Dragon age origins battle mage guide. Party leveling

Be careful my friend. If you decide to follow the path of someone whose soul is closely intertwined with magic, then you will have a hard time(Concept art of the backstory for the magician)

I created this post for those who, like me, decided to go this route:

What reason do we have to become magicians? First of all, not only I think that this is the most powerful class in the game. Secondly, Ray Musica himself, as I know, likes to play as a magician. And in the third, there are tasks in the game that only a magician can personally complete. And, finally, in the fourth, we already have a hit fighter, 2 tank warriors, a hit fighter tank, a robber archer, a robber hit fighter, a mage suppressor, a mage healer, and only a hit mage is not enough, so it is better to develop it. I developed an elemental magician with a half-pumped spirit and one spell from other schools. Specialization was a blood mage and a spiritual healer (in Awakening, a healer, guardian and battle m ... pah! mage-warrior).

A fortress stands on a cliff, rising above the dark waters of Calenhad Lake. This is the tower of the Circle of Magi.(Duncan, the Gray Warden)

Tips for young sorcerers (leveling the elemental magician)

Let's talk about mage specializations:

Blood Mage: For lack of anything better for a hit slayer, she's pretty good. It's better to learn it after completing the Broken Circle, because it will displease Wynn, but if you take the specialization after that, she will not say anything.

The first skill simply takes the magician's health instead of mana, and given that the magician doesn't have much of it, and because of the ability, the treatment practically stops working, the ability is practically useless. The second ability drains health from allies and heals mages. As you might have thought, the specialization is so-so, but here's why I classified this specialization as a hit spec: Bloody Wound - A massive crushing dungeon that does not affect friendly ones! The last spell is so-so. I don't recommend downloading. Forces the enemy to fight on your side, if it passes a mental check, it deals damage over time.

I advise you to download from the Spiritual healer only Group Healing and Revival. Get the rest from Wynn. I took it only because of the bonuses

Battlemage transforms the mage into a heavily armed warrior. I will not describe in detail. There is a separate post for this.

Werewolf allows you to transform into a spider, a bear and a swarm of insects, and the latter improves all of this.

Specialization Combinations: MK+DC as a hit breaker, BM+MK as a hit breaker, BM+DC as a tank

It is in difficult times that one should not miss the opportunity, at least for a moment soar with happiness(First Enchanter Irving)

Tips for young sorcerers (leveling the elemental magician)

Proper leveling for a hitoboy: Elemental magic to pump everything except the earth. It can be used until the second spell, note: shock is the most hit cone attack, but the cone of cold freezes ALL enemies. Chain Lightning is the only area-of-effect spell that doesn't hit friendly.

In creation, I pumped only a magic light.

In the spirit, I upgraded branch 2 and 4 to the end, and 3 to the infectious bomb.

In entropy, I only pumped life drain (when you need to heal a little for a hitoboy just right).

The mage community thanks you. May the Creator smile upon you. (Community of Mages Liaison)

Table of natural vulnerability. Every enemy in the game is vulnerable to one type of magic and invulnerable to another. And all sorcerers need to know this table by heart. For example, during the first playthrough, I bought the Staff Sylvanas Mercy and went to Redcliffe. The damn ghouls deflected all of my normal attacks due to their nature resistance.

Tips for young sorcerers (leveling the elemental magician)

FIRE - Dead people, wild animals, sylvans and possessed burn well

ELECTRICITY - high voltage afraid of our worst enemies, creatures of darkness

COLD - All kinds of creatures on the other side of the Veil are very afraid of low temperatures. They are naturally immune to fire.

EARTH - only dragons are afraid of this element and all types of undead are immune to it.

Even in the darkest times, remember to turn to the light(Albus Dumbledore)

Tips for young sorcerers (leveling the elemental magician)

Tips: Sheila's stone aura enhances magic power. Pump Wynn Flower - it speeds up the restoration of mana. At the beginning of the battle, use earth or cold magic - they slow down enemies.

The most hit-to-kill school is spiritual, and not spontaneous, as many might think. For example, a walking boma deals an average of 250 damage to only ONE enemy, and mana burn deals damage equal to the enemy's mana, and he has an average of 750 mana!

I am the Servant of the Arcane Fire, Lord of the Flames of Anor! The Crimson Fire will not help you, Flame of Udun!(Gandalf the Grey)

Hitboy combinations:

Tips for young sorcerers (leveling the elemental magician)

Sunder: Cone of Cold or Frost Snap followed by Shattering Dungeon or Stone Fist will instantly destroy a weak opponent

Tips for young sorcerers (leveling the elemental magician)

Ignite: Shattering Dungeon and Force Field create an explosion that deals high damage

Tips for young sorcerers (leveling the elemental magician)

Combustion: Grease and Fireball will create a wall of fire (Fat from Wynn)

Tips for young sorcerers (leveling the elemental magician)

Storm of Ages: Magic Power + Storm + Blizzard will create a storm that will deal an average of 90 damage to one enemy per round! (In the beginning, use a blizzard as there is a chance to freeze enemies and calmly read the storm.

Tips for young sorcerers (leveling the elemental magician)

There is a wise saying: do not urinate against the wind. This time you peed against the hurricane, witcher!(Azar Yaved)

Pumping: you need to pump magic, willpower and physique 1:1:1 and once every five levels willpower and magic 2:1. At levels 7 and 10, all points are in magic

Tips for young sorcerers (leveling the elemental magician)

Best clothes: The best clothes in my post Velvet Wings, but for those who did not like it, I write the following lines:

Community Hood at Bodan

Shadow walkers in the Pantry of the Circle.

Elemental Grasp drops from Kakskang (Unleashed)

Bodan's Anti-Magic Ward

Andruil's Blessing Belt at the Quartermaster in the Tower

The Quartermaster holds the Lord Magister's Staff

City Key in Orzammar

Morrigan Ring (can still be worn purely symbolically)

Robes of a Tevinter Mage in Curiosities of Thedas

Tips for young sorcerers (leveling the elemental magician)

Tips for young sorcerers (leveling the elemental magician) You see the dark side of the Force in everything(Master Yoda)

My battle looked like this: I was supported by a magic spark, magical power, a magic shield and a funnel of death. Mages were knocked out immediately by a collision of mana. Then Vurya of centuries and ignition. If several enemies survived, then he used a fireball with a bloody wound. If one then lightning or ice grip (See elemental vulnerability table.) In narrow corridors used cone attacks (See elemental vulnerability table.) Winn runes, split and ignite.

Tips for young sorcerers (leveling the elemental magician)

I hope young wizards find my post useful ^_^

Dear guests and newcomers, welcome to our forum

Here you can find answers to almost all your questions about the Gothic series of games (including various mods for it), The Witcher, Risen, The Elder Scrolls, Age of the Dragon and many other games. You can also find out the latest news about the development of new projects, play exciting FRPGs, admire the creativity of our members of the forum, or show yourself what you can do. And finally, you can discuss common hobbies or just have fun chatting with visitors to the Tavern.

To be able to post on the forum, leave a message in

Attention!
- Requires approximately 3-5 people per OS version: - Windows® XP SP3, Windows® Vista SP2, Windows® 7 SP1, Windows® 8, Windows® 8.1, Windows® 10(build 10 1607) and Windows® 10(build 10 1703). For desktop PCs and laptops. You can apply for participation

Friends, good day!
I would like to advise you to familiarize yourself with the work of our members of the forum, dedicated to the series of games "Gothic". If you wish, read the competitive works and evaluate them. This competition is held annually. We are waiting for you.

Dear friends, the year is coming to an end, and it's time to sum up its results and reward the deserving

JavaScript is disabled. To fully use our website, please enable JavaScript in your browser.

In this topic, you can share your skills and give advice on how best to upgrade a particular character class, how to create the most combat-ready or survivable group, how best to swing allies, how to make the most attacking or most protected character, etc. ... Actually, what specializations are better to pump and what to invest skill points in, all the more you can do multiclasses.

(For example, I heard that in the game you can get to level 25 - is it true or not? I went through the main campaign and only scored lvl 20, despite the fact that I completed almost all the tasks - there were only a couple of quests from the board in the Denerim tavern .. .But where can you get 5 more levels?).

When leveling a magician, be sure to take the time to read my article in the FAQ section on dragon age about Spell Combinations, believe me, this gives a serious advantage to the mage.

If we talk about a warrior, then pump strength and physique, if your warrior is a shield builder, then pump dexterity to at least 26, otherwise you will not be a shield master.

About party members: Upgrade Liliana's dexterity and archer skills, you can score the rest, put her in tactics with Ranged Combat and Archer. She will be very effective in this. Morrigan, never download this Werewolf to her, which she has by default, this is garbage, not a specialization for a companion. Download her elemental magic, except for the earth. And a branch of paralysis in Entropy, you can also develop the last branch of spirit magic. And don't forget combos. Alistair is very weak, I don’t even know why, but the developers didn’t twist something with him, I raised his physique almost to the level of Sheila, but still he was killed pretty quickly. He is a typical shield warrior, download his shield and warrior skills, well, strength, and most importantly physique. I won’t say anything about the rest, because I almost didn’t take them into the party.
Yes, you can, even up to level 100. When you save or destroy the urn with ashes, then when you exit the hall with the urn, they give 750 experience points. Walk back and forth, through the door and back, and swing.

Correctly noticed)) Specialization is a dead end to the point of horror. It’s better for Morigan to develop the branch of Death, Ice, Kenetics (Where the Crushing Dungeon and the force field) and Lightning are to the end, you can still pump out the earth to the “Fist”, but “petrification” is a tight spell to horror, much worse than the “Cone of Ice” and then it just unremarkable. It creates three areal effects around itself: Storm, Blizzard, Storm of Death, Aura of Death, throwing it all up with cones of ice and it can be played alone without the rest of the party. The rest I have are all brutal warriors, pumped purely for bloody combat styles like the Devourer and Berserker, unmeasured damage, coupled with the restoration of all health with one wave of the hand. Just Argh! It’s a pity that the walls always catch only one spetsukha ...

No, because strength and dexterity affect damage to a certain extent. I'm just going to invest a little more in the physique to take the hit. Although I don’t really know yet, here again with armor there is an ambush, in armor you won’t dance with two blades. You may have to invest heavily in dexterity in order to dodge better. But I will still play as a robber, one way or another, but definitely not an archer, by the way, I have already opened all the specializations of this class. Especially a duelist for two blades is good, and it’s quite interesting to get it, you can win cards, you can fight, but I trained differently ...

Yes, everything is really simple. The main thing is to choose the right tactics. For example, this option:
2 tank warriors, 1 mage, 1 rogue.
Warriors have a two-handed or sword + shield, a magician has a staff, freezing and other useful skills, a robber has 2 blades.
Rogue and mage are melee corpses, even on medium difficulty. To pump endurance to them ... is pointless, because without heavy. armor, it will be skill points spent on the wind. But the damage of the robber and the magician is decent. So, we need to make sure that the magician and the robber are not touched, but at the same time they attacked the opponents. That is why we need 2 tank warriors. They should definitely be clad in the heaviest armor you can find, for their job is to hold the line. Warriors have a special provocation skill. While this skill is active, opponents try to attack only them. And this is exactly what will protect our magician and robber from a part. As a result, what we have:
2 tanks take on the entire blow and fight back as best they can. And the robber and the magician help them in this. If anything, the magician will cure them, and the robber from the flank will help them with all sorts of crippling blows. Here is such a tactic. I used it when I first played.

P.S. Sorry for the offtopic, I'll delete the post later.

Re: Weapon

Well, you give, tactics)))
Well, firstly, the player himself will be the tank, because Alistair is given to us with crooked parameters, and making a tank from Stan is generally ridiculous. Actually, the tank needs strength only to pull on the armor, but not to attack. He does not need to pump in either stamina or physique (although you can throw a couple of points on the latter if there are extra ones left). Strength needs to be brought to 35-42 in order to wear good heavy armor - and all other points should be thrown into dexterity. Since dexterity affects the defense parameter, and this is important in the first place, and not physical stability. The higher this indicator, the more often the enemies will miss the tank, with an indicator above 100-150, all attacks will practically lose their meaning - at the same time, hang it with all sorts of resists that increase protection and resistance to the elements. For this, the Knight or the Templar is just right. Alistair has poor dexterity, and therefore a high physique indicator does not save him - every hit of the enemy falls on him, which is why the poor templar loses all HP in a cluster of opponents in a matter of seconds.
Further - a magician is needed not one that causes damage, but a cleric at least. Wynn is best, although Morgan can be promoted as well. Just the magician will stand at a long distance, and constantly heal the tank, giving him both health and all sorts of bonuses to defense. Moreover, for complete happiness, you can throw a Force field on the tank - it will generally become immune to damage, when using intimidation and taunting, all enemies will run to it, and the second magician (if any) will deal area damage. Yes, and the robber will be able to act more efficiently ...

As for Stan, he is not thought out, and when learning skills, just go to the tactics menu and manually turn off the mode for him such as intimidate, taunt, etc., so that he does not attract enemies to himself.

If you yourself prefer to play as a tank, then you can generally not take Alistair into the group, since one well-hung tank is just right for the party. As an option - Wynn, who heals, and Morgan hits the square with spells, well, Stan, if it goes with the bosses. In another case, if you are a magician, then only Alistair can be pumped for the tank and no one else.

It seems to me that these last few posts, from the moment we switched from weapons to discussing battle tactics and battles, satellites - can be moved to the topic Tips for leveling, combat, etc.

And a little more: if you do not take healer magicians, then you can try the Ripper skill for the tank, taking one skill there - restoring health from the corpses of enemies. In this case, this will give the tank additional HP, but in battle then very good damage dealers, magicians and duelists will be required, who can quickly kill all evil spirits so that the tank has time to heal due to corpses and poultices

Re: Weapon

Is that that much skill?

Re: Weapon

Is that that much skill?
I, in fact, cannot understand how STen can not be thought out or Alsiter, if we can pump skills for them ourselves?
And the point here is that you either pump strength for good armor, or dexterity for evasion. If you pump one Persian both this and that, then you will not achieve anything, because the points are not infinite. So here it is necessary to distinguish, as it were.

no no no you don't understand
In the character screen window on the left there is such a drawn shield - these are general indicators of protection. In heavy armor, they reach about 60-90, I don’t know if it’s possible to raise it higher without potions and spells ... That is, with 42 strength, putting on good armor and a good shield you will provide yourself with a defense parameter of at least 80 - drink the rest with potions, increase with skills or have the magician throw it on. This is the dodge, as it were - and if this defense reaches 120-150, then almost none of the enemies will hit the character with their attacks ... This parameter also increases with dexterity.

Stan and Alistair are not thought out in the sense that the automatic tactics that they set imply to Stan just intimidation and mockery for some reason)) Yes, Stan can not pump this skill, but closer to the 15th level he has nowhere to put points will be...

