Dragon Age tips?

[homercles337]

Neither. The manual is adequate and there are tons of in game tips. But the game is enormous in scope and there is a lot to learn. It's easy to miss things.

This was my answer. Also, too much reading. Dont get me wrong, i like to read but when a new Codex pops up every few minutes i am not going read all that.

 

[pontifex]

Ok, what tips do you have in combat. I seem to get my ass reamed almost every time. Also, I always seem to be fighting like 10-12 enemies compared to my 4 character party.

I've learned to try to pull a single enemy with my bow, but sometimes you can't do that. For instance, in the tower in Ostagar, I walked into this one room and like 15 enemies swarmed me at once. They came out of like 5 different rooms.

 

[snikt]

Ok, what tips do you have in combat. I seem to get my ass reamed almost every time. Also, I always seem to be fighting like 10-12 enemies compared to my 4 character party.

I've learned to try to pull a single enemy with my bow, but sometimes you can't do that. For instance, in the tower in Ostagar, I walked into this one room and like 15 enemies swarmed me at once. They came out of like 5 different rooms.

A lot of the battles can be managed if done correctly. One of the main ways I've been doing it is not rushing into a room which causes the enemy to take notice of you. I set my party a little ways before the room. Then send in one of my party, usually my Warden armed with a bow or crossbow tag one or two of the enemy and get them to chase me to where the rest of my party is and then bushwhack 'em. Divide and conquer. Other battles won't work this way, you have to tackle them head-on.

 

[NoSoup4You]

That battle in the Tower of Ishaal (Ostagar) can be done in stages. Creep forward slowly and enemies in one room come out, kill them and go a little further and the other room opens up...etc. Kill those guys then handle the enemies in the main room.

Keep track of your injuries, a penalty to attack or damage can cripple your characters and as they build up.

 

[pontifex]

oh, with the tactics slots and stuff, this is confusing.

I tried to make my some people use bows at med - long range, melee at short, and to use potions if they are under 25% health.

this failed horribly. They always used bows even though the enemy was right in front of them. they would get way below 25% health and never heal themselves. wtf did i do wrong?

 

[Ika]

oh, with the tactics slots and stuff, this is confusing.

I tried to make my some people use bows at med - long range, melee at short, and to use potions if they are under 25% health.

this failed horribly. They always used bows even though the enemy was right in front of them. they would get way below 25% health and never heal themselves. wtf did i do wrong?

If you select a character, it will disable tactics until that character loses focus.

I didn't realize this myself until about halfway through the game, when one of the in-game tips told me. doh! could've made my life so much easier...

 

[pontifex]

If you select a character, it will disable tactics until that character loses focus.

I didn't realize this myself until about halfway through the game, when one of the in-game tips told me. doh! could've made my life so much easier...

I noticed that much, but these characters were not selected.

 

[NoSoup4You]

Tactics for potions work, or they did before the most recent patch. I don't bother setting them anymore so I'm not sure if that's been broken since.

Get a sword and shield character, pump their strength so that they can wear the best armor you have, and set their talents to something like this -

Always use - Shield Defense
Always use - Threaten
Always use - Taunt
Always use - Precise Striking

Early on this will be all you need, along with those nice Warrior talents that boost damage...etc. Once you get the Blood Dragon armor equipped, your character (Alistair or your main) will be nearly unkillable while freeing up your allies to attack at will.

If you have Leliana, activate her Bard talent which boosts damage and attack (third one in the tree). If you don't have that unlocked, just use the first one (mana/stamina regen).

If you're very early in the game, focus on Shield Defense and Precise Striking. The last one is a must for any melee character, in my opinion. Pump Strength and Dexterity on level up. Really it's all about getting your Sword & Shield character properly set-up, once he/she is ready to go you'll breeze through most battles.

If you have a 2-handed character do NOT use Powerful Swings (it's bugged) and always try to have a maul equipped, mauls have a x1.25 Str modifier which is a sneaky bonus over the x1.10 of the blades/axes. And if you're up against enemies wearing decent armor, you'll do monster damage. I like to activate Indomitable, Precise Striking and use the Sunder talents since they hit twice during the animation, the damage is very good along with the other effects.

These are just basic tips, they can all be setup in the tactics screen which leaves you free to spend most of your time micro'ing your mage during battles.

 

[katank]

Properly specced DW rogues = god for damage dealing. Get combat movement and momentum then run around backstabbing at Benny Hill speeds. Even bosses drop in a matter of seconds.

You do need a good tank w/ Taunt and Threaten though to draw the enemies towards them instead of the rogue. Also, a mage with good CC abilities can help greatly. Getting your rogue swarmed can be problematic.

Also, I'd advise taking the swing speed of weapons into account. While big 2H may look hawt and hit for big numbers, having a pair of fast swinging daggers w/ runes + poisons + mage weapon enchants can crank out waaaay higher total damage over time.

If you are into survivability, try building an AW/BM. Alistair and Shale are both good tanks.

 

[Jeeebus]

oh, with the tactics slots and stuff, this is confusing.

I tried to make my some people use bows at med - long range, melee at short, and to use potions if they are under 25% health.

this failed horribly. They always used bows even though the enemy was right in front of them. they would get way below 25% health and never heal themselves. wtf did i do wrong?

