Dragon age skills. Skills in Dragon Age Origins. Superman and a little trick

  • Role system
  • Squad Composition
  • Characteristics
  • Skills
  • Talents and Spells
  • Classes
  • Talent selection options
  • Tactics

Role system

The parameters for the character are as follows:

  • health and mana - directly follow from the characteristics;

    defense - a chance to dodge an attack;

    resistance (physical and mental) - measured in "conventional units" and determine the chance to "resist" against an attack. Physical resistance is not needed against health removal, but against additional effects like stuns or knockdowns. These effects are common to a good half of martial techniques and many spells; mental stability is needed much less often. In the future, we will designate them as FU and PU;

    experience - as usual, determines how much is left to the level;

  • talents and spells.

The last two points are easy to confuse. So, "talents and spells" are basically those actions that you can use in combat. And skills determine your overall effectiveness. And if talents and spells come to you 1 each level, then skills come only once every three levels, and you can’t change them in any way.


We are offered a choice of three races - a man, an elf, a dwarf - and three classes: a warrior, a mage, a robber (I will already use this clumsy translation). You can create only one hero - he will be our incarnation in the game; the rest of the team - up to three satellites allowed at a time - will assemble along the way.

Of course, there is not such a wealth of choice as in Baldur's Gate; however, we take into account that two heroes of the same class differ very much due to their abilities, and starting from level 7 they can try to take on a specialization (four options for each class) The repertoires of magicians are especially different.

Ask in the shops of the city

You will really need money in the game, because there are enough expensive things to buy from merchants. With potions, bombs, weapons, components, recipes for herbalists and poisoners, everyone will figure it out for themselves, but I would like to draw your attention to items that you should especially seek out from all the merchants you meet:

    Backpack. Each of them increases the inventory capacity of the entire team by 10 units. Initially, you have seventy of them, and this is absolutely not enough for long autonomous hikes - which you will start pretty soon. The first one is in Ostagar, don't miss it.

    Books. You are primarily interested in two types of literary works: for getting talent or skill points (you need as many of them as you can find and pay for) and for specialization (you need a maximum of two of these that you plan to study, and only if there is nowhere else to learn).

    Present. An invaluable tool for increasing the loyalty of companions. However, most gifts are only of interest to one of your friends, the rest of you will receive a penny increase and a slight decrease in interest in gifts in the future. In the next issue I hope to present you full list who to give what; for now I'll limit myself general advice according to the NPCs you meet.

    Runes. They can be built into weapons (starting from the moment you leave Lothering) and they will work as a permanent buff. Usually additional damage of some type, say electricity or acid.

Squad Composition

On the team you will need:

    indisputably - at least one "tank", which must certainly be a warrior;

    at least one, and preferably two "hitoboys", one of which can be an auxiliary "tank" - a mage, a robber, and even a warrior are suitable for this role;

    desirable (although without it here really dispense) - a healer, and this is definitely a magician;

    preferably - at least one "subjugator", that is, a specialist in fettering and neutralizing opponents (crowd controller). It can also be combined with a hit-boy or a healer. Naturally, a magician is suitable for this role, a robber with a bard specialization is also not bad.

And I was also assured that you seemed to be able to turn into even the smallest animals. Well, for example, become a rat
or even a mouse!

You will be able to regularly change the composition of the group - wherever you can arrange a halt. This will not help you in the dungeon, but before entering there, it will.

Before you start inventing a character, I should give you a little advice. It actually borders on a spoiler, so if you want to avoid it, skip ahead to the next chapter.


The fact is that among the satellites that are in the game, there are many warriors, they make up almost two-thirds of the list. And mages and robbers - only two each. Moreover, among the magicians there is not a single "artilleryman", but there is a magnificent healer named Wynn and a werewolf sorceress (that is, a magician with the possibility of close combat).

"Tank" you, in principle, will be almost from the very beginning, and very good. There are alternatives to him, but they are usually better adapted to the role of a "hit-killer tank": for example, Stan - you will have him soon enough - wields a two-handed sword convincingly.

Also, from the very beginning, you will have a creature with you that does good melee damage and can occasionally stun all enemies, that is, it works partly as a “subduer”. But he has almost no equipment, which greatly limits his capabilities.

Pretty soon, if you're careful, you'll be able to add a rogue bard: it's a 'hitoboy subduer', but this particular companion is more of a subdue than a damage dealer. The second robber will be found much later, and he is a specialist exclusively in murder.

This is something to keep in mind before creating the original hero. I myself, of course, did not know this at the beginning of the game and chose the robber as the first hero. But you can't say that I'm particularly sorry about it.

Characteristics

We have six characteristics, as it should be from the century. Namely:

Strength

Each unit of power is here:

    Increases the damage of any attack, except for the crossbow and staff. Please note: bows are included! And the staff in dragon age- not a long club, but a magic shot weapon.

    Increases the chance to hit in melee combat (accuracy increases by 0.5 per unit).

    Added to physical stability.

    Helps to threaten the enemy.

In addition, a certain level of strength is required for almost any hand weapon, as well as for wearing armor. Each sword or helmet has a "requires this much power" setting. Like in old Diablo.

Agility

Each point of dexterity:

    increases the chances of hitting in melee combat (accuracy increases by 0.5 per unit);

    increases the chances of hitting when shooting (accuracy increases by 1 per unit);

    increases damage from piercing weapons, including bows and crossbows;

    increases defense by 1 for each point;

    enhances physical resilience.

In addition, high dexterity values ​​are needed for bows and crossbows, as well as a number of tricks.

Strength of will

Increases mental stability, and also gives the hero mana - 5 units for each point. Thus, everyone needs it, even warriors - they call mana energy, but the essence is the same.

Magic

Magic Feature:

If at least one wolf is able to
to knock you down, the rest will tear you apart in the blink of an eye, not allowing you to get up.

    increases the mental stability of the hero;

    increases the hero's magic power by 1 for each point;

    required for staves and spells (as power for weapons);

    increases the effectiveness of potions and poultices applied to the character (!).

Cunning

Cunning Features:

    affects the ability to convince;

    required for many tricks, especially robber ones;

    increases the effectiveness of rogue skills;

    affects mental stability.

Body type

Increases physical resistance and gives health points - 5 for each point.

Races

Let's face it: races are given little importance in the game mechanics. Four pluses to the characteristics is ridiculous, you will receive +3 for each level, and there are 20 of these levels in total. Except that the gnomes - who are forbidden to be magicians - receive a 10% chance to reflect enemy spells as compensation. It's nice, but 10% is not a probability that you should rely on.

Elves are pariahs, an oppressed race; most of them settle in ghettos within human cities.

The plus features are:

    Human: +1 Strength, Agility, Cunning, and Magic.

    Elf: +2 to magic and willpower.

    Dwarf: +1 Strength and Agility, +2 Constitution.

However, something different depends on the race: how you will be treated in the game. And also your original story.

Elves in Dragon Age are pariahs, an oppressed race; most of them settle in ghettos within human cities (such quarters are called "elfinages"), but there are still free tribes in the distant Brecilian Forest.

The Dwarves were once mighty and strong, but now they are in decline, and only two of their great cities remain; but still, they have a pretty decent relationship with people.

Well, people ... as usual, dominate this world. True, there is no agreement between them, but other races are a little better.

Skills

Oddly enough, the skills for all classes are common. Of course, they are useful in different ways, but any character can learn any skill. The only exception is influence; it is only allowed to be taught by the main character.

You will gain one skill point for every three levels, for a total of six in addition to what you already had. This value can be slightly improved by books that give an extra point. But they are rare and expensive.

Any skill has four stages; to learn the next one, one must know the previous one and fulfill other requirements. So:

Influence

According to the good old tradition, it increases the persuasiveness of your speeches. The first level requires cunning 10, the second - 12, the third - 14, the fourth - 16.

Thief

An attempt to steal valuables from the character. This skill improves the well-being of the squad quite well, but is the game worth the candle? Perhaps it is useful to make a “reserve” robber a thief, so that from time to time he is included in the squad and enriches it a little.

At the highest level, this skill helps to distract the enemy during combat, which is useful for a rogue. And yet sacrifice half of all skill points for it? I doubt...

Survival

Helps to notice opponents in time, as well as better imagine their parameters; from the third level it gives a little resistance to the forces of nature, from the fourth it further increases this and physical resistance.

As for me, this thing does not give serious advantages.

The requirements are the same as those of influence.

Making traps

Probably later they will say that the rain wetted the strings of the bows ...

If you remember, in Baldur's Gate, traps made and installed with your own hands were damned serious weapons; old Yoshimo simply worked miracles with their help. So, here it’s no worse. If you have time to prepare for battle, the good old trap will mentally please your opponents.

Parts for traps will have to be bought mainly from merchants; there is little in place.

This skill competes for "a place in the sun" with the manufacture of poisons; but it is desirable for a robber to study some of this - otherwise his possibilities in battle will be limited. Perhaps traps are better for the "shooting" version of the robber.

This skill also allows, which is logical, to better feel other people's traps.

Requirements: second stage - level 4, third - level 7, fourth - level 10.

Making poisons

Poisons are made from purchased or improvised means (such as herbs or dead spiders) and smeared on blades. A rogue who prefers close combat should seriously consider this skill.

But poisons are only half the fun: this skill also determines the crafting and use bombs and acid bottles. At low levels, these very bottles are almost the most powerful weapon of your squad. Later, the efficiency drops.

Do not forget that the poisoner needs to buy bottles as soon as possible: the product is inexpensive, but without it he will not cook anything.

Herbalist

This character also uses the collected plants and flasks, but makes something completely different from them - potions, ointments and healing poultices. From the purchased powder of lyrium, mana potions are obtained, from the everywhere growing "elven root" - medicines.

Keep in mind that all mage companions in the game have at least some mastery of this craft.

The requirements are the same as for making traps.

combat training

Neither a warrior nor a robber can escape this skill, and it will have to be developed, most likely, all the way. The fact is that access to all techniques depends on his level - to get to the third level technique in any branch, you need the third level of combat training. This is the must have program...

In addition, combat training gives advantages in battle, and for mages - also the chances not to lose the spell when the enemy tries to knock it down.

There are no requirements.

Combat tactics

This skill is then needed to add new tactics for your character. That is, if you prefer to manually command everyone all the time, then this is useless to you; but you can donate a cell or two and set the hero "on the machine."

The requirements are the same as those of influence.

Talents and Spells

Arranged in the same way as skills - in a line of four, but you will have more of them, because each level will bring one point.

You can roughly divide them into three types: passive - which simply work themselves (for example, a warrior gets tired less in heavy armor); active - they work on command and take away some mana; and long-term - they work like active ones, but after that they remain in force until they are turned off. Since mana regenerates very quickly here, long-term abilities "lock" some of your mana, as if they are constantly using it.

Unlike skills, each new ability rank here has its own name. Therefore, I will name the lines by the first talent from the chain.

Please note that it is quite possible to "unwind" the chain completely by the level of 12-14. This may make the hero a little one-sided, but many rank four abilities are a kind of “superweapon”.

Weapon in each hand

Weapon wielding in each hand

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Hero Level 9 12
Agility 12 16 26 36

The first rank of the talent simply provides full off-hand weapon damage. The second gives pluses to attack and defense. The third provides a chance to inflict a wound that will gradually reduce the health of the enemy. And finally, the fourth one reduces the cost of all the techniques of twin blades, and in addition, it allows you to take a full-fledged sword in your left hand, and not a short dagger.

Double punch

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Agility 12 16 22 28

Double Strike itself is a long-term move that increases damage, but at the same time reduces the chance of a critical hit. For a robber - a very dubious joy, but if you already pressed it so that you can’t get in from the back ... The Warrior will do just fine.

The next rank is retaliation. The fighter attacks with the right hand with a chance to stun the target; then strikes with the left, which, if the target is stunned, automatically gives critical damage.

Crippling Strike: If the attack hits, the damage is critical and the enemy takes a movement speed penalty.

Punisher (oh, and who only translated this ?!): triple hit, third hit - critical, chance to knock the target down or reduce attack and defense.

Swing with two arms

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Agility 12 18 24 30

Attack on all enemies in front of you - with increased damage. It is dangerous for a rogue to get carried away with this trick - it is easy to distract the enemy, but the damage is very worthy. In general, this line is especially suitable for a warrior, if he decides on dual blades instead of a shield or a two-hander.

Second rank, flurry - three hits with normal damage.

Gust - Attack speed increases dramatically, but energy drops every moment.

Whirlwind - the hero begins to spin, distributing attacks to everyone around. A warrior surrounded by enemies is just great.

Weapon and shield

Shield Bash

Shield strike with normal damage and a chance to stun the target. Shield push is the same, but the blow is double (note that the "recharge" of these skills is different). Suppression - three hits, with the third of them being critical. And the assault - as many as four blows, but ... for some reason, weakened. The first rank is very useful, the next - less.

shield defense

Shield Defense is a stance with improved defense against arrows and a penalty to attack (long-term technique). Its development, a balanced shield, removes the attack penalty... and before that, it does more harm than good. Shield Wall is a long-term move that drastically increases defense, and if you take the last ability in the line, then in this state the warrior cannot be knocked down.

Shield Block

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Hero Level 9 12
Agility 10 16 20 26

Shield block prevents flank attacks against the warrior from the side of his shield. Covering with a shield gives advantages against shooting. Shield training does not allow hitting a warrior in the back at all, all attacks against him are considered the same; and the last talent in this line dramatically increases all shield skills.

This line is almost necessary for a real "tank" - if you want to live longer. Please note that it does not require strength, but dexterity.

Two-handed weapon

Access: warrior. Require combat training.

hilt strike

A blow with the blunt end of a weapon (?) that knocks the opponent down if they fail an FU check.

Indomitable is a long-term effect that slightly increases damage and does not allow you to either knock down or stun a fighter.

Stunning Blows - any attack of a fighter has a chance to stun the enemy. This is not a long-term, but a passive talent - it does not require inclusion!

And the top of the line is a critical strike: this attack, on hit, not only always gives critical damage, but can (if the enemy is already wounded) kill him on the spot.

Split weapon

If the target fails FP checks, it suffers an attack penalty for a short time. It only makes sense against "bosses" - but they will pass this test...

The next rank - crushing blows - is a plus for damage against golems and other mechanical objects. Shatter Armor is normal damage and if the target fails FP, a penalty to defense. It is better to split the weapon, because the attack still deals damage. And at the fourth rank (“Destroyer”), all the attacks of the hero have this property. Unfortunately, the armor penalty from them does not stack, so the benefit is not that great; it is not even clear why this particular talent has such brutal requirements.

mighty strike

Hit with increased damage; if the target does not pass the FP, it will be slowed down. An alternative way to 'tether' an opponent to you... Powerful Strikes is a long-term technique that increases damage, but with a penalty to attack and defense (which is reduced by the next rank of the talent - Two-Handed Strength).

And finally, the fourth rank is perhaps the best two-handed move: the swing deals normal damage to all nearby enemies, and each of them makes an FU check or falls. Mow, scythe, while the dew ...

Archery

Access: Warrior, Rogue. Require combat training.

Shooting in close combat

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Agility 12 16 22 28

The first rank allows you to shoot while being attacked; if you bet only on the bow, you can’t do without it.

Aimed shooting reduces the rate of fire, but increases accuracy, damage, armor penetration and critical hit chance - in a word, you should always turn it on when the enemies are not completely flimsy (this is a long-term technique). Defensive shooting - the rate of fire is reduced for the sake of a plus to protection; if you had to use it, then you miscalculated somewhere.

And Master Shooter is an ability that improves almost all shooting techniques, and also allows you to avoid the penalty in heavy armor (but not armor). Who would have developed defensive shooting without this ...

Pinning Shot

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Agility 12 16 21 30

This line is, in my opinion, the key for a robber with a bow; at least the first rank in it is obligatory. After a pinning shot, the target that passed the FU is slowed down, and the one that didn’t is forced to stay in place! A melee specialist boss fight almost always starts with this shot.

The second move, a crippling shot, lowers the target's attack and defense (while dealing normal damage). The third is a critical shot - an attack with a plus to armor penetration and automatic critical damage.

The fourth one, the Killer Arrow, is described in the game as simply a critical shot, but in reality it has a chance to lay down the target on the spot. On "bosses", however, does not work.

fast shooting

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Agility 12 16 24 27

Increased rate of fire - but no chance of a critical hit. Long-term reception; in my opinion, not the most valuable. Shattering Shot - normal damage + penalty to the target's armor. Suppressive Arrow - normal damage + penalty to the target's attack; much more useful than a similar two-handed technique, because the penalties add up and as a result, the enemy stops hitting the "tank" at all.

And finally, the explosive arrow: it deals normal damage, stuns the target - and after that, with an explosion, it deals the same effect to all enemies in the vicinity.

elemental magic

Access: mag.

fiery flash

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 18 27 34

Good old fire spells - as usual, hit both enemies and friends, which is irrelevant only at the lowest difficulty levels. But they hit very well if the enemy does not have stability. They can also ignite the effects of other spells (dirt...).

