168 réponses à ce sujet

[Limorkil]

For any "hardcore" mode in any game the main cause of death is a combination of overconfidence and failing to remember where the tough fights are. I always find that the instant I think the game is starting to get easier, I die. If the game were difficult throughout then I would always be ready for anything, but because it is easy most of the time and ridiculously harder in a few areas, I drop my guard and die. DA:O is a relatively hard game for hardcore because many of the hardest fights are random encounters.



Familiarity with your character is an important key to survival too. When I play a warrior after playing a mage I often find I die to some encounter that I barely even remember from my time as a mage because it was so easy. Actually I am surprised that a few people said here that mage would be the hardest class to play as no reload. If you can get beyond Lothering a mage with the right spells and items would be hard to kill. If I am not allowed to reload then I would rather be weak at the start and unkillable later on.

[Melchom]

No Reload is the way forward. It really draws you into the game much more knowing the danger to your character is 'real'. I've never actually completed Dragon Age: Origins either so my chances are slim to none .. but I'll enjoy giving it a try!

Name: Sargiel
Race: Elf
class: Mage
Planned Specialisation: Shapeshifter (Magic build)
Target Party: Shale, Morrigan & Dog. Although I'll miss out on dialogue by bringing Dog along Morrigan and Shale are great fun This also keeps to a wild/Dalish/apostate theme I have in mind with this grouping. However it will be mildly annoying not able to open any chests ..

[DWSmiley]

Good luck, you'll need it! I've tried no reload so many times...Just one badly timed stun can be doom. Two-handers with their sneaky stunning blow are the worst. Though Morrigan with force field and heal is a big help. I recommend keeping Shale in Stoneheart mode to draw the aggro, with an occasional Earthen Grasp.

[Melchom]

Erm.. luck ran out... killed by the Ogre at the top of the tower of Ishal. Have to admit this run did feel jinxed through. Even the spiders in the Mages Tower sidequest nearly killed me at one point due to a misplaced fireball...

Perhaps better luck with my next run. Just trying to decide what character to take along for the ride

[DWSmiley]

Your best bet is a dwarf noble with Morrigan and Wynne. Either a dw rogue with Alistair or a S&S warrior with Leliana.

[Ferretinabun]

Actually, I was going to say that surely Wynne should be a staple of anyone's no reload challenge? Even if she does come with a tricky personal quest mission. Having her sitting in the corner constantly dishing out the heals must make you pretty durable...?

[Melchom]

Thanks for the advice

I've started a new run with a completely different character choice.

Name: Duran
Race: Dwarf Noble
class: Warrior (2-Handed Build)
Difficulty: Hard (I'd prefer a normal difficulty that had full friendly fire but alas Hard has to be my choice of preference)
Opening Talents: Strong/Precision

I quite like both the Dwarf origin stories but the Noble one is my favourite. And this is the first time I've capitalised on obtaining the gold which makes a nice change. I wasn't going to sell Gorims sword as I felt that to be a bit of a stretch RP wise except I'd switched him to a bow temporarily then realised he didn't meet the Str requirement of his own sword so I couldn't reequip it for him (!!?!?!).

Ran through the origin story without too many difficulties by making good use of the terrain to shield from darkspawn archers and ensuring my warriors concentrated their attacks to keep the pressure off me. The Superior Dwarven armour makes a nice starting bonus although a shame you can't rustle up any matching boots/gauntlets to make a set.

Kocari Wilds went without a hitch. I've found lately that using bows in those open spaces can be a big help in drawing the darkspawn to where you want them.

Tower of Ishal was more of a challenge. Sometimes that opening ambush can be a bit variable if things go awry - although on the top floor the Ogre proved no obstacle this time. I positioned the party around the room and ordered everyone to open fire with bows/spells while whoever was the object of the ogre's attentions distracted him.

By having pumped strength I was in a position to equip the Blood Dragon Plate surprisingly quickly (pre-Lothering? I'm pretty sure I had it for the bandits on the road )which was a big help plus now armed with a respectable 2-handed weapon in the Chasind Flatblade.

