# Dragon Age: Origins



## The Groke (Nov 3, 2009)

Well my Steam pre-load is done and I am looking forward to playing this later today when it unlocks.

Epic Bioware high-fantasy (with a few twists) RPG and a true spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate.

Get me some d20s and my gloves of warding +4


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## Private Storm (Nov 3, 2009)

Let us know what it's like, been waiting for this, absolutely LOVED Baldur's Gate etc


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## ChrisFilter (Nov 3, 2009)

Have been looking forward to this


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## stupid dogbot (Nov 3, 2009)

Tempted by the PS3 version, as I can't see me playing it on the (Mac) laptop.


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## revol68 (Nov 3, 2009)

it might come out on the Mac in two years lol.

I'm torn on this because it looks really good and is a Bioware game so should of course be awesome but can I force myself to get over the High Fantasy setting?

Will download for my PC and give it a go.


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## stupid dogbot (Nov 3, 2009)

The Mac part's actually really not that important, as using "PC" software is hardly a stretch. Why on earth would I want to play it on a 15" screen, when I can play it on a 42" one? was more the point.


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## ChrisFilter (Nov 3, 2009)

revol68 said:


> it might come out on the Mac in two years lol.
> 
> I'm torn on this because it looks really good and is a Bioware game so should of course be awesome but can I force myself to get over the High Fantasy setting?
> 
> Will download for my PC and give it a go.



Embrace your inner troll. I'm sure it won't be too difficult for you


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## revol68 (Nov 3, 2009)

stupid dogbot said:


> The Mac part's actually really not that important, as using "PC" software is hardly a stretch. Why on earth would I want to play it on a 15" screen, when I can play it on a 42" one? was more the point.



I don't know any PC gamers using 15 inch screens unless it's a laptop foot away from their face.

You do realise you can hook PC's up to TV's with HDMI these days?

Also using a controller on a game like Dragon Origins would be pretty annoying, such games were made for PC gaming, just like Mass Effect was much superior on the PC.

Saying that the worst thing would be playing Call of Duty with a controller, just awful aim assisted shit.


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## stupid dogbot (Nov 3, 2009)

revol68 said:


> You do realise you can hook PC's up to TV's with HDMI these days?



Really? Wow, thanks, thank god for Urban or no one would ever find these things out!!! 

 

Nevertheless, I'm really not that enamoured with using my laptop for games, and so I don't. It'll be fine on the PS3.


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## revol68 (Nov 3, 2009)

stupid dogbot said:


> Really? Wow, thanks, thank god for Urban or no one would ever find these things out!!!
> 
> 
> 
> Nevertheless, I'm really not that enamoured with using my laptop for games, and so I don't. It'll be fine on the PS3.



Right so the problem is you have shitty laptop not fit for gaming on, so the issue isn't PC gaming per se but that you don't own a gaming pc.


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## stupid dogbot (Nov 3, 2009)

^^  

I don't own any PC at all.

I have a _£2500 laptop_ that I never intended to play games on, so hardly shitty by any intelligent, worthwhile measure. It'll play games - I just don't want to on it.

There's no _problem_ except the ones you seem to want to find. You could have an argument with a fucking lamppost, you.


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## The Groke (Nov 4, 2009)

I got the PC version.

1 - I prefer mouse/keyboard for these kind of things and the interface is slightly better.
2 - Looks slightly nicer
3 - tool-set and user DLC


Still - console version would also be just fine and being able to chill in the lounge rather than being sat at the desk for an epic like this would be a big plus.

Played about 3 hours so far...it feels super old school - in a _really_ good way.
World and Lore is rich, detailed and is scratching all my nerdy itches.

Seems to have some odd difficulty spikes (as some reviews have mentioned) and I (like many others) had to slide down to easy for one early fight, but seems to be evening out now.

I have the next two days off work and I am looking forward to really getting stuck into it.


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## tommers (Nov 4, 2009)

I need to make a 360 vs PC decision too.... I'll have to check exactly what my PC specs are when i get home...


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## revol68 (Nov 4, 2009)

tommers said:


> I need to make a 360 vs PC decision too.... I'll have to check exactly what my PC specs are when i get home...



apparently the 360 is the worst of the console versions and the PC is by the far the best one to have.

If you can play it on your PC I seriously suggest you do.


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## The Groke (Nov 4, 2009)

Christ, I have played literally all day....

9% complete.


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## tommers (Nov 4, 2009)

The Groke said:


> Christ, I have played literally all day....
> 
> 9% complete.




any good?


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## revol68 (Nov 4, 2009)

The Groke said:


> Christ, I have played literally all day....
> 
> 9% complete.



I played for about an hour and half, bit let down by the graphics (playing on PC) they are very basic by today's standards, though am impressed by the story telling (up to bioware's very high standards).

I went with a city Elf as my character, she's cute and bolshy.

What'd you go for?


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## The Groke (Nov 4, 2009)

revol68 said:


> I played for about an hour and half, bit let down by the graphics (playing on PC) they are very basic by today's standards,



I swing back and forth on this - some bits look really quite ugly...and then I will get caught up in some detail or other - especially some of the character scenes and be reasonably impressed with the visuals.



revol68 said:


> I went with a city Elf as my character, he's cute and bolshy.
> 
> What'd you go for?



Heh - I actually played through 3 beginnings first and then launched in.

I am currently a female human mage...quite enjoying it as I always seem to end up playing roguey/assassin/thief type characters in these games.


I also played through the Elf wedding scenario and the commoner Dwarf. Out of those, I will probably go back to the Dwarf one at some point.

Combat is pretty tough in places but I seem to be getting by.

Trying to read all the codex bits as well - it is pretty detailed.

I am finding the lack of a morality/karma slider pretty refreshing. You just do your thing and deal with the consequences. 




Spoiler: On the Elf wedding start



I found the choice at the end quite tough - leave your friend to get gang-raped but save the village from a potential slaughter, or take them out and possibly condemn the whole place. I chose option one...kind of wish I hadn't!


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## The Groke (Nov 4, 2009)

tommers said:


> any good?




I am enjoying it, yes.


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## revol68 (Nov 4, 2009)

The Groke said:


> I swing back and forth on this - some bits look really quite ugly...and then I will get caught up in some detail or other - especially some of the character scenes and be reasonably impressed with the visuals.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



by the way that should have said *she's* cute and bolshy.

Also I killed that rapist piece of shit, you are a cowardly fucker, his threats were idle, a fool could see that and if the price of saving the village is to forever kneel at the feet of humans, well I'd rather die on my feet that live on my knees!


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## ChrisFilter (Nov 4, 2009)

Easy on the spoilers, revol.

Downloading this now. Average gfx is good news for me and my laptop. Mobility Radeon 4370 512MB should cope fine - it runs Crysis, albeit at low levels.


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## The Groke (Nov 5, 2009)

revol68 said:


> by the way that should have said *she's* cute and bolshy.



Yeah right...




revol68 said:


> Also I killed that rapist piece of shit, you are a cowardly fucker, his threats were idle, a fool could see that and if the price of saving the village is to forever kneel at the feet of humans, well I'd rather die on my feet that live on my knees!



Heh - well it didn't work out that well...not as I intended anyway.



Been having a blast killing undead, making deals with demons and freeing Golems. Premium content was worth having - Shale is a fun party member and a decent tank.

Struggling a bit with Alistair actually, which I find weird - I find him entertaining to have in the party, but not actually all that _useful_. I find him neither particularly good at dealing out damage nor a good tank.

Tend to have a party of my human mage, Morrigan, the rogue priest chicky and Shale for maximum damage and flexibility.


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## The Groke (Nov 5, 2009)

Heh - 16 hours in...and it indicates I have completed 14% of the game.


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## tommers (Nov 5, 2009)

right, I've checked my laptop specs... processor is fine (dual core 4200 @ 2 ghz), RAM is fine (4GB)... as always though I'm not sure about the graphics card.

The specs say the minimum is NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB or greater.

I have an Nvidia GeForce G 105M 512MB.... will that be ok?  or should I resign myself to the 360 version?  PC would be a LOT more convenient.


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## The Groke (Nov 6, 2009)

Still loving this - game goes from strength to strength.

30 hours played...22% completed, 32% explored.

Have made an awful lot of choices where I want to find out how things could have turned out differently or how having different party members with me could have worked out.


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## Chz (Nov 7, 2009)

tommers said:


> right, I've checked my laptop specs... processor is fine (dual core 4200 @ 2 ghz), RAM is fine (4GB)... as always though I'm not sure about the graphics card.
> 
> The specs say the minimum is NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB or greater.
> 
> I have an Nvidia GeForce G 105M 512MB.... will that be ok?  or should I resign myself to the 360 version?  PC would be a LOT more convenient.



I'm gonna say no. It only has 8 shader pipes. A desktop Nvidia part (because ATI and NV measure shaders differently, you have to compare like for like) has well over 100.


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## tommers (Nov 7, 2009)

Chz said:


> I'm gonna say no. It only has 8 shader pipes. A desktop Nvidia part (because ATI and NV measure shaders differently, you have to compare like for like) has well over 100.



oh.

fair enough.  I have no idea what that means but it sounds like you know what you're talking about. 

360 it is then.


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## Radar (Nov 7, 2009)

PA aren't too happy about the premium content touting, and it does seem a bit off for a game that's only just been released.

Think I'll hold off for a while.


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## revol68 (Nov 7, 2009)

Radar said:


> PA aren't too happy about the premium content touting, and it does seem a bit off for a game that's only just been released.
> 
> Think I'll hold off for a while.



DLC like that is a joke, as is all that shit they offer you for pre ordering or buying the limited edition.

The DLC model seems to being pushed more and more and there is no doubt in my mind it is the logic behind Infinity Wards removal of dedicated server support.


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## The Groke (Nov 8, 2009)

I bought the "deluxe" edition and pre-ordered thus I wasn't aware that you actually go prodded to buy it in game if you hadn't done so.

I would suggest this is EAs doing more-so than Bioware...

Still, the DLC was worth it - especially getting Shale the golem. He is a permanent fixture in my party and provides some of the more amusing dialogue.

The fact that he is written so seamlessly into the game - should you have the content - does obviously point to him being in the design from early on. The decision to rip him out and offer him as chargeable content is pretty cheeky.

Still, on the whole I don't begrudge spending the money I did. Bioware have produced some of my all time favourite games and this looks to be no exception. If paying them decent money ensures that they continue to make epic, complex RPGs _on the PC_, then it is money well spent.


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## Stigmata (Nov 8, 2009)

I remember when Morrowind came out, and they offered DLC for free. We'll be paying for official patches next.


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## The Groke (Nov 8, 2009)

Stigmata said:


> I remember when Morrowind came out, and they offered DLC for free. We'll be paying for official patches next.



Give it 6 months and you will see some fine free content from amateur modders working the toolset.

I might download it myself and have a play.


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## Stigmata (Nov 8, 2009)

Yeah I need a good RPG, and I heard you can play a female character and lez up with one of the NPCs


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## The Groke (Nov 8, 2009)

Heh - oddly enough I do seem to be on the cusp of a burgeoning girl/gir relationship in my game.

Wasn't really something I strove for, but seemed to develop naturally through my gameplay decisions and interactions with the character which is nice.


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## revol68 (Nov 8, 2009)

Stigmata said:


> Yeah I need a good RPG, and I heard you can play a female character and lez up with one of the NPCs



Tell me about it, I'm a sexy bolshy city elf and I'm trying to get into the sexy mage but my righteous sense of justice keeps pissing her off. I fear this is another Mass Effect scenario and I'm going to end up getting off with no one.


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## FridgeMagnet (Nov 8, 2009)

There are millions of dating sims out there that Shippy will translate if you want, you pervs


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## revol68 (Nov 8, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> There are millions of dating sims out there that Shippy will translate if you want, you pervs



You saying you wouldn't?


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## FridgeMagnet (Nov 8, 2009)

so do you want to be the little girl or the big paedo?


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## revol68 (Nov 8, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> so do you want to be the little girl or the big paedo?



Please....

My city elf is hotter than that bitch, though I am trying to get her to cop off with that sexy (albeit less sexy than my character) bitch.


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## Cid (Nov 8, 2009)

revol68 said:


> Tell me about it, I'm a sexy bolshy city elf and I'm trying to get into the sexy mage but my righteous sense of justice keeps pissing her off. I fear this is another Mass Effect scenario and I'm going to end up getting off with no one.



Read somewhere that only the rogue will go girl-on-girl (and only one of the male characters, but can't remember which).


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## Cid (Nov 8, 2009)

Enjoying it so far btw... _slightly_ annoyed because I decided that with this one I'd be sensible and go for a tank as my starting character, then it turns out the first proper party member you get is one. So I panicked and spent a few points on dual wield abilities before realising I was drunk and being an idiot and anyway Al's a bit annoying. Wasted points though...


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## revol68 (Nov 8, 2009)

Cid said:


> Enjoying it so far btw... _slightly_ annoyed because I decided that with this one I'd be sensible and go for a tank as my starting character, then it turns out the first proper party member you get is one. So I panicked and spent a few points on dual wield abilities before realising I was drunk and being an idiot and anyway Al's a bit annoying. Wasted points though...



I'm new to this high fantasy enchanted cod piece nonsense and I'm perplexed as to what a 'tank' character is, I've seen the term bandied about a couple of times.


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## Cid (Nov 8, 2009)

A tank is designed to draw enemies and hold them... Basically you have abilities that increase the aggression (or aggro) they 'feel' towards you so that they attack you rather than another party member. Conversely a high damage character will draw large amounts of aggro when they hit, but are poorly protected. What you want is one ultra tough guy in the middle of it all taking all the hits, whilst you micro-manage the others to do as much damage as possible without getting too much attention (aided by items that reduce the aggro). The guy in the middle is the tank.