Many people are interested in the question of how to unlock the achievement for critical damage, somewhere here advice was given for a warrior, and I will write for a magician. First, pump the Magic skill and only it, without spending too many points on Willpower or something else. Also try to find all sorts of amulets, staves or armor that give bonuses to magical power. Entropy spells such as sleep, terror, weakness, vulnerability corruption, and contagious corruption should be learned. Try not to touch your chosen victim by any of the companions (and so that they don’t touch you much) - a suitable place is the Mage tower, where 1-2 Garlocks / Genlocks run out to the hero in the Shadow - they are best suited. So, first throw Sleep on him - then weakness and possible damage - then apply Horror (combining the sleep and horror spells give huge damage, and since we have significantly weakened the target, it receives the most severe damage) - I inflicted on Garlock (or Genlock, I don't remember already) about 300 damage

mages and warriors fly out into the chimney as soon as a robber with two swords enters the battle. This can be said to be just a murderous thing that takes out everyone and everything in all directions.
We pump dexterity to this thing, and no one can hit it in close combat - the exception is magic or the dragon's breath, then the thing can be blown away in 5 seconds alone, because I did not take the party))))).

So this is how we drive cunning and strength into the same place, but more dexterity. Next, we are looking for good swords, daggers or axes into which runes can be inserted, we take good runes at +5 each (and what a charm if the weapon has already been enchanted with something)
it’s also convenient for this thing to pump in a skill so that you can hold two one-handed swords, and not just a sword and a dagger.
Then we learn the rest of the skills so that the penalties are removed. You can score on the skills of a robber, I only taught invisibility and opened locks, well, it’s desirable to learn how to set traps (when I ran into traps for a group of peasants in Lothering, and there were 20 of them there, they just stupidly exploded all and no one reached me)))) )).
This thing can be launched into battle in splendid isolation to use stealth. Further - the higher the dexterity, the closer happiness is - it is necessary, while running among the crowd of enemies, to collect as much as possible on yourself in a heap - they will miss with their miserable swords. Turn on the skills Rush and strike with two weapons, and then do Ooooohhhh! - this is such a technique in rotation - and we take out everyone and everyone who surrounded us - I immediately put at least 12 stupid soldiers huddled together in cabbage

But that's not all - nothing compares to twin blades. Two-handers go through the forest as far as possible, all their strength is bullshit, at 15.00 damage, we set ourselves 2 swords for 11.00 damage and already have a total of 22. With the skill turned on, we hit with two swords at once, thereby inflicting the highest damage, and if we still have the weapon itself enchanted, and even with runes - wow! about 150 should be removed for each hit. And the rogue strikes every second! Despite the fact that it takes at least 3-4 seconds to swing the same club for a two-handed warrior. Do we feel the difference? I got somewhere for hitting a monster under 60 + 70 from the hit itself, +20 from magic damage, and even +1 +1 from spells. The fact that a warrior with his two-handed 80-100 hits for a blow, which takes him 5 seconds, the robber will remove in 1-2 seconds, and in 5 - will already exceed three times all the damage that a warrior would inflict with one of his strikers .

And the so-called fatalities happen to the robber more often, because this class itself makes crits more often than others - in the end, only severed heads and massive combos fly in all directions. here I can even brag about my robber, I made a crit 5 times in a row, cutting off the heads of the enemies - this is in the temple of Andraste, there were 2 magicians and 2 warriors and 1 archer, so everyone was crit on the last blow and their head was blown off - of course this is pure luck but there is still something to be proud of)))

Race selection

The choice naturally stands between a human and an elf, since gnomes by their nature cannot conjure. Each race has its own characteristics, but it is worth remembering that when choosing an elf, everyone will treat you with contempt, and even that is not very important.

Point distribution

Everything is extremely simple here - we download Magic and Willpower in proportions of 2 to 1 and do not forget that it is worth pumping the cunning to the same value up to 16 for pumping influence.

Influence- we definitely pump if we want to avoid a lot of unpleasant moments in the game and just persuade anyone;

combat training- also required to learn, since your spells will be interrupted less often;

Herbalist— the best option, whatever one may say, would be to upgrade this skill in secondary characters and not spend the points of the main character;

Tactics- something that is generally better not to touch, since you will need manual control over the hero in almost any situation;

Specializations

With specializations, you will have to decide on your own. It is worth noting that the most useful specializations for you will be Spiritual Healer and Blood Mage.

With the help of a spiritual healer, you can often get out of trouble, and it is worth pumping at least Group Healing and Resurrection, even if you have Wynn in the group.

As for that, this is already a separate build, although some skills, such as Blood Wound, can still serve you well.

Shares second place in need with the blood mage Warrior Mage. It also has its own peculiarities - for example, you can wear heavy armor.

Werewolf - in this case, we do not need this specialization at all.

spells

Here we will go selectively and will take different spells from different branches.

Ice Snap- refers to the magic of water, deals good damage and decently slows down the enemy. The entire branch is obligatory for pumping;

Lightning- rushes periodically between water magics. Quite a strong branch, but does not work on some;

Earth- here we take only stone armor - our magician needs protection;

Fire- a less priority branch, since enemies often have immunity to it;

creation- here we take treatment for obvious reasons;

Runes- the rune of paralysis is our best friend if we don't want to get surrounded. You can also take other runes;

Spirit- here we need Manna Siphoning and then we will definitely not stand aside. Also, in principle, it is worth paying attention to other skills that are no less useful;

Entropy- Life Drain - this is what any magician should download;

Hero equipment

These are the best things for you:

Reaper clothes- located in Curiosities of Thedas, in Denerim;

Key to the city a - in Orzammar we find pages of the code all over the city, after which we go to the throne room on assignment, place the party members on the plates and pick up the item;

Anti magic amulet- You can buy it from Bodan in the camp.

Staff of the Lord Magister as well as a belt called Blessing of Andruil- we buy from the quartermaster in the Circle;

What's up to the party then here you need to take one warrior, one robber and support in the form of a second magician, or instead of the last Sheila - a golem from the add-on. This concludes our guide to the mage in and good luck conquering Ferelden.

distance- the distance or targets covered by the spell;
activation or maintenance (Upkeep)- the amount of mana required to cast or maintain a spell;
recovery (Cooldown)- the time required to rest before casting the next spell of the same kind.

There are four schools of magic in Dragon Age - elemental, creation, entropic, and spiritual. What spells you will choose to study for your mage hero and his companions depends only on you, and what specialists they will turn out - on the logic and correctness of the selection of spells.

Primal Spells

The elemental school is one of the two schools of energy (the other is spiritual). Adepts of this school use the visible and tangible forces of nature itself, this is the magic of war: devastation, fire, ice and lightning.

branch of fire

Fire allows you to deal very high damage, but is useless against fire demons and dragons. The spells of this branch are suitable for both a loner and a party magician.

Flame Blast- The caster's hands emit a cone of flame, dealing fire damage to all targets in the area of effect for a short time (beware of friendly fire). The flash deals good damage, but due to the short distance and significant delay, it is inconvenient. It is best used in conjunction with immobilization spells, such as knocking enemies down with a fireball and roasting them with a flare.

Activation - 20;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 10 sec.

Flaming Weapons- For the duration of this spell, the party members' melee weapons are enchanted with fire, and they deal additional fire damage. Casting a spell is worth it, because. with flaming weapons, you can achieve very high damage (also taken into account are things that increase fire damage).

Maintenance (Upkeep) - 50;
Fatigue (Fatigue) - 5%;
Requires - 18 magic.

Fireball- A ball of fire erupts from the caster's fingers, which explodes, dealing fire damage to all targets in the area and knocking down targets that fail a physical resistance check (beware of friendly fire). This is one of the most used and useful spells given the decent range and knockdown of opponents.

Activation - 40;
Requires - 27 magic.

Gehenna fiery (Inferno)- The caster summons a gigantic pillar of circling flame. All targets in the area of effect catch fire and take constant fire damage (beware of friendly fire). Like all spells with a long cast delay, it requires some way to keep the opponents in the area of effect, so it is of little use for a single player.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 70;
Requires - 34 magic.

ice branch

The spells of this branch allow you to immobilize opponents and deal damage to them at the same time (although it is rather weak compared to fire), so they are suitable for both a party magician and a loner. Do not forget that the cold does not affect the undead.

Ice Snap (Winter's Grasp)- the caster freezes the target. Low-level victims are turned to ice, and those who reflect the spell suffer a movement speed penalty. A good spell, especially at first: fast, gets enemies through walls, with decent damage, but it is ineffective against bosses.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 20;

Frost Weapons- For the duration of this spell, all party members' melee weapons are enchanted with ice and deal additional cold damage. In fact, much worse than its counterpart, a flaming weapon.

Distance (Range) - allies (Allies);
Maintenance (Upkeep) - 40;
Fatigue (Fatigue) - 5%;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 0.5 sec.;
Requires - 18 magic.

Cone of Cold- the caster's hands emit a cone of cold. Targets that fail the physical resistance check turn to ice, and those that pass are slowed down. In this case, frozen victims can be broken from a critical hit (beware of friendly fire). The main disadvantages are short range and low damage. Can be combined with Mind Blast to be able to aim better and hit more enemies.

Distance (Range) - close action (Short);
Activation - 50;
Requires - 25 magic.

Blizzard (Blizzard)- Blizzard deals constant cold damage to targets in the area of effect and slows them, but gives them a bonus to defense and +50% fire resistance. Targets that fail the physical resistance check may fall or freeze (beware of friendly fire). Well suited for immobilizing opponents, although it deals little damage.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 70;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 60 sec.;
Requires - 34 magic.

Earth branch

The spells of this branch are of an auxiliary nature, it will not be easy to fight with them alone.

Rock Armor- the caster's skin becomes stone-like in hardness, giving him a bonus to armor for the duration of this ability, which can be very useful for a frail mage. However, to achieve a noticeable effect, your mage's armor must be much higher than its penetration from the enemy.

Distance (Range) - personal action (Personal);
Maintenance (Upkeep) - 40;
Fatigue (Fatigue) - 5%;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 0.5 sec.

Stone Fist (Stonefist)- The caster throws a stone projectile that knocks the target down and deals nature damage (beware of friendly fire). The damage is low, but the target turned to stone or ice can be broken (cleaving!), so if your icemage is a master of icecraft, then this spell will come in handy.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 30;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 15 sec.;
Requires - 18 magic.

Earthquake- The caster destroys the ground and knocks everyone around him to the ground (unless the targets pass a physical resistance check, including allies). This spell can be used to immobilize opponents, but is often immune to it.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 40;
Requires - 25 magic.

Turn to Stone (Petrify)- The caster turns the target to stone if it fails a physical resistance check. The petrified target is unable to move and is easily shattered by a critical hit. Creatures that are already immobilized will not be affected by the spell.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 40;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 40 sec.;
Requires - 30 magic.

Lightning Branch

The usefulness of spells in this branch is somewhat questionable due to low damage, however, electricity damage burns out the target's stamina, which limits the ability of enemies to use special attacks.

Lightning- The caster strikes the target with lightning, dealing minor electrical damage (beware of friendly fire).

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 20;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 8 sec.

Shock- The caster's hands emit conical lightning that hits all targets in the area (beware of friendly fire). Basically the same as the previous one, but with area damage. You can pre-freeze and immobilize enemies with a cone of cold, and then shock them.

Distance (Range) - close action (Short);
Activation - 40;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 15 sec.

Tempest- The caster summons a ferocious thunderstorm that deals permanent electricity damage to all targets in the area (beware of friendly fire). This spell is needed for a very effective combination Storm of the Century.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 50;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 40 sec.;
Requires - 28 magic.

Chain Lightning- Lightning shoots from the caster's hands, dealing lightning damage to the target, and then branching into small lightning bolts that jump to nearby targets and branch again. After each branch, the damage weakens (beware of friendly fire). In general, a stupid spell with a long cooldown.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 70;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 60 sec.;
Requires - 33 magic.

Creation spells

The school of creation is one of the two schools of matter, it complements the school of entropy, deals with natural forces and deals with the transformation of existing and the creation of new things.

Treatment branch

Most of the spells in this branch are being replaced by potions, so if you master them well, you will save a lot of gold.

Heal- the caster miraculously closes wounds and instantly heals a certain amount of health of an ally. A very simple spell, cheap in terms of mana, with a short cooldown, cast without removing the weapon, so it will be useful to any mage.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 20;

Cleansing (Rejuvenate)- the caster sends healing energy to an ally, accelerating his recovery of mana or stamina. The spell has no effect on itself, and although it restores more mana to a mage ally than it costs, it is disadvantageous due to a significant cast delay.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 25;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 45 sec.;
Requires - 18 magic.

Regeneration- the caster bestows beneficial energy on an ally and a short time greatly increases health regeneration. A little more than usual cost treatment and the same cooldown, this spell restores health several times more, so you need to take it without a doubt.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 25;
Requires - 23 magic.

Group Cleansing (Mass Rejuvenation)- The caster sends a stream of cleansing energy to allies, greatly speeding up mana and stamina regeneration for a short time, similar to normal cleansing, and just as useless due to the massive cast delay.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 40;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 90 sec.;
Requires - 28 magic.

Improvement branch

Spells from this branch can be useful for a battlemage, but not only.

Heroic Offense- the caster increases the combat capability of an ally, giving him a bonus to attack.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 20;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 5 sec.

Heroic Aura- the caster protects the ally with a shell that reflects most of the ranged attacks (i.e. damage from arrows) for a short time.

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 30;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 5 sec.;
Requires - 15 magic.

Heroic Defense- the caster covers an ally with a magical shield, which gives significant bonuses to defense, resistance to cold, electricity, fire, nature and spirit magic, although it also adds a penalty to fatigue, making skills and spells more expensive to use. This spell should be cast on a party "tank".

Distance (Range) - average action (Medium);
Activation - 40;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 10 sec.;
Requires - 20 magic.

Haste- the caster casts a speed enchantment on the unit, allies move and attack much faster, although the spell also adds a small penalty to attack and quickly consumes mana during combat (because of this, the usefulness of the spell can be considered doubtful).

Distance (Range) - allies (Allies);
Maintenance (Upkeep) - 60;
Fatigue (Fatigue) - 10%;
Recovery (Cooldown) - 30 sec.;
Requires - 30 magic.

Role system
Squad Composition
Characteristics
Skills
Talents and Spells
Classes
Talent selection options
Tactics

Role system

The parameters for the character are as follows:

health and mana - directly follow from the characteristics;

defense - a chance to dodge an attack;

resistance (physical and mental) - measured in "conventional units" and determine the chance to "resist" against an attack. Physical resistance is not needed against health removal, but against additional effects like stuns or knockdowns. These effects are common to a good half of martial techniques and many spells; mental stability is needed much less often. In the future, we will designate them as FU and PU;

experience - as usual, determines how much is left to the level;
talents and spells.

The last two points are easy to confuse. So, "talents and spells" are basically those actions that you can use in combat. And skills determine your overall effectiveness. And if talents and spells come to you 1 each level, then skills come only once every three levels, and you can’t change them in any way.

We are offered a choice of three races - a man, an elf, a dwarf - and three classes: a warrior, a mage, a robber (I will already use this clumsy translation). You can create only one hero - he will be our incarnation in the game; the rest of the team - up to three satellites allowed at a time - will assemble along the way.

Of course, there is not such a wealth of choice as in Baldur's Gate; however, we take into account that two heroes of the same class differ very much due to their abilities, and starting from level 7 they can try to take on a specialization (four options for each class) The repertoires of magicians are especially different.

Ask in the shops of the city

You will really need money in the game, because there are enough expensive things to buy from merchants. With potions, bombs, weapons, components, recipes for herbalists and poisoners, everyone will figure it out for themselves, but I would like to draw your attention to items that you should especially seek out from all the merchants you meet:

Backpack. Each of them increases the inventory capacity of the entire team by 10 units. Initially, you have seventy of them, and this is absolutely not enough for long autonomous hikes - which you will start pretty soon. The first one is in Ostagar, don't miss it.

