Dragon Age: Origins.

[Tawmis]

First, forget what I said about Andres being a Blood Mage...

Dragon Age: This is the first video of one of the new party NPCs you will meet when you play Dragon Age Awakening: Anders.
Many mages chafe under the Chantry’s control, and Anders is no exception. It’s a lucky thing that Anders despises blood mages as much as the Chantry does, else he might have been executed as a suspected maleficarum

Although the way that's phrased... I am almost suspect that he still is... he's just hiding the fact... and it's the secret you will find out about him in game.

I know she's helpful!
But this doesn't mean she's not a supreme b*tch!

When you're that sexy you can be a supreme b!tch!

Anyway, a major spoiler from the Landsmeet (so basically only for Tawmis )
I just finished the Landsmeet in my second playthrough (Dalish Rogue). I spared Loghain and made him a Grey Warden. Alistair's reaction is tough, a punch in the stomach and really heart-wrenching. I feel really sorry for doing this to him.
At least, since I've hardened him during his personal quest, at least he became King and I genuinely hope that he'll give that bitch Anora the hell of a time she deserves, that power-hungry whore! Sorry, can't really stand her or her father...
I only preserved Loghain to hear his dialogues and bring him back to Ostagar

So there is a way to do that with Loghain then? Because when I selected it - Alistair went ape nuts. So I assume YOU have to do the authority and not let Alistair decide...

Tawmis, do you plan on play Return to Ostagar after all? If so, I'll say nothing. Otherwise, tell me and I'll reveal you the major secret the DLC unveils

[/quote]

Are you really asking me if I am going to get the DLC?
Hello?

I am buying the Dragon Age RPG just for the sake of learning more about the world! Of course I am going to get the DLC! Just when finances are a little better... (I did just spend $3,600 on my car, then $900 on the water heater...)

[Maiandra]

I have some catching up to do, if I ever want to be able to read everything in this thread!

I'm actually just at the beginning of the Anvil of the Void now. The story is progressing nicely, as is my money pouch. I'm still finding the combat somewhat difficult, but at least it's giving me more experience and actually revealing bits of the story now.

Am I the only one that found the entire brood mother section of the story really disturbing? Granted, it gave an interesting twist to the story of Branka and her house, but it was all rather shocking.

Since you were speaking of party members above, I have to say that the comments other party members make to Allistair when your character is involved with him can be totally hilarious. I don't know how much of a hard time the other romance options get, but Wynne and Oghren both teased him mercilessly a couple times. He gets so flustered.

[DeadPoolX]

Good info, thanks!

I've read that with Arcane Warrior, you don't need to activate any of your talents in order to wear armor and wield non-Mage weapons. That's what the DA Wiki entry on Arcane Warrior says, so if it's wrong, maybe it should be corrected.

"Additionally, regardless of whether the mode is active, an arcane warrior who has learned this spell may use the magic attribute to satisfy the strength requirement to equip higher-level weapons or armor."

Of course... taking Arcane Warrior to simply wear armor and swing a sword around seems like a waste to me. Plus, I bet most of the "good" stuff for Mages are staffs and robes. I'm sure there are some sets of armor and weapons which benefit a Mage, but I can't imagine there are very many.

Oh and I've also read that an easy way around "spells that can't be cast while holding sword" is to pause the game and switch weapons. That way there's no delay when attempting to cast spells. Otherwise you'll sheath your sword and then cast, which probably takes too long in most cases.

Overall, I tend to agree that shapeshifting is useless. As Tawmis said, it's neat, but that's about it. I hadn't thought about the drawbacks to a Spirit Healer/Blood Mage combo, but what you've said makes a lot of sense.

So I'll probably create an Arcane Warrior with either Blood Mage or Spirit Healer. Most likely I'll choose Blood Mage, but I won't entirely rule out Spirit Healer.

[AndreaDraco]

So there is a way to do that with Loghain then? Because when I selected it - Alistair went ape nuts. So I assume YOU have to do the authority and not let Alistair decide...

Yes. You can simply ignore him and go ahead with Riordan's plan and make Loghain a Grey Warden. Then, if Alistair is not hardened, he will leave forever. If he's hardened, and you decided to make him and Anora marry, he will marry her but will nonetheless leave your parter.

Am I the only one that found the entire brood mother section of the story really disturbing? Granted, it gave an interesting twist to the story of Branka and her house, but it was all rather shocking.

