# Any fellow dopers looking forward to Dragon Age 2?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [February 24, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447 "2011-02-24T14:03:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/41 "2011-02-27T07:22:11Z")

</div>

> [@llcoolbj77](#):
>
> OMG I am soo excited. Though I haven’t checked out the demo at all.
> 
> I probably played through the whole story about 6 times. My favorite was noble human chick (rogue). But mostly because I could bang Alistair. I enjoyed my romances with all of the other folks, but I could never get Leliana to hook up with me. LAME. So I am only missing two badges… 1) hook up with Leliana, and 2) experience all romances across game play. Oh well

Well if you’re thinking of another playthrough you can romance her by doing her personal quest ASAP and getting her up to ‘love’ status. She’s surprisingly one of the harder love interests (considering you can have a threesome/foursome with her later).

There’s a feeble archive for DA saves [Here](http://dragonagesaves.com/) that never took off but might be worth a look to see if they have a savegame that matches what you want.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Makeitstop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@Makeitstop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Makeitstop)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/42 "2011-02-27T07:44:54Z")

</div>

> [@llcoolbj77](#):
>
> OMG I am soo excited. Though I haven’t checked out the demo at all.
> 
> I probably played through the whole story about 6 times. My favorite was noble human chick (rogue). But mostly because I could bang Alistair. I enjoyed my romances with all of the other folks, but I could never get Leliana to hook up with me. LAME. So I am only missing two badges… 1) hook up with Leliana, and 2) experience all romances across game play. Oh well.
> 
> So as far as your decisions in DA:0, and DA:A affecting game play in DA2… does that mean if you import a character? Do I need to do a new playthrough of DA:O and DA:A with my favorite character? So I can import them? I have erased most of my playthroughs, so should I do one as a rogue, one as a mage, etc… or what?

Play the demo. totally awsome, and it will give you a taste to see wither you like the new combat system. I love it myself.

You get to import one single save file(Origins, Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak or Witch Hunt, not one from each. The later the DLC you play on, the more decisions it will import). The only stuff I have heard of that will affect DA2 are the big things like who you put on the throne, and who killed the Archdemon(Also if your Warden ''Interacted" with the pirate captain Isabella, that will almost certainly be mentioned, since she’s a companion). Also, you can have a character who sacrificed themselsves, and play through Awakening with them, and DA2 will still show that your Warden dies to end the Blight, and a placeholder Warden was used to make all your decisions from DA:A.

I highly recomend playing thrugh as a Dalish Elf, since Hawke will be running into the Dalish Elf’s clan in DA2, and one of Hawke’s companions will be from said clan(Merril, the clan’s keeper, is a confirmed companion).

Of course, if you don’t want to use up the time to play thorugh DA:O again, you can just use one of the default playthroughs available at the begining of the game. They are:

“Hero of Ferelden” (Indeterminant Origin and gender): Ended Fifth Blight by killing Archdemon and survived. Placed Alistair on the throne.  
“The Martyr”(Female, Dalish Elf Origin): Died to kill the Archdemon. She left the kingdom ruled by Alistair and Anora.  
“No Compromise”(Mele, Dwarf Noble Origin): Took command of Grey Wardens. Exiled Alistair, sent Loghain to his death against Archdemon, and left Anora as Ferelden’s ruler.

DA2 doesn’t feel very much like a sequel, rather it is a continuation of the world. Even so, I’ll be competing the last of my six primary playthroughs sometimes next week. I decided that I should have one Warden from each origin, and have been working on that for the past three months.

Also, I never had a problem romancing Leliana. She takes the most approval before she becomes available as a love interest, but that makes her all the more interesting for some of my Wardens. Go to the Dragon Age Wiki, and you will be given IN-DEPTH instructions on how to woo her. It’s amazing just how little life some fans have.

…

Not that I would know, or anything.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/43 "2011-02-27T18:18:25Z")

</div>

> [@llcoolbj77](#):
>
> The lady you need to bring the stuff to lives in Redcliffe. Her name is Jetta, and she is chilling out in the Chantry. 🆒

But I don’t know how to get to the Chantry from where I am. Isn’t the Chantry the cathedral place you start the game in? I don’t seem to have the option of going back. The door isn’t clickable. So I’m hoping it becomes possible to get back there at a later date. Does the game ‘open up’ after an initial period of introductory play like some games do (you are stuck in a vault in the beginning of fallout 3, you are stuck in a smaller area for the beginning of Just Cause 2)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/44 "2011-02-27T19:20:17Z")

</div>

> [@llcoolbj77](#):
>
> ETA: My husband almost wept when he found out there was a new Dragon Age game coming out. Poor guy!

