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[Alex C]

Also, what the hell is with people talking on forums across the 'net bitching about Morrigan being unoptimized as hell in her spell selection? She's got the Hex+Drain Life combo and the aforementioned Mind Blast and she's like a level away from having Cone of Awesome, erm, Cone of Cold. Her damage output would have been higher if she had gone the Fire or Lightning route, I suppose, but the minor crowd control capability she picks up in the mean time isn't a bad trade, particularly if she's your only caster.

I dunno, I guess I just don't understand how you can make a bad mage short of specializing in the super specific stuff like anti-caster magic in the early game.

[Scandanavian War Machine]

1- Equip Hail ring
2- Equip other armor and items that boost Ice damage
3- Cast Blizzard
4- Win the entire game

[snalin]

I'm still kinda puzzled at how people can screw up a mage.

Here's what you do: Cast Mass Paralyze/Mind Blast.


Profit.

Mass Paralyze requires you to take both weakness and Miasma, two really, really sucky spells. They suck so much it hurts.

I also took death magic and curse of mortallity, one that's only usefull if you are about to die (which better spells prevents) and one that's only good if you're fighting a healer, which happens rarely.

Two casters with cone of cold and mind blast on the other hand, and some earthquake and blizard in the way while the enemies is attacking... I like it much better than realying on casting weakness at whatever my fighter is targeting.

[ackblom12]

Miasma is amazing if you go Arcane Warrior actually

[Alex C]

Two casters with cone of cold and mind blast on the other hand, and some earthquake and blizard in the way while the enemies is attacking... I like it much better than realying on casting weakness at whatever my fighter is targeting.

Well, yes, two casters with access to three different trees casting in tandem does have a funny way of outperforming the Weakness spell.

Look, Paralyze and Mass Paralyze are capable of trivializing encounters. Often in one casting. It's not a bad tree by any means-- those two spells can turn a hit point total into a mere formality rather quickly.

[Alex C]

Anyway, I'd just like to emphasize that some spells fit certain groups better than others. Debilitation the opposition is easy for a single caster, and when you have three melee types running around dispensing damage, it really doesn't matter if the spell stings a little when it hits or not; it'll be followed up by a decapitation shortly. But a two mage party? That's less melee damage flying around; it's rather natural for the casters to end up shouldering a greater load of the damage in such a case, and the relative weakness of a single AoE is quickly covered for when there's two of 'em being cast.

[est]

At the moment I'm playing a Mage.  Myself, Morrigan, Alistair and the dog.  Between us we've got 3 mass stuns, so I just stunlock while casting 2xWinter's Grasp, Lightning & the Flame cone thing and use Alistair's shield bash & the other stun he has to control individuals who resist.  It's working pretty well so far, but I guess we'll see how it fares against tougher opponents.

[est]

Oh, and did anyone else sprinkle ashes on the rocks in the Kocari Wilds to fight that orange miniboss-like creature?  and as a follow up qn, did you think the reward for it was pretty lame?

[KvP]

Yeah that was lame (missed it in my first playthrough) but it's essentially still the prologue of the game, origin quest aside.

[Caleb]

Oh, and did anyone else sprinkle ashes on the rocks in the Kocari Wilds to fight that orange miniboss-like creature?  and as a follow up qn, did you think the reward for it was pretty lame?

I thought that was a neat quest but the reward could have been much better.  I loved the little story that went with it.  I thought that there might be more mini-quests like that but I haven't seen too many of them.

I did have high hopes for the weird book my doggy found but I think that was just an easter egg thing.

Does it matter where you ask the dog to search for stuff?  Or does he just find the same random stuff everywhere?

[snalin]

he can find some stuff you can gift to him, which is completely worthless since he starts out really happy with you and I'm not sure if you can make him hate you if you try.

[ackblom12]

I've actually gotten actual items from him. He grabbed a piece of armor one or twice.

[Caleb]

He got me a really nice Staff way early in the game.

So nobody knows if different locations matter?

[pilsner]

The only thing I know about the dog is that some of the cut scenes if you keep talking to him at camp are pretty damn funny.

[ackblom12]

I'm pretty certain my favorite was the one with Morrigan. Also, it's amazing how much longer this game takes if you play like a normal human being. Now that I've slowed down for my 3rd full playthrough and playing it like a normal human being, it's taking me multiple days to get through some dungeons!

[pilsner]

Like a normal human being, you mean as opposed to playing 8-10 hours at a time?

[ackblom12]

8+ yeah.

