Dragon Age: Origins - Gen. Discussion & Info

I was gearing up to play this game again and then I hear the patch is broken. Well at least I have time now to go through the books while I wait for the re-release.
 
Finally got around to playing Leliana's Song. I'd downloaded it last week but we've been without power after a recent storm.

Definitely nice to max out my Gamerscore on DA:O again, even though the DLC is kind of pricey I appreciate the chance to come back to my favorite game of 2009 ever so often. I actually liked this one quite a bit. It was short like some of the others for sure, but it feels like they put a lot more effort into it than some of the other ones, it was really polished. I thought the little blood-spattered character intro cards were interesting, I don't remember seeing those in any of the previous DLC - maybe a preview of something we might see in DA2?

Anyway, I had fun with it, probably because Leliana was one of my favorite characters in the game.. Or maybe I'm just a fan of in-game lesbian innuendo? :roll:
 
[quote name='bvharris'] Or maybe I'm just a fan of in-game lesbian innuendo? :roll:[/QUOTE]

Who isn't?;)

I'm doing the "save the Queen" mission right now. I got down into the dungeon, and Vaughn asked me to save him. He started going on about how Elves sometimes think they're human and need to be put down, so I left his ass in the cell. If I had freed him, does it change the story much?

Also, I opted to get captured on the way out of the estate, rather than fight. I chose Ogren and Wynne to save me, and assigned the "cone of cold" spell to Wynne. Holy shit, that is a great spell.

Have I lost the ability to continue to romance Alistair? He has no more dialogue options now, and I lost a ton of approval with him quite a while ago. He's already given me the rose, though.
 
Question on Awakening:

How much loot will I miss out on or how many traps will I trigger if I don't have a rogue until I get the dwarf female one 75% of the way through the game? The reason I ask is I don't see how I can justify taking on the son of Arl Howe given my character's Human Noble origin (since his dad killed my parents) but if I don't I will be rogueless through the vast majority of the game.
Any advice?
 
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[quote name='MSUHitman']Any advice?[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't worry about it from a loot perspective. I never worried about having rogues in the party in either Origins or Awakening and I never felt like I was missing out on any worthwhile equipment. You can always get the same caliber of stuff from shops or looting corpses.

Besides, you can do the main quests in any order, so if you like you could pick up Sigrun right near the beginning.

That said, Nathaniel Howe is an awesome character and you should give him a chance. :) I really felt that the characters were a lot deeper and more interesting in Awakening despite the shorter running time, and he is a prime example.
 
Not that much if you head straight to Knotwood Hills to recruit her asap though I'd seriously reconsider the initial rogue. He's a beastly archer and one of his best bows is available in the Keep itself.

I'm playing a Noble right now in my second play-through and I still plan to recruit him if I can because he's that damn good. At one point I was shelling out over 600 DMG per shot with him alone on a regular basis after buffs.
 
OK I guess I'll take him. It will be interesting to see the dialogue at least.

Also how do I get my guy (sword and shield warrior) to do 250 damage in 1 hit? Most I've ever done is 10?, and that was only once. Usually get between 60-80 on non-skill attacks.
 
You can use any character you like for the achievement, but if you're dead set on using your character (and he is familiar with the Berserk class) I guess you could have your party buff him up, activate Berserk, Final Blow the weakest enemy on the map. Extra damage is stamina based so less is certainly more in this case. Only keep enough on reserves to activate it if you're sure it'll hit.

If that doesn't work then I'd consider waiting until you've started Awakenings to level up a bit more and try again. Nathaniel is how I got mine done in the first place. Just have them buff up (bard songs ftw) then use a specialty attack/combo with a high crit rate e.g. Mark of Death + Arrow of Slaying.
 
Oh OK I'll try that with Nathaniel then; I thought it HAD to be with your main character, but glad it's just whatever character you're CONTROLLING. Thanks.
 
Bioware put out patch 1.04 yesterday. According to the Bioware forums, everything is good to go. I listed all the fixes a couple of pages back.

I'm testing it now but it seems like everything should be fine for Awakening. I'm going to wait until after Tuesday to import though, as if I'm going to buy that DLC I might as well do it before the import to get Alexander more XP/gold before Awakening.
 
i want wardens keep just to have a bigger purse and to upgrade weapon levels. but if it wasn't for me buying that outfit pack for mass effect 2.
 
Since I know there are some fellow cheevo fans in the thread, I feel safe asking-- Is anyone worried about this supposedly ultra-hard new achievement that the new DLC is adding? I'd like to hold on to my DA:O completion here. :)
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Since I know there are some fellow cheevo fans in the thread, I feel safe asking-- Is anyone worried about this supposedly ultra-hard new achievement that the new DLC is adding? I'd like to hold on to my DA:O completion here. :)[/QUOTE]

Yes. If it's true there's an Achievement for beating it on Nightmare difficulty, I'm not a big fan of that at all. I have the full 1550 too, but all of it achieved on Normal, I'm not sure I'd want to even try it on Nightmare. That's one of the things I always liked about DA's achievements over Mass Effects, I'll be disappointed if that changes.
 
