Dragon Age: Origins.

[DeadPoolX]

So... I took a moment to stop screwing around with GMod (in which I had a battle consisting of a dragon, Commander Shepard, Master Chief, Batman, Samus Aran and the U.S. Army -- during a thunderstorm with a tornado!) in order to play DA once again.

I went to the Mage's tower first and I've just made it out of the Fade. At first, the Fade ticked me off, but as I went on, it wasn't so bad. The golem form is awesome.

I know Maia had some difficulty with the Fade (although that's probably due to being a Rogue), but I blasted through everything. In some ways, I almost found it too easy. It helps that I have 38 (with stat boosting items) in both Magic and Willpower.

The funny thing is that I'm having such a good time playing a Mage, that it almost seems self-defeating to take Arcane Warrior. I haven't found that specialization yet (in fact, the only Mage-specific specialization open is Shapeshifter, which I'm not going to take), but I think I'd rather shoot things apart than get my hands dirty.

Of course... this raises an interesting question: should I take a specialization at all? As everyone seems to say, Shapeshifter is useless and unless I want to tank, Arcane Warrior isn't much better. Blood Mage will probably get me in hot water sometime down the line and Spirit Healer seems a little too defensive/wimpy. Besides, I have Wynn for that.

[Tawmis]

Just go straight Mage, if you're not going to go Blood Mage. As you said, Arcane Warrior is almost silly; and for the Healing, Wynne is there for that. Just play a straight up Mage and have some fun.

[AndreaDraco]

I suggest taking Spirit Healer - even if you don't plan to lear its specific spells - for the Magic boost. In short, every specialization, even if you don't spend Talent points in it, may be worth taking for the Attributes bonuses, of course given that the specialization actually fits your roleplay (i.e. I'd never take Blood Mage for my Libertarian Mage with a strong dislike of mind control even if the Spellpower boost is certainly useful).

[DeadPoolX]

Okay, so I finished the Mage Tower quest and then went to the Brecilian Forest. Not a bad place, but very confusing. I got turned around more than once. I'm now in the lower ruins, looking to get the Arcane Warrior specialization. Whether or not I use it myself doesn't matter -- I still want it unlocked.

I was originally in a romance with Morrigan (her approval rating was at 100), but I found myself liking Leliana more and more. Finally, Leliana wanted to know where I stood -- Morrigan or her -- and I told her I'd rather be with her.

Is it wrong to feel a bit guilty? I mean, Morrigan was never the "commitment type", but she was genuinely interested in my character. I checked back with Morrigan in the camp (after choosing Leliana over her) and she handled it very well. I lost some approval with her (minus 15), but I gained back five points when I gave her a gift. Now she's rated at 95 and considered "friendly."

Actually, everyone except for Sten and Wynn have high approval for my character. Aside from Morrigan, Leliana is at nearly 80, Alistair is at 50-something and Zevran is in the high 40s.

Yeah, I took Zevran and he's hilarious! He's nowhere near as good with traps and lockpicking as Leliana is, but he's a much better hand-to-hand fighter and has stealth.

My current party -- and it's been this way for a little while -- consists of Alistair, Leliana and Zevran. I'm the only mage in the group. Maybe that's a good idea and maybe it's not. However, we've been doing fantastic and I need more physical/long-range teammates than I do spell casters.

[AndreaDraco]

Yeah, I took Zevran and he's hilarious! He's nowhere near as good with traps and lockpicking as Leliana is, but he's a much better hand-to-hand fighter and has stealth.

Glad that you're liking Zevran! He's indeed awesome!

My current party -- and it's been this way for a little while -- consists of Alistair, Leliana and Zevran. I'm the only mage in the group. Maybe that's a good idea and maybe it's not. However, we've been doing fantastic and I need more physical/long-range teammates than I do spell casters.

Do you use bows with Leliana? If so, I strongly suggest you to complete her personal quest as soon as possible And another thing, if you're the only mage, I really think you should go for Spirit Healer: a Group Heal now and then will certainly be useful, especially while in the Deep Roads beneath Orzammar.

