Dragon Age: Origins

ShiverinEskimo

Yea the game pauses as soon as you hold Left Trigger to bring up the radial menus. It's a little awakward because you have to cycle through all your party etc. while holding it to keep it paused but it works.

Mr Freeze

Cool, sounds a tad awkward all right tho, a pause button woulda been better, gonna get stuck into that after work, that should make the battles a bit easier if I can coordinate things better than I am at the moment...

Are you using the custom tactics at all?

ShiverinEskimo

Yea big time - I have one of the mages I picked up hanging back and have all her tactics set so that if I'm below a certain level of health she heals me or if the team are short on health she heals the lot of us.

Also have it that if I die she revives me and casts regeneration which gets my health going up and up etc.

Have my other fighter hang back and use ranged weapons unless someone gets in his face - then he switches to swords etc.

I have all party members set to use a health potion when their health is below 25%.

There's loads you can do to make it easier - it's worth investing the time in it - especially if you notice you or a certain party member dying first/too easily all the time - change it up for them and they'll be alot more useful.

Mr Freeze

Sounds complicated, but will give it a go.

ShiverinEskimo

It's not really - just time consuming. Takes a bit of time to go through each character. There are also presets you can cycle between - for example the mage I was talking about that heals us - when I set her to the 'Supporter' preset alot of those tactics I mentioned were there - I just tweaked a few of them to the way I liked it.

You chould be able to leave most of them as is - but as I said if one of your party seems too weak and dies first in each fight early you should see about changing them to ranged combat or get a mage to keep an eye on them.

I have two fighters in my party and one's an absolute tank but he gets all the attention. So both my mages are set to heal him when his health drops. He just brings the pain and soaks up all the hate from the enemy in the mean time and it works.

Tends to go balls up though if my mage gets targetted all of a sudden. That normally results in a reload. :pac:

Mr Freeze

I have a Rogue, a Mage and Alistair in my party, So I will see what I can do with them....

Thanks for the tips...

ShiverinEskimo

And what are you?

Mr Freeze

An Elf Warrior....

Also in my party I have another Warrior and Dog, but I am not using them at the mo.

ShiverinEskimo

Grand. You want to get your mage and rogue to sit back with spells/bows and let you and the other warrior be the tanks. Should be simple enough to customise for that.

Mr Freeze

I will try that later and see how I get on, I am not too far in yet, but I am at Redcliffe, so I think there is a good bit of fighting coming up, so that will be a good test.

Need to level up too so I can put my strength to 33 or 34 so I can dawn my CE Blood Armour too.

ShiverinEskimo

Aye there's plenty of fight coming your way at Redcliff - game really kicks off from there so you'll start levelling up fast.

Mr Freeze

I get my party as you suggested and it has made a big difference, Alistar kept dying on me, so switched him out for Shale, who is class, he can take a beating and dish out a lot of damage too...

The mage Morrigan is working out great, taking from a distance and healing characters in trouble.

I have Lelani as my rouge archers, she keeps switching to her sword though and doesn't switch back to the bow, haven't sorted that yet. She was getting killed a good bit too, so swapped her out for Alistar for a short while, but he is disaster, I can't keep him healed...

16 hours in now.....its a bit addictive.

Varik

when you get to the deep roads in the dwarf city play using the elf dwarf and a healer with a human warrior human, you'll have a smile on your face

not really any spoiler but some people are weird on what is or is not a spoiler

Single Malt

CKWPORT wrote: »

Cool, sounds a tad awkward all right tho, a pause button woulda been better, gonna get stuck into that after work, that should make the battles a bit easier if I can coordinate things better than I am at the moment...

Are you using the custom tactics at all?

In the option menu you can switch on toggle for the left trigger. No more holding to pause.

Mr Freeze

This game is fecking brilliant, I got this and MW2 on the same day and haven't been able to put this down.

What was that you were saying Varik...I have just gone through the Deep Roads, I am Elf Warrior, I have that drunken Dwarf with me, who I really regret bringing,he is a bit crap, Morrigan and Shale....I have probably missed whatever you were talking about.

The last fight in the Anvil of the void is a nightmare, I am stuck there now.

NunianVonFuch

Single Malt wrote: »

In the option menu you can switch on toggle for the left trigger. No more holding to pause.

Cheers for that, really bugging me. I think I'll have to look up a guide online for the uses of poisons and traps - you only seem to be able to use them in battle and setting them up is a bit problematic as the battles are fairly quick and short (so far - I'm only at the bit where

you do some work for the Chandry if you like before heading to RedCliffe

Not really a spoiler but better safe than sorry!).

Morrigan's shapeshifter spell is really cool, haven't used it in battle yet but it was amusing roaming the town chatting to folk - especially the Templars - "You don't look right... I've got my eye on you" :P

Caoimhín

Hey lads,

Any idea how I go about enchanting a weapon?

Mr Freeze

I have just recruited all parties with the grey warden treaties, is there much left in the game or am I near the end?

Caoimhín wrote: »

Hey lads,

Any idea how I go about enchanting a weapon?

Crafted an item - got this info from X360A.org
Open your radial menu with the LT button and select "Potions" or "Poisons and Traps" and push A. If you selected "Potions", select "Herbalism" and if you selected "Poisons and Traps", select "Poison-Making". If you have the necessary materials, you'll be able to craft an item here. You'll find the materials scattered throughout Fereldan. Search bodies and plants for the materials. You'll find some for sale from merchants as well.

Below are the potions, poisons, and traps you can make with the first level skill. As you move to Improved, Expert, and Master, more recipes become available. These are the easiest though. Be aware that you'll have to buy flasks from merchants.

