Dragon Age

[Ignatius_S]

In the Videogaming 2.0 thread, Slaaaaabs mentioned one of the benefits of the PC version are the mods available... does anyone have any suggestions which ones are particularly worth trying out?

Amazon are currently doing Origins for £11.98 (including P&P).

[Slaaaaabs]

www.dragonagenexus.com seems to be the place to go for the best stuff. Though you do need to register if you want files over 2mb.

Would recommend you install DAModder first to keep everything organised.

The main ones I use are:

Dragon Age Redesigned tweaks the NPCs to look a bit more realistic, it also lets you choose from several variations for your party members (or to leave them the same)

Extra Dog Slot lets you keep your doggy with you at all times instead of wasting a party slot on him (he isn't that great but nice to have around, I use tactics to have him to protect Wynne the healer)

FtG UI Mod removes the awful blurry drop shadow from text and scales the subtitles/conversation/book menus to suit your resolution. I prefer it not to scale the "book" as it is made up of raster images so looks very soft.

Lock Bash restores the ability for Warriors and Mages to unlock doors and chests with brute force based on Strength or Magic respectively.

Character Respec adds a Raven at most hubs (and your camp) that lets you respec any character fully, and choose specializations if you have something you don't want.

I also use Manolaxs Staff Collection For Mages because the stock magic staves are a bit boring compared to the fancy melee weapons and bows...

[Ignatius_S]

www.dragonagenexus.com seems to be the place to go for the best stuff. Though you do need to register if you want files over 2mb...

Ah, cheers - that's ace! There seems to be so much stuff, that's it's good to have some good looking ones to explore first - and many thanks about the mod manager tip.

[DocDaneeka]

Pfft those mods are sheer cheating! Hax I say, HAX!

Anyway as you may have guessed I have the 360 version and I really liked it. If you don't have a capable Pc and can deal with a phew ropey textures it's a great rpg.

[Lee Van Cleef]

I bought it for the XBox.  My PC could prob run it, but the reason I got the Xbox was to try and get myself away from sitting in front of the PC so much.

[glitch]

Has anyone tried the 3200 point expansion they put up on Live? I'm still only halfway through the main game but was wondering what it was like.

[Ignatius_S]

Has anyone tried the 3200 point expansion they put up on Live? I'm still only halfway through the main game but was wondering what it was like.

Is that Awkening? If so, I was advised by a mate to play it before finishing the main game (although he pretty much said the same for all)... he explained why, but it seemed a little spoilerfic so he shut up.

[HappyTree]

Just started playing this one. I have several games on the go at once. Oh well, I just latch on to what inspires me at the time. I got the Ultimate edition with 7 - count 'em - expansion packs, including Awakenings.

Playing as a female mage, as per usual. Only just at the beginning really, just about to undergo my Grey Warden initiation. I had a nice moment selling all the crap I'd collected and getting some gold, then buying the prisoner his dinner. I do like it when you can actually benefit from all the tat they leave strewn around dungeons. Why else would I carry 5 crappy apprentice staffs other than to sell them?

Any tips on playing this? Any bugs to avoid? Any items that are really cool to look out for?

[Big Jack McBastard]

In stark comparison to DA2 I found playing the mage pretty hard in places (especially in the second jaunt into the Fade, I failed hard many times and winning the last fight in that section took a shit load of micromanagement, stacking potions and setting up healing/revive spells to scrape through), later in the game some decent armour and an appropriate sword+shield combo were found in the Deep Roads (I think you have to pick the arcane warrior specialization, when it appears, to be able to use them). In the meantime try to stay on the periphery of fights that kick up and let tanks and warriors like Alistair and Sten take the flak as mages aren't really suited for close-up rucks.

In general I'd say do everything you can in as many places as possible until you're left with the 'big events' in the main locations (entering the Deep Roads, tackling the issue in Redcliff castle,

Spoiler alert

assisting/wiping out the mages

[close]

. etc) you'll know when they're coming as you're given 'You're going in and not coming out until it's done'-style warnings from the NPCs.

Don't forget to set up your pals behaviours/tactics as they can save you a lot of work in the hairier fights.

Errrm, keep popping between locations on the world map and eventually (took ages on mine) you'll run into a brief cut scene of a couple at the site of a meteorite crash, you'll come away with a chunk of 'Star Metal' which can then be forged into the best swords in the game[nb]provided you're at an appropriately high level I think 21 was the minimum for the best configuration as lower levels result in crappier swords[/nb] at the Wardens Tower (once it's cleared out).

As I said in the DA2 thread, money is pretty damn thin and you'll often see items for sale that are way out of a sensible price range that you'll really fancy getting hold of. I freely admit I took advantage of the glitch that allowed for duplicating items (in order to flog them on) and still found the mage a tough route, but satisfying once it was all over. Also like the second game taking different people/groups to different places will trigger scenes and conversations that you won't catch if you have a 'go-to' team that you frequently use which can add some depth to the re-play value.

