Dragon Age: Origins Catch-All

For those of us with both a PS3 and 360 and no gaming PC which version is the one to get?

larrymadill wrote:

helpful mage stuff

Blind_Evil wrote:

more helpful mage stuff

Interesting reads, thanks. Just been playing around with a mage today, and having a lot of fun with him. Putting points into fire and the wisp/grease/etc. trees so far, which has been a bit overpowered for clearing groups of enemies so far. Open with grease (which slows them nicely), use a fireball to knock them down in the grease and sets it on fire, chuckle at ensuing carnage, get other party members to loot the charred corpses so theycan actually contribute in some way. Only problem is remembering to put everyone on 'hold position' first, or it gets a bit ugly. Not sure how well it'll hold up on boss fights, but he top-tier talent in the grease tree (wasp swarm?) is meant to do high dps to a single target, so that may fit the bill.

I was on the fence between spirit healer and blood mage, but it sounds like SH is the way to go. I think the rogue is going to be put on hold for the moment, since my mage is just too much fun.

Montalban wrote:
larrymadill wrote:

I haven't played rogue or warrior yet (probably my next build will be a rogue) but so much of the combat is dealing with a bum rush of enemies trying to do melee combat feels like a recipe to get dogpiled and knocked down constantly.

I'm playing a human fighter, and I can say that it doesn't work out that way. A mage getting bum rushed? Sure. Fighters have all sorts of skills and stamina to avoid this. I turn my "shield wall" on and wade into the group, holding aggro and doing a good bit of damage myself, while my rogue sneaks around behind, the two-hander off tanks and the mage heals and nukes at distance.

Getting swamped wasn't too much of a problem with a dual-wielding rogue either, since they've got a good mix of CC and debuffs. It also helps that their single-target dps is obscene if you have frost weapon up and get them behind an enemy. Groups get mown down so fast a dogpile never really happens. Doesn't bring on quite the same mad grin as the deepfry combo though.

DSGamer wrote:

For those of us with both a PS3 and 360 and no gaming PC which version is the one to get?

PS3 version looks better than the 360, so I've read. I'd just grab it for whichever system you prefer.

Getting swamped was definitely an issue for me early on, with a melee-heavy party. I highly recommend getting at least one AoE attack on Morrigan early early. It appears to be a big help in that sort of scenario. Melee is particularly useful, so far, against certain kinds of enemies that grab or otherwise focus one party member. Melee have a lot of pushing-around stunning getting-in-your-face type moves (especially shield fighters), and because stamina comes back faster than mana, these can be real life-savers. Let your mage go to town with real powers, and use your melee to break holds and lock down dangerous enemies for focus fire.

Another "hint" from the loading screens that I wish I'd seen sooner: "H" toggles "party movement". That makes the "pull them around the corner into an ambush" move work a hell of a lot better than having to tell three people "run up that hallway" while you tell the other one "open that door", and then fiddle with positioning while the baddies come.

Shoal07 wrote:

Ok, so I have a question about armor. I'm about to go into what I believe is a really nasty place and I want to be prepared. How do you guys armor your people? For example, do you keep a rouge in light/medium armor, or just slap on the plate. I keep my tanks in the highest armor value stuff I can find (this seems intuitive). What about caster, like morrigan? She tends not to die unless she draws signifigant aggro, but I still haver her in her default dress. I haven't seen much mage stuff, should I suit her up in some light armor or something? What is everyone doing? What's the pros/cons? All I can tell is that higher armor burns through stamina/magic faster.

I've been sticking my guys in the heaviest armour available although your thief probably won't have high strength so will be stuck in leathers (which do have a fairly high armour value for reinforced and inscribed). It gives them a high fatigue, but their most useful powers are sustained (shield wall, indomitable) and I always seem to have enough handy for the odd shield bash, critical blow or two.
Mages should stick with robes to reduce fatigue and for the handy spellpower and mana recovery bonuses alot of them come with. Arcane shield + stoneskin is more than enough protection.

Otherwise, I was getting pretty frustrated with the worthless fighter companions in this game, but my party is now around level 15 and is sporting some pretty nice tier 7 gear with runed up weapons and they're starting to pull their weight a bit more. My mage still kills most stuff (plus crowd control, healing, enemy mage neutralizing and tanking in a pinch. This really is a mage's RPG - especially on hard) but I can now rely on Alistair in shield wall to stay alive against most enemies and Sten or Ohgren can do some mean damage if they get on the flank (otherwise, they never hit anything from the front).

