29 réponses à ce sujet

[inuksuit]

YouTube videos that i consulted appear to be based on the PC version of the game, where the battle looked relatively easy.  The XBox 360 does not have the same variety of team battle controls, as far as i  know.)
(I tried searching under "Baranka" but unfortunately no useful discussions were found.  So I am asking here, anew) 

Here's my situation: My team (Oghren, Morrigan, Leliana - all level 15s; and my mage Warden) are in combat with Baranka and the golems that she commands.  Although Caradin is said to be a tougher warrior than Baranka, he does not last very long when he fights on my side.  Neither do the other two golems.  But Baranka and her team are formidable.

Oghren doesn't last long; Leliana is next to go.  That leaves Morrigan and me -- but, so far, we never prevail.
I have read that "grease attacks" are  useful; so is Cone of Cold/Stone Fist (but i have none of those spells).
So my first question is: should i reload an earlier save, quit the battle and try to acquire such spells?

Is my present team inherently "weak"?  Too weak to win? (I have no choice but to have Oghren but perhaps my other choices were wrong for this battle?)

The Youtube videos I watched (based on PC version of DA:O) appear to have team battle tactics that are not available to me on the 360 console (but is that a correct impression?)  In the PC version, it appears you can halt the battle, set up precise interactions a team member and an enemy, restart the battle and advance; stop and start until the battle is won.  With the 360 version, i do not see any way of micromanaging battle scenes like this one....

Any advice, insights, will be welcome.  I have done fairly well up until now in the game but am stymied in this particular section.

[Urshakk]

Caridin should get paralyzed so he isn't going to help in this fight, but you get two golems to help..... sort of. Have Oghren keep Branka busy, or just CC him with Cone of Cold, Paralyze, Weakness, Disorient, Misdirection Hex whatever you have. Does Morrigan or your PC have any healing spells? If so, concentrate them on Oghren, send the rest of the party to kill the golems before you take down Branka.

When mana is low on a mage start using up all the lyrium veins around you, to get mana back and to stop Branka from using them. Otherwise, when she is low on health she will use a vein and split into 4 images. If she does, then you can tell the real image because it will take damage normally while the others take a lot more making it easy to tell.

Playing on normal? Shouldn't be too difficult if you do the above. If you still having trouble I would suggest turning the difficulty down.

Modifié par Urshakk, 10 avril 2010 - 05:57 .

[oyzar]

Surely there is a pause button on 360 as well? Without it the game would be very nearly unplayable at the higher difficulties.

[Ramante]

What spells do your Warden and Morrigan have?



- Force Field and Crushing Prison are your friends

- First attack the white named golems, one at a time (the yellow ones keep your golems busy)

- Once they are down, attack the yellow golems (again one at a time, full party attack)

- Save Branka for last, she is a lot easier when you have 1 or 2 golems still standing (Force Field her if you have to, don't use Crushing Prison on her, she probably resist it and go after the casting mage)

- Branka is tough even when she is alone, first time I fought her she went after my Warden and ignored everything else. So I gave everyone ranged weapons, let my Warden run around with Branka following her, while the others attacked her with magic and arrows. (looked very stupid, but it worked)

- You or Morrigan a Spirit Healer? Group Heal and the last spell (can't remember the name) are very useful. Using that last spell will also heal small amounts of your golems health.



This worked for me, good luck.

[JosieJ]

You can't pause during battle on the 360? (I have the PC version.)



Focus all your companions on one enemy at a time (leave Branka for last). Use the lyrium veins scattered around the area to heal and restore mana/stamina. Oghren can't do this, so watch his health more carefully. Have a tactic set for each companion to take a health poultice if their health falls below a certain level (Oghren's level should be higher than the rest, because he can't use the lyrium veins). If you or Morrigan has Heal, use it on the allied golems to make them last longer as meat (or stone) shields.



Cone of Cold is an invaluable spell. Morrigan is already on that path; why didn't you get it for her? It would help immensely: Branka always seems to go straight for Oghren (guess that marriage was really troubled!) and CoC keeps her under control and from damaging him too much. Anything that can freeze/paralyze/petrify or otherwise stop Branka from attacking, even for just a moment so Oghren can take a health poultice, is good.



My only other suggestion is maybe you want to bring another melee combatant along instead of Leliana--with you, her and Morrigan, you have three ranged fighters to Oghren's one melee fighter. I've found that Zevran works well, since he does a lot of damage quickly. Sten would be good, as well, or Shale, if you have the DLC. Alistair does damage more slowly (if you've built him up as a tank), but he'll be able to soak up a lot more damage than Oghren will, especially if he can Taunt the enemy into staying focused on him and give Oghren a chance to whale on them from behind!

[RavenousBear]

You can pause on 360; I did this encounter last night on Hard difficulty. Like everyone else has stated, take out the regular stone golems first, then the elites before ganging up on Branka. With your group set-up, you will have to focus your mages' healing spells/poultices on Oghren since he will take the most aggro and will not be able to heal with the lyrium veins. If your pc or any other party member gets low on health, direct them to a lyrium vein.



Branka is vulnerable to certain stuns like Dirty Fighting from the Rogue Talent tree; it can be useful when you need to free Oghren from combat so he can heal.



What spells does Morrigan have at her disposal? Does she have anything like Misdirection Hex or debuffs that can used on Branka to help Oghren take less damage when tanking her?

[inuksuit]

Clarification: one can "pause" with the 360 version -- but what i saw in the YouTube videos based on the PC version: the player could pause, then choose by (mouse)clicking on a character (or several) to perform a certain action on a highlighted enemy. That done, the player pauses the game again, and micromanages the next attack. The technique was also used to heal a player anywhere in the battle. It looked so simple...



Also all the spells were shown as icons at the bottom of the screen, easy to choose and switch.



I realize, of course, that it is the 360 version that I must learn to use to the maximum advantage... and i appreciate the input received so far. It looks as if I will have to quit the battle though...and return to the main game to stock up on different spells. Some of my spells (mage Warden) don't seem to have much power at all in this battle (electrical storm, drain mana, for example) though they have worked well against other enemies in other battles.



Are there any special runes that it would be useful to use as weapon enhancements in this battle?

Or special crystals for Shale (who is back at the camp). He has 45 strength and is currently equipped with the finest of fire crystals but that doesn't seem useful here.

[RavenousBear]

Do you have a previous save before entering the Anvil of The Void section? If so, you can go back to the Orzammar Commons and switch party members and buy crystals for Shale. Since Shale is a Constitution tank with little defense, look for any crystals that give bonuses to Constitution and Health Regeneration if you plan on using her as the tank against Branka.

[Ramante]

inuksuit wrote...
Are there any special runes that it would be useful to use as weapon enhancements in this battle?

Or special crystals for Shale (who is back at the camp). He has 45 strength and is currently equipped with the finest of fire crystals but that doesn't seem useful here.

Slow down and paralyzing runes are a must! Golems are slow and with these type of runes you can get something to eat during the fight without trouble (overstatement, obviously).

Shale is very handy in this fight, if you side with Caridin you also get approval from her (I think). Make sure you have her 'slam' tree active. Her Pulverising Blow and Slam have the power to knock-down the golems, which makes them easier targets for the rest of your group. I suggest dumping Leliana, she is (IMHO) uselus in this fight.

[inuksuit]

thanks for the advice, one and all.

It will take some doing to purchase the appropriate crystals and runes...but that is what i will work on, prior to my return to the Branka battle. Will trade Leilana for Shale....

[JosieJ]

If you have the gold for it, the merchant at Wonders of Thedas in Denerim sells a Grandmaster Paralyze rune. I think it's about 16 gp. It's the only one you can buy from a merchant, although you might get another one as a drop if you have the Return to Ostagar DLC (but that's totally random--you might get one, or get a lesser one, or none at all).

[inuksuit]

Have just bought the Grandmaster Paralyze rune..... and will try it out.
Would anyone recommend that it be combined, in a GreatSword, with Grandmaster Silverite rune?
(the anti-deadspawn rune). If not, what would a good companion rune be for the Anvil battle?

And, since my main objective is to return to the Baranka fight, as soon as I am prepared, is a Golem considered to be a deadspawn creature (inasmuch as they are created from robbed souls)?
Don't want to use the wrong rune...

Or is it a waste of time using any kind of sword against the Golems?

Modifié par inuksuit, 11 avril 2010 - 03:12 .

[RavenousBear]

Nope, the Darkspawn runes will not work against Golems. If you have any electric runes, use them as I believe the Stone Golems have 50% fire and cold resistance, which reduces the damage output from fire and cold runes by half.

