Current Events > I think I might play through Dragon Age: Origins again (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

Alright, instead of doing DLC, I went and did the Dalish stuff since I wasn't sure how long that would be available to me. Also one of the reasons I went to Redcliffe immediately when my dudes were barely able get through. I made the head elf guy save the werewolves at the expense of his life...which wasn't how I was going to solve it, but it seemed better than an annoying boss fight.

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Okay, I started doing the Landsmeet stuff. Broke in to rescue the queen, then got thrown in prison, then killed everyone standing in my prison break's way, then (finally) get to visit the alienage. I want to convince Alistair to marry Enora, but don't have enough coercion to do so, sadly. Might see if there's some skillbook stuff I can buy to get an extra point.

I've been having fun ambushing enemies with Blizzard, then dropping an Earthquake, then dropping Tempest/Inferno to just tenderize these bastards. It was especially funny at Arl Howe's estate after killing him, since there's 15 enemies or so who all rush you in a tiny passage...but they can't get you if you don't unlock the door. Get smoked, f00s.

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Shotgunnova posted...

Broke in to rescue the queen, then got thrown in prison,

did you fight or surrender?

The first time through Enora threw me under the bus, but I ended up reloading for some reason and then just surrendered. They wouldn't let my golem break in to help, sadly.

I always max out Coercion as soon as I possibly can unless I'm a rogue and naturally have the Cunning to make up for not having a point or two.

Yeah, I neglected it because I thought I'd have someone else do it, but -- oops! -- only my warden has it. As you can surmise, I didn't do any research or take a refresher course before jumping into the replay.

Alright, I did Warden's Peak, did Shale's companion quest, then did the Landsmeet. Thought I was going to easily get through with all the sidequests I did, but forgot to turn in the Crows' assassination mission and probably just missed it. Wound up kicking Loghain's ass, then having Shale kick Loghain's ass mano e mano, then having Alistair's beheading sword kick his ass. (It's not fair how high his dexterity is given he's wearing two tons of armor and is as big as a Buick.)

This slaver guy wanted to be set free instead of murdered. Haha.............................................classic.
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I did the orphanage quest, but this blind dude accidentally died halfway through and I screwed it up. Was wondering why there was no boss at the end, haha. It made no sense how the orphanage was bigger than Arl Eamon's Estate, though (the HELL??).

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Ser Cauthrien didn't drop anything. What a lamer.

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I forget what MTG Rakdos flavor text describes this, but when I find it, there will be laughter.
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I think recruiting Loghain is the better choice from a story perspective, but oh man is it awkward to sit there and watch Alistair throw a temper tantrum in front of the gathered nobility of the entire country when you do. Not the best first impression of their new king.

Also, the blind guy is supposed to die. It's part of the quest.

Alistair definitely threw a tantrum, but he's been the only competent fighter the whole time, so I decided to fistbump him on the issue. (Shale would be up there, but I have a sneaking suspicion most physical fighters have that perk that lets them carve golems up, so she tends to get murdered more than other characters. Not being able to equip traditional equipment doesn't help.) Either way, I don't want Loghain and his backstabbing daughter to get rewarded for being dumbasses.

UnholyMudcrab posted...

Also, the blind guy is supposed to die. It's part of the quest.

He died to the same scrub enemies I was killing in the Fade as a n00b mage, so maybe he should've retired instead of investigating haunted houses.

Completed the Return to Ostagar DLC -- it was alright. Not too much difficulty, other than a spider ambush and my idiot teammates running headlong into ballista fire. I'll probably just throw all Cailan's special equipment on Sten or something. Since I'm in the deep south, maybe I'll do that Flemeth quest for Morrigan.

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I think all the other DLC is stuff accessed from the main menu (standalone?), so I guess I'll just go beat the game -- not much else to do. Unlocked all specializations besides Blood Mage and have about 300 sovereigns to resupply my health/lyrium potions.

IIRC Eliana's DLC does give you some stuff for the main game so you might want to check that out first.

I've always heard her DLC sucks, but I'll end up doing it once at least. I've been thinking about replaying as a dexterity-focused assassin character, actually, despite it being one of my least-favorite types to play. I-it's not because I missed 80% of the loot in the game by having no rogues, I swear!

Shotgunnova posted...

I've always heard her DLC sucks

It's okay. IIRC the biggest complaint at the time was that people were excited to get a peek at what Orlais looked like and the DLC ended up being mostly set in Ferelden. But it's been over a decade so I might be misremembering.

Shotgunnova posted...

