Forum:Dragon Age: Origins general tips

The purpose of this page is to collect player thoughts and tips learned during play. Depending on how this page evolves, it may be a main page that gets subdivided over time as more thoughts/tips are added and patterns start emerging for making sub-sections. Alternatively, the contents may eventually get pasted to other pages on individual topics. For now though, it could be useful to have a single repository for potentially unrelated, but useful, insights.

Advantages of Mages over Warriors and Rogues

• Many (if not most) of the fights you'll get into will be against groups that outnumber your party. On Normal difficulty, these groups are capable of overcoming the party of a player new to this series or genre. Thus, players may find Area-of-Effect (AoE) Crowd Control (CC) and Direct Damage (DD) spells/abilities VERY useful.
• Dragon Age has 3 classes: Warrior, Rogue, and Mage. The Talents of Warriors and Rogues tend to focus almost exclusively on single-target combat. Very few are AoE abilities. Warriors, particularly through the Shield tree, do have several CC stun abilities, but again, they are usually single-target only. Mages, on the other hand, seem to have a great deal of AoE spells, CC spells, and best of all, AOE CC spells. Examples include:
  • Mindblast (AOE CC stun)
  • Fireball (AOE DD & CC stun)
  • Cone of Cold (AOE DD & CC freeze)
  • Earthquake (AOE CC stun/knockdown)
  • Sleep (AOE CC stun)
• Unfortunately, most of the aforementioned Mage spells can do Friendly Fire (FF), which means they can hurt your party members as well as your enemies. Usually, this means that only allies standing pretty close to enemies will be in danger. Guess what kind of ally stands next to enemies...Warriors and Rogues. This point is mooted somewhat by the fact that, of course, without the warriors and rogues, the mages would be 'standing next to enemies' anyway, due to there being nobody else for them to attack.

Conclusion: The player will primarily face groups, who can pose a significant threat to the party. The best way to defeat groups is to divide and conquer, which usually means CC abilities that neutralize parts of the group so that the party only needs to focus on a smaller portion at a time. Mages have ~85% of the kinds of abilities that are best at dealing with groups (AoE and CC spells). In addition, Mages are usually not in danger of suffering FF from these abilities because they usually aren't physically near the targets. Warriors and Rogues likely excel at taking out bosses, which are tough, single targets. However, since you don't seem to fight those anywhere near as often as you will fight groups of lesser enemies, Mages appear to be the better option for combat-focused parties.

Advantages of Warriors over Mages and Rogues

Warriors require the least baby sitting. Mages have many Friendly Fire spells that require micromanagement in order to keep from hurting your own party. Rogues are most effective when they backstab, but the AI doesn't automatically send the Rogue around the back of targets not hitting them in order to backstab. Warriors can be simply pointed at a target and retain most of their effectiveness without having to pause the combat every other second. You can use tactics to tell them to automatically use health pots if their health gets too low, and you can set up chains for their active talents. They also have the armor, defense, and HP to take more punishment, and thus can be more forgiving to a player who doesn't want to micro all their party members.

Crafting for money is a bad idea

The sale value of potions, poisons, etc. is less than the cost to buy the ingredients exclusively obtainable from merchants (flasks, distilation agent, etc.). Thus, it's more cost effective to sell the raw ingredients rather than make the items and sell those.

Inventory Space

Your inventory cannot exceed 125 (without mods), no matter how many Backpack expansions you buy. Most vendors sell one backpack upgrade. If you lose access to a vendor before you purchased the upgrade, don't fret. There are more vendors with backpack upgrades than you can actually use.

If you have the PC version of DAO, you can download the mod tools and mod your savegame files to allow for a personal inventory of up to 999 slots. Instructions on how to do so can be found here: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=920668&topic=52202903&page=1

The mod tools can be downloaded from here: http://social.bioware.com/toolset.php

If you got the game through Steam, you will encounter difficulties installing the mod tools. Luckily, there is a workaround explained here: http://social.bioware.com/wiki/datoolset/index.php/Installation_with_Steam

