Dragon Age: Origins

**Prince Toad** · 01-29-2010, 06:27 PM

Well, it's a couple months old but I figured there should be a topic about it. What does everyone think of BioWare's... second-newest release?

Personally it's one of my favorite games of all time. I just started my second playthrough yesterday. The world is simply one of the best I've seen in any game, which is even more impressive given that it's fairly conventional swords-and-sorcery. The characters are written and voiced wonderfully (my personal favorite being Shale), it's full of awesome lore and background information, and it looks good without taxing my relatively low-end computer too much. The combat system isn't revolutionary but it's still a lot of fun-- I never got tired of the countless battles. And so on. Just a fantastic game all around.

Has anyone played the DLC? My friend said it was good but too short for the price. Either way I'm hugely looking forward to the major expansion due in March.

Sim Kid · 01-29-2010, 11:39 PM

I've been enjoying this game - I played Elf Magi origin, and went right for the Dalish elves so I could get Arcane Warrior as SOON as possible.

Th thing I notice about this game is that the difficulty is rather inconsistent - there are some trash mobs that whooped my ass, then boss battles I just curbstomped. I've also had times in which I lost to trash mobs, then stomped them after I quickloaded.

**Prince Toad** · 01-30-2010, 01:55 AM

Cool, my new character is also an elven mage. My first guy was a dwarven rogue commoner. You only have to unlock specializations once, so I was able to make my new character an Arcane Warrior right at level 7 even though I haven't been to the forest. I haven't fully exploited it but it's a good option for when I run out of mana-- just switch on Frost Weapons, Arcane Shield, and... the Arcane Warrior stance (forget its name), put on warrior crap, and go to town. I'm pretty sure it saved my ass during the attack on Redcliffe Village. I'm also playing on Hard this time. Of course the game got easier now that I know the ins and outs of the combat system and good tactics, so it feels about the same as my first game. I am kind of afraid of boss battles though.

Yeah, sometimes random mobs will kill you and the boss difficulty varies, but I don't mind it. Keeps you on your toes. That's probably one of the reasons I never got sick of fighting. If it's just "oh, another pack of pathetic enemies" then you get bored. But if you have a serious chance of at least one person dying during any given encounter you pay attention. That said, random mobs do get a lot easier late in the game, maybe a bit too easy.

As for bosses... the only one I found easy was at the end of the Tower. And even he wasn't a pushover. I thought the rest were pretty tough. Of course, I didn't have a healer for most of the game. After I started making Morrigan learn healing spells toward the end, things seemed to get a lot easier. (Warning to anyone who reads this: YOU NEED A HEALER. Wynne is best but Morrigan can do it too if you don't mind putting her on the job part-time.)

Who are you using? I did Alistair, Shale, and Morrigan with my rogue, and I think I'm going to use Alistair, Leliana, and Wynne this time.

Sim Kid · 01-30-2010, 05:48 PM

I'm currently using Alistair and Wynne. Wynne because really, who wouldn't turn down a healer?

Jarvia is a pain in the arse though.

Sim Kid · 03-25-2010, 02:01 AM

Sorry to bump this. Alright, so anyways, played a LOT more.

I think I can actually shed some light on one of the whole "inconsistent difficulty" thing. See, I did Brecilian Forest first (Arcane Warrior, duh. :P) and then did the Circle Tower. Then I did Orzrammar, and went to Redcliffe. When I was at Redcliffe, suddenly, everything was rather easy and I was thinking "...huh? Did I suddenly get that much better?". The same also happened hwen I did the Urn of Sacred Ashes quest (Which I put off until Redcliffe, since I thought I missed it because I didn't stop to do it in Lothering.)

So supposedly, the game does have a scaling system so that some enemies will be able to be a challenge to you, but I think they cap after a little while (Like Tactics Ogre) so if one waits to do Redcliffe or Circle Tower (Both recommended at level 6+), it'll get easier. While Chorezrammar may give you a challenge, due to it being recommended for 10+. (The assassins were supposedly a warning that you should try the other three and the Urn of Sacred ashes first) Urn of Sacred Ashes is like level 8+. (Brecilian forest is 7+. I didn't find it that hard, except for the boss fight at the end)

It's also worth noticing that mages really are overpowered in this game...Sure Rogues and Warriors really aren't slackers, but my goodness...I'm thankful Blood Mages I fight don't use the moves I can learn as a blood mage myself! (Blood Mage is pretty good for a secondary specialization for Mages. Funny how Wynne doesn't whine about being one. XDDD)

I also unlocked the Duelist specialization and intend to try making my Dwarf Noble a Duelist-Assassin.

