Forum:Is anyone else an aesthetic dragon age player? or just me?

Forums: Index > Game DiscussionIs anyone else an aesthetic dragon age player? or just me?

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I'm wondering if anyone else used weapons or wore armor for how it looked and not for the stats it gave. As an example, in DA:O I would often choose to kill Avernus simply because the robes you loot was the closest I could get to having "Grey Warden Robes". I wasnt a blood mage, so the improves blood magic was useless to me, however I was happy as long as my character had the robes and Alister had the Grey warden armor on. Is there anyone else out there like this or is it just me? Warden Mage: Ferris (talk) 10:05, December 7, 2011 (UTC)

After playing both games over and over again it has become all about the aesthetics. I hated most of the helmets, so I didn't ever put them on my characters. I would put some gold armor that actually took points off armor, but I always put Alistar in it. Man I hated to cockatoo hats that you get for the Mages. But then my PS3 died, and now that I'm playing the PC versions there are so many MODs for characters, like the invisible helmet, or the Elegant Morrigan MODs. I'm lost in the aesthetics...Sir Fritz (talk) 12:30, December 7, 2011 (UTC)

Roughly 70% of my mods (no, I'm not counting, I have too many XD) are there purely to add weapons and armor. The only companion still using armor that shipped with the original game is Morrigan. I also have the mod to make helmets invisible, the Winter Forge so my characters can wear the same armor for the entire game, and Adonnay's weapons mod to change basic weapon models. I have no idea how I'd cope without all of that. 145.97.200.156 (talk) 12:51, December 7, 2011 (UTC)

yup, finished awakening, golems and witch hunt in same white steel commander's plate armor set--Master-at-arms (talk) 16:50, December 7, 2011 (UTC)

I try to find compromises between usefulness and looks. I wish I could mod the PS3 version so I could at least fix the problems with the Sentinel Armor, Blackblade Gloves/Boots, Vigilance and the Reaper's Cudgel. or so I could use whatever armors/weapons I want from the start. I can't even find any black gloves/boots to at least match by color with the Blackblade Tunic/Helm. I agree on the helmets but I've been experimenting with them seeing what looks good with what. My warriors are usually the only ones to get headgear since the leather helms and mage cowls rarely look good with anything. though I can make most of the mage cowls work in some situations. the exception being the cone hats. I was disappointed after finding 3 Qunari helms and some Qunari gloves that that was all the Qunari gear they had. and I don't see why the Chevalier and Commander's Armor sets are so rare since there's no bonuses or why so much stuff just didn't have matches. --Vampire Damian (talk) 22:49, December 7, 2011 (UTC)

I'd say I compromise too, I usually play normal so if I want I can sacrifice stats and builds for a more better looking character and character build (ie. I am never a blood mage but I always do spirit/entropy, to be a serious dark mage without being the kinda mage that will sell his/her soul and a bunch of innocence for a more powerful spells, and honestly I like demonology/witch craft idea but blood spells don't intrigue me).

Quote from Supernatural and how I feel about blood mage :P :

Dean: "I hate witches! Spewing their bodily fluids everywhere. It is insane! No, downright unsanitary!"

I also try not to do ultimate builds, I some times go several levels with out raise abilities or stats (depending on which game DA:O I hold back till I can be a decent arcane warrior and DA2 I do not spec into every tree I usually pick the type of spec me and my companions are and usually by the end of the game they have a few ability points not spent). I can go a whole origins play with the same low grade chest piece and helms nope too ugly :P I was happy I could turn helms off in DA2 :).  Hollowness | Talk | Contr 23:55, December 7, 2011 (UTC)

I always like to wear the Helm of Honnleath into Awakenings. It disappears, but its stats don't. Same works with Warden Commander Armor. Wear them with the Helm of Honnleath and then choose whatever clothes you want to look cool. I liked having my female wardens wearing Marjolaine's noble attire, while still having nice armor ratings. LVTDUDE (talk) 01:45, December 8, 2011 (UTC)

Definitely yes) There is a wonderful mod which adds a DA2 Grey Warden armor to DAO (all sets: Heavy, Massive, Robe and Leather), and another one which repaints them trailer-style. Now my Warden and Alistair are both stuck in that armor for the rest of the game. Also, there is a mod by a very talented modder which adds hood to Morrigan's robe, I can't imagine my Morrigan without it anymore. --Ascendra (talk) 09:22, December 8, 2011 (UTC)

I downloaded a mod to make my own weapons and armour so that my Warden could look the way I wanted. It's called the winter forge and by making some badass equiptment...my mage Warden took down the Queen of the Blackmarsh pretty much on his own.96.48.173.229 (talk) 09:34, December 8, 2011 (UTC)

Leliana sacred ashes mod <- first thing i got after installing the game--Icemoomoo (talk) 09:53, December 8, 2011 (UTC)

Very much so, that's the only reason my mage wears noble clothing, for the aesthetics. Alas Noble Clothing offers even less of a bonus than apprentice robes, so i have to beef the fella with magus war boots and such. YGuy (talk) 12:22, December 8, 2011 (UTC)