[Ignatius_S]

what Jack said will steer you right.

With money being so tight (something I rather liked about the game), a Web search can be pretty useful working out the best gear to get. I think I only did this for the main weapons for my character (melee for Rogue), as I basically wanted to avoid missing out on something brilliant because I had been fleeced paying through the nose for a lot of old tat. In the end, I wouldn't say getting the information made a huge lot of difference to me (i.e. I would probably have got the items anyway) but was handy and I suspect that I avoided a couple of items, which looked good but were poor value for money.

If you're interested in character builds, there are some great guides online – a lot obviously depends on playing styles etc. and I can't say I was nodding my head in agreement all the time, but there was food for thought.

I'm quite tempted to try a different approach in the party set-up if (or more likely, when) I play again. There was a fair bit I read about having three-mage and a rogue parties that I thought could be interesting – but basically, I found that game lent itself to experimenting with different parties and tactics. As Jack says, sticking to the same characters means you miss conversation!

In stark comparison to DA2 I found playing the mage pretty hard in places...

That's good to know, as I'd more than likely play a mage with the next playthrough – one of my friends complained in a delighted kind of way that she thought the mages were overpowered and were the easiest to play with, which means I was probably going to be in for a shock!

[Big Jack McBastard]

what Jack said will steer you right.

Kisses!

That's good to know, as I'd more than likely play a mage with the next playthrough – one of my friends complained in a delighted kind of way that she thought the mages were overpowered and were the easiest to play with, which means I was probably going to be in for a shock!

In the Redcliffe Castle/Fade section I did find myself having to run around pillars in a Benny Hill-stylee to keep the nasties off my back while I re-couped health and leading enemies into bottlenecks at doorways when I was forced to go in on my tod. Perhaps my robes/armour weren't up to much at that point, even so I pegged out more times than I thought acceptable in the process.

In DA2 the mages ability to clatter a whole wave of enemies into the ground and then set them on fire while having Varrick/Isabella hook tar and smoke bombs at them was a big change from that and my DA2 rogue, who spent most of the time sapping individual enemies health with backstabs and the like. Though I'm sure my second run was made easier simply by dint of it being the second run, knowing a fair few of the tricks to get the most XP and what combinations of your pals abilities yield the best results.

Here's a question, does/did anyone find the much vaunted/despised 'Blood mage' option any cop?

I mean, yeah the ability to sap your health to fuel your powers can help on occasion, but for the most part I found it to be an imposition, usually meriting having either a shed load of potions or another mage in your party to chuck healing spells at you once you turn it off, lest you end up on the deck while they fight it out. Typically mages end up with a much longer mana bar than their health anyway, unless you invest a lot of points in Strength which seems a bit like going against the grain when leveling up. I dunno, it seemed more like a personality choice than a decent specialization to me.

[HappyTree]

I was proper shocked when

Spoiler alert

that guy at the start turned out to be a blood mage

[close]

. And there I was helping him n'all. So are you saying that spells that deal a wide amount of damage to many enemies are good to go for, rather than stronger ones that take down individuals?

I'm a little confused by the spell tree. It seems that when I upgrade a spell it isn't a more powerful version of the same thing, it's different. Like level 1 fireball becoming level 2 flaming weapons that are constantly on.

[Big Jack McBastard]

I was proper shocked when

Spoiler alert

that guy at the start turned out to be a blood mage

[close]

. And there I was helping him n'all.

:o) Yeah the mage intro is probably the best opener for the game, really sucked me in and threw up some surprises, that said the others are not without their charms and reveal some answers to questions you'll probably find yourself asking as the plot marches on.

So are you saying that spells that deal a wide amount of damage to many enemies are good to go for, rather than stronger ones that take down individuals?

As usual the wiki can really help out:
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Spells_%28Origins%29

Single target ones like Virulent Walking Bomb (lovely) and Crushing Prison were very handy but it's a mix and match affair with some combinations of effects doing tons of damage.

If a target afflicted with Death Hex enters the Death Cloud, the Death Hex is dispelled and the target suffers Entropic Death, dealing (200+2.0*SP) spirit damage instantly.

http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Codex:_Spell_Combinations

The inevitable answer is 'half and half really'

It's been a while since I've played it so I'm a bit rusty on the details, they've been replaced with a slew of other daft gaming gubbins since then.

I'm a little confused by the spell tree. It seems that when I upgrade a spell it isn't a more powerful version of the same thing, it's different. Like level 1 fireball becoming level 2 flaming weapons that are constantly on.

The second level of a given route is usually a bit different to the first but the elemental/primal ones tend to dovetail at the end, for example keep up with 'Fire' and you'll get Fireball and Inferno (both area effect) at levels 3 and 4. Some are totally different, 'Earth'  for example will give Rock Armour (defense duh) then Stonefist (single target) , Earthquake (area) and Petrify (single target). Really it comes down to your own preferences, you'll probably find like I did there are one or two duff ones you have to put up with to get the good stuff.