It doesn't seem like its getting any attention though. I might get for the sheer fact that Bioware makes damn good RPGs but I've never played anything like this one. What say you!..





<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

but don't really know what to expect.

Preordered for ps3, but we'll see how that version holds up.

bayonetta looks gimped.

I'd rather wait for ME2. But, this comes with some kinda DLC for some dope armor in ME2. So, hmmm.

Not sure how the budget will allow for it though.

GTA4: BoGT
MW2
AC2
L4D2


Alot dropping around the same time.

though i never finished Fallout, i'm hoping to make a good run at this one. copping Fifa & Ballad of Gay Tony around the same time should hopefully help prevent burnout. but i like everything i've read about the different races and storylines of dragon age so far.

Not enough time to play it.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=161163432653


I can has black hero?

COPPED.

Amazon has a preorder offer where you get $10 off your next video game purchase plus some exclusive in-game items. The early articles on this so far have been outstanding and Gameinformer has a 90 for PC version:

http://gameinformer.com/games/dragon_age_origins/b/pc/archive/2009/10/05/review.aspx

Even if I cop on the release date, I won't finish this before Mass Effect 2 drops. I'm forsaking all other games once ME2 comes out so I prolly won't cop this until I finish ME2. I've played most of Bioware's RPG's and have yet to be disappointed.

<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

The character creator is available for peeps who are going to play on their PC.

http://xbox-360.nowgamer.com/reviews/xbox-360/8763/dragon-age-origins

Final Verdict
Like playing one of the most engaging games of your life on an emotional rollercoaster suspended between an excitable pair of moral pendulums. An engaging, emotive, thrill-packed joy ride of an RPG whose quality exceeds anything we could have possibly expected. 9.4/10

Any word yet on technical differences between 360 and ps3 versions? Stupid to get ps3 version considering the mass effect 2 carry-overs?

<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

Bauldurs Gate 2 was a defining game in my gaming life.

I cannot wait for this game, it is going to be pure epic and I am pumped to see Bioware go back to their roots.

the trailers don't really do it justice.


<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

like Baldur's Gate (not Dark Alliance) or Icewind Dale? Pretty nerdy D&D stuff but absolutely flawless in their translation from the pen-and-paper version to the PC. It's a slick mix of real-time and turn based RPG'ing, where everything is happening in real-time, but with the ability to pause to do things like cast spells, change targets, have individual party members retreat, etc. If this doesn't appeal to you, then I wouldn't recommend it.

But since it's not a "twitchy" action-RPG, it lends itself to far more strategic combat depth than things like WoW, Diablo, BG: Dark Alliance, etc. Couple that with Bioware's obvious talent to tell a story and you've got the main reasons why it's pretty highly anticipated.

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/dragonageorigins

I doubt it stays this high, but an ending score under 85 would surprise me.

<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

without playing it on the crappiest settings, then I'd say go for it. It's got a top down view unavailable for console, plus you know the modding community is gon go apeshit over it. Not to mention that mouse/keyboard is going to be way more comfortable for this type of game than a controller.

checked out the review on gametrailers and they said this shit was loooooooooong. like 60hrs MINIMUM. if i try and sprinkle this in with my regular life, i'll probably be finished by the end of next summer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4QgXtv4fNE

so I can has play.

though i was thinking about an elf mage instead. played for a couple hours last night thru the origin story. pretty fun so far. the radial menu takes a little getting used to, and i wish you could hear your own voice in responses to people.

sometimes when i pickpocket, it says success, but i don't get anything, so that's kind of weird. hopefully gonna log some real time this weekend.

It's pretty sick so far.. the fights have been pretty intense...

What are you specializing in?
I'm debating making mine a Ranger Rogue (archer) still debating though..

but went with the oppressed City Elf rogue instead, haha. But yeah, I hear you on those fights... I put the difficulty on Hard since I love challenges and I've had a fair number of close calls so far (and a couple reloads).

I was thinking of an archer myself but I wanted my lead guy to be in the thick of shit so I'm focusing on skills to buff his backstab. There are some really helpful Archer skills though, so I'll probably keep that guy once he shows up in the story too.

black man in the damn game...

He look so out of place though...lol

Its pretty nice so far... I likes, I was hesitant about this game at first but I guess you can't go wrong with Bioware.



<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

I wish I would have made a warrior or mage.

Archery skills aren't paying off like I want and I'm still waiting on some actually good traps that actually fucking do something. Fucking traps are always resisted for me.

Poisons are okay, but rogue GRENADES are where the cash cow is.


I guess I should start using the two handed weapons... maybe.

but focused on stealth/dual wield for backstabbing and he's turning out well now. Just remember that he's not supposed to be a frontline guy (but can do a lot of damage quickly when backstabbing) so you gotta be a bit more slick with him.

Archery stuff is handy, but I don't know if I would emphasize that for your main character just because it's not a big enough damage dealer.

Also note that high dexterity helps out piercing weapons (read: daggers), so if you find a dagger better than your current 1-hand weapon, don't hesitate to switch.

for your Rogue??

also, i was checking out the official forums, and there was a post talking about daggers being useless during the higher levels and that Rogues should just use dual swords..

