Dragon Age--It's just the gas

[cyrano]

Fighting in the Proving, I thought it would provide me with a tactical/political edge to call one of Harrowmont's dwarfs to fight with me. Experimentation and consultation lead me to believe that this is not the case, which makes me kind of sad. I think mostly because I've gotten to expect the game designers to think that deeply. However, I still mopped up the sand with all of my opponents, except for the one four-on-three battle.
(Which reminds me--supposedly these fights are 'to first blood' but when I lose, I'm dead? WTF?)

And good lord did they do a good job putting Dust Town together. Zahara is amazingly depressed--humans treat elves like crap, and that sucks. But these are *dwarfs*. Doing this to *other dwarfs*. It was so bad, I almost didn't crack the locks on the chests in town because these people have nothing but this one pair of inscribed leather gloves for god's sake. That's why she let the guy who gave her the fingerbone token live. He's partly a victim of circumstance--what else is the poor schlub going to do?
Oh PS: Apparently emerald is less valuable than silver. Who knew? Not me. It's why I didn't get Jammer's stash.

However, this session gave me a great insight into Zahara's personality. She's... very practical. Business bad? Fuck you, stop the blight. Oh, you got no king? Fuck you, stop the blight. Place got hit by lightning, huh? Fuck you, stop the blight. She will pretty much do whatever needs to be done, or burn any stupid bastard who gets in her way.

I finally got to the Deep Roads in the 'oh just one more quest' quest, and I saw the map with the huge gaping chasm down the middle of it. I frowned and thought "That looks like a good spot for a cut scene and massive battle." Damned if I wasn't right, up to and including a dragon with lightning shooting out of its arse. I've got to say, I liked that battle. Even if Alistair needs to be put on a damned leash.*

The creepy factor is back, starting with OMG THE GOLEM ORIGIN. I was so unprepared for that. And now Shale... ugh. And then there was the Broodmother. Creepiness aside (and the whole constantly fondling her breasts), that was a hell of a boss fight. But creepy, especially as I figured out what broodmothers do. And then what Branka had done, deliberately creating one. Ugh.

Speaking of which--she's broken. Badly, badly broken. Do I want her choosing a king? ...Enh. Stop the blight.

I never once saw Oghren, which may be related to the fact that as soon as I picked up Zevran I got the 'all companions' accomplishment. But when suddenly the drunken air space next to me started talking? That was kind of a shock. Srsly.

So far I'm liking the trap run, especially all the Darkspawn *running away*. They're not trying to attack, me, they're trying to get the hell out. I finished the room full of gas on a hunch--I knew that running straight across the room couldn't be the right answer, so I curved off to the side to try one of the other doors.

And then I got my ass kicked by golems in the blade trap room. I may try just running straight through.

*So the Darkspawn do this thing where an archer shoots at you and then runs away, leading the fastest/stupidest into a nest of attackers. Guess who my fastest/stupidest party member is. Admittedly, this is a tactic I've tried to do myself, but it's tricky because I have to use the 'h' key to detach from the party, and sometimes they forget to reattach and I get the crap kicked out of me while they watch.

Comments

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

I've gotten really far! I played all damn day. (:
...I liked the recitation, a lot. I very quickly fell out of like with the 'disembodied voice sees all' thing, but I tried to just attribute it to funky acoustics in those caves. (: