Darkspawn ranks...pecking order?

[SpellAndShield]

-at exactly the pecking order is in term of ranks.

 

Are emmisaries the head? What about hurlock alphas? commanders? generals?

 

In the upcoming expansion you play as a Hurlock vanguard....why a vanguard and not a general?

 

Anyone know?

[DarkeWolf]

Ok, I havent seen any REAL documentation (not to say that it's not out there, I just havent seen any) that states their pecking order.

For the most part, they are hive-minded. Normally with two directives: Dig for the Old Gods, and protect the hive/kill intruders.

 

My opinion is that beyond that they fall into "whoever is the most dangerous, leads". The alphas can bully around the regular genlocks and hurlocks due to their larger size and strength.

The exception to this of course is Ogres. They are too dumb, and too dangerous. They're not really much more than trained/semi-trained attack dogs. (Not to insult dogs, I love dogs). And with their size, anything that gets in their way gets squashed, so most of the other DS try to stay clear of them to avoid being toejam.

 

The emissary do actually lead on the field, as they have a higher level of intelligence and ability to rationalize than the others. The Architect, from the expansion, is an evolved Emissary.

[Rusery]

Ok, I havent seen any REAL documentation (not to say that it's not out there, I just havent seen any) that states their pecking order.

For the most part, they are hive-minded. Normally with two directives: Dig for the Old Gods, and protect the hive/kill intruders.

 

My opinion is that beyond that they fall into "whoever is the most dangerous, leads". The alphas can bully around the regular genlocks and hurlocks due to their larger size and strength.

The exception to this of course is Ogres. They are too dumb, and too dangerous. They're not really much more than trained/semi-trained attack dogs. (Not to insult dogs, I love dogs). And with their size, anything that gets in their way gets squashed, so most of the other DS try to stay clear of them to avoid being toejam.

 

The emissary do actually lead on the field, as they have a higher level of intelligence and ability to rationalize than the others. The Architect, from the expansion, is an evolved Emissary.

 

 

The pecking order is based off of intelligence as a pure factor in determining any kind of leadership on the battle field.

In the particular case of a regular attack force it would depend on the amount of each type of monster involved in the attack. For example if there were a majority of Hurlocks in the crowd of darkspawn you would see an Hurlock alpha leading the pack.

In the case of a rogue squad there would be a Genlock Alpha leading the pack.

In the case of a smaller war band of locks you will see an emmisary leading them as there may or may not be any real majority of race.

However most massive attack forces are always led by Hurlocks as they are the strategists.

 

If we look at the different monster types and what race they are derived from you can see the intelligence makes little difference in the creature that actually comes out. Each alpha type pitted against eachother in most scenarios all lose to Hurlock Alpha (except Ogre of course) depending on what equipment you give them.

 

 

Genlock- Dwarf (that also includes genlock shamans)

Hurlock- Human (that includes emmisary)

Shreik- Elves

Ogres- Quanari (sorry for the spelling <3 )

[DarkeWolf]

I really wouldnt equate the alphas as commanders. As all said, their intelligence level isnt much higher than the other minion DS. (This is of course not throwing the intelligent DS from DAA into the mix.) I'd call them more along the lines of "foremen" or "sargeants". They pretty much keep the others fighting or working. Where it's the emissary who make most of the decisions.

Shrieks I would consider an exception of course, as they seem to pretty much fall into a class of their own.

[brokenergy]

I wonder the new DLC would explain more about the darkspawn or is that another tale to tell... they seen to have a tribal lifestyle with a chief and shaman.

[DarkeWolf]

I have to admit an avid curiosity there, as well.

Tho, doesnt the new dlc require awakening? If so, I'll probably never know first hand. :yucky:

[brokenergy]

I don't think so as the coding is different so maybe for the new patch in the works. In theory you could play without Awakening and it is set in the last part anyway so Awakening in theory should not interfere with it. I saw the preview on Gamespot there is limited dialog between characters which is to be expected which is before Awakening arc and almost all of the warden's would be companions are there (with the exception of Shale :verymad:).

 

http://au.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/dragonageoriginsdarkspawnchronicles/news.html?sid=6261829&mode=previews

[DarkeWolf]

interesting. maybe I could think about trying it out then.

tho, tbh it doesnt look like something I'd really get into.

 

eh... no cutscene deaths for the companions. (EA budget control at work here? Or their insane quantity over quality policy? Both?)

 

Wow...I'm having a "Flemeth" episode here where I'm seeing the future. I fortell buttloads of death scene request threads in the mod request forums. Starting on the very same day that this thing is released. I foresee some of these requests stacked on top of each other, as some of the people that post their requests there...don't even LOOK to see if it's already been requested, they just click the button to start a new thread. I see our awesome staff getting reports to close those threads down.

I see our AWESOME modders who are nice enough to actually DO those scenes get hit by 10+ page comments pages by people who either complain about the scenes, think they have recommendations for the scenes, or think they could have done it better, when they have NO IDEA what cutscene editing entails.

 

What a pain in the ass this is going to be.

[brokenergy]

I agree with you bro, this new DLC may not be my cup of tea but it expands Thedas so I wouldn't mind seeing it.

[DarkeWolf]

lol true, there is that. I may end up getting it eventually. Tho I do prefer adventures that involve the main storyline.