Flame Flare is a cone, quite narrow, hard to catch a lot of enemies in it. The second rank is fire weapons, a long-term spell that makes all of the party's weapons fire. Fireball - not only does damage in a large area, it also knocks you down; Yes, and it looks much more interesting than the usual "balls". And the highest fiery spell - fiery hell - a sort of whirlwind that removes health every round. A terrible thing, but it also hurts its own.

stone armor

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 18 25 30

The first rank is to increase the protection of the magician himself. Stone Fist - a projectile that removes health and knocks you down; it is good to use it after an ice spell, because targets turned to ice or stone can break into pieces.

Earthquake is a long-lasting spell that causes everyone in the area (including friends) to make an FU check or fall every few seconds. Finally, Turn to Stone: On a FU failure, the target turns to stone for a few seconds. It does not move and can be broken by an attack or a stone fist.

Ice Snap

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 18 25 34

Decent damage + freezing the target: it turns into ice (which can be broken) or just slows down, depending on your luck. Ice weapons are similar to fire weapons. Cone of Cold - the same ice grip, but in a cone; and finally, Blizzard is a long area spell that constantly hits everyone (friends and foes), and also forces you to make stability checks so as not to fall and turn into ice. True, the targets get a bonus to defense and resistance to fire, but usually this is of little comfort to them.

Lightning

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 18 18 28 33

The first rank is just a combat spell, but quite powerful. The second is the same lightning, but in a cone. The third - a storm - hits the area for a long time, scattering lightning. And the fourth - chain lightning - deals powerful damage, and then small lightning strikes the target's neighbors with less damage.

creation

Access: mag.

Treatment

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 18 23 28

Heals wounds to one ally. The following spells speed up an ally's mana and health regeneration, respectively, and the last one grants both to the whole group. Alas, ordinary magicians are not given mass treatment - this requires the specialization of a healer.

Heroic Assault

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 15 20 30

Spell of the first rank - plus to the attack of an ally. The second, heroic aura, is a shield that reflects ranged attacks with a very decent probability. The third - heroic defense - gives protection and stability of all kinds, but puts pressure on the target, adding fatigue (that is, increasing the cost of all her abilities). And finally, the fourth is a wonderful haste spell: the whole group begins to move and attack faster, although the chances of hitting are somewhat reduced.

Rune of Paralysis

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 18 25 33

A very strange looking but useful school. The first spell is a trap rune that paralyzes the first person to step on it. The second is a defensive rune that grants defense and resilience bonuses to all friends near it. Rune of Repulsion - Pushes aside enemies that fail the FU check; along with the rune of paralysis, it explodes, paralyzing everyone around! And finally, a terrible rune of neutralization, which blocks all spells in the radius of action, drains mana, dispels effects and does not allow you to restore strength; some fights turn into child's play with her.

Magic light

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 20 23 33

The magic light is just an addition to the magical power of the sorcerer himself. The next spell, mud, is a large puddle that everyone slips in (slow), and can be set on fire with a fire spell. Enchantment Flower is an effect that causes all nearby mages (including enemies) to increase mana regeneration. And finally, the stinging swarm: very powerful damage, and if the victim dies from it, the swarm flies to the next enemy. As for me, this school is of little use - except that you have as many as three magicians in the group ...

Spirit

Access: mag.

Magic shield

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 18 25 33

Great tool for a magic duel... if your mana is thicker than the enemy's. The spell absorbs enemy spells with a probability of three to four, but at the same time, it eats up your mana for each operation. As the mana runs out, so the shield will fall. Alas, most often those enemies from which you want to defend yourself so much are stuffed with mana to the eyeballs.

Dispel Magic, as you'd expect, removes all effects from the target, making no difference between self and non-self spells. It always works, if the spell can be dispelled at all. But then comes the anti-magic barrier - full protection from spells (yes, from healing ones too). And this is often the weapon of victory. Works, unlike the shield, not only on itself. Anti-Magic Flare - mass scattering over the area; 99% of the time it's useless, but...

Manna Siphon

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 18 25 33

Trying to borrow someone else's mana. Unfortunately, not in commercial quantities. Mana Burn - Spend your own mana to destroy others around you. Magic Power - Strengthens all of your spells, but mana is consumed faster and regenerated more slowly. And finally, Mana Collision is a very expensive spell that takes away from the enemy all mana and deals damage to him in proportion to the taken away.

I think this line is worth checking out. only for the final. Do you want to spend four talents to become a thunderstorm of magicians and be able to quickly burn your resource?

walking bomb

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 20 25 33

Pretty Spell: The target takes constant poison damage, and if it dies before the spell breaks, it explodes. The next rank is Death Vortex: a long-term spell that restores mana if there are killed enemies nearby. The third rank - Infectious Walking Bomb - does the same as the first one, but even with the explosion you can infect neighbors (at the same time, it is not placed on those who already have the effect of the first level bomb). And finally, the fourth - raising the corpse of the enemy as a skeleton.

Bombs are powerful weapons, but if you don't play on the lower difficulty level, it makes sense to at least study dispel magic along with this line. And then a lot of trouble can be done.

mind explosion

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 18 23 30

Simple and tasteful: stuns all enemies around (unless, of course, they pass the PU). The next rank is a force field: the target cannot move and cannot be damaged, a kind of "stasis". The third rank puts a telekinesis spell on the weapons of the entire squad; god knows why, but it improves armor penetration. And finally, the fourth is a crushing dungeon: the spell prevents the enemy from doing anything and gradually takes the life out of him. The most tenacious will wait for it to end, and with medium enemies - apply and forget.

Entropy

Access: mag.

Weakness

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 18 25 35

Penalty to attack and defend the target; if FU does not pass, it will also slow down. Paralysis is slowed on a successful FU check, completely immobilized on a failed one. Toxic Vapors is a long-term spell that imposes penalties on any target of the mage. And finally, the top of this line, not without reason, requires a whopping 35 units of magic: this is mass paralysis. Disables enemies in heavy bursts.

Vulnerability Corruption

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 20 28 36

Inflicts resistance penalties against fire damage, cold damage, and so on; in addition, it significantly strengthens attacks against its target, such as draining life. Infectious damage - the same, but in a circle next to the victim. Averting Corruption weakens the enemy's attacks: critical hits become normal, normal misses. And the last, disastrous, damage makes all hits on the victim critical.

The most useful link here seems to be the third one; but in general this line is not the most rational expenditure of talents. I think Bioware overestimated her.

Loss of orientation

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 18 30 32

The victim suffers a penalty to attack and defense. Horror, the second rank, is a double-acting spell: it usually pins the victim in place if he does not pass the DR; but against an unconscious victim, deals massive damage without any checks. Sleep puts a whole group of enemies to rest (before the first hit, the victim wakes up from the damage), and sleeping ones can be finished off with horror. And finally, a nightmare in reality - something like a D&D confusion: someone is stunned, someone is charmed, someone is attacking their allies ... Of course, if the PU does not pass.

This branch is being studied by one of your companions; it will pass the first two links by itself, and it makes sense to advance it at least one more link, and preferably two.

Life Siphon

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Magic 20 25 34

The first spell does the same as all its namesakes - it transfers part of the health from the victim to the magician. The second - death magic - is long-term, it restores the magician's "life line" if there are dead enemies around. Next - a deadly curse: the enemy cannot be healed and takes constant damage. And lastly, the cloud of death - constant damage to everyone in the area of ​​​​effect (and your own too).



Warrior

Bogatyr

More health, less armor fatigue - in general, an absolutely necessary thing. The next ability, intimidation, is absolutely necessary for any "tank" - the hero constantly emits threat (long-term). Courage is also, by and large, for the "tank": it increases all the parameters of a fighter if he is opposed by more than two enemies (for each additional one). Finally, the death rush restores energy when an enemy dies.

calculated blow

Less attack speed, but higher chances of hitting and critical damage. Provocation - the second rank - a one-time outbreak of threat, interception of opponents. Exiting the battle - on the contrary, reducing the threat and the chance that the enemies will immediately switch to others. A perfect hit is a big plus for accuracy.

In my opinion, both the tank and the hitman can save money on this line. Although many of them have the first reception initially.

Rogue

dirty wrestling

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Hero Level 4 8 12
Agility 10 14 18 22

Dirty Fight is a stun that deals no damage. It is needed mainly when it is not possible to go behind the back. And to facilitate this maneuver - the next rank of the line, movement in battle: it allows you to consider a wider angle as "backward", and it is highly recommended to have it - especially for "blade" robbers. The third move is Mercy Strike: If the target is stunned or paralyzed, each hit counts as a backstab. The fourth rank - "SOS button" - feigned death, that is, a forced exit from the battle.

Hit below the belt

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Hero Level 4 8 12
Agility 10 14 18 22

A low blow deals normal damage; if the victim did not pass the FL, then he receives a penalty to protection and movement. Second rank technique - death blow - despite the loud name, differs from a simple attack only in improved armor penetration. The third rank is lethality; it increases the chance of a critical strike, and in addition, it uses cunning instead of strength when calculating damage. That's a very serious damage boost! And finally, dodge - 20% chance to avoid any physical attack.

Skillful hands

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Hero Level 4 8 12
Cunning 10 14 18 22

This technique improves the hero's ability to break locks and traps - at all ranks. Although this is usually the main thing for keeping a thief on a team, in Dragon Age you can try to do without a burglar. Most hacked chests contain small valuables or gifts; in addition, already in the early stages, you will regularly lack the second rank of this skill. That is, if you want to open any lock with your little finger, you invest in skillful hands until it stops, losing combat talents.

Stealth

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Hero Level 4 8 12
Cunning 10 14 18 22

But for this, many rogues should not spare points: an attack from stealth is considered an attack from behind, even if in fact you are standing face to face. The first rank simply allows you to sneak up on the enemy unnoticed, and nothing can be done in this state. The second allows you to use items. The third gives a chance to hide right in the thick of the fight. The fourth simply increases your chances of getting out of sight and not getting caught.

Mage

magic arrow

Requirements
Rank 1 2 3 4
Level 1 3 7 10

A simple combat spell, all the advantages of which are fast reloading. It makes sense only if you plan to develop the line. The second rank is a magical shield that temporarily increases the protection of the magician himself (and do not lead him into battle ...). The third one, focusing on the staff, increases the damage from the staff (and in fact devalues ​​the magic arrow). The fourth - mastery of magic - permanently increases magical power.

Classes

We have already analyzed the main abilities; this chapter is devoted to the story of how to develop the characters of each of the classes. We will consider several “working” options, which, of course, does not prevent us from inventing our own based on them or without it.


As already mentioned, there are only three base classes, but each of them has four specializations. They can be taken at levels 7 and 14 (choosing two out of four), but you can’t do it “just like that” - you need a teacher or guidance. The manual can sometimes be bought from merchants; a teacher is either your companion who already has a similar class (and you need a warm relationship with him), or a special NPC in the city. It is not easy to find a teacher for some specialties ...

Each specialty provides permanent pluses and its own line of skills. I won't cover them in detail now, but I'll briefly describe them.

Warrior

A warrior has two main occupations: a tank and a hit fighter. Between them there is an intermediate one (sometimes called off-tank): an attacking fighter, who, however, is tenacious enough not to be afraid of intercepting aggression.

The skills of a warrior, oddly enough, do not depend on the type.

For any warrior, without fail, the skill of combat training must develop to the limit. Not necessarily first, but must. If this is the main character, 1-3 units of influence will not hurt. The rest can be spent on tactics or get a rank or two in survival.

Warrior Specializations

If bears were hedgehogs...

Templar. Anti-Mage: He has the ability to drain mana from the enemy, increase his own RP and neutralize spells.

Berserk. Attacking fighter: battle rage increases damage (for slow recovery), there is a technique that burns all energy in one hit and deals damage proportionally.

Knight. Strengthening your own, penalties to enemies. With terrible cries, the knights weaken the opponents (or even throw them to the ground), with a cheerful voice they increase the attack and defense of the detachment.

Ripper. This gentleman knows how to heal at the expense of the corpses of enemies (similar to the "death magic" spell), deal damage to enemies around him with his aura, and also fights the stronger, the less health he has left.

Tank

As we have known since prehistoric times, a "tank" is a shield. Let's leave two-handed weapons to hit-boys and hybrids, twin blades and a bow, all the more so.

The characteristics of the "tank" are needed are: strength, agility and physique. In what proportion? Strength and constitution are about 2:1, like most warriors, and agility is just enough to learn the necessary techniques. Unfortunately, dexterity is indispensable for blocking with a shield. The main character, if you want to study influence, will also need cunning (though not in exorbitant quantities).

The most obvious set of talents:

Bogatyr: 4 ranks

Shield Block: 4 ranks

Shield Defense: 4 ranks

Shield Bash: 2 ranks

The rest is on specialization. Among them, we immediately reject the berserker, the rest can be considered. The Knight is good if you have a lot of warriors and robbers in the squad, but weakening the enemies is always in the price. The Templar and the Ripper can definitely come in handy too, although the advantages of the first are not so often needed (I fell for the magician - somehow you can manage to cut him down without additional pluses).


Alternative:

Bogatyr: 4 ranks

Shield Block: 4 ranks

Shield Defense: 4 ranks

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

The rest is specialization.


You can also try to save on dexterity:

Bogatyr: 4 ranks

Shield Block: 4 ranks

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

Shield Bash: 4 ranks

The rest is specialization.


But such a warrior will be noticeably less durable. Maybe he should take the ripper specialization.

To get the right talents at the start, it is recommended to take a noble origin. Gnome or human is the second question, a dwarf might fit a little better. Elves and riffraff will get bonuses to marksmanship, dual blades... why do you need all this?


Tactics for the "tank" looks something like this:

At the beginning of the battle - intimidation.

If they shoot at him, take cover with a shield.

If the enemy has more than 75% health - hit with a shield or push with a shield.

The templar can additionally be ordered to attack mages and apply a righteous blow, and against a mage surrounded by other enemies - a holy punishment.

hitoboy

What weapon to take? Let's exclude the bow right away: what's the point of taking a warrior and not letting him into the thick of the battle? The shield is the lot of the "tank", two-handed swords and twin blades remain. I'd strongly recommend a two-hander because dual blades require dexterity; however, a dwarf of non-noble origin will immediately give you the talent of swinging with two blades. Without it, you can focus on strength and, to a lesser extent, physique.

Talents (two-handed variant):

Hilt strike: 4 ranks

Bogatyr: 1 rank

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

Mighty Strike: 4 ranks

Another talent, the one that is given at birth, will go to an unnecessary direction for you. You can put everything else into specializations (berserker, ripper are the most natural options).


Talents (Dual Blades variant):

Swing with two arms with weapons: 4 ranks

Bogatyr: 1 rank

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

Double Strike: 2 ranks

Be sure to take the dwarf "from the bottom" so as not to spend money on a shield or bow.


Talents (hybrid hit-tank):

Hilt strike: 4 ranks

Bogatyr: 4 ranks

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

Mighty Strike: 4 ranks

The rest is specialization (any one is fine).


Hitboy tactics:

(If there is no healer) If health is below 25%, heal with a poultice.

(If there is a ripper specialty) If health is below 25%, drain life.

If there are more than two enemies, swing with two-handed weapons / swing with weapons in each hand.

(If there is a knight specialty) There are more than two enemies - a battle cry.

If the enemy has more than 75% health - hilt strike / triple strike.

If the enemy has more than 50% health - mighty strike / double strike

Rogue

A rogue's main occupation is a hit slayer, but it is possible to make a subdue out of him as well.

A rogue's skills almost necessarily include:

- combat training of the 4th rank, in the most extreme case of the third;

- poisons or making traps 2-3 ranks;

- the rest, if any, can be spent on influence, tactics or an extra rank of poisons / traps.

In general, the robber is worse than the warrior, to leave at the mercy of the machine gun: the correct position here means a lot.

There are only two types of rogue weapons: twin blades or a bow. The bow is easier to develop, because such a rogue does not need strength at all; it pairs better with traps than poison. Dual blades require some strength; if you want to use daggers, then a small one, and if you pretend to swing swords, then a fair one. Note that daggers have a higher chance of critical damage; however, the base damage is too low.

When choosing talents, you have to keep in mind not only the occupation in combat, but also “side jobs” like picking locks.

Rogue Specializations

Duelist. He is somewhat better protected than his counterparts, and has the ability to make all hits critical for a while.

Killer. The most damage-oriented variant, he can inflict bleeding wounds, as well as "mark" the target so that everyone deals increased damage against it.

Bard. Unique specialty: allows you to sing a song that stuns all enemies around you every few seconds instead of directly participating in combat. To do this, you need to fully develop the line of his abilities; and before that, he strengthens the detachment with his songs.

Pathfinder. Another "step to the side": the ranger calls on the beast to help the squad. Unlike a bard, this does not prevent him from fighting himself.

Swordsman

Low Power Talents (Daggers):

Low blow: 4 ranks

Weapon Proficiency in Each Hand: 3 ranks

Dirty Wrestling: Ranks 3-4

Stealth: 3-4 ranks

The rest is specialization and/or skillful hands. Specializations here, most likely, are a duelist or an assassin, a ranger is possible.


