After having spent many hours advancing my Warrior character to level 10 in Dragon Age: Origins, it was only then did I realize I had missed a significant amount of the pre-origin quest and messed up my character’s upgrade path to boot.
I think I’m going to have to start over!
Is it really necessary to start over?
I’d say, yes. I’m not a newbie to these kinds of games but my party is getting really worked over by almost every foe I meet and it’s fast becoming an incredibly frustrating experience.
This is on just Normal difficulty, so it’s obvious I’m not doing something right. I think I’m going to have to spend even more time reading up on strategy guides and community forum postings.
I need to put more thought and planning to the skills/paths upgrade path since levels are hard fought in this game. I’ve been cherry picking skills here and there based on what they could do for me in the present when I should be considering things like:
Party composition. I could be duplicating skills better served by other party members.
There’s no “I” in “team”. I don’t seem to be complimenting my character’s skill set with that of my party members’ to maximize damage and increase survivability. I could be in the mindset of building a “lone wolf” player character (which doesn’t survive long in this game) without realizing it.
Use anything that you’ve got. I’ve been a bit overwhelmed by a lot of loot that I’ve found so I’ve largely been ignoring things like rune enchantments which can augment damage, and the use of “grenades” (flasks of flammable oils, acids etc…). Every little bit helps so I should maximize the use of what I have, all the time. This includes skills like Trap Creation/Setting.
I have to choose my gear more carefully as well. I’ve just been slapping any bit of kit onto my character, as long as it’s more powerful or more armoured than what she had but I haven’t been paying much attention to things like Fatigue, which can exact a hefty penalty!
I Jumped In And Started Playing
But DA:O isn’t exactly conducive to that sort of casual experimental game play. You definitely have to think more strategically and with more foresight right from the very beginning because there isn’t always an opportunity to re-tread certain areas without a re-load due to the game’s structure being integrated tightly with the storytelling element. I.e. Sub-quest paths are closed as governed by the story.
Re-roll and Replay
Luckily I had create a Mage character that I hadn’t loaded up since I rolled my Warrior character. That had given me the opportunity to see what I’ve missed and a chance to approach character leveling properly.
So now I’m going to re-roll my Warrior and start from fresh. I’m also going to create a roster of new characters, each of different origin stories and classes and have them progress in step so I can apply what I learn to each play-through.
DA:O is a very comprehensive game and I’m finding that one’s approach must also be just as comprehensive for the best game play experience.
