CrapsterZ

Okay, so I started playing Skyrim again after a long while. I checked up on recent mods I might want to install. They were mostly armour mods and stuff, but since I always got the same few bugs during Dragonborn questline, I decided to install the Unofficial Patches on Nexus. Only to find that in Riverwood, I can no longer initiate the quest where Sven and Faendal pass me a latter for Camilla. I entered Whiterun to find that YSOLDA was attacking everyone, same with Lydia the moment she appeared as my housecarl. I have no idea what could have broken this, since nobody's reported anything like that in the unofficial patches' comments. Any ideas on what could be causing the issue? I had UFO installed, removed it, but it still seems to persist even after I use "resetai" The only other mod(s) that could be causing this are The Choice is Yours mod or Luxury Suites, since those two are the only ones I can think of that would affect followers.

I, for one, am excited to see DA2. From the flashbacks, we see that we're going to see a lot more of the lore and different factions in the game. 1. Flemeth - We see her in her dragon (could be some normal dragon instead) and in her human form. 2. We also see some templars going up against mages, and it really seems to confirm what we've heard about the templars being the Chantry's private army. 3. We see a Harvester, so the GoA DLC could have been a little of the back story for introducing the new creep to the world (plus possibly tying a link between what our Warden did in the DLC with Hawke's story. 4. We learn a little more about Hawke. Apparently he seems to be an Arcane Warrior, but we can't know for sure. We also see him carving something on his arm before he supersizes it and rips the Qunari apart, now, that is something we haven't seen. New spell, perhaps? Or maybe it could be something unique about Hawke (I wouldn't rule out this being tied to Flemeth) 5. His weapon - or "sword-staff" as the folks at BioWare call it. Seems to be the source of his magic, so he might not be an AW at all. New weapon type? Is BW going to add "abilities" to certain weapons now? 6. The qunari - now we see in the first half a minute or so that the qunari is attack a bunch of human soldiers and kills a noble (judging from his clothing). Could part of DA2 be about the qunari's invasion of the Free Marches? Possibly. We also see the qunari deflect Hawke's flame attack with a barrier spell, similar to Cleanse Aura. New skill/class? 7. Finishing moves - We see one of the spell finishing moves BW has told us about, and several of the moves in the exchange between Hawke and the qunari do seem like they could be actual in-game combat moves (new deathblow animations). Now, this could just be me wanting to believe that BW didn't simply throw in a flashy move after half a minute of pretty standard melee combat, but BW's trailers have always given us some idea of what to expect even if the trailers don't represent the final product. All in all, pretty psyched about the whole thing!

As long as you tell Anora you'll support her, and get enough support Wulf, Alfstanna, the father of the tortured noble and choose the right dialogue options, you'll always come out with a 5-1 victory. Helps if you get the slave papers from the Alienage to use as proof too. You MUST have the papers or it will count as a false claim against Loghain.

It's funnier when the human noble says "my warden sense is tingling when he's still in the origin story. "You're not a WARDEN!" I lol'd.

I am almost certain it's Flemeth. Reason being she's a shapeshifter, we killed her in her dragon form and Morrigan said she'll be back, perhaps that's her? After being killed and everything she manages to return to "human" form but unable to transform all the way back until she gets her full power/possess another body? Another theory is that the girl is a werebeast. If I remember correctly one of Hawke's hands does seem to be like a claw, and the half-human half-dragon look would explain it, much like werewolves. Or a shapeshifter whose magic went horribly wrong.

Leliana: I am a woman and I reserve the right to be inconsistent!

Maybe they weren't marked on their faces? I recall tattoos mentioned but I don't think they were ever made compulsory to be marked on the face. I'm pretty sure I remember quite a handful of casteless dwarves did not have tats on their faces... Perhaps markings on the hands or neck or visible portion of skin will do?

