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

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Why do I now have the impression that Kit is a firm proponent of manning the harpoons when it comes to fat chicks? Romancing a golem does sound like an *odd* prospect though.

 

I'm not against fat chicks....but I *am* against chicks made out of stone.


Anyway, I've just about cleared out all the back alleys...but for some reason, none of the hooded couriers I've found throughout the city will talk to me. I thought they were part of the Blackstone Irregulars or Mage's Collective quests. I've gone to both contacts in the city, and I've accepted all the quests on both boards. Am I missing something here?

 

The hooded figures are for a quest. IIRC a Blackstone one, but they will only interact with you after you start the quest (it's the one you start in Denerim). Not sure why you're not getting it to start, maybe you need to finish more Blackstone quests first?

 

Unless I'm mistaken the voice acting is done by a woman. The fact that it is not obvious is understandable given that Shale doesn't look so feminine.

Romancing Shale is a really weird idea...

Exactly, iirc the quest is named "scraping the barrels" you may have to complete a few other quests before getting it. In my first playthrough I skipped the Blackstone Irregular in Lothering and I got started on that one earlier.

 

It turns out I was wrong, it's "Greasing the wheels" and not "Scraping the barrel" that has to do with the hooded couriers. My mistake.

I have both quests listed as active in my current game so my advice to Kitrax would be to visit the Blackstone Irregulars in Redcliffe and Denerim.

 

I'm pretty sure Greasing The Wheels initiates from Denerim, but it could be that you need to initiate all the Redcliffe ones first before it'll show up... or if the Redcliffe ones initiated in Denerim, then maybe you need to complete sone/most/all of them first.

 

I'm not sure how it works, I do have both quests active on my current character so I guess that besides completing quests, visiting as many Irregulars representatives is probably what needs to be done. The Blackstone Irregular in Redcliffe only appears after you deal with the troubles in the village (I don't remember if he shows up if you abandon the village to its fate but I don't think so).

That being said in my games I've been skipping quests that my characters wouldn't take especially the quests that are given by Slim Couldry in Denerim (not related to the Irregulars, as far as I can see your main need to have some Rogue talent or pickpocket skill for him to show up). They're perfect for Rogues but not necessarily for "noble" rogues (RP wise).

 

Not true. If you initiate the Lothering first it will be at Redcliffe. I know because I picked up Greasing the Wheel right before I headed out to the Mage Tower.

My level 11 Dwarf Noble Warrior is averaging over 65 points of damage now. I'm pretty impressed with how good he is.

My stats distribution was like this...

+1 STR +1 DEX and +1 CON until DEX was at 20. At level 1 and level 5 (when you get 4 points to distrubte) I put 1 point into Cunning (wanted the second level of Persuassion).

Once DEX was 20 I continued on with +2 STR and +1 CON. If there was a specific 2 handed talent I wanted I would put all points into STR as they are STR driven.

I don't know how my PC stats are right now but he has all but the final 2handed talent, the one that Sunder Armor any opponent when you make a hit.

Also, my PC has over 325HP. He isn't the tank because he doesn't have the heaviest armor, just yet.

Speaking of DAO, I just realized that today the patch for the game is out. Yeppie... It only took 3+ months to patch the game after the PC and 1+ mont after the XBox.

 

Good news for the patch for you playstation users.

Regarding that build, do you really think that pumping points in CON is the best option? For a two hander STR is the only stat that really matters (in my experience). If you have a healer or enough poultices (the higher the better) you don't need to put points in CON. Higher STR will yield more damage (besides STR helps with attack so DEX is only needed for defense, I never made DEX a priority for a two handed weapons specialist and it worked quite well for me so far).

In order to maximize a build it's a good idea to get the Fade bonuses as soon as possible.

An average of 65 points at level 11 is certainly not bad but it could be higher (especially for a two hander).

Two handed weapons get much better when you have a few more levels below your belt so if you're enjoying your character at level 11, you'll like him a lot more at say level 14 or 15.

 

I agree, although my two-handers also boost Willpower at some point (all my two-handers are templars, makes them useful against anything). I never let them tank without Force Field though, so I have no idea what would be a proper build for a two-hander who also tanks.
I just raise dexterity to 18 and get the skill that removes aggro/threat.

Spiders love two-handed weapons as early as level 7. But seriously, I think a mage with the Haste spell is a priority for two-handers. It's not necessary, but it just optimizes two-hand warriors I guess.

 

I'm not a fan of two-handed weapons.

This time around I've got Lili dual-wielding...and so far, she's kicking arse! I think I'll have her dual-wield from now on.


I need to do Redcliffe ASAP. Alistair has some shield (forgot what it was) that has a green spider on it. Freaks me out. I want that sweet Redcliffe shield. My PC has the Fade Wall right now, and I'm not giving that baby up. I think it might be the best shield in the game. Not that Alistair could wield it yet. If my PC wasn't an AW, that shield would be useless for quite some time...so I'd probably would have ended up seling it.

 

My 11 level character is only missing 1 talent fromt the 2 handed talents. I'm raising Con up to 30. After that all points are going into STR.

My character is equiped with the Dragon Blood Armor and I just completed the mage tower. The PC version of the Blood Dragon armor is 10X better than the console version. That is if it gives the STR bonus I saw on Dragon Age Wiki web page.

 

Interesting, I didn't know that there was such a difference.

@Kitrax: two handed weapons specialists are great against bosses and high armour foes. Two handed sweep is a great ability when facing a mob, furthermore Indomitable is just awesome. Don't let the slow animation mislead you, they can be good (although my personal taste makes me favour dual wielding rogues).

 

The best weapon for a 2hander style character is the mauler. It by passes most armor and does decent damage. My only complaint is that the game seems to lack magical maulers compared to the great swords. If the game allowed the metor rock to be made into any weapon I would select a mauler and not a sword.

 

There are several really good mauls. Nug Crusher comes to mind, as well as the Chasind Great Maul. The Forge Master's Hammer is also a good alternative to Yusaris (and does anyone else think that this item, its bearer, and the location you find might be a reference to Diablo 2?).
Good two-handed axes are very rare though.

 

I believe you can purchase any Dragon Bane weapon from Warden's Keep. The only thing is you don't get the extra magical properties.

 

Alright folks...sorry for the short hiatus...RL sucks.

Anyway, I got back to DA last night. I didn't play for very long, but I did all the pre-battle quests. Right now, I'm ready to tell Ser Perth that we're ready for nightfall.

One quest I didn't know about last time I played through was the

Spoiler

Maker's holy symbols that you can convince the Revered Mother to hand over for a bonus to moral and a disapproval of -5 from Leliana

I was also able to intimidate the Elf in the tavern to help. IIRC, last time I wasn't able to.

I'm hoping that these two extra factors will help make the battle manageable. Last time I got my arse royally kicked. Since Redcliffe is my second treaty quest, and I have Cone of Cold now, I'm hoping for a nice clean fight.

 

I'm not sure if you PC is a mage or not or if you brought along Morrigan. Either way I make sure Morrigan has cone of cold. If the PC is a mage I get Cone of Cold at level 3.

I do recommend the cold base spells because they do a crap load of damage. The fire spells don't do much initial damage but ability to burn an enemy for a short time after has its benefits.

My favorite type of direct damage spell is the elctriacal attacks because they reduce an enemies mana/stamina pool.