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## tommers (Nov 9, 2009)

oh god.  i hate that shit.  Skills that increase enemies' aggression towards you?  whack.  It's a stupid bloody development.


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## The Groke (Nov 9, 2009)

tommers said:


> oh god.  i hate that shit.  Skills that increase enemies' aggression towards you?  whack.  It's a stupid bloody development.




Pretty much essential for a party-based tactical RPG I would say!


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## ChrisFilter (Nov 9, 2009)

*sigh* this thread saddens me. I want the epic fantasy role-playing world, but I don't want to have to dedicate the amount of life required to get proper enjoyment out of it.

When's FFXIII out? I like JRPGs because they're linear.

The Last Remnant will have to keep my attention for now.


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## Chz (Nov 9, 2009)

No, I agree. While the tank/dps/healer thing may work great for WoW, it's somewhat aggravating (no pun intended) to see that shit in a "proper" RPG. Makes it feel too... Well, "gamey". I don't want to think about the aggro and stuff in games like this. The game, in so many other aspects, tries to be immersive but things like that really kill it.


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## tommers (Nov 9, 2009)

The Groke said:


> Pretty much essential for a party-based tactical RPG I would say!



Eh?  You're joking.  It's stupid.  There have been tactical party-based RPGs for donkey's years without this.  Is it a WOW thing?  (I've never played it.)


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## Stigmata (Nov 9, 2009)

Yeah, the Fighter/Mage/Rogue combo is as old as the hills of Dunland


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## The Groke (Nov 10, 2009)

tommers said:


> Eh?  You're joking.  It's stupid.  There have been tactical party-based RPGs for donkey's years without this.  Is it a WOW thing?  (I've never played it.)



I think WoW, Everquest et al have given a _name_ to the trope and expanded on it's use, but it has existed in some form in party-based RPGs with a tactical bent for a while.

You have heavily armoured characters with which to engage the enemy head-on and support characters (mages/healers/rogues) with light armour that can't take much punishment, but deal out damage and repair damage done to your team.

Having the ability to actively lure the enemy into engaging toe-to-toe with your plate-clad knight/warrior/whatever, rather than sticking his sword straight through your squishy mage is fine with me.

I think you will find that a lot of games previously did this aggro-roll under the hood with no direct involvement from the player. I prefer it being an active choice.


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## ChrisFilter (Nov 10, 2009)

The Groke said:


> I think WoW, Everquest et al have given a _name_ to the trope and expanded on it's use, but it has existed in some form in party-based RPGs with a tactical bent for a while.
> 
> You have heavily armoured characters with which to engage the enemy head-on and support characters (mages/healers/rogues) with light armour that can't take much punishment, but deal out damage and repair damage done to your team.
> 
> ...



Yeah, it was there in Final Fantasy games going back to the SNES.


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## tommers (Nov 10, 2009)

The Groke said:


> I think WoW, Everquest et al have given a _name_ to the trope and expanded on it's use, but it has existed in some form in party-based RPGs with a tactical bent for a while.
> 
> You have heavily armoured characters with which to engage the enemy head-on and support characters (mages/healers/rogues) with light armour that can't take much punishment, but deal out damage and repair damage done to your team.
> 
> ...




well yes, you've always had fighters, knights, paladins or whatever -  but their use is fundamentally different.  They are there to deal damage as well as take it.  They're your main physical fighters.  And yes, they shield the party in that you stick them at the front while your magic user is muttering under his breath at the back or your thief is hiding in the shadows but their use is not to just soak up damage.  You protect your mage by getting him to stand at the back, your thief is protected cos he's really quick and dodgy.. you don't need some stupid idiot leaping in the way of every sword thrust and shouting "look at me, look at me - hey you! your mum!" all the bloody time.  

I was (sadly) thinking about this last night.  I think my objection to it is that, within the boundaries of a fantasy setting - with magic and gods and elves and all that unrealistic stuff, RPGs have always tried to replicate those worlds in a realistic way.  All the Armour Class, rolling a dice to simulate chance, in fact all the rules are there to try to determine the results of actions in a (kind of) believable way.  To suddenly have some fella who's only job is to take damage kind of destroys all that.  Who's going to pick that job?!?

So yeah, "tanks" have always existed but (for me) the idea has always been for your party to avoid damage in the first place, not have somebody who's job it is to attract it.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 10, 2009)

I don't understand all this tank-talk, but I'm really enjoying DAO. I couldn't tell you how far through the game I am, but I've had it since Friday and have spent well over 24 hours playing it. I'm not really into fantasy stuff, far prefer sci-fi, but it didn't take long for me to get into this. 

I don't come from an RPG background (ME is the only one I've really played), and I think it's going to take some time to think more strategically about tactics and whatnot. I'm finding the combat weird, but I'm used to the point and shoot stuff, and tactics for me have never gone further than controlling my squad in ME. I've never played a game like that on a PC, so the xbox controller is all I know - and it's a bit awkward only being able to assign 6 'hot keys' while you keep amassing more and more talents, but hey ho. 

I tried to take on a big fuck off dragon for a laugh and died  I was proud of how long I lasted though. I'll go back and kill her another day.


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## tommers (Nov 10, 2009)

hmmmm...

this reckons I can run it....

gotta be worth a shot, all the reviews seem to rate the PC version over the xbox one...


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## Chz (Nov 11, 2009)

Can you run it? 
Yes.

Will it either look like ass, or run at 5 frames a second?
Yes.


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## ChrisFilter (Nov 11, 2009)

tommers said:


> hmmmm...
> 
> this reckons I can run it....
> 
> gotta be worth a shot, all the reviews seem to rate the PC version over the xbox one...



Runs fine at a decent res on my laptop. Card is a mobility Radeon 4330, I think.


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## tommers (Nov 11, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> Runs fine at a decent res on my laptop. Card is a mobility Radeon 4330, I think.




OK, thanks.  This website says that card has a "3DMark 05" (whatever that is) of 4969.  http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html

My card has 4321.

Both are "class 3."

Sod it, I've got a 20 quid HMV voucher, worth a shot.  I can always flog it on ebay if it runs like a 3 legged dog.


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## Chz (Nov 11, 2009)

I do admittedly tend to be pessimistic. But it *will* run, and if you're not that fussed by the graphics settings (let's face it - it's not the prettiest game ever anyhow), it'll be enjoyable. It's essentially equivalent to the minimum spec, but PC min specs are... Well... Let's see how it goes.


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## tommers (Nov 11, 2009)

Chz said:


> I do admittedly tend to be pessimistic. But it *will* run, and if you're not that fussed by the graphics settings (let's face it - it's not the prettiest game ever anyhow), it'll be enjoyable. It's essentially equivalent to the minimum spec, but PC min specs are... Well... Let's see how it goes.



I need a risk in my life.

And I was playing ADOM previously, so graphics aren't really a deal breaker. 

We'll see.  Thanks for your advice anyway, I know jack shit about this stuff.


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## tommers (Nov 12, 2009)

well, it works.  still doing the mage origin... good so far, not really what i expected tbf.


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## FridgeMagnet (Nov 12, 2009)

Tanks have always existed in rl, with tough armoured troops protecting generals and archers and siege engines etc, and they've always been a part of heroic fantasy in both myth (the warrior protecting his liege or family to the death by taking enemy blows) and gaming.

What irritates me is the pampered muhmorpig bastards who think that all you have to do for that is to have some sort of "aggro" skill. In the past you had to get your fighters in the way to stop the orcs going straight for your magic user, use the terrain, make defensive groups; there were tactics involved. Now, oh no, we can just sit there and click a button and the monsters will just completely ignore their own best interests and attack the hardest thing to kill. Lazy fuckers.


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## tommers (Nov 12, 2009)

FridgeMagnet said:


> Tanks have always existed in rl, with tough armoured troops protecting generals and archers and siege engines etc, and they've always been a part of heroic fantasy in both myth (the warrior protecting his liege or family to the death by taking enemy blows) and gaming.
> 
> What irritates me is the pampered muhmorpig bastards who think that all you have to do for that is to have some sort of "aggro" skill. In the past you had to get your fighters in the way to stop the orcs going straight for your magic user, use the terrain, make defensive groups; there were tactics involved. Now, oh no, we can just sit there and click a button and the monsters will just completely ignore their own best interests and attack the hardest thing to kill. Lazy fuckers.



*applause*

you said it better than i ever could.


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## tommers (Nov 16, 2009)

well... I've played through a couple of origins.  Did the mage one and just finished the dalish elf one...

it's very KOTOR isn't it? 

I'm going with a kind of errol flynn character.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 20, 2009)

I finished my first playthrough the other night. Played a male human rogue. Thoroughly enjoyed it. As I want my cake and to eat it too, I wished the last questy/mission thing lasted longer - it seemed like some of the treaties quests were longer and more satisfying (esp. the dwarf one). 

I'm so lacking a life, I started a new game of it yesterday, female elf rogue this time (I like the rogue's flexibility). Just arrived in Lothering.


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## tommers (Nov 20, 2009)

I have to play it in between feeding and changing the baby so I've just got to lothering for the 2nd time.  Rogue this time, I like them too...  Combat seems to go much quicker than when i was a mage, and it was annoying that there were chests I couldn't open.

One thing I'm not sure about are the weapon skills - they seem quite samey.

For example you can have "Shield Cover", which raises missile defence with a loss of attack and you can have "Shield Defence", which raises missile defence and normal defence with a loss of attack....  I just seem to be adding more special attacks which do much the same.

Anyway, it's not quite as amazing as I thought it was going to be but it's good enough to be getting on with!  Hopefully things will improve once I finally get out of Lothering.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 20, 2009)

Yes, the skills are a bit hit and miss, pardon the pun. I let my team auto-level up last time, because I'm not that used to proper RPG games and it was enough to get to grips with my own character. This time I'm making sure they get what I want out of them. Plus, I was a little all over the place with my own rogue, not really knowing what to focus on, ending up spending wasted points on too much herbalism and poison-making etc. A good tip I saw online was save those for members you'll always leave back in camp so they can make all your stuff for you and you get the free slots for more important stuff. This is why I'm crap at strategy - I fail at thinking of these things for myself. 

I also found out an easy money exploit. I know I shouldn't, but I got so pissed off never being able to get that tantalising expensive stuff in the shops that I'm willing to sacrifice my integrity this time around


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 20, 2009)

Oh, and I'm going to pick up a copy of KotOR. I've been reliably informed that because I love ME and DAO I'll love KotOR. I believe it is backwards compatible and will work on the 360.

I have more time (and money) than sense. Better this than being stuck watching re-runs on Dave though


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## tommers (Nov 20, 2009)

Yeah Kotor is really good.  You will notice _certain_ similarities.


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## Awesome Wells (Nov 23, 2009)

great game, poor port.

the ps3 version is filled with glitches.


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## fen_boy (Nov 23, 2009)

Awesome Wells said:


> great game, poor port.
> 
> the ps3 version is filled with glitches.



Yeah, the ps3 version is really badly done.


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## The Groke (Nov 23, 2009)

Awesome Wells said:


> great game, poor port.
> 
> the ps3 version is filled with glitches.




I am so glad I went with the PC version after much deliberation.


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## Awesome Wells (Nov 23, 2009)

fen_boy said:


> Yeah, the ps3 version is really badly done.


i hear its better tan the 360.

also why do you have piss few tactics slots which you need to help your team not shoot each other or fail to heal and generally not die.


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## pboi (Nov 25, 2009)

so I have done about 5 hours, PS3 version, Magi, just going with the flow.

I have this annoying niggle that infact I am not doing everything I should be.  I am not bothering talking to my party, or examining anything I pick up.

Am I missing out any anything major?   Or can I just carry on with building a healbot for my peeps   my virtual computer peeps!! argh how sad


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## The Groke (Nov 25, 2009)

pboi said:


> I am not bothering talking to my party,



You have lots of time left to do this if you are only 5 hours in but it is worth it as:

1) When your party like you enough, they get permanent stat/skill bonuses
2) There are quests for most (all?) of your party members which open up when you have built enough of a bond up with them.


----------



## pboi (Nov 25, 2009)

agh really? damn it, now it sounds worth my while.   how big does the selection get for party members? I only just got to that selection screen...so figure its still early on.

im a little dazzled at how epic this game is going to be reading the thread.  ( I dont like to watching movies/reviews for films or games, I find it really spoils it)

I have downloaded that stone golem but not enabled him yet, is it too late?

btw I was a massive WoW geek and well into my raiding. super geek in one of the best in the world at the time, so this is totally hitting my casual spot!! haha


----------



## The Groke (Nov 25, 2009)

pboi said:


> agh really? damn it, now it sounds worth my while.   how big does the selection get for party members? I only just got to that selection screen...so figure its still early on.



Well it is entirely possible to not meet/not recruit certain characters due to your decisions in the game...

I think I have around 8 now @ about 65 hours in...





pboi said:


> I have downloaded that stone golem but not enabled him yet, is it too late?



Shale is probably my favourite character in the game, both for entertainment and as the best tank available.

So yeah - get ye to the Golem quest and do it! I believe you can activate it whilst already in a game and pick up the quest.


----------



## pboi (Nov 25, 2009)

and do you manage to switch between characters to carry out specials...or do you let the AI do its thing?   also, do you have the team members taking potions ?

i find myself sticking to my mage and let the the rest do their thing..one imagines thats not possible for the big bosses


----------



## The Groke (Nov 25, 2009)

I micromanage every single team member in every single fight!