It is quite amzaing how many hours a day you can sit glassy eyed on the couch playing video games when you miss multiple days of work due to the flu.

[pilsner]

8+ yeah.

It is quite amzaing how many hours a day you can sit glassy eyed on the couch playing video games when you miss multiple days of work due to the "flu."

...

OK got kinged on nightmare.  Think I'm done with this game.  Woohoo!

[snalin]

Flemeth...

She's a bitch

[pilsner]

The trick with her is not to play like a little girl.

[Johnny C]

someone on your team best have revive for that fight i think, along with a whole GRIP of potions

[pilsner]

Well the problem is that she will grab people and eat them, and if there is no one in range she will spam fireball.  So the easiest way to do it is go with two mages and spam heals on the guy who gets grabbed.  This requires you to have a mage as your main character.  If you don't, I wouldn't bother attempting the fight with a tank below level 12 on hard or nightmare because otherwise your tank is just going to get snuffed after he gets grabbed.  One spell that helps somewhat is the 3rd in the spirit healer line of spells that kicks in when the guy gets low on health.  That plus the regular heal, plus regeneration, plus group heal will guarantee getting the tank through a grab, unless you've fucked up your tank somehow.

There are a number of spells that can interrupt her grabs but as far as I know none of them are guaranteed to do so.  I think seal: paralyze worked once.

[Johnny C]

She's vulnerable to debuffs and hexes too, and if she's hit by a status condition (like say frozen by Cone of Cold) then it interrupts her attack.

I only fought her once and I got torn to shreds cause I was woefully underprepared but I noticed exactly enough to know what to do next time.

[pilsner]

Really?  I was trying all kinds of shit on her and it was just sliding off.  Also, with cone of cold you've got to watch not getting within range of her massive attack or your mage will get gibbed.

Funny story, my last nightmare playthrough I solod the last boss with my main character (2h warrior with the expensive necklace, belt and axe) because he gibbed both my mages when he landed on them.  Pots are seriously overpowered in this game, I will agree, which is why once you get Morrigan's herbalism up to 3 and access to infinite lyrium dust and elfroot vendors, the game becomes really, really easy.

[KvP]

Cone of Cold is ridiculously useful, so much so that in the latest patch they nerfed it along with a few other spells, increasing recharge time and / or decreasing effect duration. You could effectively "stun lock" groups of enemies with Cone of Cold. It's probably the best spell in the game.

[Alex C]

Hence why I called it Cone of Awesome.

[snalin]

infinite lyrium dust and elfroot vendors

There is some?

Oh yes I need that.


Also, respecing is very useful and a very good alternative to having to start everything over. Especially if you've been specialising one guy on one thing and then find a new guy with the exact same skills.

[pilsner]

Vendor at the Circle of Mages has infinite cheap lyrium dust.  Vendor at the Brecilian Forest Outskirts has infinite elfroot for extremely cheap.  Enjoy your mountains and mountains of pots.

[Johnny C]

Cone of Cold is ridiculously useful, so much so that in the latest patch they nerfed it along with a few other spells, increasing recharge time and / or decreasing effect duration. You could effectively "stun lock" groups of enemies with Cone of Cold. It's probably the best spell in the game.

If you're smart though you gave someone in your party the Affliction Hex anyways so that yr enemies are super vulnerable to it!

[ackblom12]

I have apparently missed a room somewhere in this game and therefore I am missing the Traveler achivement. I might just have to scan a guide next time through to find out what I'm missing.

[Storm Rider]

I think it's important to point out that this game came out just over a month ago and you have already played through it four. TIMES.

This is why I have to settle for playing a bigger number of games than you to stay ahead in achievement points.

[est]

Morrigan has Cone of Cold.  My main Mage has Stone Fist, or whatever it's called.  My other two chars have attacks that crit.  Wooo shatterings.

[FIXDIX]

My ps3 just got the Yellow Light of Death while playing Dragon Age. Now my game is stuck in the ps3.

Sad now 

[pilsner]

Massage its prostate.

[FIXDIX]

Did that, just gave me a coy look and slunk away.

I'll ring the Sony branch here and see what can be done, shit thing is I have to wait until tuesday since they don't take calls during the weekend and I've got work monday.

[Lise]

Hey guys, I picked up Dragon Age recently and was immediately sucked into the storyline (DA is one of the few games where I'm not annoyed by all the lengthy cut scenes.. the acting is superb). But I am TERRIBLE (not to mention I dislike) having to micromanage party members, though I can see why the game is oriented that way... a lot more room for customization.

