Dragon Age - Origins - Forming a universal group. Dragon Age: Beginning - Guide to leveling up and tactics of Dragon age specialization

Role - make the battle slaughter enemies on a first-come, first-served basis

Candidates - Morrigan.

And again - why not the main character? The answer is the same as with support - it is illogical to make GG someone who Morrigan already is. And her spells are spread out more successfully. Only if you are tired of this cynical bitch - similarly with Winn - make GG a Controller, and don’t take Morrigan into the party.

What is control in general? It is incapacitating enemies. Usually this means a complete inability to move, attack and cast spells. Control can also be called disablement. It is also the responsibility of the controller to apply debuffs - damage that reduces attack, defense, movement speed, etc.

Characteristics - since the most disgusting thing for a magician in the game is “Resilience”, we invest only in the Power of Magic. You can occasionally use Willpower. By the way, you will be surprised how much less often a controller (who does not combine DD functions) has to drink mana than a healer.

Crafts - again, we don’t need anything at all. But if the controller is Morrigan and not gg, then her herbs will be highly developed already at the beginning, it is logical that out of the whole party it will be her who will pump up the Herbalist to the end. By the way, Morrigan has already had her combat training increased by 2 points, which gives additional mana regeneration in battle.

Cloth - any for the power of magic and damage from the elements (best from fire, fireball is our everything). You can also occasionally use willpower - this is the reserve of mana and its regeneration in battle.

Spells - Firstly, we immediately reject everything that the support takes, and especially what the support considered useless even for himself.

So what do we have?

Element branch

This is mainly a DD branch, but we need a couple of spells here.

Fire Stitch

Leveling up the party

Leveling up the party

B) Fireball! Why with an exclamation point? Because this is your main spell. Moreover, it combines both control and non-childish damage. This is one of those cases when harmful Resilience only works on holidays - the fireball knocks down even Orange Bosses. The exception is Indomitability, but everything is clear here. Add a small mana cost and cooldown - you get a simply wonderful spell.

Don’t believe me - you will be able to see for yourself when you get the Fiery form in the kingdom of dreams, and after that you will want to upgrade the fireball to all non-supports at once.

The spells preceding the fireball in the line of fire are almost of no interest to us - the cone of fire is weak, fire weapons are standard, and are replaced by telekenetic ones.

Earth Stitch

Leveling up the party

Leveling up the party

Strange line. The first spell is specific and is not needed by the controller; we won’t talk about it now. It's time to talk in detail about damage to a single target of a magician.

A story about how magicians killed a single target:

Quote: The thing is that only 4 spells deal direct damage to a single target - Magic Arrow, Ice Grasp, Lightning and Stone Fist. All of them can be taken at the beginning and generally seem “cheap”. But apart from them, nothing in the game can cause direct damage to one target. So the magician must first impose a Corruption of Vulnerability on the target, which greatly increases all magical damage, and alternately casts the above spells. If you take any 3 of them and do them in turn, you will have a couple of seconds between using the 3rd one and finishing the cooldown of the 1st one. And if you take all 4, then you can click them in a row without stopping. Oddly enough, despite the fact that these are the first and seemingly “cheap” spells and even despite the lousy “stability”, the magician is the most reliable single-target damage dealer. The most reliable and strong. The only negative is that you will have to use a ladle for mana. All AoEs deal the same damage to one target as these first spells, the simple advantage of AoE is that there are many targets at once. The disadvantage of the approach of 4 spells is that due to the huge damage, you will constantly disrupt the boss’s aggro from the tank, and it is not easy to restore it. So your choice is to take all 4 spells or not. Practice shows that 3 aggro spells are rarely disrupted.

And a little more about single targets and specifically the controller - when only the Boss remains, there is no one left to control. Those. the controller becomes a regular DD for one purpose. Morrigan already has Ice Grasp and Lightning for this. If the controller is Gg, there is also a Magic Arrow. You need to take Morrigan 3rd spell in almost any case, otherwise you will stand idle for a long time. 4th – at your discretion.

Earthquake - refers to Large AoE. About them later, for now I’ll say that it’s not worth taking.

But I can’t escape the next retreat.

A story about strong disables:

Therefore, in general, in this line, take the Fist and calm down on this.

Ice Stitch

Leveling up the party

Leveling up the party

A) Ice Grasp, which is the only one of the 4 single-target nukes that is also a full-fledged disable, is very useful and has already been upgraded.

B) Ice weapons - again, telekinetic ones are better - but they give access to the Cone of Ice.

Well, since the controller has had more than one retreat, then let there be one more

Guide to drawing cones on the floor with crayons or paints:

Quote: There are three cones in the game - fire, ice and lightning. The first one is generally not needed except at the beginning of the game, but they all have special features. Namely: any spell has a casting time, just like warriors have an attack time. If you give a new order before this time has elapsed, the spell will be cancelled. For some, this triggers CD (fact - chain lightning), for some it doesn’t (fact - fireball). So here it is. If single-target nukes fly with homing, then a delay in casting the cone can be fatal. By pressing pause and highlighting the enemies running towards you in the center of the cone, after releasing the pause you may find that they were running towards another party member, and eventually ran past while the magician was waving his staff. Therefore, those running past need to be caught “preemptively”, as in shooters. The exception is Cone of Ice. It takes even longer to cast than lightning or fire, but in return it freezes those targets that were in the marker at the time of the mouse click, and not those who ran past when the cast was released. Absurd situations arise - an ally was given the order to run out, but he did not have time, and froze along with the enemies... behind the caster's back. Be careful.

But let's go back to the Cone of Ice - along with Fireball, this is one of the main spells of any non-support mage. It also rarely gains resistance, it works quite stably on Bosses, even dragons, although the freeze time for bosses is shorter. But ordinary targets usually stay in ice for as long as the cooldown goes on! That is, having caught many enemies that you don’t care about now, you can keep them in place for as long as you have mana.

The only negative is the Cone. Compared to, for example, the firing range of archers - consider a melee spell. Basically, it comes in handy and freezes those who sneak up on you or a tank or other party members for close combat. Don’t even think about running to the archers two screens away to freeze them - you won’t make it.

D) Buran - Large AoE, more on that later, we don’t take it.

Spirit Branch

Mana Drain Line

Leveling up the party

Leveling up the party

Logically, the entire line is aimed at fighting magicians. In order:

A). The spell extends our mana at the expense of other magicians, the CD is small, there is no mana cost, everything would be fine, but magicians are rare, and this is the main problem of the line.

B) Burning mana - in theory it burns all the mana, but in practice after this the emissaries manage to be healed. Hard difficulty. Unclear. Fact.

Q) Magic power is a really useful thing, but is it worth the two-point climb to get it?

D) Mana Clash - causes great damage to magicians, because damage is equal to all mana burned. Some bosses will give a damn about this = stability. But even if it is so useful, due to the small number of really dangerous magicians, you don’t have to spend 4 points on this matter.

Necromancy Stitch

Leveling up the party

Leveling up the party

A) A walking bomb is something divine. It requires delicate use, but when all spells hit 40-50 damage, the bomb hits 130. This makes clearing groups of enemies much easier. How to use:

When the enemy has enough health left for any nuke, pause the game. If the spell with which you are going to finish off the enemy is ice grip, then the scheme is as follows: press the magician to throw a bomb, and at the moment when it hits the enemy, press pause and press Grasp. If there is no stability, the target will immediately explode. If the spell is a Cone or any other single-target nuke, then pause, select a target for the bomb, and at the moment when the bomb (small white oval) flies out of the caster’s hands, pause the game and cast any other spell . It will look impressive - as soon as the bomb hits, another spell immediately catches up with it and the bomb goes off. Nuances - the bomb does not “lie” on the target for long, it needs to be detonated quickly. Therefore, it is advisable not to neglect the dances described above. The bomb has a decent recharge, use it carefully.

B) Funnel of Death - after switching on, a funnel (barely noticeable, blue) appears around the character. Once every second or two, it decomposes one corpse, giving you mana in the radius of the crater. A useful spell, download it or not - at will. Gives access to:

C) Infectious walking bomb - the same bomb, only it does not require dancing with an activation. She finishes it off herself. It’s better to throw at a target that is near death.

D) Summoning a Skeleton - extra hands (even dead ones) capable of holding a sword are always useful. To download or not is at your discretion.

Line of Reason

Leveling up the party

Leveling up the party

A) Mind explosion - already taken from Morrigan. A useful spell if you reach the magician. It is not recommended to use it as “ran up - stunned - ran away”, only in extreme cases - you break aggro.

B) Force Field - A miracle spell, it definitely has a bunch of applications, but it’s wonderful because it works on Orange (albeit for less time). You will rarely see stability with it. Completely disables the target from battle for a long time, but makes it completely invulnerable. There are more uses than you think. More details below.

C) Telekenetic weapons - the best option is to “enchant” weapons out of the three options. There must be one in the batch. Preferably not from support.

D) Crushing Dungeon - a strong disable, which was already written about above. I don't recommend it, but it's optional.

Entropy Branch

Stitch of Paralysis

Leveling up the party

Leveling up the party

A very useful line for a controller.

A) Weakness is a standard debuff, like Loss of Orientation in the Sleep line.

B) Paralysis is akin to Nightmare, only there is no such fashionable combination. Take it anyway.

C) Poisonous fumes - it is doubtful that you will want to run close to other people's melee units and thereby impose penalties on them, but if you are confident in the aggro of your tank - it is quite likely. Yes, and it’s useful to turn it on when you’re being chased.

D) Mass paralysis - mass control that allows you to kick targets. What else do you need for happiness?

Line of Curses

Leveling up the party

Leveling up the party

The first two curses are mandatory.

A) Throwing vulnerability damage on a strong target in combination with Life Drain is a very good thing, as well as with single-target nukes.

B) Infectious damage must be thrown in every battle, preferably on a white target (so that it does not resist) and one that you will not touch for a long time. After all, the curse spreads from the target, and when the target dies, there will be no effect.

C) Removal damage is essentially a debuff, but a VERY strong one. When successfully applied to a target, its critical hits become normal hits, and normal hits become misses. If he gets through to the boss, then the boss (applies only to melee units) remains helpless.

D) Fatal damage makes all hits on the target critical, which is very good on bosses - all damage dealers need it, except Roga the Militiaman, why - below.

Dream Line

Leveling up the party

Leveling up the party

A) Loss of orientation is a good debuff to use on a strong target when it has lost all controls. Beret

So that you can better understand how pumping occurs and what specialization in we will tell you in detail about the latter and what a particular class has.

Specializations in this game can be called a subclass with which you can diversify your character within the class. As for their number, the choice is limited to two in the main game and you will be given one more to choose in the add-ons. The secondary characters already have one leveled up and you can choose the second one for them yourself.

First step to obtain a specialization, find a character trainer who will teach you, buy the appropriate book, or after completing some story event. It is worth understanding that if you have unlocked it once, it remains with you until the end of the game. If you know that when you receive a specialization, your companions will not be happy with the decision, then you can make a save before the action, get it and then load the save.

Specialization points will be given to you at 7 and then at 14 levels, and also if you play in the Awakening add-on, then at level 22 you will be awarded another point.

The essence of specializations is that they provide special bonuses and skills that are associated with them.

Specializations for Warrior

Berserk— your character becomes enraged and terrifies his enemies.
Bonuses: +10 to health and +2 to strength;

Knight— take on leadership responsibilities and fearlessly lead the team into battle. They have abilities that raise the spirit of the squad.
Bonuses: +1 to cunning and +2 to the character’s willpower;

Ripper— the character learns from demons the ability to heal at the expense of killed enemies and also to survive on the brink of death.
Bonuses: +5 physical stability and +1 constitution;

Templar- warriors who took the side of the church who destroy magicians outside the Circle and are able to dispel almost any magic.
Bonuses: +3 mental stability and +2 magic;

Rogue Specializations

Murderer- masters stealth and attacks from the shadows, as well as poisons;
Bonuses: +2.5 critical damage and +2 agility;

Bard- a fairly skillful manipulator who, with the help of songs, can both raise the morale of party members and moderate the ardor of the enemy.
Bonuses: +1 to cunning and +2 willpower;

Pathfinder- here you can use the features of nature as well as wild animals to win the fight.
Bonuses: +5 resistance against the forces of nature and +1 endurance;

Duelist- your character will receive lightning-fast reactions and the ability to deliver precise and effective blows.
Bonuses: +1 damage per hit, +2 agility;

Mage Specializations

Werewolf— specialization thanks to which you can turn into a beast, although you also receive bonuses in human guise;
Bonuses: +1 armor and +2 physique;

Spiritual healer— here are collected all the abilities that give your character the ability to heal and inspire comrades.
Bonuses: You slowly regenerate health even in battle

Battle Mage- your character can enchant weapons and use them in conjunction with magic, as well as use magic indicators to wear more demanding armor and weapons.
Bonuses: +5 attack and +1 agility;

Blood Mage— the skills of such a magician are based on sacrificing his own life to cast powerful spells;
Bonuses: +2 units to magic power and +2 to constitution.

You will also most likely be interested in learning about everyone who increases the duration of adventures in your favorite game world by tens of hours.

This time we have to consider what is the correct leveling of a robber for the most comfortable game.

First you need to take and create a new character and then choose a class - Robber.

Let's talk about what to download from the main parameters for a robber in Dragon age origins:
Force- this parameter should be touched only at the beginning to get to the ability called “Lethality”, which becomes very useful for your character. Further, the strength can be increased only to match the parameters for the armor;
Dexterity- the main thing for our robber, so download without hesitation;
Strength of will— you can forget about this parameter immediately;
Magic— as you understand, we are also passing by this parameter;
Cunning— another important stat for a robber, so you also need to invest points in it;
Body type- you can take it several times so as not to fall with one hit, but no more.

Perks
Actually, these are the ones that need to be downloaded from the main characters and everything else left untouched:
— I— adds damage and plus there will be quests in the game with the production of poison;
— Belief- a skill that is doubly useful for a robber, since it depends on cunning;
— Combat training— of course, there’s no way to go anywhere without her;
— Setting traps— you can upgrade once for installation if you are upgraded to invisibility;
It’s better to download everything else from your party members and not bother yourself.