Lothering proved fairly comfortable. Main party at the moment consisting of Duran, Morrigan, Alister & Dog with Leliana swapped in occasionally for the locked chests. Completed all the side missions and even tanked against the big hoard of wolves successfully. The Sundering line is excellent and increased my dps considerable. So at the moment I'm using pommel strike to reduce attackers then sunder arms/mighty blow to take out enemies outright or ensure Alister takes down his target ASAP.

This build is starting to feel more accomplished whereas right at the beginning I did feel vulnerable. Of course this being Dragon Age things change quickly.. I still find the view/lack of immediate awareness is my biggest enemy in No-Reload runs. With Baldur's Gate you pretty much always have a great overview while in Dragon Age I find I need to move the camera into a variety of positions to manoeuvre where I want to or place effects etc and with that comes the risk of not noticing a character getting swamped. Playing in shorter bursts also helps so you don't get tired/lazy and get yourself killed

I want to get Shale still as he also goes nicely with my Character choice and I'll keep Morrigan as she's great plus Dog. As for Wynne... No. But I'll give Morrigan some healing spells instead.

Next stop .. I'm thinking Shale then onto the Mages Tower. This gets me Shale nice and early so I can develop him exactly how I'd like.

[DWSmiley]

You got me interested in trying this again, too. I was trying to psych myself up for another solo nightmare run but I just can’t get into the slog of the early phase. No reload is never boring!
 
I’m going with a dwarf noble, dw rogue and Alistair, dog and Morrigan, for no particular reason than they are the first three companions. Having at least one mage makes it not absurdly optimistic. Nightmare, no DLC goodies, no luring. I’ve decided not to take any stealth.  Morrigan and dog are too squishy for me to be shedding aggro.
 
And so it begins…
 
DW sweep to start, of course. Never leave home without it. Deft hands for the early traps. Every point in dex to start, then a couple of points in str with the premonition that a nice grey iron sword is coming my way. Levels 3 and 4 will be all cunning, so I can open every lock and trap through Lothering.
 
The origin was quick and easy. Such a difference from solo play. Only one poultice used, against the merc captain. I was worried when the blight wolf targeted me but he never overwhelmed. Hopefully, that is an omen of a lucky playthrough! The Trian fight is easy if you damage him quickly so he runs away and then leave him alone so he stays away. Solo against the four deepstalkers I used the tried-and-true tactic of stunning the leader and running away.
 
Then to Ostagar where I got almost everyone to swap clothes. I’m wearing Davith’s studs, Alistair has the dwarven gear I picked up in the Deep roads and Davith has Ali’s splint. Thank goodness for one size fits all armor!
 
My most powerful foe slain – my brother.


UPDATE:  Dead in the Kocari Wilds.  Sigh.  Four spawn targeted me, stun and done.  Never even got to say hi to Morrigan.

Modifié par DWSmiley, 03 février 2013 - 12:54 .

[Ferretinabun]

Good to see this is getting revived. It sounds like an interesting challenge. I especially like the idea of companions staying dead when they fall in battle (save Wynne or anyone specifically Revived). I could almost talk myself into this if I had a little more free time atm...

[Melchom]

DWSmiley: Ouch! However with dropping that early I'd suggest a speed run back there to have another try. With all the dying I've been doing lately in testing out a few builds for No Reload you get pretty fast at getting to the Kocari Wilds I liked your build commentary though - I've always shied away from cunning/deft hands with my rogues in the early game partly because I'd hate to pick a non-combat feat and then find I still couldn't open everything.

