Dragon Age tips?

[snikt]

Finished DA over the weekend. IMO, it was a great game. This is only my second RPG I've ever played and I loved it. I've already started my second playthrough with a different character and class. Playing it on Hard this time but it seems a little easier than on Normal, probably because I'm familiar with the game mechanics and I know how to manage my characters and resources a little better, still fun though.

 

[Industrial]

I finished DA also, in the wee hours after new years eve, like 4 or 5 in the morning. Couldn't sleep, LOL. 139 hours! Never have spent so much time on an RPG, but then again I really enjoyed it and took my time. Most of the time, it was 3 rogues and 1 mage, simply for the challenge. Loved the final blow of my rogue on the archdemon, sweet finishing move! repeatedly paused and screenshot everything.

One of the rare games I wouldn't mind doing a 2nd play through, but I started Mass Effect. Picked it up on a GS sale for $7 and it sat there for a year. Totally regret not jumping on the Steam $5 sale, so I had to play it on the Xbox. sucks playing it on the Xbox, have to deal with the choppy graphics, annoying radial selection, and not able to individually control your party. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying it, but it would've been waaayyyy better on the PC.

back to DA...
I still haven't found a way to do higher res in-game screeshots.

I also wish there was a way to run faster. I just want to get from point A to point B, and I've already seen the area many times already.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

I also wish there was a way to run faster. I just want to get from point A to point B, and I've already seen the area many times already.

Haste is togglable, and increases running speed. Useful in combat too, so don't feel too bad having it always on.

 

[katank]

Except for a bug which makes momentum+haste slower than momentum alone.

In his party of 3 rogues (who should all be DW momentum rogues if min-maxing), he's better off w/ haste off for combat.

 

[pontifex]

holy crap! i was just talking to the characters at camp and there's like huge back stories and extra skills and stuff you can unlock by talking to them. I think I spend like an hour talking to like 2 or 3 people.

 

[snikt]

holy crap! i was just talking to the characters at camp and there's like huge back stories and extra skills and stuff you can unlock by talking to them. I think I spend like an hour talking to like 2 or 3 people.

Yeah. I would talk to my party members after every main quest and side quest to build up "relationships" with them so they could get the extra abilities and attributes.

http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Side_Quests_for_Dragon_Age:_Origins

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

holy crap! i was just talking to the characters at camp and there's like huge back stories and extra skills and stuff you can unlock by talking to them. I think I spend like an hour talking to like 2 or 3 people.

Sweet thanks for the tip, I'm ~25% through and never tried this :\ Wonder what I've missed out on.

 

[matas]

I am stuck the the part where the darkspawn attack darkcliffe. I have a combo of mage,human healer,allistar, and a rogue. I beat the first part of the wave that comes from top but when I go to the bottom I get beaten with about 8 darkspawn left. I have tried 3 times and I fail. At the end I do run out of potions tho, so i suppose i need to make some more before that battle. But it seems like once more than 2 enemies attack one char,especially a mage, its health goes down so quickly that it is too hard to kill them without dying yourself.

 

[Tiamat]

I am stuck the the part where the darkspawn attack darkcliffe. I have a combo of mage,human healer,allistar, and a rogue. I beat the first part of the wave that comes from top but when I go to the bottom I get beaten with about 8 darkspawn left. I have tried 3 times and I fail. At the end I do run out of potions tho, so i suppose i need to make some more before that battle. But it seems like once more than 2 enemies attack one char,especially a mage, its health goes down so quickly that it is too hard to kill them without dying yourself.

When you go back down to the bottom, lure 2 - 4 of the darkspawn and run your party back up to the top of the hill to get the knights to help out. Repeat this a few times, and you will be all set. The knights at the top are very tough and won't die on you like the villagers down on the bottom do (almost immediately).

 

[JoshGuru7]

I am stuck the the part where the darkspawn attack darkcliffe. I have a combo of mage,human healer,allistar, and a rogue. I beat the first part of the wave that comes from top but when I go to the bottom I get beaten with about 8 darkspawn left. I have tried 3 times and I fail. At the end I do run out of potions tho, so i suppose i need to make some more before that battle. But it seems like once more than 2 enemies attack one char,especially a mage, its health goes down so quickly that it is too hard to kill them without dying yourself.