I think they actually said something like "It's really hard even on the lower difficulties," so fortunately it doesn't sound like it's tied directly to the difficulty setting.
 
Ah. Well if it's just a matter of a time commitment, that's fine. After all anyone who has 1550 has already poured 100+ hours into the game easily.
 
I'm thinking it might be soloing a boss, or beating the DLC without using any health poultices, or something like that. Guess we'll find out in a couple of days.
 
As a greenhorn to Dragon Age I can't say I'm ready for a Nightmare achievement but I'll happily make the attempt and won't pull any punches either. I'm talking maining an Arcane Warrior or Rogue Archer, putting Wynne on full heal duty, Morrigan as a Blood Mage or AW herself if I can get away with it and Alistair/Oghren/Shale as a dedicated tank. My next play-through was already to be a solo Normal run just to see how far I could get with a new class so I welcome the challenge.

What I have no interest in however is anything to do with Orzammar boss fights. ;(
 
Did the new update eff anyone else's game up? It seems that the Exotic Methods quest is not available (I can't find the dude to give him the antidote), and Leliana was a Master Survivalist when I last played. Now, I get to the camp to level everyone up and I have to start over with that particular s ill for her. WTF???
 
Well it looks like an Ultimate Edition of Dragon Age is now listed in the Gamestop catalog as releasing on Oct. 12 for $60. No official work on what DLC will be in it.
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']Well it looks like an Ultimate Edition of Dragon Age is now listed in the Gamestop catalog as releasing on Oct. 12 for $60. No official work on what DLC will be in it.[/QUOTE]

If the answer is "All" and that all includes Awakening, then I'll definitely be picking it up on PS3 to replay sometime in the future.
 
I SERIOUSLY doubt EA will put Awakening in there since it's a $30-$40 MSRP item, but I didn't think they would do an Ultimate Edition either. I wouldn't get my hopes up.
 
Just finished my first play-through as a female dwarf rogue (roughly 57 hours - the credits are rolling now, so I can't tell exactly how much time I spent).

Contemplating another game as a male elf mage. I didn't get either of the romance chivos the first time, so I may have to do even a 3rd. That's a bit ridiculous, though, since I have many other games to play.:D

Edit: Returned to camp after the credits, had a brief conversation with Zevran about a massage. One thing lead to another, and I got the chivo.
 
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Turns out there is a new difficulty-based achievement:

Reaper - Defeated the Harvester ('The Golems of Amgarrak' downloadable content)

Grim Reaper - Defeated the Harvester on Hard or Nightmare difficulty ('The Golems of Amgarrak' downloadable content')

A Secret Stitched Together - Gathered all of the research notes in Amgarrak ('The Golems of Amgarrak'
Click to expand...


Kind of lame to introduce a difficulty cheev this late in the game if you ask me.
 
I play on casual, so those chivos will not apply to me.:D

For all of the Origin stories, they end pretty early in each playthrough, right? So I could technically play all of them without having to go through much of the game each time? The only reason I would want to play through the entire game again (without all the side quests) is to choose the complete opposite choices that I took the first time. And to get a couple more romance chivos.
 
So, I got a copy of Dragon Age Origins loaned to me yesterday. Any tips, suggestions, etc for making it the easiest, most fun experience? I generally don't go through the same game for multiple play-throughs, and I'm not a cheesemint-whore, but I'd like to get the most out of it in one go.
 
[quote name='WhipSmartBanky']So, I got a copy of Dragon Age Origins loaned to me yesterday. Any tips, suggestions, etc for making it the easiest, most fun experience? I generally don't go through the same game for multiple play-throughs, and I'm not a cheesemint-whore, but I'd like to get the most out of it in one go.[/QUOTE]

I'd recommend playing on casual as a mage. I'm doing that for my second play through and having fun with it. I definitely think if you're looking for easy and fun the mage class is the way to go.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']
Kind of lame to introduce a difficulty cheev this late in the game if you ask me.[/QUOTE]

Pretty lame indeed. Oh well, at least Hard is an option as well in addition to Nightmare, so it should be somewhat doable.
 
[quote name='WhipSmartBanky']So, I got a copy of Dragon Age Origins loaned to me yesterday. Any tips, suggestions, etc for making it the easiest, most fun experience? I generally don't go through the same game for multiple play-throughs, and I'm not a cheesemint-whore, but I'd like to get the most out of it in one go.[/QUOTE]

- Any Mage - Spam AoE (Area of Effect e.g. Tempest/Inferno/Blizzard) whenever possible. Concentrate on a particular build's strengths while leveling up because jack of all trades esque builds won't fly. Mages benefit most from Magic (Spell damage) and Willpower (MP/Mana pool).

- Make sure you max out a rogue's survival and lock picking skills to loot chests, open doors and have radar for enemies.

- Save before starting up conversations in camp so you can get both romance achievements in one play-through for your gender. Just flirt a little and shower them with gifts whenever possible until you trigger a love scene then reload saves and switch LIs. Brain dead simple.

- Hit up Bioware's DA:O build forums for proper class set ups.

- Harass us when all else fails.
 
