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[dkjestrup]

 Tactical Combat Guide

I’ve seen many, many threads talking about how hard Dragon Age is on Normal difficulty. Yet so
many of us laugh at how easy Nightmare is. Hopefully this guide will help
people struggling with the game, or teach new tactics to more experienced
players.

Many less experienced players will be intimidated by Nightmare, and
probably think it requires intense strategies and micro management, which isn’t
the case. Realise this; there aren’t actually too many different ways to
approach most battles, in most cases, a very simple tactic like kiting or
backing into a doorway can make the battle go from ridiculous, to easy. 

1. Positioning your team

One of the most important parts of combat in Dragon Age (or any type of
tactical game) is positioning. As Hitler will tell you after attacking the
Russians, you shouldn’t spread yourself too thin. Generally, take control of
your tank, and make sure they’re the first character the enemy can see, as this
will mean they’ll take the aggro from the start. Have your Mages/Archers back,
and have your Rogue follow your warrior, so they don’t get aggro.

Flanking, in general, is a bad idea in Dragon Age. Sure, it works in
movies, and in a real life battle, but not here. This is because enemies take
multiple hits to take down, and thus, you should focus your fire. Note, I don’t
mean Flanking as in a Rogue attacking from behind the target, but in, say,
splitting your party in two and attacking from multiple sides. The reason’s for
this are multiple. Firstly, it’s much harder to focus on one enemy, when you’re
split up, thus, you’ll take twice as long for each enemy. Also, fighting in a
group means that melee enemies will be all bunched, so any crowd control spells
on your mages can affect most if not all of the enemies. Secondly, there are
only so many enemies that can attack your tank at once, thus you’ll take less
damage.

Continuing from the last principle, you want the least amount of enemies
attacking you at once. So, fighting at chokeholds like doorways is always a
good idea, as only a few enemies will be able to attack you at once. Also,
fighting from around a corner is also a good idea, so that the enemy archers
can’t attack you.

2. Target Priorities

Perhaps the most important part of combat is simply prioritising your
targets. There are some very simple guidelines for this:

a) always have all of your party members focusing on one enemy (for DPS
concerns, crowd control by its very nature ignores this)

always target frail enemies first. This is key. In 10 seconds you
might be able to kill 1 strong enemy. In that same time, you might be able to
kill 5 weak enemies instead. Chances are, that 1 strong enemy was doing about
20% of the DPS in a group of 10 enemies. The 5 that you could kill instead
would probably do about 40% of the DPS. This is important, because when you’re
taking less damage, you don’t die as much.

 

c) always target the mage first. Mages are frail, but not only do great
DPS, but also have healing, crowd control, or other nasty stuff like Crushing
Prison. If you cannot get to it quickly, cast crowd control spells like force
field or paralyze. Better yet, simply Mana Clash for an easy kill, or Glyph of Neutralization
to stop it destroying you while you approach. 

If you do the above, you should have no problem: take out the mage,
focus on the lackeys, THEN focus on that Ogre. Target priorities are probably
the single most important part of combat. If you want to have your tactics do
the work, have the tactic: Enemy: Nearest Visible Mage. Then, for the rest of
your moves, have the tactic: Enemy: Lowest Health.

3. Handy Moves

There are a lot of simple tactics that make winning battles a lot
easier. As you can see, most of these are spells, a reason why Mages are so
good. Don’t be fooled though, they aren’t the be all and end all. Dual Wield
Rogues/Warriors do more DPS, and in some cases, that is just as important, or
more important, as you can quickly DPS down all the weak foes resulting in much
less DPS.

Force field. Force Field is an awesome spell. Some say it’s overpowered.
The only thing over powered about it is that enemies still attack Force Fielded
allies. If this was not the case, it would be fine. Save your Tank from the
High Dragon’s Grab attack, but as a result, you’re tankless for the next 15
seconds or so. Force field has two main uses. The first use is on enemies.
Enemies rarely ever resist a Force Field. Force Field allows you to stop enemy
mages in their tracks. This can be vital at low levels when you don’t have Mana
Clash or Glyph of Neutralization. The second use of Force Field is on allies.
It can truly be a lifesaver. It has an incredibly short cast time, so you if
your tank has a slither of health left and gets overwhelmed/grabbed, you can
cast it and stop him from dieing in an instant. He cannot attack, but enemies
will still attack him doing no damage, and chances are when it wears off, most
if not all the enemies will be dead and your heal spell(s) will be off
cooldown. Also, keep in mind that casting Force Field on an ally or enemy with
Crushing Prison cast on them will cause a spell combo called shockwave (I
think). This instantly dispels both spells, and does AoE damage to enemies. This
is awesome, for when your tank gets Crushing Prisoned. Being a very strong
move, it will often kill your Tank if nothing is done, so this allows you to
save your Tank. Also, a final use for this spell is quite cheesy, I’d consider
it broken, but if you’re really struggling here goes. Charge into the middle of
a group of enemies with your Tank, with all your party members hidden out of
sight. Taunt, and they’ll all start attacking you. Then, cast Force Field on
your Tank, and enter the battle with the rest of your party. The enemies will
attack your Tank, so they’re free pickings for the rest of your party.