Books. You are primarily interested in two types of literary works: for getting talent or skill points (you need as many of them as you can find and pay for) and for specialization (you need a maximum of two of these that you plan to study, and only if there is nowhere else to learn).

Present. An invaluable tool for increasing the loyalty of companions. However, most gifts are only of interest to one of your friends, the rest of you will receive a penny increase and a slight decrease in interest in gifts in the future. In the next issue, I hope to present you with a complete list of who to give what; for now I will limit myself to general advice on the NPCs I have met.

Runes. They can be built into weapons (starting from the moment you leave Lothering) and they will work as a permanent buff. Usually additional damage of some type, say electricity or acid.

Squad Composition

On the team you will need:

indisputably - at least one "tank", which must certainly be a warrior;

at least one, and preferably two "hitoboys", one of which can be an auxiliary "tank" - a mage, a robber, and even a warrior are suitable for this role;

desirable (although without it here really dispense) - a healer, and this is definitely a magician;

preferably - at least one "subjugator", that is, a specialist in fettering and neutralizing opponents (crowd controller). It can also be combined with a hit-boy or a healer. Naturally, a magician is suitable for this role, a robber with a bard specialization is also not bad.

And I was also assured that you seemed to be able to turn into even the smallest animals. Well, for example, become a rat
or even a mouse!

You will be able to regularly change the composition of the group - wherever you can arrange a halt. This will not help you in the dungeon, but before entering there, it will.

Before you start inventing a character, I should give you a little advice. It actually borders on a spoiler, so if you want to avoid it, skip ahead to the next chapter.

The fact is that among the satellites that are in the game, there are many warriors, they make up almost two-thirds of the list. And mages and robbers - only two each. Moreover, among the magicians there is not a single "artilleryman", but there is a magnificent healer named Wynn and a werewolf sorceress (that is, a magician with the possibility of close combat).

"Tank" you, in principle, will be almost from the very beginning, and very good. There are alternatives to him, but they are usually better adapted to the role of a "hit-killer tank": for example, Stan - you will have him soon enough - wields a two-handed sword convincingly.

Also, from the very beginning, you will have a creature with you that does good melee damage and can occasionally stun all enemies, that is, it works partly as a “subduer”. But he has almost no equipment, which greatly limits his capabilities.

Pretty soon, if you're careful, you'll be able to add a rogue bard: it's a 'hitoboy subduer', but this particular companion is more of a subdue than a damage dealer. The second robber will be found much later, and he is a specialist exclusively in murder.

This is something to keep in mind before creating the original hero. I myself, of course, did not know this at the beginning of the game and chose the robber as the first hero. But you can't say that I'm particularly sorry about it.

Characteristics

We have six characteristics, as it should be from the century. Namely:

Strength

Each unit of power is here:

Increases the damage of any attack, except for the crossbow and staff. Please note: bows are included! And the staff in Dragon Age is not a long club, but a magic shot weapon.

Increases the chance to hit in melee combat (accuracy increases by 0.5 per unit).

Added to physical stability.

Helps to threaten the enemy.

In addition, a certain level of strength is required for almost any hand weapon, as well as for wearing armor. Each sword or helmet has a "requires this much power" parameter. Like in old Diablo.

Agility

Each point of dexterity:

increases the chances of hitting in melee combat (accuracy increases by 0.5 per unit);

increases the chances of hitting when shooting (accuracy increases by 1 per unit);

increases damage from piercing weapons, including bows and crossbows;

increases defense by 1 for each point;

enhances physical resilience.

In addition, high dexterity values are needed for bows and crossbows, as well as a number of tricks.

Strength of will

Increases mental stability, and also gives the hero mana - 5 units for each point. Thus, everyone needs it, even warriors - they call mana energy, but the essence is the same.

Magic

Magic Feature:

If at least one wolf is able to
to knock you down, the rest will tear you apart in the blink of an eye, not allowing you to get up.

increases the mental stability of the hero;

increases the hero's magic power by 1 for each point;

required for staves and spells (as power for weapons);

increases the effectiveness of potions and poultices applied to the character (!).

Cunning

Cunning Features:

affects the ability to convince;

required for many tricks, especially robber ones;

increases the effectiveness of rogue skills;

affects mental stability.

Body type

Increases physical resistance and gives health points - 5 for each point.

Races

Let's face it: races are given little importance in the game mechanics. Four plus points to the characteristics is ridiculous, you will receive +3 for each level, and there are 20 of these levels in total. Except that the dwarves - who are forbidden to be magicians - receive a 10% chance to reflect enemy spells as compensation. It's nice, but 10% is not a probability that you should rely on.

Elves are pariahs, an oppressed race; most of them settle in ghettos within human cities.

The plus features are:

Human: +1 Strength, Agility, Cunning, and Magic.

Elf: +2 to magic and willpower.

Dwarf: +1 Strength and Agility, +2 Constitution.

However, something different depends on the race: how you will be treated in the game. And also your original story.

Elves in Dragon Age are pariahs, an oppressed race; most of them settle in ghettos within human cities (such quarters are called "elfinages"), but there are still free tribes in the distant Brecilian Forest.

The Dwarves were once mighty and strong, but now they are in decline, and only two of their great cities remain; but still, they have a pretty decent relationship with people.

Well, people ... as usual, dominate this world. True, there is no agreement between them, but other races are a little better.

Skills

Oddly enough, the skills for all classes are common. Of course, they are useful in different ways, but any character can learn any skill. The only exception is influence; it is only allowed to be taught by the main character.

You will gain one skill point for every three levels, for a total of six in addition to what you already had. This value can be slightly improved by books that give an extra point. But they are rare and expensive.

Any skill has four stages; to learn the next one, one must know the previous one and fulfill other requirements. So:

Influence

According to the good old tradition, it increases the persuasiveness of your speeches. The first level requires cunning 10, the second - 12, the third - 14, the fourth - 16.

Thief

An attempt to steal valuables from the character. This skill improves the well-being of the squad quite well, but is the game worth the candle? Perhaps it is useful to make a “reserve” robber a thief, so that from time to time he is included in the squad and enriches it a little.

At the highest level, this skill helps to distract the enemy during combat, which is useful for a rogue. And yet sacrifice half of all skill points for it? I doubt...

Survival

Helps to notice opponents in time, as well as better imagine their parameters; from the third level it gives a little resistance to the forces of nature, from the fourth it further increases this and physical resistance.

As for me, this thing does not give serious advantages.

The requirements are the same as those of influence.

Making traps

Probably later they will say that the rain wetted the strings of the bows ...

If you remember, in Baldur's Gate, traps made and installed with your own hands were damned serious weapons; old Yoshimo simply worked miracles with their help. So, here it’s no worse. If you have time to prepare for battle, the good old trap will mentally please your opponents.

Parts for traps will have to be bought mainly from merchants; there is little in place.

This skill competes for "a place in the sun" with the manufacture of poisons; but it is desirable for a robber to study some of this - otherwise his possibilities in battle will be limited. Perhaps traps are better for the "shooting" version of the robber.

This skill also allows, which is logical, to better feel other people's traps.

Requirements: second stage - level 4, third - level 7, fourth - level 10.

Making poisons

Poisons are made from purchased or improvised means (such as herbs or dead spiders) and smeared on blades. A rogue who prefers close combat should seriously consider this skill.

But poisons are only half the fun: this skill also determines the crafting and use bombs and acid bottles. At low levels, these very bottles are almost the most powerful weapon of your squad. Later, the efficiency drops.

Do not forget that the poisoner needs to buy bottles as soon as possible: the product is inexpensive, but without it he will not cook anything.

Herbalist

This character also uses the collected plants and flasks, but makes something completely different from them - potions, ointments and healing poultices. From the purchased powder of lyrium, mana potions are obtained, from the everywhere growing "elven root" - medicines.

Keep in mind that all mage companions in the game have at least some mastery of this craft.

The requirements are the same as for making traps.

combat training

Neither a warrior nor a robber can escape this skill, and it will have to be developed, most likely, all the way. The fact is that access to all techniques depends on his level - to get to the third level technique in any branch, you need the third level of combat training. This is the must have program...

In addition, combat training gives advantages in battle, and for mages - also the chances not to lose the spell when the enemy tries to knock it down.

There are no requirements.

Combat tactics

This skill is then needed to add new tactics for your character. That is, if you prefer to manually command everyone all the time, then this is useless to you; but you can donate a cell or two and set the hero "on the machine."

The requirements are the same as those of influence.

Talents and Spells

Arranged in the same way as skills - in a line of four, but you will have more of them, because each level will bring one point.

You can roughly divide them into three types: passive - which simply work themselves (for example, a warrior gets tired less in heavy armor); active - they work on command and take away some mana; and long-term - they work like active ones, but after that they remain in force until they are turned off. Since mana regenerates very quickly here, long-term abilities "lock" some of your mana, as if they are constantly using it.

Unlike skills, each new ability rank here has its own name. Therefore, I will name the lines by the first talent from the chain.

Please note that it is quite possible to "unwind" the chain completely by the level of 12-14. This may make the hero a little one-sided, but many rank four abilities are a kind of “superweapon”.

Weapon in each hand

Weapon wielding in each hand

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Hero Level	—	—	9	12
Agility	12	16	26	36

The first rank of the talent simply provides full off-hand weapon damage. The second gives pluses to attack and defense. The third provides a chance to inflict a wound that will gradually reduce the health of the enemy. And finally, the fourth one reduces the cost of all the techniques of twin blades, and in addition, it allows you to take a full-fledged sword in your left hand, and not a short dagger.

Double punch

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Agility	12	16	22	28

Double Strike itself is a long-term move that increases damage, but at the same time reduces the chance of a critical hit. For a robber - a very dubious joy, but if you already pressed it so that you can’t get in from the back ... The Warrior will do just fine.

The next rank is retaliation. The fighter attacks with the right hand with a chance to stun the target; then strikes with the left, which, if the target is stunned, automatically gives critical damage.

Crippling Strike: If the attack hits, the damage is critical and the enemy takes a movement speed penalty.

Punisher (oh, and who only translated this ?!): triple hit, third hit - critical, chance to knock the target down or reduce attack and defense.

Swing with two arms

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Agility	12	18	24	30

Attack on all enemies in front of you - with increased damage. It is dangerous for a rogue to get carried away with this trick - it is easy to distract the enemy, but the damage is very worthy. In general, this line is especially suitable for a warrior, if he decides on dual blades instead of a shield or a two-hander.

Second rank, flurry - three hits with normal damage.

Gust - Attack speed increases dramatically, but energy drops every moment.

Whirlwind - the hero begins to spin, distributing attacks to everyone around. A warrior surrounded by enemies is just great.

Weapon and shield

Shield Bash

Shield strike with normal damage and a chance to stun the target. Shield push is the same, but the blow is double (note that the "recharge" of these skills is different). Suppression - three hits, with the third of them being critical. And the assault - as many as four blows, but ... for some reason, weakened. The first rank is very useful, the next - less.

shield defense

Shield Defense is a stance with improved defense against arrows and a penalty to attack (long-term technique). Its development, a balanced shield, removes the attack penalty... and before that, it does more harm than good. Shield Wall is a long-term move that drastically increases defense, and if you take the last ability in the line, then in this state the warrior cannot be knocked down.

Shield Block

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Hero Level	—	—	9	12
Agility	10	16	20	26

Shield block prevents flank attacks against the warrior from the side of his shield. Covering with a shield gives advantages against shooting. Shield training does not allow hitting a warrior in the back at all, all attacks against him are considered the same; and the last talent in this line dramatically increases all shield skills.

This line is almost necessary for a real "tank" - if you want to live longer. Please note that it does not require strength, but dexterity.

Two-handed weapon

Access: warrior. Require combat training.

hilt strike

A blow with the blunt end of a weapon (?) that knocks the opponent down if they fail an FU check.

Indomitable is a long-term effect that slightly increases damage and does not allow you to either knock down or stun a fighter.

Stunning Blows - any attack of a fighter has a chance to stun the enemy. This is not a long-term, but a passive talent - it does not require inclusion!

And the top of the line is a critical strike: this attack, on hit, not only always gives critical damage, but can (if the enemy is already wounded) kill him on the spot.

Split weapon

If the target fails FP checks, it suffers an attack penalty for a short time. It only makes sense against "bosses" - but they will pass this test...

The next rank - crushing blows - is a plus for damage against golems and other mechanical objects. Shatter Armor is normal damage and if the target fails FP, a penalty to defense. It is better to split the weapon, because the attack still deals damage. And at the fourth rank (“Destroyer”), all the attacks of the hero have this property. Unfortunately, the armor penalty from them does not stack, so the benefit is not that great; it is not even clear why this particular talent has such brutal requirements.

mighty strike

Hit with increased damage; if the target does not pass the FP, it will be slowed down. An alternative way to "bind" the enemy to you... Powerful blows - a long-term technique that increases damage - but with a penalty to attack and defense (which is reduced by the next rank of the talent - "Strength of two hands").

And finally, the fourth rank is perhaps the best two-handed move: the swing deals normal damage to all nearby enemies, and each of them makes an FU check or falls. Mow, scythe, while the dew ...

Archery

Access: Warrior, Rogue. Require combat training.

Shooting in close combat

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Agility	12	16	22	28

The first rank allows you to shoot while being attacked; if you bet only on the bow, you can’t do without it.

Aimed fire reduces the rate of fire, but increases accuracy, damage, armor penetration and critical hit chance - in a word, you should always turn it on when the enemies are not completely flimsy (this is a long-term technique). Defensive shooting - the rate of fire is reduced for the sake of a plus to protection; if you had to use it, then you miscalculated somewhere.

And Master Shooter is an ability that improves almost all shooting techniques, and also allows you to avoid the penalty in heavy armor (but not armor). Who would have developed defensive shooting without this ...

Pinning Shot

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Agility	12	16	21	30

This line is, in my opinion, the key for a robber with a bow; at least the first rank in it is obligatory. After a pinning shot, the target that passed the FU is slowed down, and the one that didn’t is forced to stay in place! A melee specialist boss fight almost always starts with this shot.

The second move, a crippling shot, lowers the target's attack and defense (while dealing normal damage). The third is a critical shot - an attack with a plus to armor penetration and automatic critical damage.

The fourth one, the Killer Arrow, is described in the game as simply a critical shot, but in reality it has a chance to lay down the target on the spot. On "bosses", however, does not work.

fast shooting

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Agility	12	16	24	27

Increased rate of fire - but no chance of a critical hit. Long-term reception; in my opinion, not the most valuable. Shattering Shot - normal damage + penalty to the target's armor. Suppressive Arrow - normal damage + penalty to the target's attack; much more useful than a similar two-handed technique, because the penalties add up and as a result, the enemy stops hitting the "tank" at all.

And finally, the explosive arrow: it deals normal damage, stuns the target - and after that, with an explosion, it deals the same effect to all enemies in the vicinity.

elemental magic

Access: mag.

fiery flash

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	27	34

Good old fire spells - as usual, hit both enemies and friends, which is irrelevant only at the lowest difficulty levels. But they hit very well if the enemy does not have stability. They can also ignite the effects of other spells (dirt...).