Talents with decent power (dagger + sword, then swords):

Low blow: 1 rank

Weapon proficiency in each hand: 4 ranks

Dirty Wrestling: Ranks 3-4

Stealth: 3-4 ranks

The rest is specialization and/or skillful hands. There are more chances to develop specialization, the set is the same.


Swordsman Tactics suggests the following:

This is where a bomb would come in handy. And a warrior ... what is a warrior? Come to life. After battle.

Start the fight by smearing the blades with poison.

The duelist - to start a duel, the killer - to mark the target of the "tank".

Launch your critical hits against the tank's target.

If health falls below 25% - feigned death.

Dirty fight - if he is attacked.

Archer

Archer Talents:

Pinning Shot: 4 ranks

Rapid Fire: 4 ranks

Stealth: 1-3 ranks

Dirty Wrestling: Rank 1

Melee Shooting: 2 ranks

The rest is specialization and/or skillful hands. Specializations here are tracker, assassin.


Before the battle, the archer sets a trap (if he can), then, perhaps, hides; the fight begins with a shackling and crippling shot, choosing the target of the tank. If attacked in melee - a dirty fight, if health is below 25% - feigned death. It's possible to risk starting with an explosive arrow, but it's better to use this technique consciously when the tanks are already holding enemies securely.

subjugator

This is a completely different combat role. After developing bardic talents, most of the time he will not fight at all, but will summon beasts (if he already has a second specialization) and sing an enchanting song.

Bow Bard Talents:

Pinning Shot: 4 ranks

Bard: 4 ranks

Pathfinder: 4 ranks

Rapid Fire: 4 ranks

Stealth: 3 ranks

Dirty Wrestling: Rank 1

Sword Bard Talents:

Dirty Wrestling: 4 ranks

Bard: 4 ranks

Pathfinder: 4 ranks

Weapon proficiency in each hand: 4 ranks

Stealth: 3 ranks

Low blow: 1 rank

Tactics until you get an enchanting song - by weapon, then - bardo-stalker techniques, and if attacked, then dirty fight / feigned death.

Mage

In terms of skills, the magician enjoys considerable freedom. It is worth letting four ranks into herbalism (although one herbalist mage in the team is enough), and you are free to make your hero a chrysostom, tactician, and so on - nothing fetters him.

With the parameters, everything is quite simple: magic + willpower is about 2:1 or even 3:1.

But with spells - how many people, so many approaches. Mage spells allow you to create completely different characters- under the role of hitoboy, healer and subjugator. The specializations of magicians differ no less.

The mage, with the exception of the healer, is better controlled by hand than by tactics. The healer is quite capable of simply launching healers as needed, and the rest of the time fighting back with a staff and what God sent.

Mage Specializations

Spiritual healer. The obvious specialization of the healer: here, and only here, there is group healing, resurrection, a ward (a “delayed” heal that works when the target becomes low on health) and even an aura of permanent healing of all friends around him. Listed in order received.

Blood Mage. Conjuring over the blood of the enemy, he can subjugate him, turning him into an ally. In addition, a blood mage can cast spells at the expense of health (instead of mana), as well as heal at the expense of an ally's life force (from which he may die). Keep in mind that blood magicians... to put it mildly, are not very liked by many, and for good reason.

Werewolf. The first ability from the line turns the mage into a giant spider that spits poison and cobwebs, the second into a huge bear, the third into a stinging swarm of insects that loses mana instead of health when attacked by an enemy. The fourth strengthens all these forms - for example, the swarm begins to drink the health of the enemy. In the transformed form, the werewolf does not cast spells.

Battle Mage. The strangest specialty - increases the magician's defense and attack in battle. For staff maniacs? Perhaps combined with the pluses of a werewolf, not sure.

hitoboy

To build a truly effective hit fighter, you need to master spell combinations. A couple of these have already been mentioned: runes of paralysis and repulsion, dirt and a fireball. Here is an example of one of the most deadly combinations:

Elemental Talents:

Flame Flash: 3 ranks

Rune of Paralysis: 3 ranks

Magic Wisp: 2 ranks

Walking Bomb: 4 ranks

Heal: 1 rank

Stone armor: 4 ranks

For the rest, you can take a specialization (for example, a blood mage or even a healer), contagious damage, raising a skeleton, or a professional mage line.

Two runes - explosive paralysis / slowdown, then we put dirt there and set it on fire with a fireball. An option is to study stone armor before runes and make opponents fall from an earthquake. Then you can “polish” with a contagious bomb - and hardly at least one enemy will get to you at all.

Why treatment? And it is always worth taking it at an opportunity. Simply because two healers are better than one.


Alternative option:

Frost Snap: 4 ranks

Lightning: 3 ranks

Rune of Paralysis: 4 ranks

Heal: 1 rank

Stone armor: 4 ranks

The principle is the same, but instead of mud + fire - storm + blizzard. The effect is a mighty thunderstorm.

By the way, note that both of these options give the mage some chances as a subdue - an earthquake and a couple of runes perfectly control enemies.


For werewolf mage there is no special set of talents; one can combine it with any arsenal of spells, shifting into transmuted form as needed. In the game, we see an example of a combination of werewolf with weakening spells (weakness, mind explosion, horror); it certainly works, but there's no reason not to make a werewolf elemental.

healer

They have already learned how to build bridges. As for "reducing" problems so far.

The main thing here is the arsenal of healing spells. It would seem that the actual treatment is not very necessary with the abilities of a spiritual healer; but in practice at high levels they save mana a lot. The rest of the slots can be devoted to combat or dominating magic.

Healer Talents:

Healing: 4 ranks

Spiritual Healer: 4 ranks

Rune of Paralysis: 4 ranks

Heroic Assault: 4 ranks

For the rest - something attacking. Just in case.

Please note that all four ranks of the rune of paralysis are taken here - to provide rear protection. Heroic Assault is a good branch for a healer because it doesn't build up a lot of aggro.

subjugator

The main question is: do you want to make your hero a blood mage? If so, it will add quite a bit to his main arsenal.

It is not necessary to make a "pure" subdue - you can combine it with an elemental hit-boy or a werewolf.

Submitter Talents:

Disorientation: 4 ranks

Weakness: 4 ranks

Blood Mage: 4 ranks

Mind Blast: 4 ranks

Heal: 1 rank

And something offensive.

The disadvantage of this option is that if the enemy suddenly has a high PU, this hero will be almost powerless against him. You can sacrifice one of the subordinate branches and make an intermediate version of the magician. What branch to give? Unfortunately, most likely disorientation, although its mass confusion effect is wonderful, it does not combine well with battle magic. But you can do it differently.


Hitbreaker Overlord Talents (with Paralysis):

Weakness: 4 ranks

Flame Flash: 4 ranks

Magic Wisp: 2 ranks

Blood Mage: 4 ranks

Mind Blast: 4 ranks

Heal: 1 rank


Hit-Slayer Discipline Talents (Disoriented):

Disorientation: 4 ranks

Walking Bomb: 4 ranks

Blood Mage: 4 ranks

Mind Blast: 4 ranks

Lightning: 3 ranks

Heal: 1 rank

Walkthrough

  • Ostagar
  • Lothering
  • Circle of Magi
  • Branca and the gnomes
  • Search for a shrine

We will not dwell on each of the starting stories; the benefit of the game itself leads you to a natural denouement. I can only say that if you are a man and a nobleman, do not miss the story of the angry cook...

Ostagar

Whoever you are, sooner or later you will find yourself in Ostagar - in the status of a student of the gray guards and personally their chief Duncan. You will be asked to get comfortable in the city before passing the test. Don't give up; among them there is a task from the kennel, which will allow you, if you do not already have war dog get one!

My faithful dog

The first companion that will stay with us for life is a faithful dog. The nobleman will have it before arriving in Ostagar, but the rest can purchase it from the kennel in the city.

The local mabari breed is famous, in addition to truly brutal fighting qualities, for loyalty and devotion: therefore, no matter what you do, your dog will not betray you. But this should not be a reason to refuse gifts to the little animal, since his tastes are unpretentious: he is only interested in bones. No one else will take them anyway...

The dog is a dangerous fighter; he has the ability to stun all enemies around with an eerie howl, as well as knock the enemy to the ground and inflict critical hits (as do wolves). Howling before the fight will give the mage time for an extra fireball or something like that... Although the dogs do not carry weapons and armor, something can still be put on them: a collar and battle tattoos.

Don't forget sometimes... to talk to your dog. You can, for example, ask the little animal if she sees something interesting; no, no, yes, and bring something useful, and even an expensive gift to one of the companions. And if you complain about being stained with blood, the dog will lick you and become healthier. Hm...

His Majesty and Head of the Order. Snapshot for memory.

Also pay attention to quartermaster. You can purchase the first of the additional backpacks from him. Maybe now there is still not enough money for this, but you can look at him upon returning from the test.

Upon arrival, you will be given an audience His Majesty. He is full of optimism about the upcoming battle... somewhere I have heard such bravura speeches, oh, I have heard...

But now you have talked with the king, gathered other people passing the test around the city (all the key points are on the map) and go on a hike. They give you two fighters with you - the shield-bearer Alistair and the swordsman Jory, as well as a robber-shooter Daveta. You need to bring three vials with the blood of the creatures of darkness - and some papers from the chest in the ruins. Well, and a plant for the kennel, if you took this task.

Alistair is a templar warrior with a wealth of experience fighting mages. He is a specialist in shield combat and (although he developed it, perhaps not perfectly) is excellent for the title of command "tank". You can develop it approximately as shown above in the "Tank" chapter. He can teach the protagonist the specialization of the templar (if the relationship with him is at a high level).

It may seem that the straightforward and benevolent Alistair is so loyal that it is difficult to piss him off. And in vain. This guy is not so simple, he has seen something in his life even before joining the templars, and besides, he is categorically not inclined to forgive treason. But lovers of empty cruelty are categorically not on the way with him.

To please Alistair with a gift, present him with something related to the people he honors; in addition, he is a lover of figurines and runestones.

I can also tell the heroines that friendship with Alistair opens up rich opportunities.

The Corcari wastelands are empty only at first glance: the road through them will not allow much to stray. Here you will find a pack of wolves; wolves love to knock down heroes and pounce in bulk, so get used to leading Alistair ahead and away from others. We will also meet the first creatures of darkness; until we know who they are and where they came from. The main thing is to look out for archers and especially the hurlock emissary, this is the most dangerous enemy. If you have a weakening spell, it's time to try it out.

In the clearing next to the emissary, the very plant that is needed for dogs blooms, do not forget to collect it.

Flower to cure fighting dogs.

But the chest ... in strangers and not to say very reliable hands. The mysterious lady Flemeth settled here - is it really the one about whom there are fairy tales from among those that it is better not to read at night? — and her even more mysterious daughter, Morrigan, who loves to speak in verse. They have the papers, and for now we'll have to go back with what we have; probably the blood has already been collected by this point.

It is interesting: Morrigan "borrowed" the name from the Celtic goddess of war, one of the most terrible deities in the Celtic pantheon; that Morrigan is famous for her prophetic gift, love of love ... and the ability to turn into different creatures.

And now - the actual test: the campaign, it turns out, was only a preparation for it ...

And now - a word to the main character.

Bonfire on the tower

Our leaders are, of course, great strategists. The idea that the reserve attack should be called with a fire on the tower, and the signal is given at the beginning of the battle (which the reserve can hear and see) is wonderful in itself.

And for some reason it is not at all surprising that the tower is not filled with soldiers at all. Or, more precisely, not by our soldiers!

Picking up a stray mage along the way, Alistair and I rushed in and nearly fried like a steak in a fire trap. Harlocks? Well well. And who is guarding our tower? Isn't that the one Loghain McTeer, to whom we are in such a hurry to give a signal?

But no one argues with orders, and we cleared the tower of hurlocks floor by floor. And upstairs a fire was burning, but not where it should be, and a huge ogre was warming by its fire.

The ogre is a very dangerous creature, because there is nothing to catch against him in close combat. He grabs and throws those who are nearby, and also kicks with his foot - and everyone who tried to attack him falls. What remains? Little. The bow and me and the mage took up positions from opposite ends of the hall, and the faithful dog Griffin and Alistair took turns trying to attract the attention of the blue-skinned image. The poultice is gone - a terrible thing. The main thing here... do not shoot too accurately. Because if the ogre decided to pounce on me, he would not let go until he had chewed me into mush.

And why wasn't I completely surprised that the signal wasn't answered?



I woke up in Flemeth's house. The old witch suddenly decided to help at the last moment - me and Alistair; the poor mage, whose name I never learned, did not survive the assault on Ostagar. And Flemeth let her daughter go with us. Alistair was far from happy with this fact ...

Morrigan

Charming, mysterious and terrifying, Morrigan is likely to become a symbol of Dragon Age: Origins. With her manner of speaking in blank verse (which was messed up by Russian voice acting) and a cynical view of the world, you will remember her for a long time.

Morrigan is a witch and does not hide it at all. She grew up in wild lands full of barbarians and monsters, under the care of her mother, who was hardly inferior to these monsters. She always "has a couple of words in reserve", she does not like to feel sorry for the weak and stupid, she respects strength - but not rudeness. She may remind you of the tough Viconia from Baldur's Gate, but only slightly.

As for gifts, Morrigan loves grimoires and sometimes does not refuse jewelry. A silver chain and a gold “rope” bracelet obviously suit her, sometimes brooches, amulets and mirrors are suitable.

In combat, Morrigan is a werewolf mage (and can teach you that if you make friends). Her other spells are not very convincing and are scattered in different categories. I would recommend either immediately developing the werewolf line (a swarm is good against any enemy), or investing in ice magic or a mind blast to the limit.

And here we are on our way. We have documents with us - the same agreements from the chest, according to which dwarves, elves, magicians undertake to help the gray guards. That is, Alistair and me; the others don't seem to be...

Our path lies in the city of Lothering; there you can replenish supplies and decide where to go next.

Lothering

The city met us with a bandit outpost; this company takes a "duty" from passing refugees. For once, Alistair and Morrigan were unanimous: greed and impudence must be punished! Frankly, I did not want to get tired from the road to join the fight, especially since at the mention of the gray guards the bandits were ready to show caution; but I gave in.

Next to the bodies of the robbers (where there was enough loot), I found the corpse of a templar, on which is a letter. The addressee, apparently, lives in Lothering... By the way, the bandits mentioned that we were being hunted: Loghain announced that the king had been killed by the Gray Guards, and a reward was put on our heads.

Before going down the stairs to the city, we discussed our mournful deeds a little. Alistair is in favor of going to Earl Eamon: he is an honest and influential nobleman who is definitely not for Loghain - and can unite the teyrns. In addition, we have letters to mages, elves and dwarves. Who to start with? Let's think it over.


Lothering, despite the efforts of the "toll collectors," is already packed with refugees; some merchant made a fuss and inflates prices, which is extremely dissatisfied with the local clergywoman. The laws in the city are mostly represented by the right of the strong... and why shouldn't I be the strong one? At least - not to judge the dispute? And for conscience or for money ...

You can buy a lot of things in the city (for example, flasks for the herbalist Morrigan and for my poisons), but with the seams.

But near the preacher, a stone's throw from the merchant, there is a bulletin board where they offer a reward for the destruction of three robber leaders (the one on the bridge does not count). In the temple, behind this board, you can give the knight a letter from the body of the templar. He said that Earl Eamon, whom we hoped for, was seriously ill, and the sacred ashes of Andraste were being sought to cure him.

The respectable old lady is offering money for the healing poultices that Morrigan knows how to make from the elven root - and this root, by the way, grows a lot in the fields, if only there were bottles. Across the bridge, a farmer hopes to save the fields from the darkspawn with the help of... traps. Alas, I am not an expert in this area.

But in the tavern, Loghain's people are already waiting for us; it's not a miracle, it's a miracle that someone was found to intercede for us. Charming girl with temple signs on her dress - Leliana- spoke in our defense; and, since we spared the surrendered leader, asked permission to join. Well, do I mind?

It is important: if the leader is killed, the opportunity to take Leliana to the team will be lost forever.

A very correct, deeply religious lady ... even strange for the specialty of a robber! True, she is still not a thief or a murderer, but a bard - and she can teach you this.

How to please Leliana? The answer can be summed up in two words familiar to every D&D fan: Lawful Good. And although one day you will probably find a flock of devils in the still pool, but in general, Leliana should be treated like a priest. And even a passion for jewelry that is natural for a pretty girl, she realizes exclusively through jewelry-made sacred symbols. Do not even try to please her with a simple secular ring or bracelet.

In battle, Leliana is an archer; her bardic abilities are worth little so far. As an archer, she also lacks the stars from the sky, but she knows how to do something. And it's good for locks. And if she gets to the enchanting song, then ... however, a lot has already been said about bards above.

The innkeeper Barlin, the one who gave the neighbor the idea of ​​traps, wants to grease his traps with poison. Poisons are brewed from the black root, of which there are many in the fields, and also from the mandibles of spiders; bottles can be bought from the innkeeper himself. Comfortable.

And a couple more tasks - from local mercenaries nicknamed Blackstone Volunteers. They politely suggest that I might want to work with them someday; for now, a couple of simple tasks. And really simple; to complete one, you just need to return to the temple and hand over the letter to one recruit.

