Dragon Age Origins + DLCs

[kiara]

Just installed DAO + Awakening and all the DLCs.

What should be the order of play? DAO main campaign -> Awakening -> DLCs? Any recommendation?

 

[KaOTiK]

It is from what I remember that all the DLC is for DAO and not Awakening. I would play through DAO and do the DLC either as you are playing or afterwards. I know some of the DLC (Wardens keep for example) should be done whenever you can do it. I'm not sure if other DLC takes place after DAO or not though.

 

[Nebor]

I played DAO -> Awakening -> DLCs. If I had to do it again, I'd do Awakenings last. You get abilities and gear in Awakenings that either doesn't transfer to the DLCs, or doesn't transfer properly.

Oh, and listen to me. Listen and listen good. I know it'll be 80 hours from now before you get there, but when you're playing Awakening, and you get to to the Silverite Mine in the woods, after you meet the nature wizard elf, you save your game. And I mean do a manual save. Mark these words. Make a small cut on your arm to remember if you have to. You'll thank me if you need that save because all of your gear is erased.

 

[kiara]

I would play through DAO and do the DLC either as you are playing or afterwards

If I play through the DLC before I finish/start DAO, is there any impact to the DAO campaign?

 

[zebrax2]

If I play through the DLC before I finish/start DAO, is there any impact to the DAO campaign?

If you do the dlc first you'll gain a few the unlockable equipments IIRC

 

[Craig234]

If I play through the DLC before I finish/start DAO, is there any impact to the DAO campaign?

No harm done; it helps finish the campaign with better gear/new companions.

 

[paperfist]

Lazy question, I bought DA w/DLC from Steam. Do I still need to register an account with BioWare to play the game?

 

[Merad]

I'm not 100% sure that it's required for the game itself (I believe so), but you definitely need an account to access the DLC.

 

[paperfist]

I'm not 100% sure that it's required for the game itself (I believe so), but you definitely need an account to access the DLC.

Thanks for the info, seemed kind of odd I had to log-in/create a BioWare account to play a game I just bought off of Steam. Luckily my EA account for MoH was a carry over or I'd still be cursing

 

[digitaldurandal]

I wouldn't bother with most of the DLC. Shale DLC was about the only one that reviewed positively and it has been the only one worth the time IMO.

 

[NoSoup4You]

Shale was great, I think it's free with all new purchases, yes?

Purists may not appreciate how unbalanced (ie - strong) the loot you obtain is in each of these DLC's. Bioware does this I'm sure as a reward for spending your hard-earned cash and I'm sure many players love these items, but wearing Blood Dragon armor while still in Lothering (possible for min/max builds) while the rest of your party is still decked out in lvl 2 Splintmail is just silly.

I don't think the other DLC's are really even worth the time investment to play them, let alone the cash spent to get them. Even Awakenings was up for debate in my opinion, only because there was no challenge to 95% of the battles... a stark contrast to the strong challenge found in DA: Origins.

 

[Wardawg1001]

Individually I'd say probably none of the DLC's were worth they money they were charging for them, but they were still fun, added some gameplay, and expanded the story a bit. There have been some really good sales on DAO/Awakening with all the DLC, if the OP got in on one of those then I'd say it was definitely money well spent.

Anyways, the order you play them in isn't all that important. The one that lets you get the playable party member Shale is the only one that really matters when you do it. If you want Shale to be one of your party members, its best to do it as soon as you can so that you can use him in your party. The rest don't matter much except that you get some really powerful gear in them. If you want to use that gear to power through the rest of the game then by all means go for it. If not, you can hold off on it or you can just go through the DLC and ditch the special gear you get from it.

Awakenings should be done last because it extends from the end of the story from Origins. Also, you can use your character from Origins in Awakenings if you want, and some of your story choices will carry over.

 

[Boobs McGee]

I barely started the main game and then saw some similar threads to this saying to just go ahead and do the dlc stuff. I started up the witch dlc and imported my character. I think I was level 3 and then in the DLC i bounced up to level 20 almost immediately. Is that supposed to happen?

 

[Merad]

Really you should wait til you finish Origins before you do any of the other DLC.

 

[Wardawg1001]

The DLC about Morrigan is intended to be end game stuff since it also takes place after the events of the Origins - thats probably why it bumped you up to level 20. Forgot about that one since I never played it.

 

[paperfist]

I haven't really played one of these games since like The Bard's Tale...

What a blast so far, well worth $25. I actually feel guilty for paying so little.

Anyway, can you give a noob some tips? Should I be looking all over the map for hidden gems? Do I need to loot everything to sell for money to buy equipment with? It seems like at the start I'm already missing out as I can't open a lot of chests, and I wasn't able to persuade a guard to give me his food.

I don't really want to get halfway through the game only to find out I should have done x,y and z...

 

[StinkyPinky]

I barely started the main game and then saw some similar threads to this saying to just go ahead and do the dlc stuff. I started up the witch dlc and imported my character. I think I was level 3 and then in the DLC i bounced up to level 20 almost immediately. Is that supposed to happen?

Do not play this DLC before you finish the main game. It has spoilers and takes plus after the main campaign. I'm surprised Bioware didn't label it that way.

 

[Boobs McGee]

The DLC about Morrigan is intended to be end game stuff since it also takes place after the events of the Origins - thats probably why it bumped you up to level 20. Forgot about that one since I never played it.

Do not play this DLC before you finish the main game. It has spoilers and takes plus after the main campaign. I'm surprised Bioware didn't label it that way.

Thank you both.

 

[guyver01]

There have been some really good sales on DAO/Awakening with all the DLC

I picked up the Ultimate Edition for my GF for about $40... traded in DA:O and another game i haven't played in ages. It's totally worth it.

 

[darkewaffle]

I played DAO -> Awakening -> DLCs. If I had to do it again, I'd do Awakenings last. You get abilities and gear in Awakenings that either doesn't transfer to the DLCs, or doesn't transfer properly.

Oh, and listen to me. Listen and listen good. I know it'll be 80 hours from now before you get there, but when you're playing Awakening, and you get to to the Silverite Mine in the woods, after you meet the nature wizard elf, you save your game. And I mean do a manual save. Mark these words. Make a small cut on your arm to remember if you have to. You'll thank me if you need that save because all of your gear is erased.

I wondered why my main character was naked yet still had boots/gloves when my other characters were only left with clothing. I love these games to death but I wish there weren't so many little bugs left, and the game's just too massive for them to ever all be fixed. It was only my armor/sword/shield/helmet that I'd lose but then I'd look ridiculous!

Thanks for the tip, though I gotta do the mine over again that's not too bad.

 

[DrunkenSano]

I believe Leliana's Story takes place before Origins, everything else is after. I think Morrigan's DLC is the last one in terms of chronology.

 

[darkewaffle]

Leliana's technically would come first but still makes no sense without the context of who she is from Origins. Darkspawn Chronicles is just a short re-telling of the War itself where you play as Darkspawn instead. Golems of Amgarrak I think comes after the end of Origins because I believe you are "Warden Commander" during it, but I don't recall just if/when that happens in Origins. Witch Hunt is presumably the last but I can't think of any reason why is 'has to' come after Golems.

 

[RaistlinZ]

When DA2 comes out I think I'll hold off and just wait for all the DLC's to be offered with it in an ultimate edition. I hope the game itself is worth the money.