Tips for Dragon Age: Origins Combat?

[StaceyPowers]

Does anyone here have any tips to offer for combat in Dragon Age: Origins?

This is my first play through. I'm playing a fighter class character (which I already regret; I’m totally going to play a mage next time), and for the life of me, I cannot seem to get the hang of group tactics. No matter what I do with the settings, it seems like Alistair is constantly getting himself killed (I think I screwed up distributing his stats from the beginning). I can’t figure out what to do with Leliana, beyond getting her to open chests, and every member of my party seems to have 2-3 injuries at any given time. I open the radial control in the middle of fighting to pause it constantly, but it’s like I still can’t issue orders fast enough.

And is it just me, or is there a massive difference between “Casual” and “Normal?” Seriously, it’s like they’re missing 2-3 difficulty tiers. Casual is absurdly easy, and Normal is like “hard” on any other game.

[Aimee Hart]

Okay, so you've just awoken THE BEAST because I absolutely love Dragon Age and will ramble about it for days on end. Sadly, I'm not 'the best' when it comes to combat tips but I can give you a few that haven't failed me yet. Can I ask what you're playing this on? I don't really think it matters but I've played the game on the PS3 so there may be some differences.

So I wrote a huuuge piece of writing for this but my laptop decided it was a great idea to delete all of this. Which is super bloody annoying, so I'm going to make this short and sweet. You don't have to follow all of this advice, because it's very much your experience and Dragon Age is great fun when you do things your own way.

• Always have a mage in your party if you aren't one. Mages in Origins are fantastic because they have access to all the same skills, unlike in the rest of the Dragon Age series. Seriously they are so good, please take a mage with you at all times. They have crowd control spells that stop enemies from overpowering you like Mind Blast and Cone of Cold, and they have healing spells too. 
• Did you say something about always having injuries? Invest in injury kits for your party. Normally Bodahn sells them, but pretty much any merchant can sell you them too.
• Alistair can be a meat shield if done right. I usually just put everything into con and strength for him. Give him second best armor (because I DESERVE the best armor) and give him skills that allow him to be offensive and defensive when the time calls for it. 
• I'll be honest, I've still not figured out Leliana yet even though I've been playing since 2008 lol. Dex and cunning for her can work well, especially if she's an archer, but her skill set as a bard is key too. She can really boost the strength/defence of your party. Look into her skills more.
• Potions/poisons are so beneficial and really change the battle if done right. Invest in them if you can.

Sorry I can't help much more. If you're struggling with it more though let me know and I'd be happy to help!

[StaceyPowers]

19 hours ago, Aimee Hart said:

Okay, so you've just awoken THE BEAST because I absolutely love Dragon Age and will ramble about it for days on end. Sadly, I'm not 'the best' when it comes to combat tips but I can give you a few that haven't failed me yet. Can I ask what you're playing this on? I don't really think it matters but I've played the game on the PS3 so there may be some differences.

So I wrote a huuuge piece of writing for this but my laptop decided it was a great idea to delete all of this. Which is super bloody annoying, so I'm going to make this short and sweet. You don't have to follow all of this advice, because it's very much your experience and Dragon Age is great fun when you do things your own way.

• Always have a mage in your party if you aren't one. Mages in Origins are fantastic because they have access to all the same skills, unlike in the rest of the Dragon Age series. Seriously they are so good, please take a mage with you at all times. They have crowd control spells that stop enemies from overpowering you like Mind Blast and Cone of Cold, and they have healing spells too. 
• Did you say something about always having injuries? Invest in injury kits for your party. Normally Bodahn sells them, but pretty much any merchant can sell you them too.
• Alistair can be a meat shield if done right. I usually just put everything into con and strength for him. Give him second best armor (because I DESERVE the best armor) and give him skills that allow him to be offensive and defensive when the time calls for it. 
• I'll be honest, I've still not figured out Leliana yet even though I've been playing since 2008 lol. Dex and cunning for her can work well, especially if she's an archer, but her skill set as a bard is key too. She can really boost the strength/defence of your party. Look into her skills more.
• Potions/poisons are so beneficial and really change the battle if done right. Invest in them if you can.

Sorry I can't help much more. If you're struggling with it more though let me know and I'd be happy to help!

 

 

 

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to type all of this out. That confirms what I was thinking about leveling Alistair wrong (I was distributing his points way too evenly). Funny you haven't figured out Leliana either.

One thing I haven't figured out--do merchants restock? If I buy all of a merchant's injury kits, will he restock later, or are they gone forever?

I'm on PS3, btw.

Edited July 18, 2018 by StaceyPowers

[Aimee Hart]

4 hours ago, StaceyPowers said:

Thanks so much for taking the time to type all of this out. That confirms what I was thinking about leveling Alistair wrong (I was distributing his points way too evenly). Funny you haven't figured out Leliana either.

One thing I haven't figured out--do merchants restock? If I buy all of a merchant's injury kits, will he restock later, or are they gone forever?

I'm on PS3, btw.

No worries at all! I really love talking about Dragon Age, hehe. But yeah, I ran into the same problem when I was building Alistair up. I kept distributing his points far too evenly so that he was pretty much average at everything. Which doesn't help when all the enemies you encounter are FAR from average, lol. Leliana is honestly very hard to understand in my opinion, but that may be because I just suck at building her. 

Merchants do restock yes, but honestly I get most of my stuff from Bodahn as he usually has everything I need. I THINK you are able to craft injury kits as well, if that helps you in any way? 

[StaceyPowers]

On 7/18/2018 at 4:04 PM, Aimee Hart said:

No worries at all! I really love talking about Dragon Age, hehe. But yeah, I ran into the same problem when I was building Alistair up. I kept distributing his points far too evenly so that he was pretty much average at everything. Which doesn't help when all the enemies you encounter are FAR from average, lol. Leliana is honestly very hard to understand in my opinion, but that may be because I just suck at building her. 

Merchants do restock yes, but honestly I get most of my stuff from Bodahn as he usually has everything I need. I THINK you are able to craft injury kits as well, if that helps you in any way? 

Yeah, you can :) My potions skill just isn't high enough yet. At least I finally found a merchant who sells flasks.

[Lens]

I know that combat in Origins can be very tough to play, most especially when you're new to the game. I’v got a tactic to share. Here is it- always make sure to have a mage in your party. This is bacause they can handle both damage and healing. I hope this helps?