Monte Carlo

The guy in the link Alan provided hits t'nail on the head - I don't want to play a character that only starts revving at level 15. Given the way dialogue works in DA I can spend 2 skill points as a warrior on coercion and rely on my uber-strength as a multiplier to intimidate people (I get very cool intimidate options and 40-odd STR wrapped in Dragon Armour is very persuasive). Plus, my warrior was useful at level 1. And 2. And 3. Rinse and repeat.

Di, I found the quickest and easiest way of managing this problem was simply opening a new account in-game if that makes sense. All of a sudden it worked very quickly, maybe a server issue or something.

Imoen chick? Great at locks and traps, complete liability at everything else. If you take her along, stock up on injury kits.

Yeah, I think you are right and that rogues could become a bit of a cult for people who like a challenge - next run through I'm going to make one (not least because it means you can try different NPCs) and I'll go for the duellist skill tree. Alistair, PC Rogue and both the NPC mages = teh win.

^ There aren't many 'rogues are gimped threads' that I've seen over there, more general comments in threads about tactics. To be fair, some people are finding their rogues more powerful than their fighters - these I suspect are very skilled players who have discovered how to integrate the rogue and spellcasters together in combat. Anecdotally, people appear to be missing their BG2 style thieves (i.e. broad skillset and more visibly effective backstab). Cheers MC

Jaesun that's heroically good, if I was Vol I'd be delighted and have a laminated copy blu-tacked above my puter.

Why do human warriors start with one point automatically allocated in a shield skill, unlike elves? Rather annoying. How have folks found DW and 2H warriors in comparison with Walking Panzers mit Shield? Given the high dex for the elite DW skills + high STR for armour / warrior stuff it doesn't seem particularly optimal. My 2H guys always get killed because they don't have shields. Blimey, in Ferelden you really do come home with that shield or upon it [/300spartan gag]. Anybody found the best 'combat rogue' build yet to de-gimp the class? I've yet to meet Zevran but Bio forum peeps find him weak too (mind you most of them find the game a handful on Easy, not that I can talk I'm finding it sublimely challenging on normal). Come on, where are the DA min / maxers for chrissakes, you are needed more than ever! Cheers MC

Zweihander warriors die surprisingly easier - basically they need to be used (ironically) like BG2 rogues backstabbing - step in / use 2H uber-damage ability / step back (behind the shield dude). This is how I work with my party - I taunt and suck up damage with my walking shield schtick and Sten steps around hacking at people. He dies quite a lot, and I've given him the best armour I can find.

Alan, if the other two classes weren't quite so strong and fun to play I doubt this would be a major issue. I can't praise the design of the mage class enough, they are really good fun to play. I think the sowrd & shield warrior is slightly OTT (in a good way), to the extent that my attempt to build a dual-wielding warrior was quickly dropped in favour of the Walking Panzer.

^ Honestly, the rogue is pretty much a spare part. They are sub-par archers, their backstab requires excessive in-combat attention (considering how hectic it can get), the ability to throw grenades is OK but not as good as a spell, the locked containers never contain plot-critical items (if they did you can get a key) and de-trapping is useful but not essential given how quickly you regenerate health after combat. They are, basically, sub-par. The other classes have meaningful, clearly defined roles in a game of brutal melee combat, i.e. fighting and spellcasting. I'm happy to be educated by someone who has studied this class and mastered it, please share, I suspect it's gimpiness will make it the class of choice for the expert player looking for a challenge in the future. But as it stands give me three warriors and a mage any day, or two mages and two warriors.

^ The people have spoken. As someone who likes playing rogues, can they please be fixed?

The rogue issue is simple - people want a light fighter with some meaningful, chunky skills. Not a support guy (especially as the player character). If a rogue can scout, be an effective archer (you mention, and I agree, the general pointlessness of archery - the enemy have the advantage of using six or seven of the suckers in a cover / attrition role), scout and have a couple of decent melee skills (that don't require intense in-combat management) then I think we are away and running. As it stands, the rogue is the weak link in a tough tag team, especially in mob combat. Imoen chick dies as much as her namesake. So I gave her archery. So she's useless, or simply not as useful as the other NPCs. I'm spending an inordinate amount of effort keeping her alive. Honestly, if lock-picking was a cross-class skill (modders please note) I wouldn't bother at all, I'd be rolling over Ferelden like a panzer division with my uber-armoured sword and board protagonist, Alistair, Sten and Morrigan in the artillery support role!