Capabilities

Before talking about abilities, it is worth recalling that you still deal the most damage from your back. You should not pick up a combination of weapons - a dagger and a sword - it is better to take two daggers that will please you with both speed and piercing ability.
Now what abilities

Here are the branches that you should upgrade:

We spend everything else at our own discretion.

Weapon

The most optimal items for the hero would be the following:
Daggers
—Raven Dagger. This dagger can be obtained in several ways - buy from Cesar in Denerim after completing the quest “Test of the Crows”, buy from Alimar who is in the Alimar market, or pick up from the high dragon on the mountain;
— Rose Thorn Dagger- a legendary item that can be obtained by purchasing it from Garin in Orzammar, or by knocking it out of the leader of the thugs when completing the Law and Order quest in the Awakening add-on.
Armor
— Villain's Attire. High-quality armor that can be purchased from Herren in Wade's shop. To buy armor you need to complete three main quests and do not forget that if Wade is already preparing a second set of dragon leather armor by that time, then you will not be able to buy anything.
There is a second option in which, in the Awakening add-on, such armor can fall from the smuggler leader when completing the “Law and Order” quest;
— Shadow of the Empire. Another good option. You can buy it from Legnar, who is in the Common Halls in the dwarf city of Orzammar, or when completing the Awakening add-on in the King and Lion tavern from the innkeeper.
This concludes the guide to the rogue in Dragon age: origins. We hope we were able to help you in choosing the right upgrade for your hero. Don't forget to follow the news on our website

Specializations in Dragon Age: Origins, these are improved versions of regular classes, giving bonuses to parameters and new sets of abilities. When you play through the game for the first time, you can choose from two of four specializations for each class. The rest are opened with the help of books, teachers or tasks. Books cost a lot of money and should be purchased as a last resort when there is no other way to get what you want. Once unlocked, specializations remain available in all subsequent playthroughs of the game, regardless of the main character who unlocked them. They help instantly increase the level of trust of companions.

Conditions and places for obtaining specializations in Dragon Age: Origins:

• Knight- teaches Earl Eamon of Redcliffe after saving Andraste with the help of the Ashes.
• Templar- teaches Alistair with a sufficient level of location. The book can be purchased from Bodan Feddik in the main camp.
• Berserk- Ogren teaches with a sufficient level of location. The book can be purchased from a dwarven merchant in Denerim.
• Ripper- teaches Kolgrim, leader of the Ripper Cultists, after desecrating the Ashes of Andraste.
• Werewolf- teaches Morrigan with a sufficient level of location. The book can be purchased from Varathorn in the Dalish elf camp in the Brecilian Forest.
• Spiritual healer- teaches Winn with a sufficient level of location. The book can be purchased from a merchant at the Curiosities of Thedas store in Denerim.
• Battle Mage- teaches the spirit from the amulet during the quest to kill werewolves in the Brecilian forest. The amulet lies in a room with a broken stone altar on the lower level of the ruins. The room borders the corridor, which begins at the locked doors, where the incident takes place.
• Blood Mage- teaches a demon from the Shadow at Redcliffe Castle in exchange for, with the opportunity to return to the victim many years later.
• Murderer- Zevran teaches with a sufficient level of location. The book can be purchased from a merchant in the Elfinage of Denerim.
• Bard- teaches Leliana with a sufficient level of location. The book can be purchased from merchants in Denerim.
• Pathfinder- Sold by Bodan Feddik in the main camp.
• Duelist- Isabella, the captain of the pirate ship, teaches in the Denerim brothel “Pearl” after playing cards or somersaulting in bed (you can take Zevran with you).

• Role system
• Squad composition
• Characteristics
• Skills
• Talents and Spells
• Classes
• Talent Recruitment Options
• Tactics

Role system

The character's parameters here are:

• health and mana - directly follow from the characteristics;

  defense - a chance to evade an attack;

  stability (physical and mental) - measured in “conventional units” and determine the chance of “resisting” against an attack. Physical resistance is needed not against the removal of health, but against additional effects - such as stunning or knocking down. These effects are characteristic of a good half of military techniques and many spells; mental stability is needed much less often. In the future we will denote them FU and PU;

  experience - as usual, determines how much is left to the level;

• talents and spells.

The last two points are easy to confuse with each other. So, “talents and spells” are basically those actions that you can use in battle. And skills determine your overall effectiveness. And if talents and spells come to you 1 each level, then skills – only once every three levels, and you cannot change them in any way.

We are offered a choice of three races - human, elf, dwarf - and three classes: warrior, mage, robber (I’ll use this clumsy translation). You can only create one hero - he will be our embodiment in the game; the rest of the team—up to three companions are allowed at a time—will be assembled along the way.

Of course, there is not such a wealth of choice as in Baldur's Gate; however, keep in mind that two heroes of the same class differ very much due to their abilities, and starting from the 7th level they can try to take a specialization (four options for each class) The repertoires of magicians are especially different.

Ask in city stores

You will really need money in the game, because there are enough expensive things to buy from merchants. Everyone can figure out potions, bombs, weapons, components, recipes for herbalists and poisoners on their own, but I would like to draw your attention to items that you should especially look for from all the merchants you meet:

Backpack. Each of them increases the inventory capacity of the entire team by 10 units. Initially, you have seventy of them, and this is completely insufficient for long autonomous trips - which you will begin quite soon. The first one is in Ostagar, don't miss it.

Books. You are primarily interested in two types of literary works: for receiving points of talents or skills (you need as many of them as you can find and pay for) and for specialization (you need a maximum of two of these, which you plan to study, and only if there is nowhere else to learn).

Present. An invaluable tool for increasing the loyalty of companions. However, most gifts are of interest to only one of your friends; for the rest, you will receive a penny increase and a slight decrease in interest in gifts in the future. In the next issue I hope to present you with a complete list of who to give what to; For now I’ll limit myself to general advice on the NPCs I’ve encountered.

Runes. They can be built into weapons (starting from the moment you leave Lothering) and will act as a permanent boost. Usually additional damage of some type, say from electricity or acid.

Squad composition

On the team you will need:

undoubtedly - at least one “tank”, which must certainly be a warrior;

at least one, and preferably two, “hit-killers”, one of which can be an auxiliary “tank” - a magician, a robber, and even a warrior are suitable for this role;

desirable (although without it here really get by) is a healer, and this is definitely a magician;

preferably at least one “subjugator”, that is, a specialist in pinning down and neutralizing opponents (crowd controller). It can also be combined with a hit fighter or a healer. Naturally, a mage is suitable for this role; a robber with a bard specialization is also not bad.

They also assured me that you supposedly knew how to turn into even the smallest animals. Well, for example, become a rat
or even with a mouse!

You will be able to regularly change the composition of the group - wherever you can make a stop. This won't help you in the dungeon, but it will help you before going there.

Before you start creating a hero, I have a little advice to give. It's borderline spoilerish, though, so if you want to avoid that, skip to the next chapter.

The fact is that among the companions that are in the game, there are many warriors; they make up almost two-thirds of the list. And there are only two magicians and robbers. Moreover, among the magicians there is not a single “artilleryman”, but there is a magnificent healer named Wynn and a werewolf sorceress (that is, a magician with the ability to melee).

In principle, you will have a “tank” almost from the very beginning, and a very good one. There are alternatives to him, but they are usually better suited to the role of a “hit-killing tank”: for example, Stan - you will have him soon enough - convincingly wields a two-handed sword.

Also, from the very beginning, you will have a creature with you that does good damage in melee and can occasionally stun all enemies, that is, it partially works as a “subjugator”. But he has almost no equipment, which greatly limits his capabilities.

Quite soon, if you're careful, you'll be able to add a rogue bard: this is a "subjugator hitman," but this particular companion is more adept at subjugating than dealing damage. The second robber will be found much later, and he is an expert exclusively in murder.

This is something to keep in mind before creating your starting character. I myself, of course, didn’t know this at the beginning of the game and chose a robber as my first hero. But I can’t say that I particularly regretted it.

Characteristics

We have, as it should be from time to time, six characteristics. Namely:

Force

Each unit of strength is here:

Increases damage from any attack except crossbow and staff. Please note: bows are included here! And the staff in Dragon Age is not a long club, but a weapon of a magical shot.

Increases the chances of hitting in close combat (accuracy increases by 0.5 per unit).

Adds to physical stability.

Helps threaten the enemy.

In addition, a certain level of strength is required for almost any hand weapon, as well as for wearing armor. Each sword or helmet has a “requires so much strength” parameter. Like the old Diablo.

Dexterity

Each point of agility:

increases the chances of hitting in close combat (accuracy increases by 0.5 per unit);

increases the chances of hitting when shooting (accuracy increases by 1 per unit);

increases damage from piercing weapons, including bows and crossbows;

increases defense by 1 for each point;

increases physical stability.

In addition, high dexterity values ​​are needed for bows and crossbows, as well as a number of techniques.

Strength of will

Increases mental stability and also gives the hero mana - 5 units for each point. Thus, everyone needs it, even warriors - they call mana energy, but the essence is the same.

Magic

Characteristics of magic:

If at least one wolf manages to
It won't knock you down, the rest will be torn to pieces in the blink of an eye, not allowing you to get up.

increases the hero’s mental stability;

increases the hero's magical power by 1 for each point;

required for staves and spells (like strength for weapons);

increases the effectiveness of potions and poultices applied to the character (!).

Cunning

Cunning characteristic:

influences the ability to persuade;

required for many techniques, especially robber ones;

increases the effectiveness of robber skills;

affects mental stability.

Body type

Increases physical resistance and gives health points - 5 for each point.

Races

Let's face it: races are given little importance in game mechanics. Four pluses to the characteristics is ridiculous, you will receive +3 for each level, and there are 20 of these levels in total. Except that gnomes - who are forbidden to be magicians - receive a 10% chance to repel enemy spells as compensation. It's nice, but 10% is not a probability you should rely on.

Elves are pariahs, an oppressed race; most of them settle in ghettos within human cities.

The advantages of the characteristics are:

Human: +1 to Strength, Dexterity, Cunning, and Magic.

Elf: +2 to magic and willpower.

Dwarf: +1 to strength and agility, +2 to constitution.

However, something else depends on your race: how you will be treated in the game. And also your original story.

Elves in Dragon Age are pariahs, an oppressed race; Most of them settle in ghettos within human cities (such neighborhoods are called “elfinages”), but in the distant Brecilian Forest there are still free tribes.

The Dwarves were once mighty and strong, but are now in decline, and only two of their great cities remain; but still their relationships with people are quite decent.

Well, people... as usual, dominate this world. True, there is no agreement between them, but other races are not much better.

Skills

Oddly enough, the skills are common for all classes. Of course, they are useful in different ways, but any character can learn any skill. The only exception is influence; Only the main character is allowed to teach it.

You will receive one skill point for every three levels, for a total of six in addition to those you already had. This value can be slightly improved due to books that give an extra point. But they are rare and expensive.

Any skill has four steps; To learn the next one, you need to know the previous one and fulfill other requirements. So:

Influence

According to the good old tradition, it increases the persuasiveness of your speeches. The first level requires cunning 10, the second - 12, the third - 14, the fourth - 16.

Thief

An attempt to steal valuables from a character. This skill does a good job of increasing the well-being of the squad, but is it worth the trouble? It may be useful to make a “spare” robber a thief, so that he can be included in the squad from time to time and enrich it a little.

At the highest level, this skill helps to distract the enemy during battle, which is useful for a robber. And yet sacrifice half of all skill points for this? I doubt...

Survival

Helps you notice opponents in time, as well as better understand their parameters; from the third level it gives a slight resistance to the forces of nature, from the fourth it further increases this and physical resistance.

As for me, this thing does not provide any serious advantages.

The requirements are the same as those of influence.

Making traps

They will probably say later that the rain wet the bow strings...

If you remember, in Baldur's Gate, traps made and installed with your own hands were damn serious weapons; old Yoshimo simply worked miracles with their help. So, here it’s no worse. If you have time to prepare for battle, a good old trap will greatly delight your opponents.

Parts for traps will mostly have to be purchased from merchants; there is little on site.

This skill competes for a “place in the sun” with the production of poisons; but it is advisable for the robber to study some of this - otherwise his capabilities in battle will be limited. Perhaps traps are better for the “shooting” version of the robber.

This skill also allows, logically, to better sense other people’s traps.

Requirements: second stage - level 4, third - level 7, fourth - level 10.

Making poisons

Poisons are made from purchased or improvised means (for example, herbs or killed spiders) and smeared on blades. A rogue who prefers melee combat should seriously consider this skill.

But poisons are only half the joy: this skill also determines the production and use bombs and bottles of acid. At low levels, these very bottles are almost the most powerful weapon of your squad. Later the efficiency decreases.

Don’t forget that the poisoner needs to buy bottles at the first opportunity: the product is inexpensive, but without it he won’t cook anything.

Herbalist

This character also uses collected plants and bottles, but makes something completely different from them - potions, ointments and medicinal poultices. Mana potions are made from purchased lyrium powder, and medicines are made from the “elven root” that grows everywhere.

Please note that all magician companions in the game have at least a little knowledge of this craft.

The requirements are the same as for making traps.

Combat training

Neither a warrior nor a robber can avoid this skill, and it will most likely have to be developed to the extreme. The fact is that access to all techniques depends on his level - to get to the third level technique in any branch, you need a third level of combat training. This is the “mandatory program”...

In addition, combat training gives advantages in battle, and for magicians it also gives them a chance not to lose a spell when the enemy tries to shoot it down.

There are no requirements.

Battle tactics

This skill is needed to add new tactical options for your character. That is, if you prefer to manually command everyone all the time, then this is of no use to you; but you can sacrifice a cell or two and set the hero to “automatic”.

The requirements are the same as those of influence.

Talents and Spells

They are arranged in the same way as skills - in a line of four, but you will have more of them, because each level will bring one point.

