~Di

Wow, Enoch, great post. It should be stickied!

If that's Alistair's behavior when you let Logain live, I agree, it goes totally against the core ethics he has shown throughout the game. In fact, at one point you can ask Alistair So for him to just dump his duty and stomp out at such a crucial moment goes against everything he supposedly stands for. Bad move on Bio's part. Very bad move. Of course I didn't have that problem, since there is no way on earth I'm letting the scum who killed Duncan take another breath.

No, you can't. My rogue had all 4 skill ranks and Cunning of 28-30 (I don't recall which), and there were locks that she didn't have the skill to pick. Which annoyed me no end!

I enjoyed the mage origin story as well. For me the choice was really difficult. From my character's POV, For me the choice between two distinct betrayals left a very sour taste; I felt like crap either way. As a player, however, I liked the fact that for my character it seemed a lose-lose situation. Made more of an emotional impact that way. Glad you played it, and appreciate your feedback.

Much truth there. My first game I must have lost 20 approval points from Morri doing tasks like . I mean, really. In Lothering, walking into a merchant/crowd Rubbish. I got to the point that I wouldn't take her into towns where I might get side quests because I couldn't afford to keep buying her jewelry to get her to like me again. Playing a mage now, and I love that I don't need her at all. She can warm her cold ass in the camp from now on.

I hope I never have to download this patch. The FF and CP nerfs are ridiculous. There's no reason to use these magic lines at all now. And as for using in the fade, forget about it. CP and Winter's Grasp are its only form of protection. Now it's got nothing.

I am gobsmacked. What kind of person could possibly live in a house that isn't even as wide as they are tall??? The mind truly boggles.

What file type are they? If they are a .dazip file you'll need to use the Dragon Age Updater (daupdater) to install them. That can be found in the "bin_ship" folder of your main "Dragon Age" folder. Otherwise you can simply place most items in the override directory that can be found at either "C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\packages\core\override" or "C:\Users\<username>\Documents\BioWare\DragonAge\packages\core\override". Hope this helps! Thank you so much! They were indeed .dazip files, and all have been installed thanks to your instructions. Don't know if they work yet... baby steps, baby steps!

OMG. They totally gutted Crushing Prison. 9 seconds? It's nearly useless now.

Rats, I can't get any mods to work here. I don't know how to install them. I downloaded the camp chest, companion respect, and no-helmet mods, but I can't figure out how the heck to install them. Or where to install them. I have my game on drive E, but there are documents for Dragon Age on drive C. I'm totally lost here. Can anyone offer any help?

Ooooooh.... I only made the drakeskin... the expensive ones. I actually never got a dragon scale in my last game. I was too low level when I first found him, and forgot to go back later.

Damn, I'd love to see that camp scene. She's never sung for me. Maybe it's because I'm not involved with her romantically.

Damn! So there's no way to have Wade make both the drakeskin and the dragon armor? Have to choose one? I did not know that.

Not totally tactic-related, but on the topic of Wade's Emporium, I dropped back in after Landsmeet was called to get some better gear, and the guy behind the counter wouldn't even talk to me. Threw me out of the shop. Er, is that supposed to happen, plotwise, or did I unwittingly do something to piss the guy off? Happen to anyone else?

sadly, as a finisher da is not bioware's best game. the last hour of the game... drags, and the final battle made us say, "that's it?" the epilogues (when not bugged) is nice enough. not a great finisher, but very solid all the way through. HA! Good Fun! Grom, what would you say is Bio's best finisher? I know it's rude to interrupt the conversation of others, but I just had to blurt out my favorite ending of all time... Mass Effect! The most exhilarating and satisfying end battles ever!!

Oh great. They borked all of my favorite twinkie spells... force field, crushing prison, cone of cold and blizzard. Grrrrrrr

Yup, and it's my favorite part of the game. Watching the comedy antics of your is PURE GOLD (I went with Leliana & Dog on my first playthrough); Mine too! Talk about comedy gold, I went with Totally priceless!

MC: Thanks! I messed around with tactics on my first game, but ended up hurting myself more than helping due to my ignorance. I finally just had them chug potions when their health was 25%, and having my warriors protect my healer. This game I'm the mage, so I need my DPS folk to do what I want them to so I don't have to babysit them. Gonna have to spend more time figuring out the complexities of tactics so Wynne doesn't petrify every low-level mob she sees (I made her save it for Elite and above) and waste mana on casting rejuvenate instead of heal party when we're all on our last legs! I wanted Leliana to use her dirty tricks when she was attacked with melee, but that just made her yank out the old daggers again. Clearly, Leliana and I have a failure to communicate. BTW, glad you're having fun with your rogue. I absolutely adored playing with my little assassin gal!

I'll try that, thanks! Do you mean that I have to take her daggers away as well? There could be times I'd like her to use them, so taking them away is a last resort.

From what I'm reading, there is a tactics trick to keep Leilana from dumping her bow and backstabbing at the first opportunity. Please share. I'm sick of screaming at her to put down the daggers and pick up the stupid bow. Yes, I could take away all of her melee toys, but that takes away an option that I may need to use on occasion... when I want to use it, not when she wants to use it. Stubborn woman. Come on, gimme tactics secret... please?

I found it, but only because I had the strategy guide. I was focused on a particularly prominent painting, trying to find a way to "use" it... when it turned out to be in a totally different room. Yes, "tab" is my constant companion now. I've considered putting a rock on that key so my pinky finger doesn't get so tired! Yep, my mage ended up with The Edge, a dagger my rogue would have killed for but never received. I checked my DLC page, and there it was. Thing is, I'm pretty sure I never actually downloaded it. I think they're spying on me....

You should run through the mage origin. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It gives quite a bit of insight that I never got playing my human rogue, and since you meet all the people who will be involved... or gone... during the Circle Tower quest, I'm sure I'll find it more gutwrenching this time. It only took a couple of hours, max, to do the entire origin. I don't know if the scenario I spoke of will meet your criteria of moral ambiguity. I just know that I was put in a position where I was forced to choose between two completely unpleasant choices. Abstaining was not an option. And both choices made me feel really guilty, but for different reasons. (Then again, I tend to emotionally identify with my characters, lol )

Yep, me too. A lose-lose situation. Either way, I felt like crap.

It's too bad, actually. I love the game, but now that I know what a long grind that endgame is, I might not even bother with it next time. It wasn't that it was all that difficult; it just took so damned long that I was screaming "enough already!" I could not wait for the game to end at that point.