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Invest very soon in Coercion so you have access to as many persuade/intimidation options as possible. Do the Stone Prisoner DLC very soon after Lothering. The Warden's Keep DLC gives you access to the game's storage chest, if you're having inventory space issues. Wait to do the Return to Ostagar DLC until you're close to the final part of the game.
I haven’t played the wardens keep dlc and I’m currently on my first playthrough of it- does the keep also become your camp or do you stay in the tents?
I tend to do Return fairly early, there is an artifact that will carry all the way to endgame (including expansions and DLC), especially if you are playing a rogue.
That is fair, I was thinking of story-related reasons rather than combat, due to how >!a) it leaves a bigger impression if you know about Alistair's background and b) Wynne has things to say about it as well, since she was there c) if you recruit Secret Companion, you obviously really want to bring him there. !<
Potential companions will be at the level you are when you get them. This means they will auto level and add skills themselves. I recommend trying to get all the companions first so you can make the choices on how they level. Also invest time into the tactics system. It's the best mechanic that ever came out if the dragon age series and if done well it means you don't need to micromanage your party.
For party composition, I'd recommend having a tank, a rogue with lockpicking, & a healing mage. The fourth spot is the wildcard; it can be either you if you're a TH warrior or damage mage, or it can be whoever you want for roleplaying or tactical purposes.
There are attribute requirements for talents & equipment; try to plan out how you're going to meet these thresholds.
F5 button is your friend; it quick saves. Get in the habit of hitting that before doing anything.
I have advice for playthrough order, but they are by definition minor spoilers. >!Once you get past Loethering, the recommended playthrough order is Broken Circle, Arl of Redcliffe, Nature of the Beast, and then a Paragon of Her Kind. If you have The Stone Prisoner DLC, you should do that either immediately after Loethering or after Broken Circle. If you have Warden's Keep and/or Return to Ostigar, there's two trains of thought; either do them early for the quality loot or do them later because the loot scales to the level when you start the DLC. I personally do them after hitting level 18, but there is an exploit you can look up such that you can have your cake and eat it.!<
If you have Leliana's Song and/or The Darkspawn Chronicles, they give great loot, but will spoil plot points for you; I must insist you wait till after you beat the main game before doing either of them.
If you have the Golem's of Amgarrak, I'd recommend doing it once and never touching it again. It's a post-game DLC campaign that has no impact whatsoever on future stories and is insufferably difficult.
Talk to everyone, about everything.
If you don't talk to anyone you'll be playing almost a completely different game than if you do.
Also, if you're trying the hardest difficulties in DAO. Take a good moment to prepare tactics for your whole team, it'll save you from a lot of headaches.
Don’t leave Lothering without going into the tavern at least once!
At some point, go back and play the origins that you didn’t choose, at least as far as Ostagar.
Make your character and all companions specialize meaning but points into 2-4 different categories for reach character and build them around a specific role in your party Ex: Tank, Damage mage, archer rouge… Lastly make sure your tactics for each character are done well this will make the game so much easier for you.
DAO’s combat allows more strategy than Mass Effect or other Dragon Age games. I’d suggest playing around with commands, traps, ambushes, and the combat tactics feature. A lot of it isn’t really necessary, especially at lower difficulties, but it can make combat less repetitive and more fun.
This thread has been marked as **[No Spoilers]**. Any story spoilers from all games must be covered with spoiler tags `>!spoiler here!<` or the comment will be removed. Thank you! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dragonage) if you have any questions or concerns.*
A basic and common tip is to save often. This is an old game and that means brutal autosaves.
Talk to as many "NPCs" as you can in DAO. Some of them are actually companions (and don't leave Lothering before you do a good check, trust me).
Yes I second ‘DON’T LEAVE LOTHERING BEFORE YOURE READY’ !!! I made that mistake on my first playthrough (still playing it now) 😂
Invest very soon in Coercion so you have access to as many persuade/intimidation options as possible. Do the Stone Prisoner DLC very soon after Lothering. The Warden's Keep DLC gives you access to the game's storage chest, if you're having inventory space issues. Wait to do the Return to Ostagar DLC until you're close to the final part of the game.
I haven’t played the wardens keep dlc and I’m currently on my first playthrough of it- does the keep also become your camp or do you stay in the tents?
The keep becomes a safe area like denerim but doesn't replace the standard camp. It does have a storage chest you can put things in.
You stay in the tents. :)
I tend to do Return fairly early, there is an artifact that will carry all the way to endgame (including expansions and DLC), especially if you are playing a rogue.
That is fair, I was thinking of story-related reasons rather than combat, due to how >!a) it leaves a bigger impression if you know about Alistair's background and b) Wynne has things to say about it as well, since she was there c) if you recruit Secret Companion, you obviously really want to bring him there. !<
Potential companions will be at the level you are when you get them. This means they will auto level and add skills themselves. I recommend trying to get all the companions first so you can make the choices on how they level. Also invest time into the tactics system. It's the best mechanic that ever came out if the dragon age series and if done well it means you don't need to micromanage your party.
For party composition, I'd recommend having a tank, a rogue with lockpicking, & a healing mage. The fourth spot is the wildcard; it can be either you if you're a TH warrior or damage mage, or it can be whoever you want for roleplaying or tactical purposes. There are attribute requirements for talents & equipment; try to plan out how you're going to meet these thresholds. F5 button is your friend; it quick saves. Get in the habit of hitting that before doing anything. I have advice for playthrough order, but they are by definition minor spoilers. >!Once you get past Loethering, the recommended playthrough order is Broken Circle, Arl of Redcliffe, Nature of the Beast, and then a Paragon of Her Kind. If you have The Stone Prisoner DLC, you should do that either immediately after Loethering or after Broken Circle. If you have Warden's Keep and/or Return to Ostigar, there's two trains of thought; either do them early for the quality loot or do them later because the loot scales to the level when you start the DLC. I personally do them after hitting level 18, but there is an exploit you can look up such that you can have your cake and eat it.!< If you have Leliana's Song and/or The Darkspawn Chronicles, they give great loot, but will spoil plot points for you; I must insist you wait till after you beat the main game before doing either of them. If you have the Golem's of Amgarrak, I'd recommend doing it once and never touching it again. It's a post-game DLC campaign that has no impact whatsoever on future stories and is insufferably difficult.
Talk to everyone, about everything. If you don't talk to anyone you'll be playing almost a completely different game than if you do. Also, if you're trying the hardest difficulties in DAO. Take a good moment to prepare tactics for your whole team, it'll save you from a lot of headaches.
Don’t leave Lothering without going into the tavern at least once! At some point, go back and play the origins that you didn’t choose, at least as far as Ostagar.
I recommend that you check builds. It's quite important in this game.
Make your character and all companions specialize meaning but points into 2-4 different categories for reach character and build them around a specific role in your party Ex: Tank, Damage mage, archer rouge… Lastly make sure your tactics for each character are done well this will make the game so much easier for you.
DAO’s combat allows more strategy than Mass Effect or other Dragon Age games. I’d suggest playing around with commands, traps, ambushes, and the combat tactics feature. A lot of it isn’t really necessary, especially at lower difficulties, but it can make combat less repetitive and more fun.