We can roughly divide them into three types: passive - which simply work themselves (for example, a warrior gets less tired in heavy armor); active - they are triggered by command and take away some mana; and long-term ones - they work like active ones, but after that they remain in force until they are turned off. Since mana regenerates very quickly here, long-term abilities “lock” part of your mana, as if they are constantly using it.

Unlike skills, each new ability rank has its own name. Therefore, I will name the lines by the first talent from the chain.

Please note that it is quite possible to “unwind” the chain completely at level 12-14. Perhaps the hero will turn out to be somewhat one-sided, but many of the abilities of the fourth rank are a kind of “superweapon”.

A weapon in every hand

Mastery of a weapon in each hand

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Hero level	—	—	9	12
Dexterity	12	16	26	36

The first rank of the talent simply provides full damage from off-hand weapons. The second gives advantages to attack and defense. The third provides a chance to inflict a wound that will gradually reduce the enemy's health. And finally, the fourth reduces the cost of all techniques of paired blades, and in addition, allows you to take a full-fledged sword in your left hand, and not a short dagger.

Double punch

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Dexterity	12	16	22	28

Actually, double strike is a long-term technique that increases damage, but at the same time reduces the chance of a critical hit. For a robber, this is a very dubious joy, but if you’re pressed so hard that you can’t get in from behind... It’s quite suitable for a warrior.

The next rank is retaliation. The fighter attacks with his right hand with a chance to stun the target; then deals a left blow, which, if the target is stunned, automatically gives critical damage.

Crippling Strike: If the attack hits, the damage is critical and the enemy receives a penalty to their movement speed.

Punisher (oh, who translated that?!): triple hit, third hit is critical, chance to knock the target down or reduce attack and defense.

Two-handed swing with weapon

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Dexterity	12	18	24	30

Attacks all enemies in front of you - with increased damage. It is dangerous for a robber to get carried away with this trick - it is easy to distract the enemy, but the damage is quite decent. In general, this line is especially suitable for a warrior if he decides to use paired blades instead of a shield or two-handed weapon.

Second rank, flurry - three hits with normal damage.

Gust - the attack speed increases sharply, but energy decreases with every moment.

Whirlwind - the hero begins to spin, distributing attacks to everyone around him. For a warrior surrounded by enemies, that's just great.

Weapon and shield

Shield Bash

Shield strike with normal damage and a chance to stun the target. Shield push is the same, but the strike is double (note that the “recharge” for these skills is different). Suppression - three hits, the third of which is critical. And the assault - as many as four blows, but... for some reason weakened. The first rank is very useful, the further - less so.

Shield defense

Shield Defense is a stance with improved missile defense and an attack penalty (long-term move). Its development, a balanced shield, removes the attack penalty... and before that it does more harm than good. Shield Wall is a long-term technique that dramatically increases defense, and if you take the last ability in the line, then in this state the warrior cannot be knocked down.

Block with shield

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Hero level	—	—	9	12
Dexterity	10	16	20	26

Blocking with a shield prohibits flank attacks against a warrior from the side of his shield. Covering with a shield gives advantages against shooting. Shield training does not allow you to hit a warrior in the back at all; all attacks against him are counted equally; and the last talent in this line dramatically enhances all shield skills.

A real “tank” almost needs this line - if you want to live longer. Please note that it does not require strength, but dexterity.

Two-handed weapon

Access: warrior. Requires combat training.

Hilt

A blow with the blunt end of a weapon (?) that knocks the opponent down if they fail an FU check.

Invincibility is a long-term effect that slightly increases damage and prevents the fighter from being knocked down or stunned.

Stunning Blows - any attack by a fighter has a chance to stun the enemy. This is not a long-term, but a passive talent - it does not require inclusion!

And the top of this line is the critical hit: this attack not only always gives critical damage when hit, but can also (if the enemy is already wounded) kill him on the spot.

Weapon Split

If the target fails the FU check, it suffers an attack penalty for a short time. Only makes sense against “bosses” - but they will pass this test...

The next rank - crushing blows - is a plus for damage against golems and other mechanical objects. Shatter Armor is normal damage and, if the target fails the FU, a defense penalty. It's better than splitting a weapon because the attack still does damage. And at the fourth rank (“Destroyer”), all the hero’s attacks have this property. Unfortunately, the armor penalty from them does not stack, so the benefit is not that great; It’s not even clear why this particular talent has such brutal demands.

Mighty blow

Strike with increased damage; if the target fails the FU, it will be slowed down. An alternative way to “bind” an enemy to you... Powerful strikes are a long-term technique that increases damage, but with a penalty to attack and defense (which is reduced by the next talent rank - “Strength of Two Hands”).

Finally, the fourth rank is perhaps the best two-handed move: the swing deals normal damage to all nearby enemies, and each of them makes an FU check or falls. Mow, scythe, while the dew...

Archery

Access: warrior, robber. Requires combat training.

Melee shooting

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Dexterity	12	16	22	28

The first rank allows you to shoot while under attack; if you rely only on the bow, you cannot do without it.

Aimed shooting reduces the rate of fire, but increases accuracy, damage, armor penetration and the chance of a critical hit - in short, it is worth turning on whenever the enemies are not completely flimsy (this is a long-term technique). Defensive shooting - the rate of fire is reduced for the sake of a plus to protection; if you had to use it, then you made a big mistake somewhere.

And Marksmanship is an ability that improves almost all shooting techniques, and also allows you to avoid the penalty while wearing heavy armor (but not plate). Who would develop defensive shooting without this...

Shackling Shot

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Dexterity	12	16	21	30

This line is, in my opinion, the key for a robber with a bow; at least the first rank in it is required. After a pinning shot, a target that has passed the FU slows down, while a target that has not passed is forced to remain in place! A boss fight with a melee specialist almost always starts with this shot.

The second move, a crippling shot, reduces the target's attack and defense (while dealing normal damage). The third is a critical shot - an attack with a plus to penetrate armor and automatic critical damage.

The fourth - killer arrow - is described in the game simply as a shot with critical damage, but in reality it has a chance to kill the target in place. However, it does not affect “bosses”.

Rapid fire

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Dexterity	12	16	24	27

Increased rate of fire - but no chance of a critical hit. Long-term use; in my opinion, not the most valuable. Breaking Shot - normal damage + penalty to target's armor. Suppressive Arrow - normal damage + penalty to target's attack; much more useful than a similar two-handed technique, because the penalties add up and, as a result, the enemy stops hitting the “tank” altogether.

And finally, an explosive arrow: it deals normal damage, stuns the target - and after that, with an explosion, it causes the same effect to all enemies in the vicinity.

elemental magic

Access: magic.

Flame Flash

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	27	34

Good old fire spells - as usual, hit both enemies and friends, which is irrelevant only at lower difficulty levels. But they hit very well if the enemy does not have resistance. They can also ignite the effects of other spells (dirt...).

The fiery flash is a cone, quite narrow, it is difficult to catch many enemies in it. The second rank is Fire Weapon, a long-lasting spell that makes all the squad's weapons fire. Fireball - not only does it cause damage in a large area, it also knocks you down; and it looks much more interesting than ordinary “balls”. And the highest fiery spell - fiery Gehenna - a kind of whirlwind that removes health every round. It’s a terrible thing, but it also hurts its own people.

Stone armor

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	25	30

The first rank is strengthening the protection of the magician himself. Stone Fist - a projectile that removes health and knocks you down; It's good to use after an ice spell, because targets turned to ice or stone can break into pieces.

Earthquake is a long-lasting spell that causes everyone in the radius (friends too) to make an FU check or fall every few seconds. And finally, turning to stone: if the FU fails, the target becomes stone for a few seconds. It does not move and can be broken by an attack or a stone fist.

Icy grip

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	25	34

Decent damage + freezing the target: it turns into ice (which can be broken) or just slows down, depending on your luck. Ice weapons are similar to fire weapons. Cone of cold - the same icy grip, but in a cone; and finally, Blizzard, a long-lasting area-of-effect spell that constantly hits everyone (friends and foes) and also forces them to make stability checks to avoid falling and turning to ice. True, the targets receive a bonus to defense and resistance to fire, but usually this is of little consolation to them.

Lightning

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	18	18	28	33

The first rank is just a combat spell, but quite powerful. The second is the same lightning, but in a cone. The third - a storm - strikes the area for a long time, scattering lightning. And the fourth - chain lightning - deals powerful damage, and then small lightning strikes the target's neighbors with less damage.

Creation

Access: magic.

Treatment

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	23	28

Heals the wounds of one ally. The following spells speed up the recovery of an ally's mana and health, respectively, and the last one gives both to the entire group. Unfortunately, mass treatment is not given to ordinary magicians - this requires the specialization of a healer.

Heroic Assault

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	15	20	30

A spell of the first rank is a plus for an ally's attack. The second, heroic aura, is a shield that reflects ranged attacks with a very decent probability. The third - heroic defense - gives protection and stability of all types, but puts pressure on the target, adding fatigue (that is, increasing the cost of all abilities for it). And finally, the fourth is a wonderful acceleration spell: the entire group begins to move and attack faster, although the chances of getting hit are somewhat reduced.

Rune of Paralysis

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	25	33

A very strange looking, but useful school. The first spell is a trap rune that paralyzes the first person who steps on it. The second - a protective rune - gives advantages to protection and stability to all friends next to it. Repulsion rune - pushes aside enemies who fail the FU check; Together with the rune of paralysis, it explodes, paralyzing everyone around! And finally, the terrible rune of neutralization, which blocks all spells within the radius of action, drains mana, dispels effects and does not allow you to restore strength; Some fights turn into child's play with her.

Magic light

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	20	23	33

A magic light is simply a plus to the magical power of the sorcerer himself. The next spell, mud is a large puddle in which everyone slips (slowdown), and you can set it on fire with fire spells. Magic Flower - an effect due to which all nearby magicians (enemy ones too) accelerate mana recovery. And finally, the stinging swarm: very powerful damage, and if the victim dies from it, the swarm flies to the next enemy. As for me, this school is of little use - unless you have three magicians in your group...

Spirit

Access: magic.

Magic shield

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	25	33

An excellent tool for a magical duel... if your mana is thicker than the enemy's. The spell absorbs enemy spells with a three in four chance, but at the same time eats your mana for each cast. As soon as the mana runs out, the shield will fall. Alas, most often the enemies you want to protect yourself from are filled to capacity with mana.

Dispel magic, as you might expect, removes all effects from the target - making no difference between your own and other people's spells. It always works if the spell can be dispelled at all. But then comes the anti-magic barrier - complete protection from spells (yes, from healing ones too). And this is often a weapon of victory. Unlike the shield, it works not only for itself. Anti-magic flash - mass dispersion over an area; 99% of the time it's useless, but...

Mana Drain

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	25	33

An attempt to borrow someone else's mana. Unfortunately, not in commercial quantities. Mana Burn - spend your own mana to destroy someone else's around you. Magical power - strengthens all your spells, but mana is consumed faster and restored more slowly. Lastly, Mana Clash is a very expensive spell that takes away from the enemy all mana and deals damage to him in proportion to the amount taken away.

In my opinion, this line is worth studying only for the sake of the finale. Do you want to spend four talents on becoming a thunderstorm for magicians and being able to quickly burn through your resource?

walking bomb

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	20	25	33

A nice spell: the target receives constant damage from poison, and if it dies before the spell wears off, it explodes. The next rank is Death Funnel: a long-lasting spell that replenishes mana if there are killed enemies nearby. The third rank - an infectious walking bomb - does the same as the first, but even during the explosion you can infect your neighbors (at the same time, it is not applied to those who are already affected by the effect of the first-level bomb). And finally, the fourth is raising the enemy’s corpse as a skeleton.

Bombs are powerful weapons, but if you are not playing on the lower difficulty level, there is a reason to study at least dispel magic with this line. Otherwise, a lot of trouble can be caused.

Mind Explosion

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	23	30

Simple and tasteful: stuns all enemies around (unless, of course, they pass the PU). The next rank is a force field: the target cannot move and cannot be damaged, a kind of “stasis”. The third rank casts a telekinesis spell on the weapons of the entire squad; god knows why, but it improves armor penetration. And finally, the fourth is the crushing dungeon: the spell prevents the enemy from doing anything and gradually takes the life out of him. The most tenacious ones will wait until it ends, but with average enemies - use it and forget it.

Entropy

Access: magic.

Weakness

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	25	35

Penalty to target's attack and defense; if the FU does not pass, there will also be a slowdown. Paralysis - slowdown on a successful FU check, complete immobilization on a failure. Poisonous Vapors is a long-lasting spell that imposes penalties on any target of the mage. And finally, the top of this line requires a whopping 35 units of magic for a reason: it's mass paralysis. Disables enemies in hefty bursts.

Corruption of vulnerability

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	20	28	36

Imposes penalties to resistance against damage from fire, cold, etc.; In addition, she significantly strengthens attacks against her target, such as life drain. Infectious damage is the same, but in a circle next to the victim. The diversion hex weakens the enemy's attacks: critical hits become normal hits, and normal hits become misses. And the last, disastrous, damage makes all hits on the victim critical.

The most useful link here seems to be the third; but in general this line is not the most rational use of talent. I think Bioware overrated her.

Loss of orientation

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	18	30	32

The victim suffers a penalty to attack and defense. Horror, the second rank, is a dual-action spell: it usually chains the victim to a place if he does not pass the PU; but against an unconscious victim it deals major damage without any checks. Sleeping puts a whole group of enemies to rest (before the first blow, the victim wakes up from the damage), and those sleeping can be finished off with terror. And finally, a waking nightmare - something like D&D confusion: someone is stunned, someone is charmed, someone is attacking their allies... Of course, if the PU fails.

One of your companions is studying this thread; She will pass the first two links on her own, and it makes sense to advance her by at least one more link, and preferably two.

Life Drain

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Magic	—	20	25	34

The first spell does the same as all its namesakes - it transfers part of the health from the victim to the magician. The second - death magic - is long-term, it restores the magician’s “life line” if there are dead enemies around. Next is the killing curse: the enemy cannot be healed and receives constant damage. And the last thing, the cloud of death, is constant damage to everyone in the area of ​​effect (including your own).

