Dragon Age

[Eyebrowsbv31]

So I got this game a year ago, played through all character classes and species right up to the "Clear the tower" mission during the big opening battle thing, never could get anywhere doing bugger all I could do on easy mode and just gave the fuck up. But now the second one is coming, and I hate to miss out on what is a good game, so, can the exalted members of this forum, particularly links who has beaten the damn thing a million times, give me any tips, tricks, whatever, to help me figure on this game?

I'm not a totally incompetent gamer; I've beaten all neverwinter night titles and mass effect titles, hell every other game by bioware I've damn well beaten, but I can't scratch the surface of dragon age. But it gets annoying to set that beginning archer guy (before you become a warden) up on a ledge, have him get one shot off and then seeing the rest of the party rush in from 3 different directions and just die, ignoring any and all AI subroutines (like hold-fucking-position) and dicking it all up.

so, help?

 

[LinksOcarina]

Your talking about Daveth and Jory? Have them follow you around from behind and just mash the Darkspawn to oblivion. The trick with them is to set the tactics menu to cater to your style. I usually have Daveth with two handed weapons instead of arrows, and, depending on your own build, either hit them with Magic, arrows yourself, or your sword/axe.

If your talking about the tower after the joining ritual, my advice is to go slow and steady. Don't push or draw them because they have traps set up all over the place unless if you are forced too. Also rely on the health potulences as much as possible here, so buy them when you can.

Those are the two parts you are referring too? I will say this game will get tougher as it goes on....

 

[Bretimus_v2]

Dude, I just picked this game up and beat that part last night without a single guy dropping. I mostly did maintenance healing while letting their auto-tactics do most of the work. I feel like a douche/idiot asking, but are you leveling up yourself and Alistair? Have you swapped gear out for better gear? I really have no idea what you could be doing wrong cuz it was a cinch for me and this is the first Bioware game I've played since KOTOR.

I think he's talking about the second part, Links, with Alistair and the generic mage and archer.

Also rely on the health potulences as much as possible here, so buy them when you

Like I said earlier, this.

Also, as long as this is open. My inventory is packed, what crap should I trash and sell? Do I want to keep gems, what armor, etc?

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

@bret: I am leveling up and such, maybe just putting the points into the wrong place? no idea (20 stgth as a warrior at level 3). I don't have a mage yet, I've died....3 times already (twice in the tuturoial, once in the wilds) whilst letting everyone do there own thing. I have no idea what the issue is, i'm using two handed sword and doing like 9 damage a swing, which seems incredibly low considering the weapon. bleh.

 

[LinksOcarina]

strength is too low, should be closer to 30 at level 3....id focus on that dude.

 

[Rinnon]

Based on what you were saying, it sounds like you were trying to use some real strategy to overcome some of these battles (Placing Archers on Ledges etc.)

My advice, is don't worry about that. If you're playing on easy (no shame in playing on easy, the Story is the best part of the game anyways), tactics isn't something you'll need to worry about terribly much. In fact, you shouldn't really need to pause the game at all for the first while, and you should still be fine. The only thing I ever go out of my way to do, is attack Mages first, and let the other members of my party do whatever they want.

If you're not certain about where to put points, it's not a terrible idea to just turn on auto level. Auto level is far from perfect, but it doesn't do anything incredibly stupid.

If you're interested, and are playing on PC, I can suggest some Mods that will make the game more enjoyable, and a little easier too. You can get a simple mod that let's you remove all stats and skills so you can replace all your numbers (incase you messed up) and there's also an addon that lets you bring your Dog with you as if he was your pet, so he doesn't count as one of your 4 members. That makes the game easier due to the fact that you have 5 party members instead of 4.


Respecialization
Extra Dog Slot

If you need help installing them just shout.

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

strength is too low, should be closer to 30 at level 3....id focus on that dude.

So I'm supposed to pack my key stat, see I was spreading my 3 points out over strength, Dex, and Con because I require all three in my mind.

@rinnon, those two sound really helpful, and I guess I'll stop being so finnicky about that sort of stuff until the late game, thanks.

 

[LinksOcarina]

You dont have to, but my suggestion for the early levels is to pack it for that extra boost your character uses because up until you reach a certain base town, the game can be tough at places because of the stat problems.

So if you have a warrior character, by level 3-4 I would have at least Strength at 30, with Dex and Constitution low to mid 20s if you can. a 2-1 point differentiation is best, 2 in strength and 1 in Dex/Con.

 

[Rinnon]

Yeah, both those mods are pretty helpful. I especially like the Dog one. The Dog is a fun character, but both not as important as the other people nor as good in a fight. It makes it very hard to justify bringing him with, even IF funny things can happen when he's around. With that mod though, it's just like he's there... can still talk to him, ask him to find stuff, he fights and levels up, etc. All in all a good addon, even for a first play through.

I agree with Link's suggestion regarding Stats, but when you have that Mod that lets you re-spec, you don't have to be quite as worried about messing up. I personally, always end up pumping strength early so I can equip all the best weapons and Armor as soon as possible. That can give you a nice edge on things. 42 Strength is the requirement for Top Tier Massive Armour (Warriors will be wearing massive armour) and 22 Strength is the requirement for top tier Light armour (For the rogues). You can't GET the top tier stuff right off the bat, but those numbers are good to know none the less.

On a side note, if you're playing a Warrior, I personally prefer to use a Shield instead of a Two Hander. You obviously don't do as much damage, but the stuns and survivability are very nice, it's worth thinking about if you're having problems staying alive.

