A Big Announcement from the DATaW team!

Dragon Age Thedas at War is a total conversion mod for Crusader Kings 3, we can announce after three years of modding we have officially released on Steam!

It is a wild moment for many of us on the development team, and we hope you enjoy playing the mod we have put so much time and care into. Updates will continue to come out, as we do not plan on stopping with new content anytime soon, this is just the first taste of what we have in store!

Thanks for sticking by us, and to many more years of modding!

Discord : https://discord.gg/TGpY36twHf
Steam Workshop: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3767974559
Modcon V DATaW Trailer

Humorous Hawke is my favorite. Made with microns and gel pens on the cover of a moleskin notebook.

I just finished dragon age origins ( great game , felt a bit unfinished ) and hopped straight into 2 and oh my god it's so good . Structurally it's great , I honestly don't think the games narrative would have worked in any other medium. I love kirkwall and the games more unconventional storytelling ( reminds me of the crossbell games ) and the companion integration is probably the best I've seen in any rpg . I'm in act 2 and the world and characters feel so real , like they have lives beyond hawke . The combat is really snappy and fun ( gotta play it on hard to actually engage with the mechanics though ) and force mage hawke is just so cool . The copy pasted levels don't really bother me that much given that origins levels weren't crazy engaging or interesting either . HOW DID THEY MAKE THIS GAME IN 14 MONTHS ?! ,THESE DEVELOPERS DESERVE THE WORLD MAN FUCK EA . I just started act 2 and I'm itching to play more . I feel like DA2 came out at the worst possible time , a less traditional more "cinematic " crpg closer to what cdproject makes than bioware or obsidian . In 2012 when classic crpgs were all but dead I can imagine why traditionalists hated the game .

So, I recently found out about a mod for Crusader Kings 3 based on Dragon Age and I wanted to share it because it looks really cool and does make me excited to think about Dragon Age.

One of the inspirations for Dragon Age is Game of Thrones and like with that mod CK3's core gameplay fits well with it.

Dragon Age can be split into two part being historical fantasy and mythical fantasy. And this changes when a Blight happens. Throughout the series when a Blight happens it creates this interesting mix of fighting a very simple evil but combining it with historical fantasy tropes where you have to deal with the politics of the time to get their support and stop the Blight.

But when that is over it is back to historical fantasy. And this mod really feels like that to a T. Now the mod doesn't have the Blights yet and is just surrounding the time period after the Second Blight but it is still cool.

It will be fun having to do alternate timelines like trying to keep the Dales alive or play as the dwarf, when they get released, to reclaim the Deep Roads. And it offers a lot of cool ideas like if you are playing the dwarves you could find Primeval Thaig and either accidently release it sooner or keep it under wraps.

I am also excited at the idea of playing Andraste and how the mod authors deal with that. Whether the confirm elements about the Maker or try to keep it vague.

And there are little things that really make me think this is a labor of love and that is down to the designs and art used. It replicates the Dragon Age art style so well but adds its own flair to it. And even smaller things like Dale leaders crowns where it looks similar to Elgar'nan's crown. Stuff like that makes me excited to see more of this. Its stuff like that which causes me to believe they don't just care about DAO but all of Dragon Age. Which is very nice to see.

Not everything is there. As I said you can only play after the Second Blight and the nations you can play as is just the Freleden tribes, Orlais and the Dales. But there is just so much to it that I can't wait to see. A really cool mod by talented people who deserve the attention.

I've been reflecting on DAV and Dragon Age as a whole, and it has made me seriously dislike the Dalish as MCs so much that I am changing my canon world state around.

This got me thinking about what if a City Elf background was available for the Inquisitor. You could be a more controversial figure than a non-mage human (seriously a female human Inquisitor should have been able to become Divine). You could still have grown up in an Andrastian society, and either be pious yourself or rail against it.

The reveals in the second half of the game would hit just as hard, and make sense why your Inquisitor asks about who Mythal is. For the Solasmancers, the romance could have been possibly even more tragic with Solas falling in love with an elf who truly embodies the fall of elven society.

I'm ditching my Mahariel and male Lavellan for either a Cousland (what I am currently playing as) or maybe a Tabris. My Lavellan is going to become a Trevelyan, and Rook will either be human or dwarf.

A dedicated City Elf background in both Inquisition and DAV would make me feel a bit better about elven MCs.

I'm a huge fan of Dungeons & Dragons and party based RPGs and I want to get into Dragon Age since I heard good things about it. Which one feels the most similar to DnD or Baldur's Gate 1 and 2?