[Maiandra]

So I finally finished Dragon Age and I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed. Not with the game itself, but with my ending. It couldn't have been more depressing of an ending for my character. Granted, some of the good she did in the land turned out well, but for her personally, not so much.

Allistair wouldn't let me kill the arch-demon. I didn't even have the option of doing it, since he didn't want me to die. So he dies and pretty much everyone else leaves. I don't understand it. I had really high approval with many of my companions. Lovely, happy ending.

I really don't want to have to go back and make different decisions before all that fighting in Denerim, but I may have to if I want a different ending. Of course, I'm not sure any of the other options available to me are any better.

I could die, which isn't particularly happy either. I didn't feel like letting Morrigan do her magic before the final battle was a good ending, since her being the parent of a god seemed like a bad thing. Plus, I didn't want her being with Allistair. Leliana and I had a discussion earlier about travelling around afterwards, but it seems she wasn't interested in that, since she just ran off to Orlais.

The other thing that annoyed me was that after the Landsmeet, the game was acting like Allistair was still king, even though I had picked Anora and he'd given up his claim to the throne.

[Tawmis]

Allistair wouldn't let me kill the arch-demon. I didn't even have the option of doing it, since he didn't want me to die.

Wait. What? You didn't even have the option to DO IT?
Whoa. I hadn't seen that.

Oh! Question...

I guess either you or Draco can answer this - since I romanced Morrigan, it's obvious how she got pregnant - but since neither of you clearly romanced her - how does it explain her having a child?

[DeadPoolX]

Question: where is the book to learn the Ranger specialization? Maia said it was in the camp (and so did the Wiki), but when I check that dwarf merchant, he doesn't have it. Does he only offer it at certain times or did something go awry?

Glad that you're liking Zevran! He's indeed awesome!

He's an excellent fighter, too. So far, he's done the killing blows against large enemies, like dragons. That "finishing move" he performed on Flemeth was extremely cool.

Do you use bows with Leliana? If so, I strongly suggest you to complete her personal quest as soon as possible

Yup, I have Leliana using bows. I found a really good bow for Leliana in the ruins (I think that's where it was...), but from what you've said, she probably gets a much better one during her personal quest.

In fact, every character -- especially those who're melee fighters -- have a bow or crossbow as their backup long-range weapon. They rarely use them, but if needed, they do have them ready.

And another thing, if you're the only mage, I really think you should go for Spirit Healer: a Group Heal now and then will certainly be useful, especially while in the Deep Roads beneath Orzammar.

I'm going to take Spirit Healer, but I've got Shapeshifter and Arcane Warrior unlocked. I saved the game first and tried AW out. Do you realize that, using my magic stat in place of strength, I can easily wear the Juggernaut armor? Both Alistair and Sten have a few levels to go before they can put it on.

[AndreaDraco]

Allistair wouldn't let me kill the arch-demon. I didn't even have the option of doing it, since he didn't want me to die. So he dies and pretty much everyone else leaves. I don't understand it. I had really high approval with many of my companions. Lovely, happy ending.

I really don't want to have to go back and make different decisions before all that fighting in Denerim, but I may have to if I want a different ending. Of course, I'm not sure any of the other options available to me are any better.

Two things about your problems with the finale:

1. The only way to resolve positevely the Alistair romance is to allow him to sleep with Morrigan in Redcliffe, and - if you try to convince him to do so - you will have plenty of roleplaying options in the dialogue, so you may want to try it out.

2. As for the other companions, only Leliana and Zevran can stay with you after the Blight ends, but - if I'm not mistaken - you can ask even the other ones to go with them in their travels. So I think that if you want you can go with Leliana to Orlais. I also guess that, after Marjolaine, you didn't hardened Leliana (was she wearing a robe at the end? Or a leather armor?), otherwise she wouldn't go to Orlais and stay with the Warden

The other thing that annoyed me was that after the Landsmeet, the game was acting like Allistair was still king, even though I had picked Anora and he'd given up his claim to the throne.

This is a known glitch, especially if the Warden is a Human Noble female romancing him.