But it can wait: in the square I noticed a huge cage in which sat a huge guy named Stan. He is waiting for execution - and, in general, for the cause: without understanding, he killed the family of his savior. But maybe it's better to die in battle for a just cause? He seems to be a brave warrior, one of the wild Qunari...

I convinced the holy mother in the temple to give Stan to me. There were three arguments: personal charm, a gift for the needs of the church, and the consideration that his fellow tribesmen might come for Stan, after which Lothering might not live to Pestilence. She listened.

On a note: the ease with which the holy mother will agree depends on your generosity in donation. But if Leliana is on the team, she will persuade the priestess for nothing.

Well, a very big and ferocious uncle; everyone at first glance will say that he was created for two-handed combat. Give him a two-hander and he will show himself as a hybrid tank hit-boy! Bring him to swing with a two-handed sword at the first opportunity. As a "tank" Alistair is better, although you can slightly increase the threat to Stan - and then ... Of course, he will have to be treated more often. But there will be no more enemies!

It’s easy to keep him around: he set his sights on death in battle to atone for his mistakes, and therefore most often he doesn’t care what you talk about there. Of the gifts, Stan will appreciate his own sword (you will come across it over time); and this thug is a lover of painting. Who would have thought!

You're too big for a songbird, boy...

Three detachments of bandits were waiting for us north of the city, in the fields; the main thing was to hide in time and send Alistair ahead (and to lower the Griffin on the archers). I left Leliana and Stan in strategic reserve for the time being. And in the east of the robber fields, there was a flock of poisonous spiders with valuable components at the ready.

The temple gave a good reward and two more tasks - very simple: kill bears in the field and find a dead woman. Another run in the same places - easy money and sediment in the shower.


On the way out of the city we met a couple of dwarfs, father and son, and at not the best hour for them: genlocks lay in wait for them right near Lothering. We helped them manage - and the cunning dwarf decided that the safest place on the roads of Ferelden was behind us. So now we are traveling with a convoy: in the parking lot next to us, a dwarf family is bivouacking. They have good goods, including books; and the younger dwarf knows how to put magical runes into weapons.



Circle Tower

Do you like to have a good rest? Look carefully, this is what Idleness incarnate looks like.

Are you often angry over trifles? Yell at those around you? Meet this is Wrath.

Mages might be happy to receive a letter from a gray guardian, but they just can't. Because there's some kind of pogrom going on in the tower - rebellion, demons, all kinds of hell - and the templars sealed it from the outside. And if suddenly someone brave and stupid does not dare to enter there and liquidate the hullabaloo, then the tower will simply be demolished along with everything that is in it, to hell. Who is the bravest and most stupid here?

On a note: don't forget to talk, now or after the campaign, with the quartermaster of the templars. He also has a lot of things for sale, including a backpack. If you have money, it is worth buying - there will be no way out of the tower until the very end.

Almost immediately outside the door—literally, as soon as they began to rummage through the drawers and rooms in search of a reward for diligence—a hotbed of resistance to the pogrom was discovered: a teacher named Wynn created a magical barrier and, together with the students, holds the entrance to the next floors. She still doesn't know what the templars have decided... After a brief negotiation, Wynn became our escort through the tower.

“Miss McGonagall! How did you get here?" - I want to ask at the first meeting. The manners of a real “cool lady”, a gray bun on the back of her head, passionate devotion to school ...

True, Wynn is not a Transfigurator, but a healer. Excellent and the only one in the game (unless you yourself choose the same path). And can teach you the way of a spiritual healer. It is worth developing it first of all in this direction, and then take care of the combat magic (she has something in store for this part, but rather helpless).

She is very, very easy to anger: as an old school worker, she is not used to being ignored. AT difficult situations it's better for her to wait in reserve... And if suddenly your main character takes the path of a blood magician, then, most likely, you will part with Wynn.

It's not easy to cajole her either; she seems to be only interested in books and scrolls. You will find something suitable in the Circle Tower, but in general, gifts for Wynn are not lying on the road.

Well, excuse me?

At first, we were resisted mainly by the Possessed - these are obnoxious, but not too dangerous creatures - and occasionally lesser demons of wrath, repulsively similar to Azerothian elementals. But soon there were those who made the mess: blood mages who decided to rebel against the control of the templars. It was then that Alistair's talents for suppressing mages and drinking their mana turned out to be more in place.

We walked slowly and methodically: in the rooms there were books, scrolls, even grimoires... The finds on the second floor subsequently pleased many of my friends; there were even gifts for Stan, but I especially pleased Morrigan with a rare grimoire. Many locked, and tightly locked, chests were found. Leliana would have been in place here with her talents as a burglar, but alas, it was she who I let go for a walk to give Wynn a place. However, those chests that I myself opened did not hide any miracles in themselves.

And if you get greedy and try to remove the amulet from the remains of the statue, show
It feels like the demons around him are like lambs...

It was tight on the third floor. The very first large hall turned out to be a trap: as soon as we went deeper inside, the dead bodies stood up and attacked us. It's a good thing I didn't let anyone in front but Alistair. While Alistair and the two mages dealt with the skeletons, I quietly crept to the opposite door and did a good job: as soon as the spell-casting nightmare appeared there, I jumped to it and cut it into cubes. Otherwise, a couple of fireballs - and then everything would have ended for us.

At the next closed door, I noticed a trap; I opened the door, but did not go in - let the obsessed themselves climb on it. In addition, while they are rushing to Alistair through the door, it is so easy to please them in a narrow passage with mass charms or a bomb ...

The third hall is completely unpleasant - there are bewitched templars in full armor, so our swords can hardly find where to stick. True, a bottle of acid dramatically changed the chances. And in the fourth, the undead are plentiful, but not too dangerous - if only Wynn did not get hit.

On the fourth floor, I ran into several more templars in the side rooms. One of them was enchanted by the Demon of Desire... but I don't want to reminisce about that conversation right now.


And now - the one whom the blood magicians invited to this fun party. The Demon of Idleness in its own ugly persona. Now you will answer for everything, creature ... but where am I?

Shadow

I came to my senses (or so it seemed to me) in a strange place - with a foggy eye I see some kind of castle, and in the distance - Duncan. Duncan? But for mercy, he died... And why am I alone, without friends?

Having struck the illusion, I got into another world - from pieces of land floating through the air. And then I met Niall, one of the mages of the tower. So he's here too... where? In the dreams of Idleness?

This guy wanted to use Andraste's Litany to save himself from the blood mages. But he didn't. And I?

After wandering around, I found... a mouse. An ordinary mouse that died in front of my eyes. Looking closer at her, I realized that I could ... become the same as her. And seep into mouse holes.

Four images

In the Shadow, our hero can learn several forms that will allow him to pass through all the pieces of the Shadow one by one. The mouse is the first one. We need to quickly find all the others and only then go to destroy the local demons, and then Idleness itself.

The mouse is then needed to squeeze into holes; in addition, with its help you can bypass many opponents, since it is hardly noticeable.

Spirit - the second form - is quite suitable for combat if there are few enemies. His crushing dungeon spell will destroy almost any enemy, but it takes a long time to recharge, and the spirit's health is so-so (although it can be healed). And he also goes through special portals that cannot be entered in another guise.

The Flaming Man is flimsy in close combat, but without fear he passes through the fires, of which there are many in the Fade. In addition, he can throw a fireball and a weak fiery flash. He also runs faster than most monsters, and this should be used.

And finally, the golem is a heavyweight, stone thrower and earth shaker; throwing a boulder, he knocks out all the locked doors. When there is this form, the others are, by and large, no longer required, except for travel. On the other hand, it's nice to first please the enemies with a fireball, and then spread into a golem and add a boulder.

Dog? In a dog cage...

First of all, I spoke with Niall - and a pedestal opened up for me, through which I can walk on fragments of the Shadow.

On a note: try to go through all the rooms in these shadows. There are many places where they permanently give +1 to one of the basic parameters; you will come out of there much stronger than you were.

I started with " Dark Invasions". Leaking through the northeast corner of the hall into the hole and turning left in the corridor, I cut through the genlocks (in the midst of the battle, I kissed the vein of lyrium - in the shade it restores health and mana) and through the next hole landed on two flaming spawn of darkness. They fight painfully, but they are flimsy, and my two swords easily folded them both.

And what is an ogre to me when I myself am a golem!

There was an emissary in the next room; I had to, ignoring the blows, headlong to the emissary, since he is a magician, and then return to the door and grab the lyrium. Another hole - and here in front of me is the spirit of the templar, besieged by enemies. He gave me a spirit form. That was enough; I passed through the pedestal to the next shadow, " flaming tower».

There are many fires here - and creatures that do not burn in the fire. The spirit can handle most, but it's safer to dart around with a mouse until they notice. The task was already clear to me - to find another templar who would give me a new form (flaming).

Then with three forms were passed (until the next templar) " Scattered Magicians ». And now, fully armed with forms, it was possible to go through all the corridors, visit all the reinforcing pedestals and, most importantly, deal with the demons. Then visit the side shadows, talk with friends - and do Idleness together.

Uldred, why do you have such long horns?

Idleness was revived several times in different guises. The key is to focus. Otherwise, mass spells will certainly be covered. Luckily, Wynn's group healing works over a larger area than fire and ice spells!


And so we returned from the dreams of Idleness... alive and angry as ever. Don't forget to pick up the Litany from the dead body of our poor friend. As the desert wolves say before attacking a camel caravan: and now a hunchback!

Uldred, the one who started all this, was not in the least upset by what his rebellion led to. He was determined to turn all the surviving sorcerers into blood mages - and brought it to the end. But we spoiled his music a little. As soon as a beam of Uldred spells appeared over one of the magicians, I read the litany, and the magic went astray.

So Irving, the high sorcerer (whose grimoire I had already...borrowed) survived, and so did his mages. And I received his word that later, in the decisive battle, he would be on my side. And it seems to me that if the magicians had not escaped, the templars would have been on my side, who would have nothing more to guard ...



We left our hero when he cleared the Tower of the Circle from the evil spirits that had settled there, freed the magicians (or he might not have freed them - then the Templars would have gone to the last battle instead of the sorcerers on his side) and set off to get new allies for himself.

Branka and 777 gnomes

Two respected equally

Two glorious and high families,

To the regret of all the people,

Ancient, fierce enmity

They were drawn - that day - then into a new battle.

The hands of citizens were crimsoned with blood ...

W. Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet"

Having somehow rested after the Tower, having washed book dust and ashes from our faces, we gathered for the next trip: to the city Orzammar, present papers about an ancient alliance to the dwarves.

On a note: it makes sense to return to the Tower from time to time. For a very simple purpose: it looks like the Templar Quartermaster is the only merchant who doesn't run out of lyrium dust. And you will need tons of lyrium, especially if the main character is a mage...

On the pass in front of the gnome, a pleasant meeting with a team of "bounty hunters" was already prepared for us. The guys got serious - with a magician, with archers - and this battle was, as it were, no more difficult than all the battles in the Tower. But the spells of mass destruction did their job.

At the gate stood a guardian dwarf, moderately politely sending all visitors in azimuth. In addition to us, a certain Imrek, the messenger of Loghain, sought the right to enter! As it turned out, our paper is thicker than Imrek's, and the door was opened for us. Imrek ran into a fight; and whether I persuaded him or left him on the rock as a memento for the dwarves - guess for yourself.

Election Day

Level 20 Designer Quest: Is it possible to make a dwarven city that doesn't end up with Ironforge?

Well, the gnomes are honest guys: they are ready to recognize the treaty even now. Only here is one bad luck: who, you say, should fulfill the promise? How is it written on the paper? Dwarf King? Weird! And we have such an opportunity - just temporarily there is no king. For how long - we do not know, but enough for your lifetime ...

The old king has passed away, and dwarven laws do not allow a successor to be named immediately. Because the king appointed an heir, but the heir did not survive. And the youngest son Prince Belen never promised the throne. In such cases, the council chooses the king - but he cannot decide in any way, because Belen is opposed by the right hand of the late monarch, Lord Harrowmont.

The solution to the problem is obvious: in order for the treaty to be observed, it is necessary to achieve the coronation of any of the applicants. Who - you can choose to taste! The story is dark: Harrowmont claims that the king on his deathbed asked not to give the throne to Belen, and Belen claims that Harrowmont slandered him and urged his father to suspect him of who knows what.

The choice is complicated by the fact that we are not allowed to see either the prince or the lord until we prove our loyalty to their cause. Judging by what we saw in the city - the supporters of both have already gone over to stabbing - they have reason to do so!

Dealing with local politics, I examined both the Commons and Diamond (that is, the dwellings of the nobility) in order, and also scored a few additional tasks because my wallet rattled very plaintively.

For example, an old lady Filda asked to look for her son, missing in the Deep Roads; something told me that sooner or later I would be there anyway. Naga Trader(these are meat animals that are grown in caves) blew all his nagas and asked him to catch at least one on occasion - they come across there every now and then and do not run away, so it was a sure, albeit small profit. Wandering Preacher Berkel asked to put in a good word for him so that he would be allowed to open a church in Orzammar: the dwarves need it like a golem needs a bathing suit, but why not talk to the chronicler? All things - that he was allowed to preach. And finally, girl Dagna with funny red ponytails dreams of... studying at the Circle Tower. Why, if the gnomes are incapable of magic? Oh well, Irving after recent events will accept anyone you want, even a naga, so you can put in a word on occasion. More assignments can be found at hall of chronicles. We will do them later when it comes to trails.

Oh sport, you are the world!

After much hesitation, I chose Harrowmont: you need damn good reasons for the dwarves loyal to the ruling house not to want to give the inheritance to the son of their beloved king!

This is a spoiler: if our main character is a noble dwarf, he, in principle, already guesses who is actually right. Both are not without sin, but it seems that Belen was involved in the death of the heir ... But the first task for Belen is simpler.

Three against four, one of the participants is a magician. Dwarfs have interesting ideas about an equal fight!

Let's start with the fighters - one of them is right in the central hall of the Arena, the other is in the side room. With the first, Bayzil, such bad luck came out - one of the fighters of Belen had compromising evidence on him. But the compromising evidence is hidden right here nearby, in the fighting rooms in the chest; you can hack it (moreover, going outside the Arena, it is not forbidden to change the team) and return the letters. Gwiddon you just have to lie that I heard from Harrowmont with my own ears - he is not going to cede the throne without a fight.

But this is only the beginning, and then the tournament itself. We have all seen such tournaments - at Westgate, for example; but the last fighter, a relative of Belen - Piotin Aeducan, the most dangerous opponent that I have come across so far on the way. Idleness, Uldred and other inhabitants of the Tower are children next to him; and you can’t enter the tournament with your proven team and hide behind Alistair’s shield. True, since I persuaded Baizil and Gwiddon, I nevertheless fought in three - against four warriors of Piotin.

I think the stands were hysterical from such a fight: I exhausted Piotin with a quick run. I drank a potion of speed at the very beginning of the fight in order to have time to run back, heal and wait for my abilities to recharge. There’s no other way: I don’t know what Piotin was fed in childhood, but his health is enough for three sumotori. Neither magic nor a blade is able to finish off such a block quickly, and his blows in three strokes will chop an elephant into dumplings. At the very beginning of the battle, I lit a glorious fire in the middle of the arena, and it helped - Piotin was not always smart enough to run around the fire. Apparently, the biceps sprouted into the skull.

But the main thing is that I still received the trust of Harrowmont, even despite such a not very valiant victory.

Alternative: if you choose Belen, then instead of a tournament, you will have to take two letters - to the lords, who seemed to have been deceived by Harrowmont. With one there is no problem, but the other - that is, the other - demands to find her father in the Deep Roads, having killed a bunch of Blight spawn. From now on, the questlines for Belen and Harrowmont are the same.

Visit to the godmother

Now it remains only to elevate my chosen one to the throne. On this score, he had two useful ideas.

The first idea: to show that he is able to maintain order in the city. And to do this, find the local mafia "godmother", Jarvia, and tear off something she needs.

This is how the battle mage goes through the dungeons of the gnomes. Rune of repulsion on the door, inside - hell, blizzard, storm, or all of this at once. You can also add an earthquake so that they don’t shoot from behind the door. We ourselves stand at the door and poison jokes.

It is important: if you want to large earn, don't start this quest until you have 50 gold coins in your bag. Once you take the next step, you will come across a lyrium smuggler dwarf: he has cargo for the mage Godwin in the Circle Tower. By running back and forth, you will receive at least 10 gold; but if you have the persuasion skill, you can take 65 instead of 50 from Godwin, and 25 instead of 10 from the dwarf - a total of 40 gold net profit! But if you do not have that kind of money with you, the smuggler will immediately leave, and you will be left with nothing. As I already explained, you can try to deal with humans or elves before solving gnome problems - or do side quests. The main thing is not to go to Dust City.

Of course, Jarvia is not in the habit of leaving business cards with detailed addresses. Therefore, I went down to Dusty City, where wild non-caste gnomes live (they immediately tried to dismantle me for salvage, but could not cope). By the fire I found an aunt with a characteristic gnome name Hope: she explained that she needed to get a special “key” - a bone, which can be taken away from one of her fighters. For example, two steps from here there is a Slum Yard...

