Save game editing

Intro/How to
With the use of the Toolset you can modify your characters, this page details how to do so.

First, in Windows XP, open the folder C:\Documents and Settings\UserLoginName\My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\Characters\Character Name\Saves\Selected Save Folder.

Make a backup copy of the savegamename.das, usually by copy/pasting and renaming it to savegamename.das.bak

Editing the PC
To edit stats of the main character:

Open the save game in the Toolset and look for SAVEGAME_PLAYERCHAR -> SAVEGAME_PLAYERCHAR_CHAR -> SAVEGAME_CREATURE_STATS -> SAVEGAME_STATLIST

The subheadings 0 through 5 correspond with the 6 attributes in game.


 * 0 - Strength
 * 1 - Dexterity
 * 2 - Willpower
 * 3 - Magic
 * 4 - Cunning
 * 5 - Constitution

Change the SAVEGAME_STATPROPERTY_BASE to the number you desire. There is no known upper limit.

Stats
Open the save game in the editor and look for SAVEGAME_PARTYLIST -> SAVEGAME_PARTYPOOLMEMBERS. Each branch corresponds to the party member listed in TEMPLATERESREF. The attributes for each party member can be found under SAVEGAME_CREATURE_STATS -> SAVEGAME_STATLIST.

The subheadings 0 through 5 correspond with the 6 attributes in game.


 * 0 - Strength
 * 1 - Dexterity
 * 2 - Willpower
 * 3 - Magic
 * 4 - Cunning
 * 5 - Constitution

Change the SAVEGAME_STATPROPERTY_BASE to the number you desire. The upper limit is 100. You may set it to any amount you wish, but in-game-stats will still be 100(max)

Approvals
Party member approval scores may also be found by looking in SAVEGAME_PARTYLIST -> SAVEGAME_PARTY_APPROVAL_LIST. Each numeral represents a companion in your party and their scores may be edited by adjusting the value of a particular character's SAVEGAME_PARTY_APPROVAL_LEVEL.

Properties List
You aren't limited to just the basic 6 attributess you have access to the full range of attributes to include resistances. However, you shouldn't look on numbers under savegame_statlist (they could be different from the numbers refernenced), but for the ID number of the "SAVEGAME_STATPROPERTY_INDEX" in the expanded code. (When you open the number there are lines like SAVEGAME_STATPROPERTY_BASE, SAVEGAME_STATPROPERTY_MODIFIER, SAVEGAME_STATPROPERTY_INDEX). It's possible some of the figures below aren't present yet, since they only populate to the save once the statistic is introduced during gameplay. The IDs are as follows:

0- Strength

1- Dexterity

2- Willpower

3- Magic

4- Cunning

5- Constitution

6- Health - Just edit Base amount

7- Mana/Stamina - Just edit Base amount

9- Attack

10- Defense

11- Armor

13- Spellpower

15- Level

16- Chance to avoid an attack

19- Xp

32- Mental resistance

33- Physical resistance

34- Attribute Points

35- Skill Points

36- Talent / Spell Points

37- Background

38- Specialization points

44- Fire Resistance

45- Cold Resistance

46- Electricity Resistance

47- Nature Resistance

48- Spirit Resistance

Editing Weapons/Items
You can edit items in your backpack or equipped to your character. However, editing items equipped does not update your stats unless you remove and replace them.


 * To edit items in your backpack, navigate to SAVEGAME_PARTYLIST->SAVEGAME_BACKPACK
 * To edit items equipped to the player character, navigate to SAVEGAME_PLAYERCHAR->SAVEGAME_PLAYERCHAR_CHAR->SAVEGAME_EQUIPMENT_ITEMS
 * To edit items equipped to your companions (including those you don't have access to) navigate to SAVEGAME_PARTYLIST->SAVEGAME_PARTYPOOLMEMBERS->(Companion of your choice)->SAVEGAME_EQUIPMENT_ITEMS

From here, you have a few things you can change. Remember to click the "Save" button to commit your change (this won't save it to the disk, for that use "Save As").
 * TEMPLATERESREF - Defines the name, icon, and model of the weapon or item. Usually there is an obvious pattern to it.
 * For example, gen_im_trs_dal_hvy_cht_r0 is a general item, dalish, heavy chest. You can substitue the "cht" (chest) with "boo" (boot), "hlm" (helm), or "glv" (glove) and get a matching armor item.
 * OBJECT_ID - This must be an ID that the game has assigned for this save. If you copy & paste an item from another save, you will have to replace the object ID on your pasted object with the ID from a sacrificial object, such as a trash item (remember to delete the sacrificed item). If you fail to do this, the game will show the item, but you won't be able to wear it, wield it, store it, or even sell it.
 * ITEM_COST -
 * ITEM_STACKSIZE - How many of the item you have. This should be 1 for arms and armor, but for potions and trash you can make it any between 1 and 99.
 * The line above SAVEGAME_OBJECT_PLOT - The level of the item. The line is unlabeled, but it is an int32. All properties are leveled by this field, including restrictions. Set to a value between 1 and 50.

