Dragon Age: Origins – Ultimate Edition Guide

A Guide to the LAA Patch - Official Patches - Bugfixes & Recommended Mods for Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition

A Guide to the LAA Patch – Official Patches – Bugfixes & Recommended Mods

Overview

The Guide is evolving a lot recently with new discoveries.I have mainly focused on initial character creation, Attributes, Skills, Spells, Talents, Races & Classes previously. I have included Official DLC details, Patching to the latest version of the game & its DLCs, Updating the game with the Large Address Aware patch and listed useful Mods for your game.

LAA Patch process (Prevent Crash to desktop and other stability issues) obsolete for steam and origin in 2021!

How To Update your game and LAA Patch !

What you need is a retail version of the daorigins.exe file, if you try to 4GB patch the steam version of the file, you will get the following message


2020 METHOD

It seems the 2021 version of the game on steam is the same as origin, in that it does not have as many crash to desktop issues as the old version, as such you cannot use the LAA patch method.

I leave these steps here for anyone who didn’t update their game, or has an old retail copy and needs it to perform well with mods.

Step 1)
Download and replace the DAOrigins.exe in the bin ship folder with this version
[link]

Step 2)
Patch the DAOrigins file you just placed in the bin ship folder with the LAA (4gb) patch
[link]

Step 3)
Profit!

I found that Origin have added DRM to their version of the game, so using the old origin to steam method no longer has the desired effect, you can only play through origin doing it that way, not through steam which was the point of this exercise. Now that origin has failed as a platform EA have reinstated their games to steam, this has meant the steam version is now the same as the origin version, just without the origin DRM included.

*PLEASE NOTE* if you open origin after installing the game via steam, it may try to update/verify the game files, which will mean you need to replace the executable file again. (If still using LAA patch)

DLC – Updates and Promotional Items (with direct download links)

Please check out DLC for Origins[dragonage.wikia.com]

This page has ALL the official DLC available on it, you should have the files installed already but if you don’t, simply download the dazip file you need, and load it with the daupdater in your bin_ship folder.

I emplore you to

Download the Return to Ostagar 1.1 update from here.
[link]

Download the witch hunt 1.1 update from here.
[link]

Download the Blood Dragon armor 1.1 update from here.
[link]

Download the collectors edition DLC from here, as you DO NOT NEED a collectors edition copy of the game to use it!
[link]

and finally a one off promotional DLC that was released with an issue of PC gamer is available

A Tale of Orzammar[dragonage.wikia.com]
[link]

I thought it might interest some people.

Modifications – Bugfixes

Here I will list the bug fix mods that you should consider using with your copy of the game, some of these bugs may not affect you, but it is a good idea to use these to ensure your experience is the most complete Dragon Age: Origins can offer.

As with all mods read the description when installing files, as they sometimes have different versions available.

Dragon Age: Origins Fixes

Dragon Age: Awakening Fixes

Dragon Age: Origins & Awakening Fixes

Unfortunately the Bioware forum has been closed, so I imagine that most of these are included in the new all in one patch on nexusmods.

** Dragon Age Origins Fan Fixes ** [biowarefans.com]

Modifications – Everything else (Optional changes)

The game and its DLC’s do have some bugs, some of these mods are fixes for the aforementioned bugs, also when you use Innodils pocket plane, it will only work for origins when you install it, you need to edit your addins.xml file to use it in awakenings or other dlcs (not that it is needed for say, lelianas song for example) Read the Description when downloading these mods and you will not fall foul!

Please note – if using multiple mods for hair and face changes, you will want to use the chargen compiler

Chargen Compiler[www.nexusmods.com]

you will need to place each chargen file within your override folder (they should come with each mod), in separate folders and the compiler should put all of them into one tasty master file allowing the use of multiple hair and face mods.

remember
.zip or .rar files with folders and loose files in – go in C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonDragon Age Ultimate Editionpackagescoreoverride folder

Any chargen.cfg files need to go in separate folders, within override and once all mods are in place the Chargen Compiler needs to be ran to create one uniform file.

.dazip files go in the DAO mod manager to be extracted.

An Introduction to Attributes

Here are the Six attribute categories in Dragon Age:Origins, each of them governs something different and I will try to cover each as best I can. (please note some of the benefits mentioned you may not know and therefore I would Direct you to Attributes – DAO Wiki [dragonage.wikia.com] which has a full table of all this information, I am merely translating this list to steam)

Constitution

Every point in constitution increases a character’s health score, allowing more damage to be taken. Thus, it is important for all characters on the front lines of combat. Constitution also contributes to physical resistance.

