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Anyway, Return to Ostagar is available now both for PC and Xbox

My advice for those of you who are playing/enjoying Dragon Age is to buy Return to Ostagar. While the DLC is perhaps a bit short - I completed it, with my level 23, post-campaign character, in a bit more than two hours - the story is very good (and it has even an almost shocking twist to it! ) and full of very epic, very emotional moments that left me with a satisfying sense of closure. After the tragedy of Ostagar, it's great to return to the fortress and see what happened during the winter.

AndreaDraco wrote:My advice for those of you who are playing/enjoying Dragon Age is to buy Return to Ostagar. While the DLC is perhaps a bit short - I completed it, with my level 23, post-campaign character, in a bit more than two hours - the story is very good (and it has even an almost shocking twist to it! ) and full of very epic, very emotional moments that left me with a satisfying sense of closure. After the tragedy of Ostagar, it's great to return to the fortress and see what happened during the winter.

Yeah not so sure I will be able to import my character!

First Awakening Character Unveiled

(The video at the bottom of the article contains a mild spoiler about the ending of Origins)

Not a fan of the arsehole characters. Ironically you can see my post in the Mass Effect 2 thread about that. Granted he didn't cuss - but just not a fan of the "bad" characters. Sten was all right, because he was stand-offish, as was Morigann. There was no one in Dragon Age (within your party) who was a complete arse - not even Zeveran, who tries to assassinate you. At his worse, he's utterly charming.

So this first character does nothing for me, and I am hoping we get some good characters in the future.

EDIT - As a side note, I do believe this is the longest ongoing thread on the forum. Awesome!

Judging only from the trailer, I like him, mainly because...

... I'm pretty sure that he'll get along well with my Libertarian mage

AndreaDraco wrote:Judging only from the trailer, I like him, mainly because...

... I'm pretty sure that he'll get along well with my Libertarian mage

For your mage (did you accept the desire demon's deal to learn Blood Magic?)... because from appearance, he seems to specialize in Blood Magic.

No, I didn't. My mage is a Libertarian, true, but, given that he believes in freedom over anything else, he simply couldn't condemn Connor to be the unwilling host of the Desire Demon. Same thing with the little girl (with Kitty the Kitty) in The Stone Prisoner.

The Bewitched Templar in the Circle Tower, though, is another matter entirely

Oh, and I don't know if Anders is a Blood Mage, perhaps he only escaped the Tower and he's hunted down for that. But, even if he's a blood mage, well, my Mage actually liked Jowan who, despise always making the wrong choice, resorted, in the end, to blood magic for a good cause.

Ah, shades of grey!

AndreaDraco wrote:No, I didn't. My mage is a Libertarian, true, but, given that he believes in freedom over anything else, he simply couldn't condemn Connor to be the unwilling host of the Desire Demon. Same thing with the little girl (with Kitty the Kitty) in The Stone Prisoner.

The Bewitched Templar in the Circle Tower, though, is another matter entirely

Oh, and I don't know if Anders is a Blood Mage, perhaps he only escaped the Tower and he's hunted down for that. But, even if he's a blood mage, well, my Mage actually liked Jowan who, despise always making the wrong choice, resorted, in the end, to blood magic for a good cause.

Ah, shades of grey!

Well from the preview of the movie - I got the impression that they showed him doing Blood Magic.

And for the Bewitched Templar in the Circle... you let him believe the lie?

Tawmis wrote:And for the Bewitched Templar in the Circle... you let him believe the lie?

Yes. It was a difficult decision, a very difficult decision, but at least he was happy and able to have the family otherwise he couldn't have.

A few questions:

1. Does becoming a Blood Mage make your party members react differently to you? I'm wondering if simply taking that specialization is enough to cause issues or does that occur (if at all) only when you've used your powers?

I'm wondering because I was thinking of taking Blood Mage as a specialization. Even if I never use those powers (and to be honest, I probably won't unless absolutely necessary), the immediate stat bonuses are useful.

2. What do you think about the following combos?

• Arcane Warrior/Blood Mage
• Arcane Warrior/Spirit Healer
• Arcane Warrior/Shapeshifter (I've heard this is a poor choice)
• Blood Mage/Spirit Healer
• Blood Mage/Shapeshifter
• Spirit Healer/Shapeshifter

I doubt I could get the Shapeshifter specialization since Morrigan's approval of me is way over 30 and I'm only at Lothering right now. She seems to get turned on by Mages -- especially those who dislike the rules and limitations set upon spell casters.

3. If I try a new character and make him a Warrior (probably using the Dalish Elf background since that seems pretty interesting), which specialization(s) are good? I've read the DA Wiki and it seems to me that the only decent choice is Templar. The others are so-so, with the Berserker winning out over Reaver and Champion. Is there are any point in taking either of those? I've read that Liliana and Wynn get really ticked off and attack when becoming a Reaver.