After Lothering I bought the rest of the Blood Armour items (helm, boots, gauntlets) and headed out to find the merchant with the control rod for Shale. Unfortunately I got the Bereskarn/Blight Wolves ambush encounter. I found it's best to try and quickly take out the wolves behind you rather than focus on the Bereskarn as things can quickly get out of hand otherwise. Luckily this all went without a hitch - in fact the easiest it's been

Arriving at Honnleath the darkspawn were no match for the party and we cut through the ones above ground with no difficulties. In the cellars I did have Morrigan and Alister drop before the fight was over but the Warden was in no danger. Failed to rescue the daughter as I felt that a dwarf would just refuse to enter into any tricky arrangement with the demon however the demon was slain without too much ado. I had asked all the party to attack her however they all promptly did their own thing as soon as I switched to the PC (which I didn't immediately notice) which could have made things difficult but didn't.

Shale will now take over as tank from Alister and I'm currently part way through the Mages Tower - full update to follow later today

[DWSmiley]

Yeah, I'm sure the odds would be better by having someone else lead the party, as the point man can draw the initial threat of an entire group of beasties.  But my wardens are too heroic, even the mages!

[Melchom]

Well I'm joining you on the failed run bench - the Revenant from The Black Vial took me out in the Chapel. I really hate how those things are so resistant to pretty much everything! However this run did teach me that actually 2-handed warriors are pretty good even with me being a newbie warrior on Hard difficulty.

Think I'll have another go at my Apostate Elf Shapeshifter theme as that never really got off the ground and I love the idea.

[DWSmiley]

Alright, one more time with feeling…
 
Raced through the noble origin. I could do it my sleep by now – in fact, I think I sometimes have.
 
Used several poultices in the Kocari Wilds this time. I made sure Ali and Jory kept their bash talents available against the alpha wolf but she didn’t overwhelm. All bows against the emissary, of course. Eating a fireball can be deadly. Gazarath is never a problem with a group, just made sure to keep my health up as flame blast + leap can be fatal. Bought a couple of iron daggers from the quartermaster to add to my collection.
 
In the Tower entrance hall, Ali and I stayed behind the barriers exchanging arrows with the spawn. Had to keep an eye on the guard and mage to keep them from running in to get slaughtered. The next rooms cross-activate. Opening the door to the hurlocks activates the genlocks next door and vice-versa.  Staying in the hall avoids having to fight everything at once.
 
For the next several rooms, the main thing is to try to keep one character from becoming the target of all the genlock archers. For the triple-room encounter on the third level, it is best to not stay in the hall. Running into the first room delays the reinforcements a bit. It can also be a good place for an acid flask and a stunning poison.
 
Finally, the big O. I was shamelessly using the guard as cannon fodder, taunting – 10 injuries by the end! The ogre decided it was next angriest at the mage, so Ali and I continued to stab in safety. ‘Tis satisfying to see a new recruit get the killing animation. Then it was time for a nap in Flemeth’s hut and awakening to be greeted by my next companion.
 
For the reunion with Dog, I used to hang back with bows but it is more effective to go right away with the increased dps of melee weapons. Morrigan got the alpha’s attention, then disabled him with horror. Dog (aka Bran) was still standing at the end, which is nice. The group is assembled.

Modifié par DWSmiley, 03 février 2013 - 04:15 .

[DWSmiley]

Lothering
 
Persuaded the bandits to contribute to the cause and then provoked them to attack. Sent Dog/Bran on several search missions until he found the book, the booze and the staff. If you have at least 10 gold, you get the option to “give” 50 silver to the robbed elves for a little experience point gain. Then it was off the gather some news and meet a wacky Chantry girl who thinks her god wants her to join me. No, thank you. But a caged qunari warrior – I’ll take one of those!
 
Time to earn a bit of coin from the Chantry, Morrigan’s scorn notwithstanding. And here’s Chantry girl again, running in to help fight some bandits and later some wolves.  Alistair and I agree; she’s got gusto. Might as well recruit her.
 
With the village getting a very temporary respite, it is time to head off to the big city. I’ve been hoarding all the more valuable loot, on the hunch I can get a better price there. J And sure enough, here is my loyal-for-life second, eager to resume his place by my side – or not. Ah well. Ali will put my ancestor’s shield to good use.
 
