# The Dragon Age thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 3, 2009, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156 "2009-11-03T12:34:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**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:** [January 16, 2010, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/501 "2010-01-16T07:02:32Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#): > > They don’t seem to be listed under my achievements. I’m pretty sure I learned Berserker from Oghren though, it was listed on Alistair when he leveled (I didn’t take it, waiting on one of the others to open up). I know I’ve learned Bard from a book, but I don’t see that in my achievements either. Just checked, and you’re right - I was confusing it with the achievement for choosing a spec for your main. Well then, next easiest option : check on next character levelup, or if you have to know NOW, start a new character who can get that spec (once unlocked in one playthrough, the specs are unlocked for new games too) ---
**Author:** ![Anduinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Anduinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduinel)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/502 "2010-01-16T09:03:07Z")
> [@nikonikosuru](#): > > I maxed out her pickpocketing. I wasn’t a fan of pickpocketing. Besides the main quest for it in Denerim, I found little use. You could only get trivial things from people, nothing too great. In the beginning it’s cute, “Oh, I got a root off of this beggar!” but towards the end it gets tedious and boring and it’s not like you get anything more significant off of a higher leveled person so it’s “Oh, I got a mushroom off of this king!..Huh.” I regretted not putting points into lock picking right away and, if I play the game again, I’d put more points into primarily that and persuasion. One of the fun bits with pickpocketing in Denerim was that if you failed once or twice, you started having random combats with guards when traveling the back streets. So you can get a little extra in the way of loot and XPs if you’re bad enough at it. 😉 [Here’s a roadmap of people it’s worth pickpocketing if you don’t mind the additional gameplay spoilers.](http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Stealing:_Profitable_Targets) ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/503 "2010-01-16T22:53:40Z")
> [@Anduinel](#): > > One of the fun bits with pickpocketing in Denerim was that if you failed once or twice, you started having random combats with guards when traveling the back streets. So you can get a little extra in the way of loot and XPs if you’re bad enough at it. 😉 [Here’s a roadmap of people it’s worth pickpocketing if you don’t mind the additional gameplay spoilers.](http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Stealing:_Profitable_Targets) [Very](http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/brilliant.jpg)[nice](http://lolfed.com/wp-content/uploads/borat-very-nice.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Daedelus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Daedelus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daedelus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/504 "2010-01-17T00:38:54Z")
The only useful feature for pickpocketing was to be able to do the additional quests from Slim in Denerim. If you’re not playing a rogue character that can stealth, then it’s worth placing one point into pickpocketing just for those quests. Not sure if it’s technically a spoiler, but used the tag, just in case. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/505 "2010-01-17T02:55:00Z")
So… I just beat the game, and my motherfucking xbox promptly froze right after the coronation scene. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah. When I turned it back on, it dropped me at a save point right next to my camp, but as far as I can tell there’s no way for me to watch the epilogue now without killing the Archdemon, again, and there’s some content/options after the coronation that I seem to have missed too. Am I correct in this and if I want to see the epilogue and speak to the king/queen I have to go through the shittiness that is the final boss fight, all over again? ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/506 "2010-01-17T03:31:20Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Am I correct in this and if I want to see the epilogue and speak to the king/queen I have to go through the shittiness that is the final boss fight, all over again? First question would be, are you sure you have access to the end game? It didn’t autosave after the fight did it? If you have access from a previous save or otherwise, then you’ll have to do the fight again to see the finale short of Youtubing it. My advice, if you have to do it again is just drop the difficulty down and cheat like a MF if you have to and breeze through it on the second playthrough. I know some gamers take it as a badge of honor to play on ‘hard’ but I’ve never understood that. And Dragon Age is a title who’s narrative deserves to be seen through to the end with your own customized character. It won’t have the same emotional impact otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/507 "2010-01-17T04:09:02Z")