[RavenousBear]

Nope, the Darkspawn runes will not work against Golems. If you have any electric runes, use them as I believe the "Stone Golems" have 50% fire and cold resistance, which reduces the damage output from fire and cold runes by half. I remember there are two types of Golems, stone and steel. I think the ones in the Anvil are stone, but if they are "Steel Golems", then fire runes will work better I believe.

Modifié par Caak7i, 11 avril 2010 - 03:01 .

[TBastian]

Your group should've done fine. Can you tell us what you specializations you chose for everybody? What skills you picked? (just list the last spell/skill you picked per line)

Golems are golems/constructs, and not anything else.

Slow/Paralyze runes are best used on fast weapons (like daggers) or they won't reliably "connect" when you want them to.

The main point of the youtube videos is to show that with the right tactics even battles like these can be trivialized. Unfortunately we can't offer any concrete advice if we don't know what spells or skills you have.

I see your mage is a nuker with Heal. You can throw a Fireball on Branka's golems (don't mind hitting allied golems, they won't die if you act fast enough) then focusing on each golem as they are recovering. Try to get them close to each other so you can get two or more of them with Flame Blast + Shock. Only use Chain Lightning if your targets are close together. Don't use Tempest/Inferno/Walking Bombs, you will kill your allied golems outright and Branka is spell resistant (you'll also only make her angrier). You will need to keep Branka busy with something though, Heal (on her target) + potions can help with this.

Modifié par TBastian, 11 avril 2010 - 03:12 .

[inuksuit]

This is my first playthrough (Mage Warden is now Level 16) and I probably made mistakes in spells and skills for the team.

Warden has Arcane Mastery and Arcane Warrior (although his strength is only 16). He also has Inferno and Chain Lightning (but nothing in the frost line or Rock Armor line).

Morrigan has up to Flying Swarm in the Shapeshifter line, She has "Frost Weapons" but not "Cone of Cold". She has Rock Armor but not Stonefist. (I wasted 4 points on Shock and Flame spells for Morrigan, instead of realizing that I had those spells covered.)

Our Magic/Willpower attributes are 47/33 (Warden) and 47/34 (Morrigan.)



Shale (who was not present during the first Baranka battle) has 45 Strength, 34 Constitution, 20 Dexterity. He has "Killing Blow", "Regenerating Burst" and "Rock Barrage" as maxxed-out skills.

He is equipped with Small Clear Lightning Crystals (weapon) and Large Flawless Natural Crystal (armor). (I have not yet found small flawless natural crystal for him...which I believe would augment his powers; I also don't know if natural crystals give him an edge in the Baranka/Golem battle).



I have been working on Oghren (since he is a mandatory member of the team for the mission).

He did not have very good stats during the first go-around with Baranka. He currently has 38 Strength, 26 Constitution, 18 Dexterity. He has Master Combat Training and Expert Combat Tactics (as maxxed skills) and "Massive Constitution". Nevertheless, he's still not impressive in battle. Perhaps i don't have his "tactics" programmed to best advantage.



I regret that I lost Wynne shortly after she joined the team at the Circle Tower, She was really good at replenishing the team's health. I made a non-committal answer about the Mages (said i couldn't decide, just then, about choosing my allegiance). But that was not good enough for Wynne. She challenged me and predictably died (Suicide by Warden) as she could not possibly prevail over the rest of the team. She was gone before I could understand what had happened...

in both Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins, Bioware creates incomprehensible difficulties in relationships. (But that's another story.....)



In my first encounter with Baranka, I tried at least 5 times... and lost every time.

So i am biding my time, now, to build up my team members --

with advice from others in this forum.

[soteria]

I was going to suggest healing the allied golems to keep them up longer, but that's probably not possible on the 360. I don't really have anything to add that hasn't been said for killing Branka, other than that the glyphs are really useful. As an arcane warrior, don't worry about raising your strength. Your attack rating will be low, but if you want to fix that just raise dexterity, which also gives defense. Finally, if Morrigan has cone of cold, bring her to the anvil. Otherwise, most of her default spells are pretty much useless, as you observed.

[Ramante]

Arcane Warrior is a challenging specialization, especially during a first playthrough. (I got 2 AWs and I still mess up sometimes). Point with this spec is that you don't need str points, your 'strength' is determined by your magic points (in your case 33). Since your past lvl 14, you could have 2 specializations and you only name 1?!