Partly for fun, partly because the tougher fights warrant it IMO...


----------



## Beanburger (Nov 25, 2009)

fen_boy said:


> Yeah, the ps3 version is really badly done.


How badly? Really wanna play this from the comfort of the couch.


----------



## tommers (Nov 25, 2009)

The Groke said:


> Shale is probably my favourite character in the game, both for entertainment and as the best tank available.



Without starting that argument again... when I saw a Golem I thought "wicked, bet he can throw people against walls, crush enemies' heads in his hands and chuck rocks."

Ummm..... well, he can go into "attack mode" - where he can "slam" people and bang the ground.... but he can also go into "support mode" and "defense mode".

yeahhhhh!  what an awesome killing machine.  "oi!  golem! go smash those guys' heads in!"  "Ok, but I'd rather sit here and make you regain stamina more quickly."



and!  and!  what is going on with the bloody bandits in this game?  I'm stuck in Demerin fighting bloody pickpockets in back alleys and they're killing at least one party member in every fight,  Pickpockets!  I'm the bloody grey warden!


----------



## The Groke (Nov 26, 2009)

tommers said:


> Without starting that argument again... when I saw a Golem I thought "wicked, bet he can throw people against walls, crush enemies' heads in his hands and chuck rocks."
> 
> Ummm..... well, he can go into "attack mode" - where he can "slam" people and bang the ground.... but he can also go into "support mode" and "defense mode".



I think the game does a great job at tapping into mechanics one might reasonable associate with the characters elemental form:

1) Attributes/skills relating to damage reduction and durability
2) Attributes/skills relating to offensive bludgeoning.


Yeah, fair enough if you get him early on, he isn't as powerful as you might expect "out of the box" but as he has been levelling up, I have applied skills to him which allow:

1) Hurling bloody great boulders at groups of foes
2) Pounding the ground and creating a small earth-quake
3) "Killer blows" slow, chargable, single-hit massive attacks which floor opponents and shatter foes that are frozen
4) Hunker down and take large amounts of damage, distracting attackers from your other party members.

Does pretty much all I would want/expect and most of what you have listed TBH!



As for the bandits...well yes, they are a challenge, but mostly due to the fact that there tends to be about 10 of them, mixing up traps, magic and close-combat bad-guys against your team of four.

Grey Warden or no, any tough guy is going to have a fight on their hands in those circumstances surely!


----------



## fen_boy (Nov 26, 2009)

Beanburger said:


> How badly? Really wanna play this from the comfort of the couch.



Really badly chugging frame rate mainly, but it looks shit too.


----------



## The Groke (Nov 26, 2009)

fen_boy said:


> Really badly chugging frame rate mainly, but it looks shit too.




Can't imagine playing it without mouse and keyboard either TBH


----------



## pboi (Nov 26, 2009)

i hope they patch it or something. it does chug


----------



## tommers (Nov 26, 2009)

The Groke said:


> 1) Hurling bloody great boulders at groups of foes




I look forward to that then.  I've already got the others. 

Don't get me wrong, it's a good game.  I really enjoy having to make moral judgements (just done the first bit of the redcliffe quest), just the odd thing seems a bit incongruous.

And we've already covered the "attract enemies to hit the big rock" thing.


----------



## The Groke (Nov 26, 2009)

tommers said:


> just the odd thing seems a bit incongruous.



In some ways I think in modern games, this is often akin to an "Uncanny Valley" effect.

As games become more complex, more ambitious, offer more choice, a more immersive experience, more advanced mechanics, it can really bring you back to earth with a jolt when a relatively minor incongruity or forced mechanism slips in to the mix...


----------



## tommers (Nov 26, 2009)

The Groke said:


> In some ways I think in modern games, this is often akin to an "Uncanny Valley" effect.
> 
> As games become more complex, more ambitious, offer more choice, a more immersive experience, more advanced mechanics, it can really bring you back to earth with a jolt when a relatively minor incongruity or forced mechanism slips in to the mix...



well the bit where the guy suddenly asked me to pay for DLC was jarring to say the least.


----------



## The Groke (Nov 26, 2009)

tommers said:


> well the bit where the guy suddenly asked me to pay for DLC was jarring to say the least.




Fortunately I was spared that as I had already bought the uber-mega pack...


----------



## tommers (Nov 26, 2009)

The Groke said:


> Fortunately I was spared that as I had already bought the uber-mega pack...



I had something with shale and the armour but not the peak.  Worth it?


----------



## The Groke (Nov 26, 2009)

tommers said:


> I had something with shale and the armour but not the peak.  Worth it?



Ummm...yeah. I _think_ so.

The peak was a pretty good quest with some interesting choices...dunno - how much is it as DLC?


----------



## tommers (Nov 26, 2009)

The Groke said:


> Ummm...yeah. I _think_ so.
> 
> The peak was a pretty good quest with some interesting choices...dunno - how much is it as DLC?



About £5 odd i think...  I resent it tho.  It made me swear at the screen when he asked for the cash.

That comic strip up top is spot on.


----------



## Private Storm (Nov 26, 2009)

Bought the game....but torrented the DLC.


----------



## tommers (Nov 26, 2009)

Private Storm said:


> Bought the game....but torrented the DLC.




oooohhhh.....  nice idea.  how would one go about doing that?  PM might be best.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Nov 26, 2009)

Might give this a go tonight. Tomorrow I'll have a 24" monitor to play it on, sweet.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Nov 30, 2009)

Just started playing this. I don't think the gfx are too bad. On 1920x1080 at full everything I think it looks nice. 

I'm finding it quite challenging. I expect this will be met with derision.


----------



## pboi (Nov 30, 2009)

my first revenant i had to put on easy.

im about 13 hours in and just up the mage tower. getting tough now!! if I wasnt a healer id be really struggling with this


----------



## tommers (Nov 30, 2009)

pboi said:


> my first revenant i had to put on easy.
> 
> im about 13 hours in and just up the mage tower. getting tough now!! if I wasnt a healer id be really struggling with this



I'm finding it quite challenging too.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Nov 30, 2009)

I'm in Lothering. Still enjoying it.

(I've switched to easy, but it's too easy, going back to normal)


----------



## tommers (Dec 1, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> I'm in Lothering. Still enjoying it.
> 
> (I've switched to easy, but it's too easy, going back to normal)



Yeah, I don't mind challenging.  I just had to reload the boss battle for the Redcliffe quest (well, probably not THE boss battle but A boss battle anyway) about ten times.

Cold Salve was my friend.

I like it like that though, you get a sense of achievement when you finally beat it.


----------



## Erich Zann (Dec 1, 2009)

has anyone here got this for the PS3? Is it really not worth bothering with?


----------



## pboi (Dec 1, 2009)

did you read the thread?


----------



## Erich Zann (Dec 1, 2009)

pboi said:


> did you read the thread?



yep.  and most of the posters were talking about the PC version.  Someone said the framerate was choppy, but that doesn't mean it's a bad game to play.


----------



## Dandred (Dec 1, 2009)

after getting my arse kicked in nearly every battle I've put it on easy and now it's just too easy......

Playing on PC. 

Seems just too much to learn to enjoy playing casually.................


----------



## pboi (Dec 1, 2009)

roll a healer?  

make sure you pause all the time and spam potions?


----------



## Dandred (Dec 1, 2009)

pboi said:


> roll a healer?
> 
> make sure you pause all the time and spam potions?



Been pausing, setting tactics, just too much, I've read that having lots of mages are good to have so I might go back as a mage......

When I try to cast a spell as a mage why does it take so long to cast another?

I wanted to be a sneaky rouge but I'm not doing well....

Only the second time I've played a game like this......... NWN was easy.


----------



## pboi (Dec 1, 2009)

think I read that archer rogue is the best char at end game


----------



## Chz (Dec 2, 2009)

The game can be quite hard at the beginning, depending on the character you choose (rogues have it tough). But once you get going, it actually gets easier. Particularly in the rogue's case, as you go all backstab-o-rama on things.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Dec 2, 2009)

My experience seems to be mirroring Dandred. Normal difficulty is too hard, Easy is too easy. Battles are either massively onerous, or a clickfest with the occasional pause for health replenishment.

I too am a rogue. Maybe I'll start again as a mage... is it the same story regardless of character?


----------



## Dandred (Dec 2, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> My experience seems to be mirroring Dandred. Normal difficulty is too hard, Easy is too easy. Battles are either massively onerous, or a clickfest with the occasional pause for health replenishment.
> 
> I too am a rogue. Maybe I'll start again as a mage... is it the same story regardless of character?



There are six different starts to the game.....not sure at which point they converge though. 

I'm going to stick with this a little longer. I really need a guide about how to play this kind of game, D&D was never something I got into and I feel a little lost.


----------



## pboi (Dec 2, 2009)

in my experience its all about crowd control. stun/trap/debilitate/debuff everything you can.


----------



## tommers (Dec 2, 2009)

the quests converge at the start of ostagar.

I am playing a duelist rogue.  He does OK.  The mage is the most powerful member of the party though.  It feels a bit like it could do with 6 in the party.

I struggle with just picking 4...

The difficulty does seem a bit odd.  I've been doing the second half of the redcliffe quest and you go through a dungeon with lots of quite easy opponents and then suddenly you're in a fight with things that kick your arse.


----------



## Dandred (Dec 2, 2009)

pboi said:


> in my experience its all about crowd control. stun/trap/debilitate/debuff everything you can.



How do I get my mage to cast spells quicker? I cast the vulnerability hex and they try to make Morrigan fire of an ice spell and she just starts using her staff?


----------



## tommers (Dec 2, 2009)

pboi said:


> in my experience its all about crowd control. stun/trap/debilitate/debuff everything you can.



Yes.  This.  Mind blast.  Dread Howl.  Winter's Grasp.  These things are your friends.


----------



## tommers (Dec 2, 2009)

Dandred said:


> How do I get my mage to cast spells quicker? I cast the vulnerability hex and they try to make Morrigan fire of an ice spell and she just starts using her staff?



I just pause it after every cycle and give people orders.  If things are going well then sometimes I leave them to go through their tactics slots.


----------



## Private Storm (Dec 2, 2009)

Am playing on hard, like to try and keep good games going for a bit and generally find easy/normal too easy.

Am also playing a rogue and also found it hard to begin with. My ideal party make up is me (obv.), Wynn for the healing, one tank type (the templar or golem are both ideal, especially when you've tooled the knight up) and one other depending on situation. You have to take the dwarf for example when doing the Dwarf city and dungeons.

I've found that setting the tactics to make the characters drink health pots below 50/25% really useful, but only really micromanage my rogue and Wynn, mainly to get her to heal at the right times instead of attacking, the gormless crone. Using stealth is invaluable for a lot of the run of the mill encounters - scout ahead, set traps and then pull them off o)in as small groups as possible. Respeccing Wynn means that she has fireball and firestorm as well as her healing powers, both of which are great for softening up groups before you engage.

Also, it *may* be considered cheating by some, but I've also respecced Wynn and my main character to be as useful as possible - realised that I'd spent some points in archery for the rogue when he never really needed it.


----------



## pboi (Dec 2, 2009)

Dandred said:


> How do I get my mage to cast spells quicker? I cast the vulnerability hex and they try to make Morrigan fire of an ice spell and she just starts using her staff?



yeh, I havent worked it out but reckon finel tuned solid tactic orders would make a world of difference.


----------



## pboi (Dec 2, 2009)

how do you respec?


----------



## tommers (Dec 2, 2009)

pboi said:


> how do you respec?




Just treat people like you'd want to be treated yourself.


----------



## Private Storm (Dec 2, 2009)

tommers said:


> Just treat people like you'd want to be treated yourself.





See http://social.bioware.com/project/469/ for the respec mod


----------



## pboi (Dec 2, 2009)

im on ps3. ho hum


----------



## Private Storm (Dec 2, 2009)

Ah, sorry!


----------



## Dandred (Dec 2, 2009)

I played for about 30's on easy and leveled up, but it back on normal and now it seems much much better.

I think staring as a rouge is pretty hard.  

Getting there. 

really good game, some of the quests take a bit too long though, been in this mages tower for ages.....


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Dec 2, 2009)

Dirty Gay Elf Sex Disgusts, Also Causes Tinglings In, Right-Wing American Internet Nutcases


----------



## Jackobi (Dec 3, 2009)

Dandred said:


> How do I get my mage to cast spells quicker? I cast the vulnerability hex and they try to make Morrigan fire of an ice spell and she just starts using her staff?



The problem is that you can only queue one spell/action per character.

The best way to micromanage is using pause. After casting the hex, pause the game, make sure you have selected the correct target for the ice by right clicking it or checking the ground icon. Presuming that Morrigan has enough mana [blue bar] to cast the spell, select the ice spell, it will queue in the character icon top left, unpause, she will cast the spell. Watch for the queued spell icon to dissappear then pause again, rinse repeat.

Whilst in pause mode you can queue up an action for each character, then unpause to activate it. As soon as the action icon disappears from the character icon, you can pause and select another action.


----------



## pboi (Dec 3, 2009)

can anybody recommend tips/tricks to ensure fire is focused


----------



## The Groke (Dec 3, 2009)

pboi said:


> can anybody recommend tips/tricks to ensure fire is focused




There is a tactics option to instruct all characters to attack the same target as your "main"


----------



## pboi (Dec 3, 2009)

nice! totally missed that one.

thanks, shoudkl stop all my guys attacking their own templar in the mage tower. le sigh


----------



## Jackobi (Dec 3, 2009)

Needs a 'do not cast spells if it will damage other members of the party' option.

