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Brecilian Forest | The Camp | Circle Tower | Denerim | The Final Battle | Haven | Landsmeet | Lothering | Orzammar | Ostagar | Redcliffe | Ruined Temple Areas available as Downloadable Content: Honnleath | Return to Ostagar | Warden's Keep |
Choosing Spells and Talents for your Characters | Combat | Equipping your Characters | Utilizing the scripting system in Dragon Age |
Equip your characters - some guidelines and examples
Guideline One: Save the best for your Core Party Members, but don't leave the Supporting Cast naked either
In Dragon Age, it helps to build a core crew that consists of your Grey Warden character, and three other party members. By all means, equip them with the very best. However, Dragon Age will at various points insist that the rest of your companions participate in the action as well. So ... while you want your core to have the very best, at least take care to equip the others with something decent as well.
Guideline Two: Items that boost Mana or Stamina
Stamina is what allows Warriors and Rogues to use their special talents repeatedly, and Mages to unleash their spells. Stamina is especially crucial for Warriors and Rogues since, unlike Mages, they don't have a potion that allows them to recoup what they expend. So it pays to equip your characters with items that either add to the pool, or provide mana or stamina regeneration. The slower your mana/stamina pool gets drained, and the faster you can replenish it, the more options that you have for the duration of the battle. Having to hope that basic default attacks will be enough to carry through to the end is not necessarily a healthy proposition. Other bonuses are nice, but this is crucial.
Guideline Three: Item set bonuses
Be on the lookout for similar items that, when equipped together, provide additional bonuses. Of course, you don't have to follow this slavishly. Maybe you'll judge that individual items equipped together provide greater benefits than the item set, the set bonus included, and that's fair enough. But don't overlook this either. For a list of items sets, visit this page.
Guideline Three: Armor - stamina reduction
Armor usually poses a dilemma, the heavier the armor is the more protection it will provide but also the more stamina it will cost for the character wearing it to use his or her talents. There are however armor sets that dissolve the dilemma altogether. That is to say they provide a lot of armor protection, but also come with a much reduced stamina cost. Your key characters should be in line for these.
Guideline Three: Weapons - maximum damage
I know this sounds like a given, but the faster your weapons damage the opposition, the sooner and surer the fight will end in your favour. First consideration, how many rune slots does your weapon hold? Whenever you can, base your character's set up on a weapon that can accommodate 3 rune slots, which afford extra damage. Second, what other qualities does your weapon have? Weapons that provide damage bonuses, attack bonuses, and bonuses to armor penetration, are especially good at getting the job done. Keep in mind that these bonuses can be provided in a round about way. Weapons with a Strength bonus can increase both attack bonus and damage bonus, while weapons with a Cunning bonus can increase Armor Penetration.
Guideline Three: Getting the Gold to pay for what you want
Some of the choicest items in Dragon Age are ridiculously expensive. But that doesn't mean you can't afford them. A way to earn unlimited gold, and without any cheats or hacks, has been discovered by Myrridan. Be forewarned, actually going through with it can be tedious and prolonged. First, you need a character with Master Herbalism. Morrigan will fit the bill if you buy her a couple of Tomes of Skill and Sundry, even if she isn't a core party member. Second, you need to buy the recipe for crafting Potent Lyrium potions, which can be obtained in the Wonders of Thedas shop in Denerim. Third, you must have a reasonable amount of gold in your purse before you can start. Fourth, the reason being that you must buy as much as is reasonable Lyrium Dust, Concentrator Agents, Distillation Agents, and Flasks in the following respective portions, 4:2:2:1. Lyrium Dust is infinitely available from the Quartermaster in the Circle Tower. The latter 3 ingredients are infinitely available at the Gnawed Noble Tavern, and at the cheapest prices. Now have your Master Herbalist make as many Potent Lyrium potions as possible. Sell the potions off to any merchant. This can be repeated in an endless cycle of: 1) Go to the Circle Tower and buy Lyrium Dust 2) Go to Denerim and buy the other ingredients from the Gnawed Noble Tavern 3) Craft the potions 4) Sell the potions. This is the one instance where the selling price of the potion exceeds the costs of crafting the potion such as to result in a significant profit margin.
Guideline Four: the Base Material of the DLC Weapons and Armor
Some items only come with the DLC. For example, Cailan's armor set, sword, and shield is available only with Return to Ostagar. The Warden Commander armor set and shield is available only with the Warden's Keep DLC, etc. It is important to note that the base material of weapons and armor from the DLC will initially be based on what level your characters are when you first enter the DLC area. It goes roughly as follows ... If your characters are 12th level or lower when they're doing the Warden's Keep, the Warden's Keep armor and shield are likely to be Veridium. If your characters are 14th level or lower when doing either Warden's Keep or Return to Ostagar, the weapons and armor for either DLC will likely be Red Steel. Silverite will be 16th level, and Dragonbone 18th level.
Keep in mind that it is possible to 'upgrade' the base material of the DLC weapons and armor. Depending on the level of your characters, and whenever you come back to the area of the merchant, the merchant will randomly select some of the items in his inventory to be the best base material available according to character level. At 16th level, this is Silverite. So when you sell a DLC weapon or armor to a merchant at 16th level, the weapon or armor nows enter the pool that the merchant can randomly select from to become a Silverite weapon or armor.
The process is simple. Sell your DLC weapon or armor to the merchant. Leave the area, and check the merchant's inventory. If the DLC item has become Silverite, buy it back. If not, simply leave the area, and come back to check again. You can do this as many times as you need to until your DLC weapon or armor becomes a Silverite weapon or armor. When your characters become 18th level, you can repeat the process so that your DLC weapons and armor become Dragonbone.