There is a reason, and it adds on to her pragmatic nature - she presents the truth to you on the eve of the battle when you fully realise the price of ending the blight. She has known the Warden who slays the archdemon dies the whole time she was traveling with you. She specifically mentions these two points in regards to not telling you sooner: a) Credibility, you would not have believed her - and hearing it from Riordan is much more reliable. Now, you can argue that she had no idea Riordan would be there, but we can't know for sure that Flemeth didn't already foresee his presence, or at least instructed Morrigan to withhold it to the last minute. b) It was one burden the Warden didn't need while having to gather the armies as well as survive being hunted by Loghain. She lets you know at the crucial moment, when everything is placed in perspective for you - when you make the most rational decision instead of jumping at shadows over something she could have told you on the first day. That way, you make the decision knowing all the facts and being in that exact situation where you would seriously consider the circumstances surrounding you and make a choice with complete knowledge. It's obvious enough that giving you that information too early would cause you to lose focus on gathering the armies and focusing on the blight, but instead pondering your death after slaying the archdemon the entire way and the ritual as well. Imagine the conditions you're already under - labeled a traitor and hunted, having to lead a ragtag group of companions to gather the different armies and having to battle the blight. Not to mention the mental toll the Warden is already under from the dreams. She IS doing you a favor by not letting you know early, because you'd be less focused on the mission and more on a) your possible death and b) the implications of the ritual. As opposed to letting you find out from Riordan on the eve of battle and gaining a full perspective on what needs to be done to end the blight - your life or a god-child? Regardless of the decision the Warden makes, it has to be at the moment when they are faced with the full magnitude of the blight and have to make a difficult decision that she offers you an alternative - when you can weigh for yourself the full cost of either option. It's like being told you have a year to live and a day, you'd be more prepared to do what is necessary to set things right if the repercussion and implications of the situation are fully realised. Her departure, as she said, is the result of not wanting to watch you die and being told you would not take the "best case scenario" way to end the blight (you survive and the archdemon dies).

Uh... you can reload your epilogue save and strip the armors on your companions, then start a new game and import the character again.

Somebody's been browsing fanfiction huh?

This should be in the mod request section...

No problem. A lot of people don't realise that, though using it on your enemies makes them immune to damage as well, which in most cases is a good thing as it allows you to focus on the small fry first before focusing on the real threats. Another useful combo to remember is Force Field + Crushing Prison. Saved my tank countless times. Knocks down everyone in the area except for the target. Buys your tank time to get a heal in or move to a better position. Alternatively, use the time your enemies are down to do a Sleep + Waking Nightmare combo, pull your tank back and throw in Virulent Walking Bomb and a few fireballs for good measure. This tactic actually manages to clear large mobs really nicely. Most mobs don't survive past the first bomb and those that do... don't survive the next few. As for archers, don't waste your stamina on talents. Use auto-attack. The only really useful talents are Pinning Shot, Scattershot and Suppressing Fire. Talents like Arrow of Slaying are wasted because while the damage is high, in the time it takes for it to be cast, your archer can actually do the same amount of damage on auto-attack with the right gear and set up. Stealth+AoS is only good for taking out Emissaries and mages, but that's about it, all the other skills aren't worth the time and cost to cast them. Rapid Aim should only be used if your crit chance is less than 10%, any higher and you should just stick with normal bow attack speed.