I will say that trying to play on hard has been absolutely ridiculous so far. Standard tactics are fireball then run away. Fireball is far and above the best spell in the game: good damage, knockdown, burning and only a ten second reload. On the boss battles, I need to cheat and drop it down to normal. Dealing with the dwarf thief boss was painful otherwise.

I am consistantly amused that my rogue can kick sand in the "face" of a skeleton and then kick it in the balls

stevenmack wrote:

I am consistantly amused that my rogue can kick sand in the "face" of a skeleton and then kick it in the balls :)

I had the two Red Jerseys strip naked before the Grey Warden ritual. It makes it hard to take the RPG element seriously when you're engaging in dialogue wearing naught but a loincloth.

trueheart78 wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

For those of us with both a PS3 and 360 and no gaming PC which version is the one to get?

PS3 version looks better than the 360, so I've read. I'd just grab it for whichever system you prefer.

It does, but the framerate suffers at times. The 360 version uses some ugly ass textures at times and longer load times (so I hear). Otherwise they're the same game.

SpacePPoliceman wrote:

Leliana steadfastly refuses to keep a bow equipped, jumping to her dagger rig when I'm not looking. I've checked her Tactics, and don't think that's where the problem lies. Anyone have any insight?

Taking away her daggers will work, but you might still want her to have them. Bows shoot nice and all, but don't backstab.

You say you've checked her tactics, but what is her Behavior set to? If it's set to Default you need to change it to Archer to get her to specifically prefer ranged over melee. How do I know this? Research.

trueheart78 wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

For those of us with both a PS3 and 360 and no gaming PC which version is the one to get?

PS3 version looks better than the 360, so I've read. I'd just grab it for whichever system you prefer.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/pc...

I can't tell the difference between the 360 and the PS3.

ranalin wrote:

I assume the Toolset only works if you have the game installed on the PC?

You may just need to own a version of the game. Don't quote me, but if you have a console version, you can register that on the Bioware social page as well... that might get you access to the Toolset.

Also, in regards to graphics, I'm assuming I have some driver issues or something, because I got to Morrigan yesterday, and here's what it looked like:
IMAGE(http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/9779/screenshot2009110718593.jpg)
(Cut text to remove any possible spoilers)
IMAGE(http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/4021/25097330.png)

Does anyone else get blockiness because of Depth of Field effects on far away people like on Morrigan? And her hair was looking strange in the 2nd picture as well. Maybe I'm being too picky, but I honestly noticed the blockiness of the effects right away when I was playing.

Definitely can't complain other than that. Graphics are awesome, and I'm really enjoying the game.

Yeah, I'm getting the same effect, but it doesn't bother me too much. What an amazingly engrossing game this is. I've done two of the origin stories so far (human noble and magi) and it's incredibly immersive (yee-haw!). I'm looking at starting another one next - I'm torn between Dalish Elf or Dwarf Commoner. Not that it's very important, since I will be doing all of them at some point.

larrymadill wrote:

helpful mage stuff

Blind_Evil wrote:

more helpful mage stuff

Sonicator wrote:

even more helpful stuff

Speaking of which, has anyone run into any particularly effective spell combos?

Mere Anarchy wrote:
larrymadill wrote:

helpful mage stuff

Blind_Evil wrote:

more helpful mage stuff

Sonicator wrote:

even more helpful stuff

Speaking of which, has anyone run into any particularly effective spell combos?

So far, the best combo I've found is grease, then fireball. Then I usually follow up with the AOE Firespell, or lightning. Generally leaves mobs with 0 - half their life.

Also, sleep, and horror is a good one. It does Massive dmg to one target.

Kacz wrote:
Mere Anarchy wrote:
larrymadill wrote:

helpful mage stuff

Blind_Evil wrote:

more helpful mage stuff

Sonicator wrote:

even more helpful stuff

Speaking of which, has anyone run into any particularly effective spell combos?

So far, the best combo I've found is grease, then fireball. Then I usually follow up with the AOE Firespell, or lightning. Generally leaves mobs with 0 - half their life.

Also, sleep, and horror is a good one. It does Massive dmg to one target.

Glyph of Stasis and Glyph of Repulsion on top of each other.

Weaken then drain life

Oh my god, these Revenants in the Brecelian Forest just kick my ass. I can't even scratch them. I guess I might have to come back later to loot and pillage or something.

Spoiler:

And yes, I tried the hint of engaging them at range that's in the codex but the guys I took with me aren't specced for archery.

Mere Anarchy wrote:
larrymadill wrote:

helpful mage stuff

Blind_Evil wrote:

more helpful mage stuff

Sonicator wrote:

even more helpful stuff

Speaking of which, has anyone run into any particularly effective spell combos?