I feel pretty bad for recommending it now!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Aghris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecccb3/32.png) [@Aghris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aghris)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/45 "2011-02-27T19:32:38Z")

</div>

> [@Lobsang](#):
>
> But I don’t know how to get to the Chantry from where I am. Isn’t the Chantry the cathedral place you start the game in? I don’t seem to have the option of going back. The door isn’t clickable. So I’m hoping it becomes possible to get back there at a later date. Does the game ‘open up’ after an initial period of introductory play like some games do (you are stuck in a vault in the beginning of fallout 3, you are stuck in a smaller area for the beginning of Just Cause 2)

Just keep playing, the whole world will open up for you (save a few particular areas).

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/46 "2011-02-27T19:35:06Z")

</div>

> [@Lobsang](#):
>
> But I don’t know how to get to the Chantry from where I am. Isn’t the Chantry the cathedral place you start the game in? I don’t seem to have the option of going back. The door isn’t clickable. So I’m hoping it becomes possible to get back there at a later date. Does the game ‘open up’ after an initial period of introductory play like some games do (you are stuck in a vault in the beginning of fallout 3, you are stuck in a smaller area for the beginning of Just Cause 2)

No you probably haven’t been to Redcliff yet. It is one of the three places you can go to recruit allies for the final battle. Though if you want a tip don’t go there immediately after the map opens up or you’ll have a heck of a fight on your hands. The game doesn’t really help you on this but with min/max enemy levels there is an order to where you should go for the main quests. I’ll spoiler it in case anyone wants to explore on their own.

1. Mage Tower  
2. Redcliff  
3. Forest  
4. Orzammar  
5. DenerimThough don’t worry I did them completely out of order and did ok on my first playthrough. In fact I usually don’t even hold to that order now that I know it as I have my own preferred route through the game.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/47 "2011-02-27T22:54:42Z")

</div>

So another question about Dragon Age while we’re at it -

there are a couple side questy things that are sending me to Denerim (the ashes of who’s her face and a couple mage quests); should I avoid going there until I’m ready to take on Teryn Loghain or whatever his name is?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/48 "2011-02-27T23:20:50Z")

</div>

> [@Tom\_Scud](#):
>
> So another question about Dragon Age while we’re at it -
> 
> there are a couple side questy things that are sending me to Denerim (the ashes of who’s her face and a couple mage quests); should I avoid going there until I’m ready to take on Teryn Loghain or whatever his name is?

[spoiler]Don’t worry, you won’t have to face Loghain in Denerim for a long, long time.

However, beware: while the starting quarter is relatively safe (including the guy you have to see for the ashes, don’t remember the mage quests), if you try to explore the rest of the city or do the sidequests you’re given by the chief of police you’ll be ambushed by thieves as “random” encounters when moving to other neighbourhoods.

They’re pretty hard hitting and have _lots_ of archers, making them tough encounters for low level characters.[/spoiler]

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/49 "2011-02-27T23:28:31Z")

</div>

> [@Lobsang](#):
>
> But I don’t know how to get to the Chantry from where I am. Isn’t the Chantry the cathedral place you start the game in? I don’t seem to have the option of going back. The door isn’t clickable. So I’m hoping it becomes possible to get back there at a later date.

The Chantry is the name of Ferelden’s religion, as well as their Fantasy Word for a church. In this case, it’s the Redcliffe church, which is on the main square.

BTW, did you get Sten and Leliana for your party in Lothering, the first town you went to after the big battle ? You should _really_ make sure to get them both before you leave that town, else they’re lost forever. Leliana’s in the tavern and more or less bullies herself into the party so she’s hard to miss. Sten is the guy in the cage and you have to diplo the Reverend Mother of the church before she lets him go (either by pledging to keep him in check, or by threatening her… Morrigan prefers the latter but both Leliana and Alistair’s heads will asplode if you do it in front of them ;))

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/50 "2011-02-28T07:07:54Z")

</div>

> [@Kobal2](#):
>
> BTW, did you get Sten and Leliana for your party in Lothering, the first town you went to after the big battle ? You should _really_ make sure to get them both before you leave that town, else they’re lost forever.