Spoiler Below

My goodness, Bhelen is an ASS!!! I supported him because I actually thought Harrowmont was a bit worse on my mage, but then when I was a dwarven noble....Bhelen backstabbed me and my brother, then got me exiled into the darkspawn-infested tunnels without even getting a trial! And meanwhile, Harrowmont was the only one who believed me and actually fought to get me a fair trial...GAGH!!! Shame that Bhelen actually is the better choice if the Dwarves were to progress, or I'd immediately say "Ha ha, take that! I PICK HARROWMONT!" to him.

**Prince Toad** · 03-25-2010, 01:29 PM

Yeah that makes sense. Mages are really overpowered-- between my mage, who I loaded with damage spells, and Wynne, who used glyphs and of course healing, we pretty much tore through the game on hard difficulty. Fighters are really there to suck up damage and occasionally knock people over or whatever. Rogues can be very useful but they don't have the explosive long-range firepower of mages.

Blood Mage is the only specialization I haven't unlocked. It'll take a third go-through to get it. Most of the specializations aren't that great, but a Spirit Healer is almost necessary. Ranger's decent, basically gets you another party member/meatshield; Assassin's Mark of Death is useful but the rest of their crap isn't; Arcane Warrior is nice when you're out of mana; none of the others seemed particularly useful, including all of the warrior ones, though I have yet to play a warrior and I rarely controlled mine.

Let me devote an entire paragraph to glyphs. GLYPHS ARE ****ING AWESOME. USE THEM. You can keep an entire horde at bay for like half a minute, maybe more, with one Glyph of Warding. Glyph of Neutralization makes mages useless. The others are moderately useful too.

Yeah, as far as Orzammar goes, I was kinda frustrated when I went there as a non-dwarf. It was my second go-through so I knew already what Bhelen and Harrowmont were like, but I tried as hard as I could to find some difference in their personalities before devoting myself to one, and I really couldn't. I think you have to do the first Bhelen mission to sort of figure out his character, and I don't know if you ever really get a good picture of Harrowmont until toward the end. Sorta dumb and frustrating.

Sim Kid · 03-25-2010, 08:57 PM

Heh, Blood Wound can make most enemies (Since a lot of 'em have blood) be twitching. Combine with the glyphs and you got an overpowered mess.

Well, you actually figure out more of Bhelen's character through the Dwarven Noble origin. It's in the spoiler tags, but I forget what the bhelen missions were...there was a large drop off between I played the Bhelen missions then when I finished Paragon of Her Kind.

**Prince Toad** · 03-26-2010, 03:27 PM

Hm, I usually played straight through whatever place I was in, minus the necessary selling/restocking excursions to camp or Denerim.

Spoiler Below

I did Bhelen in my first game, as a dwarven commoner, and Harrowmont in my second, as an elven mage. Bhelen has you going around doing sketchy and probably immoral things, but I don't think they were that horrible... and anyway you have a reason to support him as a commoner, so I did them without worrying about it too much. Harrowmont's were fairly neutral as far as I could tell, like entering the Proving in his name.

Sim Kid · 03-26-2010, 05:31 PM

Well, by drop off I mean "I got distracted by other things", not "Ooooh I wanna do THIS sidequest". XD

**Prince Toad** · 03-26-2010, 07:44 PM

Oh ha, okay.

Sim Kid · 03-27-2010, 02:00 AM

So anyways, have you managed to do anything on the Landsmeet yet?

Spoiler Below

I actually managed to have what I think was the most favourable outcome from it...well in my opinion at least. Anora and Alistair don't die at all, in fact I managed to harden Alistair and got him to consent to making a political marriage to Anora. Loghain meanwhile...I actually accepted Riordan's offer to make him undergo the Joining so I got him to join. He's a nice tank. Sure Alistair leaves the party because he can't be persuaded at all, but I know from an earlier save that if you don't harden him&Persuade him and Anora to marry and let Loghain live, then he becomes a wondering drunk. So I think that's a better outcome in my opinion.

**Prince Toad** · 03-28-2010, 01:02 AM

Well, I let my characters' personalities inform the outcomes of that. (I beat the game with both of them.)