The base lighting spell so far seems to always be an effective closer. For me the basic Ice spell followed by lighting works really well. Or Fireball then when everyone is on the ground pull a Emperor Palpatine with Shock.

Citizen86 wrote:

Does anyone else get blockiness because of Depth of Field effects on far away people like on Morrigan? And her hair was looking strange in the 2nd picture as well. Maybe I'm being too picky, but I honestly noticed the blockiness of the effects right away when I was playing.

Just as noticeable for me, but the game is so gorgeous overall that I've actually gotten so used to it that I rarely even notice it anymore. Only thing that jumps out at me anymore is the egregrious lack of an option to set anisotropic filtering.

My thoughts exactly Hypatian.

If by "blockiness" you mean "it seems to be using 2x2 pixel squares", then yeah. I have no problem with that at all--the depth of field effect is more powerfully good than the reduced resolution is bad, in my opinion.

P.S. I kind of wish I could make a dwarf mage. Because I really want to be a hard-drinking stubby little guy that throws fire around.

Thanks for the feedback guys, guess it's not a driver problem. Up close it's not usually such a problem, but if anyone's far away I really see it. It probably isn't as noticeable at higher resolutions though.

@Hypatian, the Toolset is out, maybe someone will make a Dwarf Mage mod

Latrine wrote:

Oh my god, these Revenants in the Brecelian Forest just kick my ass. I can't even scratch them. I guess I might have to come back later to loot and pillage or something.

Spoiler:

And yes, I tried the hint of engaging them at range that's in the codex but the guys I took with me aren't specced for archery.

Yeah, I gave up on trying to beat those guys.

My party is L6-7 (Myself(rogue), Morrigan, Alistair, and Sten). We've completed all the Lothering quests I know of, and reached our first camp. Are the two "gold" locations on the world map the premium content? Where's the best place to go next on the world map?

ubrakto wrote:
Latrine wrote:

Oh my god, these Revenants in the Brecelian Forest just kick my ass. I can't even scratch them. I guess I might have to come back later to loot and pillage or something.

Spoiler:

And yes, I tried the hint of engaging them at range that's in the codex but the guys I took with me aren't specced for archery.

Yeah, I gave up on trying to beat those guys.

I think you read the codex wrong.

Jeff-66 wrote:

My party is L6-7 (Myself(rogue), Morrigan, Alistair, and Sten). We've completed all the Lothering quests I know of, and reached our first camp. Are the two "gold" locations on the world map the premium content? Where's the best place to go next on the world map?

Yes.

As for the Peak DLC, I'm not sure it was worth it. It wasn't terrible, but for $7 I thought I'd get more. Took me maybe an hour and a half at most with a level 8-ish party.

garion333 wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

For those of us with both a PS3 and 360 and no gaming PC which version is the one to get?

PS3 version looks better than the 360, so I've read. I'd just grab it for whichever system you prefer.

It does, but the framerate suffers at times. The 360 version uses some ugly ass textures at times and longer load times (so I hear). Otherwise they're the same game.

I'm playing the 360 version with no issues. Sure, it doesn't look as good as the PC version but I don't expect it to. Been pretty happy with it thus far, which is why I'd suggest getting it for whichever console you prefer.

TheGameguru wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

For those of us with both a PS3 and 360 and no gaming PC which version is the one to get?

PS3 version looks better than the 360, so I've read. I'd just grab it for whichever system you prefer.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/pc...

I can't tell the difference between the 360 and the PS3.

Agreed. If there is any difference it officially doesn't matter to me.

trueheart78 wrote:
Jeff-66 wrote:

My party is L6-7 (Myself(rogue), Morrigan, Alistair, and Sten). We've completed all the Lothering quests I know of, and reached our first camp. Are the two "gold" locations on the world map the premium content? Where's the best place to go next on the world map?

Yes.

As for the Peak DLC, I'm not sure it was worth it. It wasn't terrible, but for $7 I thought I'd get more. Took me maybe an hour and a half at most with a level 8-ish party.

I was pretty pleased with the Warden's Keep DLC. The choices involved and the backstory and the grey areas were really cool from a narrative perspective, and aside from the actual quest, you get a base with added storage, a really kickass weapon, and whatever else later on down the road from a particular NPC. I did question the $7 price tag at first, but then remembered I spent $7.29 on lunch today at Wendy's.

Thanks, I'm at the keep now. After that, any suggestions on a manageable zone for a level 7-8 party?

I thought the Warden's Keep was well worth it. Better than the more expensive DLC that came as the bonus I thought.