Flame Flare is a cone, quite narrow, hard to catch a lot of enemies in it. The second rank is fire weapons, a long-term spell that makes all of the party's weapons fire. Fireball - not only does damage in a large area, it also knocks you down; Yes, and it looks much more interesting than the usual "balls". And the highest fiery spell - fiery hell - a sort of whirlwind that removes health every round. A terrible thing, but it also hurts its own.

stone armor

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	25	30

The first rank is to increase the protection of the magician himself. Stone Fist - a projectile that removes health and knocks you down; it is good to use it after an ice spell, because targets turned to ice or stone can break into pieces.

Earthquake is a long-lasting spell that causes everyone in the area (including friends) to make an FU check or fall every few seconds. Finally, Turn to Stone: On a FU failure, the target turns to stone for a few seconds. It does not move and can be broken by an attack or a stone fist.

Ice Snap

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	25	34

Decent damage + freezing the target: it turns into ice (which can be broken) or just slows down, depending on your luck. Ice weapons are similar to fire weapons. Cone of Cold - the same ice grip, but in a cone; and finally, Blizzard is a long area spell that constantly hits everyone (friends and foes), and also forces you to make stability checks so as not to fall and turn into ice. True, the targets get a bonus to defense and resistance to fire, but usually this is of little comfort to them.

Lightning

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	18	18	28	33

The first rank is just a combat spell, but quite powerful. The second is the same lightning, but in a cone. The third - a storm - hits the area for a long time, scattering lightning. And the fourth - chain lightning - deals powerful damage, and then small lightning strikes the target's neighbors with less damage.

creation

Access: mag.

Treatment

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	23	28

Heals wounds to one ally. The following spells speed up an ally's mana and health regeneration, respectively, and the last one grants both to the whole group. Alas, ordinary magicians are not given mass treatment - this requires the specialization of a healer.

Heroic Assault

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	15	20	30

Spell of the first rank - plus to the attack of an ally. The second, heroic aura, is a shield that reflects ranged attacks with a very decent probability. The third - heroic defense - gives protection and stability of all kinds, but puts pressure on the target, adding fatigue (that is, increasing the cost of all her abilities). And finally, the fourth is a wonderful haste spell: the whole group begins to move and attack faster, although the chances of hitting are somewhat reduced.

Rune of Paralysis

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	25	33

Looks very strange, but useful school. The first spell is a trap rune that paralyzes the first person to step on it. The second is a defensive rune that grants defense and resilience bonuses to all friends near it. Rune of Repulsion - Pushes aside enemies that fail the FU check; along with the rune of paralysis, it explodes, paralyzing everyone around! And finally, a terrible rune of neutralization, which blocks all spells in the radius of action, drains mana, dispels effects and does not allow you to restore strength; some fights turn into child's play with her.

Magic light

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	20	23	33

The magic light is just an addition to the magical power of the sorcerer himself. The next spell, mud, is a large puddle that everyone slips in (slow), and can be set on fire with a fire spell. magic flower- an effect due to which all magicians nearby (enemy ones too) accelerate the restoration of mana. And finally, the stinging swarm: very powerful damage, and if the victim dies from it, the swarm flies to the next enemy. As for me, this school is of little use - except that you have as many as three magicians in the group ...

Spirit

Access: mag.

Magic shield

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	25	33

Great tool for a magic duel... if your mana is thicker than the enemy's. The spell absorbs enemy spells with a probability of three to four, but at the same time, it eats up your mana for each operation. As the mana runs out, so the shield will fall. Alas, most often those enemies from which you want to defend yourself so much are stuffed with mana to the eyeballs.

Dispel Magic, as you'd expect, removes all effects from the target, making no difference between self and non-self spells. It always works, if the spell can be dispelled at all. But then comes the anti-magic barrier - full protection from spells (yes, from healing ones too). And this is often the weapon of victory. Works, unlike the shield, not only on itself. Anti-Magic Flare - mass scattering over the area; 99% of the time it's useless, but...

Manna Siphon

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	25	33

Trying to borrow someone else's mana. Unfortunately, not in commercial quantities. Mana Burn - Spend your own mana to destroy others around you. Magic Power - Strengthens all of your spells, but mana is consumed faster and regenerated more slowly. And finally, Mana Collision is a very expensive spell that takes away from the enemy all mana and deals damage to him in proportion to the taken away.

I think this line is worth checking out. only for the final. Do you want to spend four talents to become a thunderstorm of magicians and be able to quickly burn your resource?

walking bomb

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	20	25	33

Pretty Spell: The target takes constant poison damage, and if it dies before the spell breaks, it explodes. The next rank is Death Vortex: a long-term spell that restores mana if there are killed enemies nearby. The third rank - Infectious Walking Bomb - does the same as the first one, but even with the explosion you can infect neighbors (at the same time, it is not placed on those who already have the effect of the first level bomb). And finally, the fourth - raising the corpse of the enemy as a skeleton.

Bombs are powerful weapons, but if you don't play on the lower difficulty level, it makes sense to at least study dispel magic along with this line. And then a lot of trouble can be done.

mind explosion

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	23	30

Simple and tasteful: stuns all enemies around (unless, of course, they pass the PU). The next rank is a force field: the target cannot move and cannot be damaged, a kind of "stasis". The third rank puts a telekinesis spell on the weapons of the entire squad; god knows why, but it improves armor penetration. And finally, the fourth is a crushing dungeon: the spell prevents the enemy from doing anything and gradually takes the life out of him. The most tenacious will wait for it to end, and with medium enemies - apply and forget.

Entropy

Access: mag.

Weakness

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	25	35

Penalty to attack and defend the target; if FU does not pass, it will also slow down. Paralysis is slowed on a successful FU check, completely immobilized on a failed one. Toxic Vapors is a long-term spell that imposes penalties on any target of the mage. And finally, the top of this line, not without reason, requires a whopping 35 units of magic: this is mass paralysis. Disables enemies in heavy bursts.

Vulnerability Corruption

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	20	28	36

Inflicts resistance penalties against fire damage, cold damage, and so on; in addition, it significantly strengthens attacks against its target, such as draining life. Infectious damage - the same, but in a circle next to the victim. Averting Corruption weakens the enemy's attacks: critical hits become normal, normal misses. And the last, disastrous, damage makes all hits on the victim critical.

The most useful link here seems to be the third one; but in general this line is not the most rational expenditure of talents. I think Bioware overestimated her.

Loss of orientation

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	30	32

The victim suffers a penalty to attack and defense. Horror, the second rank, is a double-acting spell: it usually pins the victim in place if he does not pass the DR; but against an unconscious victim, deals massive damage without any checks. Sleep puts a whole group of enemies to rest (before the first hit, the victim wakes up from the damage), and sleeping ones can be finished off with horror. And finally, a nightmare in reality - something like a D&D confusion: someone is stunned, someone is charmed, someone is attacking their allies ... Of course, if the PU does not pass.

This branch is being studied by one of your companions; it will pass the first two links by itself, and it makes sense to advance it at least one more link, and preferably two.

Life Siphon

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	20	25	34

The first spell does the same as all its namesakes - it transfers part of the health from the victim to the magician. The second - death magic - is long-term, it restores the magician's "life line" if there are dead enemies around. Next - a deadly curse: the enemy cannot be healed and takes constant damage. And lastly, the cloud of death - constant damage to everyone in the area of effect (and your own too).

Warrior

Bogatyr

More health, less armor fatigue - in general, an absolutely necessary thing. The next ability, intimidation, is absolutely necessary for any "tank" - the hero constantly emits threat (long-term). Courage is also, by and large, for the "tank": it increases all the parameters of a fighter if he is opposed by more than two enemies (for each additional one). Finally, the death rush restores energy when an enemy dies.

calculated blow

Less attack speed, but higher chances of hitting and critical damage. Provocation - the second rank - a one-time outbreak of threat, interception of opponents. Exiting the battle - on the contrary, reducing the threat and the chance that the enemies will immediately switch to others. A perfect hit is a big plus for accuracy.

In my opinion, both the tank and the hitman can save money on this line. Although many of them have the first reception initially.

Rogue

dirty wrestling

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Hero Level	—	4	8	12
Agility	10	14	18	22

Dirty Fight is a stun that deals no damage. It is needed mainly when it is not possible to go behind the back. And to facilitate this maneuver - the next rank of the line, movement in battle: it allows you to consider a wider angle as "backward", and it is highly recommended to have it - especially for "blade" robbers. The third move is Mercy Strike: If the target is stunned or paralyzed, each hit counts as a backstab. The fourth rank - "SOS button" - feigned death, that is, a forced exit from the battle.

Hit below the belt

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Hero Level	—	4	8	12
Agility	10	14	18	22

A low blow deals normal damage; if the victim did not pass the FL, then he receives a penalty to protection and movement. Second rank technique - death blow - despite the loud name, differs from a simple attack only in improved armor penetration. The third rank is lethality; it increases the chance of a critical strike, and in addition, it uses cunning instead of strength when calculating damage. That's a very serious damage boost! And finally, dodge - 20% chance to avoid any physical attack.

Skillful hands

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Hero Level	—	4	8	12
Cunning	10	14	18	22

This technique improves the hero's ability to break locks and traps - at all ranks. Although this is usually the main thing for keeping a thief on a team, in Dragon Age you can try to do without a burglar. Most hacked chests contain small valuables or gifts; in addition, already in the early stages, you will regularly lack the second rank of this skill. That is, if you want to open any lock with your little finger, you invest in skillful hands until it stops, losing combat talents.

Stealth

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Hero Level	—	4	8	12
Cunning	10	14	18	22

But for this, many rogues should not spare points: an attack from stealth is considered an attack from behind, even if in fact you are standing face to face. The first rank simply allows you to sneak up on the enemy unnoticed, and nothing can be done in this state. The second allows you to use items. The third gives a chance to hide right in the thick of the fight. The fourth simply increases your chances of getting out of sight and not getting caught.

Mage

magic arrow

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Level	1	3	7	10

A simple combat spell, all the advantages of which are fast reloading. It makes sense only if you plan to develop the line. The second rank is a magical shield that temporarily increases the protection of the magician himself (and do not lead him into battle ...). The third one, focusing on the staff, increases the damage from the staff (and in fact devalues the magic arrow). The fourth - mastery of magic - permanently increases magical power.

Classes

We have already analyzed the main abilities; this chapter is devoted to the story of how to develop the characters of each of the classes. We will consider several “working” options, which, of course, does not prevent us from inventing our own based on them or without it.

As already mentioned, there are only three base classes, but each of them has four specializations. They can be taken at levels 7 and 14 (choosing two out of four), but you can’t do it “just like that” - you need a teacher or guidance. The manual can sometimes be bought from merchants; a teacher is either your companion who already has a similar class (and you need a warm relationship with him), or a special NPC in the city. It is not easy to find a teacher for some specialties ...

Each specialty provides permanent pluses and its own line of skills. I won't cover them in detail now, but I'll briefly describe them.

Warrior

A warrior has two main occupations: a tank and a hit fighter. Between them there is an intermediate one (sometimes called off-tank): an attacking fighter, who, however, is tenacious enough not to be afraid of intercepting aggression.

The skills of a warrior, oddly enough, do not depend on the type.

For any warrior, without fail, the skill of combat training must develop to the limit. Not necessarily first, but must. If this main character- 1-3 units of influence will not hurt. The rest can be spent on tactics or get a rank or two in survival.

Warrior Specializations

If bears were hedgehogs...

Templar. Anti-Mage: He has the ability to drain mana from the enemy, increase his own RP and neutralize spells.

Berserk. Attacking fighter: battle rage increases damage (for slow recovery), there is a technique that burns all energy in one hit and deals damage proportionally.

Knight. Strengthening your own, penalties to enemies. With terrible cries, the knights weaken the opponents (or even throw them to the ground), with a cheerful voice they increase the attack and defense of the squad.

Ripper. This gentleman knows how to heal at the expense of the corpses of enemies (similar to the "death magic" spell), deal damage to enemies around him with his aura, and also fights the stronger, the less health he has left.

Tank

As we have known since prehistoric times, a "tank" is a shield. Let's leave two-handed weapons to hit-boys and hybrids, twin blades and a bow, all the more so.

The characteristics of the "tank" are needed are: strength, agility and physique. In what proportion? Strength and constitution are about 2:1, like most warriors, and agility is just enough to learn the necessary techniques. Unfortunately, dexterity is indispensable for blocking with a shield. The main character, if you want to study influence, will also need cunning (though not in exorbitant quantities).

The most obvious set of talents:

Bogatyr: 4 ranks

Shield Block: 4 ranks

Shield Defense: 4 ranks

Shield Bash: 2 ranks

The rest is on specialization. Among them, we immediately reject the berserker, the rest can be considered. The Knight is good if you have a lot of warriors and robbers in the squad, but weakening the enemies is always in the price. Templar and Ripper can definitely come in handy too, although the advantages of the former are not so often needed (I fell for the magician - somehow you can manage to cut him down without additional advantages).

Alternative:

Bogatyr: 4 ranks

Shield Block: 4 ranks

Shield Defense: 4 ranks

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

The rest is specialization.

You can also try to save on dexterity:

Bogatyr: 4 ranks

Shield Block: 4 ranks

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

Shield Bash: 4 ranks

The rest is specialization.

But such a warrior will be noticeably less durable. Maybe he should take the ripper specialization.

To get the right talents at the start, it is recommended to take noble birth. Gnome or human is the second question, a dwarf might fit a little better. Elves and riffraff will get bonuses to marksmanship, dual blades... why do you need all this?

Tactics for the "tank" looks something like this:

At the beginning of the battle - intimidation.

If they shoot at him, take cover with a shield.

If the enemy has more than 75% health - hit with a shield or push with a shield.

The templar can additionally be ordered to attack mages and apply a righteous blow, and against a mage surrounded by other enemies - a holy punishment.

hitoboy

What weapon to take? Let's exclude the bow right away: what's the point of taking a warrior and not letting him into the thick of the battle? The shield is the lot of the "tank", two-handed swords and twin blades remain. I'd strongly recommend a two-hander because dual blades require dexterity; however, a dwarf of non-noble origin will immediately give you the talent of swinging with two blades. Without it, you can focus on strength and, to a lesser extent, physique.

Talents (two-handed variant):

Hilt strike: 4 ranks

Bogatyr: 1 rank

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

Mighty Strike: 4 ranks

Another talent, the one that is given at birth, will go to an unnecessary direction for you. You can put everything else into specializations (berserker, ripper are the most natural options).

Talents (Dual Blades variant):

Swing with two arms with weapons: 4 ranks

Bogatyr: 1 rank

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

Double Strike: 2 ranks

Be sure to take the dwarf "from the bottom" so as not to spend money on a shield or bow.

Talents (hybrid hit-tank):

Hilt strike: 4 ranks

Bogatyr: 4 ranks

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

Mighty Strike: 4 ranks

The rest is specialization (any one is fine).

Hitboy tactics:

(If there is no healer) If health is below 25%, heal with a poultice.

(If there is a ripper specialty) If health is below 25%, drain life.

If there are more than two enemies - swing two-handed weapon/ swing the weapon in each hand.

(If there is a knight specialty) There are more than two enemies - a battle cry.

If the enemy has more than 75% health - hilt strike / triple strike.

If the enemy has more than 50% health - mighty strike / double strike

Rogue

A rogue's main occupation is a hit slayer, but it is possible to make a subdue out of him as well.

