OldBook3

I never thought that the Dwarves had a bad attitude. Quite the reverse. The guards you meet treat you with respect, more than you get most places in the game. The common folk mostly treat you with respect as well, with the exception of a couple of merchants. The criminals give you massive ego stroking if you have any ranks in Coercion at all, excepting Jarvia (and you kill her). Warriors who have spent years fighting the Darkspawn treat you well in the tavern, and with respect in the Deep Roads once you prove yourself. Some of your enemies in the Arena fights trash talk, but that goes for any kind of fight. Once you beat them, at least a couple change their tunes. Bhelen and his second are jerks, but that's their whole reason for being. They have flashing "We're the Bad Guys" signs over their heads, and you have to dig a little to learn that the "Good" Harrowmount wants to continue following policies that will lead to disaster for first the Dwarves and then the Humans. (Remember, Orzamar is the front lines; if they go, the Darkspawn have nothing keeping them in check). You get sent on erands by the Dwarves, but you're everybody's erand boy in any CRPG. "Take this here, kill that, then talk to me again". The Dwarves take a lot of pride in their (mostly dead) civilization, but then they should. Their engineering is incredible compared to anything humans have done in Ferelden, and they've survived a war that has lasted something over a thosand years. Heck, the Provings are full of people who are impressed by your PC.

Well said, Lehcar. I really didn't like being "forgiven" as a Mage by Jowan. He was lying to my character the whole time, and lying to Lilly. His scheme would have gotten my character sent to the Mage's Prison if the character hadn't been recruited by the Wardens. So, yes, by far the weakest of the lot. I'd have rather spoken to Lilly. She was lied to by the man she loved, and possibly betrayed by my character; now she's rotting in prison for the crime of putting love above duty. Her conversation would mean something. As a Cousland, I think they made the right choice. Speaking with my character's mother would have been more of a tear jerker, but also a little obvious as a choice. If it had been someone else, I think Iona would have been my choice (if my character had slept with her). She was killed right in front of the Cousland Warden after their night together, in his bedroom, under his protection, and her little girl is still out there. Talking with her would have been wrenching, even if they couldn't have had any real future together.

Blood Mage: You get access to the best Crowd Control and Damage Over Time spell in the game. You get access to a spell that lets you turn your toughest enemies into temporary allies and forces them to kill their own minions. You get a modal spell that lets you burn HP instead of Mana; use it after you've already burned through all of your mana, thus giving you a much larger pool to cast with before you need to start chugging potions. You get a so-so spell that lets you heal yourself by hurting an ally. Arcane Warrior: You get the best protection spell in the game, a spell that turns you into a fairly good melee fighter, and the option to use all the armor that your Mage normally has to sell or pass on to companions. You can still blast away with spells and staff, or switch to sword and shield and hack away when you feel like it. Shapeshifter: Crap unless your entire build is dedicated to it, but if you do build everything around it the shapes are good melee fighters and very good for boss fights. Not as powerful as a really well designed BM/AW, but still good. Shines when you start adding mods. Spirit Healer: Keep the rest of the party alive and fighting. A good choice for a pure caster Blood Mage or Arcane Warrior Paladin type.

I'd like to see an NPC Spellcaster who uses Mana Clash. Make my Uber Mage parties scream and run. ;)

For my play style, a Mage with the Arcane Warrior & Blood Mage specializations works best. It's a powerful combo, though any class can be very powerful if built right. It's very easy to make a powerful Dual Weapon Rogue, and pretty easy to make a powerful Dual Weapon Warrior. The hardest class to make work well is the Archer Warrior, and even those can be done well. It's an easy game. Take a look at the Dragon Age Wiki for build ideas and try a few until you find what you like.

dude i have a question the DA writer said that The child of an Elf and a Human is Human. which pertains to allister right? what about zevran isn't zev's mother a dalish elf and he's father a human wood cutter at least that's how i remember it in the dialogue . so how come he is an elf? I'm just curious. Dunno. :) His mother was a angel. Maybe the woodcutter was an Elf, or maybe his father was someone else?

Corrected. I myself don't see a link tween abominations and the taint. abominations are a result of a spiritual possession. the taint attacks at a physical level. Well, not exactly. The Taint may travel in the blood, but it has a magical origin (if the Chantry's stories are to be believed), it provides a link to The Fade (the official explanation of why Genlocks can use magic but Dwarves can't), and it can even "infect" inanimate objects (the tainted staves we find, the walls of the deep roads as described in the books). Blood Magic shows a link between blood and spirit in DA's mythos (it's blood - as - life, used as a spiritual energy source and used for summonning demons); I think The Taint is meant to be a magical / spiritual infection of the blood.

Hah! Yes, this. Seriously, he's asking me to help him escape because he's been caught doing Blood Magic. And he's lying to my face about his guilt. Really? And what will happen to my character if he does this? How will the Templars react when they find out I helped a Blood Mage escape? Even if Jowan were innocent (and my character would have to have a pretty good idea that he's not if they're "friends"), that would be signing my character's own execution order. Jowan's a manipulative jerk, willing to throw my life away so he can go off and shag Lilly, and he's been lying to her too. I'd have told him to go to hell long before he asked for my help.

