Kitrax's 2nd runthrough.... (spoilers hidden)

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Yep, I'm just about ready to give DAO a second go. (Hey, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it. )

Wait....let's try that again.

I'm currently in the final battle scene of my current game, and I'm already thinking of what to do next. I'm not big on revolving NPC's, so what I have in mind for this next run is this:

PC - Male elven mage --> going to an Arcane Warrior ASAP.
Alistair - Templar --> Champion ASAP
Leliana - Rogue --> Dualist or Assassin (haven't decided yet)
Morrigan or Wynne. I'd prefer to take Morrigan over Wynne, but I'd have to convert her to a healer to keep her in the party indefinitely. Hell, I just might make her an AW too since they're just so f***ing awesome!


So here come the questions:

#1 - where do I learn to be Champion? My current PC has had it for quite some time, I just forgot where I learned it.

#2 - I know where/how to learn how to be a dualist, but do you...

Spoiler

Have to play nice with Zevran to learn it, or is there a much less annoying way to learn to be an assassin?

#3 - IIRC there's a tome you can buy to learn how to be a healer, but I forgot where and how much it was. Is there an alternative way of learning it....say, for free?

#4 - What mods should I try out? I already have Shale, Warden's Keep, and the Blood Dragon gear...I still need to get RtO. Any non-BioWare mods worth trying?

#5 - How do I....

Spoiler

Make Alistair stop whining like a little B**** and WANT to be king? Is there a way to make him want to be king *and* want to hook up with Queen Whatsherface?

Now, I'm going to be bouncing all over the place in the beginning to get my party to the classes I want them at...so Redcliffe and the UoSA quests will be of the highest priority. But after that, which order of "treaty" quests would you suggest I take?

 

Oops! Yes, I did mean assassin. Fixed.

Oh really?

Probelm is, I never learned how to be an assassin in my current game, so I would have to learn it.

 

It's silly, but that's the way it works. In a second playthrough you don't have to bother about the specializations you've already unlocked.

In any case Champion is unlocked after completing Redcliffe, Duelist can be unlocked with Isabella in the Pearl and Zevran unlocks the Assassin specialization.

You don't need to waste money on tomes. Here's what you should do: first save your game, buy the tome and unlock the specialization, load your save. Since specializations stay unlocked in any subsequent game then this trick will save you some gold.

Return to Ostagar is not that spectacular. If you intend to replay the game a few more times then it's ok but if you don't plan on more than a second playthrough it may not be worth it as it is a rather straightforward dungeon crawl (with some cool items and a few cutscenes). Note that Alistair, Wynne and Loghain will have things to say about Ostagar.

Check the mod list I've posted. I try to update it as often as possible. I'd recommend most of these mods anyway but it depens on what you're looking for. White Teeth, Circles be gone are mods I can't play without. Depending on how extensive you want the changes to be you may consider using a few of the gameplay mods. Party Command Unlock will save you some time if you take Leliana to open locks. The Dragon Age Mutator has many components that you may find very useful and if you're looking for some wider changes you should definitely give Improved Atmosphere a try. Last but not least Alley of Murders is the best fan made quest mod that is currently available.

You also have to complete the Circle at some point before finishing Redcliffe. There is no necessity to complete quests in any particular order. Doing the Circle early can be a good thing if you want to get the Fade bonuses asap.

I'd also suggest a different order depending on the NPCs you want in your party. For instance, completing Orzammar first is a really good idea if you want Oghren to be in your party for most of the game. If picking Wynne is a priority then you should rush to the Circle. In any case unless you plan on having a dedicated healer in the party a little trip to the Brecillian forest to get some elfroot herbs is not such a bad idea.

EDIT:

Get really friendly with Zevran then. Since Zevran becomes available once you've completed one of the main quests it shouldn't be a problem as Leliana starts out as a Bard so she'd have to be level 14 to get the Assassin specialization anyway. Whether Assassin is better than Duelist is a matter of opinions and it depends on what you want to use that character for.

 

Yeah, I've noticed that in my "who would like this gift the most" load/reload escapades.

So...not that I would ever take him along...

Spoiler

is there any way to keep the little c**k sucker from betraying you?