Spoiler Below

My dwarf commoner rogue was fiercely loyal to the Wardens and his friends, particularly Alistair. He was also a pragmatist so he would have considered letting Loghain join, but given his crimes against the Wardens and Alistair's insistence that he die for them, he let Alistair kill him. For similar reasons he let Anora take the throne-- he didn't really give a **** about Denerim as a kingdom, and being a commoner, certainly not about bloodlines. He would much rather make his friend Alistair happy and give the kingdom a leader strong enough to turn back the blight.

My elven mage on the other hand was more of a moralist. She distrusted and disliked Anora, who had betrayed her- I managed to kill Ser Cauthrien instead of being arrested-- and made Alistair take the throne. Loghain of course had to be punished for his crimes, and my character was again close to Alistair, so she also had Loghain killed.

I have plans for an amoral bastard of a third character, a human noble warrior. He'll probably spare Loghain, not give a **** about Alistair, and... if possible take the throne for himself. Otherwise, eh, I dunno, I'll have to see. I'm giving the game a good long rest before I go through it again.

Sim Kid · 03-31-2010, 05:47 PM

Ah,

Spoiler Below

Thalia the elf figured it'd be better to let everyone live, because someone forgot to tell her that someone has to die to kill the Archdemon. So she figured it was better that Alistair hated her and lived with Anora than possibly committing suicide out of anger that Loghain lived...really I can see why he got mad, but Alistair does tend to overreact a bit...

My dwarven Rogue is currently a Duelist. I've been looking up some of the stuff from Awakening...and it almost makes me want to roll a warrior for Spirit Warrior specialization. It sounds nice on paper. I just hope that it's functional and doesn't require a patch because that ability that made everything deal spirit damage is bugged and uses the wrong stat. (I have no clue if this is fixed or not, but for awhile, Shapeshifter's forms would use the strength stat when they should use the Magic stat like the arcane Warrior does, meaning it was counter-intuitive to use them)

Sim Kid · 04-06-2010, 03:40 PM

Double post, sorry about that.

Well I'm playing Awakening. I already beat Origins on my first try (The archdemon was easy if you know how).

Boy, Oghren has his Silliness Switch cranked up to eleven in this game. Spoiler Below

XD His Joining was hillarious.

**Prince Toad** · 04-06-2010, 06:13 PM

HE WHAT? Goddamn man, careful with those spoilers! I haven't picked up Awakening yet.

Sim Kid · 04-09-2010, 01:59 AM

Oh crud, sorry. >.< I didn't think that was really a spoiler.

Okay this isn't a spoiler.

You get to either import a warden or create a new warden. If you create a new warden, people are more critical of you for being Orliasian. Although on the plus side, you do get to start totally from blank and you get to re-align all your stats and get to pick specializations you unlocked already. The new specializations get unlocked at level 22. (Spirit warrior, Templar, Reaver = IRONY!!)

Oh, and while creating a new warden does start you at level 18, you gain WAY more experience and money than in Origins. I regularly find myself looting over one sovereign from trash mobs, when in Origins, I'd loot maybe 23-50 silver; and would only loot more than one sovereign from bosses and later enemies (when you're swimming in it anyways). I'm also gaining over 100 experience from kills, so yes, everyone levels up a lot.

It's rather obvious that despite having a new campaign, this definitely is too big to just be some DLC stuff like with shale and Return to Ostagar. Sadly
Spoiler Below

I don't think Shale joins in Awakening. And I think Leliana and Zevran don't join either...Wynne only gives sidequests.

That's the only plot stuff I can reveal, I'm not that far in and don't quite understand everything that's going on.

01-29-2010, 06:27 PM	#1
Prince Toad PC Games and Tech Mod Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Rookery Gender: Posts: 11,720 Thanks: 50 Thanked 65 Times in 56 Posts	Dragon Age: Origins Well, it's a couple months old but I figured there should be a topic about it. What does everyone think of BioWare's... second-newest release? Personally it's one of my favorite games of all time. I just started my second playthrough yesterday. The world is simply one of the best I've seen in any game, which is even more impressive given that it's fairly conventional swords-and-sorcery. The characters are written and voiced wonderfully (my personal favorite being Shale), it's full of awesome lore and background information, and it looks good without taxing my relatively low-end computer too much. The combat system isn't revolutionary but it's still a lot of fun-- I never got tired of the countless battles. And so on. Just a fantastic game all around. Has anyone played the DLC? My friend said it was good but too short for the price. Either way I'm hugely looking forward to the major expansion due in March.

