mothra on 7/1/2010 at 12:28
thx for the quick replies. Flemeth aint that hard I think, I got her down to 20%health before all died once (just tried again), i was just too lazy and tried it with me (mage without healing), alistair (tank), zefran (high damage low const) and shale (he's the one to die last because of his high const). regarding the ranged <-> run back and forth just don't work here because the arena is 10x20meters and EVERY attack of flemeth connects because there's no "out of range" there. I can't see how this should work. always the same: scream stuns everbody + 2 fireballs and ALL are dead. I even got aggro for everybody except Zefran and myself (mage) and STILL I always get attacked first by any enemy......frustrating
but what about "andraste" ? I can't do any of the tactics you suggested because everytime he/she/it lands on the ground everboyd gets knocked down (even shale) and then he just burns everybody. instant death. no chance. 7 reloads, no change.
how do I get "knockback" immune and I did not find any significant fire-resistant armor. But I got the dragon scales and will check out denerim. Since I'm already past the Grimoire quest I can't get to flemeth anymore but I could still go back for Andraste which I want to later. I assume the dragon scales with me as well (stupid concept) ?
Dresden on 7/1/2010 at 12:53
Well for Flemmath, if your warrior has that aggro drawing yell skill, use that and keep her on that hill she starts on and facing away from your party. The rest should be south of the hill with range attacks. As for Andraste, I'm pretty sure that dragon lands in the same place every time.
mothra on 7/1/2010 at 14:19
hmm, i sounded the horn on two different locations and he/it/she always landed ontop of us. which would make sense 'cause it gets drawn to the horn. if I used it farther away, it just didn't "work" or "sound".......
any tips for "no" knockback.....???
Dresden on 7/1/2010 at 15:17
Try having your tank doing the horn sounding and have your other 3 far away? That might work.
mothra on 7/1/2010 at 15:35
I'll try. since I assume the dragon scales as well I can do it anytime I like. The urn quest is done, I assume "Andraste" is only a bonus for XP or loot, after another 15 hour session over 3 days I'm fed up again with it and will continue playing my 4th risen playthrough which is instark contrast to DA:O. I like both styles of PRG but Risen is the clear winner in overall quality here. Ferelden feels like a linear corridor of small interconnected rooms with a few throne rooms here and there (in- and outdoors) while Risen's Island is exactly what it is: an Island, fully realized fauna and flora, a great sense of place, and the right atmosphere no matter at which time of day you get there. DA:O has to make up for its lack of design, quality and atmosphere (ugly engine) with quantity, with many NPCs and books talking endlessly about the history of so and so while you stand in the place described and actually cannot "feel/get" anyhing of it.
But don't get me wrong, it's 2 totally different styles/philosophies behind it and I'm glad we get 2 so different games in one year, it's only that like always Bioware went the boring, the predictable, the uninspired way. After this and Fallout3 MassEffect has grown in my appreciation and ME2 could actually be THE rpg from bioware to redeem years of mediocrity and a badly designed MMO-style DA that SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE BALDUR's GATE Heir.....hahahaha
Stitch on 7/1/2010 at 16:09
My advice: come back later. I knocked out both dragons in one night but I waited until I was in my mid-teens. Additionally, I didn't have any special flame-resistant armor but I did grease everyone up in those anti-fire salves.
Also: I didn't pre-order or pay for any special edition horseshit and yet I received Shale and his accompanying mission as free downloadable content. I'm not the biggest fan of DLC in general but I don't really understand your rage in this particular case (also: not that it really matters, but I understand that Shale was originally cut from the full game because of pathfinding issues, and they were able to fix him and add him later due to the eleventh hour flexibility of DLC).
I'm almost done with the game--I thought I was going to beat it last night but I had underestimated Bioware's ability to throw three maps at you where one would do--and this is flat-out the best RPG I've ever played in regard to story or character development (yes, including Torment*). Dragon Age has its issues--it can be ugly, sections are a bit of a slog, and maps lack the immersion of a game like Risen--but I've never felt quite this emotionally involved in the twists and turns of a game. Other RPGs may be more unique or inspired (yes, including Torment) and some non-RPGs have pulled off stories of this caliber or better, but Dragon Age is truly interactive in a way that heavily scripted action or adventure games aren't, and your actions and decisions have real emotional consequence.