Dex is Broken

Right now, Dex is not figuring into the damage calculations for daggers or bows. The damage for both weapons types is solely based on Strength. Rogues have access to a talent that lets Cunning be used instead of Strength, but it is currently unknown if that feature is working correctly either. BioWare has a hotfix that addresses this problem, and buffs bows in several ways. Unfortunately, it buffs all bows, including those of enemy NPCs. Since you are often outnumbered, the hotfix will work for you when not facing enemy archers but will work against you where there are. BioWare is working on an improved fix that will not apply the fix to enemy NPCs on Easy and Normal difficulties, but it's not out yet. More information on the current hotfix can be found here via the Missing Manual here: http://dragonage.gulbsoft.org/doku.php/hotfix/dexterity_hotfix_101

Tested as of November 30th 2009, Lethality (substitutes Cunning in place of Strength for the damage calculator provided Cunning is higher than Strength) for rogues is working for the Xbox 360, unknown if this is the case for the PC version.

Bioware wants Rogues to be melee backstabbers

• The damage potential of bows doesn't appear to compare to duel wielding or 2-handed weapons. How much of this discrepancy is due to the Dex bug is unknown. If you want an additional ranged unit, another mage is far better.
• When you look at the Rogue Talents, 1/2 of them are primarily or only focused on duel-wielding melee and/or backstabbing (3/4 if you count the Stealth ones, which archers would need less than backstabbers).
• 1/2 of the Rogue Specialization options focus on melee combat.
• Special arrows are pretty expensive to buy (~15-40 silver / arrow).

This doesn't mean the player cannot be a ranged-focused Rogue, it just means the vast majority of Talents you have access to won't be of much use to you.

Rogues do make great Player Characters (PCs) though. They get Skill points every 2 levels while Mages and Warriors get them every 3. This is important because only the PC can learn Coercion, which requires up to 4 extra skill points to max out. Additionally, having a Rogue as your starting character means you always have the Lock-Picking Skill, which means the PC will be able to open the early locked chests and such, though ones further on in the game will require higher levels of the skill and Cunning in the upper 20's to 30's. Rogues also start with 1 point in Poison-Making, which is beneficial even if the PC doesn't intend to max that skill, as only 1 point is needed to apply poisons to your (melee) weapons.

Stats

Gatekeeper Stats (those that determine access to Skills, Talents, Armor, Weapons, etc.)

• Strength, Dexterity, and Magic play nearly identical roles for Warriors, Rogues, and Mages, respectively. The stat increases damage of the class's primary weapons/attacks and controls access to the class' primary Talents.
  • Strength Primary stat for Warriors.
    • Crossbow damage modified by Strength
    • 2 handed weapons talents require massive amounts of strength.
    • Destroyer requires 40 Strength.
    • Armor and most weapons also have Strength requirements. Tier 7 Massive Armor requires 42 strength to equip.
  • Dexterity Primary stat for Rogues.
    • Daggers, and bows require Dexterity to equip.
    • 36 points of dexterity are required for Dual Weapon Mastery
    • Warriors require 18 dexterity for Disengage.
    • Some talents in the weapon and shield tree also require Dexterity
  • Magic Primary stat for Mages.
    • Death Hex has the highest magic requirement (36).
    • Staves have a Magic requirement to equip
  • Cunning Determines access to higher level Skills and the effectiveness of the Rogue Talents Lock-Picking and Stealth.
    • Non-Rogues require 16 points max for Coercion, Stealing, Survival, and Combat Tactics. The Rogue Talents of Lockpicking and Stealth require 22 Cunning at rank 4.
      • The current understanding is that Cunning 30 + level 4 Lockpicking is required in order to open every lock in the game.
      • Coercion however, despite what is stated in the description, is not affected by Cunning other than as a requirement for the skill itself. Points above 16 in Cunning are better spent elsewhere, should you need Cunning solely for Coercion.

Resource Stats

• Willpower provides the energy (Stamina for Warriors and Rogues; Mana for Mages) that powers non-passive Talents.
• Constitution determines HP for all classes.
  • Shale's armor has a constitution requirement

Equipment

The stat requirements of weapons and armor goes up with the tier of the item. If Tier 1 (Rough, Iron, or Elm) requires X 'Stat' (Strength, Dexterity, or Magic) to equip, then...