For me, independence from the Circle meant that the Tower of Magi goes from mage prison to Hogwarts. Yes, children with magical ability must still be sent there. They NEED to and must learn how to control their abilities. Schooling. An alternative is to have tutors like Isolde did, but then again you run the risk of a) maleficarum recruiting children and b) inept teachers doing more harm than good. Keeping the mage children in a single place allows easy "control" of what is taught (still dictated by senior mages, NOT the Chantry) And what about leaving the Tower? Again, like Hogwarts, upon completion of their schooling in the use of magic, they'd be able to leave the tower as they wish. This may or may not be decided by the Harrowing, or possibly a different measure of ability and character. Borrowing from Fullmetal Alchemist, perhaps the mages would have to return every now and then to "update" the Circle on the development of their powers (assuming they are still practising). Templars, sad but necessary. Someone needs to fight the maleficarum and mages who use their abilities for the wrong uses. Possibly also to ensure that the apprentices don't go "out of control" with their practices (accidents are bound to happen). At the same time the Chantry presence serves as a sort of moral guide for the mages in their time there (again, I don't like them but someone has to be there to be the voice of morality, if not reason). If you've read the Calling, even the most respected of mages can and will use their power for the wrong means, that said there needs to be an overseeing body that has the right to "veto" the leaders' decisions if it goes against the (agreed) basis of what the "autonomous" Circle can or cannot do (like say, under what circumstances can they "mobilise" mages to help in wars) As for Awakenings, I simply assumed the process was still being worked out and the Chantry still had reign (temporarily) and needed to keep the mages from casting one too many fireballs in excitement. And from what I know of Anders, he probably bolted since he figured the Chantry wouldn't be able to hunt him any longer any more. The Libertarians would then be dissatisfied with the amount of autonomy they were given (wanting to "pull away" entirely, which in and of itself is unfeasible) or at the rate at which the Circle was getting it. Another thing that irks me about mages, if I'm an elf mage, why can't I be the keeper's apprentice in some Dalish clan? Makes sense, no?

Well, when you cured him in Ostagar... What was the cause of the illness? And when he joins you what does he keep doing?

I'm thinking it's similar to how queen bees reproduce... As for qunari women... I pity the darkspawn in that matter. Oh wait, qunari women don't fight. Pfft. (Which reminds me, I don't think I've EVER seen a qunari female in the game... right?) I think how the darkspawn come out at birth is similar to the orcs in LOTR (you know, the scene at Eisengard where Sauromon was breeding them) they just pop out in some gooey... cocoon? And come out. And about them birthing DS like the Architect... The darkspawn have been around for 1200 years, and ONE Architect, I don't think you're due to find another one like him soon (born naturally, that is). I don't care what that dude wants to do, the DS suck the life out of the very air they breathe, even if half the world's population survived, we'd have no crops, no meat, nothing. As much Grey Wardens have resistance to the taint, I don't think eating tainted meat for the rest of my 30 years of life is a good idea.

Another piece of advice is to use the terrain. Use chokepoints where your enemies have no choice but to engage your tank and down him (hopefully they don't manage to do that!) before they can reach your ranged characters. In the Kocari Wilds these are almost non-existent so another helpful tip is to move up to hills and use obstacles. Melee attackers have to maneuvre around the landscape and usually die before get in a hit. Another tactic I often employ is to keep any mages stunned or knocked out while I take out the rest of the mob. Mages and archers are deadly enemies since your tank will be tied down keeping melee attackers off your other characters. What I usually do is use Crushing Prison on Elite range units (Emissaries, etc) and then throw in a fireball followed by chain lightning at the ranged attackers. Stinging Swarm is good too, you get grease as well, which is devastating. With your archer use scattershot to keep the enemy ranged units stunned. A combo I normally do is Grease > Fireball > Chain Lightning > Stinging Swarm. Normally nothing survives past Chain Lightning, so I save Stinging Swarm for the second cluster of range units (if any) and drop Blizzard on top of them. Of course that's a buttload of spells that you're not going to the whole lot of them till late game, so work with whatever spells you have. For early game I rely on Blizzard to keep ranged enemies frozen, and focus fire on melee. My lineup is usuall a tank + archer + 2 mages, unless I'm playing a DW rogue (on warriors I become the Beserker/Champion tank if I go 2h or DW) so I have a mage use AoE to clear clusters of ranged units and the second mage keeps the tank alive with buffs and heals. My archer is either helping the tank thin out the melee or attacking the mage. For boss fights, if there are any minions that need to be dealt with, I use Force Field on the boss and kill the creeps, or have my tank engage the boss while the rest of my part thins out the normals. This works to help the tank build up aggro on the boss as well so my mages don't draw aggro too quickly.

