Dragon Age: Origins.

[Rath Darkblade]

Hmmm... that's interesting. Seeing as how you have the "Ultimate Edition" you shouldn't need to download anything.

Did you check the "downloadable content" section of the game? At the menu click "downloadable content" and you'll see three tabs. Look at the tabs named "available content" and "installed content." From there you can see what you have and if it's installed. If it's installed, make sure you have the box next to it checked off.

If that doesn't work, try signing in to your account and see if that makes a difference. It shouldn't, but it might for whatever reason.

As for the EA servers themselves... well, I have no idea. They've always worked for me. Is your firewall blocking access for some reason?

Hmmm... this is weird. All the 'downloadable content' is apparently installed, but unauthorised.

I can't sign into my account, because I don't have an account. When I installed the game, I never got the chance to create one. Also, when I try to log in or download a module, the game tells me "The EA Servers are no longer available" - even when I'm connected to the internet.

If I try to see my online profile, it sends me here:
http://social.bioware.com/language.php? ... le%2Fen-us

If I try to redeem a module (through "redeem code"), it sends me here:
http://social.bioware.com/language.php? ... em%2Fen-us

In either case, it asks me to "Choose Language"; I choose English, enter my date of birth, and it tells me that my profile is not found...?? Is there a way for me to create one, somehow? AGH. *bangs head against wall*

Oh and one question: what do you mean you "weren't connected to the Internet" when you installed the game? Did you lose your connection? I can't imagine you'd turn it off yourself. There's no reason to do that.

Well, yes. Seeing as my internet connection is monthly and quite limited, I turn my modem off when I'm not using it. In that particular case, my modem was turned off when I was installing the game. I saw nothing wrong with this, as Bioware had allowed me to install their other games (e.g. NWN) and upgrade them later, at my convenience. Now, however, I'm not sure what happened... any ideas?

Thanks!

[DeadPoolX]

Okay, here's what I'd do:

1. Create an account.

2. Log into your account.

3. Register your game to that account.

4. Authorize the DLC.

If you still can't authorize your DLC, then try logging out and then back in. I don't know why that works for some people, but it does.

You can log out of your account once your DLC has been authorized.

Just so you know, you will always see your account email address at the bottom left-hand corner of DA:O's main menu. That's okay. It'll tell you if you're logged in or out.

About 99% of the time you can remain logged out. When dealing with DLC, however, you have to go online.

If none of the above works, then try looking at this FAQ for more answers. Hopefully that'll help.

Well, yes. Seeing as my internet connection is monthly and quite limited, I turn my modem off when I'm not using it.

I'm not quite sure I understand. Of course, it's also 3:30 AM here right now, so I'd probably have difficulty understanding Sesame Street at this point.

[DeadPoolX]

Hey, Andrea, I'm a little unclear as to what you meant about my party choices. I liked having two Rogues and a Warrior with me.

You then said my choices are good if you're NOT a Mage.

That doesn't make any sense.

If you're not a Mage, then you'd want a Mage in your party. I said I didn't include a Mage because I was the only Mage I felt I needed.

So maybe you meant it the other way around? My choices are good if you ARE a Mage; however, it doesn't work if you're NOT a Mage.

[Tawmis]

The only thing I'd add about the party thing... is when you go into an area and clear it out... you can usually got back through it later. So if you don't want a rogue immediately with you... most areas, allow you to wipe a place clean, go back through it with a rogue if you didn't have one initially and start picking some annoying locks.

[AndreaDraco]

Hey, Andrea, I'm a little unclear as to what you meant about my party choices. I liked having two Rogues and a Warrior with me.

You then said my choices are good if you're NOT a Mage.

You propose: 1 mage, 1 warrior, 1 rogue DPS and 1 rogue archer, correct?

If the player character is NOT a mage, let's say he's the warrior, the other - and only - mage in the party will probably be focused on Creation (healing, buff/debuff, a bit of crowd control; Spirit Healer specialization), because an healer is pivotal in every party, at least as far as I see it, and, as such, your ideal party can work pretty well: a tank, an healer and 2 damagers, one melee and one ranged.

What I was saying is that, if the player character is a mage, unless the player wants to roleplay an healer, it is perhaps best to ditch the ranged rogue in favor of another mage. This way, the first mage (the player character) can focus on damage and crowd control while the other mage will play as the healer and buffer/debuffer.

For example, with Alqua, my caster-type mage, specialized in heavy-damage and crowd control (to whom I gave the Spirit Healer spec - because of the +2 Magic bonus -, the Battlemage one and the Keeper one, always because of the Magic bonus, and because of his elven roots), traveled with Zevran (melee DPS), Alistair (tank) and Wynne (healer), while Lahearl, my Dalish rogue, traveled with Zevran (respecced to be a ranged DPS and an utility rogue, with lockpicking, pickpocket, trapmaking and the like), Shale (in her tank mode) and Wynne (healer).

