Best way to tackle Dragon Age Origins: Ultimate Edition Dlc?

[Jules]

Kinda lost with all the dlc. I was wondering if anyone knew what was the best way to tackle the dlc in the ultimate edition

 

[blastingcap]

Kinda lost with all the dlc. I was wondering if anyone knew what was the best way to tackle the dlc in the ultimate edition

I just started playing DAO recently and realized that I should have done the Soldier's Peak mission earliest, because that inventory chest that you get after completing that quest makes inventory management MUCH MUCH easier. You will save so much time and gold/silver/copper just by being able to stash stuff there to free up carrying capacity when you go on dungeon dives. After that, it's up to you... I haven't played long enough to really endorse any other mission. Just go to Soldier's Peak when you can, for that inventory chest.

 

[Zenoth]

I don't clearly understand what you mean by how to tackle with the DLCs.

But anyway, as blastingcap suggested above, indeed, doing the Warden's Keep quest first is certainly a good idea, there's good exclusive items to be found during that quest and the storage chest you get from it is going to help if you don't have another one with modifications, which is my case (I have a modification that adds a storage chest in the camp, which makes things very easy to manage).

Usually, what I play first is Leliana's Song (available under the "Other Campaigns" option in the main menu), before starting Origins, since you get the Battledress of the Provocateur from completing it which is then exported to an Origins game. After that I start Origins, then I usually go for the Circle of Magi first right after I'm done with the basic Lothering clearing. I'm doing the Circle of Magi first due to the extra stats points you gain from the Fade. After the Circle of Magi then I go for the DLCs and the side-quests. As far as the DLCs are concerned I often go for Warden's Keep first since I want to get rid of that guy in the camp asking me to help him for that. Then I go for the Stone Prisoner quest (Shale), and finally I do Return to Ostagar. Once all of that is done then I resume on the "normal" quests (excluding DLCs) in any order.

In terms of play order, I would go as follows (referring to DLCs, assuming that you own all of them):

1) Leliana's Song (separate campaign)
1b) Start Origins and go with:
2) Warden's Keep (within Origins)
3) Stone Prisoner (within Origins)
4) Return to Ostagar (within Origins)
4b) Then, once Origins is completed, I'd go with The Darkspawn Chronicles (separate campaign) since it allows the player to see what would have happened had you been on the Darkspawn side, assuming that your Warden had not survived the Joining.
5) Then, after that, I'd go with The Golems of Amgarrak (separate campaign)
6) Dragon Age: Awakening (expansion pack)
7) Witch Hunt (separate campaign)

You should play Awakening and Witch Hunt last since you can export a saved game coming from Witch Hunt to play in Dragon Age 2. Technically you can import a saved game coming from Awakening itself to play your Warden in Witch Hunt, so everything you did in Awakening is kept in memory for Witch Hunt, and then everything you do in Witch Hunt is added to the flags of events (Awakenings events + Witch Hunt) for an exported game to Dragon Age 2, if you ever consider doing so.

But keep in mind that playing Witch Hunt by itself won't change much, or most likely nothing at all, the thing is that Witch Hunt is basically useless, it really adds nothing to the story and reveals nothing worthy, so just ending the whole Origins stuff with Awakening is sufficient, and then exporting your Awakening saved game over to Dragon Age 2 will be more than enough.

Hope it helps.

 

[NoSoup4You]

Do Golems of Amgarrak last, it's far more difficult than any of the others and is, in fact, potentially unbeatable if you have a poorly spec'ed character.

Personally I find the DLC quests offer overpowered items that cause the game's balance to get skewed. Being given for nothing a full set of Tier 4 or 5 massive armor with loads of buffs that early in the game (Warden Commander and/or Cailen's armor) is highly imbalancing.

The key, however, is to stick with the main Origins mode and ignore the DLC that is standalone (Golems, Leiliana's Song, Witch Hunt, Awakenings...). The others build off the Origins story, three of which allow you to import your Origins character. As for the DLC that can be accessed within Origins, play them if you find them interesting (Wardens Keep, Ostagar, Stone Prisoner). Stone Prisoner is a must, in my opinion.

 

[Arg Clin]

But keep in mind that playing Witch Hunt by itself won't change much, or most likely nothing at all, the thing is that Witch Hunt is basically useless, it really adds nothing to the story and reveals nothing worthy, so just ending the whole Origins stuff with Awakening is sufficient, and then exporting your Awakening saved game over to Dragon Age 2 will be more than enough.

I wouldn't call it useless. It's short, and leave a lot of loose ends, but under certain circumstances I'd say it adds to the story quite dramatically. Depends on what choices your warden makes in Origins. There's at least one ending to Origins that only makes sense after Witch Hunt.

spoiler alert:

Spoiler

If the warden has romanced Morrigan, and chooses after Origins to go search for her, Witch Hunt adds a significant piece to the story, as the warden actually does find her. Morrigan also give some clues about future events, which can only really be reference to DA3. Devs have stated that Morrigan will play a big part in future games, so I wouldn't rule out just yet, that the choices made at the end of WH could play major roles in DA3+

 

[rangda]

so just ending the whole Origins stuff with Awakening is sufficient, and then exporting your Awakening saved game over to Dragon Age 2 will be more than enough.

I don't know if it's true, but I've read that Awakening messes up the romance flags for your DAO character such that when it gets imported into DA2 it doesn't know about whatever romance you had active.

 

[zinfamous]

I just started playing DAO recently and realized that I should have done the Soldier's Peak mission earliest, because that inventory chest that you get after completing that quest makes inventory management MUCH MUCH easier. You will save so much time and gold/silver/copper just by being able to stash stuff there to free up carrying capacity when you go on dungeon dives. After that, it's up to you... I haven't played long enough to really endorse any other mission. Just go to Soldier's Peak when you can, for that inventory chest.

Actually, I think you should do Warden's Keep near the end, b/c the weapons and armor you get will be higher level--and they are quite useful for end game, iirc. Now, you can pick those items up early, toss them in that chest; but never ever never ever look at them until you level up to near end game Origins. Then, they will have leveled up with you. or something like that. That's what I have read, anyway. I just tended to do it later in the game

The lack of storage chest didn't bother my all that much on my first playthrough without any mods.

I would do stone prisoner relatively early, b/c Shale is awesome, and there is great leveling.

for storage, you can just install a free community mod to take care of that problem.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Any one have mods that they think are really worth getting for a first playthough?

 

[Gavindale Marchovia]

I know this is remedial at this point, but I am about to start playing Dragon Age Origins Ultimate Edition, and have been looking online for a list of the DLC and when to do them. I was reading this thread, and wanted to put my two cents in. This thread has been giving some mixed signals on what the DLC are and when to do them. I don't mean to be a bother, but with people saying different paths, would it be possible to get a definitive list of the DLC and when to play them? Thanks so much!