A rogue's skills almost necessarily include:

- combat training of the 4th rank, in the most extreme case of the third;

- poisons or making traps 2-3 ranks;

- the rest, if any, can be spent on influence, tactics or an extra rank of poisons / traps.

In general, the robber is worse than the warrior, to leave at the mercy of the machine gun: the correct position here means a lot.

There are only two types of rogue weapons: twin blades or a bow. The bow is easier to develop, because such a rogue does not need strength at all; it pairs better with traps than poison. Dual blades require some strength; if you want to use daggers, then a small one, and if you pretend to swing swords, then a fair one. Note that daggers have a higher chance of critical damage; however, the base damage is too low.

When choosing talents, you have to keep in mind not only the occupation in combat, but also “side jobs” like picking locks.

Rogue Specializations

Duelist. He is somewhat better protected than his counterparts, and has the ability to make all hits critical for a while.

Killer. The most damage-oriented variant, he can inflict bleeding wounds, as well as "mark" the target so that everyone deals increased damage against it.

Bard. Unique Specialty: Allows you to sing a song that stuns all nearby enemies every few seconds instead of directly participating in combat. To do this, you need to fully develop the line of his abilities; and before that, he strengthens the detachment with his songs.

Pathfinder. Another "step to the side": the ranger calls on the beast to help the squad. Unlike a bard, this does not prevent him from fighting himself.

Swordsman

Low Power Talents (Daggers):

Low blow: 4 ranks

Weapon Proficiency in Each Hand: 3 ranks

Dirty Wrestling: Ranks 3-4

Stealth: 3-4 ranks

The rest is specialization and/or skillful hands. Specializations here, most likely, are a duelist or an assassin, a ranger is possible.

Talents with decent power (dagger + sword, then swords):

Low blow: 1 rank

Weapon proficiency in each hand: 4 ranks

Dirty Wrestling: Ranks 3-4

Stealth: 3-4 ranks

The rest is specialization and/or skillful hands. There are more chances to develop specialization, the set is the same.

Swordsman Tactics suggests the following:

This is where a bomb would come in handy. And a warrior ... what is a warrior? Come to life. After battle.

Start the fight by smearing the blades with poison.

The duelist - to start a duel, the killer - to mark the target of the "tank".

Launch your critical hits against the tank's target.

If health falls below 25% - feigned death.

Dirty fight - if he is attacked.

Archer

Archer Talents:

Pinning Shot: 4 ranks

Rapid Fire: 4 ranks

Stealth: 1-3 ranks

Dirty Wrestling: Rank 1

Melee Shooting: 2 ranks

The rest is specialization and/or skillful hands. Specializations here are tracker, assassin.

Before the battle, the archer sets a trap (if he can), then, perhaps, hides; the fight begins with a shackling and crippling shot, choosing the target of the tank. If attacked in melee - a dirty fight, if health is below 25% - feigned death. It's possible to risk starting with an explosive arrow, but it's better to use this technique consciously when the tanks are already holding enemies securely.

subjugator

This is a completely different combat role. After developing bardic talents, most of the time he will not fight at all, but will summon beasts (if he already has a second specialization) and sing an enchanting song.

Bow Bard Talents:

Pinning Shot: 4 ranks

Bard: 4 ranks

Pathfinder: 4 ranks

Rapid Fire: 4 ranks

Stealth: 3 ranks

Dirty Wrestling: Rank 1

Sword Bard Talents:

Dirty Wrestling: 4 ranks

Bard: 4 ranks

Pathfinder: 4 ranks

Weapon proficiency in each hand: 4 ranks

Stealth: 3 ranks

Low blow: 1 rank

Tactics until you get an enchanting song - by weapon, then - bardo-stalker tricks, and if attacked, then dirty fight / feigned death.

Mage

In terms of skills, the magician enjoys considerable freedom. It is worth letting four ranks into herbalism (although one herbalist mage in the team is enough), and you are free to make your hero a chrysostom, tactician, and so on - nothing fetters him.

With the parameters, everything is quite simple: magic + willpower is about 2:1 or even 3:1.

But with spells - how many people, so many approaches. Mage spells allow you to create completely different characters - under the role of a hit-boy, healer and subdue. The specializations of magicians differ no less.

The mage, with the exception of the healer, is better controlled by hand than by tactics. The healer is quite capable of simply launching healers as needed, and the rest of the time fighting back with a staff and what God sent.

Mage Specializations

Spiritual healer. The obvious specialization of the healer: here, and only here, there is a group healing, resurrection, a talisman (a “delayed” heal that works when the target becomes low on health), and even an aura of permanent healing of all friends around him. Listed in order received.

Blood Mage. Conjuring over the blood of the enemy, he can subjugate him, turning him into an ally. In addition, a blood mage can cast spells at the expense of health (instead of mana), as well as heal at the expense of an ally's life force (from which he may die). Keep in mind that blood magicians... to put it mildly, are not very liked by many, and for good reason.

Werewolf. The first ability from the line turns the mage into a giant spider that spits poison and cobwebs, the second into a huge bear, the third into a stinging swarm of insects, which, when attacked by an enemy, loses mana instead of health. The fourth strengthens all these forms - for example, the swarm begins to drink the health of the enemy. In the transformed form, the werewolf does not cast spells.

Battle Mage. The strangest specialty - increases the magician's defense and attack in battle. For staff maniacs? Perhaps combined with the pluses of a werewolf, not sure.

hitoboy

To build a truly effective hit fighter, you need to master spell combinations. A couple of these have already been mentioned: runes of paralysis and repulsion, dirt and a fireball. Here is an example of one of the most deadly combinations:

Elemental Talents:

Flame Flash: 3 ranks

Rune of Paralysis: 3 ranks

Magic Wisp: 2 ranks

Walking Bomb: 4 ranks

Heal: 1 rank

Stone armor: 4 ranks

For the rest, you can take a specialization (for example, a blood mage or even a healer), contagious damage, raising a skeleton, or a professional mage line.

Two runes - explosive paralysis / slowdown, then we put dirt there and set it on fire with a fireball. An option is to study stone armor before runes and make opponents fall from an earthquake. Then you can “polish” with a contagious bomb - and hardly at least one enemy will get to you at all.

Why treatment? And it is always worth taking it at an opportunity. Simply because two healers are better than one.

Alternative option:

Frost Snap: 4 ranks

Lightning: 3 ranks

Rune of Paralysis: 4 ranks

Heal: 1 rank

Stone armor: 4 ranks

The principle is the same, but instead of mud + fire - storm + blizzard. The effect is a mighty thunderstorm.

By the way, note that both of these options give the mage some chances as a subdue - an earthquake and a couple of runes perfectly control enemies.

For werewolf mage there is no special set of talents; one can combine it with any arsenal of spells, shifting into transmuted form as needed. In the game, we see an example of a combination of werewolf with weakening spells (weakness, mind explosion, horror); it certainly works, but there's no reason not to make a werewolf elemental.

healer

They have already learned how to build bridges. As for "reducing" problems so far.

The main thing here is the arsenal of healing spells. It would seem that the actual treatment is not very necessary with the abilities of a spiritual healer; but in practice at high levels they save mana a lot. The rest of the slots can be devoted to combat or dominating magic.

Healer Talents:

Healing: 4 ranks

Spiritual Healer: 4 ranks

Rune of Paralysis: 4 ranks

Heroic Assault: 4 ranks

For the rest - something attacking. Just in case.

Please note that all four ranks of the rune of paralysis are taken here - to provide rear protection. Heroic Assault is a good branch for a healer because it doesn't build up a lot of aggro.

subjugator

The main question is: do you want to make your hero a blood mage? If so, it will add quite a bit to his main arsenal.

It is not necessary to make a "pure" subdue - you can combine it with an elemental hit-boy or a werewolf.

Submitter Talents:

Disorientation: 4 ranks

Weakness: 4 ranks

Blood Mage: 4 ranks

Mind Blast: 4 ranks

Heal: 1 rank

And something offensive.

The disadvantage of this option is that if the enemy suddenly has a high PU, this hero will be almost powerless against him. You can sacrifice one of the subordinate branches and make an intermediate version of the magician. What branch to give? Unfortunately, most likely disorientation, although its effect of mass confusion is beautiful, but it does not combine well with battle magic. But you can do it differently.

Hitbreaker Overlord Talents (with Paralysis):

Weakness: 4 ranks

Flame Flash: 4 ranks

Magic Wisp: 2 ranks

Blood Mage: 4 ranks

Mind Blast: 4 ranks

Heal: 1 rank

Hit-Slayer Discipline Talents (Disoriented):

Disorientation: 4 ranks

Walking Bomb: 4 ranks

Blood Mage: 4 ranks

Mind Blast: 4 ranks

Lightning: 3 ranks

Heal: 1 rank

Walkthrough

Ostagar
Lothering
Circle of Magi
Branca and the gnomes
Search for a shrine

We will not dwell on each of the starting stories; the benefit of the game itself leads you to a natural denouement. I can only say that if you are a man and a nobleman, do not miss the story of the angry cook...

Ostagar

Whoever you are, sooner or later you will find yourself in Ostagar - in the status of a student of the gray guards and personally their chief Duncan. You will be asked to get comfortable in the city before passing the test. Don't give up; among them there is a task from the kennel, which will allow you, if you do not already have war dog get one!

My faithful dog

The first companion that will stay with us for life is a faithful dog. The nobleman will have it before arriving in Ostagar, but the rest can purchase it from the kennel in the city.

The local mabari breed is famous, in addition to truly brutal fighting qualities, for loyalty and devotion: therefore, no matter what you do, your dog will not betray you. But this should not be a reason to refuse gifts to the little animal, since his tastes are unpretentious: he is only interested in bones. No one else will take them anyway...

The dog is a dangerous fighter; he has the ability to stun all enemies around with an eerie howl, as well as knock the enemy to the ground and inflict critical hits (as do wolves). Howling before the fight will give the mage time for an extra fireball or something like that... Although the dogs do not carry weapons and armor, something can still be put on them: a collar and battle tattoos.

Don't forget sometimes... to talk to your dog. You can, for example, ask the little animal if she sees something interesting; no, no, yes, and bring something useful, and even an expensive gift to one of the companions. And if you complain about being stained with blood, the dog will lick you and become healthier. Hm...

His Majesty and Head of the Order. Snapshot for memory.

Also pay attention to quartermaster. You can purchase the first of the additional backpacks from him. Maybe now there is still not enough money for this, but you can look at him upon returning from the test.

Upon arrival, you will be given an audience His Majesty. He is full of optimism about the upcoming battle... somewhere I have heard such bravura speeches, oh, I have heard...

But now you have talked with the king, gathered other people passing the test around the city (all the key points are on the map) and go on a hike. They give you two fighters with you - the shield-bearer Alistair and the swordsman Jory, as well as a robber-shooter Daveta. You need to bring three vials with the blood of the creatures of darkness - and some papers from the chest in the ruins. Well, and a plant for the kennel, if you took this task.

Alistair is a templar warrior with a wealth of experience fighting mages. He is a specialist in shield combat and (although he developed it, perhaps not perfectly) is excellent for the title of command "tank". You can develop it approximately as shown above in the "Tank" chapter. He can teach the protagonist the templar specialization (if the relationship with him is high level).

It may seem that the straightforward and benevolent Alistair is so loyal that it is difficult to piss him off. And in vain. This guy is not so simple, he has seen something in his life even before joining the templars, and besides, he is categorically not inclined to forgive treason. But lovers of empty cruelty are categorically not on the way with him.

To please Alistair with a gift, present him with something related to the people he honors; in addition, he is a lover of figurines and runestones.

I can also tell the heroines that friendship with Alistair opens up rich opportunities.

The Corcari wastelands are empty only at first glance: the road through them will not allow much to stray. Here you will find a pack of wolves; wolves love to knock down heroes and pounce in bulk, so get used to leading Alistair ahead and away from others. We will also meet the first creatures of darkness; until we know who they are and where they came from. The main thing is to look out for archers and especially the hurlock emissary, this is the most dangerous enemy. If you have a weakening spell, it's time to try it out.

In the clearing next to the emissary, the very plant that is needed for dogs blooms, do not forget to collect it.

Flower to cure fighting dogs.

But the chest ... in strangers and not to say very reliable hands. The mysterious lady Flemeth settled here - is it really the one about whom there are fairy tales from among those that it is better not to read at night? — and her even more mysterious daughter, Morrigan, who loves to speak in verse. They have the papers, and for now we'll have to go back with what we have; probably the blood has already been collected by this point.

It is interesting: Morrigan "borrowed" the name from the Celtic goddess of war, one of the most terrible deities in the Celtic pantheon; that Morrigan is famous for her prophetic gift, love of love ... and the ability to turn into different creatures.

And now - the actual test: the campaign, it turns out, was only a preparation for it ...

And now - a word to the main character.

Bonfire on the tower

Our leaders are, of course, great strategists. The idea that the reserve attack should be called with a fire on the tower, and the signal is given at the beginning of the battle (which the reserve can hear and see) is wonderful in itself.

And for some reason it is not at all surprising that the tower is not filled with soldiers at all. Or, more precisely, not by our soldiers!

Picking up a stray mage along the way, Alistair and I rushed in and nearly fried like a steak in a fire trap. Harlocks? Well well. And who is guarding our tower? Isn't that the one Loghain McTeer, to whom we are in such a hurry to give a signal?

But no one argues with orders, and we cleared the tower of hurlocks floor by floor. And upstairs a fire was burning, but not where it should be, and a huge ogre was warming by its fire.

The ogre is a very dangerous creature, because there is nothing to catch against him in close combat. He grabs and throws those who are nearby, and also kicks with his foot - and everyone who tried to attack him falls. What remains? Little. The bow and me and the mage took up positions from opposite ends of the hall, and the faithful dog Griffin and Alistair took turns trying to attract the attention of the blue-skinned image. The poultice is gone - a terrible thing. The main thing here... do not shoot too accurately. Because if the ogre decided to pounce on me, he would not let go until he had chewed me into mush.

And why wasn't I completely surprised that the signal wasn't answered?

I woke up in Flemeth's house. The old witch suddenly decided to help at the last moment - me and Alistair; the poor mage, whose name I never learned, did not survive the assault on Ostagar. And Flemeth let her daughter go with us. Alistair was far from happy with this fact ...

Morrigan

Charming, mysterious and terrifying, Morrigan is likely to become a symbol of Dragon Age: Origins. With her manner of speaking in blank verse (which was messed up by Russian voice acting) and a cynical view of the world, you will remember her for a long time.

Morrigan is a witch and does not hide it at all. She grew up in wild lands, full of barbarians and monsters, under the tutelage of the mother, who was hardly inferior to these monsters. She always "has a couple of words in reserve", she does not like to feel sorry for the weak and stupid, she respects strength - but not rudeness. She may remind you of the tough Viconia from Baldur's Gate, but only slightly.

As for gifts, Morrigan loves grimoires and sometimes does not refuse jewelry. A silver chain and a gold “rope” bracelet obviously suit her, sometimes brooches, amulets and mirrors are suitable.

In combat, Morrigan is a werewolf mage (and can teach you that if you make friends). Her other spells are not very convincing and are scattered in different categories. I would recommend either immediately developing the werewolf line (a swarm is good against any enemy), or investing in ice magic or a mind blast to the limit.