Item Properties
The biggest concern for items is their properties, which are found in ITEM_PROPERTIES, ITEM_PROPERTY_POWERS, and ITEM_PROPERTY_EFFECTID. Note that these 3 arrays are linked together, such that adding a value to one requires a matching value is added to the others.
 * ITEM_PROPERTIES - Contains the ID of the property for this index. This can be a buff or a restriction.
 * ITEM_PROPERTY_POWERS - Contains a floating point value that indicates how strong the property in this index is. This is usually 1.0 (or 1065353216 when treated as an integer)
 * ITEM_PROPERTY_EFFECTID - Not sure, usually -1.

So, in order to add the property "+x to all attributes", you must add to ITEM_PROPERTIES the value "1006", ITEM_PROPERTY_POWERS the value "1065353216", and ITEM_PROPERTY_EFFECTID the value "-1". Always make sure these 3 fields have the same number of items.

If you want to remove the strength restriction, find the index in ITEM_PROPERTIES with the value "3200" and make note of the index, delete it from ITEM_PROPERTIES, ITEM_PROPERTY_POWERS, and ITEM_PROPERTY_EFFECTID. Make sure you delete the right one if powers and effect ID have odd values, as they are matched by index.

Fixing Merrill's Act 3 Bug
When Merrill's relationship is maxed out, a specific plot flag is set that the game checks upon entering Merrill's house in Act 3. This causes the end of A New Path to be shown early. This can be fixed by the following:

Note: This quest is supposedly fixed in Patch 1.02, but this will be left here for anyone who hasn't patched or runs into the issue after the patch anyway.


 * 1) Make sure you have GFF V4.0 save editor 0.5.5b+
 * 2) Upon reaching Act 3 but without entering Merrill's house
 * 3) Make a save (Name it Mod so you can make sure you know where you saved it)
 * 4) Back up the save, just in case
 * 5) Open GFF V4.0 save editor
 * 6) Navigate to your (My Documents)\BioWare\Dragon Age 2\Characters\(Your Character)\Saves\Slot_(Last one)
 * 7) Open the Mod.das file (or whatever you named it)
 * 8) In the "Search" box on the right, enter the GUID for this plot: 2B206E2501BF40A48ED9A4B6EF7533A4
 * Please copy & paste the above and ensure that you don't get any additional characters, such as space or newline. If you type it, remember that the search is case sensitive, meaning every letter needs to be capitalize as above.
 * If you want to avoid the chance of getting the space or newline, you can copy only the part from B2...3A, leaving off the first and last numbers. This should still find only the GUID we're looking for.
 * 1) Click Search or press enter
 * 2) One result should appear, double click it
 * 3) On the line below SAVEGAME_PLOT_GUID there should be SAVEGAME_PLOT_FLAGS_1, select it.
 * 4) Copy the number
 * 5) Open Calculator, make sure it's in Scientific mode (windows xp & vista) or Programmer mode (windows 7)
 * 6) Paste the number into it
 * 7) Click the And button
 * 8) Paste in the following number: 4294963199
 * The above number is the inverse of 4096, the offending flag in this bug. By anding the original number with the inverse of the flag, we turn off the flag.
 * 1) Click the equal button
 * 2) Copy the resulting number
 * 3) Paste it into GFF4.0 where you got the original number.
 * 4) Click  S ave
 * 5) Still in GFF4.0, navigate to SAVEGAME_PARTYLIST->SAVEGAME_PARTYPOOLMEMBERS and find gen00fl_merrill.
 * 6) Make note of the number in OBJECT_ID
 * 7) Navigate toe SAVEGAME_PARTYLIST->SAVEGAME_PARTY_APPROVAL_LIST and find the SAVEGAME_PARTY_APPROVAL_ID that matches the OBJECT_ID for merrill.
 * 8) Set the corresponding SAVEGAME_PARTY_APPROVAL_LEVEL to 75 if you're friends or -75 if you're rivals
 * This prevents the flag from immediately being set again. You will have to be careful not to reach maximum before the end of A New Path, or do not return to Merrill's house until you have completed A New Path.
 * 1) Click  S ave
 * 2) Click  F ile->Save A s...
 * 3) Save over Mod.das
 * 4) Return to game
 * 5) You're done! You can now enter Merrill's home and see Varric chat with Merrill instead of Merrill sobbing about something that hasn't happened.

Dragon Age II Save Editing
Though the save files are very similar you will not be able to open them in the toolset. Instead you must use "pyGFF 0.4.9b Saved Game Editor" or higher (for now) to edit save games. Remember, this isn't an official tool and thus has a much greater chance of corrupting your save, so always backup a save file. Once you have opened your save file (which is located in nearly the same spot as the dragon age origins file except you go into the dragon age II folder) you'll find the hierarchy of the file to be pretty much the same as above for dragon age origins, the main difference is the stat index numbers now correspond to different stats as seen in this picture:

Remember when you're done editing to use the "save-as" option and save over the file you're editing (after you have a made a backup of it to another directory). The "save" option doesn't seem to work properly.