Dragon Age tips and strategies

November 10, 4:41 PMGames ExaminerDaniel Nations

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Dragon Age is focused both on bringing the story back into the RPG and delivering strategic elements that have been lost since the days of Baldur's Gate. Bioware did a great job of delivering on these promises. At times, the game can be tough, but hopefully these Dragon Age tips should help see you through the rough spots.

Dragon Age Tips - General Strategies

• Pause is your friend in combat. Those used to action RPGs might be loathe to hit the pause button, but combat in Dragon Age is about strategy. Don't be afraid to hit pause and give each character a specific action.
• Don't ignore tactics. If you want to reduce the pausing, there are plenty of things that can be done. Namely, make sure mages with heal spells are set to heal allies and heal self when under 50% health. This also works with health kits.
• Your companions have their own feelings.  Give them gifts, and when they like you enough, they might open up about a personal quest.
• Some spells combine for greater effects. For example, freezing and enemy with Winter's Grasp and then hitting them with Stone Fist can produce new effects. Another example is casting Grease and then lighting the grease on fire.
• Hold spells can be the key to victory. Try casting a hold/stun/paralyze spell on the main bad guy, finish off his helpers, then focus everyone on him.
• Don't be afraid to try new tactics. For example, Force Field is a great way to hold a bad guy in place for a while, but it can also turn a tank into a super tank. Just cast it on the warrior who is being beat on by all the enemy and watch as their attacks do no good.
• Templars are especially deadly against casters. Their attacks will drain the enemy of mana, and they get a skill that cancels spell effects in an area around the Templar. Not only can this get your party members out of a sticky situation, but it can also release NPCs that are being held by spells.
• On Normal and Nightmare settings, AoE damage will hurt allies, so AoE spells are best cast at the beginning of combat or on enemy archers and spell casters.
• Some potions like Acid Flask and Fire Bomb can produce grenade-like effects. Make sure your rogue keeps these handy for tough fights.
• You can make an endless supply of health kits by buying the required herbs from the Dalish camp and the needed Flasks and other components from your Party Camp. Make sure you always travel with plenty health kits!
• Don't get too bogged down with salves and poisons. While keeping some poisons on your main character is nice if they are a rogue, sell most of these back and leave space in your inventory for better items.

Dragon Age Tips - Post Ostagar

Once you've completed the initial quests and made it to Lothering, you'll be presented with a choice on what to do next. Your first order of business will be to gather the Lothering companions (Sten and Leliana) and complete the small tasks from the bulletin board just to gather some needed experience, but what then?

Your two priorities are: (1) unlock your specialization and (2) get the best companions.

For a warrior or a rogue, Wynne makes a fantastic companion. She's a spirit healer, so she'll keep you up and in the fight. Wynne can be found at the Circle Tower, but be aware, part of this quest requires going solo for a bit. You'll be given some tools to help you defeat the hardest monsters in this area, but at first, you'll be by your lonesome. Get some healing kits and make sure you have enough combat arts to dish out some damage.

For a mage, you'll probably want to let your choice in specialization guide you. For example, if you want to go with an Arcane Warrior -- which is one of the most powerful specializations available and great for non-healer mages -- you'll be headed toward the Brecilian Ruins.

As for what specialization to choose, that is going to be a matter of playstyle. I do think that shapeshifter is cool but not-so-useful in that you'll mostly want to be casting spells at the enemy. If you do want to mix it up in melee, Arcane Warrior is far more powerful in the long run.

Also, the ranger specialization for rogues will give your backstabber an extra tank. It might not sound as cool as assassin, but it adds more survivability to the hole group.

Warriors have a lot of great specializations to choose from with Champion being Bard-like in its ability to boost the strength of the whole party and Berserker being great for focusing on increasing the damage of the warrior.

Dragon Age Tips - More Resources

• A guide to Dragon Age companions
• How to unlock class specializations
• Dragon Age - The Missing Manual
• Dragon Age Wiki
• Dragon Age Walkthrough

Share your knowledge! Please feel free to leave your own Dragon Age tips in the comments!