04-06-2010, 03:40 PM	#14
Sim Kid Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The state of Denial Gender: Posts: 8,770 Thanks: 75 Thanked 196 Times in 120 Posts	Double post, sorry about that. Well I'm playing Awakening. I already beat Origins on my first try (The archdemon was easy if you know how). Boy, Oghren has his Silliness Switch cranked up to eleven in this game. Spoiler Below XD His Joining was hillarious. Last edited by Prince Toad; 04-06-2010 at 06:12 PM.

01-29-2010, 11:39 PM	#2
Sim Kid Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The state of Denial Gender: Posts: 8,770 Thanks: 75 Thanked 196 Times in 120 Posts	I've been enjoying this game - I played Elf Magi origin, and went right for the Dalish elves so I could get Arcane Warrior as SOON as possible. Th thing I notice about this game is that the difficulty is rather inconsistent - there are some trash mobs that whooped my ass, then boss battles I just curbstomped. I've also had times in which I lost to trash mobs, then stomped them after I quickloaded.

01-30-2010, 01:55 AM	#3
Prince Toad PC Games and Tech Mod Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Rookery Gender: Posts: 11,720 Thanks: 50 Thanked 65 Times in 56 Posts	Cool, my new character is also an elven mage. My first guy was a dwarven rogue commoner. You only have to unlock specializations once, so I was able to make my new character an Arcane Warrior right at level 7 even though I haven't been to the forest. I haven't fully exploited it but it's a good option for when I run out of mana-- just switch on Frost Weapons, Arcane Shield, and... the Arcane Warrior stance (forget its name), put on warrior crap, and go to town. I'm pretty sure it saved my ass during the attack on Redcliffe Village. I'm also playing on Hard this time. Of course the game got easier now that I know the ins and outs of the combat system and good tactics, so it feels about the same as my first game. I am kind of afraid of boss battles though. Yeah, sometimes random mobs will kill you and the boss difficulty varies, but I don't mind it. Keeps you on your toes. That's probably one of the reasons I never got sick of fighting. If it's just "oh, another pack of pathetic enemies" then you get bored. But if you have a serious chance of at least one person dying during any given encounter you pay attention. That said, random mobs do get a lot easier late in the game, maybe a bit too easy. As for bosses... the only one I found easy was at the end of the Tower. And even he wasn't a pushover. I thought the rest were pretty tough. Of course, I didn't have a healer for most of the game. After I started making Morrigan learn healing spells toward the end, things seemed to get a lot easier. (Warning to anyone who reads this: YOU NEED A HEALER. Wynne is best but Morrigan can do it too if you don't mind putting her on the job part-time.) Who are you using? I did Alistair, Shale, and Morrigan with my rogue, and I think I'm going to use Alistair, Leliana, and Wynne this time.

01-30-2010, 05:48 PM	#4
Sim Kid Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The state of Denial Gender: Posts: 8,770 Thanks: 75 Thanked 196 Times in 120 Posts	I'm currently using Alistair and Wynne. Wynne because really, who wouldn't turn down a healer? Jarvia is a pain in the arse though.

03-25-2010, 02:01 AM	#5
Sim Kid Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The state of Denial Gender: Posts: 8,770 Thanks: 75 Thanked 196 Times in 120 Posts	Sorry to bump this. Alright, so anyways, played a LOT more. I think I can actually shed some light on one of the whole "inconsistent difficulty" thing. See, I did Brecilian Forest first (Arcane Warrior, duh. :P) and then did the Circle Tower. Then I did Orzrammar, and went to Redcliffe. When I was at Redcliffe, suddenly, everything was rather easy and I was thinking "...huh? Did I suddenly get that much better?". The same also happened hwen I did the Urn of Sacred Ashes quest (Which I put off until Redcliffe, since I thought I missed it because I didn't stop to do it in Lothering.) So supposedly, the game does have a scaling system so that some enemies will be able to be a challenge to you, but I think they cap after a little while (Like Tactics Ogre) so if one waits to do Redcliffe or Circle Tower (Both recommended at level 6+), it'll get easier. While Chorezrammar may give you a challenge, due to it being recommended for 10+. (The assassins were supposedly a warning that you should try the other three and the Urn of Sacred ashes first) Urn of Sacred Ashes is like level 8+. (Brecilian forest is 7+. I didn't find it that hard, except for the boss fight at the end) It's also worth noticing that mages really are overpowered in this game...Sure Rogues and Warriors really aren't slackers, but my goodness...I'm thankful Blood Mages I fight don't use the moves I can learn as a blood mage myself! (Blood Mage is pretty good for a secondary specialization for Mages. Funny how Wynne doesn't whine about being one. XDDD) I also unlocked the Duelist specialization and intend to try making my Dwarf Noble a Duelist-Assassin. Spoiler Below My goodness, Bhelen is an ASS!!! I supported him because I actually thought Harrowmont was a bit worse on my mage, but then when I was a dwarven noble....Bhelen backstabbed me and my brother, then got me exiled into the darkspawn-infested tunnels without even getting a trial! And meanwhile, Harrowmont was the only one who believed me and actually fought to get me a fair trial...GAGH!!! Shame that Bhelen actually is the better choice if the Dwarves were to progress, or I'd immediately say "Ha ha, take that! I PICK HARROWMONT!" to him.