• Tier 2 (Cured, Grey Iron, or Ash) requires X+2
• Tier 3 (Leather, Steel, or Yew) requires X+4
• Tier 4 (Hardened, Veridium, or Whitewood) requires X+8
• Tier 5 (Reinforced, Redsteel, or Ironbark) requires X+14
• Tier 6 (Inscribed, Silverite, or Sylvanwood) requires X+16
• Tier 7 (Drakeskin, Dragonbone, or Dragonthorn) requires X+20

Not all Tier 1 stat requirements are the same.

• 10 Dexterity = Daggers and Shortbows; Strength = Crossbows, Bucklers, and Light Armor (leather)
• 11 Strength = 1H Sword and 1H Axes
• 12 Strength = 1H Maces
• 14 Dexterity = Longbows; Strength = Targes and Medium Armor (mail)
• 18 Strength = 2H Swords, 2H Maces, 2H Axes, Kite Shields, and Heavy Armor (half-plate)
• 20 Strength = Massive Armor (full-plate)

Skills

• Coercion
  • This skill buffs your ability to be successful with Persuasion and Intimidate options in conversations. In addition to the power granted by the Skill, Strength buffs Intimidate and Cunning buffs Persuasion.
  • Only the PC can get this Skill.
• Stealing
  • Highest amount of coin received (of reports thus far) was 96 silver from a beggar in Orzammar. (Yes a beggar!)
  • Some named NPC's might carry weapons/shields and other valuable items. Tip: try pickpocketing Vareg (who speaks on behalf of Blehen) and the lord of the house you meet in the first parts of the deep roads.   (For more information, visit: Stealing: Profitable Targets)
  • Be sure to use Stealing on an NPC before talking to it.  Many NPC's will despawn after a conversation.
  • Leliana starts out with Stealing.
• Trap-Making
  • Allows the PC to build and place traps. Disarming traps grants experience. Contrary to the in-game description, this skill does not affect trap detection or disarming.
• Survival
  • With this skill, the PC can detect enemies sooner on the mini map. With higher levels, not only does it show the red dots, it also labels the creature type. If the PC prefers tactical advantage and not falling into ambush, max this skill out. If the PC likes surprises, leave it alone.
  • It adds nature and physical resistance.
  • The higher the level of this skill, the higher the level of creatures detectable.
• Herbalism
  • Useful for making Health Poultrice, Lyrium Potion, and other offensive or defensive buffs. See below for list of vendors with infinite supply of herbalism materials.
  • Morrigan starts with Herbalism
  • It can be hard to find enough room in your combat party's skillset for Herbalism. Since most crafted Herbalism items don't require the skill, you can have a secondary character (one that stays at the party camp) focus on this skill.
• Poison-Making
  • Only useful for party members who have the skill. If a character has level 1, they can apply poison to their melee weapons. One character may want to focus on it in order to make higher level poisons. This is another example of a skill that can be the focus of a party member who stays at the camp.
  • Weapons that are poisoned will do additional elemental damage, and may also stun or impair movement, for 60 seconds. After that time, the poison will wear off. It is unclear if the amount of elemental damage is a fixed amount / hit based on the level of the poison or somehow based on the damage of the weapon. If the former is true, then faster weapons (like daggers) will benefit more from poisoning than slower onces since they'll hit more often before the poison runs out.
  • Meant for melee classes, since poisons only work on melee weapons
    • If you dual-wield and activate a poison for your weaons, both weapons will be poisoned. You do not have to poison each weapon.
  • Zevran and Leliana start with Poison-Making
• Combat Training
  • Determines access to more powerful Talents for Rogues and Warriors.
  • Allows Mages to suffer greater ammounts of damage before having a spell Interrupted.
• Combat Tactics
  • Levels 1 and 2 grant 1 additional line in that character's Tactics list
  • Levels 3 and 4 grant 2 additional lines (each)

Loot

Loot sold at either the Party Camp or Warden's Keep will remain in these merchants' respective inventories. Though the buyback list is cleared when the PC exits the merchant's window, the merchant will keep what was sold to them. This means that the PC can still buy items back, albeit at a higher price.  The campground merchant will reset his inventory twice based on certain plot events.  Consider using these merchants for items to recover some day, and avoid selling them extraneous junk, as this will make it more difficult to find useful items sold to them.