 

Glyph of Repulsion. Glyph of Repulsion is an awesome spell. There are
two great uses of this spell. The first is, run into a room, and cast Blizzard
or any continuous AoE spell (Grease/Fireball could work too). Then retreat from
the room and cast a Glyph of Repulsion in the doorway. Now the enemies will be
trapped in the room suffering from Blizzard. When the Glyph is about to wear
off, simply cast Glyph of Paralysation  and you’ll trigger the Paralysis Explosion
spell combo, and you can now enter the room with the enemies paralysed. The
second use for this spell is great when your Mage(s) are the only party members
left. Bunch them together, and cast a Glyph of Repulsion at your feet. Now you
can nuke away while the melee enemies can’t touch you.

Hope this helps anyone struggling with the game, on any difficulty. Feel
free to ask any questions you have. Any comments/suggestions appreciated.

Modifié par dkjestrup, 24 décembre 2009 - 09:26 .

[dkjestrup]

Boss guide

1) High Dragon

The High Dragon is definitely the hardest boss in the game, at least in my opinion. Because unlike Flemeth, you don't have Wade's Superior Dragonbone armor, which is immensely helpful against the Dragons. The High Dragon has a few really annoying attacks. Firstly, it has Grab. The High Dragon grabs one of your characters, and attacks it, while that character cannot do anything. It also has Massive Attack, which is a pain, as it will hit and knock over your dual wield rogues/warriors, limiting their DPS.

My suggested party make up for this fight is a Healer mage (Wynne), a tank (Shale is the best, Alistar is alright too) and ranged DPS (Leliana, Morrigan, PC mage/archer). I only suggest one physical DPS, because if you have a dual wield rogue or something similar, they'll be knocked down too much to be really effective. If your PC is a dual wielder, just equip a bow. You'll be surprised. With a rogue, you'll be maxing dex/cun anyway, so you can use a shortbow/longbow as well as a specced archer, but without the talents. With a warrior, you'll also do fine, using a longbow if you've pumped strength, shortbow if dex. Other physical DPS is definitely possible. But I'd recommend only using Weapon/Shield or 2h, for Shield Wall/Expertise and Indomitable respectively.

Spell wise, I'd recommend Spirit Healer up to Lifeward, at least Heal, although Regeneration/Mass Rejuv would work great, and Force Field is almost a requirement unless you're very good, in which case I doubt you need a guide.

Gearwise, get the best fire-resist gear on your tank you can, but without sacrificing armor (Drakeskin is a no-go, or you'll be destroyed by the dragon's melee attacks). At this point in the game, full Juggernaut (20% resist), Ring of the Ages (20% resist) and the Creationists Chord (10%) gives you 50% fire resist, which is very nice for this battle. I'd also suggest you buy/make some lesser/greater warmth balms, as they'll help too. I'd suggest bringing about 10-15 normal/greater health poultices. You could bring more, but that would make the fight trivial, and I'd call that cheating. They're juts for emergencies.

When you're ready, position your ranged attackers at the gong, and your melee in the space in front (hard to explain, but the place where the Dragon lands). Make sure you put you party on hold, so your ranged attackers don't get aggro straight away. Then activate the gong. Run up to the Dragon and taunt with your tank. Then take your party off hold. For your healer mage, make sure your tactics are purely defensive, you don't want your mage wasting mana using fireballs and blizzard. Just make sure you heal with your mage whenever your tank gets below ~50% health. Lifeward is strongly recommended, too. If your tank gets grabbed, then cast a forcefield on him immediately. Sadly, the game doesn't realise this, and attacks your tank still, which I consider broken, but imo it's a fair way to stop grab. If you forcefield is on cooldown/you think it's cheap, then just heal through the grab. With lifeward/heal/group heal and massive armor, your tank should easily survive. From there on out, it's basically just a case of keeping your tank healed. Also, if your tank dies, and you're up on the hilly part (assuming you have no other melee attackers) the Dragon will use bellow (I think that's what it's called) which works like pull on a Revenant. If you position yourself behind the terrain though, you will stop at the terrain. This is useful, so you can stay out of melee range while you revive your tank.

