SHP Forums

Tawmis wrote:

DeadPoolX wrote:I don't know if anyone has realized this yet, but the majority of comments in this post are within spoiler tags.

Can't say we don't honor the request of keeping things from being spoiled!

True!

I finished Dragon Age for the first time!

Here's my epilogue:

Alistair rules Ferelden with a common touch, beloved by his citizens
Leliana goes back to Orlais to seek out Marjolaine
Morrigan goes far, far away... with Alistair's child
Oghren decides to stay "topside" and settle down with Felsi
Shale goes back to Orzammar to help the dwarves fighting in the Deep Road
Sten returns to Par Vollen
Wynne stays at court as Alistair's advisor

The Circle of Magi was rebuilt and more freedom given to it by Alistair

Alqua (my character) and Zevran rebuild the Grey Wardens, together.

I must say that I enjoyed this game immensely. Beyond immensely. The story was spell-binding and the actual plot development breath-taking. The ending, then, was epic and powerful and left me all warm and fuzzy

I would have liked to know more details on the various companions after the finale (especially about Zevran, of course, and his relationship with my character, even if I'm already blissfully happy to have won his heart), but, even as it is, Dragon Age has instantly become one of my all-time favorites, if not my all-time favorite, both because of the enthralling story and the great characters that I've really grown attached to: aside from Zevran, obviously, I particularly liked Alistair, Wynne, Oghren and Dog!

Of course, now I'll be playing again - as a Human Noble Warrior, I think - and it's very likely that, after that, I'll play it again and again, over and over. I have not be so taken by a game since Gabriel Knight DA:O is my gift to my boyfriend for Christmas and I know that he will enjoy it as much as I do, and I can't wait to see how similar or different our moral choices will be, during his playthrough - and this is a testament to Dragon Age's richness and depth!

Now, enough talking and back to playing!

AndreaDraco wrote: Dragon Age has instantly become one of my all-time favorites, if not my all-time favorite, both because of the enthralling story and the great characters that I've really grown attached to .... I'll play it again and again, over and over. I have not be so taken by a game since Gabriel Knight

Ah, it makes my heart all warm and fuzzy converting people to the wonderfulness of Bioware. Tell me you will be purchasing Mass Effect 2 when it comes out, yes?

I think so, but first I have to play Mass Effect.

Available January 5, 2010 - http://dragonage.bioware.com/addon/rto

I'm salivating!

Why did they write 'Return to fallen Ostagar, discover the fate of a king, and reveal the true cost of betrayal.'? I mean, Cailan cannot be alive! For a practical reason too, since if the King were alive, they could kiss goodbye to the Landsmeet storyline

Anyway... can't wait for January 5th!

I still need to beat the game. The wife's been watching a lot of TV which means little access to the X360. So I have been playing the PC version - but am only in Lothenberg (sp?) and JUST now finishing that area.

Rogues are not anywhere near as easy as warriors... I find myself, more often than not, controlling Morrigan - and using SLEEP spell, then HORROR, and letting the rest of the party attack that poor hapless soul who I trigger as the one to attack, while the others (hopefully) sleep.

Tawmis wrote:Rogues are not anywhere near as easy as warriors... I find myself, more often than not, controlling Morrigan - and using SLEEP spell, then HORROR, and letting the rest of the party attack that poor hapless soul who I trigger as the one to attack, while the others (hopefully) sleep.

Since the rogue can take combat skills as well, mine has been focusing on two-weapon fighting (since that benefits from high-dexterity) along with her rogue skills. However, I was wondering how that would still compare to a warrior of an equal level. I'll be interested to see how you think they compare once you have your rogue up to the same level as your warrior. I like the rogue specialisations the best, so I was considering making a more combat-focused rogue for my next character (minimal rogue skills and mostly combat skills), but that still may not be as effective as I'd like. I'm sure the warrior has greater health bonuses every level, plus their own warrior specific skills.

OK, here's a question for those that have already played through the town of Haven:
Is there a way to get to the Urn without having to kill people in the village? It seems like the only way to find Brother Genetivi (or whatever his name is) and get to the urn is to have the entire village go ballistic on me. I know they're crazy cultists and everything, but I kind of hate to kill an entire village. What about that kid that tells you about the finger bone? He must be cowering in a house somewhere. It makes me feel kinda bad to kill his village.

Maiandra wrote: Since the rogue can take combat skills as well, mine has been focusing on two-weapon fighting (since that benefits from high-dexterity) along with her rogue skills. However, I was wondering how that would still compare to a warrior of an equal level. I'll be interested to see how you think they compare once you have your rogue up to the same level as your warrior. I like the rogue specialisations the best, so I was considering making a more combat-focused rogue for my next character (minimal rogue skills and mostly combat skills), but that still may not be as effective as I'd like. I'm sure the warrior has greater health bonuses every level, plus their own warrior specific skills.

