing on normal at the time.

[Stofsk]

It just seems to me that the plot wants you to go to Redcliffe first. You hear in Lothering about Arl Eamon falling sick, and his Knights are on quest to find the sacred ashes thingamajig.

Wynne's nice and all but you can give Morrigan Heal and make do, especially if you're playing on easy.

[charlemagne]

Or you can just use potions and herbalism to make more. Strategy also doesn't really change between maps IMO, maybe different mob types, but that doesn't really make a huge difference in how you beat them.

The only thing pressuring towards Redcliffe is Alistair IMO, he wants to see his foster daddy is all. Just ignore him and go wherever you like, he even tells you "it's your call".

[Xon]

Hey, something about the game finally sounds appealing! What is it about the combat balance that makes it hard? Does the AI cheat, are the fights finely balanced, are levels/equipment/build important?

You get massively penalized for not agressively using disables. All characters take massive damage from flanking attacks, it isn't quite as bad as an auto-crit but damn close. And warriors only get abilities which reduce this very late game, and thus you get nailed hard if you get mobbed.

This means you need AOE crowd controll which requires micro to use effectively. There are also a host a single-target disables which are mana from the heavens. Crushing prison, force field, petrify, stone fist are some of the most mana-effective ways to kill or disable a single target in the game.

[dragon]

Ok just came across a very strange cut-scene. It showed a male and female farmers standing over a crater commenting how could a child survive such a thing. Then they on to say that there prays been answered and finally he calls the women Marta lets go home with their new son.
So after that you can go down into the crater and salvage some ore from it.

[charlemagne]

Ok just came across a very strange cut-scene. It showed a male and female farmers standing over a crater commenting how could a child survive such a thing. Then they on to say that there prays been answered and finally he calls the women Marta lets go home with their new son.
So after that you can go down into the crater and salvage some ore from it.

It's just an easter egg. Superman anyone? The ore comes in handy once you finished the Warden Keep run.

[dragon]

Ok just came across a very strange cut-scene. It showed a male and female farmers standing over a crater commenting how could a child survive such a thing. Then they on to say that there prays been answered and finally he calls the women Marta lets go home with their new son.
So after that you can go down into the crater and salvage some ore from it.

It's just an easter egg. Superman anyone? The ore comes in handy once you finished the Warden Keep run.

Hum don't have the warden keep add on. Is it worth it to get?

[wautd]

Morrigan: Jewelry

Also a golden mirror. I got a cutscene so it might be important

[Stofsk]

Ok just came across a very strange cut-scene. It showed a male and female farmers standing over a crater commenting how could a child survive such a thing. Then they on to say that there prays been answered and finally he calls the women Marta lets go home with their new son.
So after that you can go down into the crater and salvage some ore from it.

It's just an easter egg. Superman anyone? The ore comes in handy once you finished the Warden Keep run.

Hum don't have the warden keep add on. Is it worth it to get?

Yes.

[charlemagne]

Also a golden mirror. I got a cutscene so it might be important

You usually get clues through dialogue from every party member what those "cutscene gifts" might be. Also, other party members will refuse to take those important gifts, so don't worry about giving them to the wrong person.

Hum don't have the warden keep add on. Is it worth it to get?

In my opinion, yeah, one of the best armor sets and also the best sword in-game (that gets made out of the ore chunk in the crater) are to be found there, and also, some neat new abilities for your player character.

It's still ridiculous that there's chunks of those DLCs in-game already, like the ore that is positively useless if you don't get the DLC.

[Ghost Rider]

Yeah, my shorthand list was for high reputation point gifts(ones that result in +5 to +10 depending on how many gifts you've give), but not the plot items...though I do wonder what they would've done if you gave the Nug to Oghren.

Warden's Keep gives you:

- One of the best armor sets(which you can upgrade via Bioware's merchant bug).
- One of the best crossbows(again upgradeable).
- a storage chest(if you're not playing on the PC that alone makes the DLC fucking worth it, if playing PC...get the small mod now. I still fucking despise Bioware for this because I have a 120 space...and there are dungeons I can easily get filled up on with shit).
- Starfang, the best one hander or two hander in the game.
- Extra Abilities, which are debateable how much use, but they can be rather decent.
- A Extra Staff and decent Blood Mage armor.
- Overall extra mid level gear as well as couple extra merchants to sell and remember where they are, plus the blacksmith upgrades his gear better then any merchant in the game.

In many ways, it's worth it given the scenario is actually quite fun and decent gold to boot.

[Aaron]

Also a golden mirror. I got a cutscene so it might be important

If you get her that, then Spoiler

kill/bargain with Flemoth for her book thing. It's a short route into her pants and the related achievement.