Randomly wander into someone’s house and meet the assistant to a Chantry scholar. Maybe there is something to this urn legend after all. The assistant seems suspicious but I decide to trespass no further. I now have even more reason to go to Lake Calenhad. Dealing with a foolish knight gets me to level 8. With mechanical expertise and cunning 26, I can open almost all locks in the market and tavern. What’s yours is mine! And the Fade will bump cunning to 31, which will do for all chests in the Tower except one. It would be a good time to deal with more bandits except I don’t want to chance a revenant and I’d rather not skip it.
 
On the road again
 
The North Road this time. Remind everyone not to order the shepherd’s pie at the inn. Renold’s apprentice goes down easily, just don’t gloat over the body if at low health. That’s a big explosion. Then the easiest fight in the game - equal forces of Bannorn and Loghain’s men, until the four of us tip the scales just a little bit.
 
The random road encounter is the bereskarn/blight wolves. I briefly occupy the bereskarn with some trepidation, as it can overwhelm, but the fight goes according to plan. Morri cones the wolves, Alistair shatters one, and then Morri grabs the bear’s attention, letting me backstab.

[DWSmiley]

A room with a view
 
At the lake Bran finds a haunting letter. One can only hope that Heather’s sister never shows up at their doorstep. After dealing with some deserters, a nervous innkeeper warns me of a trap that is easily handled. The urn plot thickens. Then it’s time to watch Morri persuade the annoying templar to row us across the lake, always good for a chuckle.
 
I sell my dagger collection to the Circle’s quartermaster – 11 of them. He quickly upgrades two to red steel with rune slots and I just so happen to have a GM Paralysis, Master Dweomer and Master Hale rune to put in them! Ah, the financial wherewithal of an Aeducan. I’m only level 8 and I’ve spent 89 gold and still have 11 in my purse. The tribal necklace isn’t bling as Morrigan prefers but it boosts her approval enough to alert me about her mother’s grimoire. ‘Tis a book of spells, she says.
 
I almost never fight Wynne and certainly not on a no reload campaign. She joins us while Bran somehow escapes the Tower and heads back to camp. Smart dog!
 
Get lucky with loot in the Senior Mages’ Quarters. 3 iced bands that could be a nice hedge against desire demons and a rare Crow dagger in a chest in the room just before the Godwin’s room. I’ve already sold the Circle quartermaster the Crow dagger from Denerim and I’ll sell him this one, too. It’s only grey iron now but he seems adept at upgrading weapons. I haven’t seen anything on how likely different merchants are to add rune slots but it does seem to vary. The Dryden brothers are the best but this is a vanilla playthrough, so no Soldier’s Peak. Bodahn almost never does, which is odd considering his talented nephew.
 
Then comes the first black vial. Definitely a more exciting proposition with no reload! But Wynne’s presence is comforting and I have good defence with the Chasind Robes and Bard’s Dancing Shoes. Even the demon’s double strike misses sometimes. The arcane horror is the next opportunity for a premature ending. I rush the creature and am the only one hit with its fireball. Wynne quickly heals me and, as a bonus, I resist the knockdown. Thank you, hale rune. It’s an easy fight after that.
 I have a premonition that it could be dangerous to explore all the quarters, so I leave some for now. The boss abomination in the central room is easily handled by a group. Next level up, I see a desire demon charming a Templar and decide it’s prudent to go the other way, where a nice demon persuades me it is time to take a rest.

[DWSmiley]

To infinity and beyond
 
The first part of the Fade is easy. Mouse, burning man and spirit forms, then backtrack to pick up a few more attribute points. There is no benefit in a dwarf touching the lyrium veins but doing so provokes a comment, such as “damn, lost the spell.”   Odd, that. Then the true tests begin. Or maybe they never end.
 