Warrior

Bogatyr

More health, less fatigue from armor - in general, an absolutely necessary thing. The next ability, intimidation, is needed without any options by any “tank” - the hero constantly radiates a threat (long-term). Bravery is also, by and large, for a “tank”: it increases all the parameters of a fighter if he is opposed by more than two enemies (for each additional one). Finally, Death Rush restores energy when an enemy dies.

Calculating Strike

Lower attack speed, but higher chances of hitting and critical damage. Provocation - second rank - a one-time outbreak of threat, interception of opponents. Leaving the battle, on the contrary, reduces the threat and the chance that the enemies will immediately switch to others. A perfect shot is a big plus for accuracy.

In my opinion, both the tank and the hit warrior can save money on this line. Although many of them have a first appointment initially.

Robber

Dirty fight

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Hero level	—	4	8	12
Dexterity	10	14	18	22

Dirty Fighting is a stunning blow that does no damage. It is needed mainly when it is not possible to go behind one's back. And to facilitate this maneuver, the next rank of the line, movement in battle: it allows a wider angle to be considered “behind the back”, and it is highly recommended to have it - especially for “blade” robbers. The third move is Mercy Strike: if the target is stunned or paralyzed, each strike is considered a backstab. The fourth rank is “SOS button” - feigned death, that is, a forced exit from battle.

Hit below the belt

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Hero level	—	4	8	12
Dexterity	10	14	18	22

A low blow deals normal damage; if the victim does not pass the FU, then he receives a penalty to defense and movement. The second rank technique - the fatal blow - despite the loud name, differs from a simple attack only in improved armor penetration. The third rank is lethality; it increases the chance of a critical hit, and in addition, when calculating damage, it uses cunning instead of strength. This is a very serious increase in damage! And finally, evasion - 20% chance to avoid any physical attack.

Skillful hands

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Hero level	—	4	8	12
Cunning	10	14	18	22

This technique improves the hero's ability to pick locks and traps - at all ranks. Although this is usually the main reason for keeping a thief on a team, in Dragon Age you can try to do without a burglar. Most cracked chests contain small valuables or gifts; In addition, already in the early stages you will regularly lack the second rank of this skill. That is, if you want to open any lock with your little finger, you should invest in skillful hands all the way, deprived of fighting talents.

Stealth

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Hero level	—	4	8	12
Cunning	10	14	18	22

But for this, many robbers should not regret points: an attack from stealth is considered an attack from behind, even if in fact you are standing face to face. The first rank simply allows you to sneak up on the enemy unnoticed, and you can’t do anything in this state. The second allows you to use items. The third gives you a chance to hide right in the thick of the battle. The fourth simply increases your chances of hiding from view and not getting caught.

Mage

Magic arrow

Requirements
Rank	1	2	3	4
Level	1	3	7	10

A simple combat spell, all the advantages of which are fast reloading. It only makes sense if you plan to develop the line. The second rank is a magic shield that temporarily enhances the protection of the magician himself (and don’t take him into battle...). The third - focusing on the staff - increases the damage from the staff (and in fact devalues ​​the magic arrow). The fourth - mastery of magic - permanently increases magical power.

Classes

We have already covered the basic abilities; This chapter is devoted to the story of how to develop the characters of each of the classes. We will consider several “working” options, which, of course, does not prevent you from coming up with your own based on them or without it.

As already mentioned, there are only three base classes, but each of them has four specializations. They can be taken at levels 7 and 14 (by choosing two out of four), but you cannot do this “just like that” - you need a teacher or guidance. The manual can sometimes be purchased from merchants; the teacher is either your companion who already has a similar class (and needs a warm relationship with him), or a special NPC in the city. Finding a teacher for some specialties is quite difficult...

Each specialty provides permanent advantages and its own range of skills. I won’t cover them in detail now, but I will briefly describe them.

Warrior

A warrior has two main occupations: tank and hito. Between them there is an intermediate one (sometimes called off-tank): an attacking fighter who, however, is tenacious enough not to be afraid of intercepting aggression.

A warrior's skills, oddly enough, do not depend on type.

Any warrior must develop his combat training skills to the utmost. Not necessarily the first, but should. If this is the main character, 1-3 units of influence will not hurt. The rest can be used for tactics or to gain a rank or two in survival.

Warrior Specializations

If bears were hedgehogs...

Templar. Anti-Mage: he has the ability to drain mana from the enemy, increase his PU and neutralize spells.

Berserk. Attacking fighter: combat rage increases damage (for slow recovery), there is a technique that burns all energy with one blow and deals damage in proportion to it.

Knight. Strengthening your own, penalties for your enemies. With terrible screams, the knights weaken their opponents (or even throw them to the ground), and with a cheerful voice they increase the attack and defense of the squad.

The Ripper. This gentleman can heal himself using the corpses of enemies (similar to the “death magic” spell), use his aura to cause damage to enemies around him, and also fights the harder the less health he has left.

Tank

As we have known since prehistoric times, a “tank” is a shield. We'll leave two-handed weapons to hitmen and hybrids, paired blades and a bow even more so.

The characteristics a “tank” needs are: strength, agility and physique. In what proportion? Strength and constitution are approximately 2:1, like most warriors, and agility is just enough to be enough to learn the necessary techniques. Unfortunately, to block with a shield you cannot do without dexterity. The main character, if you want to study the influence, will also need cunning (though not in exorbitant quantities).

The most obvious set of talents:

Bogatyr: 4 ranks

Shield block: 4 ranks

Shield defense: 4 ranks

Shield Bash: 2 ranks

The rest is for specialization. Among them, we immediately reject the berserker, the rest can be considered. The Knight is good if you have a lot of warriors and robbers in your squad, but weakening enemies is always valuable. The Templar and the Ripper can also definitely be useful, although the advantages of the first are not needed very often (if you get your hands on a mage, you’ll somehow be able to kill him without additional advantages).

Alternative:

Bogatyr: 4 ranks

Shield block: 4 ranks

Shield defense: 4 ranks

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

The rest is specialization.

You can also try to save on dexterity:

Bogatyr: 4 ranks

Shield block: 4 ranks

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

Shield Bash: 4 ranks

The rest is specialization.

But such a warrior will be noticeably less durable. Perhaps he should take the ripper specialization.

To get the necessary talents at the start, it is recommended to take noble origin. Dwarf or human - the second question, a gnome might be a little better. Elves and all sorts of rabble will get advantages in shooting, dual blades... why do you need all this?

Tactics for the "tank" looks something like this:

At the beginning of the battle there is intimidation.

If they shoot at him, take cover with a shield.

If the enemy has more than 75% health, hit with a shield or push with a shield.

The Templar can additionally be ordered to attack mages and apply a righteous blow, and against a mage surrounded by other enemies - holy punishment.

Hitoboy

What weapon should I take? Let's rule out the bow right away: what's the point of taking a warrior and not letting him into the thick of the battle? The shield is the domain of the “tank”, two-handed swords and paired blades remain. I would confidently recommend a two-hander because dual blades will require dexterity; however, a gnome of ignoble origin will immediately give you the talent of swinging two blades. Without this, you can focus on strength and, to a lesser extent, physique.

Talents (two-handed version):

Hilt Strike: 4 ranks

Bogatyr: 1st rank

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

Mighty Strike: 4 ranks

Another talent, the one given at birth, will go in a direction you don’t need. You can use everything else for specialization (berserker, ripper are the most natural options).

Talents (dual blade option):

Two-handed swing with weapon: 4 ranks

Bogatyr: 1st rank

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

Double Strike: 2 ranks

Be sure to take a gnome “from the bottom” so as not to spend money on a shield or bow.

Talents (hybrid tank-hitobreaker):

Hilt Strike: 4 ranks

Bogatyr: 4 ranks

Calculating Strike: 2 ranks

Mighty Strike: 4 ranks

The rest is specialization (any will do).

Hit killer tactics:

(If there is no healer) If health is below 25%, treat with a poultice.

(If you have a ripper specialty) If health is below 25%, drain life.

If there are more than two enemies, swing with a two-handed weapon / swing with a weapon in each hand.

(If there is a knight's specialty) More than two enemies - a battle cry.

If the enemy has more than 75% health - hilt strike / triple strike.

If the enemy has more than 50% health - powerful blow / double strike

Robber

The main occupation of a robber is a hit-maker, but it is also possible to make him a subjugator.

A rogue's skills almost certainly include:

- combat training of rank 4, or at the very least, rank 3;

— poisons or making rank 2-3 traps;

— the rest, if any, can be used for influence, tactics or an extra rank of poisons/traps.

In general, it is worse than a warrior to leave a robber to the mercy of a machine gun: the correct position here means a lot.

There are only two types of robber weapons: paired blades or a bow. The bow is easier to develop because such a robber does not need strength at all; it pairs better with traps than poison. Twin blades require some strength; if you want to use daggers, then a small one, and if you want to swing swords, then a hefty one. Note that daggers have a higher chance of critical damage; However, the base damage is too low.

When selecting talents, you have to take into account not only the type of activity in combat, but also “side jobs” like picking locks.

Rogue Specializations

Duelist. He is somewhat better protected than his colleagues, and has the ability to make all hits critical for a while.

Murderer. The most damage-oriented option, it can inflict bleeding wounds, as well as "mark" the target so that everyone deals increased damage against it.

Bard. Unique specialty: instead of directly participating in battle, it allows you to sing a song that stuns all enemies around every few seconds. To do this, you need to fully develop the range of his abilities; and before that he strengthens the squad with his songs.

Pathfinder. Another “step to the side”: the ranger calls on the beast to help the squad. Unlike the bard, this does not prevent him from fighting himself.

Swordsman

Low Strength Talents (Daggers):

Low blow: 4 ranks

Weapon proficiency in each hand: 3 ranks

Dirty Fight: Rank 3-4

Stealth: 3-4 ranks

The rest is specialization and/or skillful hands. Specializations here are most likely duelist or assassin, perhaps tracker.

Talents with decent strength (dagger + sword, then swords):

Low blow: 1 rank

Weapon proficiency in each hand: 4 ranks

Dirty Fight: Rank 3-4

Stealth: 3-4 ranks

The rest is specialization and/or skillful hands. There are more chances to develop specialization here, the set is the same.

Fencer Tactics suggests something like this:

A bomb would be very appropriate here. And the warrior... what about the warrior? Will come to life. After battle.

Start the battle by smearing the blades with poison.

The duelist must begin the duel, the assassin must mark the target of the “tank.”

Launch your critical hit techniques against the "tank" target.

If health falls below 25% - feigned death.

Dirty fight - if he is attacked.

Archer

Archer Talents:

Shackling Shot: 4 ranks

Rapid Fire: 4 ranks

Stealth: ranks 1-3

Dirty Fight: Rank 1

Melee Shooting: 2 ranks

The rest is specialization and/or skillful hands. Specializations here are ranger, assassin.

Before the battle, the archer sets a trap (if he knows how), then, perhaps, hides; The battle begins with pinning and crippling shots, choosing the target of the tank. If attacked in close combat - a dirty fight, if health is below 25% - feigned death. You can risk starting with an explosive arrow, but it is better to use this technique deliberately when the tanks are already firmly holding the enemies.

Subjugator

This is a completely different combat role. After developing bardic talents, most of the time he will not fight at all, but will summon animals (if he already has a second specialization) and sing an enchanting song.

Bow Bard Talents:

Shackling Shot: 4 ranks

Bard: 4 ranks

Pathfinder: 4 ranks

Rapid Fire: 4 ranks

Stealth: 3 ranks

Dirty Fight: Rank 1

Sword Bard Talents:

Dirty Fight: 4 ranks

Bard: 4 ranks

Pathfinder: 4 ranks

Weapon proficiency in each hand: 4 ranks

Stealth: 3 ranks

Low blow: 1 rank

Tactics before receiving the enchanting song - by weapon, then - bardo-pathfinder techniques, and if attacked, then dirty fighting / feigned death.

Mage

In terms of skills, the magician enjoys considerable freedom. Once you put four ranks into herbalism (although one mage-herbalist in the team is quite enough), and you are free to make your hero a golden-tongued, a tactician, and so on - nothing holds him back.

With the parameters, everything is quite simple: magic + willpower is about 2:1 or even 3:1.

But with spells - as many people as there are, so many approaches. The magician's spells allow you to create completely different characters - for the roles of hit-killer, healer and subjugator. The specializations of magicians differ no less.

A mage, with the exception of a healer, is better controlled manually than through tactics. The healer is quite capable of simply launching healing as needed, and the rest of the time fighting back with a staff and whatever God sent.

Mage Specializations

Spiritual healer. The obvious specialty of the healer: here, and only here, there is group healing, resurrection, amulet (“delayed” healing that triggers when the target becomes low on health) and even an aura of constant healing of all friends around him. Listed in order of receipt.

Blood Mage. By conjuring the blood of an enemy, he can subjugate him, turning him into an ally. In addition, the blood mage can cast spells using health (instead of mana), as well as heal using the life force of an ally (which can cause him to die). Keep in mind that blood mages... to put it mildly, are not very popular among many, and for good reason.

Werewolf. The first ability from the line turns the magician into a giant spider that spits poison and cobwebs, the second - into a huge bear, the third - into a stinging swarm of insects, which, when attacked by an enemy, loses mana instead of health. The fourth strengthens all these forms - for example, a swarm begins to drink the enemy’s health. In his transformed form, the werewolf does not cast spells.

Battle Mage. The strangest specialty is that it increases the magician’s defense and attack in battle. For staff maniacs? Perhaps combined with the benefits of being a werewolf, not sure.

Hitoboy

To build a truly effective hit fighter, you need to master spell combinations. A couple of these have already been mentioned: the runes of paralysis and repulsion, mud and fireball. Here is an example of one of the most deadly combinations:

Elemental Mage Talents:

Flame Flash: 3 ranks

Rune of Paralysis: 3 ranks

Magic Wisp: 2 ranks

Walking Bomb: 4 ranks

Treatment: 1 rank

Stone armor: 4 ranks

For the rest, you can take a specialization (for example, a blood mage or even a healer), contagious damage, raising a skeleton, or the professional line of a magician.