Having hung on the neck of the inhabitants of the courtyard, I received not only a bone, but also an indication of how to find the entrance to the dungeon. Again, I didn't have to go far.

Jarvia's dungeon was long, but unpretentious - a serious fight was expected only at the very end, with Jarvia. On the way, I looked into a corner of the prison and took the keys from the local jailer.

On a note: a dwarf of a simple kind is especially advised not to miss the chance to open cages with captives.

Jarvia herself is dangerous, but not too resistant to magic, and therefore was easily entangled in traps and an earthquake (which Wynn had mastered by that time) while we were getting rid of her retinue. Alone, she could do little to oppose us. And the key in her pocket led us through a secret door... to a weapons shop, where a frightened merchant promised a big discount for the future.

Firestarter

Here is the second idea: although, it would seem, the votes on the council should already be in favor of our candidate, but this is all complicated and doubtful. What if we went to the Deep Roads and found there a long-lost Ultimate named Branca, her voice could decide everything at once.

- Hey, open your eyes! The gray guard is going to look for your Perfect One! Or should I unscrew your stinking head?

“Oghren wants to say we have permission.

Perfect is such a rare title for a dwarf who invented or did something exceptional: for this he during life are reckoned among the ancestors. Really, only a dwarf can come up with such a reward! But it also has a practical meaning: the Perfect One and his family become a new noble family, and this is the only way to form them.

In truth, whoever you ask about Branca, at best, they all politely twist their fingers to their temples. Why the hell are you looking for an aunt, albeit thrice Perfect, who fled to the Deep Roads (from where very few people returned alive) a few years ago ?! As one scientist from another world said: “When people do not return from New Zealand for more than a year, it means that people have died irrevocably.” Moreover, she went not for any reason, but to search for the semi-mythical Anvil of the Void. All the inhabitants of Orzammar, whether common folk or noble, speak of Branca exclusively in the past tense. It is not even clear what makes the pretender to the throne think differently about her...

However, there is one dwarf who not only believes that Branca can be alive, but also dreams of finding her! He has special reasons for this: this is ... the husband of the Perfect One, named Oghren.

A wonderful personality - the most charming type of our entire cabinet of curiosities (maybe only Morrigan is inferior). This drunkard, brawler and buzzer always "has a few words in reserve", and these words could in no way be heard at an official reception. He rejoices like a child when we decide to stop talking and punch some sassy guy in the neck. He never loses his presence of mind and makes funny faces.

Well, as a fighter, he is a warrior with a berserker specialization, a lover of two-handed axes, decently armed from the very beginning and in very good armor (although the helmet, you see, was drunk somewhere). Deals very good damage and at the same time quite tenacious. She and Stan share a niche, but Oghren is better and a lot more fun.

And it's easy to please him with gifts. Perhaps you have already wondered for whom the gift drink found in different nooks and crannies is stored in your luggage? So here it is! Ogren, like a real connoisseur, will appreciate vintage wine and will not refuse simple ale either. The sympathy for you of this brave warrior is directly proportional to the degree in his blood. And if your hero is a warrior, then you can learn berserk talents from Oghren.

To further cheer him up, you should ask him questions - about how life is in Orzammar, how he likes it on the surface, and so on. Ladies can try to flirt with him, although you should not count on romance, but it will be fun. And what will he do if you pass Orzammar before the Circle and go with him to the Tower...


The first section of the caves - caridina junction- doesn't pose much of a problem. It can be passed in two ways: the bridge is collapsed, but there are two tunnels through the rock, one to the left, the other to the right. On the right (this move is closer) are genlocks and harlocks, on the left are screamers who hide and ambush, but are themselves very flimsy. Both roads lead to a large darkspawn camp with a tame bronto; behind this camp is the road to the next site, Ortan teigu.

Rook: "All of you grounders are alone
Nakovs are thieves and thugs!
I found it first!

Teig at home Ortan- a tangled corridor that does not have a single branch, so it is impossible to fly past. Along the way, we met the local Gollum - a dwarf named Rook, a collector of all kinds of rubbish, already pretty mournful in mind. This is the missing son of mother Filda ... Maybe it's better to tell her that her son is dead? It's kind of more merciful...

Shortly after the Hand, a battle awaits us on the bridge - on both sides of it are fair groups of darkspawn. But the bridge is good because it is easy to block it with spells, and then fry everything that is left on the other side.

But at the end of the path - where Branca's journal lies in a round cave, and bunches of cocoons hang from the ceiling - there will be a much more serious opponent - spider queen. This creature calls on spiders to help itself, and when things go tight for it, it disappears and appears in another part of the cave. You can try to pull it out into the corridor, then things will go easier, and when it disappears, you will be able to restore a little mana.

Next station - Dead ditches .

And again - the battle on the bridge: Legion of the Dead under the leadership of Cardol, repels the attack of hurlocks and genlocks.

It is interesting: The Legion of the Dead is almost a copy of the Slayers community from Warhammer Fantasy. In both cases, these are dwarves who have abandoned normal life due to some circumstances and are looking for a glorious death in battle. But in appearance, the classic slayer's look more like Oghren than the warrior Kardol.

We must take part... First, we repulsed the onslaught together with the legionnaires (and the magicians did it because of their backs), then someone alone ran to “hook out” new detachments, and finally they crossed the bridge and cleared the entire brigade. At the end, a very unpleasant surprise awaited us: a huge hall, along the edges of it - two columns of shooters, and two ogres stepping down the stairs! And if the shooters could still be entangled in the mud or knocked down by an earthquake (and then roasted with mass spells), then the ogres had to be beaten by hand, and it was long, painful and dirty.

Oghren gets so carried away in combat that he swings his giant two-handed
an ax with one hand!

It is important: you can try to convince Cardol that the Legion should join you during the final battle. You will not regret!

From this hall, a side fork in the north leads to another platform with a fragment of a bridge over the lava. Having killed the hurlocks, we carefully searched all the side rooms here: almost a complete set of legionary armor was found on the sarcophagi! And it is made, by the way, from dragon bone. In the north room - boots, in the south - gloves; going further, we ran into a hurlock summoning skeletons - a helmet was found in this room, and the main part of the armor was further away, in the legionnaires' temple. In each room with sarcophagi there were rune plates, from which we learned more and more details about the exciting life Legion of the Dead. And in the end, they collected enough data to try to give the Legion the rights of a noble house ...

The third bridge in these dungeons - and again the battle, although it seemed empty. The cursed screamers hide and come out only when they can surround the entire squad (or what they consider the entire squad: this is when a lone but heavily armored kamikaze calls screamers and fireballs on itself).

On a note: do not forget that the H key allows you to order the unit not to follow the leader.

Continuing our journey - there are no alternatives - we met a badly damaged gnome Gespit. She shouted to us that Branca had betrayed them all, as well as some other obscene things, and fled. The evening definitely ceased to be languid: the whole area is covered with some kind of growths like giblets, a disgusting stench from every corner ...

We got out to the platform in front of the lava, opened the temple of the legionnaires and found the key to the next door there. And behind her...

A hefty creature of obscene appearance turned out to be a queen of genlocks: and do not ask how she makes them from dwarves. I hope I don't find out until the end of my days.

But how to destroy such creatures - I'll tell you. This should be done slowly and with pleasure, well stocked with lyrium drinks. By itself, the uterus, firstly, is motionless (and will not crawl away from the areal charms), and secondly, it is very moderately dangerous. Tentacles bite painfully and genlocks with screamers are summoned from time to time; and it is difficult to figure out how many health tentacles have. First of all, it is the tentacles that must be beaten, which separated from the uterus and crawled out in another part of the hall (except for the very edge, where they are not dangerous). Area spells are not very effective against them; it is best, oddly enough, to chop them with weapons. At the same time, save energy and expensive melee techniques - to bring them down on the uterus as soon as the tentacles are defeated.

On a note: if suddenly you have a shortage of potions - it may be worth spending time and replenishing the supply, because there will be no such chance in the last section of the dungeon.

Perfect Branca.

And finally, a joyful meeting with Branca at the very Anvils of the Nether. She greeted us... and locked the doors so we couldn't go anywhere else. That's because Branca had a little trouble with the Anvil...

Well; let's go through.

The first chamber of the Anvil chambers was filled with a warm, friendly atmosphere of chlorine laced with a touch of phosgene, green joy hissing from the pipes as our crew were turned into the chopping fists of a stone golem. But, fortunately, the valves were in the same hall, and they were quickly closed.

Hall number two - with golems attacking in pairs (except for the first two, which - to lull vigilance - are made inactive). And the golem launch point is equipped with traps (with a robber in the team, everything is a little easier).

Room number three is with the Apparatus of Spirits: this is a huge construction that calls on spirits. The idea is to attack only one of them with all your strength, and then quickly activate the anvil that glows next to it. This operation had to be done eight times - until finally the perfume ran out.

It is interesting: the official translator made a moonshine out of the Apparatus of Spirits. With which we heartily congratulate him.

That which hangs over the platform is the Apparatus. Alas, he does not exhale
not overkill.

And here is the last room. In it, we found ... two whole Perfect: Branca, already familiar to us, and ancient, like these dungeons, Caridin, who turned into a golem.

Karidin, in simple human language, described to us that he once invented golems - but these automata, alas, need the soul of a dwarf as one of the components. He used volunteers who were revered as heroes ... then they began to use the condemned ... then opponents of the ruling king ... and then Caridin himself.

Karidin begged to destroy the Anvil, Branca - to give the artifact to her. As I did, guess for yourself ...

It is important: you will have to fight one or the other in any case, but keep in mind: Branca promises to put his golems in the last battle with Pestilence, Karidin cannot promise anything like that. Although any of them is able to forge a crown for your chosen one. Are you ready to take responsibility for what golems will continue to create? Note also that Branca's support will greatly upset all decent people in your team (Alistera, Wynn, Leliana), and Karidin's support will upset Oghren.

Having finally written down for memory (and for transmission to the chroniclers) a list of golem volunteers on a board not far from the Anvil, I returned to Orzammar, and my path was not joyful ...



The third test was not required: the newly proclaimed king (after his rival started a stabbing right in the Council hall and finally lost the opportunity to claim anything) gave us the word to send his warriors to battle. And we went for the support of the next ruler.

House of Lords

Don't hurt your soul. Let her go!

Only the enemy would try to keep him

For the torture of life.

W. Shakespeare, "King Lear"

It's time to visit in his castle Earl Eamon. As we have been told more than once, the earl is ill and does not get out of bed; and something told us that he was not suffering from a sore throat.

Along the way, there was a significant meeting with the assassin sent by Loghain: unfortunately for the "king", the Antivan raven Zevran somewhat overestimated his strength. And after that, the poor fellow had no choice but to ... join me.

An elf-robber directed behind your head - but he is not at all averse to working for you, especially since this is his chance not to part with his ears due to a failed assassination attempt. He knows how to disguise himself perfectly, skillfully uses poison and expertly cuts neat round holes in the back: his specialty is the killer.

By the way, this specialty is also good in another way - it increases the damage dealt by the whole team. In a word, in battle he surpasses Leliana, and there are no other robbers in the game.

But he has no mutual understanding with locks. That is, he does not know how! You can learn a little, of course, but usually you expect from a robber that he will bring additional money by hacking, but here ...

Being a cold professional, he is indifferent to most gifts - except for simple and understandable precious metal bars, as well as professional equipment.

If tomorrow is war

And then there's Radcliffe. But not yet a castle, but a village attached to it. The peaceful pastoral settlement bristled with palisades and barricades, and the inhabitants crowd into the church - some are hiding, and some are just ordering their own waste. No one plans to live until tomorrow morning.

- It remains only to help the villagers to remove the cats from the trees! (Morrigan)

What's the matter? And it's very simple: every night a horde of undead is declared to the faithful subjects from the castle of Redcliffe. Once recaptured, twice recaptured, but today they will not be recaptured. Unless, of course, we can help.

I had to take over the leadership of the defense (until now, it was mediocrely led by the younger brother of the earl, bann tegan). And that's what happened in the first hour in the village...

The blacksmith categorically does not want to forge, because no one wants to rescue his daughter from the castle. Well, we promise to help, but for now, let him forge, you scoundrel! (Morrigan was unpleasantly surprised by such gentleness.)

Even in the city, as the captain informs us, there is a veteran dwarf who does not want to fight. Well, let's agree...

It is important: if you do not agree and go to the swords, this operation will be credited to you not as a plus, but as a minus.

Searching the empty village shop, I found casks of oil; reported them to the unsuspecting Sir Perth, the commander of the knights, so that his people make burning barricades. The knights of Sir Perth are afraid of the undead and want amulets from the church, which the Reverend Mother refused them; I persuaded them to give at least some kind of amulets, otherwise everything good will run away from fear.

To raise the morale of the militia, I convincingly asked the innkeeper to pour beer for everyone at the expense of the establishment; and in the same tavern I saw a suspicious elf, about whom the waitress said that he was waiting for his brother here. After a thorough interrogation, it turned out that we were dealing with Loghain's spy - and from everything you can see that the Earl's illness could not have done without "our little king", as I call him.

I also casually took the Blackstone Volunteer agenda to recruit Garrison (in the house near the mill), took new assignments from the chest next to the church, and (which again angered Morrigan) promised the upset girl in the temple to look for the missing child.

Surprisingly, this good deed has borne fruit. The child was found at home, in the closet, and told about the wonderful grandfather's sword - which was given to us to protect the village. The sword, oddly enough, really turned out to be good.

It is interesting: if you don't have enough charm to coax your baby out, it doesn't have to be drastic. It is enough to include Winn in the group. As she barks in her best teaching voice: “Come on, get out, young man!” So ​​he pops out like a cork from a bottle.

And now, when all the preparations are completed, we go to Sir Perth and ask him to start the dark time of the day.

Evil Dead

The night fight with the undead consisted of two parts.

To easily win a fight with the undead, it is worth taking a position
position marked with a cross.

At first we defended the flaming barricade in front of the mill. This case is quite simple, because the undead were pouring in a crowd along a narrow corridor, representing an excellent target for everything that hits the squares. Not like the knights of Sir Perth, but even Alistair hardly had to work.

Even in the darkness of the night, you can see the undead marching across the bridge from the castle.

But when the ghouls came to the village from below, the most interesting thing began...

On a note: if he manages to win the battle without casualties among the local militias, Bann Teagan will appreciate it especially.

The undead come from two directions and in small groups, so burning them with Gehenna will not save up enough mana. However, if you look closely, you can see a funny fact: the ghouls, running from the river, first look at central square, spin there for a couple of seconds - and then they are already looking for a victim! Therefore, there is an easy way to win (although “without victims” this will not work): stand at the square itself, but outside the barricades, and as it arrives, lock the nearest exit from the barricades, and burn the square itself, burn and burn again.

Flowers of life

After the battle, without even changing clothes, we hurried to the castle. As it turned out, Bann Tegan and Sir Perth knew very well the secret passage there, but ... decided not to please us with this news for the time being, so that we could help fight back.

Anyway. It's worse that you don't understand where it came from Isolde, the wife of Earl Eamon, and demanded that Tegan go with her - from the main entrance. Well, we'll manage alone, I decided, and led my group through the dungeon.

A secret passage led straight to the castle prison; and there just languished an old acquaintance of many magicians - someone Jovan, caught in his time in the practice of blood magic and escaped from the court of the Tower.

Jovan immediately confessed: it was he who poisoned the earl. And also ... taught the earl's son, Connor, of magic. A normal magician, not an apostate, would demand Connor to the Circle, because that is the law, and would deprive him of the right to inherit ...

Yes, but Jovan did not call the undead! Well, how can you not believe?

We could have easily... but decided to postpone irreversible conclusions. On reflection, I left him in the cell, where it is warm and flies do not bite. Although some of my companions were not too pleased with this.

I went through the lower floor of the castle (in the extreme northeast corner I found the blacksmith's daughter) and through the southeast corner I went out into the courtyard, where I opened the gate to Sir Perth and his people. Having scattered the undead on the steps of the castle, we entered... and saw what strange entertainments the earl's son indulges in.

After that, an eight-year-old child coolly ordered Bann Tegan, his uncle, to kill us ... and he tried to the best of his ability. Fortunately, neither for him nor for us it ended fatally.

Connor escaped, and we had to decide what to do. The boy, having learned the basics of magic, tried to help his father - to save his life by agreeing with the demon. Well, the demon fulfilled its part of the contract: Eamon is alive (and no one promised recovery). Well, the boy is possessed by a demon...

What to do now? Can the earl's son be saved? Deciding that whoever confuses, let him unravel, we ordered Jovan to be brought here. He could offer only one thing: a blood magic ritual, with which you can find a demon in the Fade and kill him there. True, this requires a sacrifice ... but there is a volunteer.

It is important: if Jovan is killed or expelled from the castle, we will have to kill the demon right in his current body.

Well... maybe many (Aleister, for example) will condemn me, but I decided to follow Jovan's idea. The fighting was not too hard; and the demon himself has already offered me a deal - for the fact that I will not expel him forever (he will return after the war), I can get blood magic, or an additional ability, or something else of value ... And, characteristically, no one will know about it ... Do you think it was a test of honesty? And I'm not sure...