[Vympel]

When you (for Stofsk's benefit) Spoiler

return to Arl Eamon so he calls the Landsmeet, and you move to his estate

is the rest of the map locked out? I saved it before I did so because I wanted to make sure I didn't miss out on any side quests, particularly 'Unintended Conequences' which I just got now (if I had done 'Summoning Sciences' earlier then I would've done it earlier).

[Aaron]

When you (for Stofsk's benefit) Spoiler

return to Arl Eamon so he calls the Landsmeet, and you move to his estate

is the rest of the map locked out? I saved it before I did so because I wanted to make sure I didn't miss out on any side quests, particularly 'Unintended Conequences' which I just got now (if I had done 'Summoning Sciences' earlier then I would've done it earlier).

No, I left town and wandered around afterwards.
Spoiler

There are three or four quests related to the Landsmeet, that you have to do before it actually kicks off. I left town and wandered all over before I did them.

[Ghost Rider]

The last moment you have is Spoiler

when you kill the Ogre Alpha in front of Redcliffe after everything has gone to shit. Anytime before then you can wander to your heart's delight

[wautd]

I unlocked the two Captured! quests, but I think I'll play those 2 in a separate savefile because I don't think you get any rewards (apart from a nice quest experience) while that sword of Logaine's Lt. looks mighty fine.

[Stofsk]

Without spoiling it to much, I wanted to ask, does giving your allies supplies help at all in the final fight, and is it worthwhile to do? I hear it gives a hefty XP award.

(I've gotten as far as Frostback Mountain pass, on my way to Orzammar. I've done Redcliffe, Brecilian Forest, and Mage tower, and I've been to Denerim to do a few sidequests there, as well as to turn those drake and dragon scales into something wearable. Damn this game is long)

[Aaron]

I haven't really noticed much of an effect. I used the Dwarves for all three (four?) stages at the end and against the Archdemon, the first go around I donated a tonne of crap and the second time I didn't. It didn't seem to matter either way.

[Ghost Rider]

Without spoiling it to much, I wanted to ask, does giving your allies supplies help at all in the final fight, and is it worthwhile to do? I hear it gives a hefty XP award.

(I've gotten as far as Frostback Mountain pass, on my way to Orzammar. I've done Redcliffe, Brecilian Forest, and Mage tower, and I've been to Denerim to do a few sidequests there, as well as to turn those drake and dragon scales into something wearable. Damn this game is long)

It gives some XP, the only problem is that unless you're doing the Elfroot cheat(there's a guy who sells *99 Elfroot in the Forest and with enough gold you can pretty much max out the levels), it's there to do something if you just want to help out.

The problem I've seen is that between levels 22-25, there is no reason. Rarely is there a talent just out of the way for the end game.

In fact in the end, just use melee except the one ranged phase, then use elves/mages and remember to bring a bow/crossbow for that phase unless you're a mage.

[charlemagne]

In fact in the end, just use melee except the one ranged phase, then use elves/mages and remember to bring a bow/crossbow for that phase unless you're a mage.

Spoiler

Are you talking about the Archdemon-fight, with the Archdemon sitting behind those barricades unreachable for meeles? I never switched to ranged weapons there, just turn the ballistas and fire at him until he takes off again.

[Aaron]

In fact in the end, just use melee except the one ranged phase, then use elves/mages and remember to bring a bow/crossbow for that phase unless you're a mage.

Spoiler

Are you talking about the Archdemon-fight, with the Archdemon sitting behind those barricades unreachable for meeles? I never switched to ranged weapons there, just turn the ballistas and fire at him until he takes off again.

Spoiler

You can do that for the entire fight. Summon your allies and man the ballistas. Run to the closest one when it switches spots.

[Ghost Rider]

In fact in the end, just use melee except the one ranged phase, then use elves/mages and remember to bring a bow/crossbow for that phase unless you're a mage.

Spoiler

Are you talking about the Archdemon-fight, with the Archdemon sitting behind those barricades unreachable for meeles? I never switched to ranged weapons there, just turn the ballistas and fire at him until he takes off again.

Oh that right...I forgot you can sit on those suckers .

Still I just whupped out the crossbow I never used before...and pelted away. Honestly, that part was asinine in how boring.

[Manus Celer Dei]

Without spoiling it to much, I wanted to ask, does giving your allies supplies help at all in the final fight, and is it worthwhile to do? I hear it gives a hefty XP award.

You're just converting items/money to XP, that's all. It has no effect in the final stages at all.

All enemies in the last stage of the game aside from Alphas/Emissaries die in one hit anyway.