My mage keeps setting everyone on fire if I do not watch him closely.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Dec 3, 2009)

What fucks me off is when party members just stand there, stupidly, when others are fighting the multitude of baddies surrounding them. I've set them all to aggressive and they still do it. Do I really have to keep clicking on baddies to keep them fighting!?

Maybe I'm not cut out for this level of geekery.


----------



## Dandred (Dec 3, 2009)

Right, I need some more help Urban people!!

I have unlocked dirty fighting, combat movement and coup de grace, however I can only put the dirty fighting action in my slots at the bottom of the screen. 

Why can't I drag the combat movement and coup de grace there? 

Thank you!!


----------



## pboi (Dec 3, 2009)

im on ps3, but are they sustained spells?


----------



## Dandred (Dec 3, 2009)

pboi said:


> im on ps3, but are they sustained spells?



No, they are talents I've unlock for my rouge.


----------



## pboi (Dec 3, 2009)

are they sustained spells? or combat specials

or neither and just skills


----------



## Dandred (Dec 3, 2009)

pboi said:


> are they sustained spells? or combat specials
> 
> or neither and just skills



 

In my list of skills there are, dirty fighting > combat movement > coup de grace


----------



## Dandred (Dec 3, 2009)

Also I just bought two daggers that have no enchantments but I can't enchant them? 

I just bought the grand master and the expert master ruins...


----------



## tommers (Dec 3, 2009)

Dandred said:


> Also I just bought two daggers that have no enchantments but I can't enchant them?
> 
> I just bought the grand master and the expert master ruins...





Spoiler: enchantment



The kid in your camp does it.  and the weapon needs a slot



combat movement is a passive skill.  you don't need to equip it.  don't know about coup  de grace, but i think that is as well.


----------



## tommers (Dec 3, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> What fucks me off is when party members just stand there, stupidly, when others are fighting the multitude of baddies surrounding them. I've set them all to aggressive and they still do it. Do I really have to keep clicking on baddies to keep them fighting!?
> 
> Maybe I'm not cut out for this level of geekery.



Yeah, I have the same problem.  God knows what I'm doing wrong.  I think sometimes it's that they don't have space....


----------



## ChrisFilter (Dec 3, 2009)

I might decamp to Mass Effect.


----------



## Dandred (Dec 4, 2009)

tommers said:


> Spoiler: enchantment
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I know that the kid does it, they don't appear in the weapons slot when I talk to him, that is the problem......


----------



## pboi (Dec 4, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> I might decamp to Mass Effect.



its just an easier version with sci fi


----------



## Chz (Dec 4, 2009)

Dandred said:


> Right, I need some more help Urban people!!
> 
> I have unlocked dirty fighting, combat movement and coup de grace, however I can only put the dirty fighting action in my slots at the bottom of the screen.
> 
> ...


They're permanent skills - no need to have them at the bottom. This is when your rogue starts to truly be useful!


----------



## pboi (Dec 4, 2009)

anybody got opinions on the class that does the most damage?

 My initial thoughts are 2h Warrior.....but I have only really played my mage, who has one full heal tree, petrify and specialised in blood mage


----------



## Private Storm (Dec 4, 2009)

Dandred said:


> I know that the kid does it, they don't appear in the weapons slot when I talk to him, that is the problem......



You just drag and drop the rune to enchant them, on the PC version at least


----------



## Private Storm (Dec 4, 2009)

pboi said:


> anybody got opinions on the class that does the most damage?
> 
> My initial thoughts are 2h Warrior.....but I have only really played my mage, who has one full heal tree, petrify and specialised in blood mage



I'd say mage or a full dual wield rogue. The rogue has no big hits from them but the very, very quick smaller hits soon add up.


----------



## pboi (Dec 4, 2009)

got to say, no idea how youd do this game without being the healer. I dont trust the AI to save my arse!


----------



## ChrisFilter (Dec 4, 2009)

pboi said:


> its just an easier version with sci fi



I prefer the fantasy setting, but the easier bit suits me.


----------



## Dandred (Dec 5, 2009)

The only weapon it will let me enchant is Oathkeeper? Why?

This is really starting to piss me off. I bought some new daggers that I want to enchant with some runes but when I talk to the kid they don't appear in my weapons menu, the only weapon that appears it oathkeeper, and even when I select that to be enchanted I click accept and nothing happens.


----------



## pboi (Dec 5, 2009)

because 

a) you cant use them (unlikely)

b) you bought weapons that dont have enchantment slots ( very likely)


----------



## Dandred (Dec 5, 2009)

pboi said:


> because
> 
> a) you cant use them (unlikely)
> 
> b) you bought weapons that dont have enchantment slots ( very likely)



how do I know if weapons don't have enchantment slots?


----------



## pboi (Dec 5, 2009)

inspect them and see the description, think it shows slots if available


----------



## tommers (Dec 5, 2009)

bottom left of the weapon description.  1, 2 or 3 greyed out boxes.

on the enchantment screen click on the weapon you want.  drag the rune from the right onto the empty box on the left.


----------



## Dandred (Dec 5, 2009)

tommers said:


> bottom left of the weapon description.  1, 2 or 3 greyed out boxes.
> 
> on the enchantment screen click on the weapon you want.  drag the rune from the right onto the empty box on the left.



On the enchantment screen I can only select one weapon, that is oathkeeper held by the templar guy, if I destroy that weapon and try to enchant again there are no weapons available to select....


----------



## tommers (Dec 6, 2009)

Dandred said:


> On the enchantment screen I can only select one weapon, that is oathkeeper held by the templar guy, if I destroy that weapon and try to enchant again there are no weapons available to select....



yeah.  That'll be because none of your other weapons have enchantment slots.  So you can't enchant them.

They have to have enchantment slots.

As I said, they are greyed out boxes in the bottom left of the weapon description.  Once you get to the point where you get Oathkeeper you'll start picking them up more often.  Tends to be weapons with "names".


----------



## pboi (Dec 6, 2009)

at least read the basics

( 30 hrs in with mage, 65% done) started a rogue, 2 hours in.


----------



## tommers (Dec 8, 2009)

I've turned Morrigan into an Arcane Warrior.

I think this may end up a mistake.


----------



## tendo (Dec 13, 2009)

Does everyone know you can respecialise a character rather than starting again?

I had Morrigan as a shape shifter but never shifted as she seemed a bit weak in melee, so I respecced her to a healer. She's shit as a healer too really but better than a shapeshifter.

link.


----------



## Private Storm (Dec 14, 2009)

tendo said:


> Does everyone know you can respecialise a character rather than starting again?
> 
> I had Morrigan as a shape shifter but never shifted as she seemed a bit weak in melee, so I respecced her to a healer. She's shit as a healer too really but better than a shapeshifter.
> 
> link.



Yes. 'Cos I posted it earlier 

Only for PC players though.


----------



## fractionMan (Dec 15, 2009)

Am I going to be able to run this on an intel GM965 graphics card?


----------



## ChrisFilter (Dec 15, 2009)

fractionMan said:


> Am I going to be able to run this on an intel GM965 graphics card?



No


----------



## fractionMan (Dec 15, 2009)

fractionMan said:


> Am I going to be able to run this on an intel GM965 graphics card?



Just about, according to this:  http://www.rakulive.com/video_5SdibqSZFy4.html

(it's an x3100 chipset)


----------



## fractionMan (Dec 16, 2009)

Oooh.  It's good isn't it.

I started as an elf rogue but decided on a human mage instead now.

Bit slow on the bog standard graphics chip but def playable


----------



## tommers (Dec 16, 2009)

fractionMan said:


> Oooh.  It's good isn't it.
> 
> I started as an elf rogue but decided on a human mage instead now.
> 
> Bit slow on the bog standard graphics chip but def playable



oooh, it works.  nice one.

It is good.  I'm not sure why though.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Dec 16, 2009)

fractionMan said:


> Oooh.  It's good isn't it.
> 
> I started as an elf rogue but decided on a human mage instead now.
> 
> Bit slow on the bog standard graphics chip but def playable



Well there's me proved wrong! Glad to hear it. I won't be so presumptuous in future.


----------



## fractionMan (Dec 18, 2009)

They've addressed the age old "my mage is out of mana, now what" problem pretty well by giving them a non mana using staff.  decent fix imo.


----------



## poului (Dec 18, 2009)

*3456f45y*

God I absolutely *suck* at this. Rogue on medium difficulty - it's just a joke. And my team-mates are fucking idiots.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Dec 18, 2009)

poului said:


> God I absolutely *suck* at this. Rogue on medium difficulty - it's just a joke. And my team-mates are fucking idiots.



That's where I got to before giving up. I want to love it, but it's fucking hard work. Playing Fallout 3 and Mass Effect instead.


----------



## poului (Dec 18, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> Playing Fallout 3 and Mass Effect instead.




I've already played both of those. I'm not very well-versed in all the FF/WoW team tactic stuff, so it's all a bit daunting. All the same, I have a burning desire to rinse it.


----------



## strung out (Dec 18, 2009)

has anyone had any man on man action yet?


----------



## poului (Dec 18, 2009)

strung_out said:


> has anyone had any man on man action yet?



No. I'll probably suck at that too.


----------



## bhamgeezer (Dec 19, 2009)

Completed this as human noble warrior took about 36 hours. Had to put it on easy a few times such as fighting my way through the deep roads and other areas with a stupid amount of mobs. Two mages two warriors was my group used the respec mod quite afew times.



Spoiler: dragon age ending



Choose to have a Queen and save Loghain and use him to kill the Archdemon so I didn't die at the end. Thought the end sequence telling you the fates of all the characters was pretty cool.


----------



## Cid (Dec 19, 2009)

poului said:


> God I absolutely *suck* at this. Rogue on medium difficulty - it's just a joke. And my team-mates are fucking idiots.



You basically need to fully micromanage your battles, the tactics are useless... To be fair it's kind of part of the game design, but medium should be more of mix than it is. I just got bored and switched to easy, at which point everything became a walkover, but switch back to medium and every minor encounter takes far too long.


----------



## pboi (Dec 19, 2009)

totally agree


----------



## poului (Dec 19, 2009)

*r67u5rfthg*

I have issues with BioWare I think. Don't like their attitude or game design and now I've come across an absurd bug at the end of the "Attack at Nightfall" quest which stops me from completing it.


----------



## cascader (Dec 22, 2009)

I just finished the mage's tower as a dwarf commoner, which was a bit of a nightmare since I'd run out of healing thingies.  In the end I wussed out and backed down to easy so as not to be flattened by five enemies at a time.  On the whole, I'm liking this game, although I find all the tinkering with tactics to be a bit annoying at times.


----------



## pboi (Dec 22, 2009)

inished game as my mage, coming from a WoW raiding background, the final battle while awesome was a 1/10 of effort or interesting, cos the tacs are just nothing compared to those big battles.

great game.

done 6 hours with rogue and 6 hours with DW Zerker..and the DW zerker is ridonkulous compared to mage/rogue so far, deffo loving it


----------



## Vintage Paw (Dec 22, 2009)

Can't remember if I've posted this yet or not ... anyway, I've played it twice now, and I certainly felt a bit 'oh god not this again' when going through the 3 main quests (Brecilian Forest, Deep Roads, Mages Tower), however, it was all worth it because once you head off to the Landsmeet it comes alive and is some of the best storytelling ever. IMO, etc. 

It's all about the story.


----------



## pboi (Dec 22, 2009)

yeh, deep roads and mages tower drag on after a while


----------



## Stigmata (Dec 26, 2009)

Just got this for xmas, playing through now as a human mage. Morrigan is annoying, can I ditch her?


----------



## pboi (Dec 27, 2009)

yup, I did.


----------



## Stigmata (Dec 27, 2009)

Yeah I got the giant fella instead.


----------



## tommers (Dec 27, 2009)

Stigmata said:


> Yeah I got the giant fella instead.



i got both. 

i can't get morrigan to like me.  Is there a "play sisters of mercy album" option?


----------



## bhamgeezer (Dec 27, 2009)

You can give her the grimoire and you get a quest to do some stuff which will make her approve of you


----------



## pboi (Dec 27, 2009)

shes powerful, but then imo they all rea, just depends on your playstyle.

as I was a mage diong cc/heal, i had no need for her


----------



## poului (Dec 28, 2009)

*5ft6245eyrg*

Okay I've progressed quite far through the game now. It is one impressive achievement. Far superior to Mass Effect.

God Morrigan's hot, as is Leliana tbf. Alistair's just a cock.


----------



## bouncer_the_dog (Dec 28, 2009)

I got this. thanks thread... lost all day to it so far


----------



## poului (Dec 28, 2009)

*7y987yh-*

Okay I've got reservations about the Deep Roads bit. Dull, repetitive and obnoxiously long. My team are now all so badly injured that the final boss is near impossible.


----------



## tommers (Dec 29, 2009)

anybody manage to kill the deep roads revenant?


----------



## pboi (Dec 29, 2009)

same as any other revenant?


( do we get anything for killing them btw? those bl**dy phylacterys)


----------



## tommers (Dec 29, 2009)

pboi said:


> same as any other revenant?
> 
> 
> ( do we get anything for killing them btw? those bl**dy phylacterys)



you would think so, but I've killed all the ones in the woods and a couple of others but can't get hold of this one.... 



Spoiler: for the ones in the woods



you get the juggernaut armour.


----------



## pboi (Dec 29, 2009)

just position your ranged outside his aoe attack, and spam heal melee 

happy days


----------



## bouncer_the_dog (Dec 29, 2009)

I've gotten fed up with my doofus of a human noble warrior and am starting again with a mage.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Feb 9, 2010)

Right, started this again on the 360. Playing as a mage.