> [@Jihi](#): > > First question would be, are you sure you have access to the end game? It didn’t autosave after the fight did it? Not 100%, no… but the save I have is in a location called “the lonely road”, or something, that’s got an exit that leads to your camp, and I haven’t saved at my camp for some time. Also, all of the previous quests I had are gone from my active quest tab. > [@Jihi](#): > > My advice, if you have to do it again is just drop the difficulty down and cheat like a MF if you have to and breeze through it on the second playthrough. I know some gamers take it as a badge of honor to play on ‘hard’ but I’ve never understood that. Thanks for the advice, I didn’t realize I could drop the difficulty down while in play. I’ll do that. Do you know if there’s really anything to do once you beat the game, or is it just over other than randomly wandering around? ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/508 "2010-01-17T05:35:13Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Not 100%, no… but the save I have is in a location called “the lonely road”, or something, that’s got an exit that leads to your camp, and I haven’t saved at my camp for some time. Also, all of the previous quests I had are gone from my active quest tab. I just loaded up my post finish save to double check what the circumstances were, ( i haven’t played since I finished the game back in November), and it seems to dump you in a location called “On the Road” (a random location with a high wall in the background), which only has two exits both of which go back to your camp. If this is where you find yourself you may be loading up the post game content. Did you have any uncompleted sidequests? They get erased after the final battle. You might be screwed on watching the finale. ☹ Check to see if you have any saves before the final approach to Denerim however. > [@](#): > > Thanks for the advice, I didn’t realize I could drop the difficulty down while in play. I’ll do that. Do you know if there’s really anything to do once you beat the game, or is it just over other than randomly wandering around? Yeah, you can adjust the difficulty through the options menu at any time, (PC or console version), if you hit a stumbling block. I played through the entire game up to the Archdemon on ‘normal’ and had to move the difficulty down to complete it after I banged my head against a wall for two days. I entered the last fight with too few mana pots and my mage kept falling early, followed shortly by the other party members. The post game allows you to play through DLC content, (Warden’s Keep and the Golem area in Honleath), but the regular sidequests get erased. This is in the vanilla game however, mods might correct for this. ---
**Author:** ![capeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@capeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capeo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/509 "2010-01-18T18:02:06Z")
Do dragons scale their level with you? The reason I ask is I’ve faced two High Dragons and have yet to be able to take one down. The first was at a party level of 10-11, the second with a party of mostly 12s. So, are they going to always be that hard or will I have an easier time at a higher level? ---
**Author:** ![capeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@capeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capeo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/510 "2010-01-18T18:14:10Z")
> [@capeo](#): > > Do dragons scale their level with you? The reason I ask is I’ve faced two High Dragons and have yet to be able to take one down. The first was at a party level of 10-11, the second with a party of mostly 12s. So, are they going to always be that hard or will I have an easier time at a higher level? Sorry for quoting myself, bad form, but I answered my own question over at the Dragon Age Wikia. Apparently they do scale with you so I just have to get better. Hopefully at a higher level, with more skills and spells at my disposal, I can formulate a better strategy than my current losing one. Part of my problem is I’m trying to get through the game without a true tank. I’ve been able to handle everything so far except these damn dragons. ---
**Author:** ![capeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@capeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capeo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/511 "2010-01-18T19:34:47Z")
This may have already been discussed but this is a long thread. Has Bioware ever given any reason why the graphics of this game are so bad? I mean, I’m loving the game, it’s no deal breaker, but in the age of Oblivion, Fallout 3, Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2 I can’t see why the textures and poly counts in this game are so bad. It’s not open world. No single area is any bigger than UC2’s boards nor even KZ2’s multiplayer boards. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/512 "2010-01-18T19:53:42Z")
> [@capeo](#): > > This may have already been discussed but this is a long thread. Has Bioware ever given any reason why the graphics of this game are so bad? I mean, I’m loving the game, it’s no deal breaker, but in the age of Oblivion, Fallout 3, Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2 I can’t see why the textures and poly counts in this game are so bad. It’s not open world. No single area is any bigger than UC2’s boards nor even KZ2’s multiplayer boards. I’m not a technical expert, but it seems fundamental to the game engine that Bioware chooses to use. Mass Effect had the same baffling graphical shortcomings, requiring the infamous “loading elevator” to move from one bland featureless deck of your ship to the next. I’m playing Batman simultaneously now, levels are massively larger and more graphically rich, and load screens are barely noticeable between the zones. ---
