Anyone else looking forward to Dragon Age? (Spoilers and plot discussion here)

[crazy canuck]

(I even scout ahead with the rogue to find the enemy, attack them, and then run back to the rest of the party and take up my defensive position).

I try to do that with all my characters (I have tried them all now).  Shoot a range shot or two at the outlyers then run back to the ambush prepared by my party and watch the mobs get cut down.

[grumbler]

Errr, what part of "I want to have Zevran in my party" you didn't get?

He means you can have them back at camp without actually having them in your active group.  You do not have to tell them to leave.

I am reading "my party" as what you call "your active group."  It is pretty clear to me that Marti has his preferred questing group, and getting "kicked out" means a character isn't in that group any more.

[Grey Fox]

Marti, is the voice over also in Polish?


Any of you guys got the DLC Armor & Shale?

Got it with the Collector's Edition and the pre-order.
It's useful in mid-game.  Good armor, not too much fatigue, but you can easily get a better helmet.

I wish I could use Shale.

[katmai]

For someone who questions marti's professional competence grumbles, I think you are giving him too much credit here

[Valmy]

I am reading "my party" as what you call "your active group."  It is pretty clear to me that Marti has his preferred questing group, and getting "kicked out" means a character isn't in that group any more.

I figured that as well I was just explaining what Viper meant by 'you don't need to kick anybody, you can keep them' which would only be true when talking about the camp group since you obviously do need to kick people in the active group.

[viper37]

FYI, you don't need to kick anyone, you can keep them.

Errr, what part of "I want to have Zevran in my party" you didn't get?

When you say "kick them out", do you mean asking them to leave your camp or simply not having them in your party?  Because you can keep everyone in camp, but only 3 in your party, and I understood as if you were willingly getting rid of characters that could be one day useful (I keep Sten for example, but  I almost never use him).

EDIT: ah, everyone answered the same

[viper37]

I wish I could use Shale.

Buy the DLC!

[Caliga]

I would stop playing before I went the "all characters all the time" route.  Luckily, I don't have to.  Except against bosses, some fairly basic default tactics work okay (my rogue and mage use ranged attacks while my tanks just wait to defend against the enemy's melee rush).  I do definitely find it easier to implement tactics if you make the enemy come to you (I even scout ahead with the rogue to find the enemy, attack them, and then run back to the rest of the party and take up my defensive position).

I haven't gotten the stance options (aggressive, passive, etc) down yet, though.

Well, I've found that the 'Default' tactic for each character hasn't worked out too well... for example my rogue wouldn't ever hang back and shoot arrows till I changed her to 'Ranged'.  I think tonight I might  save right before an impending battle, and take a half hour to figure out the nuances of the tactical system via multiple replays of battle/tactical changes.

[crazy canuck]

I have been having trouble with two things:

1)On my rogue, after the main battle when I send my melee out to attack the ranged enemy I cant seem to stop them coming back to me and then attacking rather then simply moving on to the next ranged enemy without me giving them the direction to attack.

2) on my mage, I cant figure out how to tell everyone not to attack anyone when I am casting a sleep spell.  I would really like to be able to follow that up with the mass confusion spell (forget the name) which works automatically on people that are asleep and then horror on one target still asleep without having that combo messed up by my party hitting them and waking them up.

[Grey Fox]

I wish I could use Shale.

Buy the DLC!

I have it, it came with the game. What I am lacking is an internet connection.

[Caliga]

2) on my mage, I cant figure out how to tell everyone not to attack anyone when I am casting a sleep spell.  I would really like to be able to follow that up with the mass confusion spell (forget the name) which works automatically on people that are asleep and then horror on one target still asleep without having that combo messed up by my party hitting them and waking them up.

For this very reason I have been shying away from having my main (human mage) learn anything other than single-target debuffs and direct damage spells.

[Valmy]

The AI does get frustrating sometimes or I just suck at managing a battle.  I will be on Wynne selecting the spells and watching the health and stamina/mana meters and then suddenly notice my tank has stopped attacking for some odd reason.  I mean at least wait until your target is dead first.

[grumbler]

I have been having trouble with two things:

1)On my rogue, after the main battle when I send my melee out to attack the ranged enemy I cant seem to stop them coming back to me and then attacking rather then simply moving on to the next ranged enemy without me giving them the direction to attack. 

Create a second custom order set that you switch to under these circumstances, that just says 'attack nearest enemy."  Make sure you turn off "hold position in formation" for this character.

2) on my mage, I cant figure out how to tell everyone not to attack anyone when I am casting a sleep spell.  I would really like to be able to follow that up with the mass confusion spell (forget the name) which works automatically on people that are asleep and then horror on one target still asleep without having that combo messed up by my party hitting them and waking them up.

Maybe you could create an order set that is blank, and assign everyone that order set until the mage is done?  Dunno; haven't tried that myself, but let us know how it works out if you try it.

[grumbler]

The AI does get frustrating sometimes or I just suck at managing a battle.  I will be on Wynne selecting the spells and watching the health and stamina/mana meters and then suddenly notice my tank has stopped attacking for some odd reason.  I mean at least wait until your target is dead first.

I think the tank might have been stunned, and has no applicable orders once the initial attack order gets canceled by the stun.  Make sure "attack nearest enemy" is in the tactic being used.  If I don't have the order slots to make that the final order, I keep an eye on that character, as they will stop fighting if they have no order to fight.

[crazy canuck]

Good tips Grumbler.  Thanks.