Dragon Age forces you to make difficult decisions and then follows them through to their logical conclusions. My character has been attempting to do right and has managed to (warning: SERIOUS SPOILERS) painfully lose his best friend (Alistair) and then discover that the woman he loves is going to leave him whether he agrees to knock her up with a demon baby or not. I could replay some of these scenes to try to manipulate a different outcome, but I haven't because it just didn't feel right, and that is, perhaps, the best compliment I can truly give the game.
*but possibly not Arcanum or Bloodlines, neither of which I've played
Jason Moyer on 7/1/2010 at 16:16
I was pretty impressed with how often following the "good" path in a conversation/questline ended up making me feel like an asshole.
mothra on 7/1/2010 at 18:14
[SPOILER]well, i decided to leave morrigan out (i play with alistair, zevran and shale) of my playthrough since she's just annoying. and I thought after earl amon declared alistair as a good choice for king: hey, he's gonna be the next assassination target with me deciding for him or for some other thing I desperately need for a quest. [/SPOILER]well, for me all the so-called "hard" choices were somewhat predictable or stale in their outcome. the "edgy" story of the races feel put-on for show, not for depth. I am playing Miss Goodie-Two-Shoes Mage in the very hope that Bioware took the "let's surprise everybody and make the goodie-two-shoes path totally shoking, you know, because it's dark fantasy and hardcore and shit" and like you said it seems I'm right. or: the dwarfen noble origin had me guessing the asshole in the first scene but the game flat-out refused to aknowledge my mistrust and gave me no lines for it so it could play out like it did. that somehow made me frustrated although I should not have been, it's the origin and I already guessed it will be linear. What I did do is play through all permutations of the redcliffe/magi/urn story and the different outcomes were....not that different. you still end up with the same thing and nothing major happenes which couldn't be fixed with the right 3 gifts at the party camp. the things you liked about DA are the ones I like too: the party dynamics and brilliant dialogues. but the moment it's about "the plot" it gets sooooooooo old with a long grey beard....the moment the camera switches from a brilliant line of shale/alistair to the generic MMO backgrounds I'm back in the 16bit-dungeon-generator valley. the - for me - extremely uninspired maps and repetetive enemies do the rest. Redcliffe: 6x 4 enemies - switch position - 6x 4 and 5x3 enemies - that's Bioware's idea of a good fight. I say: boooooring. For the "world" they have 3 templates: cave, house, woods which get copy/pasted all over the place with only the major cities having a "certain" style but their architecture a permutation of above 3 templates. standing in orzammar and looking at a 32x32 pixel lava stream doesn't help either with immersion.
I'm not the one to complain about graphics - I still play Arx now and then - but the design is uninspired. some games when you close your eyes thinking about them you see the coolest areas and characters of it but when I do this for DragonAge I only hear the words the characters spoke.
all in all still a good game, enormous in scope but repetetive in its combat. I'm somewhat pleased and bored at the same time but I sure will finish it.....someday.....after ME2 I think :)
Ostriig on 7/1/2010 at 18:40
Quote Posted by mothra
how do I get "knockback" immune and I did not find any significant fire-resistant armor.
Develop a warrior with Shield Wall and Shield Expertise, the latter will make the former skill give you immunity to direct knockdown attacks. Then have the warrior tank
"Andraste" with Shield Wall and Threaten enabled (could be good to have Taunt as well, just in case, but I didn't need it on Easy), and move the healer(s) and any other squishies farther away. Also note that if you have a melee damager, it's best to constantly reposition them along the side of the
dragon, where they don't risk a lot of knockbacks/knockdowns or being grabbed, unlike at the front or back, while the tank holds the attention in the front. You'll definitely need a dedicated healer, and it would be very useful to have another character in the party who can cast a Heal if needed
(like when the dragon grabs your tank and starts thrashing it about).
If you want a fire resistant armour for your tank, the (
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Juggernaut_Armor) Juggernaut Set can be obtained with some effort from the Brecillian Forest (you'll need to go through the main quest areas, too).
mothra on 7/1/2010 at 18:47
well, seems I'm still too early in the plot for "andraste", I'm level 11 and have 32% completed. thanks for the tips. I think I have alistair almost at shield expertise, I will invest in it next time. and healer, well, I only have wynne and I don't like the old hag so I fear she will be too low-level once I return (or do all party members scale with you, even when they are not in a fight ?).