You'll want your tank to be taunting the enemies off your squishy characters, but in this fight there are so many enemies that your tank probably can't survive them all even getting regular healing. That's where crowd control comes in, and this fight is made a lot easier if you have a few good area of effect crowd control spells.

Crowd control spell suggestions (spoilers) below:

Spoiler

- Cone of Cold. This spell will freeze large groups of mobs, preventing them from doing any damage to you and causing them to shatter if you critically hit them.
- Sleep, optionally followed by Waking Nightmare for a spell combo. Casting this on a group of mobs will knock them out of the action and let your tank face more manageable numbers. This combo can be set in party tactics for your NPC mage to cast automatically on groups of large numbers.
- Mass Paralysis. Expensive but excellent spell for casting around your tank when his health is getting low.
- Force Field. Cast this on your tank just after he taunted all of the enemies, and he will be invulnerable behind it although he won't be able to damage the enemies either.
- Grease + Fireball on groups of incoming mobs. This will knock them down, hurt them, and set them on fire which is all very good. It will also generate massive threat towards your mage, so make sure your tank taunts them right afterwards or your mage may bite the dust.
- Earthquake + Blizzard. You can put this in an area where the enemies are coming from and they'll get knocked down so much that they may get killed by the blizzard before they make it through the other side. This also works with Tempest or Inferno for more expensive options.

 

[matas]

When you go back down to the bottom, lure 2 - 4 of the darkspawn and run your party back up to the top of the hill to get the knights to help out. Repeat this a few times, and you will be all set. The knights at the top are very tough and won't die on you like the villagers down on the bottom do (almost immediately).

Hopefully I will not lure more than 5, because you know once the villagers die at the bottom, the whole gang will try to catch on to me..

As for crowd control spells, my mage is basically a healer + aura caster. I try to keep advancing only in two subcategories of magic, you know. Idk what skills that other mage has, that mage from woods, Morigan her name is I think.

 

[Dorkenstein]

I need to get back into this game. Played a max of 27-ish hours and stopped.

 

[matas]

Got passed that part. Now just gonna go make a hell lot of potions to be prepared for the next time.

meh can't find that many plants to make potions out of. Hell this game is hard, went into redcliffe castle and it's freakin hard. Enemies start attacking mages and the fight is done, I loose. This game is turning a bit into a frustration.

 

[Modular]

I haven't played in a while. I can get weird with games like that. It took me over a year to complete Oblivion's main quest.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Got passed that part. Now just gonna go make a hell lot of potions to be prepared for the next time.

meh can't find that many plants to make potions out of. Hell this game is hard, went into redcliffe castle and it's freakin hard. Enemies start attacking mages and the fight is done, I loose. This game is turning a bit into a frustration.

Just remember sometime it's better to hit "H" and use your tank to draw the enemies to you rather than barging in with your whole group. You can pick off 2-3 enemies that way instead of engaging the whole horde all at once.

 

[matas]

I only did 2 side quests so far, maybe I should start doing them before going into the main quest. That way I will be a little bit higher lvl and would be able to afford better gear.

 

[zerocool84]

I only did 2 side quests so far, maybe I should start doing them before going into the main quest. That way I will be a little bit higher lvl and would be able to afford better gear.

Yea I'm doing a lot of side quests so I can level up.

 

[Borealis7]

i'm a loot whore, around 50% done and i'm up to 300g haha and thats after buying 84g rogue armor and 4 manuals...i must've gotten more than 500-550g the entire time

 

[nyker96]

cone of ice and blizzard very cool. CoI especially must have effective even against bosses.

 

[matas]

I think I am giving up on this game. It is too annoying for me to stop the game and keep doing the same combos. Very hard to stay alive and every battle is cumbersome. I loved the story and a lot of cut scenes.

 

[coldmeat]

I think I am giving up on this game. It is too annoying for me to stop the game and keep doing the same combos. Very hard to stay alive and every battle is cumbersome. I loved the story and a lot of cut scenes.

switch to easy. That's what I was like, I hated the pausing and the strategizing, but I wanted to continue the story. Playing on easy lets me play in real time instead.