And here we are on our way. We have documents with us - the same agreements from the chest, according to which dwarves, elves, magicians undertake to help the gray guards. That is, Alistair and me; the others don't seem to be...

Our path lies in the city of Lothering; there you can replenish supplies and decide where to go next.

Lothering

The city met us with a bandit outpost; this company takes a "duty" from passing refugees. For once, Alistair and Morrigan were unanimous: greed and impudence must be punished! Frankly, I did not want to get tired from the road to join the fight, especially since at the mention of the gray guards the bandits were ready to show caution; but I gave in.

Next to the bodies of the robbers (where there was enough loot), I found the corpse of a templar, on which is a letter. The addressee, apparently, lives in Lothering ... By the way, the bandits mentioned that we were being hunted: Loghain announced that the king was killed gray guards and there's a bounty on our heads.

Before going down the stairs to the city, we discussed our mournful deeds a little. Alistair is in favor of going to Earl Eamon: he is an honest and influential nobleman who is definitely not for Loghain - and can unite the teyrns. In addition, we have letters to mages, elves and dwarves. Who to start with? Let's think it over.

Lothering, despite the efforts of the "toll collectors," is already packed with refugees; some merchant made a fuss and inflates prices, which is extremely dissatisfied with the local clergywoman. The laws in the city are mostly represented by the right of the strong... and why shouldn't I be the strong one? At least - not to judge the dispute? And for conscience or for money ...

You can buy a lot of things in the city (for example, flasks for the herbalist Morrigan and for my poisons), but with the seams.

But near the preacher, a stone's throw from the merchant, there is a notice board where they offer a reward for the destruction of three robber leaders (the one on the bridge does not count). In the temple, behind this board, you can give the knight a letter from the body of the templar. He said that Earl Eamon, whom we hoped for, was seriously ill, and the sacred ashes of Andraste were being sought to cure him.

The respectable old lady is offering money for the healing poultices that Morrigan knows how to make from the elven root - and this root, by the way, grows a lot in the fields, if only there were bottles. Across the bridge, a farmer hopes to save the fields from the darkspawn with the help of... traps. Alas, I am not an expert in this area.

But in the tavern, Loghain's people are already waiting for us; it's not a miracle, it's a miracle that someone was found to intercede for us. Charming girl with temple signs on the dress - Leliana- spoke in our defense; and, since we spared the surrendered leader, asked permission to join. Well, do I mind?

It is important: if the leader is killed, the opportunity to take Leliana to the team will be lost forever.

A very correct, deeply religious lady ... even strange for the specialty of a robber! True, she is still not a thief or a murderer, but a bard - and she can teach you this.

How to please Leliana? The answer can be summed up in two words familiar to every D&D fan: Lawful Good. And although one day you will probably find a flock of devils in the still pool, but in general, Leliana should be treated like a priest. And even a passion for jewelry that is natural for a pretty girl, she realizes exclusively through jewelry-made sacred symbols. Do not even try to please her with a simple secular ring or bracelet.

In battle, Leliana is an archer; her bardic abilities are worth little so far. As an archer, she also lacks the stars from the sky, but she knows how to do something. And it's good for locks. And if she gets to the enchanting song, then ... however, a lot has already been said about bards above.

The innkeeper Barlin, the one who gave the neighbor the idea of traps, wants to grease his traps with poison. Poisons are brewed from the black root, of which there are many in the fields, and also from the mandibles of spiders; bottles can be bought from the innkeeper himself. Comfortable.

And a couple more tasks - from local mercenaries nicknamed Blackstone Volunteers. They politely suggest that I might want to work with them someday; for now, a couple of simple tasks. And really simple; to complete one, you just need to return to the temple and hand over the letter to one recruit.

But it can wait: in the square I noticed a huge cage in which sat a huge guy named Stan. He is waiting for execution - and, in general, for the cause: without understanding, he killed the family of his savior. But maybe it's better to die in battle for a just cause? He seems to be a brave warrior, one of the wild Qunari...

I convinced the holy mother in the temple to give Stan to me. There were three arguments: personal charm, a gift for the needs of the church, and the consideration that his fellow tribesmen might come for Stan, after which Lothering might not live to Pestilence. She listened.

On a note: the ease with which the holy mother will agree depends on your generosity in donation. But if Leliana is on the team, she will persuade the priestess for nothing.

Well, a very big and ferocious uncle; everyone at first glance will say that he was created for two-handed combat. Give him a two-hander and he will show himself as a hybrid tank hit-boy! Bring him to swing with a two-handed sword at the first opportunity. As a "tank" Alistair is better, although you can slightly increase the threat to Stan - and then ... Of course, he will have to be treated more often. But there will be no more enemies!

It’s easy to keep him around: he set his sights on death in battle to atone for his mistakes, and therefore most often he doesn’t care what you talk about there. Of the gifts, Stan will appreciate his own sword (you will come across it over time); and this thug is a lover of painting. Who would have thought!

You're too big for a songbird, boy...

Three detachments of bandits were waiting for us north of the city, in the fields; the main thing was to hide in time and send Alistair ahead (and to lower the Griffin on the archers). I left Leliana and Stan in strategic reserve for the time being. And in the east of the robber fields, there was a flock of poisonous spiders with valuable components at the ready.

The temple gave a good reward and two more tasks - very simple: kill bears in the field and find a dead woman. Another run in the same places - easy money and sediment in the shower.

On the way out of the city we met a couple of dwarfs, father and son, and at not the best hour for them: genlocks lay in wait for them right near Lothering. We helped them manage - and the cunning dwarf decided that the safest place on the roads of Ferelden was behind us. So now we are traveling with a convoy: in the parking lot next to us, a dwarf family is bivouacking. They have good goods, including books; and the younger dwarf knows how to put magical runes into weapons.

Circle Tower

Do you like to have a good rest? Look carefully, this is what Idleness incarnate looks like.

Are you often angry over trifles? Yell at those around you? Meet this is Wrath.

Mages might be happy to receive a letter from a gray guardian, but they just can't. Because there's some kind of pogrom going on in the tower - rebellion, demons, all kinds of hell - and the templars sealed it from the outside. And if suddenly someone brave and stupid does not dare to enter there and liquidate the hullabaloo, then the tower will simply be demolished along with everything that is in it, to hell. Who is the bravest and most stupid here?

On a note: don't forget to talk, now or after the campaign, with the quartermaster of the templars. He also has a lot of things for sale, including a backpack. If you have money, it is worth buying - there will be no way out of the tower until the very end.

Almost immediately outside the door—literally, as soon as they began to rummage through the drawers and rooms in search of a reward for diligence—a hotbed of resistance to the pogrom was discovered: a teacher named Wynn created a magical barrier and, together with the students, holds the entrance to the next floors. She still doesn't know what the templars have decided... After a brief negotiation, Wynn became our escort through the tower.

“Miss McGonagall! How did you get here?" - I want to ask at the first meeting. The manners of a real “cool lady”, a gray bun on the back of her head, passionate devotion to school ...

True, Wynn is not a Transfigurator, but a healer. Excellent and the only one in the game (unless you yourself choose the same path). And can teach you the way of a spiritual healer. It is worth developing it first of all in this direction, and then take care of the combat magic (she has something in store for this part, but rather helpless).

She is very, very easy to anger: as an old school worker, she is not used to being ignored. In difficult situations, it is better that she wait in reserve ... And if suddenly your main character takes the path of a blood magician, then you will most likely part with Wynn.

It's not easy to cajole her either; she seems to be only interested in books and scrolls. You will find something suitable in the Circle Tower, but in general, gifts for Wynn are not lying on the road.

Well, excuse me?

At first, we were resisted mainly by the Possessed - these are obnoxious, but not too dangerous creatures - and occasionally lesser demons of wrath, repulsively similar to Azerothian elementals. But soon there were those who made the mess: blood mages who decided to rebel against the control of the templars. It was then that Alistair's talents for suppressing mages and drinking their mana turned out to be more in place.

We walked slowly and methodically: in the rooms there were books, scrolls, even grimoires... The finds on the second floor subsequently pleased many of my friends; there were even gifts for Stan, but I especially pleased Morrigan with a rare grimoire. Many locked, and tightly locked, chests were found. Leliana would have been in place here with her talents as a burglar, but alas, it was she who I let go for a walk to give Wynn a place. However, those chests that I myself opened did not hide any miracles in themselves.

And if you get greedy and try to remove the amulet from the remains of the statue, show
It feels like the demons around him are like lambs...

It was tight on the third floor. The very first large hall turned out to be a trap: as soon as we went deeper inside, the dead bodies stood up and attacked us. It's a good thing I didn't let anyone in front but Alistair. While Alistair and the two mages dealt with the skeletons, I quietly crept to the opposite door and did a good job: as soon as the spell-casting nightmare appeared there, I jumped up to it and cut it into cubes. Otherwise, a couple of fireballs - and then everything would have ended for us.

At the next closed door, I noticed a trap; I opened the door, but did not go in - let the obsessed themselves climb on it. In addition, while they are rushing to Alistair through the door, it is so easy to please them in a narrow passage with mass charms or a bomb ...

The third hall is completely unpleasant - there are bewitched templars in full armor, so our swords can hardly find where to stick. True, a bottle of acid dramatically changed the chances. And in the fourth, the undead are plentiful, but not too dangerous - if only Wynn did not get hit.

On the fourth floor, I ran into several more templars in the side rooms. One of them was enchanted by the Demon of Desire... but I don't want to reminisce about that conversation right now.

And now - the one whom the blood magicians invited to this cheerful holiday. The Demon of Idleness in its own ugly persona. Now you will answer for everything, creature ... but where am I?

Shadow

I came to my senses (or so it seemed to me) in a strange place - with a foggy eye I see some kind of castle, and in the distance - Duncan. Duncan? But for mercy, he died... And why am I alone, without friends?

Having struck the illusion, I got into another world - from pieces of land floating through the air. And then I met Niall, one of the mages of the tower. So he's here too... where? In the dreams of Idleness?

This guy wanted to use Andraste's Litany to save himself from the blood mages. But he didn't. And I?

After wandering around, I found... a mouse. An ordinary mouse that died in front of my eyes. Looking closer at her, I realized that I could ... become the same as her. And seep into mouse holes.

Four images

In the Shadow, our hero can learn several forms that will allow him to pass through all the pieces of the Shadow one by one. The mouse is the first one. We need to quickly find all the others and only then go to destroy the local demons, and then Idleness itself.

The mouse is then needed to squeeze into holes; in addition, with its help you can bypass many opponents, since it is hardly noticeable.

Spirit - the second form - is quite suitable for combat if there are few enemies. His crushing dungeon spell will destroy almost any enemy, but it takes a long time to recharge, and the spirit's health is so-so (although it can be healed). And he also goes through special portals that cannot be entered in another guise.

The Flaming Man is flimsy in close combat, but without fear he passes through the fires, of which there are many in the Fade. In addition, he can throw a fireball and a weak fiery flash. He also runs faster than most monsters, and this should be used.

And finally, the golem is a heavyweight, stone thrower and earth shaker; throwing a boulder, he knocks out all the locked doors. When there is this form, the others are, by and large, no longer required, except for travel. On the other hand, it's nice to first please the enemies with a fireball, and then spread into a golem and add a boulder.

Dog? In a dog cage...

First of all, I spoke with Niall - and a pedestal opened up for me, through which I can walk on fragments of the Shadow.

On a note: try to go through all the rooms in these shadows. There are many places where they permanently give +1 to one of the basic parameters; you will come out of there much stronger than you were.

I started with " Dark Invasions". Leaking through the northeast corner of the hall into the hole and turning left in the corridor, I cut through the genlocks (in the midst of the battle, I kissed the vein of lyrium - in the shade it restores health and mana) and through the next hole landed on two flaming spawn of darkness. They fight painfully, but they are flimsy, and my two swords easily folded them both.

And what is an ogre to me when I myself am a golem!

There was an emissary in the next room; I had to, ignoring the blows, headlong to the emissary, since he is a magician, and then return to the door and grab the lyrium. Another hole - and here in front of me is the spirit of the templar, besieged by enemies. He gave me a spirit form. That was enough; I passed through the pedestal to the next shadow, " flaming tower».

There are many fires here - and creatures that do not burn in the fire. The spirit can handle most, but it's safer to dart around with a mouse until they notice. The task was already clear to me - to find another templar who would give me a new form (flaming).

Then with three forms were passed (until the next templar) " Scattered Magicians ». And now, fully armed with forms, it was possible to go through all the corridors, visit all the reinforcing pedestals and, most importantly, deal with the demons. Then visit the side shadows, talk with friends - and do Idleness together.

Uldred, why do you have such long horns?

Idleness was revived several times in different guises. The key is to focus. Otherwise, mass spells will certainly be covered. Luckily, Wynn's group healing works for larger area than fire and ice spells!

And so we returned from the dreams of Idleness... alive and angry as ever. Don't forget to pick up the Litany from the dead body of our poor friend. As the desert wolves say before attacking a camel caravan: and now a hunchback!

Uldred, the one who started all this, was not in the least upset by what his rebellion led to. He was determined to turn all the surviving sorcerers into blood mages - and brought it to the end. But we spoiled his music a little. As soon as a beam of Uldred spells appeared over one of the magicians, I read the litany, and the magic went astray.

So Irving, the high sorcerer (whose grimoire I had already...borrowed) survived, and so did his mages. And I received his word that later, in the decisive battle, he would be on my side. And it seems to me that if the magicians had not escaped, the templars would have been on my side, who would have nothing more to guard ...

We left our hero when he cleared the Tower of the Circle from the evil spirits that had settled there, freed the magicians (or he might not have freed them - then the Templars would have gone to the last battle instead of the sorcerers on his side) and set off to get new allies for himself.

Branka and 777 gnomes

Two respected equally

Two glorious and high families,

To the regret of all the people,

Ancient, fierce enmity

They were drawn - that day - then into a new battle.

The hands of citizens were crimsoned with blood ...

W. Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet"

Having somehow rested after the Tower, having washed book dust and ashes from our faces, we gathered for the next trip: to the city Orzammar, present papers about an ancient alliance to the dwarves.

On a note: it makes sense to return to the Tower from time to time. For a very simple purpose: it looks like the Templar Quartermaster is the only merchant who doesn't run out of lyrium dust. And you will need tons of lyrium, especially if the main character is a mage...

On the pass in front of the gnome, a pleasant meeting with a team of "bounty hunters" was already prepared for us. The guys got serious - with a magician, with archers - and this battle was, as it were, no more difficult than all the battles in the Tower. But the spells of mass destruction did their job.

At the gate stood a guardian dwarf, moderately politely sending all visitors in azimuth. In addition to us, a certain Imrek, the messenger of Loghain, sought the right to enter! As it turned out, our paper is thicker than Imrek's, and the door was opened for us. Imrek ran into a fight; and whether I persuaded him or left him on the rock as a memento for the dwarves - guess for yourself.

Election Day

Level 20 Designer Quest: Is it possible to make a dwarven city that doesn't end up with Ironforge?

Well, the gnomes are honest guys: they are ready to recognize the treaty even now. Only here is one bad luck: who, you say, should fulfill the promise? How is it written on the paper? Dwarf King? Weird! And we have such an opportunity - just temporarily there is no king. For how long - we do not know, but enough for your lifetime ...