Something about the DXT and STR points not being counted.. or something..

i'll try to find the post.

Just got done with Lothering and starting on some forest, but I've had solid success so far playing on Hard the whole way (once I figured out reliable tactics).

I pushed the "persuasion" skill up to max, with the other two skill points in the next combat level and in trapmaking. For attributes I put just enough strength to wear chainmail (I think around 16), then all of the rest into dexterity and cunning. For talents I'm aiming for Lethality (switch cunning for strength in attacks) and Stealth III (to stealth during battle). I've also only invested in the Dual Wielding tree that focuses on increasing your proficiency in holding two weapons, but none of the attacking talents; not sure yet if I will. The standard Rogue talents are already solid, and I spend most of my time flanking for backstabs once those have been used.

As for that post, yeah, I would tend to agree. Daggers are useful early for high armor penetration and the DEX bonus, but I'm also aiming for the DW skill that allows you to use a full sized 1-handed weapon in your off-hand.

What I'm noticing.. and I have seen other people post about it..

You really cant play this as a "traditional" rogue.. Meaning, the use of heavier armor and bigger weapons is pretty much essential if you want to be effective later on in the game.

It just takes getting used to..

I never planned on completely abandoning strength, but I think I'm going to focus on it a bit more to take advantage of the higher tiered weapons later.

I WANT to play it as a traditional rogue/ranger and stay back while my tank like characters pour the heavy damage on and I lay in the back and lay traps, poison my arrows, and pick off who I want... its just that the archery isn't that useful as a main character... AI players will interrupt and knockdown characters that need to be interrupted and knocked down, but I can't tell when someone is unleashing a powerful attack, or has a high armor rating, or is casting... its impossible to tell.

AI controlled rogues will take car of it though.


To the point where I've found that NOT controlling my AI character and controlling Morrigan instead has seen more favorable results in fights.


I dunno.

I just finished Lothering and am in the Brecilian Forest at Level 8 or 9 or something, but I think I'm going to scrap my character or restack all the points if I can do that.

Oh he's gonna have to leave after he pick some locks...


<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

That one took me by surprise. Guess they wanted to provide for equal opportunity romance options too.

Umm...okay, but you're in Fereledan now fool...


<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

Not real interested in that one, but I have no idea where to get the other three.

I want to restart my character because I've grown to hate him and I can't beat the fucking Brecilian Forest with my squad...


Is it possible to make a Warrior character that can eventually cast spells...?

Or a mage character that can be effective and not get annihilated in the thick of battle...? Is the Arcane Warrior specialization I saw going down that route?

I hope so...

I got through that forest only dying once. Learn how to play better.

I already mentioned that my character sucks, sorry hurt feelings guy.

Tough to catch hurt feelings over a video game I would assume. And yes, I am a garbage gta chopper pilot. I feel better already.

I'll take my jabs with honor.

Good show, lol.

I think the build you were initially looking for is that Arcane Warrior someone mentioned before. Although I think it's more of a mage who can handle a weapon, as opposed to a warrior who can cast spells- if that makes any sense. That's probably what I will lean towards if I ever get to that point now that modern warfare 2 is out. Too many games right now.

> Too many games right now.

Drought of must-have games for months then Borderlands, DA:O, MW2 and L4D2 next week. I've been running on 4 hours of sleep a day for some time now and it's probably not going to stop for a while.

before this bum rush of games came/comes out for November.

>Is it possible to make a Warrior character that can eventually
>cast spells...?

This spec isn't possible, although Templar is an anti-magic Warrior class.

>
>Or a mage character that can be effective and not get
>annihilated in the thick of battle...? Is the Arcane Warrior
>specialization I saw going down that route?
>
>I hope so...

I'm not sure if I'll go down this path myself, but I've heard that AW is actually a pretty strong option for a mage.

Here are a list of the classes and their skills:

http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Classes

<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

I had the option of letting the blood mage from the beginning of the mage origin story open the fade and kill the boy's mom instead, or go to the circle of magi and have them open it for me without killing anyone. I tried the second option of the two and got myself into a whole mess at the mages tower. That's where I am now. Not sure how it will play out, or if it plays out differently if you didn't start as a mage. Interested to find out though.

I've unlocked everything and my next down time, I'll be 86'ing the Sloth demon for good.

I WILL admit that that board made me scrap my Rogue build for something with a little more...uh...heft.

My Dwarven Warrior is not necessarily BREEZING thru the board....but he hasn't had too much trouble so far.

at the Pearl section of the city map, there is that glass vial that if you touch it breaks, and a revenant comes and kicks my ass. only level 5 or so right now, so maybe i have to come back to it.

handle him with Freeze and Flame attacks...

and let the Warden hack n'slash..and shield bash..



<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

5 is way too low, unless you drop the difficulty. There was a battle in the forest that I have to remember to come back to because he was rolling with a posse and it became too damn hard.

If you're going down the hex route on any of your mages, Misdirection Hex (causes all crit attacks to become normal, and all normal attacks to miss) is damn helpful against any brutal melee enemy.

no lubed my character's existence.