4. Morrigan or Liliana? As of right now, Morrigan seems to have latched on to me. In fact, I've already got her kissing me and as I said before, we've just reached Lothering. Apparently she's rather "easy" if you know what I mean.

Liliana seems like a harder sell, but she's probably a better person than Morrigan. Maybe not as useful, but she certainly seems like a nice girl, whereas Morrigan can be a little... bitchy, to put it nicely. I like her character (she's pretty funny, especially when Allistair is in your party), but I can't help feeling like a relationship with her would turn out badly.

Although I have to admit, Morrigan is kind of hot (and I don't mean her starting outfit) in a somewhat unusual way.

DeadPoolX wrote:1. Does becoming a Blood Mage make your party members react differently to you? I'm wondering if simply taking that specialization is enough to cause issues or does that occur (if at all) only when you've used your powers?

It depends on how you unlock this specialization. If you unlock it during the Arl of Redcliffe quest, there won't be issues. However, if you unlock it during Unrest in the Alienage, you will suffer several approval drops. More details in the spoiler below.

If you unlock it in the Fade during the Arl of Redcliffe plot quest, from the Desire Demon that is enslaving Connor, you won't suffer any approval drops aside from the ones correlated to the way you used to enter the Fade (that is, Alistair will shockingly disapprove if you're entering the Fade by using another character's (I won't say who in case you don't already know) blood power.

If you unlock it at the end of Unrest in the Alienage, just before the Landsmeet, every character with you at the moment - apart from Sten, Dog and Morrigan - will severely disapprove.

Being a blood mage, an apostate, is dangerous when completing the Broken Circle plot quest too, since there's a chance to loose once and for all one or two companions, based on your dialogue choices.

2. What do you think about the following combos?

• Arcane Warrior/Blood Mage
• Arcane Warrior/Spirit Healer
• Arcane Warrior/Shapeshifter (I've heard this is a poor choice)
• Blood Mage/Spirit Healer
• Blood Mage/Shapeshifter
• Spirit Healer/Shapeshifter

First of all, forget all about Shapeshifter. It's useless: why should you turn into an animal which can't cast spells and deals only (forgettable) physical damage, when you have an arsenal of extremely powerful spells that cover every array of possibilities, from healing to damage dealing, from crowd control to buff/debuff? Surely the Flying Swarm is a nice AoE spell, but the other three powers are really dispensable.

With this being said, it really depends on your style of playing.

I built a character entirely focused on damage-dealing spellcasting (five chains of damage spells: fire, cold, electricity, nature/poison and spirit) and, when it came to specializations, I chose Spirit Healer both to help Wynne when she was out of mana (or in cooldown) and to gain the very useful +2 Magic boost (which translates into a solid +2 Spellpower, which is your most important stat if you're building a caster). At Level 14, I chose Arcane Warrior as a second specialization, but only to gain the +1 Dexterity boost (which translates in a Defense boost) and because no other spec appealed to me for roleplaying issues. Since I was building (and roleplaying) a pure caster and had no interest in engaging enemies in melee, all the Arcane Warrior talents were completely useless to me and I didn't put points in them.

Once you figure out what type of mage you want to play, every combination has its merits. Bear in mind that if you go for Arcane Warrior and use a weapon, you won't be able to cast many spells that require a staff (or even bare hands). Here you can find which spells you can cast with your weapon drawn and which ones require that you sheat it (amongst them, Cone of Cold, Blizzard, Fireball, Stonefist, Mind Blast, Paralyze/Mass Paralysis).

1. Spirit Healer + Arcane Warrior: if you want to sacrifice part of your spellcasting power to put points into the Arcane Warrior specific talents - beware that, while having Combat Magic allows your character to wear weapons and armors, actually activating the talent costs you a -50 upkeep and a +50% fatigue (plus the fatigue of every armor/weapon you're wearing) - this build is very balanced, since it allows to enter melee with ease and heal yourself and your allies in the meantime. If you don't have a high dexterity - and, thus, a low defense - Lifeward will be pretty useful, since you'll be hit a lot.

2. Arcane Warrior + Blood Mage: certainly interesting for a mage who enters melee often. The fact that Blood Magic allows you to use your Health instead of your Mana - which will be severely reduced by your AW talents - to cast spells provides a good balance. Since your most useful spells - Blood Wound and Blood Control - can both be casted with your weapons drawn, I'd say that this is the best build if you're looking for an heavy-armored battle mage who engages the mobs in melee.

3. Spirit Healer + Blood Mage: this combination doesn't have much sense, if you want my opinion. While Spirit Healer comes with the extremely useful Group Heal and Blood Sacrifice drains a companion's health to heal the mage (+100 Health), one can say that this combo could be pretty useful, but this seems to me like a waste of mana: why should I cast a spell to heal myself at the expense of a companion, only to heal him afterwards? Wouldn't it be better if I healed myself with the Heal spell (or Group Heal) in the first place?