So for a person like me, what's the best way to play this game with the least amount of micromanagement? Designating tactics confuses the hell out of me... and I'm afraid I'll screw up my party member's skills/stats. I ideally want to play a Berserker Two-Handed Warrior, and I'm not really inclined on learning all the skills for mages, rogues, etc. though I might replay the game later on as a mage.

Also, what's all this buzz about "hardening" characters? I'm really keen on Alistair (hurr hurr, he's a hunk) and want to pursue the ending where we're married and King/Queen, but I've heard that he needs to be hardened in order to accomplish this.

Damn you life-sucking RPGs!!

[est]

Hurr hurr, innuendo.

[est]

But seriously, if you search for "Dragon Age hardening" you'll find everything you need.  Not sure if it's very useful, but I guess if you want the specific story options it opens up it's useful?

[pilsner]

So for a person like me, what's the best way to play this game with the least amount of micromanagement? Designating tactics confuses the hell out of me... and I'm afraid I'll screw up my party member's skills/stats. I ideally want to play a Berserker Two-Handed Warrior, and I'm not really inclined on learning all the skills for mages, rogues, etc. though I might replay the game later on as a mage.

Stats:

I don't recommend using the auto-level which will assign the stats automatically, it doesn't do a very good job.  It's actually pretty hard to screw up stats.

Shield Warrior:  Dump 2 in dex, 1 in strength until you hit the dex you need for your highest available ability, then 2 in strength, 1 in con.  (You may want to put more in strength at the beginning if you are going to put the Dragon armor on your warrior)

2H  Warrior:  Dump 2 in dex, 1 in strength until you hit the dex you need for your highest available ability, then 3 in strength

Rogue with lockpicking, pickpocketing (e.g. Leliana):  Dump 1 in cunning, 2 in dex until you have enough dex for highest available ability, then switch to 2 cunning, 1 dex and make sure you get the ability to use cunning as strength for damage as soon as possible

Roge w/o lockpicking, pickpocketing (e.g. Zevran): 2 in dex, 1 in strength until you hit the dex you need for your highest available ability, then 2 in strength, 1 in dex

Mage: 2 in magic, 1 in willpower

Abilities:

Figure out what each character is going to be and then focus on the skills in that area.  For example if you want Alistair to be a tank, focus on getting him all the defensive shield abilities.  Getting shield wall asap and keeping it on always will him very tough.  Even more important is getting threaten and taunt as soon as possible.  If your main character is a 2H warrior, try getting momentum and punisher ASAP, they both do a lot of damage.

For the mage (or mages if you are playing with both), as you have probably gathered from this thread some spells are far, far better than others.  Focus on getting:

-- Heal
-- Cone of Cold
-- Fireball
-- Sleep, Mass Paralyze or Blood Wound

on one mage that you always use.

Skills:

The only really important skills are herbalism on Morrigan to level 4, and cunning on your main character to level 4.  All the other skills are completely optional.  I have found then getting survival to 4 on at least one of your characters is helpful (but definitely not necessary).  I didn't run with a rogue in any of my playthroughs so trap detection was useless.  As for poisons,   they only work in melee, and the good ones are a pain to make so I didn't use them very much.

Tactics:

I found tactics to be more of a pain than anything else and only used them to make sure that certain abilities (e.g. shield wall, threaten, momentum) were always on.  That means I was pausing the game every few seconds to reassign my characters.  If that doesn't appeal to you I'm sure there are tons of useful tactic scripts online.

[Alex C]

The Mind Blast->Force Field->Telekinetic Weapons->Crushing Cage spell line is also really good. It does favor a bit of micro management if you really want to get the most out of it, but at worst it provides some of the strongest crowd control available in the early game. Casting Force Field and Crushing Cage on the same target also has a rather surprising result; everyone around the target will take a tough to resist knockdown as well as damage.

For the most part, I think the biggest risk with spell selection is the possibility that you might end up picking trees that are all late bloomers. For example, I actually really like the Haste, Mass Paralysis and Stinging Swarm spells quite a bit, but investing exclusively in those spell groups just to get the final spell from each would make the early game into a real pain in the ass. There's absolutely nothing wrong with putting off a high end spell for a level if it means that you're getting a one point wonder like Heal, Glyph of Paralysis or Mind Blast in exchange.

[Johnny C]

I find trap detection SUPER useful for a few fights, but I'm waiting til the next playthrough to really pump someone's trap stats.