Shale is female.

She has killing blow? Very nice, I said in my previous post that that tree comes in handy (knock down effect)



Oghren is a 2H-warrior, his tactics (IMHO) are not very good. Check the description from the 2H-warrior trees, some of those talents are super effective to constructs (and thus golems).



You might want to buy some tomes to give Morri and yourself the heal spell. Or go for the mind blast tree with the tomes, Force Field is the second spell and Telekinetic Weapons is the third spell, telekinetic weapons improves armor penetration (golems have good 'armor').



This is all I can think of right now, I'm sure others have more good advice, since I'm not the best strategist/tactician.



And your not doing so bad, first time I did that fight it took me 7 or 8 times, and even in my 5th playthrough I got trouble with it.

[soteria]

Oh, a note for 2h warriors--set his tactics to use sunder arms and sunder armor. They actually hit twice, and are your best damaging attacks.

[TBastian]

Morrigan has Flying Swarm? Then this should be easier. At the beginning of the battle have your mage/Oghren/someone else focus on the golems. Throw your Fireballs, Shock, Flame Blast, Chain Lightning, bombs, etc and keep Flame Weapons on, and try to bring down those golem ASAP. At this point ignore Branka - focus on the golems and avoid hitting her with your AoE's.

At the beginning of the battle have Morrigan shift to Flying Swarm and attack Branka. Turn off her AI or she'll bug and Winter's Grasp will drain all her mana. Don't use Divide the Swarm. Once you have Branka's attention, just don't let Branka catch up to Morrigan. Don't try to damage Branka yet - wait for your other guys to finish off Branka's golems. This leaves your three other characters to focus on killing the golems while Morrigan leads Branka on a wild goose chase.
If you wanna gamble you can have Morrigan shift to Bear form and use Slam on Branka, before shifting to Swarm (use Mind Blast first if Slam doesn't knock down Branka). Slam draws quite a lot of threat, and should force Branka to give Morrigan her undivided attention.

Finally you have two other alternatives to trivialize this battle. One is to have your Arcane Warrior take Rock Armor and giving him heavy armors (I assume you already have Combat Magic). Just "borrow" one from the other NPC's if you don't have one for your mage. Then use a Rock Salve/Incense of Awareness and turn on Rock Armor/Arcane Shield before the battle and have your Arcane Warrior tank everything. Use potions/heals where necessary.
Another is to give Morrigan Force Field. That should help keep Branka busy while you deal with her golems.

Modifié par TBastian, 11 avril 2010 - 09:06 .

[JosieJ]

Ramante wrote...

Since your past lvl 14, you could have 2 specializations and you only name 1?!

It's his first playthrough--maybe he doesn't have any of the others unlocked yet.

Just adding that Paralyze runes, while best in daggers, do work decently in 1h swords.  Don't even bother with 2h weapons, though--way too slow.  If you're dual-wielding, even better: put 1 in each weapon (even a low-level one in your offhand weapon is better than none).

2handers are all about the talents--auto-attacking is far too slow.  Set up Oghren's tactics to cycle through Sunder Arms/Armor, Mighty Blow, Critical Strike, etc.   Pommel Strike is useful against the golems, too.

[Ramante]

JosieJ wrote...

Ramante wrote...

Since your past lvl 14, you could have 2 specializations and you only name 1?!

It's his first playthrough--maybe he doesn't have any of the others unlocked yet.

That's why I used ? and !

And thanks for naming the 2H talents, I couldn't remember the names.

[inuksuit]

I have Mage maxed out (Arcane Mastery) and Arcane Warrior is also maxed.

In addition, i have one slot filled in Shapeshifter and two filled in Power of Blood.



Spirit Healer is not available to me, for whatever reason.

[TBastian]

It can only be unlocked by buying the Spirit Healer manual at the Wonders of Thedas shop in Denerim. Be sure to buy it, it unlocks the Spirit Healer spec for all your games.

You can also just buy it and reload (it stays available).

[DWSmiley]

The simplest way to make this fight easier is to side with Branka.
Yeah, she's a psychopath, but more golems will save the dwarves from extinction and they are great allies in the final battle.  She even builds you the super-duper steel versions!  But if you do this, don't take Shale with you.