Is there any way to salvage my DA:O game?

[Jacco]

About two years ago I was playing DRagon Age and stopped playing it. Recently I started again cause i realized I didn't finish it and once I loaded it up, I remembered why: I completely fucked the game by going into the final stage of the final battle (in the city) with three soldiers and no healers. I am a mage. So basically, there's just no possible way I can beat it because i go into this courtyard and get swarmed by those Reapers or whatever they are called. 4-5 of them.

Long story short, I can't beat it. My friend can't beat it. And even if I could, there's no way I could handle the final dragon.

The problem is here that there is no other save file on my Xbox for some reason. No checkpoint saves before I entered the area, no manual saves, nothing. The checkpoint starts me out right at the beginning of the area and the manual save is right after the first wave of enemies.

I can't believe that Bioware would fuck up something as essential as an autosave feature, especially on a 17+ hour campaign like DA.

Anyone have ideas? Is it salvageable? I just can't believe I put 17 hours into it for a mistake like that to completely screw my entire game and make it unwinnable.

 

[Vern5]

Wasn't there a difficulty setting you could mess with? Set everything to easy and breeze right on through?

 

[hazabaza1]

Put the difficulty down?

From what I remember there was a post release patch that lowered combat difficulty, and I heard something about Bioware putting in less enemies for the consoles since they didn't get the tactical view.

 

[piinyouri]

Wasn't there a difficulty setting you could mess with? Set everything to easy and breeze right on through?

Every time I've gotten stuck in a similar manner as the OP (different places) setting the game to easy seems to do next to nothing i terms of making things actually easier.

Obviously just a subjective experience but I couldn't see any difference. Maybe I died 2 seconds later than I normally would have.

 

[Jacco]

Wasn't there a difficulty setting you could mess with? Set everything to easy and breeze right on through?

Put the difficulty down?

From what I remember there was a post release patch that lowered combat difficulty, and I heard something about Bioware putting in less enemies for the consoles since they didn't get the tactical view.

I tried that. As someone else said, it didn't really help at all.

Wasn't there a difficulty setting you could mess with? Set everything to easy and breeze right on through?

Every time I've gotten stuck in a similar manner as the OP (different places) setting the game to easy seems to do next to nothing i terms of making things actually easier.

Obviously just a subjective experience but I couldn't see any difference. Maybe I died 2 seconds later than I normally would have.

Exactly. It might have worked a little better if they were just grunts, but I keep getting swarmed by those Reaper guys who throw the magic explosives and teleport.

 

[OpticalJunction]

You could download a save file from the internet and play through the end battle using that. Or just start over. Dragon age is fun to replay, there are lots of little things that change from one play through to the next, like the dialog between Alistair and Morrigan, if you play as a girl vs a boy.

 

[AD-Stu]

Ugh, that sucks a bit.

I'm guessing you've got... who, Stenn, Alistair and Oghren with you? If you're a mage can you maybe set all three of them to tank and then just hide yourself far away and spam healing spells at them? It's been a while since I've played the game, but I seem to remember abusing the in-battle pause feature to spam healing spells solved a lot of problems. As did running away like a chicken so you can isolate enemies one at a time.

On an unrelated note, you really got to the endgame in 17 hours?!? Nice work. Took me way longer than that.

 

[RJ 17]

About two years ago I was playing DRagon Age and stopped playing it. Recently I started again cause i realized I didn't finish it and once I loaded it up, I remembered why: I completely fucked the game by going into the final stage of the final battle (in the city) with three soldiers and no healers. I am a mage. So basically, there's just no possible way I can beat it because i go into this courtyard and get swarmed by those Reapers or whatever they are called. 4-5 of them.

Long story short, I can't beat it. My friend can't beat it. And even if I could, there's no way I could handle the final dragon.

The problem is here that there is no other save file on my Xbox for some reason. No checkpoint saves before I entered the area, no manual saves, nothing. The checkpoint starts me out right at the beginning of the area and the manual save is right after the first wave of enemies.

I can't believe that Bioware would fuck up something as essential as an autosave feature, especially on a 17+ hour campaign like DA.

Anyone have ideas? Is it salvageable? I just can't believe I put 17 hours into it for a mistake like that to completely screw my entire game and make it unwinnable.

It's been a good long while since I played DA: O so I can't quite remember which part of the finale that you're on, but one thing I do remember is that I almost never used the healer mage and I never really had a problem with the finale.