It is interesting: to enter the Shadow, you need a magician. But if your hero is of a different class, Wynn or Morrigan can do it. The only case of its kind when one of the companions performs the task without you!



And now the soul of Connor is free, the castle of Radcliffe is also free, in it the living dead no longer dance on coffins; but Earl Eamon did not get any healthier from this. And no healer can help. What to do? Unless to look for a holy relic - an urn with the ashes of the great Andraste.

It is important: on the table from the earl, you can pick up the amulet of Alistair's mother (and give it to Alistair, of course). It's worth doing, because no matter how you solve the problem with Connor and Iseult, Alistair will most likely be furious with the result, and convincing him of the correct choice is almost impossible. So at least you mitigate the consequences ...

Looking for an urn

From the very beginning, we had one tip: to find in the capital, Denerim, brother Genitivi, who devoted a lot of time to searching for the urn and, possibly, attacked the trail.

But, to tell the truth, we were in no hurry to Denerim. Perhaps they did not feel ready for exploits. Or maybe they just succumbed to the charm of a huge city with a lot of wonderful establishments and an abundance of opportunities...

Savor

The appearance on the streets of the gray guard caused a sensation. They began to actively contact us ... with orders.

Hunting for city gangs.

For example, officer of the guard, a fair loafer, was hindered by the abundance of mercenaries in the city, who do not care about anything city ​​guard. Either they play tricks in a brothel, or they make too much noise (!) In a tavern ... And we were offered to calm down the mercenaries for a small reward. And sometimes, even if we managed to persuade them, after that, in some dark nook and cranny, an ambush awaited us. However, who counted those mercenaries?

Dealer Ignazio he doesn’t sell anything, but if you talk to him, then after a while a boy comes running with a letter and offers to meet in the back room of the tavern. It turns out that Mr. Ignazio represents ... Antivan crows. If you remember, this is a community of assassins. Wouldn't you like to order? Ignazio has special conditions for us: if we do not like the contract, we can not fulfill it. In general, we are only paid to inform Ignazio if a client suddenly dies. As you can see, everything is legal...

By the way, the first client is someone Pedan- is very busy interesting things: Holds a trap for those who sympathize with the Gray Wardens. So maybe let's notify Ignazio of his death? It is not difficult to do this: on the wall next to the entrance to the alienage there is its proclamation, from which you can find out the "secret password" to the trap. And Pedan himself lodges in the Zhemchuzhina brothel, where we have other assignments.

There is also a set of unseemly proposals innkeeper, it is not difficult to unwind it. Only some tasks ... really very small and indecent. Blackmail, hiding corpses...

It is important: if your hero is a rogue, he can get the duelist specialty in Denerim. To do this, contact the swordswoman Isabella in the same tavern "Bitten Nobleman".

There are also respectable tasks - according to the good old tradition, they hang on the bulletin board near the temple. For example, kill bandit gangs in the city. By the way, one of the gangs managed to kill the templar; he gave us his last will - to destroy the coven of blood magicians right in Denerim.

But the old knight next to the tavern found another thing for us: he calls to a duel because the gray guards killed the king. You can convince, but ... almost useless. The best defense of the guards, alas, is to accept the challenge.

But Alistair found the most unexpected thing in the city: it turned out that his sister lives in the city, Goldanna. Alas, the sister does not care about her brother, and Alistair was extremely disappointed by the visit...

It is important: if, after a conversation with his sister, you tell Alistair that, they say, everything is fine - every man for himself, then Alistair will greatly change his character. It will become tougher, get rid of the beautiful soul ... and become much less attractive, but more manageable. You decide...

For the Grail

Fire against such a creature, as one would expect, is not very effective. But the spell "Stinging Swarm" and poisons work fine.

The roof of the old temple has sagged, there are snowdrifts on the floor, but this is not a reason to desecrate it!

And brother Genitivi, for whom we came to Denerim, is not there. Instead, some student answers ... and he twists something, the bastard. Of course, you can go to that Kudykina mountain where he is trying to send us, but maybe it’s better to put pressure on him?

Alas, the pressure of the poor fellow could not stand it. But Brother Genitivi's diary gave us the answer to the question, and we are going to a snuffy village asylum in the Frost Mountains.

A strange people inhabit this village. We are not welcome from the very beginning, but that would be fine; for some reason, a peasant preaches in the church, although everyone knows that only women serve in our church; and, when we are trying to figure out what's what, all the parishioners suddenly take out their weapons. They are wild...

From the body of Eirik's father, I removed the amulet with strange signs. And in the side room I found a prisoner - that same Genitivi. Who explained that the medallion of the holy father is the key to the destroyed temple...


In the temple, Brother Genitivi stayed at the entrance to study, while we had to clear it of sectarians. In turn - first, residential cells in the west, then a warehouse in the east, and then the main, northern, room. The keys are in that order.

Our remorse over the murder of the holy father disappeared immediately when we saw that his flock did not disdain to make friends with the spirits of the dust - disgusting creatures, I tell you, and they are very good at hiding in the floor.

You can go into a small gazebo and, blowing a horn, summon a dragon. There will be a lot of prey ... And you can safely pass by.

And behind the temple caves began, full of young dragons and older dragons; I carefully removed the scales from the latter, because the Denerim blacksmith dreamed of experimenting with unusual material.

Incubator? Temple? Breakfast table?

The battle in the hall was especially difficult, where a sectarian overseer stood on a huge pedestal to the left. If we, as usual, rushed to him to sort out close combat, we would be surrounded on all sides by reptiles; however, as long as the cultist is only being fired upon, the dragons don't worry. Dealing with them and the overseer separately is much more pleasant!

And finally, the head of all sectarians - Father Kolgrim. He explained to us that the cult of the Urn with the Sacred Ashes is outdated: after all, Andraste has already been reborn, and they serve her - a giant dragon. And the urn should be finally... desecrated, filled with dragon's blood. And if we agree to this, then he will keep the dragon from attacking us...

True, something in this proposal seemed insincere to us. And we just passed through Kolgrim... ignoring his resistance and removing his horn from his body.

Oddly enough, the dragon did not attack anyway - it flew over us and went to its lair to rest.

Trial

In order to get closer to the Urn, you need to pass a test - a certain Guardian informs us about this, a bearded man in shining armor, subtly resembling the late Kolgrim. But this is far from Kolgrim, and he can even tell us what he was wrong about ...

This is a bug: in the official translation, the poor fellow Guardian sometimes forgets what gender he is, and begins to talk about himself in the feminine gender.

And now the test, which should prove the purity of our intentions...

It seems that our appearance did not bring the slightest joy to the Guardian ...

The urn impressed even the cynical Morrigan.

Part one of the test - eight riddles from ghosts, with multiple answers. There are few difficulties there, but for future pilgrims I will list the answers: Brona - dreams, Shartan - home, General Maferat - jealousy, archon Hessarian - compassion, Katair - hunger, Gavard - mountains, Vasily - revenge, and the lady who received the tender name Elisha in translation , is a melody.

After talking with the ghost of the past (everyone probably has his own), a fight awaited me - one of the strangest in the game: a fight with the ghosts of our squad. Among them were the second me, and Morrigan, and the rest... They knew all the same tricks and spells - but, of course, they did not realize that in battle it was necessary to eliminate the healer first, and then the battle mage, and this killed them.

The third test is a puzzle: there are six tiles on the left and right sides of the pool, and by standing on them, you can create ghosts of the bridge. It is necessary to combine the ghosts so that they become dense. The team stands on the tiles, and the leader tries to cross the bridge; with each step you need to move one person. The sequence here is this (we count the tiles from the starting point):

    1 right, 3 left, 2 right.

    We step on the first square of the bridge.

    3 left, 2 right, 6 left.

    We step to the second cell of the bridge.

    2 right, 6 left, 4 right.

    6 left, 4 right, 1 left.

    We step on the third cell of the bridge.

    4 right, 1 left, 5 right.

    1 left, 5 right, 5 left.

    The bridge has been passed.

And the last test - agreeing with the "offer" of the altar, take off your clothes and go through the fire. And here we have an Urn with Ashes...

A pinch of dust healed Earl Eamon. However, he is not yet ready to drop Loghain; and we went to persuade the last ally - the elves, which we will tell you about after a while.

As an old schooler, it was funny for me to read the latest posts about "what kind of party is better"! =) Killed by the fact that there were even those who wrote that magicians are worse than tanks, a combat magician in equal gear is inferior to war, and blood magic cannot be considered as special equipment at all - you, Comrades, have only one way out - more practice and less snot! And now about the main thing:

1. Battle mage (BM)

BM as a specialization implies contact combat, which in turn does not exclude the possibility of casting spells - in my opinion, this is already a very big bonus, because. the only weakness of a magician in a robe is his low chewiness. BM, being dressed in heavy armor (I strongly advise against wearing massive armor, because fatigue will be very high, thus on bosses or strong enemies you will greatly experience a lack of mana), with the support of defensive magic, it will have much more protection, armor, resists (resistance) than any warrior - and this is an indisputable fact! Stone skin + magic shield (in Awakening it is even more formidable, which is only a plus) + BM abilities = an absolutely playable and multifunctional tank that has more attacks, defenses, armor and damage than any warrior as a tank. The only thing he doesn't have is provocation and intimidation. "Without this, a tank is not a tank" - you say, and you will be absolutely right. But the whole math is that enemies will aggro either on those who are wearing heavier armor, or on those who right them, or on those who deal the most damage to them. From here the conclusion is to start the fight with massive spells. Fireball for these purposes fits very well, because. Deals decent damage on contact and a very large DOT damage, that is, damage extended over time. Thus, the BM performs the role of a tank no worse than a warrior, I would even say "much better", because. in order to properly fulfill the role of a tank (and not a hybrid), a tank war puts priority on the number of HP and defense, where there is no place for decent damage, and if your tank deals more damage than a robber, mage or two-hander, this is not a tank! And by and large, playing a BM as a tank is very interesting, the game is not limited to pressing a couple of keys, there is more opportunity to respond in unforeseen situations, saying plain language- more movement!

Next, I will describe directly BMA:
Magic and physique - starting from the 7th damage (after getting the BM specialization) these are priority characteristics, I think it makes no sense to describe their importance regarding this specialization and the role of the tank.
I would prefer heavy armor, because. in massive ones, there is a lot of fatigue, therefore, a greater consumption of mana, and in my case, the Willpower for the BM tank did not swing at all! She is great with items and sets for Inception, and very cool with skills for Awakening.
Spells:
Stone skin + magic shield + poisonous fumes + BM abilities (shimmering shield and combat magic) - this was in my case, because. I repeat - I wore heavy armor. Definitely a massive spell, fireball is best, tk. it is easiest for them to "intimidate and justify" because of the huge damage.
In my case, I got a functional tank, with very good armor and protection, resistance and survivability, and most importantly - interesting and exciting to play.

Blood Mage (MK)

Those who write that MK is nonsense are either beginners who do not know how to "cook it =)", or those who have not even tried to seriously play this specialization. MK is very suitable for the second specialization to the Tank Battle Mage, because. a large amount of hp absolutely eliminates the need for mana. MK is very suitable for playing if you have a BM tank in the party, even if it is played by a bot and not you, its large amount of HP will be very useful for you, because your spells will take away hp and not mana, and replenish HP due to the same Liliana, not very a good idea, because with a high Magic score, she will simply die on the spot! The game for MK is very ... let's say "peculiar". =) In my case, I didn’t download the second specialization at all, because. There is no dual specialization for MK, I took a werewolf because of his bonuses, namely to armor and physique, therefore I have more points for pumping spells. I will say one thing: when, after a couple of spells, all the enemies are either immobilized or beat themselves, this gives a certain feeling of formidable power, which MK is. As in the case of BM, MK really needs a physique to have enough strength for his dirty deeds! =)
Class bonuses:
Very effective and strong abilities from the "Blood Mage" specialization + almost complete control of enemy creatures on the battlefield (with correctly blown magic spells), the best in terms of quick response in case of unforeseen situations, extremely survivable due to the large number of HP and very strong recovery abilities. And I do not embellish the whole point, MK is a formidable force, and only a complete fool will not see all the charms of this specialization, forgive me if I hooked anyone! :R

Regarding MK:
Magic and physique - nothing else is needed! Willpower is needed only at first, when we are still a weak magician, later we will be a terrible and powerful MK, which people like food for their evil thoughts. And do not be afraid that mental stability will be lower than if we intensively pumped willpower. Yes, it will be lower, but you won't need it! MK kills everything that moves without letting it in, and those unfortunates who managed to break through the veil of shock spells will be immobilized with the help of runes and paralyzing spells, after which you can feed on the health of our tank and put an end to the suffering of the unfortunate mobs. =)
Spells:
Fully developed branch "Blood Magic" + developed branch of elemental magic (experiments are sometimes very interesting :)) + magical power and a sparkling light (a very huge increase in magical power) + entropy school (I'm my priority school). This was in my case, which gave me a very strong mage who controlled the entire battlefield, was very tenacious (a large number of HP + underhealing at the expense of the lives of allies for a huge amount of HP) and often the outcome of the battle was decided by a combination of their three spells . In addition, I did not need mana, I raised my physique quite well with the help of things and spent more points on the Magic indicator, which gave me enormous elemental damage + a huge amount of HP restored by Sacrificial Blood.

Personally, in my case, the Biovarovsky "nightmare dream" is nothing more than baby talk, where the most "nightmare" is only the name of the complexity. On the nexus, I found a mod that increases the difficulty of the game by 2-3 times, the enemies cast more often, they have levels higher than ours by about 3-4, better equipment and weapons, bosses are generally set aside (the first ogre in the Ishal towers kills a mage with one stone lumps :)), recovery of poultices and potions for 45 seconds. All of the above is taken from personal experience and about five playthroughs at this difficulty level, so I won’t even fall into a healthy discussion with smart people a la “nightmare”, because we will speak different languages.

Good luck with your adventures, folks!

In the game Dragon Age: Origins secrets different kind can greatly help in the passage and pumping of your character. RPG projects often have hidden secrets that are not easy to discover even with careful research. To find out the most useful of them, you should read this material.

Events in Ostagar

The first secrets in Dragon Age: Origins can be found already in the first stages of the passage, namely after arriving in Ostagar. Here the player is advised to go to the infirmary, where one of the prisoners will be. He will ask the protagonist for a favor, and as a reward he will give out the key to the chest, which is located near the pacified magician. There are useful things inside. The messenger elf is standing near the kennel and you should definitely talk to him. In the dialogue there will be an option with persuasion (deception), which will lead to the fact that the guy will give the main character a beautiful sword. At first, this weapon deals decent damage. If the main character is a swordsman, then it is better to leave him to yourself, otherwise Alistair should be provided with such a sword.

Superman and a little trick

If the player does not know how to defeat a squad of stronger opponents in Dragon Age: Origins, and it is simply necessary to go further, then you should use a little trick. To do this, there must be a robber in the squad and the enemies should not notice the squad of the main character. The user takes control of a character of this classification, turns on invisibility and sneaks behind the backs of unsuspecting enemies. You need to move as far as possible so that the squad completely disappears from your eyes. Then you can turn off invisibility, and allies from the group will suddenly appear behind you. In this way, unnecessary skirmishes can sometimes be avoided. Another interesting secret in Dragon Age (and even a reference) is a conversation between two elderly people who can meet anywhere. They actively discuss the fact that a child has landed from the sky, and this is a direct allusion to Superman. The player will also have useful information about where exactly he fell, or about finding other meteorites. Only there you can get special ore and forge a unique sword.

Traveling in Orzammar

Secrets in Dragon Age: Origins are worth knowing for players, because they can bring a large amount of gold or useful items. A particularly large number of them are associated with Orzammar - the kingdom of the dwarves. Here, at the first meeting with Gavorn, you can steal a good shield from him. You can also repeat this trick during the subsequent conversation in the castle. There is an arena in the city where you can agree to fight with the best team. The player must spend about five fights, after which, as a prize, you can get a ring for the blood mage. On the other hand, if the team does not have a character of this specialization, then you can go here only for fun. When going to Orzammar in Dragon Age, you should be prepared to search for all the information about the dwarves. This includes pages of the codex, inscriptions under the statues, notes, books and more. If you collect a complete collection, then you should head to the Council building, but turn left at the entrance. Here, an excellent artifact will be given out for the work, which will be useful in future adventures.

Sword and armor

The secrets of the game Dragon Age: Origins, which are associated with Orzammar, do not end there. AT throne room the player can get an excellent which fit a warrior with a certain specialization. First you need to put two of your partners on the plates with indicators under the statue to the right of the throne. Another one should go to the entrance to a special square. After that, the player will be able to interact with the throne. You should first prepare, because after that you have to fight with a powerful dragon. The prize for the victory will be the same two-handed sword. If you want to get good armor, the player should go to the Guardian Fortress only when they reach level 18 and not earlier. This content is from an add-on that allows you to get useful things, including dragon armor. Only after pumping to this stage, decent ammunition will begin to fall on the location. It is noteworthy that the items found completely depend on the level at which the player decided to clear the Guardian Fortress.