**Author:** ![capeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@capeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capeo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/513 "2010-01-18T20:12:06Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > I’m not a technical expert, but it seems fundamental to the game engine that Bioware chooses to use. Mass Effect had the same baffling graphical shortcomings, requiring the infamous “loading elevator” to move from one bland featureless deck of your ship to the next. > > I’m playing Batman simultaneously now, levels are massively larger and more graphically rich, and load screens are barely noticeable between the zones. That’s another good example. The outdoor areas are quite large in Arkham Asylum and they are beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/514 "2010-01-18T20:22:44Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > I’m not a technical expert, but it seems fundamental to the game engine that Bioware chooses to use. Mass Effect had the same baffling graphical shortcomings, requiring the infamous “loading elevator” to move from one bland featureless deck of your ship to the next. > > I’m playing Batman simultaneously now, levels are massively larger and more graphically rich, and load screens are barely noticeable between the zones. Yeah, but Mass Effect really has no excuse. It uses the same engine as Arkham (Unreal 3)\*. Bioware clearly does something fundamentally different in-house that messes with it. I’m not sure if it’s their proprietary language’s compiler that just doesn’t optimize well, or if their coders just use poor technique, but even outside of their own engines they have the same problems. - Okay, if you want to be technical Arkham uses 3.5, but there are plenty of other games that use Unreal 3 that I’m sure we could dig up to prove the same point. Besides, I doubt 3 and 3.5 are different enough to invalidate the point anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/515 "2010-01-18T20:54:05Z")
> [@capeo](#): > > This may have already been discussed but this is a long thread. Has Bioware ever given any reason why the graphics of this game are so bad? I mean, I’m loving the game, it’s no deal breaker, but in the age of Oblivion, Fallout 3, Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2 I can’t see why the textures and poly counts in this game are so bad. It’s not open world. No single area is any bigger than UC2’s boards nor even KZ2’s multiplayer boards. The graphics are bad? That’s news to me. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/516 "2010-01-18T20:55:27Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > The graphics are bad? That’s news to me. Oh yeah, I meant to mention that too. I was only referring to the loading difficulties. The graphics aren’t anywhere near bad. ---
**Author:** ![capeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@capeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capeo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/517 "2010-01-18T21:11:48Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Oh yeah, I meant to mention that too. I was only referring to the loading difficulties. The graphics aren’t anywhere near bad. I would say they are quite bad personally. For this generation. Even in cut scenes the textures on people’s clothes are pixelated messes. There’s clipping everywhere as well. Nothing in the world in any way moves. Oblivion is way older and it had fields of swaying grass. All the greenery moved in the wind. Water reacted to you and the environment. The water in DA is a joke. DA has the worst graphics I’ve ever seen on a PS3 game without a doubt. Again, it’s not ruining my experience entirely but it is certainly in your face. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/518 "2010-01-18T21:12:18Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Oh yeah, I meant to mention that too. I was only referring to the loading difficulties. The graphics aren’t anywhere near bad. I used to be a huge loading snob when I had a Super Nintendo (What? You’ve got to wait for a game to load? You poor child.) but now, I don’t even notice it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/519 "2010-01-18T21:16:16Z")
The PC version is absolutely gorgeous if you have the hardware to run it. On the consoles, the PS3 looks better with higher res textures but apparently has some framerate issues. (Never actually played this version.) The 360 version runs smoothly but does look muddy and indistinct in certain areas. ---
**Author:** ![capeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@capeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capeo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156/520 "2010-01-18T21:24:03Z")
> [@Jihi](#): > > The PC version is absolutely gorgeous if you have the hardware to run it. > > On the consoles, the PS3 looks better with higher res textures but apparently has some framerate issues. (Never actually played this version.) > > The 360 version runs smoothly but does look muddy and indistinct in certain areas. I’ve seen screen grabs of the game maxed out on Gamespot and it still looks remarkably last gen. Also, it’s no where close to say, Oblivion, maxed out on a PC. And Oblivion looks great on the PS3 as well. I don’t understand the drop off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dragon-age-thread/516156.md?page=27)