I made a new character today, since I feel you can only suck thoroughly with a main character focused on archery and traps. A spike and buff/debuff mage. I think the playthrough should be interesting, sitting in the back spiking and debuffing the enemies and buffing the squad to typhoon over cats with ease.

beat downs consecutively.

And I'm a level 14 warrior w/ a level 14 Mage and Golem.


*smh*



<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

life but last night was it. I had a sick squad.



<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

spoiler 1

so....did anyone else kill him? first time thru i let him live just to look at his stats, but i'm a rogue, and so is leilana. and alistair and morrigan were unhappy i took him with. so i beat their asses again, interrogated, and then killed him.




spoiler 2


apparently someone else from his crew looks for you later, and depending on whether he likes you or not, it plays out 1 of 2 ways.

does his story come into play elsewhere? i guess it doesnt' matter, cuz i'm not going back now.

I stay taking L's....

what kind of items did it drop? I wanna know..




<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

you should be able to pick up some very rare loot or something.




<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

But the dragons stash usually had some phat ass loot. I think the stash for the one in the brecilian forest had a good 15-20 gold pieces in it.

But the dragons stash usually had some phat ass loot. I think the stash for the one in the brecilian forest had a good 15-20 gold pieces in it.

The ones in the brecilian ruins and the royal palace in orzammar were simple...normal tactics worked fine.

The high dragon before the urn of andraste was the toughest fight I've had so far(2nd being the first revenant I fought in the brecilian forest, mostly because I want prepared). After about 3 tries, I realized the only real damage the high dragon caused me was when it grabbed one of my frontline cats and chomped them up. During the fight, I took control of alistair who the dragon was focused on because of taunt and I proceeded to stay away from the dragons mouth. My own character ended up dying from gettig chomped eventually but that was no big deal. I had the dragon doing circles to chase me while my mages teed off from distance.

The loot for the brecilian forest one was nice in terms of gold but most importantly it leads you to the area where you get the juggernaut armor. The high armor had a bunch of shit, everything solid but nothing really amazing.

I'm gonna fight flemeth soon but it's gonna be tougher for me because I can't use morrigan. I'll prob use leliana instead because she's a master archer and can keep distance while alistair has her attention.

I had a warrior for a bit, specializing in being a tank but dude isn't all that interesting. So I made a mage but during the initiation to be a gray warden while we are out and about the retards in my team would just stand there eating arrows and not attack.

I know I can control them hands on each individually, but there's gotta be a way they go over there on their own. I wiped a couple of times during that part and I never did with my first char. Having my main as a mage is super fun though dude just blasts the hell out of shit.

You got to set tactics for each individual character.

I was an original Baldur's Gate 2 and Icewind Dale player so I was used to pausing and directing each character what to do.

I'm glad there is a Don't Stand There Like An Assclown and Eat Arrows tactic

For example, the Bard's Distraction Talent causes the enemy to forget his target and wander off somewhere... I set up a tactic with 'Morrigan: Being attacked' as the qualifier, then the activation of Distraction as the action. The expectation was that my rogue would use Distraction on the enemy attacking Morrigan, but it actually just caused him to sit there and not do anything. The problem was that since I used Morrigan as the object (and not Enemy: attacking Morrigan), he got hung up on using Distraction on an ineligible target (Morrigan) and subsequently did nothing at all.

What I would suggest is saving before a battle that can create multiple situations, use hold position on your other two party members, then controlling one to watch how your other character reacts with your tactics. You should be able to determine which ones behave properly and which ones don't.

<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

I've purchased in a long, long time, especially from an RPG standpoint, I'm loving it.

The combat is excellent once you learn how to use tactics correctly. It's a very intricate system.

I'm playing through on Nightmare on PC because I like a good challenge.

I went with an arcane warrior/blood mage for my hero. There were a couple rough areas when I was a lower level, but now that I've got most of the sustained buffs I wanted for my hero, it's almost too easy.

I think I'm going for a rogue next playthrough. Maybe assassin/duelist. But a dual-wield warrior that wears medium armor sounds like a lot of fun too.

Im running a level 18 squad, with a Human Mage.


Leliana, Alistair and Wynne are my staples.

I set it so that Alistair aggressively goes after a Target and on tactics have Leliana attack his target. So the enemy is constantly trying to attack Alistair and Leliana is stabbing his spine up. Wynne does the bulk of the healing. The damage that Leliana and Alistair dump on any single target is rediculous and of course I throw posions on Leliana's blades accordingly.

Now I also have Wynne casting Virulent Walking Bomb on whatever target hits less than 50% health first so the nature damage it takes along with it being attacked has it exploding on the rest of the enemies close enough and SPREADING the disease, lmao. Wynne's spellpower has it doing up to 100 damage upon explosion. LOL

Not to mention my mage which usually involves me putting an Affliction Hex on the enemy from the jump followed by the Grease pit spell, knocking everyone off their feet and slowing them down long enough for me to cast Fireball and Inferno WHICH ignites the grease and does even more damage...

Nigga.


My screen be looking like the fucking matrix with all the damage numbers present.