In the Mages Asunder the AI can kill you anytime it wants. Many a no reload ended for me here. The first two pairs of mages fall quickly to acid flasks. It’s too dangerous to use fireball. The extra second required might mean getting frozen by Winter’s Grasp and that can be the end. The next room with four mages is more trouble but at least they target each other first, so there is time for a fireball. The biggest danger is getting hit with a paralyze spell - certain doom - but by the ancestor’s favour I prevail.
 
The next room that has several mages is the worst. You have to enter in burning man form, which means casting fireball is delayed to sheath your weapon. But I get it off before being knocked down, a good start. I manage to cast a winter’s grasp, too, before being drained of all stamina from electric attacks. Time to switch to daggers and deathroot poison and use the big pillar to get out of line of sight. A few tense moments, a couple of poultices and it is done. Whew!
 
The last malice of mages is easy as they use fire attacks. Burning man is immune but they are not! Golem form is mine but now I have to face several of the constructs. The three-golem and two-golem-and-cleric rooms can be deadly if hit with an unlucky sequence of hurls and slams but fortune again smiles on me. The two arcane horrors are safely eliminated by casting fireball from beyond range, which gets the burning man form to sheath daggers first, then run forward and cast. If you run into range first, the sheathing time again can be fatal. Maybe that violates the no luring rule but ‘tis done.
 
I next finish off the areas already started. Yevena is the big danger. If she resists my spells, I risk falling to her cold and horror. She wins the opening round of winter’s grasps, not good. Thankfully, she does not follow up with cone of cold. I recover, stop her with crushing prison and finish her off in golem form. My preferred sequence against the ogre emissary is winter’s grasp, crushing prison, fireball, hurl, quake, slam. If they all work the fight is over but the ogre resists the first two. Lots of kiting and form shifting ensues but it’s a fight I’ve only lost by getting careless. Not this time!
 
On to the Templar’s Nightmare. Another mouse hole but this one leads to a trap. I struggle through the grease and drop the waiting arcane horror with a flurry just before it casts chain lightning. I have a mod that fixes the damage of chain lightning, so ‘twas a close call. I get the kill animation on the ogre in the next area and when leaping off, I leap back over the head the abomination that rushed in behind me and get in a backstab. Sweet! The desire demon falls quickly to my spirit and golem forms.
 
Alistair is the first companion to be rescued. I convince him things are amiss with his “sister” and he joins the fight. Helpful, as that is the toughest companion fight, imo. “Flemeth” falls easily to Morrigan and me but Wynne’s rescue gets a bit exciting when a mage hits us with a fireball. Fortunately, Wynne recovers in time to group heal.
 
On to Slothy, which turns out to be an easy fight. The only dangerous form, his last one, doesn’t get any of the worst spells off. But I must thank Slothy for providing such a marvellous rest. I feel stronger, more agile, healthier and smarter. Also nice is Morrigan and Ali levelling up. With Spell Shield and Cleanse Area, the rest of the Tower is much less worrisome.
 
Sure enough, all the remaining fights go smoothly. Neither demons, blood mages, charmed templars nor Uldred himself can stand against us. Irving and Greagoir are appropriately grateful. One treaty confirmed, just two to go!  I must make sure to adjust to having Bran again instead of Wynne.

[DWSmiley]

Dim lights, big city
 
It’s time to return to Denerim and have a chat with a certain Chantry scholar’s assistant. I’ll also resume my sideline as sheriff-for-hire. I want to clean up the city before reaching level 12, when the bad guys get scattershot.

On the way back to town a merchant offers me a tome rumored to contain the last words of the Maker himself. I already have five copies so I kill him. The fool on the hill paralyzes me and blasts us with a fireball but Alistair’s talent takes care of that and a charging Bran interrupts the mage just before he gets off chain lightning, which could have been bad.
 
The back alleys of Denerim are easy pre-scattershot. I back into a corner, let the bandits come to me, and Morrigan cones several.  I also encounter the revenant.  About 8 regular and 4 lesser poultices are consumed, a fair chunk of my supply, but the demon falls.  Morrigan levels up and gets dispel magic, so this is the perfect time to do That Quest.
 