I've been thinking about replaying as a dexterity-focused assassin character,

Dual wielding rogue is my first run in any game I'm able to. Don't know why, I just love it.

Shotgunnova posted...

I-it's not because I missed 80% of the loot in the game by having no rogues, I swear!

It's annoying that DA:O does gimp your party selection like that in a way. I was always running 2 mages, a warrior and a rogue. Even if I didn't want a rogue in my party at the moment, I'd have them in there just for the loot.

I've mostly been running two mages, a warrior and a tank, but I didn't bother setting up the tactics that well, so it's not as efficient as it could be. I specced into the healer tree earlier, so I didn't mind cutting out Morrigan for Oghren or something. I wish I'd made Alistair the tank instead of a 2H murder machine, but eh well.

Alrighty, I cleared out Redcliffe and the first battle of Denerim. My boys and girls running roughshod over the darkspawn JV team really hit the spot.

Let's see, what else...oh yeah, I "killed" Flemeth on the first try. I was wondering why some of my dudes weren't attacking the whole time and it was because I hit the 'H' button (intentionally, then forgot about it) which stops tactics or something. Would've been gravy otherwise, and probably wouldn't have needed to rez Alistair.

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Sure was nice of me to stockpile all those potion supplies and get Morrigan her new duds, only for her to abandon me 'cause I wouldn't let Alistair knock her up with Baby God. I have that one ability that's like Rally for healers, though, so I can probably tough it out for the final fight.

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I dont see how people are playing it on modern PCs. I tried earlier this year and could not get it to stop crashing. So I skipped it and ran through DA2 and Inq no problems.

There's been a few times it's crashed -- usually areas that might have a bunch of effects/enemies clashing at the same time -- but nothing game-breaking to this point. Restarting has fixed everything each time. I'm not playing with any mods either, so maybe that winds up helping things.

I recently started another play through on Xbox. Such a great game.

I only got to the werewolf forest, long ago.

I managed to get to third-rank Coercion by the end, even if I had no real use for it by then. Should make certain things much easier, like the werewolf forest, which I always hated doing my first time through. Now that I've beaten the game, maybe I'll do Awakening to unlock Blood Mage and other stuff. Dunno what, if anything, carries over, but it should be fun, I'm sure.

Everyone's favorite enchantment kid shows up, probably causing a death toll bigger than mine. I think we learn more about him in Inquisition's Trespasser (???) DLC or something.

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I avoided this genlock ambush perfectly by using Blizzard and other AoEs through the wall. They just dropped where they stood after awhile, haha. Get rekt.

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The "Ally: under 50 HP -> max health poultice" strategy worked pretty well. I also fed the archdemon some Dalish McNuggets to help keep the heat off my wrecking crew. Alistair wanted to get the final blow, but I did it it anyway.

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Dragon Age: Blood Money

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You should get the skip the fade mod. It gets you all the codex entries and I think all the loot while skipping that portion of the game.

Yeah, that part is hot garbage. Not as bad if I wait to do that part until way later, I guess; it seemed doubly crappy since I did it fairly early. If I get to doing a rogue character, I'd probably have them do herbalist/poison/trap stuff, too, so it wouldn't be as bad. By the end of the game, I probably could've made 50+ good poultices if my mage had raised it properly.

Mhairi is bae.........................and then she's killed off! No!! My perfect sword-and-board tank!!! At least they had the sense to unequip all the imported stuff I gave her, like Duncan's sword and some other good loot I found.

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Mhairi dies, but of course fucking Oghren is there to not only survive but to make a mockery of the process while he's doing it

Oghren is voiced by Steve Blum, right?

I don't really like him as a VA.

Cowboy Bebop is probably the best work he has, and I feel like they still could have done better.

RIP Mhairi

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As for Oghren, yeah, over time I've started to change my opinion about Steve Blum VA roles. He also has several characters in ESO and all are kind of annoying. He's about the only frontline attacker I have right now, though, so I'll have to make do. I press-ganged that Howe brat into being my rogue minion -- I mean, brother-in-arms -- and mostly specced him for archery with a bit of the new Shadow specialization. Haven't found Blood Mage yet, but a bunch of the other ones at various shops. Maybe there's another in Amaranthine I haven't seen yet.

Battles are a little annoying with Mhairi, not going to lie. I can do the usual "detach from allies, spam Blizzard/Tempest/Inferno/Earthquake, then get the gang back together to kill stragglers" strategy well enough, but I need a true tank. I doubt Shale or Sten are coming back, so maybe I'll find another replacement soon.

IIRC the bartender in Amaranthine sells the Blood Mage book. For some reason.