Decent money making

In the wonderful masterpiece of the gaming industry Dragon Age: Origins, secrets and tricks will help not only with things, but also with money, if you use your resources correctly. The first way to earn decent money opens even with an early visit to Lorraine. A character named Allison will ask you to make traps for him, but the rogue can create them endlessly. She will accept them each time, rewarding her with 50 silver coins and 100 experience points. Making two dozen visits is worth the effort. A similar technique works in Denerim. The user must go to the Thedas Curiosity store to buy a recipe for a strong lyrium potion for a decent amount. The team should have an herbalist who can cook it. You can stock up on lyrium in the tower of magicians, and in the tavern you can take other materials. After that, you can create a huge number of bubbles, which are sold for 20 silver coins. Profit will be felt only when investing about 50 gold coins in the business.

Plot trick and another sword

In Dragon Age: Origins Dragonblood Secrets, the book is an item that can be given as a gift to Wynn for 10 Favors. It can also be given to other members of the squad, but the increase in friendship will then be half as much. This information is not so important compared to how the story tells how to defeat the demon of Idleness in the Shadow. This is a strong opponent, which is difficult to fight, but you can simplify such a task. Initially, in battle, you should take the form of a golem and fight until a third of your health remains. Next, the player must transform into a fiery spirit, and then back into a stone fighter. In this case, health is fully restored. The operation can be done several times until the end. If you collect all the notes in the elven ruins, Orzammar and near the urn with sacred ashes, then the task "Challenge Hexgant" will appear. Main character must go with his allies to the specified point, where the user will have to fight, in which the prize will be a solid one-handed sword.

Often, players also have difficulties with how to pass this or that moment in Dragon Age: Origins. Such problems are often associated with improper pumping of their associates and even the main character. The developers have created an extensive character development system in which you can easily choose skills that are attractive at first glance, but useless in practice. For example, the last talent in the templar tree works much better in terms of stunning than the knight. The situation is similar with combat mages, who at first glance need to pump magical energy and damage. In fact, they just need to be dressed in armor with a maximum level of stamina, and they will be able to wreak havoc on any battlefield. The dog, in terms of causing damage, is not the best ally, but on each map it will help in the search for a treasure with useful items.

Latest Tricks

Secrets in Dragon Age: Origins should be known in order to navigate the storylines well and always make the right decisions. For example, the player can save Howe's son, and he will agree to thank him. At the same time, you should ask for the highest amount of remuneration, since the father will be grateful in any case and will support the protagonist on future advice. There are many ways to get useful items for yourself and your companions in this vast world. So, when talking with the elven master Varathorn, if you have the proper level of Diplomacy or Cunning, you can easily persuade him to make not only armor, but also a bow. Missions from Master Ignacio are best completed at later levels so that the reward is appropriate. The same applies to the Marjoline Quest, which will give Leliana. The tower of the circle is better to pass initially. This will greatly help in pumping the central character, which will greatly help in the future in difficult skirmishes and the battle with the last boss.

There are games that are nice to talk about because they are of high quality. There are those that are easy to write about, because the genre of the game is your favorite, and it is difficult to surprise you with something new in it. When creating an article on Dragon Age, I catch myself thinking: this is probably how contemporary artists are trying to copy the creations of Michelangelo. Real feelings will open only at the sight of the original, and the copy gives only some idea. I will try to make this presentation form the most complete picture for you ...

So, as many people who are fond of role-playing games remember, recently BioWare Corporation, which gave us such masterpieces in the RPG genre as Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights(role-playing series Star Wars and mass effect- a slightly different cuisine), decided to take an important step in its development - to move away from licensing the set of rules and the Dungeons & Dragons universe, and try to create something of my own, and seriously and for a long time.

Listening to interviews with the developers, you learn that initially the game was started with the help of the good old Neverwinter Nights 2 (some levels were tested on its engine). The Baldur's Gate series was taken as the reference when creating Dragon Age. The creation of the battle system was inspired by the pictures from the Lord of the Rings series, 300, as well as films about the adventures of Conan (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, if you remember). Staged battles, by the way, were attended by professionals who worked in the film "300".

I was personally most interested in the implementation role system, which was, firstly, not much like D&D rules (so as not to face a lawsuit), and secondly, not to alienate the very demanding fans of BioWare games. Well, we are going to study this issue in the expanses of Ferelden.

By the way, oh Dragon world age. In the southern hemisphere of the planet is a continent called Thedas (Thedas is an acronym for THE Dragon Age Setting). This continent is about the size of Europe.


Dragon Age: Origins takes place in the kingdom of Ferelden, which you can easily find on the map below. One can only wish BioWare good luck in further developing their universe - I hope it becomes as legendary as the Forgotten Realms from Dungeons & Dragons...

Dragon Age Origins System Requirements:


Processor class Intel Core 2 with a frequency of 1.8 GHz
RAM: 1.5 GB
ATI Radeon X1550 class graphics card with 256 MB RAM, or NVIDIA with 256 MB RAM.

The game also runs under Windows XP, and the system requirements in this case will be more modest. Important: at the time of publication of the article, a patch was available that updates it to version 1.02a. The patch can be downloaded here.

First steps

The first thing you notice immediately after installing the game (besides the wonderful music of the start menu, of course) is the Configuration Utility module.


It allows you to conveniently set the necessary settings, as well as carry out minor "repairs" (restore missing shortcuts in the menu, add an exception to the list of firewall rules, clear the cache with downloaded data). Remember to save your settings when you exit this utility. The Upload item deserves a separate discussion. You can create your online profile, update it with screenshots, and more.

The opening screensaver tells that the once powerful magicians set out to open the gates to the Golden City (paradise), encroaching on the will of the Creator. The magicians failed, and Pestilence came to the world - a punishment in the form of a horde of evil spirits and corruption that turns people into monsters. Order Gray Wardens, selflessly fighting evil, was able to return peace to the expanses of Ferelden - the kingdom in which the game takes place. But with the beginning of another era, Pestilence suddenly returns to the world. There are not many people left in the order of the Gray Wardens, but they are still ready, without hesitation, to stand up for the defense of the world...


You are invited to choose your character, while depending on the race and class - one of six unique backstories awaits you ("Noble Man", "Mage", "City Elf", "Dalian Elf", "Dwarf Commoner", " Noble Dwarf"). This approach should greatly increase the interest in replaying the game.


Decide on the gender of the protagonist (male, female), race (human, elf, dwarf), class (warrior, mage, robber). Rogue in the Russian-language help file denotes the legendary Rogue class, which various role-playing systems translate as "rogue", "thief", "tramp". With your permission, I will still use the more familiar term for role-playing games "thief". Those who want to tinker with hairstyles, hair color, nose shape, etc. - the developers will please with a good module for generating the appearance of the protagonist.

Role system

It is better to plan character development in advance, having familiarized yourself with the basics of the role-playing system implemented in Dragon Age. In total there are six basic characteristics character:

Strength. Strength increases the base damage of all weapons except crossbows and magic staves, and together with agility determines whether a melee attack will succeed. A high level of strength is required in order to wield two-handed weapons or wear heavy armor. Strength also improves the character's physical resilience and influences the Intimidate score in the Coercion skill.

Agility. Being the main component of a character's defense score, agility helps to dodge attacks. Agility, coupled with strength, improves the melee attack stat, which determines whether a weapon will reach its target. For ranged weapons, agility is the only stat that improves attack stat. A high level of agility also increases the damage dealt by piercing weapons (such as daggers and arrows). Agility improves physical resilience and is a requirement for some weapon proficiencies.

Strength of will. Willpower affects the magician's mana, and stamina - a warrior or thief, which a character can spend on a spell or skill. This stat is vital for mages, but also quite useful for warriors or thieves who use skills frequently. Willpower also improves the character's mental stability.

Magic. The modifier of this characteristic determines the strength of the spell, including the damage from it. For characters of all classes, this stat also increases the effectiveness of healing potions, poultices, and salves. A high magicka is required in order to use staves. high level or learn some spells. Magic also improves mental stability.

Cunning. Characters cannot learn some advanced skills unless they have a high level of cunning. This characteristic is extremely important for thieves, since a high level improves many skills inherent in this class (picking locks, for example). Cunning helps characters determine weak spots in the armor of the enemy, increasing the rate of penetration of armor, and also improves mental stability and the rate of persuasion (Persuade) in the skill "Compulsion".

Body type. Each point of constitution increases the character's health, allowing him to take more damage before falling onto the battlefield. Thus, this characteristic is important for those who fight in the front ranks. Constitution also improves physical resilience (important for countering many enemy special attacks).

The role-playing system, of course, draws its ideology from the rules of Dungeons & Dragons (it's foolish to deny the obvious - BioWare specialists have been using it in their projects for years). On the other hand, most role-playing systems are, one way or another, ideologically similar, and there is no getting away from this. Recall that in the rules of D&D there are also six main characteristics: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution - just like BioWare in Dragon Age, but Charisma, Intelligence and Wisdom are already absent (instead of them, as you can see, Cunning is proposed in Dragon Age , Magic and Willpower).

However, it will not be difficult for experienced roleplayers to quickly sketch out a plan for the development of their character, guided by the following Dragon Age "leveling" rules, where with each new level the character receives:

Three stat points.
One spell or skill.
Skill point (one for every two levels for rogues, one for every three levels for warriors and mages).
Several points of health and mana/stamina.
Base damage increase.

Three stat points is a generous gift, nothing to say! In D&D, you had to wait 4 levels to be able to add one point to any one attribute. And here for 4 levels they give twelve times more.

Given the distribution of three points in characteristics at each level, the system turned out to be more friendly to players, since it forgives minor mistakes in character development made during the next level increase. And this is more of a plus than a minus, because when you go through the game for the first time, you don't know which "assembly" of the character will be most useful in battle. This means that you will be able to quickly adjust your hero when raising the level on duty.

By the way, an interesting passage from the Dragon Age rules:

Please note that in many cases, according to the rules of the game, it is not the characteristic of your character that is taken into account, but its modifier. In simple terms, a stat modifier is the difference between your current stat value and your base number of 10, in other words, the total number of points you have added to that stat.

Approximately the same way (true, +1 - for every two points of a characteristic above 10) works a modifier in the rules of D&D, added to attack indicators, saving throws, defense class, etc.

Now for the attack. The difference between the attacker's attack score and the opponent's defense score, plus about 50, is the percentage chance of a successful attack. If the attack is successful, then the target receives a certain number of damage points, which are subtracted from the current health. Armor reduces the physical damage done to the character's health. In D&D, as you remember, an attack is successful if the attack after all bonuses have been added, plus the rolled number on the 20-sided die, exceeds the defense value (also after all bonuses have been added).

In Dragon Age, the Defense stat is responsible for evading an attack, and the Armor stat is responsible for reducing damage received as a result of a successful attack. Both of these indicators are visible to you on the screen of the character (or inventory). Defense is made up of base defense (depending on the character's class) and a dexterity modifier, and is also affected by shields, abilities, spells, skills, status effects, items, and the selected difficulty level. As for armor, regardless of its rating, a successful attack always deals at least one point of damage. If you have collected a set of armor (all things from the same material and the same rank) - your armor provides additional bonuses.

Keep in mind that each weapon has its own Armor Penetration, which significantly reduces the target's Armor Rating before the final damage is calculated. If the character is damaged, then it is subtracted from the total number of health points. The maximum health value is determined by the character's class and increases with each new level and with each point invested in the Constitution characteristic. Lost health - is restored (including during the battle, but much more slowly). Various potions and healing spells are used to restore lost health points.

Damage can be physical, as well as from a certain element (magic spells; runes integrated into weapons, etc.): fire, cold, electricity, forces of nature and magic of the spirit. The player can use items or balms that reduce the effect of a particular element on him. Some enemies are immune to a specific type of element - in such cases, instead of damage, the inscription "Immune" will pop up above their head.

Also in the role-playing system there are such concepts as physical and mental stability. In the case of a certain physical impact (for example, an attack that knocks down or pins to the ground), the corresponding attribute modifier of the attacker and the victim's physical resistance indicator are compared. If the physical resistance is higher, the impact used against you is considered unsuccessful (usually you will see the word Resisted above your head). Physical resistance is half the sum of the character's Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution modifiers, plus additional bonuses from items, spells, etc. In case of mental impact (attempt to sleep or stun) - the game compares the attacker's characteristic modifier and the victim's mental stability indicator. Mental toughness is half the sum of the character's Willpower, Magicka, and Cunning modifiers.

As for magicians, their magical power indicator determines the effectiveness of spells, damage from the charges of a magic staff, as well as the effectiveness of potions and balms. Magic Power is a modifier (number of points above the base 10) in the Magic stat. This indicator is also affected by abilities, status effects, magic staves, etc. If items provide two bonuses to magical power, then they are summed up.

As with many other role-playing systems, a mage's casting of a spell can be interrupted by damage dealt to it. The higher the Combat Training skill level, the more damage is allowed before the spell is interrupted.

Another important point is the combination of spells. There are 10 possible combinations of spells in the game that are initially hidden to you, but information about them "pops up" in the Code after their first accidental use in practice. For example, you freeze enemies and then use a stun - the fact that the frozen enemy becomes fragile, not only does it stall, but takes damage from this effect.

Move on. In D&D rules (with which we will unwittingly, but absolutely justifiably, compare dragon rules Age) character is characterized by a set of unique features (Feats) and skills (Skills). Their alternative in Dragon Age is Skills and Talents/Spells. In the case of a warrior or a thief - skills, in the case of a magician - spells.

Skills


Each character has the opportunity to develop a set of eight skills:

Compulsion. Unlocks new dialogue options that can convince other Sims to change their minds. Thus, sometimes there are new plot twists or better deal terms. If the "Convince" option appears in the dialogue, the chance of success is determined by the level of development of the "Coercion" skill and the Cunning indicator. If the "Intimidate" option appears, your success depends on "Coercion" and your Strength score.

Theft. Characters who have learned to steal can rummage through the pockets of other characters—friendly, neutral, or hostile. In most cases, items obtained through theft are added to those that the enemy would drop if they died in combat.

Making traps. Characters who learn this feat can craft traps or baits out of common materials if they have the proper instructions. The second and fourth levels of this skill also increase the distance at which the character can detect enemy traps. Traps can be set by all characters who have this skill, and only thieves can disarm them.

Survival. Survival allows the character to detect enemies that would otherwise remain invisible. Higher levels of this skill allow the character to determine how strong a hidden enemy is, as well as bonuses to nature resistance.

herbalism. Allows the character to make a variety of potions, poultices, ointments, balms, elixirs, and so on, provided he has the ingredients and the recipe. At high levels of this skill, the character can handle more complex recipes and make stronger potions.

Making poisons. Poison crafting is based on the mixing of lethal substances with which a character can infuse a melee weapon to deal additional damage and often immobilize enemies. Those who are skilled in this art are able to create bombs that can be thrown at enemies. To create poison with this skill, you need a recipe and ingredients. This skill is required not only to create poisons, but also to use them.

combat training. For warriors and thieves, each level of this skill opens up the opportunity to learn new level weapon skills, as well as other benefits. Indirectly, it is also useful for mages, as it significantly increases the damage from an attack that they can withstand before they are forced to interrupt the spell.

Combat tactics. Each level of this skill increases the number of slots available in the character's combat tactics list. Each slot provides the ability to set an additional action in the line of behavior of the character during the battle. The more slots, the more flexible you can build the character's line of behavior in battle (of course, if you like to control each member of the team manually, with the help of frequent pauses, then setting the line of behavior will be less in demand).

Thieves get one skill point every two levels, warriors and mages get one skill point every three levels. Each skill has four levels of mastery, but sometimes getting a high-level skill requires a high value of some basic attribute or there is a character level limit.

Skills / Spells


Skills (for warriors and rogues) and spells (for mages) are special unique abilities that depend on the specialization of your hero (as opposed to skills that anyone can learn). Some skills - expand the capabilities of the character, being passive. Some - must be activated during combat and consume stamina (thief, warrior) or mana (mage). Stamina / mana of the characters is gradually restored (in combat, this happens much more slowly). The stock of mana/stamina is determined by the character's class and increases with each new level and with each point invested in the Willpower characteristic. In addition, the weight of armor, shields - adds an additional fatigue penalty to the usual cost of skills or spells, which is the sum of all penalty coefficients of things worn on the character.

At each level, you get one point, which can be spent in skills or spells. Unlike skills, feats and spells do not have proficiency progression—they are grouped into related abilities, chains of four (learning a skill or spell unlocks the next ability in that chain, provided the character meets the other specified restrictions). Some spells and skills are available to all characters of a certain class, and some groups of skills are available only to certain classes or specializations. There are more than a hundred skills and spells in Dragon Age, here are just some examples for the "seed" (since the description of the game is made according to the English version, the names of skills are given in English):

Powerful. Additional health points and reduced penalty (fatigue) from wearing armor.

Precise Striking. When turned on this mode every 15 seconds, the hero strikes with an increased bonus to attack and an increased chance to deal critical damage.

Melee archer. The archer is not distracted by the damage inflicted on him during close combat, continuing to shoot.

Rapid Shot. Acceleration of the rate of fire, however, with the inability to deal critical damage to the enemy with your shot.