03-25-2010, 01:29 PM	#6
Prince Toad PC Games and Tech Mod Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Rookery Gender: Posts: 11,720 Thanks: 50 Thanked 65 Times in 56 Posts	Yeah that makes sense. Mages are really overpowered-- between my mage, who I loaded with damage spells, and Wynne, who used glyphs and of course healing, we pretty much tore through the game on hard difficulty. Fighters are really there to suck up damage and occasionally knock people over or whatever. Rogues can be very useful but they don't have the explosive long-range firepower of mages. Blood Mage is the only specialization I haven't unlocked. It'll take a third go-through to get it. Most of the specializations aren't that great, but a Spirit Healer is almost necessary. Ranger's decent, basically gets you another party member/meatshield; Assassin's Mark of Death is useful but the rest of their crap isn't; Arcane Warrior is nice when you're out of mana; none of the others seemed particularly useful, including all of the warrior ones, though I have yet to play a warrior and I rarely controlled mine. Let me devote an entire paragraph to glyphs. GLYPHS ARE ****ING AWESOME. USE THEM. You can keep an entire horde at bay for like half a minute, maybe more, with one Glyph of Warding. Glyph of Neutralization makes mages useless. The others are moderately useful too. Yeah, as far as Orzammar goes, I was kinda frustrated when I went there as a non-dwarf. It was my second go-through so I knew already what Bhelen and Harrowmont were like, but I tried as hard as I could to find some difference in their personalities before devoting myself to one, and I really couldn't. I think you have to do the first Bhelen mission to sort of figure out his character, and I don't know if you ever really get a good picture of Harrowmont until toward the end. Sorta dumb and frustrating.

03-25-2010, 08:57 PM	#7
Sim Kid Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The state of Denial Gender: Posts: 8,770 Thanks: 75 Thanked 196 Times in 120 Posts	Heh, Blood Wound can make most enemies (Since a lot of 'em have blood) be twitching. Combine with the glyphs and you got an overpowered mess. Well, you actually figure out more of Bhelen's character through the Dwarven Noble origin. It's in the spoiler tags, but I forget what the bhelen missions were...there was a large drop off between I played the Bhelen missions then when I finished Paragon of Her Kind.

03-26-2010, 03:27 PM	#8
Prince Toad PC Games and Tech Mod Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Rookery Gender: Posts: 11,720 Thanks: 50 Thanked 65 Times in 56 Posts	Hm, I usually played straight through whatever place I was in, minus the necessary selling/restocking excursions to camp or Denerim. Spoiler Below I did Bhelen in my first game, as a dwarven commoner, and Harrowmont in my second, as an elven mage. Bhelen has you going around doing sketchy and probably immoral things, but I don't think they were that horrible... and anyway you have a reason to support him as a commoner, so I did them without worrying about it too much. Harrowmont's were fairly neutral as far as I could tell, like entering the Proving in his name.

03-26-2010, 05:31 PM	#9
Sim Kid Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The state of Denial Gender: Posts: 8,770 Thanks: 75 Thanked 196 Times in 120 Posts	Well, by drop off I mean "I got distracted by other things", not "Ooooh I wanna do THIS sidequest". XD

03-26-2010, 07:44 PM	#10
Prince Toad PC Games and Tech Mod Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Rookery Gender: Posts: 11,720 Thanks: 50 Thanked 65 Times in 56 Posts	Oh ha, okay.