Plot Lines that require a specific NPC to be in the party

• Leliana - Keep in party while traveling overland after giving her a certain flower.
• Shale - Must be in party when visiting the forge of the ancestors.
• Alistair - Locked into party during the Landsmeet
• Oghren - Locked into party during the final battle in the Deep Roads.
• Wynne - Locked into party during the cleansing of the Mage's Tower.

Magic Types

Vulnerable/Resistant

Some enemy types are very vulnerable to certain forms of magic and/or resistant to others. Knowing your enemies' strengths and weaknesses can help you choose which spells to use and which not to.

Type	Good vs.	Bad vs.
Fire	Most	Dragons Rage Demons
Frost	Ash Wraiths Anything for spells, even immune enemies can be frozen.	Undead
Lightning	Reavers
Spirit	Armor	Spirits
Nature (includes Poison)		Golems Werewolves

Combinations

• See Spell Combinations

Some spells clip

Some of the very large AoE spells (Earthquake, Blizzard, Inferno, etc) will clip through doors and most walls. While it can be "gamey", this has an important tactical implication:

• First, the PC can aggro entire groups (or sometimes pieces of them) without having to visually expose yourself and enter combat mode, thus allowing most encounters to be treated as an *ambush* rather than a real pisser of a battle. In conjunction with the survival skill, the PC can identify an enemy group location, pick the best spot for an ambush (positioning partymembers, etc), then cast an AoE spell on the door (the spell will usually "lock" onto the door as a valid target for the spell) or suitable ground location. When comfortable with this tactic, it is possible to cast two or three large AoE spells, kill a majority of the group, and never get hit.
• It should also be noted that using Blizzard is a great first spell, as it will usually "freeze" the entire group in its tracks, allowing for a few seconds of party-wide target practice.

Combat Tips

Critical Hit vs. Critical Damage

Certain Talents will result in a "critical hit", while others will deal "critical damage". Thus, not all attacks that do critical damage are critical hits. The distinction is important because only critical hits can shatter frozen or petrified targets. For example, in the 2-handed talent group, the talent called Mighty Blow has a chance to do critical damage, but is not necessarily a critical hit. The 2-handed talent called Critical Strike will result in an actual critical hit. Note that, even though Might Blow does not promise a critical hit, it is still possible for the attack to be one (it's just not guaranteed like it is with Critical Strike).

Backstab

The current assumption is that a Backstab does not count as a critical hit but does do additional damage (perhaps even "critical" damage) and can only be performed by Rogues. The distinction between critical damage and critical hits is important to make. Critical hits will shatter frozen or petrified targets, whereas hits that do critical damage, but are not called "critical hits" will not shatter.

Backstabs are performed with the main hand weapon only. Successive backstabs are possible. They are indicated by successive over-the-head/downward thrusts made by the mainhand weapon. The off-hand weapon will not be used during a string of successive backstabs.

As stated, these are currently assumptions that need to be tested and either confirmed or amended.

Cover

Dragon Age incorporates a system of cover. In general, if the target's lower half or more is obstructed from view, the PC will be unable to hit it with bows, crossbows, and some magical attacks as well. On magical attacks, the bolt Mages shoot from their staves will be blocked. Some/all actual spells (like the first level frost attack) will still land though.

Cover only affects ranged combat. However, if the PC is facing multiple enemy archers or other ranged attackers, the PC can sometimes use the terrain advantageously. Move the party behind horse carts, or stand to the side of, instead of in front of, an open doorway.

An example of this tactic would be when used against mages, as they can really mess up the party if trying to cross a large distance to attack them. Instead, consider the game from the AI's perspective: it is programmed to seek out the party and engage it in combat. Thus, if it can't "seek them out", it can't engage them. So, use cover to force that annoying mage (or whatever) to walk right up to the party, then use Shield Bash or what not.

Tactics

The current understanding is that the Tactics lines are a series of linked segments in a IF/THEN equation. The AI looks at the list from the top down. So, the AI will see if the condition in the first line is met. If it is, the AI will execute the action associated with the condition in line 1. If the condition in line 1 is not met, then the AI will look at the condition in line 2 and see if it is met.

• In this way you can set up chains. Simply set the condition to Self-Any and set the action to the first thing you want to happen. In the next line down, set the condition to Self-Any and set the action to the nexp part of the chain. Repeat.