When playing on PC I thought "how could you play this with a gamepad?!" and now I think "It's actually a nicer experience playing with a gamepad".


----------



## bmd (Feb 9, 2010)

ChrisFilter said:


> Right, started this again on the 360. Playing as a mage.
> 
> When playing on PC I thought "how could you play this with a gamepad?!" and now I think "It's actually a nicer experience playing with a gamepad".



What's the camera and interface like? Most reviews had them down as inferior to the pc.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Feb 9, 2010)

Bob Marley's Dad said:


> What's the camera and interface like? Most reviews had them down as inferior to the pc.



Camera is fine, so far. I'm only a couple of hours in. Interface is very nice. So far I prefer it to mouse/keyboard, but I haven't hit a massive multi-character battle yet.


----------



## Stigmata (Feb 9, 2010)

Finally finished it. Ending was a bit of a downer (for me anyway). Took me a long time to discover any decent magical combos because I didn't go in for the really destructive spells.


----------



## Stigmata (Feb 9, 2010)




----------



## ChrisFilter (Feb 16, 2010)

I'm playing this more than I've played any game since finishing Half-Life 2. 10% and 8 hours through, just done the Brecillian Forest. When I played on PC I went the Redcliffe route, so am leaving that for last.

Much better on Xbox than on PC... not sure why? I'm finding that the NPC AI is far superior in battles. Everyone does what they're supposed to. On PC I kept finding Alistair staring at a wall in the midst of an epic clash. Graphics are weaker, obviously, but otherwise it's very slick.

Happily playing through on normal on the 360. On PC I kept having to downgrade to easy.


----------



## fractionMan (Feb 16, 2010)

I got bored and stopped.  Maybe I should carry on now I know how to beat the revenant.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Feb 16, 2010)

fractionMan said:


> I got bored and stopped.  Maybe I should carry on now I know how to beat the revenant.



Are there loads of revenants? I stumbled upon one in the forest, but he was a hard motherfucker, so I avoided him and completed the main quest.


----------



## Dooby (Feb 16, 2010)

This thread is too massive to go through but I'm up for any Baldurs Gate-y type happiness. Is it out on xbox or gonna be soon?


----------



## pboi (Feb 16, 2010)

you dont even need to kill them for the story, one of them drops something of interest I believe


----------



## ChrisFilter (Feb 16, 2010)

Dooby said:


> This thread is too massive to go through but I'm up for any Baldurs Gate-y type happiness. Is it out on xbox or gonna be soon?



It is out on Xbox. It's very good.


----------



## fractionMan (Feb 16, 2010)

ChrisFilter said:


> Are there loads of revenants? I stumbled upon one in the forest, but he was a hard motherfucker, so I avoided him and completed the main quest.



It's in a castle type place.  I now know you can open the door and let some knights charge in to help.


----------



## stupid dogbot (Feb 16, 2010)

I bought this yesterday.

Well, actually, I tried to buy it last week, but shopto.net are complete shit.

So, I bought it AGAIN, from Amazon.

Looking forward to its arrival.


----------



## BoxRoom (Feb 16, 2010)

stupid dogbot said:


> I bought this yesterday.
> 
> Well, actually, I tried to buy it last week, but shopto.net are complete shit.
> 
> ...



Hope you enjoy it, we did ( and still do! Bloody game lasts forever +1 ).


----------



## Sunray (May 5, 2010)

Started playing it and was getting into the story and then I saw the tactics page and all the options for the battles.  

I started thinking that they should have exposed it in an Observer style API so I could do it in C# and then went arggg this is like work and stopped playing.


----------



## agricola (Oct 27, 2010)

bumped for the following reasons:

http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/10/27/new-dragon-age-2-trailer-shows-hyperviolent-exploding/

CHAMPION


----------



## FridgeMagnet (Oct 27, 2010)

Does provide yet another example of the #1 Vital Yet Rarely Followed Rule For Making Machinima: "try to show faces as little as possible".


----------



## Vintage Paw (Oct 29, 2010)

I'm stupid excited about DA2. Play and GAME are doing a deal where you get the 'signature' edition for the same price as the normal one if you pre-order before Jan.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Oct 30, 2010)

I may have just pre-ordered the Signature edition. *squee* Amazon are doing it for the same price as the normal one now too. Just got to wait 5 months for it to arrive 

Also pre-ordered AC:Brotherhood, and bought Fable 3. Oh, and a £1 copy of Jade Empire.


----------



## Sunray (Oct 30, 2010)

I have tried to get into this but when I see a what is a programming language for team tactics, I flinch and quit. I get paid to do that for a job, I don't see it as entertainment.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 3, 2010)

I'm playing this through again and thoroughly enjoying it. Now I've done all the quests a couple of times, I can only get invested in it if I immerse myself in the story. In this playthrough, Alistair just game me a rose and kissed me  *swoon*


----------



## JimW (Sep 29, 2014)

Never played this but saw it was less than a fiver on steam so am catching up with the state-of-end-of-last decade gaming! (Once the mahoosive download is done)


----------



## Vintage Paw (Sep 29, 2014)

Hope you enjoy it. It's a great game.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Oct 13, 2014)

This is free on Origin at the moment, in the run up to Inquisition's release in November.

It's a great game, if a little dated now. The writing is terrific.


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Nov 18, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> I'm playing this through again and thoroughly enjoying it. Now I've done all the quests a couple of times, I can only get invested in it if I immerse myself in the story. In this playthrough, Alistair just game me a rose and kissed me  *swoon*



I've been playing this a while (35~ ish hrs initially free and then bought the Ultimate Edition for a fiver) and Morrigan's given me a right telling off for letting Zevran into my tent for a massage with a happy ending! Jealous much?! Playing as a dwarf commoner it's refreshing for a game to allow inter-species pansexuality


----------



## moon (Nov 18, 2014)

As I only have Origins, what is the cheapest way to get all the additional (dlc?) content for Xbox?


----------



## moon (Nov 20, 2014)

I've just ventured into the Brecillian Forest..LIKE!
The poetry...


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 21, 2014)

moon said:


> As I only have Origins, what is the cheapest way to get all the additional (dlc?) content for Xbox?



I'm afraid I don't know. It used to be available through BioWare's own store, using BioWare points, but that was some time ago and I don't know if they stopped that once EA tightened its grip. I'm not certain it's available to buy on disc separately. It might be a case of buying it through the xbox store.


----------



## moon (Nov 22, 2014)

Am still in the forest and have messed up..
I gave the scarf to the hermit, will have to go back and do it again after taking the scarf back to camp..


----------



## moon (Nov 24, 2014)

I never thought I'd ever get out of the Fade, that was hard going.. Phew...


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 24, 2014)

On PC there's a "Skip the Fade" mod. You see Duncan, then it skips to the end where you find your party again. 

I mean, the fade is an interesting place. But... it's all that going backwards and forwards... it's just... gah!


----------



## moon (Nov 25, 2014)

Once I got all the specialisations it was ok, but the initial massive door, sparkly spirit things, and mouse hole stuff was a bit frustrating..
Am now in Denerim and had to dump a corpse in the well of the chancery.. I really didn't want to do it and have absolutely no idea where that side quest came from... but the stoopid heart symbol would not go away and it was annoying me so I just dumped the corpse. Hoping nothing bad happens..
But having done the Arl of Redcliffe quest and having Connor's mother scream at me for ages, then seem completely fine after I killed her son.. I guess its best not to worry too much about consequences and just plod though the storyline...


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 25, 2014)

Interesting you mention that quest line with Connor. I've just got to Redcliffe in Inquisition and seen one of the consequences of my actions in Origins.


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Nov 26, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> Interesting you mention that quest line with Connor. I've just got to Redcliffe in Inquisition and seen one of the consequences of my actions in Origins.



Does it import from origins and DA2 or does it ask you how you did? I did Redcliffe differently to Moon, Connor's Mum sacrificed herself so we could kill the demon in the fade  It would be interesting to see who much Inq. interacts with the previous games.


----------



## moon (Nov 26, 2014)

Well this has peeved me a bit, as I originally wanted to save both Connor and his mother, so went to the mages circle only to end up 'trapped' in the fade, after which the first enchanter said he would help me in Redcliffe.
However once I got back to Redcliffe the first enchanter was nowhere to be found and I ended up having to kill connor!!
What happened to the mages who were supposed to help me???


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 26, 2014)

Pseudopsycho said:


> Does it import from origins and DA2 or does it ask you how you did? I did Redcliffe differently to Moon, Connor's Mum sacrificed herself so we could kill the demon in the fade  It would be interesting to see who much Inq. interacts with the previous games.



There's a new online tool called the Dragon Age Keep. You log in with your EA/Origin/BioWare account (all 3 of these log-ins should be the same), and you can create what they call 'World States' that you import into Inquisition.

Because there is an obvious problem with being able to transfer save game data to new consoles, or for people who changed platforms since the first game came out, this means that they can record all the major (and some very minor) decisions they made through both games, save it, and export it to Inquisition. When you get through character creation in DA:I you'll be asked if you want to import from the Keep. It then syncs with your Origin account to find which world state you have currently exported, imports it in, and you're good to go.

That save game then remembers you've imported that world state, meaning you can go back to the Keep, set up a new world state (it will save your earlier one), export that, and when you start a new game it'll use that one instead, but your older game won't be affected -- it'll still recognise the earlier world state -- I guess they become hard baked into the game files right at the beginning. 

You don't need a constant connection to the internet to be able to do it. You just need to be able to connect during character creation.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Nov 26, 2014)

moon said:


> Well this has peeved me a bit, as I originally wanted to save both Connor and his mother, so went to the mages circle only to end up 'trapped' in the fade, after which the first enchanter said he would help me in Redcliffe.
> However once I got back to Redcliffe the first enchanter was nowhere to be found and I ended up having to kill connor!!
> What happened to the mages who were supposed to help me???



Did you use the Litany of Andralla when you were fighting the evil mage at the top of the circle tower after you came out of the fade and went upstairs and spoke to Cullen?

1) Did you agree with Cullen (while he was in his little spectral prison thing) that the mages need to be killed? If so, the First Enchanter is dead.

2) Did you use the Litany of Andralla when Wynne prompted you to during the fight with Uldred? If so, the First Enchanter is alive and should have been in that room once you'd finished. He will then be in the main foyer of the Circle Tower as you talk to Gregoir and so on.

3) Did you NOT use the Litany of Andralla when Wynne prompted you? If so, the First Enchanter is dead, because Uldred turned him into a demon during your fight and you were forced to kill him.

Edit: re-reading your thing again, I assume you did save him. If so, as far as I'm aware the mages should just be there at Redcliffe Castle when you return. It's odd that they were not 

I've done that quest every way possible in the past. I must say there is something satisfying about watching Isolde sacrifice herself 

WHO EEES THEEES WOMAAAAN, TEAGAAAAAAAAN?


----------



## moon (Nov 26, 2014)

2) The first enchanter was alive, I used the Litany of Andralla on Uldred and then spoke to the first enchanter whom I'm pretty sure told me he would meet me in Redcliffe!! Maybe I was supposed to talk to him again at the Circle Tower??


----------



## moon (Nov 28, 2014)

There is a mage at my camp who keeps telling me that the templars and mages are ready to help me.. but that's all he says.. has this got something to do with Redcliffe?


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Nov 28, 2014)

There are some crates in front of him to put runes for the army, later you get a dwarf and an elf who want cheap gems and crafting stuff. I'm guessing that that these help you army later against Howe/The Blight


----------



## moon (Dec 1, 2014)

Ok, i'm on the final main quests and now that I have assembled my team I should finish this week, im not really doing side quests as the game hasnt gripped me enough, ME3 is arriving this week too.. , also I'm not going to play DA2..


----------



## Vintage Paw (Dec 2, 2014)

I hope you like ME3. Have you got any of the DLC with it? I still haven't finished Citadel - it's like a big old fanservice buddy movie type thing to round the whole series off. Lots of fun.


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Dec 2, 2014)

I'm trying to kill the High Dragon (failing) and rescue the Queen at the moment (I'm too much of a complete-ist and have done every side quest I could get my hands on, got the "Easily Sidetracked"achievement for my efforts  ). Finally did "Unbound" last night -that was a bastard- by completely changing my line up


----------



## moon (Dec 2, 2014)

I think being betrayed by Zevran threw me a bit, and also looking at the Wikia I realise that I am missing a few companions!! Dog, Shale, and Sten!! Oh well..
I think had I played this game when it was released I would have enjoyed it more, but having played Mass Effect and Skyrim I've been a bit spoiled, as well as drooling over Dragon Age Inquisition of course!!
I will be playing DAI on PS4 as soon as I've finished ME3 YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Dec 2, 2014)

Dog and Sten turned up really early and shale was part of the dlc for registering I think. I've got all of them on team but don't really use them but Shale has asked me to go back into the deep roads and is fun when he stamps on chickens. Zevran's hung around for the treasure. My standard exploring team are Morrigan as Offensive mage, Wynne as healer and Leliana as ranged support/traps and locks but with Unbound and Flemeth I had to swap in Alistair and Oghren.


----------



## moon (Dec 2, 2014)

I was mainly going out with Alistair, Wynne (she is so cool!) and Zevran, until I killed him for his betrayal..


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Dec 2, 2014)

Morrigan "loves"  me so she wanted to break it off but I wouldn't let her - I mean I killed an immortal Kathryn Janeway shapeshifting witch-dragon for her. She's just told me I'll regret it in the end, given that one of the DLC's in the Ultimate pack I got is called "witch hunt" I think she might be right...


