Dragon Age is hard....
- Thread starter MiracleOfSound
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I see some differing views there.
Tactics seem to working pretty well for me, just sticking to easy for my first playthrough to enjoy the story.
I see some differing views there.
Tactics seem to working pretty well for me, just sticking to easy for my first playthrough to enjoy the story.
Comming from a strong backround of heavy BG/IWD/PS playing even I had trouble on Normal at a few spots. Keep in mind most of the tougher encounters can be avoided completely. One failsafe strategy that has always gotten me out of a jam is simply keeping the party a good ways held back and pre-emptively setting 5-20 traps in a bottleneck just before an encounter. Survival helps a lot with preperations on your first playthrough but saving before opening doors into large rooms and reloading can work just aswell.
My first playthrough party went smoothly on normal as:
Myself: Dwarven two handed Beserker/Reaver
Alistar: Shield tank Templar/champion with heavy spell resistance
Leliana: Bard/Ranger straight archer
Wynn: Spirit Healer/Shapeshifter, straight healer/buffer never put a single point into shapeshifting but the +2constitution was more appealing than the other passive bonuses
As you can see it's a very plain time-proven set-up. One thing I believed made entirely the difference on some of the tougher fights with 3 or more magi was Alistar having the Knight Commander templar armour that offered some 40% spell immunity.
Don't neglect spending talents on more tactics slots. I at first thought it silly as they offered no actual improvement, but for some spellcasters it can save you hours of pause-time and frustration.
My first playthrough party went smoothly on normal as:
Myself: Dwarven two handed Beserker/Reaver
Alistar: Shield tank Templar/champion with heavy spell resistance
Leliana: Bard/Ranger straight archer
Wynn: Spirit Healer/Shapeshifter, straight healer/buffer never put a single point into shapeshifting but the +2constitution was more appealing than the other passive bonuses
As you can see it's a very plain time-proven set-up. One thing I believed made entirely the difference on some of the tougher fights with 3 or more magi was Alistar having the Knight Commander templar armour that offered some 40% spell immunity.
Don't neglect spending talents on more tactics slots. I at first thought it silly as they offered no actual improvement, but for some spellcasters it can save you hours of pause-time and frustration.
Slight question regarding the final area of the game:
Am I supposed to be one-shot-killing all the minor enemies from Redcliffe to the end? Emissaries, Alphas, Assasins and the like are just as tough as before, but Hurlocks, Genlocks and the grunts go down instantly. The archer damage was insane, so it was still a challenge despite my rogue being able to take down 6 enemies in two attacks (Sweep and Whirlwind).
Did they do this just so they could throw phenomenally large hordes of enemies at you (like the Yaga-Shura fight in BG2) or was I just obscenely over-levelled - had my entire party at lvl 20.
Did they do this just so they could throw phenomenally large hordes of enemies at you (like the Yaga-Shura fight in BG2) or was I just obscenely over-levelled - had my entire party at lvl 20.
Same thing for me.StevieWonderMk2 said:
I assume it's just for extra Dramatic "Look how awesome you've become this is our way around letting you actualy fight an entire war like we've been leading you on to"
EDIT: also after playing both a two-hander and a dual-wielder. My Dual Weapon warrior did insanely more damage than my two-hander warrior. Just slap on Dual-striking and momentum and you wont even need to use abilities. Also as somebody else mentioned the same strategy as a rogue nets even more benefits at the low cost of more fatique, but as I mentioned you will hardly need to use any stamina.
I feel you. I have the same exact problem, on the PC version though. Switching to easy feels so bad, but on normal: I can finally win some battles after losing them up to ten times. It has taken a long time to get used to the battle system and usually I don't like to control every one in the party. playing as a mage might be some kind of a solution, but I don't like to play as one at all; for now, at least.
Naw, WoW is for 13 year old kids mostly. Hell, their next expansion is dedicated to making the game even easier. Dragon Age is actually difficult. You can breeze through any of the content in WoW if you're geared up right and know the tactics. In Dragon Age, the enemy mages are a PROBLEM. Kill the Mage first doesn't always work, especially if the mage decides to use cone of cold just as you reach them, because that freezes your entire party and YOU ARENT THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN SHATTER ON A CRITICAL.Cornwallpwns said:
Huh... what have you been spending your attribute points on?miracleofsound said:
EDIT:
And for those of you that have the PC version and are complaining that the game is getting too easy... take a look at the Nightmare Plus mod.