I always found it odd how dark Awakening was considering it's after you saved the land

Also kinda odd how little support you get from Alistair or Anora

They say "We can't stick around" (fair enough) "But I'm sure you'll do fine!"

I mean, couldn't they at least send some soliders or mages/templars or some shit? I know the country is rebuilding but Amarathine is under constant darkspawn attack. I don't get why we're on our own.

Can't spare a few golems Branka?
Or a couple of Redcliffe Knights?

Yeah, I eventually did find the Blood Mage book doing the smuggler quest. As for Alistair, I wasn't that angry he just had a cameo before scampering back to Denerim. I mean, I did spend half the game putting him onto the throne -- it would be weird if the main Blight ended and now he still sticks around. (Well, maybe not that odd...he doesn't seem the type to love paperwork and political intrigue. But still.)

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The funny part about this is, Oghren has a scripted comment about his own rash ten feet away. I wonder if Wynne and.................no, it couldn't be...

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Currently doing the Wending Wood stuff, presumably leading into a darkspawn nest/tunnel. That weird elf teleporter chick showed up and seems to be killing people over a small kinda-sorta oopsy-daisy misapprehension. I'd still be playing but my game crashed when I was mercy-killing some blight-tainted traveler nearby.

BTW I hate to spoil stuff but I should forwarn you

If you don't complete Blackmarsh last OR randomly leave Knotwood Hills before finishing the main quest there. You won't be able to complete all the side-quests

Plus the game is glitched. IF you complete the smugglers vs guards side quest before recruiting one of the companions, you won't be able to do their personal quest. So I'd save that till last

Also get used to your game crashing

Awakening is Bethesda levels of glitching and unstable

Save early, save often

Yeah, the whole smuggler-guard conflict is already over and I'm not gonna reload for some personal quest at this point -- too annoying. As for glitches, well...I'm pretty sure this immensely stupid "let's remove all your inventory and give it back to you piecemeal" quest down in this mine just gave all Veranna's equipment to a nonhostile zombie, so I'm never getting that stuff back. (Pretty sure it was mostly her default junk anyway, so no big deal.) Got everyone else's stuff at least, so I'm gonna go do the boss fight.

Maybe I'll do Black Marsh afterwards, once I stop and drop off the copious amount of crap I got in the mine. I went in with 90, had all of it removed, and now I'm back up to 50. Hopefully they take it easy on the ol' backpack and don't make me micromanage this stuff for the return trip.

^ That quest is notorious for deleting equipment

Including pretty much all DLC equipment you have

Luckily you'll find replacements pretty fast

I've never played any Dragon Age game. Bought Dragon Age: Inquisition like 6 years ago because it was on sale and I heard it was good. And never played even a minute of it. At this point, is it worth playing? Not really a game for a casual gamer is it?

The_Eko posted...

I've never played any Dragon Age game. Bought Dragon Age: Inquisition like 6 years ago because it was on sale and I heard it was good. And never played even a minute of it. At this point, is it worth playing? Not really a game for a casual gamer is it?

I did the same. Bought it on sale. Dragonage inquisition made me check the rest of the dragon age series out. I bought them too as those games went on sale frequently.

I casually play dragon age and feel i could pick it up anytime i want.

I consider a game not casual being kingdom come deliverance or a dark souls like game. Dragon age inquisition has auto engage if you want to learn the combat system from the back or front line of combat. You could also go tactical micromanage mode too from what i recall by making the party take positions in every fight.

Somehow, some way, I got all my equipment back. They put all Veranna's stuff in the chest near the merchant for some reason. Killing those two dragons afterward was kinda hard, too, but it just comes down to focus fire. If I didn't chug lyrium potions to keep my AoE healing thing up, it would've fared much worse.

As for the question of "should I play Inquisition?" -- YES. It has failings, sure, and I detailed some earlier I think, but overall it has a lot of the same fun rhythms, like dialogue, fun characters, interesting worlds, fun gameplay, etc. Of course, that's mixed in with some characters you'll hate, worlds that aren't as interesting, and a plot that probably doesn't measure up to DA:O. Still, I'd recommend it. (At the very least, the companion banter there blows Origins' out of the water. Almost all the stuff I've heard plays it safe and isn't very interesting or catty.)

This dude looks like that one planeswalker from MTG -- forget his name, but half his head is shadows or something. Obviously, this dude looks a loot goofier once he takes off his god-tier hat.

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I remember a weird bug in awakening - if I turned round quickly on the path leading to the city gates I would suddenly be teleported to the battlements.

The_Eko posted...