Also Cone of Cold and Stonefist is DOPE especially since me and Wynne both have it. It's basically killing two enemies that get too close in a matter of seconds.


Spell Bloom on Spell Wisp keep my magic attacks really powerful.

Wynne keeps that Death Syphon shit on to suck mana from dead targets while Lelianna uses Song of Valor to boost mana and stamina regeneration.


Yo, I love this game.

My surefire tactic is fireball (to knock them off their feet), blizzard/inferno (cast while they're trying to get up), then that blood magic spell that holds them in place.

Leliana gets to pick off whatever is not dead right away, and if some do make it out of that clusterfuck, I've got two tanks playing cards right at the edge of it.

I decided not to take Wynne along because it would get boring. And sometimes I skip the aoe casts in favor of some arcane warrior melee hurt.

Loads of fun though.

I was strongly considering it. But I'm backed up on games as is...just bought Gears, Tales of Vesperia, and Blue Dragon. Haven't finished any of them.

But I was like damn, I had just picked up Batman Arkham, Left 4 Dead 2, God of War Collection, Assassin's. My wife was like enough. lol

Price matched it from the Best Buy ad. Never waited in any lines outside the store or in. Most people were trying to get TV's or other high profile items.

at the same time? i'm at lvl 3 w/ human archer rogue and just got to Ostragar. Still trying to get my tactics game tight, but I like my guy so far. I was thinking of starting a mage, warrior, or assassin rogue to get a different play style and origin story.

I was going to get to the point where I leave Ostragar with my current and roll with my 2nd character until I get to Ostragar. Then I will go back to my 1st character until I reach another major stopping point and lather, rinse, repeat. I've always played straight through games like this beginning to end before creating a new character. Just wondering if anyone else was trying this method. If so, do the stories get too mixed up to keep track of?

I'm interested in the Mage origin story line too, but I'm up to 70 hrs now and counting on my City Elf Rogue. Coupled with the fact that I'm running through Borderlands with some friends and playing MW2 and L4D2 when the feeling catches me, and I'm already pressed for time hahah.

Level 18 Human Mage and Level 7 Dwarf Rogue at the moment. Both male.

I have a Lvl 3 Human Female Warrior but I haven't invested enough interest in her yet.

Which origin is your rogue? Since my current rogue is an archer, I want my next one to backstab and gut fools. Also thinking about a mage, but it will have to be an elf because I don't want another human.

With no beard. And I love it.

I'm no fan of archery so he's all backstabs and stealth. Unlocked the Ranger specialization right from the jump and keep my wolf by my side (at least for these earlier levels.)

When I say he's an asshole, I fucking mean it too... I killed the Mabari hound you could get. I took all the wealth from the highwaymen in Lothering and then killed them. I killed the merchant arguing in Lothering (The line of text for it is AWESOME - "I hear you are making a killing. Me too! Kill Him LOL) I killed the prisoner at Ostagar, I killed the elf messenger at Ostagar. I told the kid in Lothering his mother was dead, I took all the money from the scared shits in front of the Lothering Chantry. I've spared no lives in my quest to destroy the Blight this go round, including killing the Teyrns' attackers in the bar, and his messengers at the doors of Orzammar. : D

I think I'll kill Zevran too, I'm debating killing Wynne being that she is such a dope healer... I guess I'd have to be up for the challenge of a Morrigan only party outfit. Should prove difficult yet fun.

ENCHANTMENT!













Sandal = Favorite RPG character this year.

I knew something was wrong when his pops told him to say thank you.."thank youuuu..."



<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

I haven't played as a dwarf yet though


<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

100+ hours and counting on my first playthrough.

Went to the circle of magi....and cotdamn was that one thorough mission lol. Getting a spiritual healer like wynne is essential as well because not only does she supply the hp to my tank, alistair, and my two-handed beast, my own character, but she frees up Morrigan to do some more attacking.

My only issue right now is that my damn mages won't stay far enough away from my frontline cats. I have to manually back them up which not only is annoying but costs me time. Maybe switching to the ranged behavior set will do the trick.

Lastly...I have a serious dilemma. Without a rouge in the party, I can't open any chests or disarm traps. Either I have to sacrifice my vicious two Mage lineup or I have to use skill points on lock picking rather than something else. Decisons, decisions lol.

you definitely need that two mage combo in the squad especially against tough opponents and missions. The game is a lot easier if you play as a mage yourself because your lineup can really be ridiculous. I still haven't mastered the strategy/behavior thing. I have to read up on that because my rouge always gets killed off from being too close; even when I switch to bow and arrow.


<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

I think the key is to have them do anything possible to avoid getting hit: leather armor sets, Feign Death, trinkets/armor that reduce hostility, high dexterity, Distraction (from Bard class), Stealth, etc. Couple that with your tank(s) doing everything possible to *attract* attention and it helps keep your rogue alive. With my current rogue build he actually does more damage/second with daggers than my two-handed tanks with gigantic ass swords and mauls, so keeping him alive is imperative (Sten and/or Oghren usually go down before he does).

There are so many worthy characters that it's tough to choose from once you've got options. Plus their different interactions when walking around is fucking hilarious, haha (anyone with Oghren is MONEY).