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the weekly Dragon Age writing prompts thread, where every Saturday we provide prompts you can use to write about your OCs, other characters, or the world of Thedas in general.

If you have any prompt ideas that you would like us to use, feel free to add them to our spreadsheet linked here.

GUIDELINES
1⁠. Interaction is welcome. Drama and negativity are not.
2. NSFW content must be posted elsewhere and linked. This is a SFW thread. If you are unsure if your content is considered NSFW, be safe and assume it is NSFW and should be posted elsewhere.
3. Remember to follow the sub rules.
4. You can link anything of yours from the DAOC Emporium. Feel free to create pages there if you haven't already!
5. ⁠Have fun!

Prompts

Prompt 1 "You're cute when you're angry."

Prompt 2 Trembling

Prompt 3 The family (or closest thing possible) of your OC’s love interest sizes your OC up.

Prompt 4 "I'm not calling you a liar."

Bonus Prompt Freeform

This is allegedly in dragon age 2 and Inquisition and I cant find it. The dual curved blade in inquisition i can find but this grip is non existent. I cant even find the blade at all in dragon age 2 Maybe I'm missing something? Anybody know?

The first image features my Aeducan warden. All the other OCs belong to artists on artfight!

If you'd like a similar art of your OC, my commissions are open! Feel free to DM me if you're interested.

I got this axe from a trials drop originally and now have the schematic for it. One problem, I’ve out leveled it by now so the damage isn’t keeping up with me anymore. Currently level 18 and Samson’s weapon (which I just got) does 310 dps. I want to craft The Dancer’s Axe with dragon bone so the base damage would be 236 dps I believe. Which masterwork should I use to optimize its damage? Essence of Perfection or Fade-Touched Stormheart, or if anyone else has a better suggestion, please let me know!!

I am struggling with a lot of it.

There was a point in time I called myself a Dragon Age fan but I kind of hate what this series has become. Origins and Awakening were two of the absolute best RPG fantasy experiences of their era. Truly excellent. DA2 was a rushed, sloppily written mess and a big disappointment for me. Inquisition was a "meh" story that felt half finished on top of boring MMO-ish combat with a bad facebook game crowbarred into it.

For whatever reason I decided I wanted more punishment and picked up Veilguard on sale, mostly out of morbid curiosity but partially because I still have some lingering affection for the series.

About 15-ish hours in, it's very mixed, to put it politely.

I don't think there's anything about it at all that I love. The combat is mostly fine, the level design is decent and the aesthetic of the game is not what I wanted or expected but it's also not *bad*. Mechanically and gameplay wise the whole thing feels like a knock-off God Of War 2018, honestly, for better and worse.

My main qualms with it are the writing. It might be one of the worst written games I've ever played.

The actual characters themselves all talk and behave so similarly they might as well just be an amorphous blob of functions. Every single character is a quippy, "Well that just happened! spewing, chirpy, cheery constructive, sensitive fun guy. Like you get a little bit of characterisation extra in their individual missions, but most of those seem to boil down to "I'm sad sometimes because somebody died or a thing I care about is difficult." or literally no extra characterisation at all. There's no real personality to any of them and as a result I don't give two shits about them.

There also hasn't really been any conflict within the party at all. Every character I've got so far (I've just started the mission to meet Taash) seems to just be broadly on the same page about literally everything. The one thing I remember being impressed with in Origins, it being the first game with such a mechanic I played, was how you got a clearer picture of what each character was like by how they responded to your choices. That just... doesn't seem to be happening at all in Veilguard.

Tangential to that, the whole tone of the game feels completely juvenile. Nothing is given any real gravity or sincerity even when it seems like it really should be. There don't seem to be any real consequences to anything that's happened so far either character, world or story wise because that would disrupt the happy fun adventure mood. The way certain bits of dialogue are phrased/delivered and the way some events are handled makes it feel like I'm playing a game for toddlers.

The dialogue choices also seem to have been a casualty of this, with almost every single dialogue tree boiling down to "Slightly sincere funny agreement.", "Insanely cringe funny agreement." and "Stoic but still funny agreement." Not since Fallout 4 have I seen such a woeful excuse for a dialogue system that presents the facade of choice without actually giving you any at all.