I loved Alistair in silverite (was it Effort, the one from the Sacred Ashes temple?) but didn't particularly care about my Cousland's look until I saw that Warden COmmander breastplate on Sophia Dryden, and knew I _had_ to have this one (and then I had to make a tour round Ferelden to accumulate stuff to raise strength so that I could wear it). I wore it ever since, partly for the looks and for the political impact, and for the Landsmeet, I put Alistair in Cailan's armour and gave him Maric's sword. Proper looks above all :-D --Ygrain (talk) 16:09, December 8, 2011 (UTC)

Definitely. Although my sense of fashion (which is zero in real life mind you) was mainly targeted on my PC's, in Origins I always tried to match the armor and weapons of my companions to the best of my abilities, like with Sten and Oghren for example; Sten always called the Juggernaut armor set since he always looked so dashing in it (Well, that and no one could really pull it off like he did IMO XD) just like how Oghren would always lay claim to the Legion of the Dead set since it just seemed to look ... "off" on anyone else but him (my Warden and Sten tried to pull it off, but failed miserably while Oghren laughed triumphantly in the back, drunk off his bloody ass, of course ;p) Luckily in DA2, I just had to focus on Hawke, armor wise, and weapon wise for the others, except for Varric of course (though in truth I would have left him the way he was regardless if I could switch out Bianca or not). Most of the time, however, the best armor and weapons, stats wise, tended to look good on specific people whether I was putting it on them for looks or not. Still, Sophia Drydens warden commander armor and the two-handed Starfang will always be my Wardens to claim, just as how Cailan's armor, sword and Duncan's shield was always Alistair's ^_^. Sevarian10 (talk) 03:20, December 9, 2011 (UTC)Sevarian10

wow, that's almost scary how similar those choices were to my own. I had my mage in Avernus' robes, Alister in the Warden commander armor, until the final battle when i placed him in the king's armor (seemed fitting). Sten always got the juggernaut armor (as you said he's quite dashing) Oghren got the legion armor (which was awesome for me when I popped in awakening for the first time) I always kept Leliana in her chantry robes i dunno seemed fitting to me. especially wit her path in da 2. Warden Mage: Ferris (talk) 10:18, December 10, 2011 (UTC)

While I'm comparatively practical, aesthetics do tend to factor quite a bit into my choice of equipment. For example, in Origins, my Arcane Warrior Warden never went into battle without the Warden-Commander set if he could help it, and used Maric's Blade and Cailan's Shield unless staff autoattacking was the wiser course. Similarly, my Oghren always wore Cailan's armour and hefted a twohander also from the Ostagar DLC, because, for some reason, Sten and Alistair did not look nearly as good in that golden-ish set, kind of cheesy in fact; how it magically resized itself to fit him I do not know, probably enchantment! Alistair ended up in the shiny Juggernaut set, with a free one-item DLC shield and Starfang, they just fit together somehow.

This acquired a much greater degree for the Warden in Awakening. In fact, he never, ever, changed his actual equipment, save for a few try-outs which proved that the gear he arrived in (Cailan's Arms set straight from fighting the Archdemon and a mage robe) were more than good for melee combat. He was a great tank while wearing virtually no armour excepting the shield, and lasted throughout the whole of Awakening. Kind of a warrior mage monk.

In DA2, while I, regrettably, couldn't change what my companions were wearing, and weapons ended up mismatched between themselves or clashing with their clothing anyway, I still tried to maintain some continuity with Hawke. For instance, on a Mage Hawke (pre-item pack), I kept the first act set robe (Spiral Eye) on for until I got the Champion one. Similarly, when better items appeared in DLCs, I always opted to maintain the integrity of the set I was wearing, the one exception being Hawke's Key.The Ranged Man (talk) 23:45, December 10, 2011 (UTC)

I'll call myself aesthetic; I remember on my mage playthrough of Origins I decided to make everyone use different weapon sets for kicks. Slung Alistair up as a two-hander, Leliana as a dual wielder, Zevran as an archer, Oghren with dual wielding (that was hilarious btw) Wynne as battlemage with a sword and shield, Morrigan as a healer, and Sten using his fists. No modding, no cheating, just switched them up first chance I got. Ah! New idea! Warden, Alistair, Sten and Oghren all using two-handed weapons! I have an excuse to play Origins again!Friendlysociopath (talk) 01:57, December 11, 2011 (UTC)

I play all the way through Origins and Awakening looking forward to the black armor and helmet you get in Awakening.Devilkat (talk) 02:19, December 11, 2011 (UTC)

WORD! Wsowen02 (talk) 08:47, December 11, 2011 (UTC)

I am notorious for being completely aesthetic. I've played the games enough to feel completely comfortable in whatever armor/clothing I wear no matter how much or how little good it does me and it doesn't effect my health too much. Not meaning to sound arrogant of course. However, the mods for DA II has came out with good compromises to stay well armored but still look good. In the end, I choose the armor that looks best on my characters not necessarily the stats. For example, I always gave Alistair, King Cailan's armor because it looked better on him than on me. You are not alone!--Fantasyeve87 03:45, December 11, 2011 (UTC)