You need to understand that the game reads tactics sequentially and so your problem is that you're likely never getting to your health potion tactic.

To put it in perspective, lets say these are your tactics:

1. Closest enemy - use ability Shield Bash
2. Closest enemy - attack
3. If health < 50%, use health potion

You will never use a health potion in combat because the check will never come up. Your character will use shield bash, and then attack enemies normally. So long as an enemy is around, tactic # 3 will never activate.

If you want to use personal buffs/health potions, they should go at the top of your tactics list. The game will always go down the list from top to bottom when determining which tactic to use, so stack it like this:

1. If health < x%, use potion/spell, etc.
2. Self: Activate (whatever buff talent you have)
3. attack, etc. etc.

 

[Modular]

Great thread (for the most part) so far! Let's try to keep this one spoiler free please. That's the gripe I've got with you all saying to read the other threads...they turn into spoiler hells.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Best and only tip needed for those struggling with this game:

Use three mages.

/thread

 

[zerogear]

Having your tank learn Taunt and having a mage dish out damage while your tank constantly uses taunt to get the enemies away from the mage is tantamount --- Also, if you're playing mage, set the tank/warrior as defensive, so they don't wander too far away.

 

[KeypoX]

Sucks i beat it. In 55 hours 🙁 i think this is the best game i have ever played. Started hard but became so easy. I guess cause i was mage and love cold. And cold owns in this game.

Never did many things mentioned in these tips. But only died maybe 20 times the whole game. Ended the game with 300gold, wish i spent more, but never bought anything but stuff like flasks, and reagents for potions.

I guess spend more money, and DO use lock picking. Sucks to have so many chests, and doors that you can't open. A few times i unlocked a door and got 20+ gold. NOt that i ever spent it 🙁 And disarm traps, easy and fast experience.

I may play again as a rogue and be evil 😉

 

[pontifex]

I got some sort of item that adds abilities to my weapons, like +2 damage vs. darkspawn but I can't figure out how to use it.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

I got some sort of item that adds abilities to my weapons, like +2 damage vs. darkspawn but I can't figure out how to use it.

Talk to the "Enchantment? ENCHANTMENT!" kid in your camp.

 

[pontifex]

Talk to the "Enchantment? ENCHANTMENT!" kid in your camp.

I don't have a camp yet so that explains that.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

I don't have a camp yet so that explains that.

😀😀 You're still very early in the game. Don't worry yourself too much, things tend to crystallize as you move through the game. There's a lot to learn so they spread out the "tutorial" over several hours of gameplay.

 

[Malladine]

I'm 65 or so hrs in and at the last battle now. Kinda holding off - been a fun ride 🙂
It definitely ranks in the top 5 single player RPGS for me.

One little tip: just 1 point into poison making gives access to any of those nice poisons filling your inventory 🙂

 

[Mem]

Having your tank learn Taunt and having a mage dish out damage while your tank constantly uses taunt to get the enemies away from the mage is tantamount --- Also, if you're playing mage, set the tank/warrior as defensive, so they don't wander too far away.

Yep plus make sure your mage magic flames the groups melee weapons ,every bit of damage helps,keep an eye on those on low health so you can heal them.

 

[RaistlinZ]

Sucks i beat it. In 55 hours 🙁 i think this is the best game i have ever played. Started hard but became so easy. I guess cause i was mage and love cold. And cold owns in this game.

Never did many things mentioned in these tips. But only died maybe 20 times the whole game. Ended the game with 300gold, wish i spent more, but never bought anything but stuff like flasks, and reagents for potions.

I guess spend more money, and DO use lock picking. Sucks to have so many chests, and doors that you can't open. A few times i unlocked a door and got 20+ gold. NOt that i ever spent it 🙁 And disarm traps, easy and fast experience.

I may play again as a rogue and be evil 😉

That's what I'm doing on my 2nd go-around and loving it. 🙂 I'm playing as a Dwarf duelist/assassin rogue, with 1 point into Archery for Rapid Fire.

BTW... has anyone bothered training up stealth very high? It seems rather pointless since you always engage in battles in a group of 4.

 

[pontifex]

I ended up restarting the game as a dwarf warrior since I was just kind of throwing points around and didn't know what to use/do on my human warrior.

 

[zerocool84]

If anyone was a Mage on their playthrough, which specialization did you get first?

 

[sourceninja]

That's what I'm doing on my 2nd go-around and loving it. 🙂 I'm playing as a Dwarf duelist/assassin rogue, with 1 point into Archery for Rapid Fire.

BTW... has anyone bothered training up stealth very high? It seems rather pointless since you always engage in battles in a group of 4.

You dont' have to engage battles in a group. I didn't as my rogue. Plus with high stealth you can hide in combat. This has the HUGE advantage of making whatever was attacking you stop attacking you and go after the next guy on the hate list (usually your tank). Then you get a free backstab as you hit him and come out of stealth.

I would frequently tell my party to hold location, then stealth scout ahead and sometimes backstab then run to pull bad guys around corners and spread them out a bit while my party ran to catch up.

If you micromanage your rogue, his damage output can be off the charts.

 

[ayabe]

You can be a damage machine rogue and never use stealth, it's a lot less micro.
Throw a taunt, turn on momentum and backstab away.