[DeadPoolX]

I disagree -- you don't need a dedicated Mage healer. In fact, that's a waste of a party slot.

It's easy for any Mage to have a few healing spells (at the very least, you can have the basic heal spell) or even take the Spirit Healer specialization. I did the latter in conjunction with Arcane Warrior.

But before I took any specialization, I was still the only Mage in the group. For a long time I didn't even have any healing spells and my team did great. They rarely needed healing and if they did, there was an abundance of healing potions.

Maybe my group did damage quick enough so healing was mostly an afterthought. Whatever the case, keeping one Mage in your group at all times strictly for healing seems wasteful.

[Tawmis]

I disagree -- you don't need a dedicated Mage healer. In fact, that's a waste of a party slot.

It's easy for any Mage to have a few healing spells (at the very least, you can have the basic heal spell) or even take the Spirit Healer specialization. I did the latter in conjunction with Arcane Warrior.

But before I took any specialization, I was still the only Mage in the group. For a long time I didn't even have any healing spells and my team did great. They rarely needed healing and if they did, there was an abundance of healing potions.

Maybe my group did damage quick enough so healing was mostly an afterthought. Whatever the case, keeping one Mage in your group at all times strictly for healing seems wasteful.

Okay. I have to ask - did you fight The Dragon when you ring the bell? Or did you fight Morgann's mother? The second, I could see getting by without healing... but that first one? It is OPTIONAL, but I did it because I wanted to complete as many quests as possible... and that one, without a healer, would have been IMPOSSIBLE, and I tried like EVERY combo of party members. From all tanks, to tank and heals, to ranged, to... well, you name it. Without healing, there is NO way I could have got past that one. Potions or not.

There's also another fight, in the Dwarf Area where you cross the bridge and you literally fight like 20 darkspawn all at once? Probably could do without healing if you do hit and run tactics... but like I said... the one fight... I imagine, is virtually impossible without having a massive healer in the party... because it WILL kill party members, fairly quickly!

[AndreaDraco]

Well, I don't know what to say, DPX. At what difficulty level did you play it? I usually play at Normal or Difficult, and I find that without a healer, some battles, like Tawmis said, are nearly impossible.

Perhaps, though, I should clarify that with healer I don't intend a simple healer with Heal, Group Heal or Rejuvenation, but a healer who's also capable to serve as a party buffer: with the four healing spells, the four enhancement spells (Heroic Offense, Heroic Aura, Heroic Defense and Haste), the four glyphs, the anti-magic spells and the hexes, it's necessary to have a mage only dedicated to healing/buffing/debuffing, while the other one deals damage and controls the mobs.

This is why I think that a full-fledged healer is required and why I usually go with two mages in my party (I prefer Mage DPS than Rogue DPS). But, hey, if you didn't have the need for a healer, now I completely understand your party choice.

[Tawmis]

This is why I think that a full-fledged healer is required and why I usually go with two mages in my party (I prefer Mage DPS than Rogue DPS). But, hey, if you didn't have the need for a healer, now I completely understand your party choice.

It definitely depends on playing style, to be sure... but that one fight I mentioned... just seems impossible if you don't have a very dedicated healer.

[Tawmis]

First time I played through, my party was usually:

Myself (Warrior), Alistar (Warrior), Morgann (Spell Damage), Wynne(Healer). Put spoiler on the healer, because I don't think Rath has mentioned them yet. I'd usually use this party to clear out a mess, then bring Leila or however you spell her name now or Zeveran (but I think Leilawas the better lock pick right off the bat, where Zeveranwas the better damage dealer) to go through and pick all the locks and get the treasures I couldn't get.

[DeadPoolX]

Okay. I have to ask - did you fight The Dragon when you ring the bell? Or did you fight Morgann's mother? The second, I could see getting by without healing... but that first one? It is OPTIONAL, but I did it because I wanted to complete as many quests as possible... and that one, without a healer, would have been IMPOSSIBLE, and I tried like EVERY combo of party members. From all tanks, to tank and heals, to ranged, to... well, you name it. Without healing, there is NO way I could have got past that one. Potions or not.

There's also another fight, in the Dwarf Area where you cross the bridge and you literally fight like 20 darkspawn all at once? Probably could do without healing if you do hit and run tactics... but like I said... the one fight... I imagine, is virtually impossible without having a massive healer in the party... because it WILL kill party members, fairly quickly!

In response to all of those: yes, I fought the dragon, Morrigan's mother and all of those Darkspawn without a dedicated healer. I think I had the Spirit Healer specialization by then, but I only had the first spell in that line (which is all I've ever needed) and I didn't even bother with the regular heal spell until later.