 

[used44]

Hopefully the sequel has more tactical options. In DA:O, you're basically fucked if you don't bring the white Mage with you.

 

[Kijan]

Hopefully the sequel has more tactical options. In DA:O, you're basically f***** if you don't bring the white Mage with you.

Somebody needs my services?

Don't worry about DA:O, I also had problems while playing for the first time and after some sessions I beat the game on Nightmare easily.

In this game it's important not to rush like an idiot. Take your time and kill the enemies one by one via focus fire. Heal when needed. Don't be a scrooge on this part, pay for potions because you'll be happy when shit will hit the fan (and sometimes it will, trust me) and you'll have a good reserve in that backpack.

It's a fun game with a lovely story. Hope you'll enjoy it.

 

[used44]

Nah, I didn't have much trouble with the game overall. There were definitely some spots where you absolutely had to have a healer though, and it sucked because she was such a lame character.

 

[Rinnon]

Nah, I didn't have much trouble with the game overall. There were definitely some spots where you absolutely had to have a healer though, and it sucked because she was such a lame character.

I liked that character. Besides, even there are other Mages, even if you're not a Mage yourself. Just give the other Mage Spirit Healer, and you have a different char as a healer.

 

[used44]

Didn't it take awhile for her to gain that ability though? Maybe I just don't recall, it's been a long time.

I'm just saying there should be slightly less micro-management of your party's health. KOTOR did not have this problem.

 

[Rinnon]

Well, Spirit healing was a specialization that gave you Revival and Group Heal, and since it was a second specialization for 'the other mage", she couldn't get it till level 14... but Revival and Group Heal aren't 100% needed. The first level up you get with her, you could give her some basic healing spells from the Creation tree and she'd be doing just fine as a healer. Honestly, I don't find myself needing revival till I get to the really tough fights later in the game.

With regards to KOTOR though, it could be just as micro management heavy. I mean, I know I paused to use those health packs fairly often, especially if you're not bringing a Jedi with healing... I mean, you walk around with Canderous, HK-47 and you as a Dark Jedi, and my god you're stopping every few seconds to health pack yourself, cause HK and Canderous aren't doing anything for you. XD

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

except being awesome.

And edit: So, I've made it to the first level of the tower, have the dog, alstair, the stock mage, and have died 4 times in a row despite using 20 of my 43 health potions. Everyone blathers into the fire trap (which the mage stands in and casts spells and then dies) alstair runs off to fight the runty mage and is swiftly cut down by archers, the dog does the same, and I'm left standing with a dead party and my thumb up my ass.

I understand that a game needs to be a challenge, but this is fucking ridiculous. There are two mages and about 8 or 9 archers vs. my gang of mostly retarded four. what the fuck? I'm level 5, I have my points into the shield+sword (and warrior tree) and have strength at 30, what the hell am I supposed to do? I'm still only doing 1/8th damage a whack, alstair is weak, the mage is a doorknob.

 

[Kijan]

Don't let it throw off such a wonderful game. Everybody had problems when they first started playing this game. You should look around other forums for questions about DA:O. Some couldn't even get through the starting swamp.

My advice to you would be to switch to all manual control. That's how I usually play anyway and make good use of the fact that when you try to give orders the game pauses. Then you can issue single orders on what to do and have a better overview of the battle.

I usually battle with the Mage on the 'Hold' option. The one that makes a character stay in one place. Sorry if I spelled it wrong but I don't think you'll have problems finding it. If I recall it should on either left or right side. I position the Mage in the back row and if possible also Alistair when I equip him with a bow. He may not do much damage, but he stays alive.

My tactic is to stay in a room with only one entrance or a narrow corridor and control one character to find the baddies and lure them to certain death. Never had problems with this approach.

Oh and you're going to face a very interesting boss fight at the end of this tower.

 

[Rinnon]

I am genuinely confused as to why that's happening to you.

Are you on Easy Difficulty?
Did you try to setup your player's Tactics manually? (Tip: Try using the default ones)
Are you making sure you're sending all characters in at once to spread damage out amongst them?

I honestly have no idea what is happening. I don't understand how they could be doing enough damage for you to drain so many health potions before you kill them, that shouldn't be happening, period. I'm going to run myself through that section right now just to get another look.

Edit: I went back in, on easy, level 5 characters, with Alistair, Dog, and the Random Mage. No addons or anything like that. I literally just told my main guy to run to one of the archers and fight that thing, and the other 3 did whatever they wanted, and they didn't come close to dying, I didn't use a single health potion. The only thing I can think of is that your game is either not on easy, or it's numbers are actually bugged to be doing so much damage to you. It really makes no sense.

Edit Edit:

Let's talk numbers here. At level 5, Alistair, my warrior, and my Dog, all had between 160 and 180 HP each. My mage had 100 HP. If this is significantly different for you, let me know.

I ran into the first room in the Tower of Ishal alone, and without any armour. Without armour, I was hit for about 9 to 11 HP per arrow. With armor, it was more consistently at 9 damage per arrow I was hit with. It took them a while, even focus firing me to kill me. If you are taking more damage than this per hit, let me know.

When I let my mage stand in that fire trap, he was taking 1 damage per second from the fire, as well as about 10 damage per hit from enemies. If this is different form what you are seeing, let me know.

I was averaging, with just my main, about 25 to 30 damage per hit. The enemies had roughly 150 HP each.

If any of these numbers seem different for you (and you are 100% sure you're on easy) then you might have some kind of bug in your install. Slight variation would make sense, but huge variation might be a problem.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

Rinnon, you, sir, are a champ.

 

[used44]

You are like King Dragon Age.