Though it is good advice to clear out Lothering before you go (there’s no reason not to). A slight nitpick is that you _can_ return up until you complete a major quest line.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/51 "2011-02-28T20:48:53Z")

</div>

Stupid question: How do you get Alister and Anora married and ruling jointly?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/52 "2011-02-28T20:55:22Z")

</div>

> [@Mollie\_Magill](#):
>
> Stupid question: How do you get Alister and Anora married and ruling jointly?

From what I understand you need to have cunning in the high 20s, persuasion maxed out, and talk to both of them about it before the Landsmeet. Further you MUST kill Loghain by yourself, as Anora won’t marry her father’s killer. The only other thing that may affect it is hardening Alistair. I can’t find any concrete info on whether or no hardening Alistair effects it at all, I suspect it does.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/53 "2011-02-28T20:57:57Z")

</div>

Yeah, hardening Alistair makes it easier on the persuasion requirement.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/54 "2011-02-28T20:59:34Z")

</div>

What if I have mad huge amounts of cunning (lethality build archer) and no Persuasion?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/55 "2011-02-28T21:07:29Z")

</div>

> [@Tom\_Scud](#):
>
> What if I have mad huge amounts of cunning (lethality build archer) and no Persuasion?

Coercion adds +25 to your base score and the hardest checks in the base game are 100. So you’d need 110 cunning for a hard check persuade to work.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/56 "2011-02-28T21:14:36Z")

</div>

Tried to edit but my connection dropped and I missed the window.

The game subtracts ten from your base score when calculating bonuses. That’s why you’d need 110 and not 100 to pass a skill check of 100. I don’t actually know what skill level the marry option is. It could be on the 75 or 50 point tier.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/57 "2011-02-28T21:29:03Z")

</div>

I have Persuasion maxed out, and Cunning in the low-mid thirties. I did not harden Alister, I’d thought he’d be easier to control (push around) if I had not. Did I screw the pooch?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/58 "2011-02-28T21:36:35Z")

</div>

> [@Mollie\_Magill](#):
>
> I have Persuasion maxed out, and Cunning in the low-mid thirties. I did not harden Alister, I’d thought he’d be easier to control (push around) if I had not. Did I screw the pooch?

Make sure you talk to them individually about it before the Landsmeet, I think it’s impossible unless you convince them both individually beforehand. If that doesn’t work, you’re probably screwed. To see if you’re literally screwed run the game with the option -enabledeveloperconsole, hit ` (grave), before the dialogue, type runscript dbg\_setattrib 5 200 which should increase your cunning by 200 for two minutes. Then you should know if it’s truly impossible or not.

Edit: If I have Blood Mage unlocked and I specialize in it, do I automatically lose Wynne, or does that just require doing something stupid like shouting “I’M A MALEFICAR” in front of her? I won’t do the quest, since I have it unlocked, just pick it as my specialty. I always thought that Blood Mages aren’t necessarily evil (hell, see Jowan), so I figured if I kept it under the radar it would be useful and nobody would freak out that their hero is a Blood Mage.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/59 "2011-02-28T21:41:11Z")

</div>

> [@Jragon](#):
>
> Edit: If I have Blood Mage unlocked and I specialize in it, do I automatically lose Wynne, or does that just require doing something stupid like shouting “I’M A MALEFICAR” in front of her? I won’t do the quest, since I have it unlocked, just pick it as my specialty. I always thought that Blood Mages aren’t necessarily evil (hell, see Jowan), so I figured if I kept it under the radar it would be useful and nobody would freak out that their hero is a Blood Mage.

Don’t know for sure, but I did drink the poison thingy in Soldier’s Peak (thereby unlocking the specialty) right in front of her, and she didn’t blink.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447/60 "2011-02-28T21:44:16Z")

</div>

> [@Tom\_Scud](#):
>
> Don’t know for sure, but I did drink the poison thingy in Soldier’s Peak (thereby unlocking the specialty) right in front of her, and she didn’t blink.

I did that too, but that doesn’t seem to be the same, I hear choosing the real person Blood Mage tree causes disagreements with Wynne.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447.md?page=2)

[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-fellow-dopers-looking-forward-to-dragon-age-2/572447.md?page=4)