>My only issue right now is that my damn mages won't stay far
>enough away from my frontline cats. I have to manually back
>them up which not only is annoying but costs me time. Maybe
>switching to the ranged behavior set will do the trick.

Yeah, I roll with Ranged for both Morrigan and Wynne. I tried using the two-mage set up (main char is a rogue) but it becomes a bit too complex for me; if you had to though, Wynne is much more self sufficient under AI than Morrigan. If you do this though, invest all your early skill points for Wynne into Combat Tactics; TRUST me on this.

>
>Lastly...I have a serious dilemma. Without a rouge in the
>party, I can't open any chests or disarm traps. Either I have
>to sacrifice my vicious two Mage lineup or I have to use skill
>points on lock picking rather than something else. Decisons,
>decisions lol.

A rogue is CLUTCH, haha. I'm very glad I picked a rogue as my main character so I could shape him into what I want. I've found stealth, lockpicking and trap making/detecting to be extremely useful throughout the game. Hold position, stealth, run around disarming traps/setting my own, then aggro the enemies around the corner into my waiting party. Wash, rinse, repeat. One nice thing about lockpicking and/or disarming traps is that you get XP each time you do it, so it can add up pretty quickly.

spoilers

I'm up on the top floor and met a sloth demon who brought me into the fade. Now i can't get out of that bitch. I keep running around, there is one place where I run into an ogre. And by myself eeeh

Took me a couple tries but the key was making sure the revenant stayed attacking alistair(tank) so I could flank the skeletons for bigger damage. Morrigan in the back killing kids with tempest and wynne solely on healing duty.

You have to make sure to pause often and monitor your frontline health situation with quick heals.

Got some SICK juggernaut boots off the bastards corpse.

>Got some SICK juggernaut boots off the bastards corpse.

There's 4 of those gravestones in that forest- each one you get a different piece in that set of armor. I beat 2 of the revenant groups earlier on in the game with a lot of trouble, then went back when my team was a bit better and took out the last 2 with a little less trouble (still a pain in the ass). The complete set has to be some of the best armor in the game. Most pieces seem better than the blood dragon armor that comes with the game.

If I remember there's a decent back story to the Juggernaut armor in the codex too.

Oh, and does anyone know the bonus is for wearing a complete set of armor? There's a little picture that says armor set bonus or something like that, but I don't know what the bonus is.

In the PC version, you can look up info about a specific item (by right-click, wouldn't know the console way). When looking at the info from an armor set, it lists the bonus. Depending on what kind of armor it is (light/heavy) is can be a bonus to armor, defense or stamina, etc.

I'll check this out when I get home. I know you can check what the individual armor bonus is by hitting "X" on the 360, but I haven't noticed anything related to armor set bonus. I'm sure I can find it somewhere on my character's stats page now that I think of it.

But if you read the description on the armor piece itself, it'll usually specify what areas are improved (like a bonus to defense and constitution, talents/spells cost less to use, etc). You'd have to actually put on/take off the armor then check your profile to see just how much of a bonus it gives you though.

Slight bug: You need to check the top on your char's profile page to make sure it shows the 'Item Set Bonus' icon before it actually gives it to your character, even though you may have just equipped all the correct pieces; seems like it doesn't register right away. What works for me is if you're in camp, select to change your party members, then just cancel out of everything to go back to camp; this should make the icon show up on the profile page.

And yeah, both the Juggernaut and Blood Dragon armors are pretty kick ass; the Juggernaut is better for damage absorption and the BD is better for actually kicking ass.

Vague slight spoiler....

DON'T sell off all your 'obsolete' armor sets just because your main crew doesn't need em anymore. Hand em down to your lesser (or never) used characters even if you don't particularly like them. You'll need it in the end.

I'm glad I'm such a sucker for loot hoarding, because I gave most of the good stuff (especially the loot with a story) to my npc's on the bench, instead of selling it.
Also, the attack on the campsite kind of made it clear that giving all your henchmen some armor is a good idea.

I just haven't been able to figure out what specifically that bonus is. Haha.

>
>Vague slight spoiler....
>
>DON'T sell off all your 'obsolete' armor sets just because
>your main crew doesn't need em anymore. Hand em down to your
>lesser (or never) used characters even if you don't
>particularly like them. You'll need it in the end.

Are you just talking about the armor you haven't been using anymore, or any armor? I can't imagine keeping all the crap armor you find throughout the game, and usually you can get a decent buck for it. I actually bought and finished the Warden's Keep DLC because I had an odd amount of MS points I hadn't used in awhile, which apparently gives you a chest to store some of the junk you aren't using, but I haven't gone back to the place to try it out yet.

even though they do nothing throughout the game as a result of the ending. Don't have a character in your party still rocking the leathers or clothing they join with.

Pieces like the "dwarven heavy gloves" you can go ahead and sell (unless it's actually better than what someone in your camp is using).

**minor spoilers**

I'm talking more about stuff like the drakeskin armors, Diligence, Effort, Legionnaire etc.

From 8pm-5:30 am this morning. God I love vacation.