There is still a question about whether the AI returns to Line 1 each time it takes an action or if the AI simply continues down the list until it checks the last line before returning to the top. The current assumption is that it returns to Line 1 after every action and will only reach the bottom of the list if no earlier conditions were met.

Swords/Axes/Maces/Daggers

• Swords have the best crit, mid armor pen, and lowest str modifier.
• Maces best armor pen, mid str modifier, lowest crit.
• Axes have highest str modifier, mid crit, and lowest armor pen.
  • The higher the str, the better the axe will be.

Light/Medium/Heavy/Massive Armor

The heavier the armor, the greater the armor factor but also the fatigue penalty. Armor can be negated/bypassed with armor-penetrating attacks (arrows, bolts, axes, maces, daggers?, etc.), which means it won't always be of much use. The fatigue penalty can be large, upwards of 20% or more, which limits the use of active and sustained talents.

Managing Enemy Aggression (Aggro)

• According to the in-game tips, characters wearing heavier armor draw more hate.
• Warriors also have 1 active and 1 sustained talent that generate aggro.
  • Threaten, the Sustained Talent, only works on the warrior's target
  • Taunt, the Active Talent, is an AoE taunt.
• Is aggro calculated on the absolute value of damage, or is armor penetration considered?
• Do heavier weapons (and/or shields) contribute to "threat" (similar to the heavy armor note above)?
• If heavy armor generates aggro, is it an absolute value of armor, or is defense considered?
• Does crowd control contribute threat to only those affected by it, or by the whole enemy group (because of CC's obvious strategic benefits, maybe everyone gets pissed)?
• Does potion "augmentation" (not just health, but balms, poisons, etc) add threat - more specifically, does using a poison on a tanks weapon help hold aggro?

Fatigue

• How to handle fatigue is determined by the PC's playstyle. Some PCs prefer the use of passive or sustainsed Talents, so that there is less to manage. Other PCs prefer active talents might require more micro-management but can be more effective if used carefully. The former PC-type might not care much about fatigue, unless they desire to have multiple sustained talents running at the same time. The latter PC-type should take care with the weight of armor their party members wear as that is often the major source of fatigue.
• The problems caused by fatigue can be somewhat mitigated by high Willpower and/or gear that adds stamina or mana.
• Wearing gloves, chest, and boots of the same armor style (not material, but style, ie. studded, chainmail, splintmail, etc.) will significantly reduce the fatigue penalty.

See the Discussion page for more on Fatigue.

Rogues

Rogues make good PCs, in part because the PC is the only party member who can get the Coercion skill, which requires high Cunning, and Rogues are the only class that benefit in other ways from high Cunning (it benefits their lock-picking, stealth, and maybe stealing skills).

DA:O Rogues were designed to be duel-wielding backstabbers. Archery was meant to be a support, not primary, talent group. You will always deal more damage dual-wielding than with a bow, but the bow offers the advantage of range and distance from AOE spells cast by your party that can deal friendly fire.

Rogues also get Skill points every 2 levels, where as Warriors and Mages get them only every 3 levels. This, combined with the other advantages of high Cunning, means Rogues are most likely to be able to reach the highest levels in any skill. This gives Rogues an advantage in the utility/support role. For example, a Rogue may have high Coercion, Survival, and Trap-Making.

Rogues can do the following, which the other two classes cannot:

• Lock-pick
• Stealth

It can be a useful tactic, before entering a room, to tell your party to hold position, stealth the Rogue, and have the Rogue open the door and enter the room. It is assumed that Cunning determines whether or not someone will detect traps. Levels 2 and 4 of Trap-Making will allow the Rogue to spot traps from further away, which the Rogue can disarm while remaining stealthed. The Rogue can also use this opportunity to set up traps of its own.

• Note that planting a trap will break stealth unless the Rogue has the 2nd level of Stealth.

Some rooms with closed doors are not observable in the top-down camera perspective until the door is open. Some Mage spells (like Blizzard and Inferno) do not require line of sight to use. However, Mages cannot use those spells in blacked-out rooms until the door is opened. In this way, Rogues can act as a sort of forward observer, exposing rooms to powerful Mage spells without endangering the Mage.

Backstab

Backstabbing is how duel-wielding Rogues do the most damage. In order to properly backstab, the Rogue must be behind the target. What counts as "behind" is shown by the red circle around the feet of the target. A portion of that circle will be black/not filled in. That arc shows where a Rogue can stand and get off a backstab.