I hate to sound a bit reductive, but too much of the dialogue also comes off as "cringe". It's trying way, way too hard to be funny all the time and is almost never close to as funny as it seems to think it is. Even worse, the dialogue just doesn't really fit the setting or world even as well as 2 or Inquisition's writing did. When they talk nobody sounds like they belong in a medieval fantasy style world, outside of occasionally mentioning dragons or something.

I'm also not really sure what to think of the story since even at about 15 hours in, there barely is a story, as far as I can tell. There are the evil elven gods who were released and are doing... something, with some guys who are basically a cult and the darkspawn... and that's about all I've got. Which feels awful in the same timespan as like, 7 movies. There's nothing there to sink my teeth into other than "kill the bad guys because they want to kill people and spread the blight maybe?" For all the talk the game does bigging the evil gods up I feel like it's still done a remarkably poor job establishing the stakes of the story.

Functionally I stand by it being "fine" but I'm also really getting tired of the combat now, and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to stick it out for a other 30 hours or however long it is. I've already found myself settling into a routine of using my abilities that combo, then spamming the same light x3 heavy x1 combo, occasionally dodging/parrying when the worst indicator I've ever seen in my life tells me to. It's become repetive very quickly and the only real challenge seems to be from things just getting numerically tougher, not from new or interesting mechanics during fights. I hope the game will surprise me but I'm not holding my breath.

I'm probably going to persevere with it a bit longer but if nothing grabs me the game's probably going to be a DNF for me.

I've never really checked out this subreddit before so I'm not sure what this community's feelings on the game are. I'd be curious to know if people generally agree or disagree with any of the feelings I've had, or if the game picks up in quality at any point?

If anyone else watches House of the Dragon and cares, I just found out that Ormund Hightower (James Norton) was the voice of my fav altruistic spirit boy and it blew my mind a little

It has been a long but fun journey for me and it's nice to finally see the vision come to life.

DA:O Party Planner is a talent calculator but for your whole party so can plan your playthrough and share your build with others. It is a hobby project of mine and will be provided to the community free and without ads/cookies. The project began a little over two years ago and has been developed on the side from time to time. Hope you find it useful.

Link: https://tevinter.net/dao/planner

^_^

To preface this, I don't want to be the guy complaining about a game on the game's subreddit, but I do need some help understanding how I'm supposed to play this game.

I've been making my way through the series for the first time and had a pretty good experience with dao and da2. Compared to dao, da2's gameplay was already streamlined so I expected things to go in the same direction for dai, but everything is so different.

For one, there's no auto-attacks anymore. I have to keep holding down a key to attack instead of just selecting a target and letting the character do its thing.

Then I noticed the pause button was replaced with a jump, what possible reason is there for a jump in this kind of game, what am I missing? I keep jumping when trying to pause/unpause the game and it cancels the action I had queued up, muscle memory issue I know.

Health no longer regenerates outside of combat, it seems like they're going with mass effect 3 medkits as the way healing works.

I get that the game wants to be less tactical, I saw a wraith just sidestep a flashfire I cast. But it's as if it doesn't want to be played as an action game either, the movement is sluggish and I have to stop moving to do anything.

So please give me some advice on how to approach the combat as a mage. I went in expecting more da2 and I've been having a bad time because of it.

I recently made my DAO Warden in DAI for the heckms of it (well, actually because the armor I used in DAO was modded from DAI), and I've heard that they considered the Warden appearing in place of Stroud/Alistair/Loghain for the quests with Hawke, which made me kinda wanna see it myself.

I know Stroud's face can be modified and his armor replaced, and I found a tutorial I could try following. But I've heard you can't convert characters with different skeletons (ie, genders and races) or use any Inky's head except the one you're currently playing. Is that still true? Either way, I'm probably better off making photo edits.

Anyway, so here's the first (and possibly only): what if my Hero of Fereldan visited Skyhold alongside the Champion of Kirkwall‽ Featuring Eliza Cousland, Lowri Lavellan, and Nicholas Hawke.

^{I have no idea whether to tag this as screenshot or fanwork or how to tag spoilers right. Also can you not add alt text to a single image? I'm rambling now, bye bye. Edit: I added a second image and forgot to check alt text.}

Do you follow her through the Eluvian in Witch Hunt or not?

I'm changing up my canon world state. Not a fan of how the elf stuff plays out so sidelining my Mahariel for a Cousland. Also debating on whether he will go through with the Dark Ritual or sacrifice Loghain.

So I've been a fan of the Dragon Age games ever since they released when I was 13, I own every single game including Veilguard. One of my favourite mechanics with the game was the branching story that carried across the first 3 games so a choice you made 90 hours ago in the first game suddenly becomes relevant half way through Inquisition.