The first room is easy.  In the second room one of the archers gets away, drawing me into fighting the next group as part of the same battle.  But all goes well as do the next few encounters.  Now comes crunch time.  First up - mabari, archers and mage.  I let the mabari come to me, then Bran and I charge the mage while Alistair and Morrigan deal with the pups.  It doesn’t quite work, though, as one mabari shrugs off Morrigan’s cone and chases after me.  This could be very bad for my high defense, no armour rogue as Alistair is too far away to save me from overwhelm.  But the ancestor’s smile upon me and I prevail.
 
Now comes That Room.  I play it straight and have everyone charge in.  Alistair bashes the nearest mage while the rest of us hastily apply warmth salve and elixir of grounding.  Bran charges the elite mage and gets nailed with misdirection hex and cone of cold.  Morrigan takes care of that and responds with her own cone.  The crux of the fight is over and it is just of matter of keeping an eye on everyone’s health.
 
The next room can be just as bad at higher levels.  I’ve had playthroughs where the group is greeted by a half dozen scattershots, fireball and, before they can react, chain lightning.  The fight is over before it begins.  Not a worry this time, though the AI throws me a curve.  I get Bran and myself safely around the grease (I think) and charging toward the mage.  I switch over to Alistair chopping down the barricade, something a character won’t do on their own.  But when I switch back to me, I find both Bran and I have touched a corner of the grease, lost our tactics and are instead attacking one of the archers.  Not good but I recover.

The boss blood mage is the usual anti-climax and That Quest is done!

Modifié par DWSmiley, 04 février 2013 - 09:57 .

[DWSmiley]

It is time to head home and see what my little brother is up to, though I might meet a merchant along the way who diverts me elsewhere. First though, there is a group of refugees in dire straits. It is a dangerous battle but less so than the blood mage lair.


Alas, as I should well know, that is the biggest danger of all – an easier fight, a moment of inattention. Three of us charge the boss emissary only to get nailed by chain lightning. No one seems on the critical list, though, so I switch over to Morrigan to make sure she uses winter’s grasp on the emissary. That will hopefully interrupt his next spell, which could be fireball. That accomplished, I switch back to me. And there I am, collapsing on the battlefield. I’ve just been felled by an arrow.

I may not have had as much health as I thought or maybe that wasn’t the first arrow to hit - I have the faster bows mod installed. Whatever it was, Ferelden’s fate is in Alistair’s hands now.

[Ferretinabun]

Aww, boo. I was rooting for you.

[Melchom]

DWSmiley: Damn! I really enjoyed reading your saga

[DWSmiley]

Thanks, guys. It was fun writing it up. Darn that genlock archer! It would have been prudent to leave that quest until I had Lifegiver but I don't like to metagame too much.

I may have one more attempt in me, a two-hander. As advantageous as it is to be Aeducan, a dwarven templar is just weird, so it will be a human with Morrigan, Leli and Wynne. If he gets any further than before, I may post some updates.

[gds76]

Alright I'll play.

Name: Toren Brosca
Race: Dwarf
class: Rogue
Difficulty: Nightmare
DLC: Return to Ostagar, Wardens Keep, Golems and Witch-hunt. (Disabled all starting goodies)

Going with the Dex-build on this one. Party will probably be Shale, Sten and Morrigan. Will play Golems and witch-hunt (hey I'm optimistic) but not awakening. Let's see how long he lasts.

[Ferretinabun]

*Pictures doing Golems without Awakening. On a No Reload run. Mind boggles*

[gds76]

Bah didn't even get that far. Sten activated Jarvias traps after (!) the battle while I was looting her body. That just sucks <_<


I'll try it one more time. Two-handed warrior, human noble. Everything else as above.

Modifié par gds76, 06 février 2013 - 04:45 .

[DWSmiley]

Ferretinabun wrote...

*Pictures doing Golems without Awakening. On a No Reload run. Mind boggles*

'Tis one way to kill a few minutes.