03-27-2010, 02:00 AM	#11
Sim Kid Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The state of Denial Gender: Posts: 8,770 Thanks: 75 Thanked 196 Times in 120 Posts	So anyways, have you managed to do anything on the Landsmeet yet? Spoiler Below I actually managed to have what I think was the most favourable outcome from it...well in my opinion at least. Anora and Alistair don't die at all, in fact I managed to harden Alistair and got him to consent to making a political marriage to Anora. Loghain meanwhile...I actually accepted Riordan's offer to make him undergo the Joining so I got him to join. He's a nice tank. Sure Alistair leaves the party because he can't be persuaded at all, but I know from an earlier save that if you don't harden him&Persuade him and Anora to marry and let Loghain live, then he becomes a wondering drunk. So I think that's a better outcome in my opinion.

03-28-2010, 01:02 AM	#12
Prince Toad PC Games and Tech Mod Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Rookery Gender: Posts: 11,720 Thanks: 50 Thanked 65 Times in 56 Posts	Well, I let my characters' personalities inform the outcomes of that. (I beat the game with both of them.) Spoiler Below My dwarf commoner rogue was fiercely loyal to the Wardens and his friends, particularly Alistair. He was also a pragmatist so he would have considered letting Loghain join, but given his crimes against the Wardens and Alistair's insistence that he die for them, he let Alistair kill him. For similar reasons he let Anora take the throne-- he didn't really give a ** about Denerim as a kingdom, and being a commoner, certainly not about bloodlines. He would much rather make his friend Alistair happy and give the kingdom a leader strong enough to turn back the blight. My elven mage on the other hand was more of a moralist. She distrusted and disliked Anora, who had betrayed her- I managed to kill Ser Cauthrien instead of being arrested-- and made Alistair take the throne. Loghain of course had to be punished for his crimes, and my character was again close to Alistair, so she also had Loghain killed. I have plans for an amoral bastard of a third character, a human noble warrior. He'll probably spare Loghain, not give a ** about Alistair, and... if possible take the throne for himself. Otherwise, eh, I dunno, I'll have to see. I'm giving the game a good long rest before I go through it again.

03-31-2010, 05:47 PM	#13
Sim Kid Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The state of Denial Gender: Posts: 8,770 Thanks: 75 Thanked 196 Times in 120 Posts	Ah, Spoiler Below Thalia the elf figured it'd be better to let everyone live, because someone forgot to tell her that someone has to die to kill the Archdemon. So she figured it was better that Alistair hated her and lived with Anora than possibly committing suicide out of anger that Loghain lived...really I can see why he got mad, but Alistair does tend to overreact a bit... My dwarven Rogue is currently a Duelist. I've been looking up some of the stuff from Awakening...and it almost makes me want to roll a warrior for Spirit Warrior specialization. It sounds nice on paper. I just hope that it's functional and doesn't require a patch because that ability that made everything deal spirit damage is bugged and uses the wrong stat. (I have no clue if this is fixed or not, but for awhile, Shapeshifter's forms would use the strength stat when they should use the Magic stat like the arcane Warrior does, meaning it was counter-intuitive to use them)

04-06-2010, 06:13 PM	#15
Prince Toad PC Games and Tech Mod Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Rookery Gender: Posts: 11,720 Thanks: 50 Thanked 65 Times in 56 Posts	HE WHAT? Goddamn man, careful with those spoilers! I haven't picked up Awakening yet.

04-09-2010, 01:59 AM	#16
Sim Kid Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: The state of Denial Gender: Posts: 8,770 Thanks: 75 Thanked 196 Times in 120 Posts	Oh crud, sorry. >.< I didn't think that was really a spoiler. Okay this isn't a spoiler. You get to either import a warden or create a new warden. If you create a new warden, people are more critical of you for being Orliasian. Although on the plus side, you do get to start totally from blank and you get to re-align all your stats and get to pick specializations you unlocked already. The new specializations get unlocked at level 22. (Spirit warrior, Templar, Reaver = IRONY!!) Oh, and while creating a new warden does start you at level 18, you gain WAY more experience and money than in Origins. I regularly find myself looting over one sovereign from trash mobs, when in Origins, I'd loot maybe 23-50 silver; and would only loot more than one sovereign from bosses and later enemies (when you're swimming in it anyways). I'm also gaining over 100 experience from kills, so yes, everyone levels up a lot. It's rather obvious that despite having a new campaign, this definitely is too big to just be some DLC stuff like with shale and Return to Ostagar. Sadly Spoiler Below I don't think Shale joins in Awakening. And I think Leliana and Zevran don't join either...Wynne only gives sidequests. That's the only plot stuff I can reveal, I'm not that far in and don't quite understand everything that's going on.