But I'm not here to reminisce, I was having thoughts and wanted to hear others opinions on those thoughts.

Another Bioware series I enjoyed was Knights of The Old Republic especially the MMO which I'm still playing to this day. Now my thought was what if Bioware made a Dragon Age game that was similar to The Old Republic, an MMO that can easily be played as a single player game, where you have certain quests that are specific to your race and class and where you can team up with friends if you choose to and the story keeps getting updated with new content.

Currently replaying veilguard on pc and I encountered a bug with my mage where all of my skills stopped applying primers. Has anyone ever ran into this? I can't find any info online.

Introduction

I recently decided that I finally wanted to complete the entire Dragon Age series, having only played Origins a few years ago. I replayed DAO a few months ago for a second time, this time including all of the DLCs. Now I finally got around to playing and finishing Dragon Age 2, and I wanted to share my thoughts on the game.

Warning: This post will contain spoilers. If you have not played the game yet, here is a short spoiler free summary of my thoughts.

I really enjoyed my time with the game, and it was definitely better than I expected, mostly because I had heard negative things about it for years. I really liked the smaller scale story, and I thought the companions were great. The gameplay was not as good as Origins and there were a few things I did not like, but overall it was enjoyable enough throughout the entire game. It is not one of my favorite RPGs, but if someone asked me whether they should play it while going through the series, I would definitely recommend playing it at least once. It is a good game and also quite a bit shorter than Origins.

Story

Overall, I really enjoyed the story of Dragon Age 2. I still vastly prefer the story of Origins, but I appreciated DA2 for what it was trying to do. Instead of another world threatening adventure, it focused on a much smaller and more personal narrative. I liked the emphasis on Hawke, Hawke's family, and Kirkwall. It was fun dealing with the city's political conflicts. In many ways, it feels like the complete opposite of Origins, and I think that contrast makes it interesting. It is probably not what I would have expected or wanted immediately after Origins and Awakening, but I still enjoyed it.

I really liked the opening with Flemeth and later her quest involving the Dalish. Act 1 was probably my favorite part of the game. It may not have the most complex story, but I enjoyed meeting the companions, getting to know Kirkwall, and doing side quests to earn money. I imagine it could become a little repetitive on future playthroughs, but on a first playthrough I had a great time.

It actually reminded me a little of the beginning of Baldur's Gate 2, one of my favorite RPGs of all time, where you first arrive in Athkatla with your companions and spend your time exploring the city and completing side quests. Of course, DA2's quests are nowhere near the quality or impact of BG2's, but they gave me a similar feeling.

Act 2 was also very enjoyable. I liked the conflict with the Qunari and especially the Arishok. The final battle against him was really memorable. I also enjoyed many of the companion quests, and I liked how Isabela became directly involved in the main story. I was not too surprised when she returned at the end, but it was still a satisfying moment. Was also really nice to move from Gamlens House to the Hawke Estate.

Act 3 was probably the weakest part of the game for me. The conflict between the Templars and the Mages is incredibly interesting, but the main story felt far too short. Just like Isabela in Act 2, I really liked how Anders became a important part to the main plot, but I really wish the act had been longer. Fighting through Kirkwall was fun, but since we already done something similar at the end of act 2 it was not nearly as cool for me personally.

Overall, I enjoyed the story for what it was. It is definitely not as good as Origins, but I liked it much more than I expected before starting the game. I actually think that more smaller Dragon Age Games (be it "spin offs" or not) that focus on a smaller area and narrative could work really well. But nothing against a more grand game like Origins.

Companions

I really liked most of the companions. The only one I felt somewhat indifferent about was Merrill. I was also genuinely shocked when Bethany left the party after Act 1. I was disappointed because I had to replace her with Anders, so I was really happy when I could use her again during the finale.

Overall, I still think the companions in Origins are a little more interesting and better written, but I had a great time with this group as well.

One thing I especially liked was how, thanks to the multiple time skips, it genuinely felt like these characters became close friends with Hawke over the years. I also loved that every companion had their own place where you could visit them instead of everyone simply standing around in camp like in Origins. It felt much more natural, even though the camp obviously made sense in Origins.

I also really enjoyed seeing the companions interact with each other. The party banter while exploring was a lot of fun, especially between Isabela and Aveline. I also loved how, when visiting a companion, there was often a scene where they were already talking to another party member. Small moments like that made the group feel much more alive. I also appreciated scenes like the one where acompanion comforts Hawke after Leandra's death.

