Dragon Age: Awakening - combat and stuff

[derpascha]

Hey

Finally got my teeth into the expansion and although I am enjoying it, I was wondering what people thought about the retention of all your old skills and stuff. Aside from one or two minor bits near the start, I don't find the combat as challenging as Origins. Is it simply easier or is it all the talent stacking that does it?

 

[hazabaza1]

It's out?
I'll need to get it some time.

I hope the combat is easier, as playing on easy difficulty always made me ashamed in the original.

 

[DustyDrB]

Some of the Warrior talents are highly useful but not aesthetically pleasing. I can't remember the name of one, but it makes some of you invisible, some of you translucent, and some of you just as visible as before (while providing some sort of protection). I had it with Oghren, and he turned into a talking beard during cutscenes. It looked kind of ridiculous.

Archery was much improved, the Shadow class is an excellent rogue option. But mages are still king. Here's the formula: enter room > scan for mages > use Mana Clash > use Mass Paralyze > and then any various options will finish them off, with a Death Hex being useful for tougher enemies.

 

[Radeonx]

It's out?
I'll need to get it some time.

It's around 3'600 microsoft points.

3200, to be exact.
I did find it worth the money, though.

 

[Frenger]

It's buggy as HELL.

I'm suprised they didn't delay it a few more weeks. For it's own good. One bug, after I got a new awesome looking leather armour(it's black! and awesome!) my rogue sometimes can't use the off-hand weapon. Resulting in only doing damage with the main-hand weapon. A MAJOR damage decrease. And it happens at random.

And yes, most abilities look really odd since the story rely on cut-scenes to progress. My rogue looks like a walking ink-blot most of the time. Not to mention the Arcane Warrior. How they didn't notice this when they made the game boggles the mind.

I really liked that flicker ability. And with heartseeker I could get heavy hitter with my dagger rouge

 

[Meggiepants]

I am having trouble getting into it. I am not liking the relationship aspect of Awakenings as much as Origins. It seems a little rushed. I'm about 6 hours in and already seem to have my party up to adore level. This could just be the missions I chose to do first, I don't know.

And I also have noticed it's a bit buggier than Origin's. I don't have it on PC, which might solve some of these problems, but the game crashed my PS3 a couple of times before the game even started - when it was checking my save games.

Eagerly awaiting the update that will stabilize it.

The fighting does seem a little easier to me. I play a rogue, and some of the new armor and weapons I can get have made killing darkspawn a piece of cake. I'll have to ramp up the difficult I think to make it more of a challenge. I started on normal.

 

[Tarkand]

How does it work btw?

Do you just keep playing with your old dudes?

I heard they had introduced a new origin?

I was kinda hoping to start a new Rogue (I already beat the game with a Warrior and Mage) and do Awakening, nailing the 'get a rogue to level 20' achiev that way and complete the game achievement wise... I don't really want to play it again just for 1 achiev, but if I can play an entirely new 'game', that'd be different.

 

[derpascha]

How does it work btw?

Do you just keep playing with your old dudes?

I heard they had introduced a new origin?

I was kinda hoping to start a new Rogue (I already beat the game with a Warrior and Mage) and do Awakening, nailing the 'get a rogue to level 20' achiev that way and complete the game achievement wise... I don't really want to play it again just for 1 achiev, but if I can play an entirely new 'game', that'd be different.

For the sake of avoiding spoilers: The story is a tangent from the events of the first game, and the way it plays, you won't have many of your former comrades at all. It fits the story, but it does mean a slightly rushed group of people to fill your party appear. (As has been noted)

 

[Jandau]

First of all, shameless self-promotion of my review of Awakening in the User Review section [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182146-Dragon-Age-Awakening]

The combat is easier. And it's not just the overpowered new abilites. The enemies are pushovers for the most part. The fact that some of the new powers can wipe out entire encounters in seconds doesn't help either. A shame, really. The challenging combat was one of the more enjoyable aspects of Origins.

As for the bugs, I'm not quite sure what to say here. I didn't get any significant bugs or glitches during a full playthrough. However, some people have been reporting fairly nasty stuff that prevents them from completing the game. It might have something to do with the platform on which they are playing, but as far as I can tell the PC version is working quite well.

 

[DustyDrB]

First of all, shameless self-promotion of my review of Awakening in the User Review section [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.182146-Dragon-Age-Awakening]

The combat is easier. And it's not just the overpowered new abilites. The enemies are pushovers for the most part. The fact that some of the new powers can wipe out entire encounters in seconds doesn't help either. A shame, really. The challenging combat was one of the more enjoyable aspects of Origins.

As for the bugs, I'm not quite sure what to say here. I didn't get any significant bugs or glitches during a full playthrough. However, some people have been reporting fairly nasty stuff that prevents them from completing the game. It might have something to do with the platform on which they are playing, but as far as I can tell the PC version is working quite well.

Yea, I didn't encounter a single bug or glitch on my entire playthrough on the 360. Maybe it's just the PS3. Bioware is still pretty new at working with that console.

 

[Axeli]

It's easier, although it might be more about your characters being more much more powerful now rather than enemies having low stats.
It sort of makes sense that your Rogue PC can take a Revenant alone and head-on, and it is kinda awesome to see your character has become a death machine and a bloody walking fortress, even as a dual-wielding rogue. Honestly, I don't think her HP ever fell below half (and very, very rarely even below two thirds or so) minus the overwhelm-like attacks some bosses use.
It's bloody hilarious to see a giant ocre-like demon pick up 5"3 feet elf woman with one hand and repeatedly punch her into stomach with the other, in huge swings, barely doing any damage.

So yeah, if you want a challenge (at least with an imported character) better set the difficulty a bit higher.