Backstab is essentially a passive ability. There is no Backstab talent, you simply have to attack an enemy while standing adjacent to the black part of the circle. You do not need to be stealthed to backstab either.

Light vs. Medium Armor

Warriors are designed to take a beating whereas Rogues are not. Warriors can absorb damage through their armor or higher Constitution, but Rogues must avoid it either through a high Defense stat, stuns, or killing the target very, very fast.

Bow Rogues are probably fine with light (leather) armor. Melee Rogues who have access to a lot of CC are also probably fine with light armor. However, if the PC plans to do a lot of face to face melee, medium armor might make more sense.

• Note that heavier armor makes the AI target you more often and increases the stamina cost of active and sustained talents.

Warriors

Warriors (like Rogues) are melee-centric, single-target fighters. The one thing that Warriors can do that no other class can is taunt enemies to attack them. This emphasizes Warrior's traditional role of tanking (drawing and absorbing most of the damage directed at a party, thereby protecting other, squishier classes from it). A tanks job is to absorb damage, and not necessarily to dish it out. Tanks may wish to focus on the Shield set of talents, which increase armor, defense, and grant the ability to negate non-magical missile attacks (arrows and crossbow bolts). Constitution is a major stat for tanks, of equal if not greater importance than Strength. Strength grants access to heavier armors though, and also contributes to damage. Dexterity is also of some importance to tanks since certain Shield talents require Dexterity to access instead of Strength.

The more offensive way to play a Warrior could be thought of as a berserker. A tough melee-based character able to wade into groups of enemies, disrupt and debuff several at once, and dispatch a few quickly.

For ranged attacks, crossbows may work better than bows for Warriors because crossbow requirements are based on Strength instead of Dexterity, damage and attack score still seem to be controlled by dexterity however.

Mages

Mages excel at affecting multiple enemies through their AOE spells. Many of these can be found in the Primal group of talents, and most of those do friendly fire. One drawback of the Primal group is that it is made up of multiple magic types (fire, frost, lightning, and nature). Thus, Mages may wish to focus on a single line within the Primal group in order to make it easier to pick equipment that grants bonuses to the primary type of magic used.

• The Entropy group also offers a few AoE spells, and they do not do friendly fire, but they are easier to break.

Clearing out whole rooms can be done quite easily. Put your Party on Hold. Open the door and cast and an AOE Spell (or more) inside the room. Then cast Glyph of Repulsion on the door.

Mages are the only class that can heal party members without using items. They also have multiple buff talents, debuff talents, AOE and direct damage talents.

Mages have relatively few passive talents, which means Willpower is exceptionally important. This is even more true if the player decides to spread their talent points across multiple talent groups and lines. Many Mage talents are redundant with others, except that they use different magic types. The more Mages are able to focus their talents into the same groups or lines, the less Willpower they may need, which means the more stat points may be available for Magic, which grants access to more powerful spells and increases the power of all spells.

It is highly recommended to keep at least one Mage in your party because Mages have access to the greatest number of AOE talents (particularly AOE CC spells) and the majority of the battles in DA:O are against many normal enemies (as opposed to a few, elite ones).

Archers

Designed to shoot enemies from maximum range and preferably from higher ground. Archer are also great to lure enemies into your own ambushes.

• Rapid Aim: Get a helmet or a bow with Rapid Aim
• Glyph of Repulsion on Archers works nicely.

Synergies

There are many ways where two or more different classes can use talents that compliment each other. For example, Mages with frost spells can freeze enemies, which your Warriors and Rogues can then kill in one hit (so long as that hit is a critical hit). Mages lack talents that grant auto crits, which is why this tactic can be best performed with a mixed party.

Unlimited Stocks

Certain merchants have unlimited stocks of ingredients necessary to making potions, poisons, traps, etc. Such merchants are listed in the table below.

Name	Location	Item(s)
Varathorn	Dalish Camp	Elfroot, Deathroot, Toxin Extract
Bodahn Feddic	Party Camp	Corruptor Agent, Distillation Agent, Flask
Quartermaster	Circle of Magi Tower	Lyrium Dust
Ruck	Deep Roads: Ortan Thaig	Deep Mushroom