Is it possible to summon your NPC armies to help you out or have you already moved beyond being able to call on them?

How about health potions? That's how I remember getting through a lot of the tougher fights...just pausing the game every few seconds and chugging away.

Beyond that, what's your build? If you're a mage you should be overpowered as all hell depending on what your specializations are and what spells you have.

With regards to the auto-save: don't blame Bioware for that, they put checkpoints at pretty much every loading screen. Stagger-saving (keeping more than one save game, with one quite a ways back just in case you get into a position like this) is pretty critical to most RPGs for specifically this reason. Now if you did that and your saves got corrupted or something, fair enough. But if that's not the case, you can't blame Bioware because you forgot to save before starting up the final mission.

 

[Jacco]

You could download a save file from the internet and play through the end battle using that. Or just start over. Dragon age is fun to replay, there are lots of little things that change from one play through to the next, like the dialog between Alistair and Morrigan, if you play as a girl vs a boy.

Honestly, I didn't like the game enough to start completely over after logging 17ish hours. lol. It's also been long enough that I don't remember most of the story anyway so I wouldn't notice the changes anyway.

Ugh, that sucks a bit.

I'm guessing you've got... who, Stenn, Alistair and Oghren with you? If you're a mage can you maybe set all three of them to tank and then just hide yourself far away and spam healing spells at them? It's been a while since I've played the game, but I seem to remember abusing the in-battle pause feature to spam healing spells solved a lot of problems. As did running away like a chicken so you can isolate enemies one at a time.

On an unrelated note, you really got to the endgame in 17 hours?!? Nice work. Took me way longer than that.

IIRC I had the guy you rescue from jail (I don't remember his name) Alistair, and the dog. Not sure why I chose them or what I was thinking when I did. lol. And That's what the save file said. I probably got bored doing the side missions and powered through the story missions, but I honestly I don't remember.

It's been a good long while since I played DA: O so I can't quite remember which part of the finale that you're on, but one thing I do remember is that I almost never used the healer mage and I never really had a problem with the finale.

Is it possible to summon your NPC armies to help you out or have you already moved beyond being able to call on them?

How about health potions? That's how I remember getting through a lot of the tougher fights...just pausing the game every few seconds and chugging away.

Beyond that, what's your build? If you're a mage you should be overpowered as all hell depending on what your specializations are and what spells you have.

With regards to the auto-save: don't blame Bioware for that, they put checkpoints at pretty much every loading screen. Stagger-saving (keeping more than one save game, with one quite a ways back just in case you get into a position like this) is pretty critical to most RPGs for specifically this reason. Now if you did that and your saves got corrupted or something, fair enough. But if that's not the case, you can't blame Bioware because you forgot to save before starting up the final mission.

Well, I normally do that. I can't believe I wouldn't, especially in a straight up RPG like Dragon Age. But I may not have. I don't know. You wouldn't think I'd choose 3 soldiers to go with me either. lol. My mage was built in attack and offense. I even have the Blood Mage powers amped up. It's just not enough to take down the Reapers quickly enough. I take damage so fast i can't keep up with the potions and my tanks all get taken down pretty quick because I'm too busy whoring the potions. hahaha

 

[RJ 17]

It's been a good long while since I played DA: O so I can't quite remember which part of the finale that you're on, but one thing I do remember is that I almost never used the healer mage and I never really had a problem with the finale.

Is it possible to summon your NPC armies to help you out or have you already moved beyond being able to call on them?

How about health potions? That's how I remember getting through a lot of the tougher fights...just pausing the game every few seconds and chugging away.

Beyond that, what's your build? If you're a mage you should be overpowered as all hell depending on what your specializations are and what spells you have.

With regards to the auto-save: don't blame Bioware for that, they put checkpoints at pretty much every loading screen. Stagger-saving (keeping more than one save game, with one quite a ways back just in case you get into a position like this) is pretty critical to most RPGs for specifically this reason. Now if you did that and your saves got corrupted or something, fair enough. But if that's not the case, you can't blame Bioware because you forgot to save before starting up the final mission.

Well, I normally do that. I can't believe I wouldn't, especially in a straight up RPG like Dragon Age. But I may not have. I don't know. You wouldn't think I'd choose 3 soldiers to go with me either. lol. My mage was built in attack and offense. I even have the Blood Mage powers amped up. It's just not enough to take down the Reapers quickly enough. I take damage so fast i can't keep up with the potions and my tanks all get taken down pretty quick because I'm too busy whoring the potions. hahaha

Hey, it happens.