Yes, you are meant to be doing that. It's so they can throw the large numbers of enemies at you. Just be careful not to get too cocky, there is one pointStevieWonderMk2 said:
In the Elven Alienage where you'll be fighting ~100+ enemies at once. There are alphas in there, and an orange named general mob. Oh and a TON of Ogres.
on offense yeah, but if you get anywhere near them it takes 2-3 hits to kill em, or use the bitchslap command as a rogue and they are yours for the taking, mages are killers if you let them sit in the background, just like you as the player do as a mageimahobbit4062 said:
mage is easy for easy and normal, but warrior slowly has the favor switched to it on nightmare for difficulty, as mages get literally teebagged and pooped on on nightmare
Kazturkey said:
Oh yeah, that was kinda annoying. I just sat back, dropped some AoE, shot the crap out of the ogre and flooded the area with Redcliffe Militia. Would probably have been smarter to go for the mages and nuke the hell out of them. Still worked.
A Blood Mage/Spirit Healer with good crowd control is a game breaker. All pretence of challenge is thrown out of the window. But if I do give you one serious piece of advice... Kill enemy mages first. For the love of all that is fraggable, kill them first. Many a times when I was starting out would my party be shredded by an enemy mage throwing fireballs left and right.
mage is easiest to play as and the recipe for success party is mage as player character, wynne healing and buffing, alistair to lay down the melee hurt and take hits (use blood dragon armor, or, if that's unavailable, Juggernaut plate or wade's superior dragonbone plate), shale to tank.
also, i feel like "nuking" as a mage should be the last thing you do after your dots and crowd control spells are already used/recharging.
run in...mind blast/mass paralysis/curse of mortality/crushing prison and THEN start nuking.
that's how i played at least and had no problems with normal difficulty and even bumped it up the next notch for my second playthrough without any problems so far...
also, i feel like "nuking" as a mage should be the last thing you do after your dots and crowd control spells are already used/recharging.
run in...mind blast/mass paralysis/curse of mortality/crushing prison and THEN start nuking.
that's how i played at least and had no problems with normal difficulty and even bumped it up the next notch for my second playthrough without any problems so far...
Well, you're on 360 so I can't help a lot as I have no idea how to play without the tactical overhead. That's an old war wound from too many hours of Baldur's Gate.
What I will say is this: hte difficulty in DA:O is god damn wobbly. One second you're breezing through anything, next second I'm getting raped by a random encounter.
What I will say is this: hte difficulty in DA:O is god damn wobbly. One second you're breezing through anything, next second I'm getting raped by a random encounter.
Human Noble WarriorTheDoctor455 said:
Skill tree thing: combat tactics and combat training
Skills: Warrior, Weapon and shield, Templar
Wearing Juggernaut armour
I also have Alistair on the same setup
Then Wynne with healing spells, buffs, Ice spells and paralyse
And Leiliana with buffs and ranged attacks
I have learned this one principle from the Baldur's Gate -games, that can help you out: Ranged attacks are your friend.
This is about setting ambushes; when you are certain that there are enemies in the next room/around the corner, have your companions stand still, with ranged weapons ready. Then go to lure the enemies out of their place towards your friends, and start blasting! AoE spells are important in this tactic. This tactic helped me conserve healing potions in places like Redcliffe castle and Circle Tower. Also, if there is a big baddie, try to have it chase one of your guys around, while the others blasts it with ranged attacks.
And close AoE spells/abilities like Mind Blast or the mabari's Dread Howl are very convenient.
This is about setting ambushes; when you are certain that there are enemies in the next room/around the corner, have your companions stand still, with ranged weapons ready. Then go to lure the enemies out of their place towards your friends, and start blasting! AoE spells are important in this tactic. This tactic helped me conserve healing potions in places like Redcliffe castle and Circle Tower. Also, if there is a big baddie, try to have it chase one of your guys around, while the others blasts it with ranged attacks.
And close AoE spells/abilities like Mind Blast or the mabari's Dread Howl are very convenient.