3. If I try a new character and make him a Warrior (probably using the Dalish Elf background since that seems pretty interesting), which specialization(s) are good? I've read the DA Wiki and it seems to me that the only decent choice is Templar. The others are so-so, with the Berserker winning out over Reaver and Champion. Is there are any point in taking either of those? I've read that Liliana and Wynn get really ticked off and attack when becoming a Reaver.

Yes. Both Leliana and Wynne will attack you if they're present when you unlock the Reaver specialization (sort of. Can't say anymore for spoilers). Anyway, in my experience the best combo is Templar + Champion. When Champion gains Superiority, its War Cry knocks people to the ground, making in an extremely powerful crowd control ability. That is, of course, if you're going with a tank warrior. Otherwise, if you're aiming at an heavy damager who wields a gigantic two-handed weapon, Berseker should be your first choice. Even in this case, though, I'll go with Champion as a second specialization, to help the tank (Superiority) and buffing your allies' attack/defense (Rally) while hampering the enemies' stats (War Cry).

4. Morrigan or Liliana? As of right now, Morrigan seems to have latched on to me. In fact, I've already got her kissing me and as I said before, we've just reached Lothering. Apparently she's rather "easy" if you know what I mean.

Liliana seems like a harder sell, but she's probably a better person than Morrigan. Maybe not as useful, but she certainly seems like a nice girl, whereas Morrigan can be a little... bitchy, to put it nicely. I like her character (she's pretty funny, especially when Allistair is in your party), but I can't help feeling like a relationship with her would turn out badly.

Do you want spoilers?
An advice: keep Morrigan in your party until the very end, but I'd romance Leliana without a single doubt. Sure, I can't stand Morrigan, so I may be biased but let's just say that your feeling may not be so wrong after all.

DeadPoolX wrote: A few questions:
1. Does becoming a Blood Mage make your party members react differently to you? I'm wondering if simply taking that specialization is enough to cause issues or does that occur (if at all) only when you've used your powers?

I have not unlocked Blood Mage yet - but am planning to on my second play through on he X360 with the Mage I am playing.

DeadPoolX wrote: I doubt I could get the Shapeshifter specialization since Morrigan's approval of me is way over 30 and I'm only at Lothering right now. She seems to get turned on by Mages -- especially those who dislike the rules and limitations set upon spell casters.

The only reason worth getting Shape Shifting is just to say you unlocked it. As 'Draco said there wasn't much use to it. Morigan was far more powerful casting spells than being in bear or spider form. Heck, the only time I had her shape shift was during the easier fights, just because it was cool looking.

DeadPoolX wrote: I've read that Liliana and Wynn get really ticked off and attack when becoming a Reaver.

Heh - sounds cool.

DeadPoolX wrote: 4. Morrigan or Liliana? As of right now, Morrigan seems to have latched on to me. In fact, I've already got her kissing me and as I said before, we've just reached Lothering. Apparently she's rather "easy" if you know what I mean.

Don't let 'Draco's view sway you - Morrigan all the way!

DeadPoolX wrote: Liliana seems like a harder sell, but she's probably a better person than Morrigan. Maybe not as useful, but she certainly seems like a nice girl, whereas Morrigan can be a little... bitchy, to put it nicely. I like her character (she's pretty funny, especially when Allistair is in your party), but I can't help feeling like a relationship with her would turn out badly.

Liliana is who I am going for with my mage. May try to sway Zeveran with my Rogue on the PC - if I ever build up the tolerance to endure the Fade again.

DeadPoolX wrote: Although I have to admit, Morrigan is kind of hot (and I don't mean her starting outfit) in a somewhat unusual way.

Don't listen to 'Draco... she's ... helpful at the end.

I know she's helpful!

I'm the one who accepted the ritual, my dear Tawm!

But this doesn't mean she's not a supreme b*tch!

Anyway, a major spoiler from the Landsmeet (so basically only for Tawmis )

I just finished the Landsmeet in my second playthrough (Dalish Rogue). I spared Loghain and made him a Grey Warden. Alistair's reaction is tough, a punch in the stomach and really heart-wrenching. I feel really sorry for doing this to him.

At least, since I've hardened him during his personal quest, at least he became King and I genuinely hope that he'll give that bitch Anora the hell of a time she deserves, that power-hungry whore! Sorry, can't really stand her or her father...

I only preserved Loghain to hear his dialogues and bring him back to Ostagar

Tawmis, do you plan on play Return to Ostagar after all? If so, I'll say nothing. Otherwise, tell me and I'll reveal you the major secret the DLC unveils