Dragon Age

So, I just got to my camp on my Warrior City Elf run. Mage Tower, here I come! Bringing Sten as a Tank, Morrigan as a mage, and Leilana as the rogue who can pick open stuff I can't since I have no points in that won't hurt me too much, correct?

In Sten a tank? I thought he was a DPS. Regardless, that party should be fine.

Sten, by default, is a two-handed Warrior, and it's pretty intuitive to use Sword-and-Shield Warriors as tanks instead — but Origins is flexible enough to make two-hander tanks viable enough. You're still a Warrior, so you still get taunts, and Indomnitable will make you immune to being stunned or knocked down. (Although you also get Sten early enough that you could conceivably just build him as a sword-and-boarder.)

But the downside to Sten is that, fun fact, Sten's actually the only companion who doesn't come with a specialization. That doesn't make him more flexible, unfortunately; he'll get his first and only spec point at level 14.

Still, don't be pressured to remove him if you like having him around. That's a perfectly solid party.

Edited by Lavaeolus on Jan 12th 2020 at 5:01:53 PM

So, did you know that Wynne's an obligatory party member when you get to the Mage Tower? Bye, Leilana.

Huh. It's been so long I had no idea.

She isn't if you kill her.

Considering I’m here to save mages <_<

You're saving them from a naggy old whiner.

Wynne is condescending as all HELL. It's a flaw of the bioware games that you get punished for disagreeing with party members, losing their specialties or having them just leave.

I get you're trying to build a consensus, a trusted band... but leadership doesn't come from pandering to needs. It makes main characters come across as that weird kid from school who tries to be besties with EVERYONE.

Shep gets away with it as you can Take a Third Option when disagreements come up. It was why DA 2's rivalry system was a step in the right direction - they may have disagreed with you BUT they respected your conviction. Friends but grudging, in a way.

DA 1 Wynne has some good points but is condescending and morally inflexible. If they'd toned down Flemeth and let HER be a party member as an alternative that could've been fun....

Wynne's alright — it's pretty amusing watching the way she and Morrigan snipe at each other.

I gotta admit that. given her open hostility to Blood Magic. being able to make Wynne a Blood Mage is a glaring case of Gameplay and Story Segregation. Even worse, she's actually really good as a Blood Mage.

Edited by M84 on Jan 14th 2020 at 6:28:25 PM

It's odd that some people hate kind old grandmother Wynne.

Then again there are people who gladly betray and murder Alistair who is the best person in the world and was your friend from the get go.

So, which are better ranged weapons: bows or crossbows?

Edited by fredhot16 on Jan 17th 2020 at 1:06:16 AM

Bows. I barely even remember crossbows being in the game. I vaguely remember them having some critical flaw that made them worthless.

Crossbows are not that bad and they look decently cool, but yeah, bows. Go with bows.

Crossbows don't scale with stats, so they do static damage depending on rarity. that plus slower DPS means they suck compared to bows.

They suck until Varric comes along in the sequels.

And then he does it so well the entire rest of the world gives up trying, and no one ever wields a crossbow again.

Helps that his crossbow is a one of a kind model that its creator deliberately refuses to mass produce.

Random question, but is anybody good with the toolset? I am trying to extract the dialogue from the game for a research project, but I don't really know how exactly to do it...

I am not, but I thought you might like to know that I initially read 'toolset' as 'toilet seat.'

The first Tevinter Nights spoilers have started dropping: https://felassan.tumblr.com/post/611495448279203840/tevinter-nights-details-new

There's also a preview up on Google Books showing a full story and parts of others.

Not entirely unexpected, but Solas does have the support of a shitload of Fade spirits behind him, and he's also putting his Dreamer skills to good use. Also, the Qunari aren't as united in the attack on Tevinter as it may seem.

Alright, I've just defeated the Sloth Demon and got that accursed Litany!

1. I let that one Blood Mage on the second or third floor get away. She seemed repentant and I was willing to let her be the Templars's problem.

But, lordy. "We were desperate". Give me a blood mage that just wanted to get laid really badly, I'll take them over the well-intentioned fools. The latter seems to cause more damage.

2. A Desire Demon wanted me to go away and let her keep her snack. I think. My computer got a weird auditory error, she kept saying "Kill me, kill me, kill me". Odd, but I obliged. She asked politely, after all.

Sorry, Templar Dude, but leaving her would just mean there would be more of you. Plus, and let me go on the record, I have a strict "kill demons on sight" policy. They're no different then the Darkspawn to me.

Though Sten (that's not his real name, by the way) had odd words to say: "He needs to free himself or he won't learn anything from it". Here's my reaction.

3. Having to keep Wynn in the party of my Support Mage character will be troublesome. I won't really need two healers. I suppose I can bring Morrigan for offensive spells (Mindblast is king) and Sten or Alister as the dude that everybody should hit.

4. I've learned to fear Mages. I beeline for those bastards.

5. Fade Section ain't too bad. I liked the transformation gimmick.

6. I swear, I don't remember ever getting past the Great Hall but the Darkspawn Invasion area felt too familiar to me. Like I played this section before.

7. Does anybody remember all that meat moss growing all over the place?

8. So, I wanted to create a Blood Mage character but I hadn't come up with a in-character basis for that. I stumbled onto one last night: an aspiring demonologist, somebody who wishes to study demons and blood magic personally so as to ascertain the truth about how dangerous they really are, how they really function.

To them, it's pretty clear that the world fears mages and demons but how much of that fear is real? How much of the fairy tales and musty propaganda are reliable, how much hasn't been exaggerated to serve another purpose? Even mages fear demons, certainly, but that doesn't mean they also fear themselves or that the magical information they pass down hasn't been perverted.

The only answers worth accepting are those you see for yourself. Taking things at face value isn't acceptable.

Edited by fredhot16 on Mar 12th 2020 at 9:07:41 AM

So I got Tevinter Nights.

The stories seem to take place after Deception and probably during Blue Wraith. I suppose the last issue of Blue Wraith next week will clear things up.

The first story is about Myrion, a Tevinter mage who has been captured and forced to labour in the Qunari camp of Ventus (which was occupied by Qunari in Deception). He gets stuck with a Dalish elf who snuck in and they escape to Arlathan Forest. The Qunari apparently plan to attack Rivain. There's another Dalish elf, Irelin, who can shapeshift into a Halla, a falcon, an owl and a bear. Arlathan is evidently so dense and full of spirits, it almost looks haunted. Forest guardians roam the place and react if they sense you using magic.

We actually get some Qunari narration. Surprise, surprise, they are sanctimonious to each other as they are to non-Qunari. The Antaam is evidently not supported by the other bodies of the Qun for this invasion, which some Qunari consider treason. And the Antaam is truly ruthless without the Ben-Hassrath and the Tamassrans to hold them back. To the point where the Ben-Hassrath sent undercover agents to check why the Antaam had been so crappy at capturing Ventus. The story ends with the Bas-taar (the savage handler of the captured bas) shot by Saarbrak, the undercover Ben-Hassrath who had come to monitor him.

Shot with a crossbow or are they bringing back the concept art Qunari guns?

Nice to see that even the Qunari can't get away from petty branch infighting.

In DA:O at least justifying being a Blood Mage is super easy. You're a Grey Warden. You're supposed to grab onto damn near any advantage you can get to fight Darkspawn. Heck, by going through the Joining you've effectively practiced Blood Magic anyway. Besides, it's entirely possible in this game to get Blood Magic without compromising your morals too much.

Edited by M84 on Mar 13th 2020 at 7:32:27 PM