I've never played any Dragon Age game. Bought Dragon Age: Inquisition like 6 years ago because it was on sale and I heard it was good. And never played even a minute of it. At this point, is it worth playing? Not really a game for a casual gamer is it?

Inquisition is a good game

You might be lost on a few plot points but it's well worth your time

Origins is better

I wouldn't recommend Inquisition without having played the other two first. Jumping into a trilogy with the third entry never made much sense to me.

UnholyMudcrab posted...

I wouldn't recommend Inquisition without having played the other two first. Jumping into a trilogy with the third entry never made much sense to me.

I agree. Start with Origins

But I still think Inquistion would be fun even if you don't know who the fuck Andraste is or why Cullen has PTSD. They explain all the important stuff.

Okay, I'm doing Kal'Hirol (Knotwood Hills) now and got Sigrun. I thought she was going to be Mhairi 2.0 with that Dragonborn helmet on, but instead she's a warrior rogue as opposed to a sneaky rogue. I guess that's okay since she's been doing pretty well so far, other than being useless as a lockpicker. I'm rolling in sovereigns right now, though, so it's no big deal -- and that's after I spent 130 for Vigil's Keep repairs and stuff.

It occurs to me that I could normally have three rogues + three 600-health bears + a healer (sustain AoE) and probably clean up pretty well, haha. If I do get around to replaying, maybe I'll try that for some giggles.

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Great game but a bit buggy on modern hardware.

Enclave posted...

Great game but a bit buggy on modern hardware.

That's my secret captain

It was always buggy

Alright, finished Kal'Hirol and made sure to do everything before I left, just in case. I like how you just kill the broodmothers in their pit by dropping a big ol' chandelier on 'em -- just as the Paragons would have done. It upset the goth monster, though.

I love these great bears you can summon. While most of my teammates need to be told where to go, the bear went right for the boss darkspawn and just bit down like a junkyard dog. The future where I have three rangers with bears is taking shape, haha...yes, it shall be glorious...

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Alright, I did Blackmarsh (FADEEEEEEEE) and then had a choice to defend Vigil's Keep or save Amaranthine. I chose the latter, thinking the people I left behind would defend it (I built a bigly wall and made...uh, me pay for it...), but now that the battle for the city is over, there's a death icon at my home base, so...that sucks. I'm going to the Architect's base now to hopefully end things once and for all.

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Alright, I finished Awakening by killing the Architect and then the Broodmom. Both fights sucked, but for different reasons -- the first one had HORRIBLE camera angles to make everyone avoid the AoE spam; the latter had about seven waves of little beetles to kill which can use Overwhelm to just get in 10 free attacks. Lame.

And never forget the random Great Bear summon, pictured below in a convenient bit of censorship, as it tanked the main boss. With a bit of regeneration, it tanked my Inferno/Blizzard/Tempest threefer, too, which was nice. It won't get an ending slide, but it too should go down in legend. (Nice to know the people at Vigil's Keep didn't all die in a lame forced choice either...except Justice, I guess.)

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Might go do Leliana's DLC now, just as an aperitif to an actual rogue playthrough. A three-bear bonanza sounds so awesome, but the downside is it randomly unsummons when entering new areas, so that might put a damper on things from time to time.

Huh, Leliana's Song really did blow. It's not just short -- you have three ill-equipped allies most of the time and the enemy formations were predictable and lame. Sure was fun when enemies led off with Crushing Prison (OHKO), though. To boot, I didn't even find all the masterworks AND Marjolaine isn't even killed for her betrayal, so it was just a waste of time for the most part. Maybe there was an option to kill her, but I don't feel like bothering.

And what was the point of Tug being killed off? So the elf could survive? Just let them both survive and have a full party for ten nanoseconds.

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Shotgunnova posted...

To boot, I didn't even find all the masterworks AND Marjolaine isn't even killed for her betrayal, so it was just a waste of time for the most part. Maybe there was an option to kill her, but I don't feel like bothering.

I mean, there can't be an option to kill her because it's a prequel to Origins.

I never used Leliana in Origins yet, so I wouldn't know what her personal quests are. Now that the Bear Squad is coming together, though, things're gonna be different, haha. I never really liked the long-winded intrigue of Orlesian society, though.

Okay, I made my new kawaii rogue. I've done several origins in old playthroughs, but never the dwarven noble, so let's see how that goes. I hope that doesn't mean I'm expected to support that assclown Bhelen later. Also thought about doing the Fade-skipping mod, but I kinda want to see how it'll go as a flimsy DEX merchant. Should be way easier now that I have all specializations.

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