How did we do it? I can't remember (it's been a while since I've played DA:O), but I know we did. I was quite proud of myself, too.

We did get hurt (no injuries) and no one died, but that's about the extent of it all.

The ONLY fight I had problems with was the one against Ser Cauthrien. Her archers kept firing scattershot at me which disrupted a lot of my spells and mowed down my teammates. Eventually we lured her and her melee soldiers out into the library and killed them there. I then used "Storm of the Century" against the archers and killed them.

Well, I don't know what to say, DPX. At what difficulty level did you play it? I usually play at Normal or Difficult, and I find that without a healer, some battles, like Tawmis said, are nearly impossible.

I played on normal difficulty. Maybe a dedicated healer is necessary on harder difficulty levels.

Regardless, I didn't have a problem. In fact, I can only think of one or two times where my team really needed emergency healing (where potions wouldn't suffice) and by that time, I had the Group Heal spell.

[AndreaDraco]

And what about buff/debuff? Did you use the bard's songs instead of the spells I listed? This is the only viable alternative that comes to my mind...

... And I can't think that you managed to beat the game without buffs

[Tawmis]

I am in awe that you beat that dragon- and with no fatalities? By the time I had beat it - and spent, no joke, about 2 weeks trying to beat it - I ended up with one man standing (my warrior) and Wynne, who I was controlling to keep my warrior alive. Shalehelped greatly once I got Shalefor the second play through, with the fire immunity crystals, he/she/it managed to stand up against the dragonmuch longer and beat the snot out of Morgann's mother.

[AndreaDraco]

Flemeth, Morrigan's mother, is fairly simple even early in the game, because she doesn't move from her spot and you can safely put your mages and your archers, if you have them, by the side of the hut where they won't get caught by her flaming breath. The tank occupies her, the healer heals the tank, the rogue backstabs the shapeshifting dragon from behind.

The Dragon, on the other hand, is an entirely different matter. It's a tough fight. And incredibly tough fight.

[DeadPoolX]

And what about buff/debuff? Did you use the bard's songs instead of the spells I listed? This is the only viable alternative that comes to my mind...

... And I can't think that you managed to beat the game without buffs

Oh hell no, I used sustainable buffs up the wazoo, but mostly on me. Yes, I'm a selfish bastard.

I had Rock Armor, Arcane Shield, Spell Might and Miasma on at all times (although Miasma kept turning off whenever I went to a new area). Passive buffs like Staff Focus and Arcane Mastery were also on. There were also times I used Combat Magic and Shimmering Shield, but only if I wanted to slice and dice.

I used some debuffs (in addition to Miasma) like the Hex line of spells. Those could be quite useful at times.

I also made use of crowd control spells, like Paralyze/Mass Paralyze, Mind Blast, Force Field (although that was highly situational) and even Crushing Prison, although I see that as more damage dealing than anything.

I rarely used weapon buffs, mostly because runes could do similar effects. I did sometimes activate Telekinetic Weapons, but more often than not I forgot to do this. It didn't seem to matter too much.

As for party members... I always had Leliana and Alistair with me, so she used Bard songs and he had Rally. I always kept those turned on. I also had other buffs, but those affected individual characters (i.e. Dueling on Zevran).

I think I used some very different tactics than you guys. I used my Warrior (usually Alistair) as a distraction. While he was good against regular enemies, he was fairly useless against really high-level enemies, like dragons. In those cases, he was my shield.

I then used Leliana to keep the enemies away and she did an impressive amount of damage against dragons and other high-level enemies. In fact, she did so much damage that the enemies often targeted her over anyone else. That's one of the reasons why I chose Ranger as one of her specializations since a wolf or bear helped keep melee enemies off her.

Zevran was more of an all-purpose tool. He was decent enough in archery, but he was deadly with daggers. He landed the killing blow against every dragon, including the Archdemon.

As a Mage, I acted as both offensive and defensive, with a heavy emphasis on damage. I figured that if I could kill the enemy quick enough, there'd be no need for healing potions or spells. I was right most of the time and in those instances when we needed healing, we just chugged down some potions.

One again, my tactics involved flanking the enemy, paralyzing them in some manner (lots of spells do this) and causing tons of damage quickly and it worked. That doesn't mean every fight was a cake walk, but I never felt the need to bring along a healer.

I am in awe that you beat that dragon- and with no fatalities? By the time I had beat it - and spent, no joke, about 2 weeks trying to beat it - I ended up with one man standing (my warrior) and Wynne, who I was controlling to keep my warrior alive. Shalehelped greatly once I got Shalefor the second play through, with the fire immunity crystals, he/she/it managed to stand up against the dragonmuch longer and beat the snot out of Morgann's mother.

From the looks of it, you focus more on the "rush the enemy and whack it until it's dead" school of thought. With powerful enemies, like dragons, that'll get you killed fast.