Two runes - explosive paralysis/slowdown, then we put dirt there and set it on fire with a fireball. An option is to study stone armor first and make opponents fall from an earthquake. Then you can “polish” it with an infectious bomb - and hardly a single enemy will get to you at all.

Why treatment? And it’s always worth taking it when the opportunity arises. Simply because two doctors are better than one.

Alternative option:

Ice Grasp: 4 ranks

Lightning: 3 ranks

Rune of Paralysis: 4 ranks

Treatment: 1 rank

Stone armor: 4 ranks

The principle is the same, but instead of dirt + fire - storm + blizzard. The effect is a powerful thunderstorm.

By the way, note that both of these options give the magician some chances as a subjugator - an earthquake and a couple of runes perfectly control enemies.

For werewolf magician there is no special set of talents; you can combine it with any arsenal of spells, transforming into a transformed form as needed. In the game we see an example of a combination of werewolfism with weakening spells (weakness, mind explosion, horror); it certainly works, but there's no reason not to make an elemental werewolf.

Doctor

They have already learned how to build bridges. As for “reducing” there are still problems.

The main thing here is the arsenal of healing spells. It would seem that the actual treatment is not very necessary given the abilities of a spiritual healer; but in practice at high levels they save a lot of mana. The remaining cells can be dedicated to combat or subjugating magic.

Healer Talents:

Treatment: 4 ranks

Spiritual Healer: 4 ranks

Rune of Paralysis: 4 ranks

Heroic Assault: 4 ranks

For the rest - something attacking. Just in case.

Please note that all four ranks of the paralysis rune are taken here - to provide rear protection. Heroic Assault is a good tree for a healer because it doesn't accumulate a lot of aggression.

Subjugator

The main question: do you want to make your hero a blood mage? If so, it will add quite a bit to his core arsenal.

It is absolutely not necessary to make a “pure” subjugator - you can combine it with an elemental hit-breaker or a werewolf.

Subjugator Talents:

Disorientation: 4 ranks

Weakness: 4 ranks

Blood Mage: 4 ranks

Mind Blast: 4 ranks

Treatment: 1 rank

And something offensive.

The disadvantage of this option is that if the enemy suddenly has a high PU, this hero will be almost powerless against him. You can sacrifice one of the subordinate branches and make an intermediate version of the magician. Which branch should I give? Unfortunately, most likely - loss of orientation, although its effect of mass confusion is wonderful, but it is worse combined with combat magic. But you can do it differently.

Talents of the Hit-Buster (with paralysis):

Weakness: 4 ranks

Flame Flash: 4 ranks

Magic Wisp: 2 ranks

Blood Mage: 4 ranks

Mind Blast: 4 ranks

Treatment: 1 rank

Talents of the subjugated hitman (with loss of orientation):

Disorientation: 4 ranks

Walking Bomb: 4 ranks

Blood Mage: 4 ranks

Mind Blast: 4 ranks

Lightning: 3 ranks

Treatment: 1 rank

Walkthrough

• Ostagar
• Lothering
• Circle of Mages
• Branca and the Dwarves
• Search for the shrine

We will not dwell in detail on each of the starting stories; Fortunately, the game itself leads you to a natural outcome. I can only say that if you are a man and a nobleman, do not miss the story with the angry cook...

Ostagar

No matter who you are, sooner or later you will find yourself in Ostagar - in the status of a student of the gray guards and personally their boss Duncan. You will be asked to get comfortable in the city before taking the test. Don't give up; among them there is a task from the huntsman, which will allow you, if you do not already have fighting dog, get one!

My faithful dog

The first companion who will remain with us for life is a faithful dog. The nobleman will have it before arriving in Ostagar, but everyone else can purchase it from the huntsman in the city.

The local Mabari breed is famous, in addition to its truly brutal fighting qualities, for its loyalty and devotion: therefore, no matter what you do, your dog will not betray you. But this should not be a reason to refuse gifts to the animal, since his tastes are unpretentious: he is only interested in bones. No one else will take them anyway...

The dog is a dangerous fighter; he has the ability to deafen all enemies around with a terrible howl, as well as knock the enemy to the ground and inflict critical hits (as wolves do). Howling before a fight will give the magician time to cast an extra fireball or something similar... Although the dogs do not carry weapons or armor, you can still put something on them: a collar and battle tattoos.

Don't forget to sometimes... talk to your dog. You can, for example, ask the animal if it sees anything interesting; no, no, and he’ll bring back something useful, or even an expensive gift for one of his companions. And if you complain about being stained with blood, the dog will lick you and become healthier. Hm...

His Majesty and the head of the order. A photo for memory.

Please also note quartermaster. You can purchase the first of the additional backpacks from him. Maybe there is not enough money for this now, but you can look at him upon returning from the test.

Immediately upon arrival you will be granted an audience His Majesty. He is full of optimism about the upcoming battle... somewhere I have already heard such bravura speeches, oh, I have heard...

But now you’ve talked to the king, gathered others taking the test around the city (all the key points are on the map) and set off on a hike. They give you two fighters with you - shield bearer Alistair and swordsman Jory, as well as a robber shooter Daveta. You need to bring three bottles with the blood of the creatures of darkness - and some papers from a chest in the ruins. Well, and a plant for the hound, if you took this task.

Alistair is a templar warrior with extensive experience in confronting magicians. He is a specialist in shield combat and (although he may not have developed it perfectly) is well suited to the title of command “tank”. You can develop it approximately as shown above in the “Tank” chapter. He can teach the main character the templar specialization (if the relationship with him is at a high level).

It may seem that the straightforward and friendly Alistair is so loyal that it is difficult to anger him. And in vain. This guy is not so simple, he saw something in life even before joining the templars, and besides, he is categorically not inclined to forgive betrayal. But lovers of empty cruelty are absolutely not welcome with him.

To please Alistair with a gift, present him with something related to the people he honors; In addition, he is a lover of figurines and rune stones.

I can also tell the heroines that friendship with Alistair opens up rich opportunities.

The Korkar wastelands are only empty at first glance: the road through them will not allow you to get lost a lot. A wolf pack awaits you here; wolves love to knock heroes down and attack in droves, so get used to leading Alistair in front and away from the others. We will also meet the first creatures of darkness; We don’t yet know who they are or where they came from. The main thing is to look out for archers and especially the Garlock Emissary, this is the most dangerous enemy. If you have weakening charms, now is the time to try them out.

In the clearing next to the emissary, the very plant that is needed for dogs is blooming, don’t forget to collect it.

Flower for healing fighting dogs.

But the chest... is in strangers and not to say very reliable hands. The mysterious lady Flemeth has settled here - is it really the one about whom there are fairy tales that are best not read at night? - and her even more mysterious daughter Morrigan, who loves to speak in poetry. They have the papers, and for now we will have to return with what we have; the blood has probably already been collected by this point.

This is interesting: Morrigan “borrowed” the name from the Celtic goddess of war, one of the most terrible deities in the Celtic pantheon; That Morrigan is famous for her prophetic gift, love of love... and the ability to turn into different creatures.

And here is the test itself: the campaign, it turns out, was only a preparation for it...

And now - a word to the main character.

Bonfire on the tower

Our leaders are, of course, great strategists. The idea that the attack of the reserve should be called by a fire on the tower, and a signal is given at the beginning of the battle (which the reserve can both hear and see) is remarkable in itself.

And for some reason it is not at all surprising that the tower is not filled with soldiers. Or, more precisely, not by our soldiers!

Having picked up a magician who had strayed from the herd along the way, Alistair and I burst inside - and almost got fried like a steak on a fire trap. Garlocks? So-so. And who was it that guarded our tower? Isn't that the same one? Logain McTeer, to whom we are in such a hurry to give a signal?

But they don’t argue with orders, and we cleared the tower of garlocks floor by floor. And upstairs there was a fire burning - but not where it should be - and a huge ogre was warming himself by its fire.

The ogre is a very dangerous creature, because there is nothing to catch against it in close combat. He grabs and throws those nearby, and also kicks - and everyone who tried to attack him falls. What remains? Little. I with a bow and a magician took positions from opposite ends of the hall, and the faithful dog Griffin and Alistair took turns trying to attract the attention of the blue-skinned monster. The poultice is gone - a terrible thing. The main thing here... is not to shoot too accurately. Because if the ogre decided to attack me, he wouldn’t let me go until he chewed me into pulp.

And why was I not at all surprised that the signal was not answered?

I woke up in Flemeth's house. The old witch suddenly decided to help me and Alistair at the last moment; the poor mage, whose name I never learned, did not survive the assault on Ostagar. Flemeth also sent her daughter with us. Alistair was far from happy about this fact...

Morrigan

Charming, mysterious and frightening, Morrigan will probably become the symbol of Dragon Age: Origins. With her manner of speaking in blank verse (which was spoiled by the Russian voice acting) and her cynical view of the world, you will remember her for a long time.

Morrigan is a witch and doesn’t hide it at all. She grew up in wild lands full of barbarians and monsters, under the tutelage of her mother, who was hardly inferior to these monsters. She always “has a couple of words in stock”, she does not like to feel sorry for the weak and stupid, she respects strength - but not rudeness. She may remind you of the tough Viconia from Baldur's Gate, but only slightly.

As for gifts, Morrigan loves grimoires and sometimes does not refuse jewelry. A silver chain and a gold “rope” bracelet clearly suit her; sometimes brooches, amulets and mirrors are suitable.

In terms of combat, Morrigan is a werewolf mage (and can teach you this if you make friends). Her other spells are not very convincing and are scattered across different categories. I would recommend either immediately developing the werewolf line (swarm is good against any enemy), or investing in ice magic or mind blast all the way.

And here we are on a hike. We have documents with us - the same contracts from the chest, according to which gnomes, elves, and magicians undertake to help the gray guards. That is, Alistair and I; There seem to be no others left...

Our path lies to the city of Lothering; there you can replenish supplies and decide where to go next.

Lothering

The city greeted us with a bandit outpost; this company takes a “fee” from refugees passing through. For once, Alistair and Morrigan were unanimous: greed and impudence must be punished! Frankly, I didn’t want to get into a fight when I was tired from the road, especially since when the gray guards were mentioned, the bandits were ready to show caution; but I gave in.

Next to the bodies of the robbers (where there was plenty of loot), I found the corpse of a templar with a letter on it. The addressee, apparently, lives in Lothering... By the way, the bandits said that they were hunting us: Logain announced that the king was killed by the gray guards, and a reward had been placed on our heads.

Before going down the stairs into the city, we briefly discussed our sorrowful affairs. Alistair is in favor of going to Earl Eamon: he is an honest and influential nobleman who is definitely not for Logain - and can unite the tairns. In addition, we have letters to magicians, elves and gnomes. Where to start? Let's think about it.

Lothering, despite the efforts of the "toll collectors", is already crowded with refugees; Some merchant has made a fuss and is inflating prices, which makes the local clergywoman extremely dissatisfied. The laws in the city are mainly represented by the rule of the strong... and why shouldn’t that strong one be me? At least - not to judge the dispute? And for reasons of conscience or for money...

You can buy a lot of things in the city (for example, vials for the herbalist Morrigan and for my poisons), but money is at a premium.

But near the preacher, two steps from the merchant's office, there is a notice board where they offer a reward for the destruction of three bandit leaders (the one on the bridge does not count). In the temple behind this board you can give the knight a letter from the templar's body. He said that Earl Eamon, whom we hoped for, was seriously ill, and to cure him they were looking for the sacred ashes of Andraste.

A venerable old lady offers money for healing poultices that Morrigan knows how to make from elven root - and this root, by the way, grows a lot in the fields, if only there were bottles. Across the bridge, a farmer hopes to save the fields from the creatures of darkness with the help of... traps. Alas, I am not an expert in this area.

But in the tavern the people of Logain are already waiting for us; It’s not a miracle, the miracle is that someone was found to stand up for us. Charming girl with temple signs on her dress - Leliana— spoke in our defense; and, since we had spared the surrendered leader, asked permission to join. Well, will I really be against it?

It is important: If the leader is killed, the opportunity to take Leliana into the team will be lost forever.

A very correct, deeply religious lady... even strange for the specialty of a robber! True, she is still not a thief or a murderer, but a bard - and she can teach you this.

How to please Leliana? The answer can be summed up in two words familiar to every D&D fan: Lawful Good. And although one day you will probably find a flock of devils in the still waters, but basically Leliana should be treated like a priest. And she even realizes the natural passion for jewelry for a pretty girl exclusively through jewelry-made sacred symbols. Don’t even try to please her with a simple social ring or bracelet.

In battle, Leliana is an archer; her bardic abilities are not worth much yet. As an archer, she also lacks stars from the sky, but she knows something. And does a good job with locks. And if she gets to the enchanting song, then... however, a lot has already been said about bards above.

The innkeeper Barlin, the one who gave his neighbor the idea of ​​traps, wants to smear his traps with poison. Poisons are brewed from the black root, of which there is a lot in the fields, as well as from the mandibles of spiders; The bottles can be bought from the innkeeper himself. Comfortable.

And a couple more tasks - from local mercenaries called Blackstone Volunteers. They politely suggest that I might want to work with them someday; In the meantime, here are a couple of simple tasks. And really simple; to fulfill one, you just need to return to the temple and hand over the letter to one recruit.

But that can wait: in the square I noticed a huge cage in which sat a huge guy named Stan. He is awaiting execution - and, in general, he gets down to business: without understanding it, he killed the family of his savior. But maybe it’s better to die in battle for a just cause? He seems to be a brave warrior, one of the wild Qunari...

I convinced the holy mother in the temple to give me Stan. There were three arguments: personal charm, a gift for the needs of the church, and the consideration that his fellow tribesmen might come for Stan, after which Lothering might not live to see the Blight. She listened.

On a note: the ease with which the holy mother will agree depends on your generosity in donating. But if Leliana is on the team, she will persuade the priestess for nothing.