Anyways, Orzammar is a fucking beast....and cotdamn if I'm not having constant Mines of Moria/LOTR flashbacks. So many missions to do and The Legion of Death is badass.

As for the actual game itself...blood plate armor is excellent not only because Oriya defense properties and bonuses but the 10% stamina reduction is so worth it...my character is whoopin darkspawn ass. I'm highly debating whether or not to keep alistair with the juggernaut armor because of it's spell resistance or give him the dragonbone plate set I got from the smith in denerim...much higher defense, far lower stamina consumption.

For anyone in orzammar, make sure you find all of the proprietary notes and get the key to the city. I thought it was just a story item but that shit is the best accessory I've gotten in the game so far: +2 to all attributes, +4% spell resistance, +15% to healing.

Still in the thick of things in the deep mines looking for branka's crazy ass. Who knows how much longer it will take lol.

I've had my ass handed to me by darkspawn a couple times now and I still don't know where she is.

That's some ironman shit right there hah.

>As for the actual game itself...blood plate armor is excellent
>not only because Oriya defense properties and bonuses but the
>10% stamina reduction is so worth it...my character is whoopin
>darkspawn ass. I'm highly debating whether or not to keep
>alistair with the juggernaut armor because of it's spell
>resistance or give him the dragonbone plate set I got from the
>smith in denerim...much higher defense, far lower stamina
>consumption.

I would say keep him with Juggernaut. It's a very tank friendly armor set, and Alistair's build with sword/shield favor that role really well (assuming you kept him in that tree). Plus, there are not as many activated talents in that tree as there are in the dual-wield or two-handed trees, so stamina isn't as much of a concern for him.

>Still in the thick of things in the deep mines looking for
>branka's crazy ass. Who knows how much longer it will take
>lol.

Orzammar is the longest of the main branches I think, but it's definitely one of the best.

Needless to say I take my sweet time lol. Plus on hard, you gotta be a tad bit more careful. The queen spider was a cotdamn nightmare.

As for alistair, Ive had him on the shield branc the entire time...and it's been maxed out. It's the only option that makes sense for a tank IMO. The last part of the mission when you have to use ogreth was more of a pain in the ass than it needed to be for me because I accidentally selected my own character instead of alistair which meant no real tank.

I'm about to start the gray warden mountain hideout downloadable content.

I went down a random tunnel and ended up in the right place. Some crazy shit ensues down there though. It was definitely rewarding. In forest now helping those damned dalish elves.

It's taken over my life. I stayed up till 4am last night playing through Redcliffe and the Brecilian Forest.

I started the game on Nightmare difficulty but had to tone it down when I got to Brecilian. That shit was brutal on Nightmare. My warden, an elf mage, couldn't handle that kind of stress.

I'm using Alistair, Morrigan, and Leliana as my main party. I almost feel bad for the darkspawn cause they stay gettin' fucked up by my two DPS mages. Alistair just has to stand there and take a couple of hits while Leliana stays in the back shooting arrows.

I'm gonna head to the Circle of Magi tonight and hope to get my main to lvl 14, cause I need that Arcane Warrior spec in my life.

playing as a Drawf though.




<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

Swipe...
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/105/1057624p1.html

Leading video game developer BioWare, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), announced today that the Return to Ostagar downloadable content (DLC) for Dragon Age: Origins will be released on January 5 in North America and Europe for the Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system and PC versions of the game at a cost of 400 BioWare Points or Microsoft Points. The DLC will be available for the PlayStation3 computer entertainment system later in January. Return to Ostagar allows players to exact their revenge and embark on a quest for the mighty arms and armor of the once great King Cailan when they revisit Ostagar, the site of the Grey Wardens' darkest hour, to reclaim the honor and learn the secrets of Ferelden's fallen king.

"We are thrilled at the way the fans have embraced Dragon Age: Origins and we're excited to welcome them back into the game," said Aaryn Flynn, General Manager and Vice President, BioWare Edmonton. "Return to Ostagar represents BioWare's commitment to providing a steady stream of compelling post release content as we continue to expand the Dragon Age universe."

Return to Ostagar summons players to a new quest in which they will return to the fateful battleground in Ostagar where the Grey Wardens were nearly wiped out. Players will discover King Cailan's top-secret political agenda and go behind enemy lines to revisit a place that many feared had been lost to history.

Return to Ostagar will be available for 400 BioWare Points on the PC and 400 Microsoft Points on the Xbox 360 on January 5. It will be available for $4.99 on the PlayStation(R) Store later in the month.

I don't have Shale cause well I dont have the DLC but people are saying he is a better tank then Alastair. Also I dont have Warden's Keep and I would like a homebase to store stuff. I don't like throwing away weapons and armor.

So what say you, purchase the DLC's for 14 and 7 ?

or just get the full game for 59.99 ?

<------ Boho Model Madness Presents, the goddess.

http://www.rareformnyc.com
http://www.myspace.com/djshinobishaw
http://www.last.fm/user/ShinoShaw
http://twitter.com/DJShinobiShaw
PSN: ShinobiShaw

"Arm Leg Leg Arm How you doin?" (c) T51

lucky..Shale came with the full retail. And I'm not going to lie, you NEED Shale as your tank. If used right, *ahem* he can take out 2..3..4 enemies at once.

as for the other DLC....I ain't paying for that shyt.