I too am a completely aesthetic player in my games. I usually turn off the helmets in DA:2 with the exception of the Apostate's Mask. That is some serious badass hoodage! I love the Malcom's Bequest armor for my mage and I am a little bummed that I cannot use it on all characters. I think my warrior would be rather dashing in it. Plus if I go the route of making my character Viscount it is practically a "red" version of the Viscout's robes so there is always that. I'm not really thrilled with any of the warrior DLCs except for the Golden Prince's Raiment. I LOVE the look of that set. Really badass in my opinion. I am actually getting a little excited about DA:3 because the devs seem to be making slightly better armor sets which allow my characters to look all the more glorious! Slim7180 (talk) 06:21, December 11, 2011 (UTC)

There's no point in being badass if you can't look good while doing it. Rath101 (talk) 15:38, December 14, 2011 (UTC)

So, for my two cents :P the medium between look and efficiency I find almost inescapably easy. For my Silent almost "Qunari"-like Dalish Ranger his gear consisted of.Ancient elven armor,ring-silverleaf,ring-keepers,Belt-Andruils Blessing,Neck-heirloom(from origins chest),rhand-The Green Blade,lhand-The Veshialle,bow-The Sorrows of Arlathan. All "elven" and my stats were very well buffed,+45%spirit res,+55%nat res,+3con,+5Dex,+4str..are the most notable. as for my "Allister"-themed Dwarven Noble I used the Legion Armor with either Cudgle or the Legion's Shield and a Dwarven weapon. as for my "Opportunist" Blood/Shapeshifter Mage, Reapers Vestments with the Collective's hat looked very well, as they are both the same shade, and the collectives blends well with it making it almost seem as a real hood(no feathers and a basic gold arrow at top add to it). along with Sash of Forbidden Secrets, Lifegiver, blood ring, morrigans ring(romanced) other wise Ring of Ages. and Magus war boots. Aesthetics and Efficency if you look through the items and match, you can find yourself surprised at how little you compromise.Geiseric

Every dalish I play remains in their original armor, only the material improves, unless I intend to duel and then execute Loghain with a warrior, in which case a female Dalish will wear the Juggernaut set. Starfang and Topsider's Honor longsword are always dual wielded by my dalish, unless they are an archer, in which case they use Falon'Din's reach. Male dwarf commoner remains in default armor for duration of game, femdwarf commoner invariably ends up in splintmail. Male archers use yew shortbows, fems use crossbows. Both warrior and melee rogues will pair the beastman's dagger with the rose's thorn. If the warrior uses a sword and shield, the Veshialle is paired with a small wooden shield. A male human mage always uses wintersbreath paired with enchanter's robes. Female human mage will always specialize as at least a shapeshifter, and pairs a piece of wood with the vestments of the seer. A male elf mage will wear chasind robes and fight with his bare hands only, is always specialized exclusively as a shapeshifter and shows an overwhelming tendency to the spirit school. A femelf mage will wear chantry robes and wield Yusaris whilst specializing as an arcane warrior. A male city elf uses normal leather armor and two dragonbone longswords if a warrior, and always uses Wolfkiller if they are a rogue. A female city elf warrior wields nug crusher and wears ancient elven armor. a female city elf rogue uses the rose's thorn and an enchanted dagger whilst wearing studded leather armor. Male human noble wields Yusaris and wears the Knight Commander's plate and any other templar armor I can find if they are a warrior. If they are a rogue, they will use Marjolaine's recurve and wear chantry robes. A female human noble warrior will wear Wade's superior dragonbone plate armor and pair the keening blade with Duncan's shield. A female human noble rogue will wear Chasind Robes and fight with The Keening blade paired with the thorn of the dead gods.

... did I really just take that much space on the warden alone? Merde, I had better not do the companions and Hawke then. Anyhow, to answer the question, yes, I do tend to be marginally aesthetic. --Isolationistmagi (talk) 00:41, December 15, 2011 (UTC)

I remember that in my second playthrough I spend almost all my money buying a red stell armor for Sten, just to match his plate. Also spending a lot of inventory space in crappy, but awesome looking items.

Mandalore 18:49, December 15, 2011 (UTC)

This has been so great! Thank you all! Next time someone says its stupid to wear such weak armor just becuz it looks cool I'm going to have to keep this close by as proof to the contrary haha. Also I failed to mention my Hawke! I was rather proud that I actually made the custom hawke look like an actual character (if that makes any sense?) there were times in origins my character would look to the left or something and I didnt catch the giant cheek bone sticking out 6 inches away from his face... Also, since my Amell warden got a facial tat (i believe it was the first option tat) I decided to grant it to Hawke as well as a reoccurring theme i do hope to continue in DA3. Thanks to the mage pack, I now keep Hawke wearing the fugitives mantle with his father's staff (totally fitting...) except the boots were circle mage boots? They looked similar to Anders' which i felt brought home the whole apostate rebel mage kinda vibe.. as well as I kept the apostates cuffs on until i could switch it for the champion gloves. Helms turned off respectively. He just really looked (to me) like he was following his father's foot steps. Warden Mage: Ferris (talk) 08:05, December 15, 2011 (UTC)