Dragon Age's combat

[binvjoh]

I recently bought Dragon Age: Origins (Ultimate Edition) during the EA sale on Steam since I'm a big Mass Effect fan and figured I'd like it. I've now played for a bit and I'm currently on my way to light the beacon during the battle at Ostagar and I'm really not enjoying myself.

Now, I have a fair share of other problems with the game but what's by far the biggest thorn in my side is the combat. It's just so incredibly dull and in no way satisfying, to me it feels like somebody took World of Warcraft and and slowed it down to a quarter of the speed. Did anyone else feel like this? Does it get better later?

I'm playing a Warrior, using two-handed weapons and I'm on normal difficulty.

Edit: I want to make it clear that the purpose of this thread is not to bash on the game, quite the contrary, I really want to like this game.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

It is a pause n' play style game. That is just the way it is.

 

[binvjoh]

It is a pause n' play style game. That is just the way it is.

Care to elaborate?

I've tried to make full use of the tactical pausing however it doesn't seem to work any better than simply clicking on a dude and waiting until he's dead.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

If you don't like it now, you probably won't like it later, to be honest.

It might grow on you once you get a healer, etc. But if the core mechanics and speed are your problems, they ain't changing.

That said, the combat is my favorite part of it overall. Really dig how tactical it is. On my later playthroughs, I blew through all the dialogue just to get back to fighting stuff.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

It is a pause n' play style game. That is just the way it is.

Care to elaborate?

I've tried to make full use of the tactical pausing however it doesn't seem to work any better than simply clicking on a dude and waiting until he's dead.

You pause the game and queue abilities.

EDIT: Early on, it won't make much of a difference. Later you will be forced to use tactics.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

It is a pause n' play style game. That is just the way it is.

Care to elaborate?

I've tried to make full use of the tactical pausing however it doesn't seem to work any better than simply clicking on a dude and waiting until he's dead.

At this point, it won't show a difference. Especially as a 2H warrior. But once you have a full party of 4, aggro-changing skills to manage, rogues to exploit positioning with, etc...You'll see the tactical pausing suddenly develop uses.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

It is a pause n' play style game. That is just the way it is.

Care to elaborate?

I've tried to make full use of the tactical pausing however it doesn't seem to work any better than simply clicking on a dude and waiting until he's dead.

At this point, it won't show a difference. Especially as a 2H warrior. But once you have a full party of 4, aggro-changing skills to manage, rogues to exploit positioning with, etc...You'll see the tactical pausing suddenly develop uses.

And you realize how broken mages are. Cone of Cold, anyone? And Mana Clash.

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

Dragon Age starts off super slow and easy. Then the game's difficulty curve comes out of nowhere to bitchslap you if you're on anything higher than normal(and for some even when they are on normal).

Still, Dragon Age's combat is fairly slow even when you are playing it tactical.

And you realize of broken mages are. Cone of Cold, anyone? And Mana Clash.

Don't forget Arcane Warrior.

 

[bombadilillo]

Shoulda been a mage. Magic is more fun then attack him----wait----attack him now---wait

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

It is a pause n' play style game. That is just the way it is.

Care to elaborate?

I've tried to make full use of the tactical pausing however it doesn't seem to work any better than simply clicking on a dude and waiting until he's dead.

At this point, it won't show a difference. Especially as a 2H warrior. But once you have a full party of 4, aggro-changing skills to manage, rogues to exploit positioning with, etc...You'll see the tactical pausing suddenly develop uses.

And you realize how broken mages are. Cone of Cold, anyone? And Mana Clash.

Don't need to tell me.

My last mage had Mana Clash AND Storm of the Century AND Crushing Prison. AND the Golem DLC amulet that basically meant I got a free buff (Arcane Shield) at no Mana Cost withheld.

 

[Confidingtripod]

It's supposed to be an indirect "Sequel in nature" to games like Baldurs gate, neverwinter nights, etc...

They used a top down group strategy rpg feel that DAO uses in a very similar way, honestly you might enjoy the story or characters but the combat wont change much, try using a mage class as your spells have to be manually used while the player is in control.

As for fighting classes, yes they are boring to watch, BUUUUT they get executions, the dragon and ogre ones are the really showy ones.