----------



## Vintage Paw (Dec 2, 2014)

Psst, Shale is female.

Shale is one of my favourite characters.

She's related to the dwarf Inquisitor


----------



## moon (Dec 2, 2014)

I can't get the DA:O music out of my head, so beautiful..


----------



## 8ball (Dec 2, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> Psst, Shale is female.


 
I thought Shale was just a bit camp.


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Dec 2, 2014)

8ball said:


> I thought Shale was just a bit camp.


I had to look up the voice actor to check this  No wonder I thought Morrigan sounded familiar, she's Claudia Black *crush*


----------



## 8ball (Dec 2, 2014)

Pseudopsycho said:


> I had to look up the voice actor to check this  No wonder I thought Morrigan sounded familiar, she's Claudia Black *crush*


 
Of COURSE she is!  

It's so obvious now you say it.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Dec 4, 2014)

Yep, Morrigan is Claudia Black. She also plays Admiral Xen in Mass Effect (one of the Quarian Admirals). Shale is voiced by someone called Geraldine Blecker - I don't know if she's done any other work for BioWare (BW tends to recycle its actors a lot).


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Dec 8, 2014)

One Archdemon down! Also didn't need much of the army that I spent most of the game collecting! Have just started "Witch Hunt" and have tweaked my characters skills and attributes a little to use the new talents available


----------



## moon (Dec 14, 2014)

Vintage Paw said:


> Yep, Morrigan is Claudia Black. She also plays Admiral Xen in Mass Effect (one of the Quarian Admirals).


I did wonder..


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Dec 15, 2014)

Finished witch hunt and Leliana's song, now wading through Awakening. Also wondering that if Morrigan is back in Inquisition will my character be as well???


----------



## Vintage Paw (Dec 15, 2014)

Nope, your warden isn't in Inquisition. You get talked about though


----------



## moon (Dec 29, 2014)

Am picking this up again now that I'm through grieving my cmd shepard, getting into the story more also..


----------



## Vintage Paw (Dec 29, 2014)

I still haven't finished Inquisition


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Dec 30, 2014)

Finished! (Apart from darkspawn dlc) ended up as a level 35 dual weapon warrior  but the boss of the golems of amgarrak was stupidly tough. Now replaying Dragon Age 2 as a mage and having the imported world state does give nice touches. Plus I'm finding the combat a lot more fun!


----------



## Vintage Paw (Dec 30, 2014)

Mage is a lot of fun in 2. I have a soft spot for dw rogue, it's ridiculously overpowered and hilarious. Also, Merrill makes an AMAZING tank, don't let her fool you into thinking she's delicate ^^


----------



## moon (Dec 31, 2014)

Finished too, although i missed most of the action as I went off searching for generals, then had to defend the gate as a dwarf member of my team, but he had no weapons! Then tried to get to the tower where i presume the dragon fell but was overcome by darkspawn, my whole team died and I ran out of potions, so I watched the ending on youtube


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Dec 31, 2014)

I'm having a lot of fun being a spirit mage and causing chain walking bombs  I won't be joining the Inquisition team for a while though... just got Skyrim legendary edition for £11 on steam sale!


----------



## moon (Dec 31, 2014)

I'm replaying me3 with dlc and genesis 'perfect ending' will then tackle DA2


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Jan 19, 2015)

So have got to the end mission in DA2, have done every mission that became available to me (might have missed a couple of gang clearings and Fenris's sister) but I'm only level 22 grrr. And I've just noticed that the DLC for DA2 are "in campaign" and not expansions. SO Vintage Paw should I bother with any DLC (and is there a cheap way to get bioware points if so?).Also is level 22 reasonable, I read somewhere that the cap was 50?!


----------



## Vintage Paw (Jan 19, 2015)

You MUST MUST MUST do the Legacy DLC if you are considering playing DA:I. I have conflicting feelings about _when_ to do it. It's quite nice to do it in Act 1 when you still have your sibling. Recommended party I'd say in that case would be Varric (you have to bring him anyway, I think), Anders, and your sibling. But, I actually prefer doing it later, after the stuff with Leandra, because it feels more poignant. In that case, party would be Varric, Anders and whoever you need to fill a combat slot. I kinda feel like Legacy is non-negotiable. It should have been in the main game, considering how it ties into DA:I.

The Mark of the Assassin isn't important in the slightest. I've only played it once, and that was quite enough. 

The Exiled Prince is pointless unless you're at the beginning of the game. It adds a new party member - who is boring as hell but is the best archer in the game - and he has a personal questline just like your other companions. It raises a vaguely interesting point at the end of the game, but it's not necessary to buy.

I'm afraid I don't know of any cheap way to buy BW points. I've always found that system really weird.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 22, 2015)

This is ace. Its going to be massive and eat all my time but fuck it, pretty.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Jul 22, 2015)

Look up some of the little tips and tricks. For instance, when you first get to Ostagar go and buy a backpack from the merchant. Then, when you come back from your little trip into the Wilds you'll be able to buy another one from him. If you wait until after going into the Wilds you'll only be able to get the one.

Same goes for the very first time your dwarf merchants are there in camp with you. Buy the backpack. Then the next time you are in camp you can get another. If you wait, you'll only get the one. Inventory space will quickly become a pain in the balls, so you'll want to maximise it if you can.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 22, 2015)

I'll have to look at the codices and online for hints n tips at some point, just finding my feet really atm. So I've got rid of the boring bow and equipped what they call a greatsword and shield (fantasy weapon fans may know it as the charmingly named bastard sword, or hand and a half sword). So my elf who looks like shirley manson at a cosplay event, is swinging around a sword taller than she is. Combats really fluid as well. I may be some time with this game.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 22, 2015)

oh and the lore element is already pleasingly dense,\i'll look forward to unravelling the magery systems,religions, politics etc


----------



## Vintage Paw (Jul 22, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> oh and the lore element is already pleasingly dense,\i'll look forward to unravelling the magery systems,religions, politics etc



Dragon Age lore pleases me to no end. It's not as involved as TES lore, but there's plenty to talk about and speculate over. 

And it has Captain Janeway. What's not to love?


----------



## Vintage Paw (Jul 22, 2015)

There are novels. I think they are good.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Jul 22, 2015)

I'm secretly hoping you get into the series for the lore if nothing else, and want to play the next two. They're totally different in terms of their feel, and you'll likely not manage the most recent game on your current computer, but it's one for the future perhaps. Being able to speculate and chat about the lore though... I'm always looking for new victims... er, comrades.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2015)

why all the morrigan hate on this thread? I like the sarky cow- do I get to knock armoured boots at some point?

So far I am stubbonly refusing to spend any points on magic. Let my party magickers do the magicking. I just keep levelling up strength, dexterity and constitution. Currently my preffered combat role it to leave the gents and the ladies fighting them melee wastes while I run right up to enemy ranged fighters and hit them with my big sword till they die.

Can't work out how to use my runes to enchant a blade though.

That alistair is a poor mans Jaime Lannister imo


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 25, 2015)

In the fade, all confused. On the plus side having stayed up till 6am hammering away at this my elf is hard as nails


----------



## Chick Webb (Jul 25, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> In the fade, all confused. On the plus side having stayed up till 6am hammering away at this my elf is hard as nails


You're going to be there a LONG time.  Second playthrough it will seem so easy though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 25, 2015)

Chick Webb said:


> You're going to be there a LONG time.  Second playthrough it will seem so easy though.


ATM I have just been charging round the varios nodes and clearing out the filth/accruing loot and stuff I don't know whats for. Noticed theres a whole other set of nodes still greyed out. so can only assume I have to unlock them somehow.

I was just getting into co-ordinating a gang tacticaly as well, remembering the old necromunda tactics and working them out through this micromanager style of play DA delivers. Now Forever Alone again. Need to find somewhere to sell all the shit I've picked up along the way.

This game is a time theif


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 26, 2015)

Got as far as just needing one more shapeshift power (golem).  Need that power to knock down all the armoured doors. I'm before the room needed to get to the demon I need to slay. Only theres 7 odd high level magickers in my way. Health potions are a mere memory, all I've got is 4 minor injuries kit. I went at it that many times last night it was practically groundhog day. You have to go in in Fire form because the door is blocked by flames. These mages don't miss, shit sometimes it feels like the bastards are throwing magic round corners. Closest I've got is killing all but one with fire and sword then just getting close enough to the last fucker before getting mercd 

I'm probably now going to have to go combe the entire fucking fade for health positions or else radically redesign my Elfs skillset and trying a different approach to the slaying of these twats. 

Two nights (8 hours in total) I've been in the fade now.


----------



## Humberto (Jul 26, 2015)

Trick is to peel them off one at a time by just getting close enough that they attack you. Even then that bit is brick.


----------



## Epona (Jul 27, 2015)

Humberto said:


> Trick is to peel them off one at a time by just getting close enough that they attack you. Even then that bit is brick.



Yeah, if we are talking about the room in the Fade in DA:O, this advice is spot on - edge through that door and when the first 2 spot you, retreat to the previous room - those 2 will follow and you can take them on without aggroing the other enemies in the room, and you can then deal with the remaining 2 once you have recovered.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 27, 2015)

Epona said:


> Yeah, if we are talking about the room in the Fade in DA:O, this advice is spot on - edge through that door and when the first 2 spot you, retreat to the previous room - those 2 will follow and you can take them on without aggroing the other enemies in the room, and you can then deal with the remaining 2 once you have recovered.


I will give tis a go, sounds like it will work . really only four? feels like more when you are getting leathered from all directions


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## Epona (Jul 27, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> I will give tis a go, sounds like it will work . really only four? feels like more when you are getting leathered from all directions



I think it is only 4, but if I am wrong I stand corrected - and the same method applies if there are more, edge forward, pull 1 or 2 and retreat to deal with them.

That is the room I remember best from the Fade because it is a bit tricky.  (Just wondering whether once I had pulled them from the room I may have transformed into something that could do ice damage?  Just don't cross through the fire barrier in anything other than fire form)


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## DotCommunist (Jul 27, 2015)

Epona said:


> I think it is only 4, but if I am wrong I stand corrected - and the same method applies if there are more, edge forward, pull 1 or 2 and retreat to deal with them.
> 
> That is the room I remember best from the Fade because it is a bit tricky.  (Just wondering whether once I had pulled them from the room I may have transformed into something that could do ice damage?  Just don't cross through the fire barrier in anything other than fire form)



The 'draw out the ones that can see you to a better position so you can deal with them singly' is top advice (so thanks to you and humberto for the tactical advice), I remember pulling such a tactic quite often way back, playing diablo. Hadn't ocurred to me to try it here. I've just been steaming in hard and strong and laying the law of violence down upon mine enemy. But in this case I may have to be more sly. I've tried transforming to spirit shape to get the bastards but you can't complete a shapeshift while being hit with strong magicks


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## DotCommunist (Jul 30, 2015)

YES! it totally worked. Them boys took a hell of a beating Epona and you humberto. I lured them into a narrow doorway so they could come one at a time and slew them with great vengeance! Now I'm going to golem smash the fuck out of something. I've been scared to go back for a couple of days but then I was like 'internets people told you the way, give it a go' so I did and now I'm double hard.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 31, 2015)

Giant demon you have to fight on the way out of the Fade- got my mage (when she weren't on the group healing ting) to throw acrane blasts at the fucker, it froze in place allowing Alistair to run in primed for precise strike. Whittled the bastards health bar down rapid.
Its been difficult getting to grips with squad tactics over all as I'm more used to one man, lotta guns/magic. Hoping to find a big spiky collar for Badger soon.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 1, 2015)

What do you think of the story so far? Once you've called in all your favours with those treaties and done the Arl Eamon stuff, it really picks up. Some great story moments from then on.

Good luck in the Deep Roads. May your sanity remain unshaken.


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## DotCommunist (Aug 1, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> What do you think of the story so far? Once you've called in all your favours with those treaties and done the Arl Eamon stuff, it really picks up. Some great story moments from then on.
> 
> Good luck in the Deep Roads. May your sanity remain unshaken.


liking so far- David Gemmel on acid. I like acid, I like gemmel. need to work my way through the shit ton of codices I have gathered, read a few but mostly I have been all about the elf rage. Since leaving the fade I've noticed in my response options I sometimes get to say something wise and grey wardeny. Now in some town clearing out the back alleys of thugs that are some how harder than god damn darkspawn? I suspect blood magery. Whatever drives these people, all shall fall before the Demonsbane (because thats what I'm calling my giant sword now. )


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 1, 2015)

Oh and I seem to have aquired a rogue, but even he can't unlock some of the chests. He looks the don doing a dual strike with his twin blades though. I don't trust him. There is something sly about his manner. He goes first when we are in combat, I don't want him behind me with a blade drawn


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 1, 2015)

Zevran! I love Zevran. He's a very interesting one to get to know.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 1, 2015)

Do you have The Stone Prisoner DLC? If so, have you done the quest related to it and got the companion? You will love her.


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## DotCommunist (Aug 1, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> Zevran! I love Zevran. He's a very interesting one to get to know.


I should probably have a good chat soon but atm I'm still not over the whole trying-to-murder-me thing. I mean I know he's a businessman, took a contract etc. But still. I'm watching you zevran.


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## DotCommunist (Aug 1, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> Do you have The Stone Prisoner DLC? If so, have you done the quest related to it and got the companion? You will love her.


err, I got the ultimate edition so I assumed that comes with full DLC? Theres loads of things to do that I'm still working out. Need to prune that inventory as well.


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 1, 2015)

DotCommunist said:


> err, I got the ultimate edition so I assumed that comes with full DLC? Theres loads of things to do that I'm still working out. Need to prune that inventory as well.



