I also use nightmare, and shatter alot now that I come down and think about it. I usually always have Morrigan with me, and She gets the frost and lightning sections maxed usually. Along with the entropy tree with the sleep tree. Last game I did for an import into DA2 to see if it changes anything, and to play the two new DLC's (Witch hunt in particular.) Being a Mage and taking the paralyse tree combined with Morrigans area control sleep tree Battles where surprisingly easy. Battle Field control and Domination was easy with 2 mages, a rogue and a warrior.

I've never actually used Grease fire, and Storm of the Century.

I tend not to play much with Morrigan in the party. My characters usually end up paragon/light side and I really get tired of "Morrigan disapproves" showing up. When my Warden is the mage is when I use Grease fire the most, otherwise I make sure Wynne gets petrify and crushing prison. I use Alistair as tank, Wynne for healing, Leli for ranged/rogue and my Warden is usually melee rogue or warrior.

Most of my games, I just let the potions do my healing. I usually play a mage, I've started several games with rogue Dalish, and Human warriors but never seem to get very far in them.

City elf [female], female dwarf, both noble and duster, and human noble female. I have several assorted mages as well.I didn't care too much for the dailish origin.

So I finally finished Dragon Age 2, what a disappointment that was. The story was flat out boring until the very end and the combat was painful to play.

Turning it into to Gamestop tomorrow so I can get $50 of L.A. Noir.

Dragon Age basically uses the tactics that have become popular in MMORPGs. The ideal composition for a party is tank, healer, and two damagers. Your tank's job is to get enemies attention so they will attack him instead of your other characters (hence, the tank is a defensive role). Your healer's job is primarily to keep your tank alive so he can continue to control the battlefield. Your damagers are there obviously to take the enemies down as quickly as possible.

In Origins, Alistair will be your tank at the start of the game (and likely all the way through the game). Make sure you get "taunt" and "threaten" for him, and set him to have the "Defender" tactics preset. Fill out the rest of his Sword and Shield talents to get sustained talents which will raise his armor or defense. Give him the best armor you can find. Get at least one heal spell for Morrigan and configure her tactics so the heal is high up on her list. Your rogue, Leliana, and Sten are all set up as damagers, so early in the game, Alistair is your only tank and Morrigan is your only healer. You will get a much better healer later on.

While you can get through the game with pretty much any party combination, this is really the party setup the game was designed around. When you get a chance to go to the Circle of the Magi, you can get a healer who will make the game much, much easier.



You can talk to your party members as often as you like, although usually just talking to them in camp between quest missions is enough. You don't have to talk to them at all if you don't want. Time isn't a factor in the game, and the darkspawn horde, much like the forces of Mehrunes Dagon, will happily put their invasion plans on hold until you take on a story mission to advance the plot. However, it is very much a story based game, and aside from a few side quests in Denerim, there's really nothing to do except the main quest.



It's not a sandbox game, and if this kind of game isn't your cup of tea, there's nothing wrong with that. Either it appeals to you or it doesn't. Don't force it. I happen to prefer games with strong stories, and the free-form wandering of sandbox games is largely lost on me. Different strokes...

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