Marjolaine did tell you she could be manipulating you. We don't have enough facts to know how far the departure is from what she tells you. She could have hidden/lied about certain details when telling you even if she was in love with you. People do that. I, for one, am interested in buying. But ugh, they couldn't have chosen a different hairstyle? She looks like Cauthrien using DW and dying her hair.

And nobody's noticed mauls' kill blows having a slashing sfx? It should be impossible for me to do the double swipe with the maul and have my opponent react the same way as being hit by a greatsword. They should fly to the side or something with the sound of bone crunching, not steel CUTTING flesh.

Those are pretty minor, I've never had Loghain as my father-in-law, I've always had Alistair execute him ;) I don't imagine Loghain would enjoy the thought that the person who forced him to drink darkspawn blood, lose all of his titles and riches is now married to his daughter and "forging the moaning statue" with her and now the king of Ferelden. How nice.

Probably stated our reasons above! Like I said, it's the one Origin where you literally lose everything and have nothing to gain by joining the Wardens. Dwarf Noble comes close, but you get to live for another 30 years as compared to 3 days (or hours), which is a plus. Minor point: Plus in Awakenings when you meet Delilah Howe - "He was always trying to set me up with the stuck up Cousland boy." "That Cousland boy is right here." "Oops, sorry. Awkward!"

Of course, I wasn't saying that she HAD Asperger's, I'm merely using it as an analogy for her behaviour, admittedly it is more extreme than AS. As for the shapeshifting, humans are far more complicated than the animals she observes in the Wilds, the closest she'd probably come to is probably from the wolves or pack animals, and even then it is several steps down from human communication. Take into account that not only is that the extent of her relating to any other form of life, she is raised by an abomination who has a severely skewed perception of things, and I highly suspect Flemeth's extended life has only made her more unstable and more manipulative in her upbringing of Morrigan. While we (mostly) play the game attempting to help everyone and anyone as much as possible, Flemeth and Morrigan are those who advocate helping others when there is something to gain from it themselves. I half-suspect her leaving the Warden has something to do with that, either A) she is doing the PC a favour by leaving (if you romance her and she is in love with you she tells you you will regret it) or B) sees her leaving as the best for both parties, minimalising the complications/problems they'll face (Imagine if she had been caught up in the events of Awakenings, raising your child in Amaranthine/Vigil's Keep when the darkspawn attack at the end of the game)

It does, when you do her companion quest you get a glimpse of how she has no idea at all how to relate to people, all she manages is a thank you. Additionally, shapeshifting doesn't make her more empathic, if you talk to her in camp regarding shapeshifting, it's simply about taking on a shape by learning about the animal's form and movement with behaviour, which is easy. However, she is unable to shapeshift into other humans because being human her self, she can learn nothing from them physiologically speaking. In fact, her time in the Wilds would have caused her to be even more unempathic. Look at the only company she's had before joining you - Flemeth (who despite being a benevolent force in the game, is extremely amoral), the templars who came after her and Flemeth on occasion and the Chasind, most of whom are men who are used by Flemeth - she has seen or experienced little about compassion, love, friendship or any of the "light" side of human emotions, it's understandable how she is who she is. Yes, her character development is flawed, but I attribute that more to the fact that several key scenes and dialogue options were cut from the game that would've made everything clearer and more detailed. Look up Asperger's Syndrome, it's very close to explaining Morrigan's mental state when it comes to relating to normal or "civilised" folk. She simply doesn't know how to abide by social norms, and doesn't understand compassion or relations with others (aside from the very skewed viewpoint Flemeth gave her).

Sigrun: "What's a Nevarran milk sandwich? Oh, I see...[/i]" If she wasn't a dwarf I'd ask her if she'd want to test it out (My PC is human)

But DEAD naked people?

I don't think the child will be the main point at all, what if our Warden never romanced Morrigan or did the Dark Ritual? How would we then justify the child being there to begin with? Especially if the game is going to have us import our Warden. Even if it didn't, there'd just be a disparity for those of us who didn't do the DR and never romanced Morrigan.