Well not right now at least....





<-----Young Rashidy (79')


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

He never leaves my team.

My character (not me) could not resist his accent. I think..... I mean my character thinks Zev is the funniest person in the whole game.

I even got a trophy for it too!

If only we got trophies for having sex with people in real life. Oh well


<------ Boho Model Madness Presents, the goddess.

http://www.rareformnyc.com
http://www.myspace.com/djshinobishaw
http://www.last.fm/user/ShinoShaw
http://twitter.com/DJShinobiShaw
PSN: ShinobiShaw

"Arm Leg Leg Arm How you doin?" (c) T510

that dude was annoying...I killed him off after he surrendered in my assassination attempt.




The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

When Morrigan comes to you with that proposition.....um wow.

Of course my first reaction,regardless of the fact thst she was in love with me and I had chosen her over leliana(you can tell from the jump leliana's a stage 5 clinger and I figured it would be a lot more interesting to see if morrigan changes if she falls in love), was FOH.

Ive created two saves to see what difference either choice makes.

What were your guys actual reactions when that scene came up and what decision did you go with?

you know, I worked leliana hard because Morrigan pissed me off because everything I did she disapproved of. I could see the future leaving the toilet seat up and catching hell.

So the night comes and she proposes her idea. Now don't get me wrong. I was tempted to do it. I figured once I rejected her my chick would come in.

Not quite.

Nope just rejects the proposal and my dude goes to sleep. Then I sacrifice my dude or w/e and the final cutscene is talking about how leliana loved me so much and was crying and couldnt wait to be with me again. Well. What the fuck. Maybe I wouldn't have killed the damn dragon if I had gotten some. My dude lost on all accounts I need to play through again and make it right. Plus be an asshole all the time.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/05/dragon-age-origins-awakening-expansion-dated-march-16/

"We no longer have to rely on Google-translated rumors about retailer listings regarding an upcoming Dragon Age expansion. EA has officially revealed Awakening, the first retail expansion for Dragon Age: Origins, due in stores March 16 for $40 -- and it's up for pre-order on GameStop now. (There's no word on a downloadable version.)

Awakening takes place after the (many) events of Origins, putting the player in the role of a new Grey Warden Commander, or simply an old, imported character from the main game, taking on new monsters, like the Inferno Golem and the Spectral Dragon, in a new area of the world called Amaranthine. The expansion features an increased level cap, new items, new spells, the ability to "re-spec" attributes, and five new party members with whom to bond.

It seems odd that the DLC delay and the expansion announcements would coincide so closely, though we don't think it's a matter of BioWare trying to starve people for Dragon Age content so that the expansion would appear more attractive. We can't think of any other explanation than "it's a weird coincidence," though we'll attempt to clear it up with BioWare."


I haven't even finished up Origins yet, but I'll put Awakening on my pre-order list.

word..

But this will be hard to complete. I mean here's the problem:


Mass Effect 2
March Madness - brackets...brackets..brackets...

not mention other upcoming titles coming out.





The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

took a hiatus from playing as a rogue and forgot about the controls, strategies, etc. so i figured to start over. knowing what i know about jowan in redcliffe, i was wondering if i should have played the beginning differently. i ratted them out to irving, then confessed in the phylactery.

i know it's just an intro to the game, but i wish there were different outcomes to the jowan/lily storyline. oh well.

I basically told em to man up.


The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

Damn that Archdemon was a bitch. Actually felt like an accomplishment when I finally finished it off. I was considering lowering the difficulty, then just figured I made it this far and didn't want to cheapen my victory.

What made it worse was having who I now consider by far the worst character in the game in my party- Loghain. Man, he was terrible. What feared super-warrior has less than 20 constitution? He was going down constantly and consistently. Should have kept Allistair definitely.

Oh, and I ended up sleeping with Morrigan so I didn't have to kill myself, and no one seemed to mention it afterwards either. Leilana didn't even care. Fantastic game.

I beat it on the 2nd hardest setting. If you dont take at least 2 ranged or mage characters your fucked. I had Al as my tank and gave him the juggernaut armor. He barely got hurt but Morrigan kept going into melee range to cast and she kept dying. I don't know why she is set to ranged.


<------ Boho Model Madness Presents, the goddess.

http://www.rareformnyc.com
http://www.myspace.com/djshinobishaw
http://www.last.fm/user/ShinoShaw
http://twitter.com/DJShinobiShaw
PSN: ShinobiShaw

"Arm Leg Leg Arm How you doin?" (c) T510

I had Shale, Leilana, and Loghain (my guy was a mage). So my party was certainly not set to optimum conditions. Had to use Leilana as an archer, but never once used her as a ranged character the whole way through, so she ran out of arrows quickly then luckily just followed me around and fixed the ballista's for me when they needed to be repaired.

Also I never really gave much to those party crates at camp so I guess my armies I called in weren't up to par either. When I beat it all I had to call in was the humans though to take care of the minions. It was definitely tough, but the whole game in general was so thorough I expected it to be somewhere in that neighborhood of difficulty. If I can ever make it all the way through again I will be more prepared. Haha.