Absolutely. The Brood Mather was a shocking discovery and poor Hespith was even worse. Her limerick about what happened to the men and women of Branka's house was eerie and unnerving. The whole section - the Dead Trenches - was very horror, and definitely disturbing.

I've read that with Arcane Warrior, you don't need to activate any of your talents in order to wear armor and wield non-Mage weapons. That's what the DA Wiki entry on Arcane Warrior says, so if it's wrong, maybe it should be corrected.

It's true, but, as you say, it's pretty useless to put one point in Combat Magic only to wear weapons and armors. If you don't plan to go in melee, and that's where the other talents come into play, armor and weapons will be useless. And you're right about the cheat - pausing and switching weapons -, but I tend not to use it because it felt way too overpowered and unfair.

Plus, I bet most of the "good" stuff for Mages are staffs and robes. I'm sure there are some sets of armor and weapons which benefit a Mage, but I can't imagine there are very many.

You're right and, insofar, there's only one Arcane Warrior-specific item. The most powerful stuff a Mage can gain are a robe and a staff. There are also two extremely powerful rings (Mage-specific) and a belt, but the the robe and the staff are superior. Once again, though, it depends on your style of playing. The powerful staff is completely useless if you are an Arcane Warrior who wants to enter melee.

So I'll probably create an Arcane Warrior with either Blood Mage or Spirit Healer. Most likely I'll choose Blood Mage, but I won't entirely rule out Spirit Healer.

DPX, do you have the Warden's Keep DLC? I ask because in this DLC we can take advantage of an old Gray Warden's research and gain two addition talents that are in some way related to Blood Magic. If you take a look at them over at the Dragon Age Wikia (Power of the Blood School), maybe they can help you decide between Blood Mage [some powers (Dark Sustenance and Blood Magic) may overlap] and Spirit Healer.

[Tawmis]

New screens, video, etc at the Dragon Age website:

http://dragonage.bioware.com/gallery/screens/

[AndreaDraco]

Nice location! I hope that it will be, at least to a certain degree, personalizable like in NWN2. I don't want that kind of silly customization, of course, since I found it really excessive, but it would be nice to be able to influence how Vigil Keep will be shaped to host the famous Gray Wardens!

[AndreaDraco]

New Awakening Video, this time presenting a cute, little new foe.

PS: the video above doesn't contain spoilers from Origins and therefore can be seen by everyone!

[DeadPoolX]

Okay, I was reading the DA posts on the BioWare board and they said that certain races are best at being certain classes. I was under the impression that anyone could be anything and do just as well at it. Sure, there are some minor stat differences between races, but that shouldn't "make or break" a character.

For instance... my current character is a human Mage. According to the people on the BioWare forums, I've more or less "gimped" my character. They said humans should stick to playing Warriors or Rogues. In contrast, they said elves make the best Mages.

I'm also thinking about making a city elf that's a Warrior. Once again, they said that was a terrible idea and that I would severely gimp my character. They said that if I want a warrior, I should play a human or preferably, a dwarf.

Is there any truth to their claims or are they simply "power gaming" to the point where DA isn't about fun anymore and is instead all about making a "perfect character." I'd like to know since I don't want to get TOO far in the game and realize I've made a major mistake.

[Tawmis]

Power Gaming by the sounds of it. I play whatever I think would be fun to play. Human Mage. Elf Warrior. Who cares what anyone else thinks is the best combo. If anything, it's often more fun to play against the grain.

[AndreaDraco]

Power gaming. The only difference is the starting stats and the starting skill/talent. But you shouldn't worry: human mage works good, city elf warrior works good, everything works good. And there are tomes in the game that can add points to the attributes, the skills and the talents as well. Furthermore, if you're on PC, there is even a Respec Mod that allows you to redistribute your points, if you find out that you've made some bad choice (you can't modify race/class, of course, but, believe me, the important things are the talents you choose, not the race/class combination).

[Maiandra]

If you look at the difference in starting stats between the races, there is really very little difference, considering you get 3 attribute points every level. You start with one combat-related skill as a human or dwarven noble, so that doesn't make that big of a difference in the long-run. In some cases, you may get a more interesting story by breaking from what's expected and I don't think race choice alone can gimp your character by any means.

I wasn't entirely sure that my human noble rogue would be appropriate, but it actually gives me some sweet roguely payback in Denerim for something that happened in my starting chapter. That was a pleasant surprise and erased any doubts I had about it.