Hope that helps with the High Dragon if anyone is having troubles with it. 

Modifié par dkjestrup, 26 décembre 2009 - 12:41 .

[bas273]

It looks good although it's a bit short.
I'm thinking of creating my own tactical combat guide (perhaps for soloing) with screenshots.

Some suggestions:
- List all the useful spell combo's (Spell Might+Blizzard+Tempest etc.)
- What to do during ambushes / in small corridors
- Perhaps some tactics for certain bosses (Flemeth, Archdemon)

[dkjestrup]

I might just do a Boss Tactics guide. Good idea.

[shaktiboy]

 Best tactics summary I've seen yet. Even learned a couple new tricks myself from it. Thanks.

Here are my contributions:

• Make very liberal use of toggling Hold Party mode on and off (one of the buttons beneath your party portraits--the shortcut key is the H key) as you set up for a new fight and charge in. There are so many ways this simple mechanic can help get the right setup to win a fight. What makes Hold Party mode so great is the fact that it suspends all tactics!!!
  
  For example, even for "easy" fights, control your tank character and run just into aggro range of a new group of enemies, with the rest of your party following the tank in and staying close to him/her. As soon as the enemy mob sees you and starts their attack run, hit the H key to freeze your party in place and shut off all their tactics! Your tank is out in front and will act like a magnet because he's got threatening stance on. As soon as the encroaching enemies reach your Tank's position, hit H again to turn Hold Party mode off. Suddenly all your party tactics come into effect and your tank and melee DPS will grab all the aggro, your mages and archers will retreat behind you and start unloading, etc.
  
  If you don't use Hold Party in this manner, what would happen in this same situation is that your tank would rush in and the rest of your party would "see" the enemies at the same time and rush indiscriminately into the fray. Your mages and archers especially might grab some initial aggro and position themselves forward or to the sides in a way that might attract further aggro from a group just behind the first group you engaged, which brings a world of overwhelming pain upon your entire group.
  
  Hold Party is also invaluable to positioning all but your "puller" character on the other side of a doorway chokepoint or around a corner, etc.  Only the "puller" that you're actively controlling is in harm's way while you get the enemies' attention and run back to your choke point or corner.  As the enemies finally approach the choke point, hit the H key to release your party and enable tactics and watch in satisfaction as they intelligently stay put on the advantageous side of the choke point and fight a smart battle.
  
• On your warrior tank or on your main "Warden" character (if he's a warrior class with the Templar specification), equip them with the "Knight Commander" breastplate for 40% spell resistance, plus the amulet "Spellward" for another 30% spell resistance, plus the ring "Keys to the City" for another 4% spell resistance, plus 3 Dweomer runes for the remaining 26% spell resistance (10%, 8%, 8%). Now you have a warrior that is almost completely immune to any spell casting effects, especially friendly-fire AOE from your own mages! The tactical opportunities are impressive.  For example I equip my DW warrior this way and she can make a beeline for the enemy mages and cut them down quick.
  
  Since it is difficult to find the locations of the Grandmaster and Master Dweomer runes:
  
  --Grandmaster - only one source: Cesar in Denerim Market District *after* you've completed "The Trial of Crows" quest (in his "special stock"). If you kill Master Ignacio for any reason, Cesar vanishes permanently.
  