Also, knowing what armies to use on what map is vital as well.

The Mages absolutely slaughter the big ogres, Dwarves(esp if you convince the Legion of Death to join you as they do serious damage) and Humans are excellent for the rest, and then the Elven archers are great for the Archdemon.

My armies were straight up murking fools.

The archdemon wasn't that tough for me on the hard setting.....I beat it with and without Morrigan. The former option allowed me to have my normal party(tank, two-hander, and two mages) so it was relatively easy while the latter scenerio had me inserting Shale into the party instead of Morrigan....so two tanks, 2-hander, and a healer. It was tougher but the key was keeping Wynne in safe areas and since it was the second time around, I also knew what armies to use at what point which helped tremendously.

I felt like it should have been the hardest enemy in the game.

I guess I didn't supply the mages very well, because I only got 12 of them for the final battle. Oddly, I don't think I gave the dwarfs any gems and I got 50 of them.

I believe you get 12 mages regardless, the runes just make them more effective, same for the rest of the armies. 50 elves, humans, and dwarves, and 12 mages. Either way, I don't think I did much supplying for any of them, and pretty much used them to keep those minions off of me when they came out. I did get the achievement to keep over half of my armies alive while defending the door though.

I saw a 1/29/10 release for this.

http://dragonage.bioware.com/addon/rto

The camel never sees its own hump but that of its brothers is always before its eyes - North African proverb

* "Alhamdu'llah, I need to say that more. Because my ceiling ain't but 12ft. above my floor.." - Diamond District

anyone got a PS3 copy they've beaten and want to let go?
looking for the best price on half, amazon and other means.

Mainly an additional party member, unless you purchase that through DLC. Best bet is getting a new copy if you can find one in whatever price range you are looking for. You should be able to get it for around $40 I would think.

i may wait after GoW3 to get this.

i want the full experience.

But I guess that was still around the holidays when it seemed like everything was selling for cheap.


>i may wait after GoW3 to get this.
>
>i want the full experience.


Probably a good idea. This game is a time-consumer but well worth the effort. A true RPG. The fact that Bioware put out both this and ME2 at relatively the same time is a pretty impressive feat.

You get a party member who NEVER left my party. I also got some DLC armor, which wasn't as useful.

Dope ass RPG. The RPG experience that Mass Effect 2 is severely lacking.

and i want to go through it again too. at least just to see what all the origin stories are like.

anyone else sell out the elves for the werewolves?

Is it like, hack & slash action shit, or turn-based?

It's a must cop.

I've never played an MMO. It it some weird combat system like KOTOR? Or more like Fable?

However, it's more involved than KOTOR....you will be utilizing special moves and abilities the entire time so you will be pressing buttons. You don't just sit back and watch(I would recommend playing on Hard).

They put out a demo for ME2, but I wish they'd do it for DA, also.

Not enough time for the things I wanna do. :(
__________
I don't like the beat anymore because its just a loop. ALC didn't FLIP IT ENOUGH!

Flip it enough? Flip these. Flip off. Go flip some f*cking burgers. (c) Kno

lol, to each his own.

I would definitely like it more if a) the combat was more simple, like Fable, and b) this fucking cunt-wrap would send me the code for the Blood Dragon Armor on eBay.

Once you figure out how to set tactics, your life gets 100x easier.

I'm sure the story gets better as it goes along. Lol, I really really was hoping the combat was similar to Fable though. Just from my limited play, the battle is a smidge better than what I've played of KOTOR, and way worse than ME1. I wouldn't have thought the almighty BioWare would regress that far, after playing ME2.

One's more of a shooter with spells thrown in, this is far more of a tactical grinder.

Baulder's Gate 1&2, Icewind Dale. I loved those games so I loved it. But I can see the pausing, waiting, picking spells and what to do every second can get on peoples nerves.

appreciate it for what it is.


It's not hack and slash, button press attack Fable.

It's not streamlined, no-management-whatsoever ME2.



It's meticulous tactical micro managed combat.

It's a multi branched story ripe with lots of classic RPG elements.

I don't like it. I'm glad I couldn't find Awakenings used, cuz that was my plan for the buy 2, get one free thing last weekend at GameStop. I'm done with Darksiders (which was super fuckin dope, btw), so I have time to give this a fair shot.

Probably the first game I've ever fell asleep on. Literally.


I like it otherwise.

i'm playing three different games at once. fml

Deal of the Week: Dragon Age: Origins content



Xbox LIVE Gold members can save on the following Dragon Age: Origins content until August 22nd:

Awakening, 1600 Microsoft Points

Return to Ostagar, 240 Microsoft Points

Warden's Keep, 400 Microsoft Points

Blood Dragon Red Avatar T-shirt , 40 Microsoft Points

In other news, I ended up liking it. I don't really wanna play all the way through again, but the other origins are pretty interesting.

I really didn't like the game at first, but once you get past the Origin stories, it heats up.

I'm a level 15 warrior right now. Still trying to learn to set my tactics perfectly.....
______________________________________________________________________________

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"
-George Clinton