What about the NPC armies? Can you call upon them for some back-up?

And if you're a Blood Mage, why not use that AoE Stun spell that kills the f*ck out of everything? That's how you destroy everyone in that game. Make sure you turn "Magic Friendly Fire" off in the options, stun-lock the hordes that are coming through (if they're coming in waves you should be able to stun-lock a hole bunch of'em) and then use some of your other AoE spells. I mean the Blood Mage AoE Stun Spell makes your allies - especially if they're fighter classes - just cut through enemies like they're made out of paper.

I'm guessing you went with the Elementals? Blizzard, Inferno, and Tempest work wonders on groups...especially when they're stunned and choking to death on their own blood.

Mages (Blood Mages in particular) are OBSCENELY overpowered so I really don't know what you're doing wrong.

 

[AD-Stu]

IIRC I had the guy you rescue from jail (I don't remember his name) Alistair, and the dog. Not sure why I chose them or what I was thinking when I did. lol. And That's what the save file said. I probably got bored doing the side missions and powered through the story missions, but I honestly I don't remember.

Stenn is the guy you rescue from jail, he should be a decent tank. Having the dog as one of your party is a major blow though

Only other thing I can say is that if you DO manage to win through to the final boss fight with the dragon you should at least have a few more NPC allies on your side to help out. I'd turn the difficulty all the way down (for whatever small difference it makes), spam away on the healing potions and spells and then just cross your fingers.

 

[schrodinger]

Snip

Ouch.

Reading the your situation sounds like you should just scrap your current game and start from the beginning. If you do continue on with killing the archdemon I have one question: what level is your character? Generally being a level 20 or above helps level the fight. Anyways, I found having either the elves or the dwarves as the best meat shields/allies. The elves can help with long distance or the dwarves can take the brunt of the punishment as you and your team help. Maxing out as a spirit healing with group heal, revival and cleanse is a definite; usually I use wynne for this if i'm not a mage. Or having inferno/fire storm when the archdemon flies away half way through the battle. Having the proper build can make a difference. Hell, being a blood mage can help massacre your enemies.

Otherwise OP, starting a new game will give you a better chance for the final battle. Also, replaying DA:O is always fun to do~


P.S. If you've a decent PC then i definitely advise getting DA:O for it. There are many great mods for it, liking skipping that damn Fade level, while receiving all the bonuses or adding many new companions, i.e. the wonderful ser Gilmore mod.

 

[Il_Exile_lI]

I am guessing your issues are partly your poor choice of party for the final area, but more so the fact that you somehow managed to get to that point having played only 17 hours. Considering you've gotten to the endgame in about a third to a quarter of the time it should have taken you, my guess is you are extremely under leveled.

This may sound a bit harsh, but if you didn't enjoy the game enough to take your time, do side quests, talk to party members and were instead focused on just powering through the story as quickly as possible, you should just give up on the game.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Anyone have ideas?

Cheat.

There's a lot of mods out there which will make you uber. Don't know if I'd call it cheating though, the game has a lot of balance issues, bordering on broken if not outright.

 

[CleverCover]

Have you tried calling on backup for help?

Or...what level are your people? Did you do any sidequests for the good equipment?

You brought Sten and no healing people? What? Why? Has that tactic worked before?

Can you do poisions? Throwing the flasks like grenades saved my ass in that game more times than I can count.

Can you use elemental magic? Boost their equipment and don't use the blood magic unless absolutely needed?

You left the squishy people at the gate?

 

[aozgolo]

Anyone have ideas?

Cheat.

There's a lot of mods out there which will make you uber. Don't know if I'd call it cheating though, the game has a lot of balance issues, bordering on broken if not outright.

Won't work for console versions

 

[DanielBrown]

If I recall correctly I didn't have a healer either my first time. Three warriors and Morrigan should've been my set up.
Beat the boss on my second attempt by chugging a shitload of health potions. Was quite tricky, but I managed.
Easiest difficulty too.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

How are your party stocked for potions?

Try lowering difficulty to easy.

You can mod your save with Horizon or something, or download a different save from 360Haven or the like.

Watch the ending(s) on YouTube

Restart the game