Ooh ooh ooh, then you should go and do the quests related to that dlc (it is included in the ultimate edition). I believe you need to head to Sulcher's Pass on your map, and it'll kick things off.

Mind the pigeons.


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## DotCommunist (Aug 2, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> Ooh ooh ooh, then you should go and do the quests related to that dlc (it is included in the ultimate edition). I believe you need to head to Sulcher's Pass on your map, and it'll kick things off.
> 
> Mind the pigeons.


I will head there after I've slain all these thugs and found who is controlling them an hit them with demonsbane till he or she dies.
on tuesday I plan to buy a bag of (real world) weed and then put in a good five hours. Addictive game. They say cannabis is not a performance enhancing drug but it relaxes me enough that I get proper absorbed in the puzzle and lore and oh yes, the combat. I love love love it. Its great to pause and asign duties/equip/etc. Then press unpause and watch as my kill squad takes the enemy apart. Badger is fucking amazing, just wont die, always goes for the target unasked and scares the shit out of some enemies.
Also need to get sexy elf levelled up enough to don that dragon plate helmet. Dragon plate has got to be some quality armour.
Some wank offered me out last night and I told him to jog on, he recons we are to meet in a back alley for a duel. If he gets up in my grill when I'm out and about slaying wronguns?...well, demonsbane again.
Its odd to see how complacent every one is given demonspawn from hell are on the march. I'm going to have to force these petty chiefs and kings into honouring them treaties I bet.


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## DotCommunist (Aug 2, 2015)

Dwynn the dwarf has met an unfortunate end. Who can say what fate befell him. He was a dwarf of peculiar intransigence, given to quarrelsome demeanour and a keeper of grudges. Wasn't me guv

although it was.


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## kabbes (Aug 2, 2015)

Kabbess the implausibly buck-toothed and pointy chinned elf is turning out to have a proper chip on her shoulder about being an elf.  Who knew?  Also, she's a big fan of setting everything on fire, including her teammates' weapons and also her teammates.  Fire!


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 2, 2015)

I'm really enjoying reading about your escapades. I wish I could go back and experience the game for the first time again.


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## kabbes (Aug 2, 2015)

Well we're not that far in yet.  Kabbess saw right through that Harrowing bullshit, helped her friend and told the authorities where to stick it when they caught up, got press-ganged into being a grey warden, told the king he was a shit, told Duncan he was a shit, told Alistair he was a shit and then had a good laugh at seeing her fellow recruits die in the Joining.  No one likes her and she don't care cos she has FIRE and can heal herself while others do the dirty work.


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## DotCommunist (Aug 2, 2015)

oh I called my sexy elf 'Selene' after a name for the moon- inspired by a line from a poem 'a good name, borrowed from the sky'


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## DotCommunist (Aug 2, 2015)

kabbes said:


> Well we're not that far in yet.  Kabbess saw right through that Harrowing bullshit, helped her friend and told the authorities where to stick it when they caught up, got press-ganged into being a grey warden, told the king he was a shit, told Duncan he was a shit, told Alistair he was a shit and then had a good laugh at seeing her fellow recruits die in the Joining.  No one likes her and she don't care cos she has FIRE and can heal herself while others do the dirty work.


I'm being really nice to everyone who deserves it and dispensing wisdom sometimes. Sure, I'm an opressed elf from a tradition of radical resistance but in this time of coming Darkspawn we must put aside old wounds in favour of a pan-species allaince against them. Anything else is fiddling while rome burns. Which is why I feel a little bit guilty about killing Dwynn. I begged, I pled and I flat out implored him to aid the defence but was just being a cunt, then when I threatened him he draws steel on me. That is an insult that cannot be borne.


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## Pseudopsycho (Aug 4, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> Zevran! I love Zevran. He's a very interesting one to get to know.


Indeed- he's the one that with some fidlling *ahem* you can wrangle into the mythical threesome with Isabela in DA2, so I've heard.


----------



## Pickman's model (Aug 4, 2015)

i only got dao the other day as a result of seeing this thread, and i would be grateful for some assistance.

i'm early on in the game but at redcliffe i waited round for the darkspawn to leave the castle but no matter what i've tried i can't win. is it possible to win or should i leave them to their own devices and come back after?


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## Vintage Paw (Aug 4, 2015)

When the undead cross the bridge from the castle into the village, resulting in a battle there?

Here's how the questline in general goes (spoilers of course, but I'll avoid story ones if possible):



Spoiler



You get to Redcliffe, they tell you there's something going on at the castle, undead come to kill them every so often; you have to ready the townspeople to fight - doing little quests for them, get them on your side, etc; once you're done, the undead will come from the castle, and together with the town you kill them -- it can be quite a tough battle, lots of moving around, the more villagers you've helped and persuaded to help in return the easier it will be; if you leave without helping and winning that battle they kill everyone and decimate the village; once the undead are... well, dead, you get to go to the castle (and I imagine that if you get everyone killed you still go in since it's necessary for the main story); in the castle you kill lots of undead as you make your way through; you eventually come to a point where you learn what's been going on and causing all this, and can make some choices about how to proceed -- which will either mean dealing with it there and then or leaving the castle to find another means of solving the problem and returning once you have -- you can leave the castle and return without any problems I believe; once you've finished that part of the quest you get another, which involves leaving the castle and returning at a later date, but you can choose as and when you do that.

So if you are talking about the undead coming across from the castle and fighting you and the villagers, you _can_ leave, but there will be consequences, but it won't (I don't think) prevent your progress. If you mean will the other undead leave the castle of their own devices after your undead battle in the village so you can go in and not have to fight them -- nope, I'm afraid not, you have to fight your way through them in the castle. There are, however, no darkspawn here at this time.



Save early; save often.


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## Epona (Aug 8, 2015)

Pickman's model said:


> i only got dao the other day as a result of seeing this thread, and i would be grateful for some assistance.
> 
> i'm early on in the game but at redcliffe i waited round for the darkspawn to leave the castle but no matter what i've tried i can't win. is it possible to win or should i leave them to their own devices and come back after?



There is probably one enemy stuck somewhere inaccessible - that happened to me a couple of times.  Had to load from a save game before the battle and try again.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 8, 2015)

too.much.superflous.elfroot.

I don't know what half the crap I've collected is for. Accrue loot, see armourer\trader then be rid of it.Thats how it used to be in old games. I'm just going to destroy my entire elfroot stock and see if I can't hawk all the other shite I have to a trader. I seem to have accumulated loads of division 4 arms and armour, which seems pointless now my kill squad have much better equipment.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 8, 2015)

I feel like a kind of mobile version of jon snow trying to get people to realise that winter is coming. 

back alley duel man didn't show his face yet, the shitout


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## Pseudopsycho (Aug 9, 2015)

Have you got ambassadors at camp? You can dump a load of elfroot and other things to them for the war effort. I think there is also a random quest where you collect elfroot for the elves.


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## kabbes (Aug 20, 2015)

I'm running into those difficulty spikes.  Trying to get the golom, I keep getting killed in a basement.  I may well jack down the difficulty for that battle as those tactics menus are incomprehensible and micromanaging every move during a battle royale is a bit dull for my tastes.

If my party were a bit more circumspect it would be fine but they just all go charging right into the heart of it and get slaughtered.  They need to hang back, force the enemy through a bottleneck and take them out one at a time.  They also need to target the same enemy at once in order to gain force multipliers.  But I can't figure out how to get them to follow those tactics, the idiots,


----------



## Pickman's model (Aug 20, 2015)

kabbes said:


> I'm running into those difficulty spikes.  Trying to get the golom, I keep getting killed in a basement.  I may well jack down the difficulty for that battle as those tactics menus are incomprehensible and micromanaging every move during a battle royale is a bit dull for my tastes.
> 
> If my party were a bit more circumspect it would be fine but they just all go charging right into the heart of it and get slaughtered.  They need to hang back, force the enemy through a bottleneck and take them out one at a time.  They also need to target the same enemy at once in order to gain force multipliers.  But I can't figure out how to get them to follow those tactics, the idiots,


in tactics change behaviour from aggressive to e.g. defensive, then teeak tactics but i just keep an eye on hit points and let them get on with it. also i find useful to let them move freely then ensure they don't get separated


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## DotCommunist (Aug 20, 2015)

kabbes said:


> I'm running into those difficulty spikes.  Trying to get the golom, I keep getting killed in a basement.  I may well jack down the difficulty for that battle as those tactics menus are incomprehensible and micromanaging every move during a battle royale is a bit dull for my tastes.
> 
> If my party were a bit more circumspect it would be fine but they just all go charging right into the heart of it and get slaughtered.  They need to hang back, force the enemy through a bottleneck and take them out one at a time.  They also need to target the same enemy at once in order to gain force multipliers.  But I can't figure out how to get them to follow those tactics, the idiots,


pretty sure I did this one before I'd gone rescuing party members, slew the entire set of mage bastards myself with Demonsbane. It was great. Took me 40 odd goes and advice from people on this thread but eventually  I stood over their corpses and had a big old gloat


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## Pickman's model (Aug 25, 2015)

got out of the fade after killing the sloth demon


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## golightly (Aug 25, 2015)

Pickman's model said:


> got out of the fade after killing the sloth demon


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## kabbes (Aug 25, 2015)

Shale is quite awesome, isn't he?  Hard as rock, heh, and very amusing.

Alistair is well written too.  That rogue is a bit forgettable though.  I can't even remember her name.  Sadly, I need to include her for lock picking duties.  I'd much rather have a more interesting character along.  To the extent that I think I might be willing to give up the lock picking.

Inventory management is the dullest, most annoying part.  My inventory is permanently full.  I keep having to destroy shit.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 25, 2015)

Leliana is an important character in the whole story, not just Origins, but in future games, so don't write her off just yet!


----------



## kabbes (Aug 25, 2015)

So far, she's just the classic goody two-shoes.

In Bioware games, that's *my* role.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Aug 25, 2015)

kabbes said:


> So far, she's just the classic goody two-shoes.
> 
> In Bioware games, that's *my* role.



She certainly does come across that way in Origins. Later... well, you'll have to wait and see.


----------



## Epona (Aug 27, 2015)

kabbes said:


> Alistair is well written too.  That rogue is a bit forgettable though.  I can't even remember her name.  Sadly, I need to include her for lock picking duties.  I'd much rather have a more interesting character along.  To the extent that I think I might be willing to give up the lock picking.



I do like Alistair, but he conformed to the BG2 remit of a romanceable male character having to be a virgin, which really really pissed me off in both games (in BG2 it is that horrible smug cleric that is the only option for female characters unless you mod it so every character is bisexual) and although Alistair is better written and better acted, it still kind of smacks of this whole 'fallen priest' thing which I find a little weird.  It's like romanceable characters in games have to fit a particular archetype.

Even in ME2 I thought Jacob? (if that was his name, it was something like that anyway, the black guy) kind of fit into that whole kind of innocent and not very interesting archetype.  It's like in every game there is an innocent 'dedicated to the cause' guy, a woman where you're not sure which side she is on, an unpredicatable rogue type...


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## DotCommunist (Aug 27, 2015)

I thought alistair was a wanker so I dumped his poundshop jaime lannister arse someplace. Can't remember where. He als reminds me of zac from Saved By The Bell. Such a prick. Oh look at my easy louche charm. No. Fuck off. I prefer Morrigan and War Dog. 

Now I'm going to have to play this again tomorrow because I have several quests and shit. WAKE UP YOU DICKS, THE DARKSPAWN COMETH AND YOU SIT WITH THUMB UP ARSE?

that.


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## kabbes (Aug 27, 2015)

I've managed to avoid having to dumb down the difficulty level so far.  It helps if I concentrate on effectively using the mage as a cleric.  Heal, buff, freeze opponents.  Damage when the other options are unavailable or unnecessary.  Keep the others alive and they'll deal the damage.  Odd role for a mage but with no party cleric it seems to make sense.

I resent my wasted spell slots.  Mana drain ended up a big fat waste of time.


----------



## Pickman's model (Aug 28, 2015)

anyway i went to sort out the mages and after going through the fade got to the final big fight where try as i might i couldn't win. so back to the breceilian forest and start over, finding a couple of traders along the way. in one of the fade bits you have to battle an ogre but there's a book case or shelves which go into the room and which provide a nice little corner by the wall where you can shoot ice or fire arrows from without the ogre being able to get you. this was i found the easiest way to deal with it. now i've topped up with fire arrows going back into the mages' tower (although will have to go through the fucking fade *again* )


----------



## kabbes (Sep 16, 2015)

Still going strong, never did have to dumb down the difficulty and combat is a lot easier now everybody is all powered up.  The eleven kabbess is a wrecking ball of a mage and I like the variety of companions -- they pretty much all have a use.  Sten and Alistair make a great blade swinging team, although Shale is the better meat shield so sometimes replaces one of them. The other place is for a rogue or mage depending on circs -- two choices for each and all have their advantages -- although I am also cycling characters to trigger different storylines.


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## Pickman's model (Sep 23, 2015)

i'm going away in a couple of weeks and will be installing DAO on an auld xp machine to take with me. it should be easy enough, i expect, to transfer a saved game from one computer to another - shouldn't it? does anyone have any experience of this?


----------



## Vintage Paw (Sep 23, 2015)

I think so. Navigate to your Dragon Age folder in Documents>Bioware and copy everything. I do't know what beyond the Characters folder you need, so try just porting that one folder for the time being. Run the game first, so it generates whatever it needs, then merge the Characters folder. If that doesn't work, look what is missing between what you've copied from your current installation, and what is in your new one, and c&p accordingly.


