It’s a good idea, for the reasons you mentioned, but not necessary. The one downside is the Mages’ origin is one of the weaker ones. Mages are also really powerful, and therefore fun.
Joe_M
2862
How is the rogue implementation? I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a rogue in any game since – of all things – Summoner and it’s rogue chick. If it’s just another weak melee class who can unlock stuff I think I’ll pass.
Squee
2863
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! For getting as angry as I was over the DLC, I have to admit I smiled when I heard the plate equip-unequip sound is the same as moving plate armor around in the inventory of the Baldur’s Gate games.
It’s very necessary in the PC version . Healing is a tier1 spell - every mage should take that ability at some point.
One thing I do wonder is if you need to take someone for a significant amount of time to get their full backstory or if the amount of time needed is such that you could rotate people through and end up fully revealing more then three in each playthrough.
You just need to spend time talking to them to learn about them, and their quests, and get their influence up through gifts.
My main character was a Rogue - he can be a one-man army once you gain a bunch of powers, if you’re interested in being a patient scout and increase your stealth, poison, trapmaking. I found him weak at first, however, but once you learn how to better use your abilities, he was really fun.
This is the first RPG in a long time where I actually like all the classes though.
That would be a suicidal strategy in the PC version - I can’t think of any significant battle that would be winnable using it. It sounds like the console version is much easier than the PC version.
idrisz
2867
rogue will automatically use backstab when they are position behind target, or if target is stunned or incapped, they have some pretty decent damage, though their backstab animation is kind of lame.
I’m not sure what kind of damage multiplier they get on backstab, right now my average hit on a 2hand axe is about 70-80, my rogue’s backstab is about 30 or so…
idrisz
2868
An example is the fight with broodmother, my tank and my berserker can easily take damages from broodmother, all I had to do with move the healer away, leave my dpser to do what they do best at, and make sure heal when appropriate and I dropped broodmother without problem.
I think the hardest fight was before I got wrynn, once I got her, it’s fairly easy afterwards.
jpinard
2869
Amazon hasn’t even shipped mine yet :(
Ah well, I know myself and I’ll probably tinker for a bit mnot playing it seriously, wait a month for patches, then forget about it for a year til new content is released.
Joe_M
2870
Thanks for the rogue feedback, I may have to give 'er a go. Now if only someone at Steam would accidentally hit the big red UNLOCK button.
Stefan, doesn’t the PC version have the tactics scripts? In the console version, the default scripts get you pretty far if you trust them and they update automatically. I find myself going in and tweaking them from time to time, but mostly they update just fine as a character learns new skills and spells, and they take full advantage of what the different classes can do. For instance, at the upper end of the entropy magic tree, there’s a spell that shuts down any enemy healing. As soon as Morrigan learned it, her “debilitator” tactics script included an if/then line to use the spell against any elite level enemy in the battle.
As for healing, I’m still doing just fine without taking Wynne along. Potions can be a bit of a money sink, but I prefer not having to use up a valuable party slot with a healer. Particularly one as frumpy as Wynne. Once she offered to knit Sten a sweater to keep him from getting chilly, I decided she could stay back at camp with her yarn while the rest of us conquer evil.
-Tom
idrisz, please keep this MMO shit out of my single player RPG thread. You make it sound so dreadfully dull that I’m fighting to keep myself from requesting an RMA. Let me play in blissful ignorance.
I am terrified at this new discovery of how bothered I am by this chatter. I believe it will be a debilitating ailment in the long run.
idrisz
2873
TANK/DPS/HEALER!!! POP threaten, and Spam TAUNT, get that HUROK off da healerz!!!
Wrynn Spam that Group heal like our lives are depending on it! WTF!!! OOM again, you need wear more +mana regen items!!!
Don’t forget to CC the casters
I don’t suppose you could elaborate on this without spoiling it somehow?
Being treated like a weapon because you’re so powerful and then presumably either following the chantry (i think that was what they were called) or fighting against them sounded like a pretty cool story to me. Especially when that blood mage elf in the trailer got pissed when they were trying to attack some girl and did some blood attack on them.
Twice in one day that this thread delivers the big smiles, thanks.
And umm… tank and spank?
It sounds like Stefan is talking about an origins story rather than the plot that unfolds when you play the game. That bit with the Circles of Mages is actually very cool and I’d hate to think that someone – idrisz! – would so cavalierly spoil it for people in this thread.
-Tom
stusser
2877
Yeah, what’s the problem with the mages’ origin story? By weaker, do you mean less enjoyable or less well plotted, or do they not get special powers/items/henchmen like other origins?
Tough choice between a rogue and mage, but the flexibility gain from taking a mage feels like it would be worthwhile.
The reason I was hesitant to use a mage was because I felt like watching some of the previews that I would be (as per usual) limited to some boring cloth armor, a few boring staffs and similar weapons, and firing off a spell and waiting a minute for the next to cool down. Am I wrong on that?
So, I decided after a lot of research that I would enjoy a dual wield focused high dexterity warrior-templar. Would a rogue be a better fit for the DW focus?
Preloaded on Steam and ready to go, I can’t wait for tomorrow.
The thing that has me most excited about Dragon’s Age is, surprisingly, the talk of MMO style combat. I love the overall tactics and mechanics of a game like WoW, and I’ve always thought it would be fun to control the entire party. How deep do the MMO parallels go in combat? Is aggro an important thing to manage?
Also, what difficulty would you guys recommend for a first play through. I’m fairly skilled at games of this type and I want the combat to be highly challenging, but I don’t want to bang my head against the same encounter for hours. I’m leaning toward hard…
For real this time, my CE is now “Shipping Soon” from Amazon. Chances are good it will get here tomorrow. Woo!