My Rogue is actually HIGHER level than my Warrior. I did the glitch thing with the Darkspawn Blood & Duncan to get the Rogue to 20 (on the PC). My Warrior is only like level 15 or 16. I think the difference is - for my Rogue I spend a lot of points on CUNNING and DEXTERITY, where as my Warrior I spent points on STRENGTH and CONSTITUTION. So my Warrior, by nature, hits for more damage and can take much more damage. So if the party gets flanked by numerous people, someone(s) are bound to smack on my rogue, even if I put TAUNT on for Alistair and Sten. So I am forced to switch to Morrgian - cast SLEEP and then horror - and try to do some crowd control.

Part of it could be of course, I haven't found that good of use for the TACTICS options - other than:

If Health < 25% Quaff Potion (for everyone)
If Mana < 25% Quaff Potion (for the casters)

And if MY Health < 50% Heal Me (for Wynne, who I have not gotten yet with my Rogue - but that's what I have it set as for my Warrior).


So I guess - that's what I could ask - what do you guys have set for TACTICS for your characters?

Other than the above I mentioned?

I have disabled the tactics for everyone (except for Wynne, whom I set up almost like you do), because I like to micromanage my party and give precise orders to all the party members

AndreaDraco wrote:I have disabled the tactics for everyone (except for Wynne, whom I set up almost like you do), because I like to micromanage my party and give precise orders to all the party members

You don't even have them pre-set to quaff healing or mana potions?

Usually no, only during some massive battles like

Redcliffe by night,

where is more difficult to issue orders to everyone every twenty seconds or so. However, during my second playthrough, I'm playing around with some of the tactics, and maybe it's only that I dislike the preset ones The custom ones are way better!

I left some of the default tactics in place and added a few custom ones, but they're pretty basic. For example, I have Allistair use Shield Defense when his health is below 50%. Or I have my dog set to howl when surrounded by enemies (although I think that's default). Morrigan is set to use sleep when a number of enemies are clustered together, then to use horror on a sleeping enemy.

However, I don't rely on tactics too much. I just pause a lot and try to keep an eye on my characters. The reason I don't like to rely on them too much is that the tactics don't always apply to each situation. I don't want them using up potions if we're just about finished the battle or casting a spell when it really won't benefit the situation.

Going back to the rogues, I have been building up strength a little because it does allow slightly better armour, plus it adds to the attack bonus. For example, I just found some really good Drakeskin armour pieces and I need 20 strength to equip them. So I will be able to add a couple points next level and get better protection without clanking around like a fighter. I use flanking a great deal to attack, since her flanking angle is larger than that of a regular fighter. Dirty-fighting is also very useful, since it stuns the enemy I'm currently fighting. Two-weapon fighting has some great benefits, since it's mainly dexterity enhanced techniques. I usually find that a rogue is better when attacking in coordination with someone else (a fighter usually), instead of trying to take on enemies by themselves (unless the enemy is weaker in defense).

Did anyone else find they were always short on funds? I have hardly any gold! There are some amazing armour and robes I've found, as well as an awesome dagger that would be perfect for my rogue, but I can't afford them. I never seem to have more than about 20 gold at most. I spend it on bits and pieces here and there, but in other games I've played I usually didn't have a funding problem once I reached higher levels. In Mass Effect, my character basically maxed out the amount of money she could carry.

The gold starts to pile up pretty later in the game, mainly after Orzammar. However, even then, I could only affort a robe and a staff for my character, and a great dagger for Zevran. The other characters were equipped with items looted from enemies, since I was unable to buy everything I'd have liked. The max gold I have had was 200 and a little something, but this wasn't enough.

I found that many rogue-based sidequests, especially in Denerim, were extremely lucrative, since my boyfriend, who built his character with some points in Stealing, was able to build up a nice amount of gold through them

As for rogues, I'm currently playing Laearl, a Dalish rogue, and I've just completed Lothering. However, I had to download the Respecialization Mod, because I built it as a two-weapons rogue and I found out that this build doesn't suit my playing style very well. So, I respecced him as an archer, and I'm quite content with my Arrow of Slaying talent (which can deal as much as 200 damage points per single arrow). The mod is quite nice and it allows to respec even the companions. I did this with Morrigan - which is the only Mage I've got for now - and now, with more Paralyze spells and less Horror/Sleep, she works better, at least for me. I must also say that this second playthrough confirmed that I'm a natural mage, because, even if I'm having a lot of fun trying out different choices and so on, strictly gameplay-wise I much preffered my dear Alqua, with his hugely powerful spells