Well, a very big and fierce uncle; everyone will tell at first glance that it is created for two-handed combat. Give him a two-handed weapon - and he will show himself as a hybrid hit-fighter-tank! Get him to swing your two-handed sword at the first opportunity. As a “tank” Alistair is better, although you can slightly increase the threat to Stan - and then... Of course, you will have to treat him more often. But there will be no more enemies!

It’s easy to keep him with you: he has his sights set on death in battle to atone for his mistakes, and therefore most often he doesn’t care what you talk about. As for gifts, Stan will appreciate his own sword (you will eventually come across it); And this thug is also a lover of painting. Who would have thought!

You're too big for a songbird, boy...

Three detachments of bandits were waiting for us north of the city, in the fields; The main thing was to hide in time and send Alistair ahead (and send the Griffin down on the archers). I left Leliana and Stan in the strategic reserve for now. And to the east of the robber fields there was a flock of poisonous spiders with valuable components at the ready.

At the temple they gave a good reward and two more tasks - very simple ones: kill bears in the field and find a dead woman. Another run to the same places - easy money and a bad feeling in the soul.

On the way out of the city we met a couple of dwarves, father and son, and at a bad time for them: they were waylaid by Genlocks right outside Lothering. We helped them cope - and the cunning dwarf decided that the safest place on the roads of Ferelden was behind us. So now we are traveling with a convoy: in the parking lot next to us a dwarf family is setting up bivouac. They have good goods, including books; and the younger gnome knows how to put magic runes into weapons.

Circle Tower

Do you like to have a good rest? Look carefully, this is what embodied Idleness looks like.

Do you often get angry over trifles? Do you yell at others? Meet, this is Anger.

The magicians might be glad to receive a letter from the gray guard, but they are not able to. Because there is some kind of pogrom going on in the tower - an uprising, demons, all sorts of devilry - and the templars have sealed it from the outside. And if suddenly someone brave and stupid does not dare to go in there and eliminate the tararam, then the tower will simply be demolished, along with everything that is in it, to hell. Who is the bravest and stupidest here?

On a note: do not forget to communicate, now or after the campaign, with the templar quartermaster. He also has a lot of things for sale, including a backpack. If you have the money, it's worth buying - there will be no exit from the tower until the very end.

Almost immediately outside the door - they literally just started ransacking boxes and rooms in search of a reward for their diligence - a center of resistance to the pogrom was discovered: a teacher named Wynn created a magical barrier and, together with her students, holds the entrance to the next floors. She still doesn’t know what the templars have decided... After brief negotiations, Wynn became our guide around the tower.

"Mistress McGonagall! How did you get here?” - I want to ask at the first meeting. The manners of a real “classy lady”, a gray bun at the back of her head, passionate devotion to school...

True, Winn is not a transfigurator, but a healer. Excellent and the only one in the game (unless you choose the same path yourself). And can teach you the ways of a spiritual healer. It is worth developing her first of all in this direction, and then take care of combat magic (she has saved up something in this area, but it is rather helpless).

She is very, very easy to anger: as an old school employee, she is not used to having her opinion ignored. In difficult situations, it is better for her to wait in reserve... And if suddenly your main character follows the path of a blood mage, then, most likely, you will part with Wynn.

Oiling her up isn't easy either; She seems to be interested only in books and scrolls. You will find something suitable in the Circle Tower, but in general there are no gifts for Wynn lying on the road.

Well, shall we forgive?

At first, we were resisted mainly by the possessed - these are disgusting, but not very dangerous creatures - and occasionally by the lesser demons of wrath, disgustingly similar to the Azerothian elementals. But soon those who started the mess began to meet: blood mages who decided to rebel against the control of the templars. This is where Alistair’s talents for suppressing magicians and draining their mana came in handy.

We walked slowly and methodically: in the rooms there were books, scrolls, even grimoires... The finds on the second floor subsequently pleased many of my friends; gifts were found even for Stan, but I especially pleased Morrigan with a rare grimoire. Many locked, and tightly locked, chests were discovered. Leliana with her talents as a burglar would have come in handy here, but alas, it was she who I let go for a walk to make room for Wynn. However, those chests that I opened myself did not conceal any miracles.

And if you get greedy and try to remove the amulet from the remains of the statue, while...
It feels like there are demons next to him - like lambs...

Things got tight on the third floor. The first large hall turned out to be a trap: as soon as we went deeper inside, the dead bodies stood up and attacked us. It’s good that I didn’t let anyone go ahead except Alistair. While Alistair and two sorceresses were dealing with the skeletons, I quietly crept to the opposite door and did well: as soon as the spell-casting nightmare appeared there, I jumped up to it and cut it into cubes. Otherwise, a couple of fireballs - and then everything would have ended for us.

At the next closed door I noticed a trap; I opened the door, but didn’t go in - let the possessed ones themselves climb on him. Moreover, while they are breaking through the door to Alistair, it is so easy to please them in a narrow passage with massive spells or a bomb...

The third hall is completely unpleasant - there are enchanted templars in full armor, so our swords can barely find a place to stick. True, a bottle of acid dramatically changed the odds. And in the fourth, there are undead in abundance, but not too dangerous - as long as Wynn doesn’t get hit.

On the fourth floor, I encountered several more templars in the side rooms. One of them was enchanted by the demon of desire... but I would not like to remember this conversation now.

And here is the one whom the blood mages invited to this joyful holiday. The Demon of Idleness in his own ugly persona. Now you will answer for everything, creature... but where am I?

Shadow

I came to my senses (or so it seemed to me) in a strange place - with blurred eyes I see some kind of castle, and in the distance - Duncan. Duncan? But have mercy, he died... And why am I alone, without friends?

Having struck the illusion, I found myself in another world - from pieces of land floating in the air. And then I met Niall, one of the tower’s magicians. So he's here too... where? In the dreams of Idleness?

This guy wanted to use the Litany of Andraste to escape from the blood mages. But I didn’t have time. And I?

After wandering around, I discovered... a mouse. An ordinary mouse that died before my eyes. Taking a closer look at her, I realized that I could... become just like her. And seep into mouse holes.

Four images

In the Shadow, our hero can learn several forms that will allow him to go through all the pieces of the Shadow one after another. The mouse is the first of them. We need to quickly find everyone else and only then go to destroy the local demons, and then Idleness itself.

The mouse is needed to squeeze into holes; in addition, with its help you can bypass many opponents, since it is inconspicuous.

Spirit - the second form - is quite suitable for battle if there are few enemies. His crushing dungeon spell will destroy almost any enemy, but it takes a long time to recharge, and the spirit's health is so-so (though it can be healed). He also passes through special portals that cannot be entered in another guise.

The Burning Man is weak in close combat, but he can safely pass through fires, of which there are many in the Shadow. In addition, he can throw a fireball and a weak fiery flash. He also runs faster than most monsters, and this must be used.

And finally, the golem is a heavyweight, stone thrower and earth shaker; with a boulder throw he knocks down all the locked doors. Once this form is available, the others are, by and large, no longer necessary, except for travel. On the other hand, it’s nice to first please the enemies with a fireball, and then transfer to a golem and add a boulder.

Dog? Crate the dog...

First of all, I talked with Niall - and a pedestal opened up for me, through which you can walk on fragments of the Shadow.

On a note: try to go through all the rooms in these shadows. There are many places where they permanently give +1 to one of the basic parameters; you will come out of there much stronger than you were.

I started with " Invasions of Darkness" Leaking through the north-eastern corner of the hall into a hole and turning left in the corridor, I cut through the genlocks (at the height of the battle I touched a vein of lyrium - in the shadows it restores health and mana) and through the next hole I ended up with two flaming spawn of darkness. They fight painfully, but they are flimsy, and my two swords easily felled both of them.

And what is an ogre to me when I myself am a golem!

In the next room was an emissary; I had to, ignoring the blows, rush headlong towards the emissary, since he is a magician, and then return to the door and grab the lyrium. One more hole - and here in front of me is the spirit of the templar, besieged by enemies. He gave me a spirit form. That was enough; I walked through the pedestal to the next shadow, " Burning Tower».

There are many fires here - and creatures that do not burn in fire. A spirit can handle most things, but it’s safer to scurry around with a mouse until they notice. The task was already clear to me - to find the next templar who would give me a new form (flaming).

Then they passed with three forms (to the next templar) " Scattered Mages". And now, fully armed with forms, it was possible to go through all the corridors, visit all the reinforcing pedestals and, most importantly, deal with the demons. Then visit the side shadows, talk with friends - and engage in Idleness together.

Uldred, why do you have such long horns?

Idleness was revived several times in different guises. The key is to spread out. Otherwise, massive spells will certainly occur. Luckily, Wynn's group healing works over a larger area than fire and ice spells!

And so we returned from the dreams of Idleness... alive and more angry than ever. We didn’t forget to pick up the Litany from the dead body of our poor friend. As the desert wolves say before attacking a camel caravan: and now - the humpback!

Uldred, the one who started it all, was not at all upset by what his rebellion led to. He was determined to turn all the surviving sorcerers into blood mages - and he saw it through to the end. But we spoiled his music somewhat. As soon as a beam of Uldred’s spell appeared above one of the magicians, I read the litany, and the magic went astray.

So Irving, the supreme sorcerer (whose grimoire I already... borrowed) remained alive, and so did his magicians. And I received his word that later, in the decisive battle, he would be on my side. And it seems to me that if the magicians had not been saved, there would have been templars on my side, who would have had nothing left to guard...

We left our hero when he cleared the Circle Tower of the evil spirits that had settled there, freed the magicians (or he might not have freed them - then the Templars would have gone to his side instead of the sorcerers in the final battle) and set off to find new allies for himself.

Branca and the 777 Dwarves

Two respected ones are equal,

Two glorious and high families,

To the regret of all the people,

An ancient, fierce enmity

Every day they were drawn into a new battle.

The citizens' hands were stained with blood...

W. Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet"

Having somehow rested after the Tower, having washed the book dust and ashes from our faces, we got ready for the next trip: to the city Orzammar, present papers about the ancient alliance to the gnomes.

On a note: it makes sense to return to the Tower from time to time. With a very simple goal: it seems that the Templar Quartermaster is the only merchant who does not run out of lyrium dust. And you will need tons of lyrium, especially if the main character is a magician...

At the pass in front of the dwarf forest, we were already prepared for a pleasant meeting with a team of “headhunters”. The guys were serious - with a magician, with archers - and this battle was no more difficult than all the battles in the Tower. But the spells of mass destruction did their job.

A gnome guard stood at the gate, moderately politely sending all visitors in azimuth. Besides us, someone named Imrek, Logain’s messenger, was vying for the right to enter! As it turned out, our paper was thicker than Imrek’s, and the door was opened for us. Imrek was looking for a fight; and whether I persuaded him or left him on the rock as a souvenir for the dwarves - guess for yourself.

Election Day

Quest for level 20 designer: is it possible to make a dwarven city without ending up with Ironforge?

Well, the gnomes are honest guys: they are ready to recognize the agreement even now. There’s just one problem: who, you say, should fulfill the promise? What does it say on the piece of paper? King of the Dwarves? Wonderful! And we have such an opportunity - just temporarily there is no king. We don’t know for how long, but it will last for your lifetime...

The old king has died, and the laws of the dwarves do not allow one to immediately name a successor. Because the king appointed an heir, but the heir did not survive him. And to the youngest son, Prince Belem, were never promised the throne. In such cases, the king is chosen by the council - but he cannot decide in any way, because Belen is opposed by the right hand of the late monarch, Lord Harrowmont.

The solution to the problem is obvious: in order for the agreement to be respected, it is necessary to achieve the coronation of any of the contenders. You can choose who you like! The story is dark: Harrowmont claims that the king on his deathbed asked not to give the throne to Belen, and Belen claims that Harrowmont slandered him and incited his father to suspect him of who knows what.

The choice is complicated by the fact that we are not allowed to see either the prince or the lord until we prove our dedication to their cause. Judging by what we saw in the city - supporters of both have already turned to stabbing - they have reason for this!

While dealing with local politics, I did a lot of research on both the Common Halls and the Diamond Halls (that is, the homes of the nobility), and also picked up a few additional tasks, since my wallet jingled very pitifully.

So, for example, the old lady Filda asked to look for her son, who disappeared on the Deep Paths; something told me that sooner or later I would end up there anyway. Naga Trader(these are meat animals that are raised in caves) blew away all his nagas and asked if possible to catch him at least one - they get caught there every now and then and don’t run away, so it was a sure, albeit small, profit. Wandering Preacher Berkel asked to put in a good word for him so that he would be allowed to open a church in Orzammar: the gnomes need it like a golem needs a swimsuit, but why not talk to the chronicler? All that matters is that he be allowed to preach. And finally, girl Dagna with funny red ponytails dreams of... studying in the Circle Tower. Why, if gnomes are incapable of magic? Well, okay, after recent events, Irving will accept whoever he wants, even naked, so you can put in a word on occasion. A few more tasks can be obtained from hall of chronicles. We will do them later, when it comes to the trails.

Oh sport, you are the world!

After much hesitation, I chose Harrowmont: there must be damn good reasons for the dwarves loyal to the ruling house not to want to give the inheritance to the son of their beloved king!

This is a spoiler: if our main character is a noble gnome, he, in principle, already guesses who is actually right. Both are not without sin, but Belen seems to have been involved in the death of the heir... But the first task for Belen is simpler.

Three against four, one of the participants is a magician. Dwarfs have interesting ideas about equal combat!

Let's start with the fighters - one of them is right in the central hall of the Arena, the other is in a side room. With the first, Bayzil, such bad luck happened - one of Belen’s fighters had incriminating evidence on him. But the incriminating evidence is hidden right here, in the fighting rooms in a chest; you can hack it (and, after leaving the Arena, you can change the team) and return the letters. Gwiddon you just have to lie that you heard with your own ears from Harrowmont - he is not going to give up the throne without a fight.

But this is just the beginning, and then comes the tournament itself. We have all seen such tournaments - in Westgate, for example; however, the last fighter, Belen's relative - Piotin Educan, the most dangerous opponent that I have encountered so far on the way. Idleness, Uldred and the other inhabitants of the Tower are children next to him; and you can’t go to the tournament with your trusted team and hide behind Alistair’s shield. True, since I persuaded Bayzil and Gviddon, I still fought with three of us - against Piotin’s four warriors.