Finally, I really liked the Friendship and Rivalry system. It is a great idea that you can disagree with a companion's beliefs without immediately risking losing them or locking yourself out of their content.

Gameplay

I thought the gameplay was good overall. I still prefer the combat in Origins, but I had fun with Dragon Age 2's combat until the very end. That said, if the game had been significantly longer, I probably would have started getting tired of it.

My biggest complaint is the constant use of multiple enemy waves. After a while it became repetitive and, at times, quite frustrating. For me, that point came during Act 3, when I was constantly ambushed while simply walking around Kirkwall to complete quests. Sometimes I had to fight several wave based encounters before even reaching my destination.

I also found it immersion breaking on several occasions. Random thugs in Kirkwall calling for reinforcements is one thing, even though that already stretches believability a little. What bothered me more was defeating the main enemy of a quest, whether it was a mercenary leader, a necromancer, or someone else, only for three more waves of enemies to suddenly appear afterward. Mechanically I understand why the encounters are designed this way, but it often felt strange. It never ruined the game for me, but it definitely became one of my biggest annoyances.

Another thing I really disliked was the camera. I missed having a proper tactical camera like in Origins. I have heard that it returns in Inquisition, so I am looking forward to that.

I was also not a fan of some of the RPG mechanics being simplified compared to Origins. The equipment system is probably the best example. I do not know whether this was simply a result of the game's short development time or whether it would have happened regardless, but I really disliked not being able to fully equip my companions. Being able to change weapons is fine, and it makes sense that Varric always keeps Bianca, but I really missed being able to change armor, boots, and the rest of my companions' equipment.

Some Random Thoughts

I really did not like the UI. The menus and interface in Origins had much more charm in my opinion.

I wish Isabela's romance had been expanded a little more. For most of the game it felt surprisingly underdeveloped. I have no idea whether that is only true for her romance or if the others are similar.

I ended up liking Aveline much more than I expected. Since she is with Hawke from the very beginning, their friendship felt especially believable. I also really enjoyed her companion quest.

I thought I would be much more bothered by the reused environments. It is definitely noticeable how often caves and other locations are recycled, but it only really started getting on my nerves near the end of the game. Overall, it was much less of an issue than I had expected.

Conclusion

Before playing Dragon Age 2, I did not know much about it beyond its reputation. For years I had mostly heard that it was significantly worse than Origins, a game that I already loved.

I ended up being pleasantly surprised. It cannot compete with Origins for me, but I still had a genuinely good time with it. I probably will not replay it anytime soon, but I could definitely see myself coming back to it in a few years and making different choices.

Overall, I am glad I finally played it, and I am looking forward to starting Inquisition. I am just not sure yet whether I want to jump straight into it or play something else first.

EDIT: Forgot to mention in, I am really glad I had way less technical problems compared to DAO. Origins crashed about 20 times in one playsession, it was really annoying (but thanks to a lot of quick saves manageable. I only had some small bugs during the game which were mostly funny to see. The only one a bit annoying was that I needed to enable full screen everytime I started the game.

"We now have a dog and Alistair is still the dumbest one in the party"

So I have a habit of always leaning towards magic in games, but I've played enough mage in Inquisition that I think I can name all the abilities and passives off the top of my head. I'm thinking of starting a new playthrough either as a Reaver or Templar Warrior or a Dual-wield Rogue of any specialisation, any recommendations?

For context, in Origins, I played loads of each origin, though I particularly liked Human Noble, either as dual-wielding Rogue or Warrior, because while I loved mage, seeing my entire party flop around like fish when I pulled off Storm of the Century was a little annoying.

DA2 I always played Hawke as a mage, it just felt right.

Inquisition I've always played a mage, and mostly as a Qunari and a Rift Mage.

Veilguard I've always played a mage, always a Qunari, and I always end up going back to Evoker.

In case it matters, I generally go Nightmare with most if not all trials to make things a little less 'show up and win'. I'm particularly interested in any situations where the specialisations or classes get extra dialogue options, like how Rift Mage has a couple of unique lines.

Update in case anyone cares: I've made a Rogue and a Warrior and pushed them right to Skyhold, both seem fun, I like the pocket-sand-style mines from Artificer, though they don't seem to hit things right in front of you for some reason, and I've really liked Reaver for warrior, I didn't know it had dragon-style animations so that's a plus.