I guess either you or Draco can answer this - since I romanced Morrigan, it's obvious how she got pregnant - but since neither of you clearly romanced her - how does it explain her having a child?

My Elven Mage convinced Alistair to sleep with her in Redcliffe, so she obviously had a child with him. However, with my Dalish Rogue, no one ever slept with her and her ending was radically different. The epilogue, in fact, told me that a witch similar to Morrigan was seen, many years later, in Orlais, where she positioned herself in the Empress' court.

Question: where is the book to learn the Ranger specialization? Maia said it was in the camp (and so did the Wiki), but when I check that dwarf merchant, he doesn't have it. Does he only offer it at certain times or did something go awry?

I know it may sounds stupid, but are you sure that you didn't already bought it maybe without realizing it? Bodhan should have the Ranger manual from the very beginning (at the bottom of his inventory).

I'm going to take Spirit Healer, but I've got Shapeshifter and Arcane Warrior unlocked. I saved the game first and tried AW out. Do you realize that, using my magic stat in place of strength, I can easily wear the Juggernaut armor? Both Alistair and Sten have a few levels to go before they can put it on.

Yes, I realize that

[Tawmis]

With MASS EFFECT 2 beaten, I am returning my attention back to Dragon Age to finish my other playthroughs.

There's my Rogue on the PC (if you have an account and sign in on social.bioware.com you can see what my Rogue has - he's barely started). And then there's my Mage (severely out of date information for X360 characters - as my Mage is level 20, not level 2! And by the gods, my Human Warrior is way out of date! Apparently only the PC versions update properly not the XBL versions). Mentioned it in this thread.

[AndreaDraco]

The Edge is one of the best daggers of the entire game. My Dalish Rogue used it from the beginning to the final battle (when he used the other wonderful dagger, The Rose Thorn).

[DeadPoolX]

I know it may sounds stupid, but are you sure that you didn't already bought it maybe without realizing it? Bodhan should have the Ranger manual from the very beginning (at the bottom of his inventory).

If I had bought it, I would've unlocked it.

In the highly unlikely event that I did buy it and don't remember doing so, how would I check? Leliana and Zevran haven't reached LVL 14 yet, so they haven't had the option to take it.

[AndreaDraco]

One option could be loading a previous save game around level 7 (presumably for Leliana) and see if the specialization is unlocked. Unfortunately, there is no option - that I know of, at least - to check if a specialization is locked or unlocked outside of level 7 and level 14.

But to be absolutely sure there is even a safer way. Once a spec is unlocked, it will be unlocked forever, across every playthrough. So you can load a previous save, maybe while you're still in Lothering: dispatch the darkspawn blocking the Imperial Highway, talk with Bodhan and Sandal and then leave Lothering. You should see the dream of the Archdemon and later talk with Alistair about it. While you're still in camp, access Bodhan's inventory and buy the manual. This will unlock the specialization forever and you can then reload your last save and you'll have it.

[DeadPoolX]

I'll have to try that.

Apparently there's an option to buy not only the Ranger spec, but also Templar, as well. Both Ranger and Templar don't appear for me and I haven't unlocked them. To add to this confusion, Zevran unlocked Assassin a while back and that's not unlocked as well.

I checked this by loading a game shortly before Leliana leveled up. Once she did level up, the only spec unlocked was Bard. Once again, she wasn't LVL 14, but when hovering the pointer over the specs, it should say which ones are unlocked and which ones aren't yet.

I don't know what's up with my game, but it seems there's some really weird stuff going on.

[DeadPoolX]

Okay, I loaded my game before I went to camp (and after having saved that dwarf merchant). I went to the camp and checked his wares and... the Ranger book wasn't there and neither was the Templar book.

Do you have to be a Rogue in order to acquire the Ranger book? If not, then something weird happened to my game and it'll be impossible for me to get the Ranger spec (and quite possibly Templar, as well).

Yeah, I know Alistair can teach Templar, but I think his approval has to be sky high and it isn't. He doesn't disapprove, but I'm not past 50.