Potions
Lesser Health Poultice: 1 Elfroot, 1 Flask
Lesser Lyrium Potion: 1 Lyrium Dust, 1 Flask
Mabari Crunch: 1 Elfroot, 1 Deep Mushroom

Poisons
Venom: 1 Toxin Extract, 1 Flask
Deathroot Extract: 1 Deathroot, 1 Flask

Traps
Rope Trap: 1 Trap Trigger
Small Caltrop Trap: 1 Metal Shard
Small Claw Trap: 1 Metal Shard, 1 Trap Trigger
Small Shrapnel Trap: 1 Metal Shard, 1 Trap Trigger

Caoimhín

CKWPORT wrote: »

Crafted an item - got this info from X360A.org

Cheers, but it was enchanting a weapon I was looking for.

I have found it though, you have to go to that dwarf in the main party camp. Of the two dwarfs, you have to speak to the eh, em, tard..

ShiverinEskimo

NunianVonFuch wrote: »

I think I'll have to look up a guide online for the uses of poisons and traps - you only seem to be able to use them in battle and setting them up is a bit problematic as the battles are fairly quick and short

I never really used traps in this game or any of the older Baldur's Gate/Neverwinter nights. Seems kind of pointless setting up a trap when the battle is more or less on top of you.

I'm sure there's players out there who have figured out how to use them to effect but for the moment I just make 'em so I can sell 'em.

Mr Freeze

Caoimhín wrote: »

Cheers, but it was enchanting a weapon I was looking for.

I have found it though, you have to go to that dwarf in the main party camp. Of the two dwarfs, you have to speak to the eh, em, tard..

oops...

Has anyone here finished the game yet? How long did it take?

I am 36hrs in, with a mere 36% complete...

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

took me 49 hours, but i only had 50% complete... im doing it now with a new character, and am gona spend some time buttering up/playing different characters than the last time... well i'm gona try at least

it's hard to leave alistair and morrigan out of the group, cos I them so

EasyBoy1974

Love this game sooo much!

what's evry1's battle tactics? I have

Allister - tank - heaviest armour to pull most of the threat
can't remember her name - thief - for traps, locks and backstabs
wynne - healer
me - battle mage

I find i'm controlling the battle mage 90% of the time as it's nigh on impossible to use the tactics to get good combos

talking of which - trying to get a good grip on the tactic editor yoke .. think i have the healer sussed (am not dying nearly so much now!)

Am also 30 odd percent through after nrly 40 hours - doing every possible sidequest on the way ...

on another sidenote - Yahtzee gave this game a bit of a backhanded compliment in his review - bout as good as it gets for him :rolleyes:

Mr Freeze

I have an Elf Warrior, my character...
Shale the Golem set to aggressive
Morrigan set to ranged damager and sometimes use a custom setting, half damager, half healer
And I had Lelania as a ranged archer and that was working brilliant, But I have swapped her out now for Wynne, set to a ranged healer.

Alistar kept dying on me, it was a total pain, so swapped him for Shale and haven't looked back since.

Had that dwarf too for a while and he was crap too I thought.

How do you set someone up as a tank, I haven't seen that option anywhere?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

I think tank is just an RPG term for strong ass character who can take a pounding while the rest of your characters get on with the killing


i used shale for a bit, but i found he died alot quicker than alistair ... havent 'discovered' him yet in my new game, im gona have trouble deciding whether or not to sub him in for alistair tbh.. both have such excellent dialogue

Mr Freeze

True, Shale is a good laugh at times...Alistar was too, but I couldn't keep him healed...

Shale is always the last man standing in my party when things go wrong, he can dish out the hurt and has saved my ass a good few times...

I normally control Morrigan for every battle, using her ranged magic to freeze enemies to Shale can shatter them with one hit, then I use her walking bomb spell to takeout one target, and damage a load of others...

My main character has dual weapons, and is pretty good too...

Not getting killed as much now since I got Wynne...But Lelania's special archery moves are missed now

EasyBoy1974

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

I think tank is just an RPG term for strong ass character who can take a pounding while the rest of your characters get on with the killing

yeah - basically give him the best armour (maxes his threat too) and plenty of CON for high HP ... he can walk into a MOB and they all attack him while getting hammered by the DPS mage

DeVore

Tank (aka Meat Shield) is a character who is wearing high class armour and has high hit points. Their role is to engage the enemy and stop them from attacking the weaker members of your party.

DPS (aka: secondary tank) are characters who do high Damage Per Second. Typically they are ranged attackers or rogue-like characters. They wear secondary level armour and SHOULD be assisting the main tank (rather then engaging a new enemy) if possible.

Squishies (aka Glass Cannon): Mages, Clerics, anyone in a dress basically This is typically my class. They are extremely delicate and should be protected at all costs (I would say that ). Typically they are healers as well as "nukers". They keep the tank alive (thats their trade off for being kept alive at all costs )

The theory of a good group goes as follows: the tank engages and makes himself the primary concern of the enemy (typically by hitting them with sharp heavy things). The DPS assists the tank by applying his high damage per second to the same target (so as not to pull an enemy to engage him directly), the mage sits back and heals until the fight is well and truely on and the enemy engaged, if the tank can handle the damage then the mage can throw a few big nukes into the primary target.

I dont know if the system gives you the control to specify this level of control as I havent bought it yet but it certainly sounds like a good game!


Is it like Oblivion or more like KotoR?
DeV.

Mr Freeze

DeVore wrote: »

Is it like Oblivion or more like KotoR?
DeV.

KotoR all the way, same gameplay really...

ShiverinEskimo

It's closest to Baldur's Gate/Neverwinter Nights DeV - only zoomed in on the xbox. PC allows you the 2/3rds top down view.

Extremely like NWN2 in fact the more I think of it.