I think the stands were in hysterics from such a fight: I exhausted Piotin with a fast run. I drank a speed potion at the very beginning of the fight so that I had time to run back, heal and wait for my abilities to recharge. There is no other way: I don’t know what Piotin was fed as a child, but he has enough health for three sumotori. Neither magic nor the blade are capable of finishing off such a block quickly, and his blows in three strokes will chop an elephant into dumplings. At the very beginning of the battle, I lit a nice fire in the middle of the arena, and it helped - Piotin was not always smart enough to run around the fire. Apparently, the biceps have grown into the skull.

But the main thing is that I still received Harrowmont’s trust, even despite such a not very valiant victory.

Alternative: if you choose Belen, then instead of the tournament you will have to take two letters to the lords who seem to have been deceived by Harrowmont. There is no problem with one, but the other - that is, the other - demands to find her father on the Deep Paths, killing a bunch of Mor's offspring. From now on, the quest lines for Belen and Harrowmont are the same.

Visit to the godmother

Now all that remains is to place my chosen one on the throne. He had two useful ideas on this matter.

The first idea: to show that he is capable of maintaining order in the city. And to do this, find the local mafia “godmother”, Jarvia, and tear off something she needs.

This is how a battle mage goes through the dungeons of the gnomes. Rune of repulsion on the door, inside - Gehenna, blizzard, storm, or all of this at once. You can also add an earthquake so that they don’t shoot from behind the door. We ourselves stand at the door and tell jokes.

It is important: if you want to large earn, do not start this quest until you have 50 gold coins in your bag. As soon as you take the next step, you will come across a dwarf lyrium smuggler: he has cargo for the magician Godwin in the Circle Tower. Running back and forth will give you at least 10 gold; but if you have the persuasion skill, you can take 65 from Godwin instead of 50, and from the gnome 25 instead of 10 - a total of 40 gold net profit! But if you don’t have that kind of money with you, the smuggler will immediately leave, and you will be left with nothing. As I already explained, you can try to deal with people or elves before solving dwarven problems - or do side quests. The main thing is not to go to Dusty Town.

Of course, Jarvia is not in the habit of leaving business cards with a detailed address. Therefore, I went down to the Dusty City, where wild out-caste gnomes live (they immediately tried to dismantle me for scrap materials, but could not cope). At the fire I found an aunt with a characteristic dwarf name Nadezda: she explained that she needed to get a special “key” - a domino, which could be taken from one of her fighters. For example, two steps from here there is a Slum Yard...

Having hit the inhabitants of the courtyard on the neck, I received not only a bone, but also instructions on how to find the entrance to the dungeon. Again, I didn’t have to go far.

Jarvia's dungeon was long, but unpretentious - a serious battle was expected only at the very end, with Jarvia. On the way, I looked into a corner of the prison and took the keys from the local jailer.

On a note: A common dwarf is especially advised not to miss the chance to open cages with prisoners.

Jarvia herself is dangerous, but not very resistant to magic, and therefore was easily entangled in traps and an earthquake (which Wynn had mastered by that time) while we were ridding her of her retinue. Alone, she could do little to oppose us. And the key in her pocket led us through a secret door... to a gun shop, where a frightened merchant promised a big discount for the future.

Firestarter

Here’s the second idea: although, it would seem, the votes on the council should already be inclined in favor of our candidate, but this is all complicated and doubtful. But if we went to the Deep Paths and found there a long-lost Perfect One named Branca, her voice could decide everything at once.

- Hey, open your eyes! The Gray Guardian is coming to look for your Perfect One! Or should I unscrew your stinking head?

“Ogren wants to say that we have permission.”

Perfect is a rare title for a dwarf who has invented or done something exceptional: for this he during life they are considered one of the ancestors. Really, only a dwarf could come up with such a reward! But it also has a practical meaning: the Perfect and his family become a new noble family, and this is the only way to form them.

In truth, no matter who you ask about Branca, everyone, at best, politely twists their finger to their temple. Why the hell look for an aunt, even a thrice Perfect one, who fled to the Deep Paths (from where few people ever returned alive) several years ago?! As one learned person from another world said: “When people do not return from New Zealand for more than a year, it means that people are irretrievably lost.” Moreover, she went not for any reason, but to search for the semi-mythical Anvil of the Void. All residents of Orzammar, whether ordinary people or nobles, speak of Branca exclusively in the past tense. It’s not even clear what makes the contender for the throne think differently about her...

However, there is one dwarf who not only believes that Branka may be alive, but also dreams of finding her! He has special reasons for this: this is... the husband of the Perfect One, by name Oghren.

A wonderful personality - the most charming type from our entire cabinet of curiosities (maybe only Morrigan is second). This drinker, brawler and troublemaker always “has a couple of words in stock,” and these words could in no way be heard at an official reception. He rejoices like a child when we decide to stop the conversation and kick some impudent guy in the neck. He never loses his presence of mind and makes funny faces.

Well, as a fighter, he is a warrior with a berserker specialization, a lover of two-handed axes, decently armed from the very beginning and in very good armor (although the helmet, apparently, was lost somewhere). It deals damage very well and is quite durable. He and Stan occupy the same niche, but Ogren is better and much funnier.

And it’s easy to please him with gifts. Perhaps you have already wondered for whom the gift drinks found in various nooks and crannies are kept in your luggage? So there you go! Ogren, like a true connoisseur, will appreciate vintage wine and will not refuse simple ale either. The sympathy of this brave warrior for you is directly proportional to the degree in his blood. And if your hero is a warrior, then you can learn berserker talents from Ogren.

To further cheer him up, it’s worth asking him questions about how life is in Orzammar, how he likes it on the surface, and so on. Ladies can try to flirt with him, although you shouldn’t count on romance, but it will be fun. What will he do if you pass Orzammar before the Circle and go with him to the Tower...

The first section of the caves - Karidina intersection- does not present any big problems. There are two ways to go through it: the bridge is collapsed, but there are two tunnels through the rock, one to the left, the other to the right. On the right (this move is closer) are genlocks and garlocks, on the left are screamers who hide and attack from ambush, but are themselves very flimsy. Both roads lead to a large darkspawn camp with a tame bronto; behind this camp is the road to the next site, the Ortan teigu.

Rook: “All of you landmen are alone.”
Nakovs are thieves and thugs!
I was the first to find it!”

Thaig of the House of Ortan- a confusing corridor that does not have a single branch, so it is impossible to fly past. Along the way, we met the local Gollum - a dwarf named Rook, a collector of all kinds of rubbish, already quite sad in mind. This is Mother Filda’s missing son... Maybe it’s better to tell her that her son died? So it's somehow more merciful...

Soon after Rook, a battle awaits us on the bridge - on both sides there are large groups of creatures of darkness. But the good thing about the bridge is that it can be easily blocked with charms, and then everything that remains on the other side can be fried.

But at the end of the path - where Branca's journal lies in a round cave, and clusters of cocoons hang from the ceiling - there will be a much more serious opponent - spider queen. This creature calls spiders to its aid, and when things get tough for it, it disappears and appears in another place in the cave. You can try to pull her into the corridor, then things will go easier, and when she disappears, you will be able to restore your mana a little.

Next station - Dead ditches.

And again - the battle on the bridge: Legion of the Dead under the leadership of Kardol, repels the attack of the Garlocks and Genlocks.

This is interesting: The Legion of the Dead is almost a carbon copy of the Slayers community from Warhammer Fantasy. In both cases, these are dwarves who have abandoned normal life due to some circumstances and are looking for a glorious death in battle. But in appearance, the classic slayers look more like Ogren than the Kardol warriors.

We need to take part... First, they repelled the onslaught together with the legionnaires (and the magicians did so because of their backs), then someone alone ran to “harness” new detachments, and finally they walked across the bridge and cleared out the entire brigade. At the end, a very unpleasant surprise awaited us: a huge hall, along its edges there were two columns of shooters, and two ogres were walking from the stairs! And if the shooters could still be entangled in the mud or knocked down by an earthquake (and then fried with massive spells), then the ogres had to be beaten manually, and it was long, painful and dirty.

Ogren gets so carried away in battle that he swings his giant two-handed
with an ax with one hand!

It is important: You can try to convince Cardol that the Legion should join you during the final battle. You will not regret!

From this hall, a side fork to the north leads to another area with a fragment of a bridge over the lava. Having killed the garlocks, we carefully searched all the side rooms here: an almost complete set of legionnaire armor was found on the sarcophagi! And it is made, by the way, from dragon bone. In the northern room there are boots, in the southern room there are gloves; Having passed further, we ran into a garlock convening skeletons - a helmet was found in this room, and the main part of the armor was further, in the temple of legionnaires. In each room with sarcophagi there were rune tablets, from which we learned more and more details about the fascinating life of the Legion of the Dead. And in the end they collected enough data to try to give the Legion the rights of a noble house...

The third bridge in these dungeons - and again the battle, although it seemed empty. The damned screamers hide and come out only when they can surround the entire squad (or what they think is the whole squad: this is when a lone but heavily armored kamikaze calls screamers and fireballs on themselves).

On a note: Don't forget that the H key allows you to order the squad not to follow the leader.

Continuing on our way - there are no alternatives - we met a badly damaged gnome, Hespith. She shouted to us that Branka had betrayed them all, as well as some other obscene things, and ran away. The evening had definitely ceased to be languid: the entire area was covered with some kind of growths like offal, a disgusting stench from around every corner...

We got out to the area in front of the lava, opened the temple of the legionnaires and found the key to the next door there. And behind her...

The hefty creature of obscene appearance turned out to be the mother of genlocks: and don’t ask how she makes them from gnomes. I hope I don’t find out this until the end of my days.

But I’ll tell you how to destroy such creatures. This must be done slowly and with pleasure, well stocked with lyrium drinks. The uterus itself, firstly, is motionless (and will not crawl out of the area’s spell), and secondly, it is very moderately dangerous. The tentacles and the genlocks with screamers that are summoned from time to time bite painfully; Moreover, it is difficult to figure out how much health the tentacles have. It is necessary to hit first of all the tentacles that separated from the uterus and came out in another part of the hall (except for the very edge, where they are harmless). Area spells are not very effective against them; It’s best, oddly enough, to chop them down with a weapon. At the same time, save energy and expensive hand-to-hand techniques - in order to bring them down on the uterus as soon as the tentacles are defeated.

On a note: if you suddenly have a shortage of potions, it may be worth taking the time to replenish your supply, because in the last section of the dungeon you won’t have such a chance.

Perfect Branca.

And finally, a joyful meeting with Branka at the very Nether Anvils. She greeted us... and locked the doors so we wouldn't leave. This is because Branka is having a little trouble with the Anvil...

Well; let's go ahead.

In the first hall of the Anvil chambers, a warm, friendly atmosphere of chlorine with light additions of phosgene reigned: green joy hissed out of the pipes while our team was turned into the chops of the fists of a stone golem. But, fortunately, the valves were in the same room, and they were quickly closed.

Hall number two - with golems attacking in pairs (except for the first two, which - to lull vigilance - are made inactive). And the golem launch point is equipped with traps (with a robber on the team, everything becomes a little easier).

Hall number three - with the Spirit Apparatus: this is a huge structure that summons spirits. The idea is to attack only one of them with all your might, and then quickly activate the anvil that lights up next to him. This operation had to be done eight times until the perfume finally ran out.

This is interesting: The official translator made the Spirits Apparatus... a moonshine still. For which we congratulate him with all our hearts.

What hangs over the platform is the Apparatus. Alas, he does not exhale
not a fume.

And here is the last room. In it we found... two whole Perfect Ones: Branka, already familiar to us, and Caridin, ancient as these dungeons, who turned into a golem.

Karidin described to us in simple human language that he once invented golems - but these machines, alas, require the soul of a gnome as one of the components. He used volunteers, who were revered as heroes... then they began to use the condemned... then the opponents of the ruling king... and then Caridin himself.

Caridin begged to destroy the Anvil, Branka - to give the artifact to her. Guess for yourself what I did...

It is important: you will have to fight one or the other in any case, but keep in mind: Branka promises to supply her golems in the final battle with the Blight, but Karidin cannot promise anything like that. Although any of them is capable of forging a crown for your chosen one. Are you ready to take responsibility for the fact that golems will continue to be created? Please also note that supporting Branka will greatly upset all the decent people in your team (Alistair, Winn, Leliana), and supporting Caridin will upset Ogren.

Having finally written down for memory (and for transmission to the chroniclers) a list of volunteer golems on a board near the Anvil, I returned to Orzammar, and my path was not joyful...

A third test was not required: the newly proclaimed king (after his rival started a knife fight right in the Council chamber and finally lost the opportunity to claim anything) gave us his word to send his warriors to battle. And we went for the support of the next ruler.

Lord's House

Don't torment your souls. Let her go!

Only the enemy would try to keep him

For the torture of life.

W. Shakespeare, "King Lear"

It's time to visit his castle Earl Eamon. As we have been informed more than once, the Earl is ill and does not get out of bed; and something told us that he was not suffering from a sore throat.

Along the way, a significant meeting took place with an assassin sent by Logain: unfortunately for the “king,” the Antivan raven Zevran somewhat overestimated his strength. And after that, the poor fellow had no choice but to... join me.

The elf robber is sent after your head - but he is not at all averse to working for you, especially since this is his chance not to lose his ears due to a failed assassination attempt. He is excellent at camouflage, skillfully uses poison and expertly cuts neat round holes in the back: his specialty is an assassin.

By the way, this specialty is also good in another way - it increases the damage inflicted by the entire team. In a word, he is superior to Leliana in battle, and there are no other robbers in the game.

But he has no mutual understanding with locks. That is, he can’t do it at all! You can learn, of course, but usually you expect a robber to bring in extra money by hacking, but here...

Being a cold professional, he is indifferent to most gifts - excluding simple and understandable bullion bars, as well as professional equipment.