"Lel? Morrigan? Zev? New plan. We have more gold than we can ever spend, and with my Alchemy skills we can mint more if we somehow run low. Or, let's face it, Mind Controlling Blood Mage here; I can just make people want to give us money. Frell the whole Archdemon thing. We're moving someplaced civilized, with indoor plumbing and good food." "Morri, you have a problem with that? Fine, you and Al can go play hero. I've had it." OK, maybe not, but I'd consider it. :)

? It's cannon, straight from David Gaider. The child of an Elf and a Human is Human. Fiona talks about it in The Calling. Dwarf + Human is never mentioned. Doesn't matter one way or the other, though (imo). If the baby shows up in DA2, they'll almost certainly make it a human Male or Female. Too many problems with letting players import their Level 30+ Wardens if they try to keep the continuity too tight.

We don't know if she's a virgin. I doubt it, though. Her mother slept with Chasind men (and presumably others) to have her daughters and work some of her magic, and told Morrigan she'd be expected to do the same when she came of age. Morrigan has a conversation about it with Leliana. Morrigan also boasts about her sexual skills when talking with Leliana, which is kind of hollow considering that Lel used to seduce men and women as part of her job as a Bard (Leliana tells the Duelist that she learned all sorts of sexual techniques in Orlais, jokes about it with Alistair, and tells you at one point about her skills at seduction). I think Morrigan has had sex before she met your character, but she has never had a real relationship, and has never loved.

Excuse me! How do you know that human is dominant? Is this cononitical. Also, just saying, in interviews Kate Mulgrew has discribed Morrigan as "innocent and Accesable". well, accesable maybe, but INNOCENT? What happened to the whole " 'tis cold in my tent."? Also, i am the kind of person who got her to admit that she loved me and wanted to stay. She's not evil, just withdrawn. She can be "innocent" in the sense that she doesn't have experience with relationships but still want to have sex with your character. Innocent doesn't mean "no sex drive". ;) Besides, her mom told her to sleep with you, so it's all good. :D

We never really find out. The writers on the Bioware forums have indicated that there's some truth to the Punishment from the Maker story, but that it's not the whole truth. Personally, based on the similarity between the Darkspawn Taint and what happens in the Circle Tower when the abominations take over, and based on lots of little hints in the game, I think the Darkspawn are a form of Abomination Spawn. The Tevinter Mages entered the Golden City in the Fade. Did they turn it into the Black City? Maybe. By their sinful nature or by the nature of the magic they used to gain entry? Dunno. They became abominations / the first Darkspawn and were cast down. This part may or may not be true; the Dwarves doubt it, which may be a red herring or may mean there's more to the story. These first Abomination Darkspawn created the first Broodmothers (if any of the Mages were female, they may have been the first Broodmothers). They in turn bred generations of Darkspawn who had never been Humans, Dwarves or Elves, and who almost always lacked real free will. These Darkspawn live all their lives hearing the Calling, the pure and perfect song of the sleeping Old Gods. These Old Gods may have been trapped by the Maker in sleep as a punishment, or may just be hibernating. There are texts in game that suggest both. The Darkspawn must seek the Old Gods, but when they find them the Taint spreads, and the Old God becomes an Archdemon. Whatever the Old God may have been before, as an Archdemon all it wants is destruction, and the Darkspawn must follow. Hopefully in DA:2, we'll get more answers.

I like DA:O a lot, and I can see its potential. It's very, very good. Can't say it's the Best, though. YMMV. Daggerfall was the closest anyone ever came to creating a full tabletop RPG world and putting it on your computer, with Darklands a close second. Very dated now, but both were amazing games. Morrowind was right up there as well, with incredible depth to the world. Oblivion was very good, but never quite matched the earlier games in the series. The Baldur's Gate series was the closest I've ever seen to an epic tabletop RPG campaign brought to your computer. If you played through from BG to BGII:SoA to ToB, you had a chance to see your character and his companions grow from childhood to adulthood, from apprentices to masters. The modding community made it even better. By far the best CRPG experience I've had. Dragon Age has a lot of potential, but I don't think we'll really see what it can become until another three or four years have passed. Once we see how it looks with the final patches (both from Bioware and fan made), and once we see DA2, I think it will rank high.

The romances aren't necessary, but they are fun. :) I slept with Morrigan first, and she's still my favorite romance in the game. So well written and observed, and so well integrated into the plot. There can never be a happy ending with Morri, but she's a love your Warden will remember the rest of his life. I tried the Leliana romance next. She's a much more interesting character than she's sometimes given credit for, a woman with a violent past seeking redemption. I don't think she ever really understands her own experience; even after her attempt at reformation, she speaks jokingly and with pride of the men and women she has seduced, betrayed and killed. The first time I played I thought of her as the Good Girl, but really she's at least as steeped in blood as Morri, and more experienced at betrayal. All of that said, I like Lel a lot, and I think she can have a happy ending with the Warden. She wants to change, to become more than she was. She might be clinging to faith now, but she's on a path of growth, and she and the Warden could build a life together. I played through as an Elf Female for the Alistair romance. Wow. Another beautifully written story, and I can see why players love his character. The betrayal at the end if he becomes king was tragic, even if my character can understand the political need for a Human queen. I've yet to romance Zevran. He doesn't get the basic "killing people who are not actively trying to kill you is wrong" idea, which makes him a dangerous sociopath no matter how charming his voice and dialog might be. Everytime I have the conversation with him where he talks about not having a problem killing children who get in the way I want to kick him out of the party. I know there's meant to be more to the character than that, but I've yet to play a character evil enough to think "Sure, sometimes you accidentally kill kids. Too bad, really."