 

I recommend Leliana second specialization to be a Ranger. The abilitty to summon a companion and than stand back and use a bow just really improve her usefulness.

I would go with Wynne and make her a AW.

 

Yes.

Spoiler

He will only betray you to the Crows if his approval is low. If he approves, then he will side with you. He's only betrayed me once and that was after I intentionally tried to get his approval really low.

Or you could just kill him. That'll teach him not to turn on his betters.

I remember seeing an Assassin Tome during my current playthrough. I think it may have been in the Alienage though, so not really that useful.

 

Wouldn't recommend getting a second specialization for Leliana, unless you plan on giving her physical skill tomes. If you want a healer, get Wynne. She is the best Spirit Healer anyone (even the PC) can possibly become.

If you want Alistair to stop "whining", stop encouraging him. When telling him how he should react to people like his sister, tell him

Spoiler

"Everyone is out for themselves. You need to learn that"

 

You wouldn't recommend Leliana specialising a second time? Why not? There's no disadvantage to doing so!

 

Decados is right, you can take two specializations for any character (except Sten who starts without a specialization). The second specialization is available at level 14.

Why?

 

You can probably take another specialization just for the bonuses, but I wouldn't invest in additional skills simply because Leliana's skills are already spread out too thin. You get her at around level 6, and you'll want to take (at the very least) Deadly Strike (prerequisite) and Lethality (cunning adds to damage, greatly improves her damage potential). In my games I sometimes manage to level her enough to get Evasion, sometimes not.
Anyway if you want to turn her into a very good archer you'll still need another 7 skill points to invest in the archery tree, to get Arrow of Slaying and Master Archer. By this time she should be level 15. If you elect to take all the Bard skills that's 15+3 = 18. Most of the time you finish the game with NPC's at level 20, so that leaves you with only two more skill points to invest. All of this assuming you don't spend your points in anything else though (I sometimes get Feign Death, which is very useful, and some people max Deft Hands).
So bottom line is unless you plan on giving her lots of skill tomes, you're better off improving her archery and the skills she already has.
Turning her into a proper dual-wielder is an even greater challenge.

Spoiler

She gains additional bonuses to stats as plot skills and she can also gain a plot spell which greatly increases her mana regeneration, disorients nearby enemies and will even allow her to self-resurrect if she's not the last one to go down (although I'm not really sure if it's the one responsible for that last little quirk). It's called Vessel of the Spirit. She's easily one the most powerful NPCs in the game.

 

And how does one gain such things? She has always had a mid to high aproval rating with my PC, and I don't remember such things.



Anyhoo. I finished my previous game, and I've created my next PC:
He's an Elven mage.

STR: 10
DEX: 10
WILL: 19
MAGIC: 20
CUNN: 11
CON: 10

I just entered the Fade for my Harrowing... but before I play any further, I need to DL and install RtO, and a few mods from Caradhras' list...just in case I have to start a new game for them to take effect.

 

I have no idea. I got the skill after one of her plot dialogues, but I'm not sure which. I did get her to 100 approval.

Edit:
It says you either get it after a two-part random encounter with a darkspawn leader, or if your party is doing very poorly in a battle and Wynne is present.

 

I had forgotten about Wynne's shall we say "perks", I think that travelling with her triggers some specific Darkspawn fights.

@SI: taking the specialization and investing levels in it is not the same thing hence our surprise at your statement.

@Kitrax: it depends on what mods you plan on using. Improved Atmosphere should be loaded before you start, other mods can be installed later on. Be careful though because using a mod and then deleting it can corrupt your saves so you're better off keeping the same mods for the entire game.

I answered on the mod thread. Make sure you back up your override if you install many mods and are not sure you want to keep them for the long run that makes the whole process much easier.

 

Spoiler

The Wonders of Thedas.

 

BTA - Ooooooooooohhhhhhhh yeah......

So is the spell passive? I don't ever remember being able to use it.

 

It isn't passive- you've got to activate it. Generally, it's best to do so when her mana is really low during a hard fight. You don't want to activate it immediately when in a hard fight, because when it expires she is stunned for a time. And, of course, losing your healer just makes the fight even harder.

Edit: Ninja'd by BTA.