If tomorrow there is war

And here is Redcliffe. But not yet a castle, but a village attached to it. The peaceful pastoral settlement bristles with palisades and barricades, and residents crowd into the church - some are hiding, and some are simply ordering a waste card for themselves. Nobody plans to live until tomorrow morning.

“All that’s left is to help the villagers remove the cats from the trees!” (Morrigan)

What's the matter? It’s very simple: every night a horde of undead appears from Redcliffe Castle to its loyal subjects. They fought off once, they fought off twice, but today they won’t fight back. Unless, of course, we help.

I had to take charge of the defense (until now it had been mediocrely led by the earl’s younger brother, Bann Tegan). And this is what became clear during the first hour in the village...

The blacksmith categorically does not want to forge, because no one wants to rescue his daughter from the castle. Well, we promise to help, but for now let him hammer away, you bastard! (Morrigan was unpleasantly surprised by such gentleness.)

Also in the city, as the captain tells us, there is a veteran dwarf who does not want to fight. Well, let's persuade...

It is important: If you don’t come to an agreement and switch to swords, this operation will be considered a minus for you, not a plus.

Having searched the empty village shop, I discovered barrels of oil; reported them to the slow-witted Sir Perth, the commander of the knights, to have his men make burning barricades. The knights of Sir Perth are afraid of the undead and want amulets from the church, which the Reverend Mother denied them; I persuaded him to give at least some amulets, otherwise everyone would run away from fear.

To raise the morale of the militia, I earnestly asked the innkeeper to pour beer for everyone at the expense of the establishment; and in the same tavern I saw a suspicious elf, about whom the waitress said that he was waiting for his brother. After a thorough interrogation, it turned out that we were dealing with a spy of Logain - and by all appearances, the earl’s illness was not without “our little king,” as I call him.

And in between, I took the summons of the Blackstone Volunteers to recruit Harrison (in the house near the mill), took new tasks from the chest next to the church and (which again angered Morrigan) promised the upset girl in the temple to look for the missing child.

Surprisingly, this good deed bore fruit. The child was found at home, in the closet, and told about his grandfather’s wonderful sword - which was given to us to protect the village. The sword, oddly enough, turned out to be good.

This is interesting: If you don't have enough charm to persuade your baby to come out, you don't have to resort to drastic measures. It is enough to include Winn in the group. As soon as she barks in her best teaching voice: “Come on, get out, young man!”, so he will pop out like a cork from a bottle.

And so, when all the preparations are completed, we go to Sir Pert and ask him to start the dark time of the day.

Evil Dead

The night battle with the undead consisted of two parts.

To easily win a fight with the undead, you should take a position
tion marked with a cross.

At first we defended the blazing barricade in front of the mill. This is a very simple matter, because the undead were pouring in a crowd along the narrow corridor, representing an excellent target for everything that hits the squares. Not only the knights of Sir Perth, but even Alistair hardly had to work.

Even in the darkness of the night, you can see the undead marching across the bridge from the castle.

But when the dead came to the village from below, that’s where the fun began...

On a note: if you manage to win the battle without losses among the local militia, Bann Teagan will especially appreciate it.

The undead come from two directions and in small groups, so burning them with Gehenna will not save you enough mana. However, if you look closely, you can see a funny fact: the undead, having come running from the river, first of all look into the central square, spin around there for a couple of seconds - and then look for their victim! Therefore, there is a simple way to win (although this will not work “without casualties”): stand near the square itself, but outside the barricades, and as you arrive, lock the nearest exit from the barricades, and burn the square itself, burn it, and burn it again.

Flowers of life

After the battle, without even changing clothes, we hurried to the castle. As it turned out, Bann Tegan and Sir Perth knew very well the secret passage there, but... decided not to please us with this news for the time being, so that we could help fight back.

Anyway. It’s worse that you don’t understand where it came from Isolde, the wife of Earl Eamon, and demanded that Tegan go with her - from the main entrance. Well, we can handle it alone, I decided and led my group through the dungeon.

The secret passage led directly to the castle prison; and there an old acquaintance of many magicians was languishing - someone Jovan, who was once convicted of practicing blood magic and escaped from the court of the Tower.

Jovan immediately admitted: it was he who poisoned the earl. And also... taught Earl's son, Connor, of magic. A normal magician, not an apostate, would have demanded Connor into the Circle, because that is the law, and would have deprived him of the right to inherit...

Yes, but Jovan did not summon the undead! Well, how can you not believe?

We could easily... but decided to hold off on drawing irreversible conclusions. After some thought, I left him in the cell, where it’s warm and the flies don’t bite. Although some of my companions were not too pleased with this.

I walked right through the lower floor of the castle (in the extreme north-eastern corner I found the blacksmith’s daughter) and through the south-eastern corner I went out into the courtyard, where I opened the gate to Sir Pert and his people. Having scattered the undead on the steps of the castle, we entered... and saw what strange entertainments the earl's son indulged in.

After which the eight-year-old child calmly ordered Bann Tegan, his uncle, to kill us... and he tried to the best of his ability. Fortunately, it did not end fatally for either him or us.

Connor ran away and we had to decide what to do. The boy, having studied the basics of magic, tried to help his father - to save his life by making an agreement with the demon. Well, the demon fulfilled his part of the contract: Eamon is alive (and no one promised recovery). Well, the boy is possessed by a demon...

What to do now? Is it possible to save the earl's son? Deciding that whoever messed things up should unravel them, we ordered Jovan to be brought here. He could offer only one thing: a ritual of blood magic, with the help of which you can find a demon in the Shadow and kill him there. True, this requires a sacrifice... but there is a volunteer.

It is important: If we kill Jovan or drive him out of the castle, we will have to kill the demon directly in his current body.

Well... maybe many (Alistair, for example) will judge me, but I decided to follow Jovan's idea. The fighting wasn't too hard; and the demon himself offered a deal to me - for the fact that I will not banish him forever (he will return after the war), I can get blood magic, or an additional ability, or something else valuable... And, which is typical, no one will know about this... Do you think this was a test of honesty? And I'm not sure...

This is interesting: To enter the Shadow, you need a magician. But if your hero is of a different class, Wynn or Morrigan can do this. A one-of-a-kind case when one of your companions completes the task without you!

And now Connor’s soul is free, and Redcliffe Castle is free, the living dead no longer dance on their coffins; but this did not make Earl Eamon any healthier. And no healer can help. What to do? Unless to look for a holy relic - urn with the ashes of the great Andraste.

It is important: on the Earl’s table you can pick up Alistair’s mother’s amulet (and give it to Alistair, of course). This is worth doing because no matter how you solve the problem with Connor and Isolde, Alistair will most likely be furious with the result, and it will be almost impossible to convince him of the right choice. This way you will at least mitigate the consequences...

Looking for an urn

From the very beginning we had one lead: to find in the capital, Denerim, Brother Genitivi, who devoted a lot of time to searching for the urn and may have picked up the trail.

But, to tell the truth, we were... in no hurry to get to Denerim. Perhaps they did not feel ready for exploits. Or maybe they just succumbed to the charm of a huge city with a lot of wonderful establishments and an abundance of opportunities...

Savor

The appearance of the gray guard on the streets caused a sensation. They began to actively contact us... with orders.

Hunt for city gangs.

For example, guard officer, a considerable slacker, was hampered by the abundance of mercenaries in the city, who do not value the city guard at all. Either they are playing tricks in a brothel, or they are making too much noise (!) in a tavern... And we were offered to calm down the mercenaries for a small reward. And sometimes, even if we managed to persuade them, after that an ambush awaited us in some dark corner. However, who counted those mercenaries?

Dealer Ignazio doesn’t sell anything, but if you talk to him, after a while a boy comes running with a letter and offers a meeting in the back room of the tavern. It turns out that Mr. Ignazio represents... the Antivan ravens. If you remember, this is a community of hired killers. Would you like an order? Ignazio has special conditions for us: if we don’t like the contract, we don’t have to fulfill it. And in general, they pay us only to inform Ignazio if a client suddenly dies. As you can see, everything is legal...

By the way, the first client is someone Pedan- does very interesting things: he keeps a trap on those who sympathize with the gray guards. So maybe we should notify Ignazio of his death? This is not difficult to do: on the wall next to the entrance to the elf-house there is his proclamation, from which you can find out the “secret password” for the trap. And Pedan himself lives in the Zhemchuzhina brothel, where we have other assignments.

There is also a set of unseemly proposals innkeeper, it’s not difficult to hype him up for this. Only some tasks... absolutely petty and indecent. Blackmail, hiding corpses...

It is important: if your hero is a rogue, he can become a duelist in Denerim. To do this, contact the fencer Isabella in the same “Bitten Nobleman” tavern.

There are also respectable tasks - according to the good old tradition, they hang on the notice board near the temple. For example, kill gangs in the city. By the way, one of the gangs managed to kill the templar; he conveyed to us his last will - to destroy the coven of blood mages right in Denerim.

But the old knight next to the tavern had something else to do with us: he challenges us to a duel because the gray guards killed the king. You can change your mind, but... it's almost useless. The guards' best defense, alas, is to accept the challenge.

But Alistair found the most unexpected thing in the city: it turned out that... his sister lives in the city, Goldanna. Alas, his sister doesn’t care about his brother, and Alistair was extremely disappointed with the visit...

It is important: If, after a conversation with his sister, you tell Alistair that, they say, everything is fine - every man for himself, then Alistair will greatly change his character. He will become tougher, get rid of his beautiful nature... and become much less likable, but more manageable. You decide...

Beyond the Grail

Fire, as one would expect, is not very effective against such a creature. But the Stinging Swarm spell and poisons work great.

The roof of the old temple has sagged, there are snowdrifts on the floor, but this is not a reason to desecrate it!

And brother Genitivi, for whom we came to Denerim, is not there. Some student answers instead... and he is twisting something, the bastard. Of course, we can go to that Kudykina mountain where he is trying to send us, but maybe it’s better to put pressure?

Alas, the poor fellow could not stand the pressure. But brother Genitivi’s diary gave us the answer to the question, and we set off to a shabby village Asylum in the Frosty Mountains.

Strange people inhabit this village. We are not welcome from the very beginning, but that would be okay; For some reason, a man preaches in the church, although everyone knows that only women serve our church; and when we try to figure out what’s what, all the parishioners suddenly take out their weapons. They're kind of wild here...

I removed an amulet with strange signs from the body of Father Eirik. And in the side room I found a prisoner - that same Genitivi. Who explained that the medallion of the holy father is the key to the destroyed temple...

In the temple, Brother Genitivi stayed at the entrance to study, and we had to clear it of sectarians. Alternately - first, residential cells in the west, then a warehouse in the east, and then the main, northern, room. This is the order in which the keys are located.

Our remorse over the murder of the holy father disappeared immediately when we saw that his flock did not hesitate to make friends with the spirits of the dust - disgusting creatures, I tell you, and they know how to hide in the floor very well.

You can go into a small gazebo and blow the horn to summon a dragon. There will be a lot of loot... Or you can calmly pass by.

And behind the temple, caves began, full of young dragons and older dragons; I carefully removed the scales from the latter, because the Denerim blacksmith dreamed of experimenting with an unusual material.

Incubator? Temple? Breakfast table?

The battle in the hall was especially difficult, where a sectarian overseer stood on a huge pedestal on the left. If we, as usual, rushed towards him to engage in close combat, we would find ourselves surrounded on all sides by reptiles; however, while the sectarian is only being fired at, the dragons are not worried. Dealing with them and the overseer separately is much more pleasant!

And finally, the head of all sectarians - father Kolgrim. He explained to us that the cult of the Urn with Sacred Ashes is outdated: after all, Andraste has already been reborn, and they serve her, a giant dragon. And the urn should be finally... desecrated, filled with dragon blood. And if we agree to this, he will keep the dragon from attacking us...

True, something in this proposal seemed insincere to us. And we just walked through Kolgrim... ignoring his resistance and removing his horn from his body.

Oddly enough, the dragon didn’t attack anyway - it flew over us and went to its lair to rest.

Trial

To get closer to the Urn, you need to pass a test - we are told about this by a certain Guardian, a bearded man in sparkling armor who subtly resembles the late Kolgrim. But this is far from Kolgrim, and he can even tell us where he was wrong...

This is a bug: in the official translation, the poor Guardian sometimes forgets what gender he is and begins to talk about himself in the feminine gender.

And now a test that should prove the purity of our intentions...

It seems that our appearance did not bring the slightest joy to the Guardian...

The urn impressed even the cynical Morrigan.

Part one of the test - eight riddles from ghosts, with answer options. There are few difficulties there, but for future pilgrims I will list the answers: Brona - dreams, Shartan - home, General Maferat - jealousy, Archon Hessarian - compassion, Kathair - hunger, Havard - mountains, Vasily - revenge, and the lady who received the tender name Elisha in translation , - melody.

After talking with the ghost of the past (everyone probably has their own), a battle awaited me - one of the strangest in the game: a battle with the ghosts of our squad. Among them were the second me, and Morrigan, and the rest... They knew all the same techniques and spells - but, of course, they did not realize that in battle they must first eliminate the healer, and then the battle mage, and this ruined them.

The third test is a puzzle: there are six slabs on the left and right sides of the pool, and by standing on them you can create bridge ghosts. You need to combine ghosts so that they become dense. The team stands on the tiles, and the leader tries to cross the bridge; With each step you need to move one person. The sequence here is like this (we count the tiles from the starting point):

1 on the right, 3 on the left, 2 on the right.

We step onto the first cell of the bridge.

3 left, 2 right, 6 left.

We step onto the second cell of the bridge.

2 on the right, 6 on the left, 4 on the right.

6 left, 4 right, 1 left.

We step onto the third cell of the bridge.

4 on the right, 1 on the left, 5 on the right.

1 left, 5 right, 5 left.

The bridge has been crossed.

And the last test is to agree with the “offer” of the altar, take off your clothes and go through the fire. And here in front of us is the Urn with Ashes...

A pinch of dust healed Earl Eamon. However, he is not ready to dump Logain yet; and we went to persuade the last ally - the elves, which we will tell you about in a while.