Alan, Seeing as you are kind enough to drop by these threads, a quick question. When QA'ing was there a suggested critical path? For example, is there an expectation that most parties will stomp off to Redcliffe then, in turn, be led to the mage tower? (that would make sense, I decided retrospectively). No biggie, it's just that I headed east and ended up helping the Dalish elves and found the boss fight of that quest virtually impossible to finish. I ended up poking around the DLC quests to bump my levels up and now, at level 12, I'm finally in the mage tower and finding it embarrassingly easy (it's not as if I'm a mentat, I've yet to do the Brescilian woods boss-fight having had my arse kicked several times trying and dragging a rogue around has only added to the problem). What do you think about the scaling? And do you think the complaints about rogues are valid (my alt.account on the social networking site has led me to espy many players with similar views)? Valid enough for them to be patched, perhaps? Cheers MC

Dungeon Siege, the ultimate action-RPG-as-screensaver.

Where TH is correct is the annoying tactic of enemies rushing through my lines to attack spellcasters without sanction. D&D 3 at least provides the attack of opportunity as a sanction, Dragon Age does not.

^ Morrigan is Jaheira without the annoying husband. Approval rating yo-yos but I'm stuck with her since the, er, incident with Wynne. We now have fireball, wow now that's what I call a spell.

It is hard, no doubt about it. I'm still trying to beat a certain encounter by a gravestone in the woods, but again it's like the old BG games where you knew there was a certain party to fight in a certain location (which had nothing to do with the critical path) that you are meant to return to when you were ready. My weakness is the D&D hangover that I need a thief in my party - Imoen Chick is a real weak link. When do I get exotic elf assassin dude? Cheers MC

Favourite NPC = Sten. Have grafted to get +80 approval, for some strange reason he's into (SPOLIER) * * * * * * * Fine art. And in his homeland they don't have cookies. I got +8 approval for talking about freaking cookies.

^ Hmmm, I see where you're coming from. Mebbe it will be modded - "open tactics slot mod"

OK about twenty hours in and some more pros and cons as well as general thoughts: Pros: * Combat is fun, it's not geeky TB greatness like TOEE but it gets the balance between classic RTwP and Diablo-ish twitching just right. * It's a 2AM game, haven't played one of those for ages. * The NPC approval thing isn't quite as annoying as I thought it was and there are even a couple of non-annoying ones, Sten is my favourite. * Spellcasters, for the first time in MC-land, are fun to play and add lots to the tactical mix. * The game is huge. I mean really big. This is one thing Bio weren't talking hype for the sake of it about. * Crafting is fun for the first time, too. * I've found it easy to avoid soppy romance crap. Cons: * The areas are quite linear, more dungeons please. * It's about as dark as the end of "White Christmas", some cleavage and betrayal does not 'dark' make. * Containers & inventory - you dropped the ball Bio, sometimes the small things are the big things. Wake up QA. * CUTSCENES OMFG PLEASE STOP! General Points DLC is no big deal. The VO? Heck, I'm English why the plaudits? They all sound like anedoidal Estuary English southerners to me. Final Score: A very solid 8/10. If it was a bit less, well, Bioware, then it would get 9 or even 9.5.

It's identical to Diablo, some weapons have slots. Talk to Sandal and an arbitration screen opens up, pop the appropriate rune into the item and that's it. All the crafting in this game is so easy even I can do it. I make lots of potions, it's a shame plants don't regrow. Cheers MC

My fighter was able to take the Diabolist skill tree.

I've only paid for one piece of DLC directly (i.e. outside of the the collector's edition) and that was Soldier's Peak. I've written about this elsewhere, but I liked it and am enjoying the skill tree that you get in it if you play your cards right (it's agreeably Diablo 3-ish, even the graphics). It was perfectly reasonable value for money, as a result I've done loads of playing and only scratched the surface of the game. This is good. Shale is also good, the little quest to get him is pretty easy but he's a solid NPC and wittily written. The bonus items are a bit like BG2 - the twinky Red Dragon armour is unlikely to be of much use to you until you hit level 9-10 because you need 38 STR to wear it! The little tome that improves your stats is useful too. Cheers MC

^ Yeah, me too, although this is a record in that I've only re-started once. My party, level 10, is struggling with the end battle of the Brescilian Forest, and I've got Red Dragon armour and other twinkiness. Cheers MC

The scaling in this game is unusual, am finding that I can clear out whole areas bar one or two fights so I have to go away and get some more exp. to come back and finish the job. I'm level 9 verging on 10, have some pretty good loot and kit but am only done the Brescilian Forest (not yet complete) and Soldier's peak! Of course, I'm still trying to master the game controls, this is the first CRPG ever where I'd consider playing a spellcasting character. This is a compliment BTW.