  -- Master - three sources: one sold by the Tranquil Merchant in The Wonders of Thedas in Denerim Market District. One given as a reward by Brother Genitivi (in his home) *after* you've completed "Urn of Sacred Ashes". Don't kill him! One given as a reward by Dagna in "An Unlikely Scholar" quest; you must ask for a reward and specify that you want the rune.
• A further refinement to the pulling tactics is useful for large enemy groups out in the open where you have no chokepoints or corners to take advantage of, and the overwhelming mob is just too strong for your party (think of those bandit and wolf packs in Lothering--they're brutally hard for a young low-level party in Hard or Nightmare mode). Use Hold Party mode to position your party well out of visual range of the enemy mob.  Then carefully run in with your puller until you can just start seeing the enemy but they haven't noticed you yet.  Now whip out a longbow and shoot the nearest one. As soon as it notices you, run back to your party and release Hold mode as the one, two, or three mobs that social-aggroed you reach your group.  You can whittle down especially difficult outdoor groups this way. (This is a standard aggro-management pulling technique from the MMO world.)
• And just to underscore an excellent point made by the OP, the kill order should almost always be Mage > weenies > bosses. It's very helpful to have a melee DPS character in your party and a tank to ensure you can always take out those pesky mages hiding in the back. Use combat pause mode right at the start of the fight to sic your mage-killer on the highest-priority mage, and sic your tank on the nearest weenies that are encroaching on your party's position to distract as many of them as possible with threaten and taunt. Meanwhile, let your mages and archers just run on autopilot from their tactics, although as you finally acquire tactical mage spells like Force Field or Mana Clash, etc. you might need to manually help out your mage killer in the speedy elimination of the mages in the back.
  
  The way fights like this tend to play out is that your healer keeps your tank in good shape while he ties up all the melee mobs, your mage killer first wipes out the mages in back and then goes for the archers next (you must manually pick targets early in the fight for your mage killer), and then you let your mage killer run on tactics autopilot and he runs back and helps clean up any remaining weenies and the boss.
  
  It can be *very* helpful to use a DPS warrior class for this mage killer role (2H or DW) and outfit him in 100% spell resist gear as described above.
  
• Finally... Tactics!  Learn the ins and outs of Tactics and experiment with the order of your tactics. If you're on the PC platform, download the mod called "Advanced Tactics" which frankly fixes a lot of bugs with the game's default tactics engine and adds lots of new, useful options such as the ability to recognize a dead party member (and therefore enable a mage tactic to automatically revive them), etc. Tactics are your friend.  Especially if your mage's tactics are set up correctly, you can just focus on your main tactical "mage killer" character and go after the high priority targets and be confident that your mages are doing their job well.
  
• Okay one more tip: If you're really struggling, try using two mages, a tank (Alistair), and your Warden as a melee DPS of some sort (2H warrior, DW, warrior, or DW rogue, etc.). By using two mages--Wynne for healing and Morrigan for DPS/control--you can easily prevail as long as your tank does its job to keep the mages free of enemy harassment. Be sure to give both mages high Willpower so you're less reliant on lyrium potions except in very long/hard fights. Set tactics on Morrigan to shapeshift to a Bear form when she falls below 10% mana to conserve even more lyrium potions for your healer's use. (And take all four tiers of the Shapeshifting specialization to give her the strongest Bear form.) By the time Morrigan switches to Bear form, she'll have done an admirable job softening up the worst of the onslaught and she can help mop up the remaining weenies and take down the boss as a bear.

 
Dkjestrup, feel free to use any of the above suggestions in your tactics guide if you like.

Modifié par shaktiboy, 26 décembre 2009 - 07:42 .

[BelgarathMTH]

Wow, these are great suggestions! I'd like to see this or something like it stickied!

[dkjestrup]

Your point about getting 100% spell resist is very good. Just wondering though, does 100% spell resist count for say fireball or Blizzard?



Because I've been thinking that going with a 2h warrior (Ogren) with Indomitable and 100% spell resist, or 100% fire resist (Wade's superior Dragonbone plate armor + creationists chord + Ring of the Ages) would be a great tank.



Why? Simply run into a group, and taunt everyone, and you're surrounded. Then your Mage can cast a fireball right on you, hitting all the enemies, but you don't get knocked down or damaged!



Actually, thinking about it, a s/s tank could too, with Shield Wall + Expertise.



Shaktiboy, I won't add what you said, considering it's only like 3 posts down.



I think I'll do a boss guide editing my second post. Flemeth is easy enough, not sure about High Dragon, because you can't get Superior Dragonbone without killing it!

[knownastherat]

There was a thread about 100% resistant Alistair somewhere debating what you question dkjestrup. let me see if i can digg it ..



http://social.biowar...66/index/394286

[dkjestrup]

Updated second post with High Dragon Strategy.

[Finch204]

Another good read.



I follow a similar tactic for room clearing. What I do is I just position the party outside with my tank in the door way. With survival on the tank you can see if there are enemies inside, if there are then start raining AOE's on them. Well I only use two really, Tempest first, then Blizzard. Blizzard will knock them down or keep them frozen inside both spell's AOE radius, a glyph of paralysation on the door helps as well. If any enemy gets through the Blizzard and the Glyph of Paralysation, shield bash them back in with the tank lol.