The old king has passed away, and dwarven laws do not allow a successor to be named immediately. Because the king appointed an heir, but the heir did not survive. And the youngest son Prince Belen never promised the throne. In such cases, the council chooses the king - but he cannot decide in any way, because Belen is opposed by the right hand of the late monarch, Lord Harrowmont.

The solution to the problem is obvious: in order for the treaty to be observed, it is necessary to achieve the coronation of any of the applicants. Who - you can choose to taste! The story is dark: Harrowmont claims that the king on his deathbed asked not to give the throne to Belen, and Belen claims that Harrowmont slandered him and urged his father to suspect him of who knows what.

The choice is complicated by the fact that we are not allowed to see either the prince or the lord until we prove our loyalty to their cause. Judging by what we saw in the city - the supporters of both have already gone over to stabbing - they have reason to do so!

Dealing with local politics, I examined both the Commons and Diamond (that is, the dwellings of the nobility) in order, and also scored a few additional tasks because my wallet rattled very plaintively.

For example, an old lady Filda asked to look for her son, missing in the Deep Roads; something told me that sooner or later I would be there anyway. Naga Trader(these are meat animals that are grown in caves) blew all his nagas and asked him to catch at least one on occasion - they come across there every now and then and do not run away, so it was a sure, albeit small profit. Wandering Preacher Berkel asked to put in a good word for him so that he would be allowed to open a church in Orzammar: the dwarves need it like a golem needs a bathing suit, but why not talk to the chronicler? All things - that he was allowed to preach. And finally, girl Dagna with funny red ponytails dreams of... studying at the Circle Tower. Why, if the gnomes are incapable of magic? Oh well, Irving after recent events will accept anyone you want, even a naga, so you can put in a word on occasion. More assignments can be found at hall of chronicles. We will do them later when it comes to trails.

Oh sport, you are the world!

After much hesitation, I chose Harrowmont: it takes damned good reasons for the loyal ruling house the dwarves did not want to give the inheritance to the son of the beloved king!

This is a spoiler: if our main character is noble dwarf, he, in principle, already guesses who is actually right. Both are not without sin, but it seems that Belen was involved in the death of the heir ... But the first task for Belen is simpler.

Three against four, one of the participants is a magician. Dwarfs have interesting ideas about an equal fight!

Let's start with the fighters - one of them is right in the central hall of the Arena, the other is in the side room. With the first, Bayzil, such bad luck came out - one of the fighters of Belen had compromising evidence on him. But the compromising evidence is hidden right here nearby, in the fighting rooms in the chest; you can hack it (moreover, going outside the Arena, it is not forbidden to change the team) and return the letters. Gwiddon you just have to lie that I heard from Harrowmont with my own ears - he is not going to cede the throne without a fight.

But this is only the beginning, and then the tournament itself. We have all seen such tournaments - at Westgate, for example; but the last fighter, a relative of Belen - Piotin Aeducan, the most dangerous opponent that I have come across so far on the way. Idleness, Uldred and other inhabitants of the Tower are children next to him; and you can’t enter the tournament with your proven team and hide behind Alistair’s shield. True, since I persuaded Baizil and Gwiddon, I nevertheless fought in three - against four warriors of Piotin.

I think the stands were hysterical from such a fight: I exhausted Piotin with a quick run. I drank a potion of speed at the very beginning of the fight in order to have time to run back, heal and wait for my abilities to recharge. There’s no other way: I don’t know what Piotin was fed in childhood, but his health is enough for three sumotori. Neither magic nor a blade is able to finish off such a block quickly, and his blows in three strokes will chop an elephant into dumplings. At the very beginning of the battle, I lit a glorious fire in the middle of the arena, and it helped - Piotin was not always smart enough to run around the fire. Apparently, the biceps sprouted into the skull.

But the main thing is that I still received the trust of Harrowmont, even despite such a not very valiant victory.

Alternative: if you choose Belen, then instead of a tournament, you will have to take two letters - to the lords, who seemed to have been deceived by Harrowmont. With one there is no problem, but the other - that is, the other - demands to find her father in the Deep Roads, having killed a bunch of Blight spawn. From now on, the questlines for Belen and Harrowmont are the same.

Visit to the godmother

Now it remains only to elevate my chosen one to the throne. On this score, he had two useful ideas.

The first idea: to show that he is able to maintain order in the city. And for this, find a local mafia " godmother», Jarvia, and tear off something she needs.

This is how the battle mage goes through the dungeons of the gnomes. Rune of repulsion on the door, inside - hell, blizzard, storm, or all of this at once. You can also add an earthquake so that they don’t shoot from behind the door. We ourselves stand at the door and poison jokes.

It is important: if you want to large earn, don't start this quest until you have 50 gold coins in your bag. Once you take the next step, you will come across a lyrium smuggler dwarf: he has cargo for the mage Godwin in the Circle Tower. By running back and forth, you will receive at least 10 gold; but if you have the persuasion skill, you can take 65 instead of 50 from Godwin, and 25 instead of 10 from the dwarf - a total of 40 gold net profit! But if you do not have that kind of money with you, the smuggler will immediately leave, and you will be left with nothing. As I already explained, you can try to deal with humans or elves before solving gnome problems - or do side quests. The main thing is not to go to Dust City.

Of course, Jarvia is not in the habit of leaving business cards with detailed addresses. Therefore, I went down to Dusty City, where wild non-caste gnomes live (they immediately tried to dismantle me for salvage, but could not cope). By the fire I found an aunt with a characteristic gnome name Hope: she explained that she needed to get a special “key” - a bone, which can be taken away from one of her fighters. For example, two steps from here there is a Slum Yard...

Having hung on the neck of the inhabitants of the courtyard, I received not only a bone, but also an indication of how to find the entrance to the dungeon. Again, I didn't have to go far.

Jarvia's dungeon was long, but unpretentious - a serious fight was expected only at the very end, with Jarvia. On the way, I looked into a corner of the prison and took the keys from the local jailer.

On a note: a dwarf of a simple kind is especially advised not to miss the chance to open cages with captives.

Jarvia herself is dangerous, but not too resistant to magic, and therefore was easily entangled in traps and an earthquake (which Wynn had mastered by that time) while we were getting rid of her retinue. Alone, she could do little to oppose us. And the key in her pocket led us through a secret door... to a weapons shop, where a frightened merchant promised a big discount for the future.

Firestarter

Here is the second idea: although, it would seem, the votes on the council should already be in favor of our candidate, but this is all complicated and doubtful. What if we went to the Deep Roads and found there a long-lost Ultimate named Branca, her voice could decide everything at once.

- Hey, open your eyes! The gray guard is going to look for your Perfect One! Or should I unscrew your stinking head?

“Oghren wants to say we have permission.

Perfect is such a rare title for a dwarf who invented or did something exceptional: for this he during life are reckoned among the ancestors. Really, only a dwarf can come up with such a reward! But it also has a practical meaning: the Perfect One and his family become a new noble family, and this is the only way to form them.

In truth, whoever you ask about Branca, at best, they all politely twist their fingers to their temples. Why the hell are you looking for an aunt, albeit thrice Perfect, who fled to the Deep Roads (from where very few people returned alive) a few years ago ?! As one scientist from another world said: “When people do not return from New Zealand for more than a year, it means that people have died irrevocably.” Moreover, she went not for any reason, but to search for the semi-mythical Anvil of the Void. All the inhabitants of Orzammar, whether common folk or noble, speak of Branca exclusively in the past tense. It is not even clear what makes the pretender to the throne think differently about her...

However, there is one dwarf who not only believes that Branca can be alive, but also dreams of finding her! He has special reasons for this: this is ... the husband of the Perfect One, named Oghren.

A wonderful personality - the most charming type of our entire cabinet of curiosities (maybe only Morrigan is inferior). This drunkard, brawler and buzzer always "has a few words in reserve", and these words could in no way be heard at an official reception. He rejoices like a child when we decide to stop talking and punch some sassy guy in the neck. He never loses his presence of mind and makes funny faces.

Well, as a fighter, he is a warrior with a berserk specialization, a lover of two-handed axes, decently armed from the very beginning and in very good armor (although the helmet, you see, was drunk somewhere). Deals very good damage and at the same time quite tenacious. She and Stan share a niche, but Oghren is better and a lot more fun.

And it's easy to please him with gifts. Perhaps you have already wondered for whom the gift drink found in different nooks and crannies is stored in your luggage? So here it is! Ogren, like a real connoisseur, will appreciate vintage wine and will not refuse simple ale either. The sympathy for you of this brave warrior is directly proportional to the degree in his blood. And if your hero is a warrior, then you can learn berserk talents from Oghren.

To further cheer him up, you should ask him questions - about how life is in Orzammar, how he likes it on the surface, and so on. Ladies can try to flirt with him, although you should not count on romance, but it will be fun. And what will he do if you pass Orzammar before the Circle and go with him to the Tower...

The first section of the caves - caridina junction- doesn't pose much of a problem. It can be passed in two ways: the bridge is collapsed, but there are two tunnels through the rock, one to the left, the other to the right. On the right (this move is closer) are genlocks and harlocks, on the left are screamers who hide and ambush, but are themselves very flimsy. Both roads lead to a large darkspawn camp with a tame bronto; behind this camp is the road to the next site, Ortan teigu.

Rook: "All of you grounders are alone
Nakovs are thieves and thugs!
I found it first!

Teig at home Ortan- a tangled corridor that does not have a single branch, so it is impossible to fly past. Along the way, we met the local Gollum - a dwarf named Rook, a collector of all kinds of rubbish, already pretty mournful in mind. This is the missing son of mother Filda ... Maybe it's better to tell her that her son is dead? It's kind of more merciful...

Shortly after the Hand, a battle awaits us on the bridge - on both sides of it are fair groups of darkspawn. But the bridge is good because it is easy to block it with spells, and then fry everything that is left on the other side.

But at the end of the path - where Branca's journal lies in a round cave, and bunches of cocoons hang from the ceiling - there will be a much more serious opponent - spider queen. This creature calls on spiders to help itself, and when things go tight for it, it disappears and appears in another part of the cave. You can try to pull it out into the corridor, then things will go easier, and when it disappears, you will be able to restore a little mana.

Next station - Dead ditches.

And again - the battle on the bridge: Legion of the Dead under the leadership of Cardol, repels the attack of hurlocks and genlocks.

It is interesting: The Legion of the Dead is almost a copy of the Slayers community from Warhammer Fantasy. In both cases, these are dwarves who have abandoned normal life due to some circumstances and are looking for a glorious death in battle. But in appearance, the classic slayer's look more like Oghren than the warrior Kardol.

We need to take part... First, we repelled the onslaught together with the legionnaires (and the magicians did it because of their backs), then someone alone ran to “hook out” new detachments, and finally they crossed the bridge and cleared the entire brigade. At the end, a very unpleasant surprise awaited us: a huge hall, along the edges of it - two columns of shooters, and two ogres stepping down the stairs! And if the shooters could still be entangled in the mud or knocked down by an earthquake (and then roasted with mass spells), then the ogres had to be beaten by hand, and it was long, painful and dirty.

Oghren gets so carried away in combat that he swings his giant two-handed
an ax with one hand!

It is important: you can try to convince Cardol that the Legion should join you during the last battle. You will not regret!

From this hall, a side fork in the north leads to another platform with a fragment of a bridge over the lava. Having killed the hurlocks, we carefully searched all the side rooms here: almost a complete set of legionary armor was found on the sarcophagi! And it is made, by the way, from dragon bone. In the north room - boots, in the south - gloves; going further, we ran into a hurlock summoning skeletons - a helmet was found in this room, and the main part of the armor was further away, in the legionnaires' temple. In each room with sarcophagi there were rune plates, from which we learned more and more details about the exciting life of the Legion of the Dead. And in the end, they collected enough data to try to give the Legion the rights of a noble house ...

The third bridge in these dungeons - and again the battle, although it seemed empty. The cursed screamers hide and come out only when they can surround the entire squad (or what they consider the entire squad: this is when a lone but heavily armored kamikaze calls screamers and fireballs on itself).

On a note: do not forget that the H key allows you to order the unit not to follow the leader.

Continuing our journey - there are no alternatives - we met a badly damaged gnome Gespit. She shouted to us that Branca had betrayed them all, as well as some other obscene things, and fled. The evening definitely ceased to be languid: the whole area is covered with some kind of growths like giblets, a disgusting stench from every corner ...

We got out to the platform in front of the lava, opened the temple of the legionnaires and found the key to the next door there. And behind her...

A hefty creature of obscene appearance turned out to be a queen of genlocks: and do not ask how she makes them from dwarves. I hope I don't find out until the end of my days.

But how to destroy such creatures - I'll tell you. This should be done slowly and with pleasure, well stocked with lyrium drinks. By itself, the uterus, firstly, is motionless (and will not crawl away from the areal charms), and secondly, it is very moderately dangerous. Tentacles bite painfully and genlocks with screamers are summoned from time to time; and it is difficult to figure out how many health tentacles have. First of all, it is the tentacles that must be beaten, which separated from the uterus and crawled out in another part of the hall (except for the very edge, where they are not dangerous). Area spells are not very effective against them; it is best, oddly enough, to chop them with weapons. At the same time, save energy and expensive melee techniques - to bring them down on the uterus as soon as the tentacles are defeated.

On a note: if suddenly you have a shortage of potions - it may be worth spending time and replenishing the supply, because there will be no such chance in the last section of the dungeon.

Perfect Branca.

And finally, a joyful meeting with Branca at the very Anvils of the Nether. She greeted us... and locked the doors so we couldn't go anywhere else. That's because Branca had a little trouble with the Anvil...

Well; let's go through.

The first chamber of the Anvil chambers was filled with a warm, friendly atmosphere of chlorine laced with a touch of phosgene, green joy hissing from the pipes as our crew were turned into the chopping fists of a stone golem. But, fortunately, the valves were in the same hall, and they were quickly closed.

Hall number two - with golems attacking in pairs (except for the first two, which - to lull vigilance - are made inactive). And the golem launch point is equipped with traps (with a robber in the team, everything is a little easier).

Room number three is with the Apparatus of Spirits: this is a huge construction that calls on spirits. The idea is to attack only one of them with all your strength, and then quickly activate the anvil that glows next to it. This operation had to be done eight times - until finally the perfume ran out.

It is interesting: the official translator made a moonshine out of the Apparatus of Spirits. With which we heartily congratulate him.

That which hangs over the platform is the Apparatus. Alas, he does not exhale
not overkill.

And here is the last room. In it, we found ... two whole Perfect: Branca, already familiar to us, and ancient, like these dungeons, Caridin, who turned into a golem.

Karidin, in simple human language, described to us that he once invented golems - but these automata, alas, need the soul of a dwarf as one of the components. He used volunteers who were revered as heroes ... then they began to use the condemned ... then opponents of the ruling king ... and then Caridin himself.

Karidin begged to destroy the Anvil, Branca - to give the artifact to her. As I did, guess for yourself ...

It is important: you will have to fight one or the other in any case, but keep in mind: Branca promises to put his golems in the last battle with Pestilence, Karidin cannot promise anything like that. Although any of them is able to forge a crown for your chosen one. Are you ready to take responsibility for what golems will continue to create? Note also that Branca's support will greatly upset all decent people in your team (Alistera, Wynn, Leliana), and Karidin's support will upset Oghren.

Having finally written down for memory (and for transmission to the chroniclers) a list of golem volunteers on a board not far from the Anvil, I returned to Orzammar, and my path was not joyful ...