[Storm Rider]

Also, what's all this buzz about "hardening" characters? I'm really keen on Alistair (hurr hurr, he's a hunk) and want to pursue the ending where we're married and King/Queen, but I've heard that he needs to be hardened in order to accomplish this.

Mild spoilers follow:

When you get Alistair's approval high enough, he'll talk about having a sister in Denerim and how he'd like to go meet her. If you go to her house in the Market District, she and Alistair will have a conversation where she basically just wants him to give her money. When you get outside, he'll be upset that meeting her was nothing like he thought'd it be. In order to 'harden' him, you have to choose the dialogue to convince him that she was just trying to mooch off his success and that he should stop being a doormat and tell her to fuck off. If you do that, he'll be much more willing to become king at the Landsmeet, and willing to tell the nobles to step off if he tries to marry someone of common blood, namely you. You can do a similar thing with Leliana and her sidequest.

[pilsner]

I find trap detection SUPER useful for a few fights, but I'm waiting til the next playthrough to really pump someone's trap stats.

There are essentially two fights in the game it makes a big difference for (the rogue boss in Ogrimmar, and the room with all the fire traps in the Brecilian temple) and both can be done fairly easy without it (just let the boss come to you).  Also, only a rogue can actually disarm the traps, so if you aren't running with a rogue....

The Mind Blast->Force Field->Telekinetic Weapons->Crushing Cage spell line is also really good.

Absolutely -- its practically the only line of spells where all 4 are good.  Force field works on a lot of bosses and takes them out while you can kill minions.  I've read online that you can also cast it on your tank and the mobs will stay aggrod but this sounded like a cheese tactic so I never tried it.  Telekinetic weapons I initially thought was useless, and then I realized that on several boss fights (High dragon, Flemeth, Gaxkang, hard mode Ser Cauthrien) it actually boosts your melee dps a huge amount.

[Alex C]

Yeah, the AI doesn't really do very well with figuring out that the target is immune-- the dumbest part is that you can then also throw down AoE damage into the fur ball without actually hurting the guy you used to pull the enemies, which is as quick a way as any to sidestep the friendly fire spell mechanics on higher difficulties. I don't like such cheap tactics either though, so I don't actively abuse that stuff, but I have been known to say, Force Field a weakened party member as a stop gap measure if they're close to injury and I don't really need them to win the fight anymore. That flexibility alone is pretty valuable, even if you don't go ahead and throw a Blizzard on top of it afterwards.

[Johnny C]

I find trap detection SUPER useful for a few fights, but I'm waiting til the next playthrough to really pump someone's trap stats.

There are essentially two fights in the game it makes a big difference for (the rogue boss in Ogrimmar, and the room with all the fire traps in the Brecilian temple) and both can be done fairly easy without it (just let the boss come to you).  Also, only a rogue can actually disarm the traps, so if you aren't running with a rogue....

I was thinking more for setting traps too.

Also ARCANE WARRIOR IS BY FAR THE COOLEST FUCKING THING

[est]

Glad to hear that, as it's what I am thinking of doing with my main Mage.

Also, am I the only one who wanted to keep the Fade abilities?  They turn you into a one-man wrecking crew, so I guess it's unbalanced, but god-damn that was fun.

[est]

Also, I got so used to the 4 people I used to smash the darkspawn in the tower (Me, Alistair, Morrigan and Wynne) that when I swapped Wynne out for Leiana(?) I found myself just not using her.  I am pretty sure I am gonna swap her out for the big rock dude once I finish off the quest to get him, because hey, big fuckin' rock dude.

[snalin]

Mage: 2 in magic, 1 in willpower

If you are going for Arcane Warrior, you're going to want to have more willpower, to make up for added fatigue. Hell, whenever you're regularly stopping to cast spells because you're out of mana, you need more willpower, because mages who can pump out cone of cold and heal through an entire battle is far supperior to someone who can't.

You can of course pick up potions, but that's for pussies.

[ackblom12]

Nah, Arcane Warrior really needs no more than the mid 20's for Willpower. The power of an arcane warrior really comes from their sustainable, and therefore not really playing like a proper mage, which if used properly turns them into an indestructible juggernaut. If you still want to use plenty of magic though pump all the extra into con and go for Blood Mage as your second Specialization.

[snalin]

Blood mage - not compatible with role play specifications.

The way I've found most fun as arcane warrior is cone of cold, paralyze, weakness and the like before rampaging through their lines.