Speaking of bad decisions, I'm beginning to wish that I had taken Bard instead of Ranger as my second specialisation. It doesn't really make that big of a difference stat-wise, since I still have a lot of areas that I need to work on (like my first specialisation, Duelist). However, role-playing-wise, it makes more sense for my character, who has become fairly close with Leliana to learn bard as a specialisation.

Speaking of Leliana, I'm almost beginning to like her more than Allistair. She's way more fun and sees more to life than just fighting Darkspawn. I like how your character can become close friends with her and have a lot of dialogue with her (even when you keep it platonic), unlike most other characters in the group. Lately Allistair is all like "Darkspawn this" an "Darkspawn that" and "nothing matters until we defeat the Darkspawn". Sheesh. You'd think they were trying to take over the world and kill everyone the way he's talking! Oh...wait.

[AndreaDraco]

Maia, I mentioned this some posts ago, but if you want, over at the Dragon Age Nexus, you can find a Respec Mod that allows you to reshape your character.

Basically, the mod adds a raven in every (generally) non-combat location of the game (Denerim Market Place, Lake Calenhad Docks, Frostback Mountains Pass, Dalish Camp) and if you interact with it, you can take a tiny vial that was tied to its leg. Then, you go to the inventory, use the vial like every tome in the game and - after a confirmation screen - you can respec your character (redistributing Attributes, Skills, Specializations and Talents).

[Tawmis]

So, yesterday I got Return to Ostagar and beat it in one sitting pretty much. There wasn't too much to it, but it was still a great little bit. It's interesting that it apparently (if you have beat the game) happens like MERE MOMENTS before you have beat the game/final fight... because...

Well, first - I am still alive. And... Both Morrigan and Zeveran were not present as selectable characters for me; since I refused Morrigan's offer near the end game and was forced to - much to my dismay - kill Zeveran.

So I brought Alistair with me, along with Wynne and Leila (or however you spell her name). I brought Alistair along because I figured (without even checking) -

That the king's armor would be found. In pieces, no doubt. But it was going to be found. So I wanted to adorn Alistair in the king's armor; both as an honor to the king, and to Alistair; since the king was so loved. It seemed fitting that Fereldan's newest king would also wear his armor and continue the love.

It was short. But fun. I enjoyed playing it.

[AndreaDraco]

So, yesterday I got Return to Ostagar and beat it in one sitting pretty much. There wasn't too much to it, but it was still a great little bit. It's interesting that it apparently (if you have beat the game) happens like MERE MOMENTS before you have beat the game/final fight... because...

The Post-Campaign Save is made after the end of the final confrontation, but before the epilogue.

Basically, it doesn't register who kills the archdemon and how, and it doesn't register - you'll see, Tawm, in one of your other playthrough, where you don't sacrifice yourself - the choices the player makes in the playable epilogue (such as: what will the Warden do next, with who, what will do the other companions, etc.)

Anyway, I really liked Return to Ostagar. It surely puts things into perspective. I mean,

Before Return to Ostagar, I thought that Loghain was being delusional and paranoid about his fears on Cailan and Orlais. But it turns out that Cailan was indeed in secret talks with Empress Celene, perhaps even in a secret affair with her. Surely, this doesn't change how I see Loghain - basically, a nutcase and a delusional traitor -, but at least now he seems to me less paranoid than before. I mean, he was basically right

Oh, and I must also admit that the thing I liked the most about the DLC was...

finding Cailan's body. I felt really sorry for him. And the moment - with the flashbacks from the "dark night at Ostagar" - was incredibly intense and emotional

[Maiandra]

Maia, I mentioned this some posts ago, but if you want, over at the Dragon Age Nexus, you can find a Respec Mod that allows you to reshape your character.

Basically, the mod adds a raven in every (generally) non-combat location of the game (Denerim Market Place, Lake Calenhad Docks, Frostback Mountains Pass, Dalish Camp) and if you interact with it, you can take a tiny vial that was tied to its leg. Then, you go to the inventory, use the vial like every tome in the game and - after a confirmation screen - you can respec your character (redistributing Attributes, Skills, Specializations and Talents).

Thanks, Andrea. I remember you mentioning that and I was contemplating looking back though the pages to look for it, but I'm still a little undecided about exactly what to do with my character. I will probably think about it some more, as I am wont to do about every decision. However, thanks for posting the link again, since it saves me the trouble of looking through 11 pages of this thread to find it. I will most likely end up using it.