The third test was not required: the newly proclaimed king (after his rival started a knife fight right in the Council hall and finally lost the opportunity to claim anything) gave us the word to send his warriors to battle. And we went for the support of the next ruler.

House of Lords

Don't hurt your soul. Let her go!

Only the enemy would try to keep him

For the torture of life.

W. Shakespeare, "King Lear"

It's time to visit in his castle Earl Eamon. As we have been told more than once, the earl is ill and does not get out of bed; and something told us that he was not suffering from a sore throat.

Along the way, there was a significant meeting with the assassin sent by Loghain: unfortunately for the "king", the Antivan raven Zevran somewhat overestimated his strength. And after that, the poor fellow had no choice but to ... join me.

An elf-robber directed behind your head - but he is not at all averse to working for you, especially since this is his chance not to part with his ears due to a failed assassination attempt. He knows how to disguise himself perfectly, skillfully uses poison and expertly cuts neat round holes in the back: his specialty is the killer.

By the way, this specialty is also good in another way - it increases the damage dealt by the whole team. In a word, in battle he surpasses Leliana, and there are no other robbers in the game.

But he has no mutual understanding with locks. That is, he does not know how! You can learn a little, of course, but usually you expect from a robber that he will bring additional money by hacking, but here ...

Being a cold professional, he is indifferent to most gifts - except for simple and understandable precious metal bars, as well as professional equipment.

If tomorrow is war

And then there's Radcliffe. But not yet a castle, but a village attached to it. The peaceful pastoral settlement bristled with palisades and barricades, and the inhabitants crowd into the church - some are hiding, and some are just ordering their own waste. No one plans to live until tomorrow morning.

- It remains only to help the villagers to remove the cats from the trees! (Morrigan)

What's the matter? And it's very simple: every night a horde of undead is declared to the faithful subjects from the castle of Redcliffe. Once recaptured, twice recaptured, but today they will not be recaptured. Unless, of course, we can help.

I had to take over the leadership of the defense (until now, it was mediocrely led by the younger brother of the earl, bann tegan). And that's what happened in the first hour in the village...

The blacksmith categorically does not want to forge, because no one wants to rescue his daughter from the castle. Well, we promise to help, but for now, let him forge, you scoundrel! (Morrigan was unpleasantly surprised by such gentleness.)

Even in the city, as the captain informs us, there is a veteran dwarf who does not want to fight. Well, let's agree...

It is important: if you do not agree and go to the swords, this operation will be credited to you not as a plus, but as a minus.

Searching the empty village shop, I found casks of oil; reported them to the unsuspecting Sir Perth, the commander of the knights, so that his people make burning barricades. The knights of Sir Perth are afraid of the undead and want amulets from the church, which the Reverend Mother refused them; I persuaded them to give at least some kind of amulets, otherwise everything good will run away from fear.

To raise the morale of the militia, I convincingly asked the innkeeper to pour beer for everyone at the expense of the establishment; and in the same tavern I saw a suspicious elf, about whom the waitress said that he was waiting for his brother here. After a thorough interrogation, it turned out that we were dealing with Loghain's spy - and from everything you can see that the Earl's illness could not have done without "our little king", as I call him.

I also casually took the Blackstone Volunteer agenda to recruit Garrison (in the house near the mill), took new assignments from the chest next to the church, and (which again angered Morrigan) promised the upset girl in the temple to look for the missing child.

Surprisingly, this good deed has borne fruit. The child was found at home, in the closet, and told about the wonderful grandfather's sword - which was given to us to protect the village. The sword, oddly enough, really turned out to be good.

It is interesting: if you don't have enough charm to coax your baby out, it doesn't have to be drastic. It is enough to include Winn in the group. As she barks in her best teaching voice: “Come on, get out, young man!” So he pops out like a cork from a bottle.

And now, when all the preparations are completed, we go to Sir Perth and ask him to start the dark time of the day.

Evil Dead

The night fight with the undead consisted of two parts.

To easily win a fight with the undead, it is worth taking a position
position marked with a cross.

At first we defended the flaming barricade in front of the mill. This case is quite simple, because the undead were pouring in a crowd along a narrow corridor, representing an excellent target for everything that hits the squares. Not like the knights of Sir Perth, but even Alistair hardly had to work.

Even in the darkness of the night, you can see the undead marching across the bridge from the castle.

But when the ghouls came to the village from below, the most interesting thing began...

On a note: if he manages to win the battle without casualties among the local militias, Bann Teagan will appreciate it especially.

The undead come from two directions and in small groups, so burning them with Gehenna will not save up enough mana. However, if you look closely, you can see a funny fact: the ghouls, having run from the river, first look at the central square, spin around there for a couple of seconds - and then they are already looking for a victim! Therefore, there is an easy way to win (although “without victims” this will not work): stand at the square itself, but outside the barricades, and as it arrives, lock the nearest exit from the barricades, and burn the square itself, burn and burn again.

Flowers of life

After the battle, without even changing clothes, we hurried to the castle. As it turned out, Bann Tegan and Sir Perth knew very well the secret passage there, but ... decided not to please us with this news for the time being, so that we could help fight back.

Anyway. It's worse that you don't understand where it came from Isolde, the wife of Earl Eamon, and demanded that Tegan go with her - from the main entrance. Well, we'll manage alone, I decided, and led my group through the dungeon.

A secret passage led straight to the castle prison; and there just languished an old acquaintance of many magicians - someone Jovan, caught in his time in the practice of blood magic and escaped from the court of the Tower.

Jovan immediately confessed: it was he who poisoned the earl. And also ... taught the earl's son, Connor, of magic. A normal magician, not an apostate, would demand Connor into the Circle, because that is the law, and would deprive him of the right to inherit ...

Yes, but Jovan did not call the undead! Well, how can you not believe?

We could have easily... but decided to postpone irreversible conclusions. On reflection, I left him in the cell, where it is warm and flies do not bite. Although some of my companions were not too pleased with this.

I went through the lower floor of the castle through and through (in the extreme northeast corner I found the blacksmith's daughter) and through the southeast corner I went out into the courtyard, where I opened the gate to Sir Perth and his people. Having scattered the undead on the steps of the castle, we entered... and saw what strange entertainments the earl's son indulges in.

After that, an eight-year-old child coolly ordered Bann Tegan, his uncle, to kill us ... and he tried to the best of his ability. Fortunately, neither for him nor for us it ended fatally.

Connor escaped, and we had to decide what to do. The boy, having learned the basics of magic, tried to help his father - to save his life by agreeing with the demon. Well, the demon fulfilled its part of the contract: Eamon is alive (and no one promised recovery). Well, the boy is possessed by a demon...

What to do now? Can the earl's son be saved? Deciding that whoever confuses, let him unravel, we ordered Jovan to be brought here. He could offer only one thing: a blood magic ritual, with which you can find a demon in the Fade and kill him there. True, this requires a sacrifice ... but there is a volunteer.

It is important: if Jovan is killed or expelled from the castle, we will have to kill the demon right in his current body.

Well... maybe many (Aleister, for example) will condemn me, but I decided to follow Jovan's idea. The fighting was not too hard; and the demon himself has already offered me a deal - for the fact that I will not expel him forever (he will return after the war), I can get blood magic, or an additional ability, or something else of value ... And, characteristically, no one will know about it ... Do you think it was a test of honesty? And I'm not sure...

It is interesting: to enter the Shadow, you need a magician. But if your hero is of a different class, Wynn or Morrigan can do it. The only case of its kind when one of the companions performs the task without you!

And now the soul of Connor is free, the castle of Radcliffe is also free, in it the living dead no longer dance on coffins; but Earl Eamon did not get any healthier from this. And no healer can help. What to do? Unless to look for a holy relic - an urn with the ashes of the great Andraste.

It is important: on the table from the earl, you can pick up the amulet of Alistair's mother (and give it to Alistair, of course). It's worth doing, because no matter how you solve the problem with Connor and Iseult, Alistair will most likely be furious with the result, and it is almost impossible to convince him of the correct choice. So at least you mitigate the consequences ...

Looking for an urn

From the very beginning, we had one tip: to find in the capital, Denerim, brother Genitivi, who devoted a lot of time to searching for the urn and, possibly, attacked the trail.

But, to tell the truth, we were in no hurry to Denerim. Perhaps they did not feel ready for exploits. Or maybe they just succumbed to the charm of a huge city with a lot of wonderful establishments and an abundance of opportunities...

Savor

The appearance on the streets of the gray guard caused a sensation. They began to actively contact us ... with orders.

Hunting for city gangs.

For example, officer of the guard, a fair loafer, was hindered by the abundance of mercenaries in the city, who do not care about anything city guard. Either they play tricks in a brothel, or they make too much noise (!) In a tavern ... And we were offered to calm down the mercenaries for a small reward. And sometimes, even if we managed to persuade them, after that, in some dark nook and cranny, an ambush awaited us. However, who counted those mercenaries?

Dealer Ignazio he doesn’t sell anything, but if you talk to him, then after a while a boy comes running with a letter and offers to meet in the back room of the tavern. It turns out that Mr. Ignazio represents ... Antivan crows. If you remember, this is a community of assassins. Wouldn't you like to order? Ignazio has special conditions for us: if we do not like the contract, we can not fulfill it. In general, we are only paid to inform Ignazio if a client suddenly dies. As you can see, everything is legal...

By the way, the first client is someone Pedan- does very interesting things: keeps a trap for those who sympathize with the gray guards. So maybe let's notify Ignazio of his death? It is not difficult to do this: on the wall next to the entrance to the elvenage there is its proclamation, from which you can find out the "secret password" to the trap. And Pedan himself lodges in the Zhemchuzhina brothel, where we have other assignments.

There is also a set of unseemly proposals innkeeper, it is not difficult to unwind it. Only some tasks ... really very small and indecent. Blackmail, hiding corpses...

It is important: if your hero is a rogue, he can get the duelist specialty in Denerim. To do this, contact the swordswoman Isabella in the same tavern "Bitten Nobleman".

There are also respectable tasks - according to the good old tradition, they hang on the bulletin board near the temple. For example, kill bandit gangs in the city. By the way, one of the gangs managed to kill the templar; he gave us his last will- Destroy the coven of blood mages right in Denerim.

But the old knight next to the tavern found another thing for us: he calls to a duel because the gray guards killed the king. You can convince, but ... almost useless. The best defense guards, alas, to accept the challenge.

But Alistair found the most unexpected thing in the city: it turned out that his sister lives in the city, Goldanna. Alas, the sister does not care about her brother, and Alistair was extremely disappointed by the visit...

It is important: if, after a conversation with his sister, you tell Alistair that, they say, everything is fine - every man for himself, then Alistair will greatly change his character. It will become tougher, get rid of the beautiful soul ... and become much less attractive, but more manageable. You decide...

For the Grail

Fire against such a creature, as one would expect, is not very effective. But the spell "Stinging Swarm" and poisons work fine.

The roof of the old temple has sagged, there are snowdrifts on the floor, but this is not a reason to desecrate it!

And brother Genitivi, for whom we came to Denerim, is not there. Instead, some student answers ... and he twists something, the bastard. Of course, you can go to that Kudykina mountain where he is trying to send us, but maybe it’s better to put pressure on him?

Alas, the pressure of the poor fellow could not stand it. But Brother Genitivi's diary gave us the answer to the question, and we are going to a snuffy village asylum in frosty mountains.

A strange people inhabit this village. We are not welcome from the very beginning, but that would be fine; for some reason, a peasant preaches in the church, although everyone knows that only women serve in our church; and, when we are trying to figure out what's what, all the parishioners suddenly take out their weapons. They are wild...

From the body of Eirik's father, I removed the amulet with strange signs. And in the side room I found a prisoner - that same Genitivi. Who explained that the medallion of the holy father is the key to the destroyed temple...

In the temple, Brother Genitivi stayed at the entrance to study, while we had to clear it of sectarians. In turn - first, residential cells in the west, then a warehouse in the east, and then the main, northern, room. The keys are in that order.

Our remorse over the murder of the holy father disappeared immediately when we saw that his flock did not disdain to make friends with the spirits of dust - disgusting creatures, I will tell you, and they are very good at hiding in the floor.

You can go into a small gazebo and, blowing a horn, summon a dragon. There will be a lot of prey ... And you can safely pass by.

And behind the temple caves began, full of young dragons and older dragons; I carefully removed the scales from the latter, because the Denerim blacksmith dreamed of experimenting with unusual material.

Incubator? Temple? Breakfast table?

The battle in the hall was especially difficult, where a sectarian overseer stood on a huge pedestal to the left. If we, as usual, rushed to him to figure out close combat, we would be surrounded on all sides by reptiles; however, as long as the cultist is only being fired upon, the dragons don't worry. Dealing with them and the overseer separately is much more pleasant!

And finally, the head of all sectarians - Father Kolgrim. He explained to us that the cult of the Urn with the Sacred Ashes is outdated: after all, Andraste has already been reborn, and they serve her - a giant dragon. And the urn should be finally... desecrated, filled with dragon's blood. And if we agree to this, then he will keep the dragon from attacking us...

True, something in this proposal seemed insincere to us. And we just passed through Kolgrim... ignoring his resistance and removing his horn from his body.

Oddly enough, the dragon did not attack anyway - it flew over us and went to its lair to rest.

Trial

In order to get closer to the Urn, you need to pass a test - a certain Guardian informs us about this, a bearded man in shining armor, subtly resembling the late Kolgrim. But this is far from Kolgrim, and he can even tell us what he was wrong about ...

This is a bug: in the official translation, the poor fellow Guardian sometimes forgets what gender he is, and begins to talk about himself in the feminine gender.

And now the test, which should prove the purity of our intentions...

It seems that our appearance did not bring the slightest joy to the Guardian ...

The urn impressed even the cynical Morrigan.

Part one of the test - eight riddles from ghosts, with multiple answers. There are few difficulties there, but for future pilgrims I will list the answers: Brona - dreams, Shartan - home, General Maferat - jealousy, Archon Hessarian - compassion, Katair - hunger, Gavard - mountains, Vasily - revenge, and the lady who received the tender name Elisha in translation , is a melody.

After talking with the ghost of the past (everyone probably has his own), a fight awaited me - one of the strangest in the game: a fight with the ghosts of our squad. Among them were the second me, and Morrigan, and the rest ... They knew all the same tricks and spells - but, of course, they did not guess that in battle it was necessary to first eliminate the healer, and then the battle mage, and this killed them.

The third test is a puzzle: there are six tiles on the left and right sides of the pool, and by standing on them, you can create ghosts of the bridge. It is necessary to combine the ghosts so that they become dense. The team stands on the tiles, and the leader tries to cross the bridge; with each step you need to move one person. The sequence here is this (we count the tiles from the starting point):

1 right, 3 left, 2 right.

We step on the first square of the bridge.

3 left, 2 right, 6 left.

We step to the second cell of the bridge.

2 right, 6 left, 4 right.

6 left, 4 right, 1 left.

We step on the third cell of the bridge.

4 right, 1 left, 5 right.

1 left, 5 right, 5 left.

The bridge has been passed.

And the last test - agreeing with the "offer" of the altar, take off your clothes and go through the fire. And here we have an Urn with Ashes...

A pinch of dust healed Earl Eamon. However, he is not yet ready to drop Loghain; and we went to persuade the last ally - the elves, which we will tell you about after a while.