What is now provided is example equipment set-ups on the assumption that I'm using Aldarion, an Elven Arcane Warrior, as my Grey Warden character, with Alistair, Leliana, and Wynne as my core party members. Everyone else is supporting cast who participate occassionally.
Aldarion
1st Weapon: Spellweaver (Silverite)
Shield: Champion's Shield (Silverite)
2nd Weapon: Wintersbreath (Dragonbone)
Helmet: Corruption (Dragonbone)
Amulet: Spellward
Armor: Wade's Superior Dragonscale Armor Set (alternative version)
Rings: Lifegiver, Ring of the Warrior
Belt: Andruil's Blessing
Aldarion has both the ideal melee weapon and armor set for an Arcane Warrior. He can switch to the Winterbreath staff when he's casting spells at a distance, especially cold-based spells, and switch to Spellweaver in close-quarter combat. His sword and belt also help mana regeneration quite a bit.
Alistair
1st Weapon set: Cailan's Arms Set
2nd Weapon: Antique Warden's Crossbow (Whitewood)
Amulet: Magister's Shield
Armor: Cailan's Armor Set
Rings: Key to the City, Runic Worry Token
Belt: Swordsman's Girdle
I like Alistair to use his Shield talents repeatedly to stun or knock down his opponents, and then deliver a coup-de-grace while they're down. I also like having the mana pool available to use his Cleanse Aura and Holy Smite abilities when needed. As you can imagine, I also value stamina for Alistair. Cailan's armor set fits the bill perfectly. Sure, there are individually better swords than Maric's Blade and individually better shields than Cailan's Shield. But together, the +5 health regeneration, +5 stamina regeneration, and +5 damage set bonuses they provide make it well worth it. Besides, Cailan's armor set provides a chance to dodge attacks, and a high armor rating, while the Magister's Shield Amulet provides an additional defense bonus, so I can ignore the not-so-great defense rating of Cailan's Shield.
Leliana
1st Weapon Set: The Rose's Thorn (Dragonbone), Duncan's Dagger
2nd Weapon: Mage's Eye (Dragonthorn)
Helmet: The Long Sight (Drakeskin)
Amulet: Seeker's Circle
Body Armor: The Felon's Coat (Drakeskin)
Gloves: Red Jenny Strikers (Drakeskin)
Rings: Harvest Festival Ring, Seal of Rat Red
Boots: Bard's Dancing Shoes (Drakeskin)
Belt: Longbowman's Belt
Leliana provides an instance of where individual pieces of armor can outweigh the benefits of any available armor set. Everything she wears is relevant either to her role of either firing her bow at a distance, or backstabbing in close quarters. Also note that Leliana is equipped so as to maximize her chances of landing critical hits with her bow.
Mabari War Hound
Collar: Pure Bitch Braid
War Paint: Warpaint of the Waking Sea
The Mabari is simple enough to equip. The collar provides the most attack bonus and armor available, while the war paint provides a nice bonus to stamina regeneration.
Morrigan
Weapon: Winter's Breath (Dragonbone)
Amulet: Wildstone Clasp
Body Armor: Robes of Possession
Gloves: Ashen Gloves (Inscribed)
Rings: Frostshear, Dalish Battery
Belt: Cord of Shattered Dreams
Boots: Enchanter's Footing (Cured)
The sensible approach to equip a mage with items that enhance magic, willpower, and spellpower. In Morrigan's case, maximizing cold damage doesn't hurt either. Note that in a good party, Wynne will get first dibs on the very best before Morrigan.
Oghren
1st Weapon: Chasind Great Maul (Dragonbone)
2nd Weapon: Imperium Crossbow (Dragonbone)
Amulet: Temperament
Armor: Legion of the Dead Armor Set
Belt: One for the Ditch
Rings: Lloyd's Magic Ring, Surveyor
The Legion of the Dead armor set is just around the corner as soon as Oghren joins your party, so this makes sense. The Chasind Great Maul is also an ideal weapon for a stamina-demanding Berserker.
Shale
Small Crystal: Small Brilliant Natural Crystal
Large Crystal: Large Brilliant Fire Crystal
Which crystals you want to equip Shale with is fairly subjective. In this instance, I opted for a set up that maximized her health regeneration and her stamina regeneration.
Sten
1st Weapon: Starfang (Greatsword)
2nd Weapon: Precision-Geared Recurve (Sylvanwood)
Amulet: Apprentice's Amulet
Armor: Juggernaut Armor Set
Belt: Dwarven Smith's Belt
Rings: Silverleaf, Golden Ring
This set up is intended to help Sten do what he does best, take down a target with the minimum number of blows possible.
Wynne
Weapon: Staff of the Magister Lord (Dragonbone)
Helmet: Libertarian's Cowl
Amulet: Aneirin's Token
Body Armor: Reaper's Vestments
Gloves: Cinderful Gauntlets (Inscribed)
Rings: Ring of Ages, Ring of Study
Belt: Belt of the Magister Lords
Boots: Magus War Boots (Drakeskin)
Here Wynne is the first in line for the very best of mages' equipment that is available.
Zevran
1st Weapon Set: Thorn of the Dead Gods (Red Steel), Beastman's Dagger (Red Steel)
2nd Weapon: Falon'Din's Reach (Dragonthorn)
Amulet: Par Vollen Willstone
Armor Set: Wade's Superior Drakeskin Armor Set
Belts: Shadow Belt
Rings: Imperium Rings Set
Here Zevran gets decent enough equipment for his role, even allowing for Leliana being first in line for better.