Anybody know why I can't apply crests or use a book of Focus in Awakening? When I go to those items in my inventory the A button option to use is not there. Yes my character has a shield equippped with no crest on it currently.
 
You have to use them as you would a consumable item in real time. Just open up the item wheel and select it from there. It should work.
 
Anyone buy the DLC today and played it yet? Since I started Awakening this weekend (and I'm more than halfway through it with a little over 10 hours played) I don't know if I'll get this DLC unless it's super awesome and you get something that will go into Awakening.
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']Anyone buy the DLC today and played it yet? Since I started Awakening this weekend (and I'm more than halfway through it with a little over 10 hours played) I don't know if I'll get this DLC unless it's super awesome and you get something that will go into Awakening.[/QUOTE]

I haven't yet, but from what I've been reading that achievement they've been touting is indeed extremely difficult. F-U, Bioware. :bomb:
 
[quote name='bvharris']I haven't yet, but from what I've been reading that achievement they've been touting is indeed extremely difficult. F-U, Bioware. :bomb:[/QUOTE]
The content of this DLC doesn't sound extremely interesting to me, so frankly, one of the main reasons I would have to buy it is maintaining my 100% completion (yeah, lame as it may sound, that's worth a few bucks to me). If they won't even let me have that, maybe I'll just skip it and spend my $5 on the Bioshock 2 Protector Trials instead. F U Bioware!
 
So it's a post-game DLC, but you use your main character and don't have access to your regular crew, did I get the jist of the trailer correct?
 
I guess each Origin story takes about 2 hours to play through (just finished the Magi Origin as an elf). I'll be doing them all. I went back to my original game, traveled to camp and got Shale's mission to go to another Thaig. Played that and got the chivo, then went back to camp. Spoke to Logain (not sure why he was even there, since he sacrificed himself), and then Leliana sung a 5-minute song for me after I spoke to her.

I think I might finally be done with my first play-through.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']The content of this DLC doesn't sound extremely interesting to me, so frankly, one of the main reasons I would have to buy it is maintaining my 100% completion (yeah, lame as it may sound, that's worth a few bucks to me). If they won't even let me have that, maybe I'll just skip it and spend my $5 on the Bioshock 2 Protector Trials instead. F U Bioware![/QUOTE]

Doesn't sound lame to me, I'm the same way. I'll probably get it and give it a try eventually.. the step up from Normal to Hard can't be THAT hard, right?
 
I am such a whore for Bioware, I totally bought it after I said I wouldn't. :whistle2:#

Anyway, the mission itself is surprisingly cool. I had heard it had "puzzles" and was expecting more of the typical Bioware abortions that Origins had, but it turned out to be a breezy little color-coded switch thing that was not too bad. And, derivative of Tolkien though it may be, the whole dwarven culture Bioware's put together for Dragon Age is one of my favorite things about it, so this is more of that, with more of the same ghostly, abandoned flavor as the Deep Roads mission in Awakening.

The boss really is hard. Or maybe cheap is the better word. He's one of those videogame bosses that isn't super tough himself but can summon minions. So even after I had worked out a reliable strategy, it essentially came down to the luck of how many minions he summoned and who they targeted. The party members the DLC sticks you with are weaklings who go down in 2-3 hits, so if he happened to decide to summon 8 minions at once and I couldn't spam Grievous Insult in time, the party got wiped in seconds.

I attempted it legit a bunch of times, and every time I seemed to have a good rhythm down and momentum on my side, he'd just randomly spawn enough minions to overwhelm me. So now I am just going to use the Tome duplication glitch to create a maxed character and pwn him that way. Screw you Bioware.
 
FYI here's the achievement list:
Find all research notes- 25g
Defeat Harvester- 25g
Defeat Harvester on Hard or Nightmare- 50g

Max now at 1650. Will they do another one before Oct to tie Gears 2/Halo 3 for highest max achievement score?
 
Are those really the only games at 1750? I thought there were a bunch.

ETA: Wow, after further research, I guess Lips is the only other game to get up to 1750 (then there are Hasbro Family Game Night [1850 G] and Dawn of War II [2000 G] which are sort of special cases where multiple games are counted on the same list).

Borderlands will probably make it too when the Claptrap DLC comes out.
 
This is one of the most tedious boss fights in my gaming history. I wonder if developers will ever grow a pair and stop relying on infinite spawn points to artificially increase the difficulty of a game. It's borderline pathetic.
 
I'm surprised Fallout 3 never made it to 1750, they seemed like they were well on their way to it for a while. Of course, I'm a little surprised every developer doesn't try to get there in order to maximize profits from achievement whores.
 
Well I duped the shit out of one of my Origins characters (when all was said and done I had something like 220 strength, 220 constitution, and 150 dexterity) and beating the Harvester on hard was no problem.

The funny thing was, I think what helped even more than the leet stats was having a 'Chance of Paralysis' rune on the Blightblood. The Harvester was stunlocked like the entire time. He barely summoned any skeletons and all of my companions stayed alive without even using any poultices or anything. I feel like I could have pulled it off pretty easily legit if I had just had that rune on my sword in the first place.
 
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