An important point - special attacks and spells have a so-called. cooldown - the time during which re-casting is not possible. Therefore, most of the available options should not be ignored - add several skills or spells to the hotbar at once to expand your arsenal of skills in battle.

Specializations


Specializations are a unique path taken by your character within their class. Moreover, in Dragon Age: Origins you can choose two specializations - at level 7 and at level 14. Each specialization gives you some bonuses, plus it opens its own branch for "pumping" in the list of available skills. Here is a list of available specializations for each class (translation in brackets - from the official Russian-language manual for the game), as well as their corresponding bonuses:

Warrior
Berserker(Berserk). An increase in strength and health.
Champion(Knight). Increases Willpower and Cunning.
Templar(Templar). Increases the characteristic Magic and mental stability.
Reaver(Ripper). Improves Constitution and physical stamina.

Thief
Assassin(Killer). Increased Agility and Critical Strike Bonus.
bard(Bard). Increased Willpower and Cunning.
Duelist(Duelist). Bonus to Dexterity and damage dealt.
Ranger(Pathfinder). Increases Constitution and nature resistance.

Mage
Arcane Warrior(Battle Mage). Bonus to Dexterity and Attack.
Blood Mage(Blood Mage). Increases Constitution and Magic Power.
Shapeshifter(Werewolf). Improved Constitution and bonus to armor.
Spirit Healer(Spiritual healer). Bonus to Magic and improved health recovery rate.

Do not forget that in addition to bonuses, specialization also provides its own branch for pumping skills. For example, if your hero has the Templar (Templar) specialization, you can pump skills such as Righteous strike (each successful attack by you on an enemy magician takes away his mana), Cleanse area (removing all magical effects on characters in the selected area), Mental fortress (a significant bonus to mental stability), Holy smite (damage to nearby enemies with spirit magic, with the ability to stun them and take away mana in the case of a magician).

Plan your character carefully. Don't waste your time on unnecessary skills by trying to make a versatile hero - you will only weaken his potential strengths. And remember that there will be room for additional heroes in your party, so the character class you need will always be at hand...

Game process

I chose the path of a man - a warrior, and the game began with the departure of my father and brother as part of a military campaign. The main character is left in the castle "on the farm".


The quest is immediately added, and you study your diary - an invaluable source of knowledge and a reminder of all completed and incomplete quests.


In the diary, the tab marked with an arrow contains unfinished quests, and the tab marked with a check mark contains completed quests. You can take several quests at once, but only one will be selected as the current one (an indicator in the form of two arrowheads on the sides) - for it, the interface with the territory map will display points of interest. If you wish, you can change the current quest in the list - with the Make active button.

The diary also saves your dialogues with NPCs. In addition, there is a section called the Code. It contains information you have collected about life in Thedas, about characters, monsters, about the game itself. Sometimes these are artistic excerpts from found books, sometimes - someone's notes or even correspondence. The code is replenished with entries as you study objects and objects in the world, talk on certain topics, and destroy enemies. Tips that appear in the lower right corner of the screen are also saved here. Sometimes the codex entries related to quests contain the information needed to complete them.

A map helps you navigate the game world. The local map displays the current dungeon, building, area.


There are also global map world, which will be available to you after completing the prologue.


The camera can be zoomed in (to look at the situation from behind the character's back) and zoomed out (a convenient strategic scale with a top view) by scrolling the mouse. The hero moves with the keys "W", "A", "S", "D" or you can click right click mouse to the place where you want to move your character.

Do not be lazy to constantly use the TAB key to "highlight" key objects on the screen - this will help you not to miss the important thing required by the quest, as well as pick up all the trophies from the battlefield, etc. It's nice, by the way, that the game remembers your impact on the current location - some corpses disappear, some turn into skeletons, which then lie where you defeated this enemy.

The inventory is called up with the "I" button.


In it you can: equip the hero (armor, rings, clothes); change sets of weapons; keep track of the current amount of experience points and money; view the current items in the duffel bag (weapons, armor, accessories, health recovery tools, etc.). There are three types of coins in circulation in Ferelden: copper coins, silver and gold. One silver coin- 100 copper, and in one gold - a hundred silver. The game automatically converts your money into higher denomination coins. You can increase your inventory capacity by purchasing a special bag - it will disappear immediately after purchase, and your inventory will automatically become more spacious. I liked the fact that the inventory is the same for all the characters of the team (you can conveniently and quickly transfer items between group members without wasting time looking for the right thing). It's also nice that when you hover over a weapon or armor, the characteristics of the weapon and armor that you (or your allies) are using right now pop up.

Traveling around the world, you replenish your inventory - looting the corpses of enemies, opening various boxes and containers. Some chests are closed - you need either keys (it is not necessary that they are in the game at all for this chest), or a robber who will pick the lock. To increase the chances of a successful hack, upgrade your thief's Cunning characteristic and invest in the corresponding skill.

The character's characteristics screen is called up by pressing the "C" key.


On it, in addition to the characteristics of armor, parameters of defense and attack, damage dealt, there are two screens. The first one summarizes the basic characteristics of the character plus various defensive bonuses (from physical and mental damage, from various elements). By clicking on the button below, you open a second page - with your achievements (and also your party's achievements - throughout the game).
Here you can see your progress in passing the game, the number of kills, the name of the most formidable of the defeated enemies, etc.


In the game, you will act as the leader of a team of adventurers (the maximum number of companions is four, including you).


Each member of the group has its own advantages that will help in achieving the goal. Combat can generally be divided into normal encounters with a group of monsters...


...and epic boss battles.


The color of his name above his head helps you to distinguish the type of enemy. White is a common enemy, yellow is an elite enemy, orange is a local or key boss. In any case, you will have to develop your own tactics, and, possibly, use the functionality of tactical rules built into the game for each member of the group - a kind of "automation of the combat process".


In principle, everything is simple - you set a set of rules according to the principle "if<условие>, then<действие>". For example, "if the character's health drops to less than 25%, he must drink a healing potion of the least potency." You can save your own sets of rules for further selection at the right time.

The developers offer several preset behavioral sets ("Defender", "Healer", etc.), but I personally controlled all the characters manually, often pressing pause. Probably a matter of habit. Plus, I didn’t want to spend precious skill points on some increase in available slots in the tactical mechanism (between combat automation and improving character characteristics, I definitely choose the latter).

To increase the combat capability of your character and the group as a whole, a number of additional features are offered. For example, weapons with the ability to integrate runes.


By putting a fire rune into the slot of your sword or dagger, you receive additional fire damage (its value depends on the rank of the rune). Runes can be removed from slots, they are not permanently attached to weapons. Top class weapons have multiple rune slots.

In addition, a character who "pumped" the Poison-making skill (Production of poisons) can lubricate his blades with poison, acid, etc. - which will also cause additional damage to the enemy. There are also tactical advantages, for example, attacking the enemy from the back or from the flank, you get an additional advantage (for example, a greater chance of a critical hit), and characters of the thief class - inflict a backstab, which is often more serious than a normal critical hit.

Each character in the inventory has two sets of weapons. In the general case, these are remote (bows, crossbows, magic staves) and hand-to-hand combat weapons (daggers, swords, axes, clubs, etc.). You can switch between sets of weapons with a "hot" key (by default - "/"). In ranged weapons in general, shortbows (high rate of fire, short range, low damage, additional damage from the strength modifier), longbows (medium rate of fire, medium range, medium damage, additional damage from the strength modifier), crossbows (low rate of fire, long range, medium damage). From long distances, characters miss more often.

If your character is killed in battle, he falls unconscious, and at rest (when the battle is over) gets to his feet. At the same time, he probably has serious damage (a broken arm, a fractured skull, a bleeding wound, etc.) - which gives a permanent penalty to one of the basic characteristics. You can remove the negative impact either by going to the camp for rest, or by using the so-called. injury kit. If your character left the battle - fell unconscious due to resetting health - a magician with healer spells can return him to the battlefield, so this opportunity is very useful - do not forget to get it when you next level up.


Another interesting feature of combat in Dragon Age is friendly fire. Indeed, one awkward movement of the mouse and now your magician, in addition to a couple of enemies, froze his infantryman with a "cone of ice". It happens, it’s true, and so: a crowd of enemies runs at you, and an enemy magician launches a fireball at you - and here you are lying on the ground with reduced health, and nearby the remains of adversaries who did not have time to run to you burn out. Just like in the joke about dual feelings.

If we talk about combat magic, then it does not require you to study the rules, available spells, etc. for a long time and carefully, as it is implemented in D&D. In Dragon Age, this is easier. Drags the 5-6 most effective, from your point of view, spells to the quick access panel and use them in time, as well as their bundles (which were mentioned above).

From myself, I note that at the normal level of difficulty, I did not encounter any problems whatsoever. True, some battles had to be replayed, taking into account the information received about some previously unexpected characteristics of the enemies.

Dialogues, quests


Dialogue is the cornerstone of any role play. In Dragon Age, they are also given serious attention. I would single out two important subcategories - dialogues with NPCs and dialogues within your collective.

The fact is that in the game, as mentioned above, you will have several companions (the maximum number of participants in the group is four, including you). Companions excluded from the team at the moment will be waiting for you in the camp - this is a mini-location of several tents and a fire, where you can communicate with your comrades, as well as with those appearing in this NPC locations(gnome merchant; mage waiting for help in the form of runes, etc.).


When you return to the camp after the task - it's time to pour out your soul to each other. These campfire conversations are one of Dragon Age's greatest strengths. Well thought out characters realistic graphics, superbly chosen voices of the actors (I will make a reservation - I played the original English version of the game) - create a unique atmosphere.


You develop relationships within the team, and this is also important from a mercenary point of view - guessing the mood of a comrade-in-arms and choosing the right line of conversation - you improve his loyalty indicator, and bonuses to basic characteristics are given for high loyalty indicators to a character.

You can increase loyalty with gifts (purple inscription Gift in the description of the item). If you wish and achieve a high degree of loyalty - you can even have an affair with a combat comrade of the opposite sex.


Moreover, your companions have time to exchange various phrases among themselves even during your wanderings around the world of Ferelden. You are walking through the village, looking around, and suddenly your companions start chatting among themselves - "Listen, what's wrong with your mother?" - You know, let's talk about your mother. - Well, mine is not a witch who lives in the forest , you know ... ", - while you see the facial expressions of your companions, gestures. Everything is absolutely natural. And you believe in what is happening! It's really great, a little fantasy and imagination - and here you are easily immersed in this virtual world...


As for conversations with NPCs, two frequently appearing options can be noted here - "Persuade" (Persuade) and "Intimidate" (Intimidate). The main character has such a skill as the force of coercion (Coercion). If it is well developed, then you can successfully convince and intimidate your opponents, turning the conversation in the direction you need. In the case of intimidation, the Strength modifier is added to the coercive strength indicator, and in the case of persuasion, the Cunning modifier is added.

Quests in the game are divided into those that are part of the storyline, and the so-called side quests. For example, churches have bulletin boards with side quests for those who like to "raise money and upgrade a hero." However, there are also ordinary secondary tasks according to the principle "and if necessary, give it to that person if you meet him." In general, most of the quests can be called good, thoughtful, but still classic (as well as the main storyline) - here BioWare did not reinvent the wheel, and this, in my opinion, is correct. Looking ahead, I’ll say that even an attempt to diversify the game by including a quest from the world of spirits, I initially took hostility and felt a taste only for its end. But I'm not such a hopeless conservative, which are many seasoned "role players" ...

Conclusion

So, a project that has been long awaited, talked about for a long time... Breakthrough or not? I think rather not. We see a confident step forward, but if we talk about a breakthrough, then it is rather technological. Yes, technology has stepped forward, but the talent of the creators of characters, plot, dialogues has remained the same, invariably high. When a bard girl tells the main character a romantic legend about an inconsolable lover who has become a star, the hearts of many romantics will stop. But first of all, because in Dragon Age you perceive this girl more "alive" than in Neverwinter Nights. More polygons per model, glare in the eyes, sensual lips, facial expressions. Yes, the hair is still not blowing in the wind, but well - there is room for a step forward in future projects ...

If we talk about the role-playing system, then the general impressions are good, but many years of experience and dozens of completed games in this genre clearly tell me that certain improvements are required in many aspects. Somewhere small, somewhere - more serious. Ideally, you should adjust the gameplay to the role-playing system, and I had a suspicion that in some places the polishing of the game balance led to the adjustment of the newborn role-playing system. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm 100% sure that there will be changes in future versions of the Dragon Age games, and probably not only cosmetic ones. Let's say a bard is now one of the specializations of a thief (Rogue). Well, to some extent, it is logically explainable, but for many adherents of D&D, this alignment will cause smiles or bewilderment.

However, these are all just quibbles. The project came out great, and it really is another milestone in the history of the RPG genre, which is now being written by BioWare and a very small number of development studios. Dialogues, atmosphere - create the impression of a real adventure. The style is recognizable and invariably high, and armed modern technologies and conquering the next peak on the way to the heights of realism (primarily due to the visual component), the BioWare team gives us their new masterpiece...

Check the availability of the game in the stores of the company "F-Center"

Ratings


Graphic arts: 85%
Sound: 90%
Game process: 95%

General impression: 95%

So now let's look at some Dragon codes Age: Origins, which are designed to make life easier for the modern gamer. It should be noted that the game, no matter how difficult it may be, is always more interesting if played honestly. But, nevertheless, dragon age origins cheats need to be deciphered, as they are often incomprehensible. So, first you need to edit the shortcut to launch the game a little. In the shortcut to launch the game, add after the quotes, for example, "C:\Games\Dragon Age\bin_ship\daorigins.exe" -enabledeveloperconsole . Like this.
After that go to My Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\Settings folder and open "keybindings.ini" file. This will give you access to the encoding of the game itself, but I strongly advise ignorant people not to me on their own. We continue to give access to the dragon age beginning of the code. Find the line:
"OpenConsole_0=Keyboard::Button_X"

In it, change X to any key that is not involved in the gameplay. Make sure there is no conflict. If you are in doubt whether a key is being used, it's better to start the game, open the settings, then control, and look at the keys that are assigned there. Save the file. Great, the console is activated. And you will be able to open it and enter codes for dragon age by pressing the key of your choice. So, now consider a list that contains all known cheats for game dragon age origins.

runscript addxp X - Adds X experience
runscript zz_money X - Adds X copper coins
runscript pc_immortal - God Mode (Immortal)
runscript ai off - Disables auto-intelligence
runscript selectparty - Change Party
runscript chargen - character creation
runscript killallhostiles - Kills all hostiles
runscript zz_dropparty - Drops the current group membership
runscript zz_pre_demo2 Teleports the party to Duncan's fireplace in Ostagar when he arrives in town.
runscript zz_pre_strategy - Moves the group to Ostagar before the battle for Ostagar
runscript zz_talk_nearest - Start a conversation with the nearest NPC
runscript setplayerimmortal - Immortality for the entire group
runscript healplayer - Restore the health of all party members
runscript zz_givearmor - Legion bone dragon armor appears in inventory
runscript cheat - Gain 30 Armor and 100 Party Defense for 120 seconds
runscript zz_party_addgifts - Gives gifts that can be given to party members: - Antivan Leather Boots, Dalish Gloves, Alistair's Mother's Amulet, Duncan's Shield, Andraste's Grace, Cute Nug-Golden Mirror, Black Grimoire, Flemeth's Grimoire, and Sten's Sword
runscript levelparty - Reset character. Those. you bring it into the state of a newly created character
runscript zz_set_trap - Several traps appear in the inventory.
runscript zz_reveal_map - Shows the whole map
runscript e3_party - Adds Yorick and Daveth to the party
runscript cheater - Unlocks achievements
runscript zz_eurodemo_end - Transfers the group to the Dalish camp (possible error or something like that)
runscript zz_add_skills3 - Appears 3 skills that will appear only after reloading or saving the game
runscript zz_economizer - Undresses the character
runscript zz_supercrit player - Adds 1000 mana and health, and 50 points to strength and dexterity to each character in the group
runscript zz_addapproval X -Y - Add NPC reputation (X - party number, YY - quantity).
runscript zz_jump_around - Jumps to an arbitrary point on the map

It should be said that some errors can be debugged in the console. Therefore, let's look at dragon age cheats that will help you fix any problem.

runscript zz_cli_debug - Turns on redcliffe lock related fixes
runscript zz_pre_debug - Turns on the debug mode associated with Starting Locations.
runscript zz_cir_debug - Turns on debug mode related to mage circle
runscript zz_orz_debug - Turns on Orzamar related debug mode
runscript zz_arl_debug - Turns on Earl Eamon related debug mode
runscript zz_urn_debug - Turns on the debug mode associated with the sacred urn.

You can also use dragon age cheats to summon some companions to the party. To do this, enter the runscript zz_addparty X command, where X is the character number:
1 - Alistair
2 - Dog
3 - Morrigan
4 - Winn
5 - Sheila
6 - Stan
7 - Zevran
8 - Oghren
9 - Leliana
10 - Logane

Actually, it should also be said that remembering other games, I would not advise you to use cheats, as sometimes this affects achievements. So, in the third Heroes, your name changes to "Deceiver" as you progress through the game. Not very nice, right? Therefore, if there is a need, use better trainers