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## Pickman's model (Sep 23, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> I think so. Navigate to your Dragon Age folder in Documents>Bioware and copy everything. I do't know what beyond the Characters folder you need, so try just porting that one folder for the time being. Run the game first, so it generates whatever it needs, then merge the Characters folder. If that doesn't work, look what is missing between what you've copied from your current installation, and what is in your new one, and c&p accordingly.


cheers!


----------



## kabbes (Sep 24, 2015)

The damned game keeps crashing every 10 minutes.  Apparently, this is a common problem.

Now I remember why I stopped playing PC games


----------



## Vintage Paw (Sep 24, 2015)

Does a new character fix the crashing? If so, it's possibly a corrupt save game somewhere along the way, in which case rolling back to an earlier save might help.

Do you have mods installed? If so, have you tried uninstalling them and seeing if it still crashes?

Have you tried reducing the graphics quality?

Does it crash at a specific point each time, or when you do a particular thing? For example, for me Dragon Age: Inquisition is most likely to crash when I'm in the equip potions menu (for some odd reason). For others it crashes when there are lots of spell effects on screen (pointing to it being a graphics issue). There's also currently a bug relating to a specific skill that crashes the game whenever it's used. So, different game but, there could be any number of very specific things that are causing it, that you can work to eliminate if you haven't already.

Or it could be a dodgy installation. If it's installed through Steam have you repaired the game? Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling from scratch (you can back up your saves)?


----------



## kabbes (Sep 24, 2015)

I cycle through multiple saves, so it isn't that. And it doesn't struggle graphically.

I have the dlc but no custom mods.

The game crashes randomly with no obvious trigger.  Walking through a town, mid-battle, looting, doesn't matter.  Every now and then it just decides to crash.

If it does crash, there is a 50/50 chance that the last save will manage to load or if I will have to roll back to an earlier save.

Online reports suggest restricting CPU affinity to a single CPU.  I have done that and it seems to help a bit but doesn't fix the problem.

It's killing the game, frankly.

I can certainly try to track down the problem but how is that fun?  This just reminds me why I gave up PC gaming in the first place.  I can't see myself trying any other Dragon Age games.


----------



## Pickman's model (Sep 24, 2015)

kabbes said:


> I cycle through multiple saves, so it isn't that. And it doesn't struggle graphically.
> 
> I have the dlc but no custom mods.
> 
> ...


have you tried defragging your hard drive?


----------



## Pickman's model (Sep 24, 2015)

kabbes said:


> The damned game keeps crashing every 10 minutes.  Apparently, this is a common problem.
> 
> Now I remember why I stopped playing PC games


i had this issue at the start but when i searched iirc a lot of people had the problem resolved by defragging their hard drive. now, it does still occasionally and very annoyingly crash: but much more rarely, and i generally save the game after each fight or each area transition anyway so if i get killed i don't have far to retread.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Sep 24, 2015)

DAO is available on console, so if you find it cheap you could always grab it on there.


----------



## kabbes (Sep 24, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> DAO is available on console, so if you find it cheap you could always grab it on there.


I moved away from console because I rarely have a chance to play TV games.  3DS and PS Vita are my preferred platforms. PC on my laptop seemed like a good compromise but I forgot how unreliable PC gaming is.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Sep 24, 2015)

It's inevitable, sadly. There are so many individual hardware configurations, and countless more software configurations on top of that. It's impossible to account for every potential combination during development and QA. I suppose that's why a lot of people like Apple, because there are far fewer starting points and therefore less that can go wrong. But of course, you pay the price for that -- both financially and in terms of more limited utility. Unless you bootcamp, in which case you're adding in another layer of possible incompatibilities and problems.

I cannot for the life of me get The Secret World to run on my Windows laptop. It ran perfectly on my less beefy macbook pro through bootcamp.


----------



## kabbes (Sep 26, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> Does a new character fix the crashing? If so, it's possibly a corrupt save game somewhere along the way, in which case rolling back to an earlier save might help.
> 
> Do you have mods installed? If so, have you tried uninstalling them and seeing if it still crashes?
> 
> ...


Despite my initial pooh-poohing, I did try turning down the graphical quality a tad and it hasn't crashed since. So thanks for that suggestion -- it might just have done the job.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Sep 26, 2015)

Glad it seems to be working, fingers crossed it continues to do so.


----------



## kabbes (Sep 26, 2015)

I'm glad too. Not least because arcane warrior/spirit healer with full plate armour and defensive/regen buff spells is totally broken.  My tiny little eleven mage is the tank of all tanks with the ability to keep everyone else up to strength.  It's very weird to have a game in which the fragile mage class makes for the best tank, but there you go.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Sep 26, 2015)

In Dragon Age 2, Merrill - one of your companions - is the best tank in the game, and she's a cute, fragile little dalish elf mage (voiced wonderfully by Eve Myles). Of course Aveline gives her a run for her money, but she's a dedicated warrior tank... but still Merrill beats her in my book.


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Sep 28, 2015)

Had to re-install windows and forgot to copy the Origin cache  So have started again  with a elf-mage, and upto Denerim so far. It did save my achievements though and has clocked play time at 128 hours, so that will end up almost doubling!


----------



## kabbes (Sep 28, 2015)

Pseudopsycho said:


> Had to re-install windows and forgot to copy the Origin cache  So have started again  with a elf-mage, and upto Denerim so far. It did save my achievements though and has clocked play time at 128 hours, so that will end up almost doubling!


Go max willpower/magic with a bit of con, save up spells until you get arcane warrior & spirit healer, get shimmering shield, healing/revival spells and outfit Cailan's full armour and sword.  I could pretty much solo Flemeth at lvl 14 with that build.

Fireball and the top level mana spell to take out magic users are useful on top of healing plus shimmering shield. After that, it's a matter of taste.

Combat magic is just so insanely overpowered.  With Cailan's set and shimmering shield, you have stupidly high armour and defense ratings, massive attack, quickly regenerating mana and can heal the whole party effectively.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Sep 28, 2015)

Absolutely, arcane warrior is a beast - my last character was building towards that, although I'd started quite enjoying using a staff so hadn't made the switch over yet.


----------



## Pseudopsycho (Sep 28, 2015)

I'm currently around lvl 12 with staff focused area of effect mage, mass paralysis followed up with death cloud, tempest and chain lightning  I have arcane warrior but am waiting on getting my willpower to 40+ to compensate the mana drain due to fatigue. Not sure whether to eventually equip the star metal long sword or the Yusaris the dragon slayer


----------



## kabbes (Oct 6, 2015)

Vintage Paw said:


> Leliana is an important character in the whole story, not just Origins, but in future games, so don't write her off just yet!


Alright, at this point I do quite love Leliana.  She definitely grows as a character.  He background chats with other characters are excellent comic relief.


----------



## kabbes (Oct 6, 2015)

Pseudopsycho said:


> I'm currently around lvl 12 with staff focused area of effect mage, mass paralysis followed up with death cloud, tempest and chain lightning  I have arcane warrior but am waiting on getting my willpower to 40+ to compensate the mana drain due to fatigue. Not sure whether to eventually equip the star metal long sword or the Yusaris the dragon slayer


Caiden's shield + Maric's sword as a set give an arcane warrior 5.75 mana regeneration per second.  Combined with a few other bits of regen, you have enough to sustain shimmering shield indefinitely.


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## Pseudopsycho (Oct 13, 2015)

So have been playing a bit everyday and now level 20 and I'm pretty much upto the Landsmeet and am rocking the Helm of Honleath (+2 all atts) with Wade's Superior Dragon Plate set and using the Arcane Warrior Sword Spellweaver (with grandmaster paralyse and lightning runes). With Spellward, Life giver and willpower/magic levels of 47+ I can have Miasma, Arcane shield, death syphon and shimmering shield running constantly with enough mana left over to cast a couple of spells before wading in to hack them up!  

I'm going to replay with a dual weapon dwarf next (because of plot, and carrying into DA:2 and Inquistion) but I'm toying with the idea of turning both Morrigan and Wynne into Arcane warriors for the lols!


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## kabbes (Oct 13, 2015)

I'm just past the Landsmeet and have gone back to kill that stupid dragon.  Now it's a stupid dead dragon.

So it turns out that Alistair is a childish dick then.  Shouldn't have wasted the romantic subplot on _that_ nobhead.


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## Chick Webb (Oct 13, 2015)

kabbes said:


> I'm just past the Landsmeet and have gone back to kill that stupid dragon.  Now it's a stupid dead dragon.
> 
> So it turns out that Alistair is a childish dick then.  Shouldn't have wasted the romantic subplot on _that_ nobhead.


I romanced Zevran for a laugh and ended up being quite touched by his hidden depths at the end.  I mean, he could have been playing me since he knew I was off to make my heroic sacrifice, but it totally worked on me.


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## DotCommunist (Oct 13, 2015)

I'm not getting laid or chatted up at all in a computer game. Fucks sake.

Maybe I need to put a few more hours in


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## Pseudopsycho (Oct 13, 2015)

kabbes said:


> I'm just past the Landsmeet and have gone back to kill that stupid dragon.  Now it's a stupid dead dragon.
> 
> So it turns out that Alistair is a childish dick then.  Shouldn't have wasted the romantic subplot on _that_ nobhead.



I'm a lady elf so I chatted up Leliana and tried it on with Morrigan but she's disappointingly straight (hence the replay required). Alastair wouldn't take the hint so I told him to get to fuck and marry the Queen, then buttered him back with gifts (Duncan's Shield and a few "thoughtful gifts" from Bodahn)  so he got his bonuses back  

I'm going to retire Neria and play Awakening, Golems and Witch Hunt with my dorf, as I did first time around  - note to everyone to make sure have they have a copy of the bioware files somewhere safe


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## kabbes (Oct 16, 2015)

Now on to Awakening.

Didn't realise it was part of Ultimate so bought a key for it, couldn't add it to the Steam Library, looked up why and then realised it was because Ultmate came with it already.  Irritating -- don't know why they don't make it more obvious on the front screen of the game.

The key only cost me a fiver and I'm trying to resell it now but it's the principle of the thing, quite honestly.


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## kabbes (Oct 26, 2015)

Ok, finding Awakenings really quite dull and uninspiring so far.  Origins seemed pretty well balanced and timed my level progression so that I finished on about lvl 21/22, which worked against the end-game hordes.  Then Awakenings gives me some extra levels and runed armour and sends me off to battle small groups of low level mooks.  It's dullsville.  Meanwhile, storywise, I've gone from rescuing a kingdom to pissing about with small town politics.  I increasingly can't be arsed to pick up and play.  Shame.


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## Vintage Paw (Oct 26, 2015)

If you're planning on playing 2, it's definitely worth persevering with Awakenings. One of your companions (well, two...) is/are in 2 and form a central part of the plot. Understanding how they became what they are in 2 as opposed to what they were in Awakenings is very interesting.


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## kabbes (Nov 6, 2015)

I think I'm somewhere near the end of Awakening.  In the lair of the Mother.

I've been bored by it, to be frank.  It plays like what it is: taking a player that has finished their story arc and extending their story out of nothing more than wish-fulfillment not to let them go.  But by the nature of the way games are balanced, it has made the game utterly broken.  Your team is just way, way too strong for anything it faces.

In order to justify the admission price, they've had to give you better weapons, better armour, more spells, more skills.  But this is loaded onto characters that were already at game-ending levels of effectiveness.  Characters that were capable to killing a freakin' archdemon whilst simultaneously taking on an army.

The result is overkill and the death of game balance.  In Origins, it was common to die at the beginning, not uncommon to die in the middle and distinctly possible to die at the end.  In Awakening, it's been all but impossible to die.  The battle is generally ended before it begins.

My character generally just has to go charging into the middle of everything (no chance of losing anything more than 5% health with all the OTT buffs that arcane warrior gives you), hit hand of winter for serious damage to everything close by, freezing that which doesn't die, and wait a few seconds for the rest of the team to finish it off.  Even when an armoured ogre grabs my character, it does almost no damage.  There's no fear factor in any fight.

The rest of the team are just as lethal.  Oghran, for example, generally one-shot kills everything up to serious bosses with his runed-up Chasind Great Maul.  Etc etc.

And then there is the story itself.  You've just defeated an entire army pretty much single-handed.  But now some petty noble thinks he can beat you in a fair fight?  Why?  I walk into a room and you can't even _see_ me because I am so swirling with buffs.  I'm carrying some epic weapon and clad in magical armour.  Why the fuck would anything mess with me?  And yet here I am sorting out petty arguments and doing fucking _fetch-quests_ for merchants.  Ugh!  It's too much of a story reset.

So eventually, you get to the saving of Amaranthine.  But since I previously saved Denerim, even this feels like an anti-climax.  And then onto the Lair of the Mother.  Defended by a dragon.  That my team killed in about 30 seconds flat without even needing to use potions, because they are just that overpowered.  Talk about killing the memory of the difficult dragon fight of Origins.

And don't get me started on the bugs.  Just as well that Awakening gives me new overpowered armour and weapons, given that a bug resulted in me losing my (DLC paid for!) equipment from Origins.

Origins was flawed but clever, well-balanced and had a good story.  Awakening is just flawed and buggy.  Origins, I would give 7/10.  Awakening barely makes a 4/10.

And I have been well and truly put off bothering with Dragon Age II.


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## Vintage Paw (Nov 6, 2015)

The story is... important. To the overall DA lore. The 'person' you meet at the end, yeah. Super relevant to DAI in particular. This person is also in one of the novels (_The Calling_). Not that that makes up for you not enjoying the gameplay experience, but... yeah.


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