Your still pretty early on so changing wouldnt be a big deal, and its a good long game (also in the style of certain forementioned classics) and so try mages when they join your party and so on but play too long and you may find yourself ruining great parts of it because you dont enjoy the combat.

plus "return to ostagar" gives you some really uber powered weapons and armor so when in doubt, Grind.

good luck

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Don't forget Arcane Warrior.

Out tanking the party tank is always fun.

 

[Delock]

Worst problem you'll encounter in the first is "polite warrior syndrome."
So many times I tried to block entrances with two melee classes while the other two party members to let loose lots of damage, only for my character to step aside to allow that darkspawn to attack my mage. Especially bad in the final section where choke-holding was half the battle. Also, you'll probably take a bit too much time with giant enemies since you apparently can't hack at anything other than the center of them (especially bad with dragons, as their sides are where you need to attack, but you can't hit their back legs, forcing you to get right on their flanks and into the more dangerous areas to hurt them).

Combat does get a bit more fun after Ostagar, but that still irked me horribly.

 

[binvjoh]

It is a pause n' play style game. That is just the way it is.

Care to elaborate?

I've tried to make full use of the tactical pausing however it doesn't seem to work any better than simply clicking on a dude and waiting until he's dead.

If that's the case, your not doing it right then.

I'm doing it wrong because I seemingly don't need to do it?

Logic.

 

[Akkiko]

Considering how early on in the game you are? It's not that surprising that you're not enjoying the combat.

In the first couple of levels, all your abilities, skills and powers are non-existent. You're forced to rely on dully swinging your blade around to do most of the damage. It should go without saying that once you get some levels under your belt and attain more abilities, combat becomes more interesting. I highly recommend bouncing around between characters once you get Morrigan to see which style of fighting you prefer with a heavy warning that some characters may or may not leave your party depending on your actions.

 

[spartan231490]

I recently bought Dragon Age: Origins (Ultimate Edition) during the EA sale on Steam since I'm a big Mass Effect fan and figured I'd like it. I've now played for a bit and I'm currently on my way to light the beacon during the battle at Ostagar and I'm really not enjoying myself.

Now, I have a fair share of other problems with the game but what's by far the biggest thorn in my side is the combat. It's just so incredibly dull and in no way satisfying, to me it feels like somebody took World of Warcraft and and slowed it down to a quarter of the speed. Did anyone else feel like this? Does it get better later?

I'm playing a Warrior, using two-handed weapons and I'm on normal difficulty.

I enjoy combat and definitely felt satisfied when my talents worked. However, I've played every class/weapon style and 2-handed is the worst. Try fighting mainly from the standpoint of your mage for a while and see that helps.

 

[DEAD34345]

Really I'd say just play the game for the story and dialogue, if you don't find the combat fun now, you won't later. I sure didn't.

One of the best things about Mass Effect is that you get great combat as well as the great story and role-playing which seemingly every Bioware game has. I'd tell you to play that instead, but judging by your avatar that would be pointless...

 

[binvjoh]

It is a pause n' play style game. That is just the way it is.

Care to elaborate?

I've tried to make full use of the tactical pausing however it doesn't seem to work any better than simply clicking on a dude and waiting until he's dead.

If that's the case, your not doing it right then.

I'm doing it wrong because I seemingly don't need to do it?

Logic.

Well, if your having difficulty, maybe you do ?

Where did I ever say that I was having a difficult time? I said it was dull.

 

[spartan231490]

Shoulda been a mage. Magic is more fun then attack him----wait----attack him now---wait

It doesn't really matter who YOU are, as long as you have a mage in your party, it should make it alot easier.

You should be pausing it, jumping around controlling EVERYONE. (unless your on casual, you could probably play it in real time)

Never played it on casual though.

You can play that game real-time on hard mode 85% of the time. the only difficulty that was hard at all was nightmare.

 

[Kahunaburger]

It is a pause n' play style game. That is just the way it is.

Care to elaborate?

I've tried to make full use of the tactical pausing however it doesn't seem to work any better than simply clicking on a dude and waiting until he's dead.

If that's the case, your not doing it right then.

I'm doing it wrong because I seemingly don't need to do it?

Logic.

Well, if your having difficulty, maybe you do ?

Where did I ever say that I was having a difficult time? I said it was dull.

I'd advise raising the difficulty, playing the whole party using pause, and focusing on tactical powers like pommel strike for your warrior. The combat system's actually pretty deep, but autoattacking at low level doesn't capture that depth.