Secondary Attributes

  • Increases health by 5 per point above 10
  • Increases physical resistance by 0.5 per point above 10

Other Benefits

  • Prerequisite for large crystals (which are the armors used for Shale the Golem)

Cunning

Characters cannot learn advanced skills unless they possess great cunning, so this attribute is useful for any character who wishes to use skills effectively. It is doubly important for rogues, since many of their class-specific talents are greatly improved by high cunning. Cunning helps characters identify weaknesses in opponents’ armor, increasing the armor penetration score, and also contributes to mental resistance and the persuasion side of Coercion.

Secondary Attributes

  • Increases armor penetration by 1/7 (~0.14) per point above 10.
  • Increases mental resistance by 0.5 per point above 10

Other Benefits

  • Increases effectiveness of rogue talents, e.g. Stealing
  • Prerequisite for many skills such as Coercion
  • Increases persuasion, making Coercion unnecessary
  • Increases lockpicking, making Deft Hands unnecessary
  • Higher cunning opens up specific dialogue options

Dexterity

As the primary component of a character’s defense score, dexterity helps sidestep attacks entirely. Along with strength, dexterity also contributes to the melee attack score, which determines whether a swing connects with its target. For ranged weapons, dexterity is the only attribute that contributes to the attack score. Dexterity contributes to physical resistance and is a prerequisite for some weapon talents. This attribute is most important for sword and shield warriors and rogues.

Secondary Attributes

  • Increases attack score by 0.5 per point above 10
  • Increases damage from piercing weapons (per weapon-specific attribute modifiers)
  • Increases defense by 1 per point above 10
  • Increases physical resistance by 0.5 per point above 10

Other Benefits

  • Prerequisite for some weapon talents (mostly dual-wielding)
  • Prerequisite for some shield talents
  • Prerequisite for bows and daggers
  • Very helpful for ranged attackers and many warriors

Magic

Unsurprisingly, mages gain the most benefit from a high magic attribute; the magic attribute’s modifier determines the mage’s spellpower, which in turn governs the magnitude of a spell’s effect, including damage. For characters of all classes, the magic attribute also increases the effectiveness of healing poultices, potions, and salves. A high magic score is required to wield high-level staves or learn certain spells. Magic also contributes to mental resistance.

Secondary Attributes

  • Increases spellpower by 1 per each point above 10
  • Increases mental resistance by 0.5 per point above 10

Other Benefits

  • Increases effectiveness of potions, poultices, and staves
  • Prerequisite for higher-level staves and many spells

Strength

Greater strength increases the base damage from all weapons except crossbows and mages’ staves, and, along with dexterity, determines whether a melee attack is successful. Consequently, strength is particularly important for warriors and rogues, mages with the Arcane Warrior specialization have no need for it. Great strength is required to wield two-handed weapons or wear heavy armor. Strength also contributes to a character’s physical resistance and influences the intimidation side of the Coercion skill.

Each point of Strength increases damage by ~0.6 points from all weapons, except crossbows and magic staves. 0.3 points to each weapon when dual wielding.

Secondary Attributes

  • Increases damage from all weapons except staves and crossbows
  • Increases attack score by 0.5 per point above 10
  • Increases physical resistance by 0.5 per point above 10

Other Benefits

  • Prerequisite for most weapon talents and higher-level armor and weapons
  • Prerequisite for crossbows
  • Bows (longbows and shortbows) get strength-based damage bonus
  • Increases intimidation effectiveness
  • Also needed by rogues without Lethality, if intending to engage heavily in combat

Willpower

Willpower affects the size of the pool of mana or stamina that a character can draw from to power spells or talents. The way lyrium potions are implemented in the game, as well as the fact that willpower does not affect mana regen, makes this stat of dubious value to mages. It can be useful for a rogue or warrior (particularly a 2h version of the latter) that plans to use a lot of activated skills because there are no stamina potions in Origins.

Each point of Willpower raises the total Mana/Stamina level by 5.

Secondary Attributes

  • Increases mana or stamina by 5 per point above 10
  • Increases mental resistance by 0.5 per point above 10

Other Benefits

  • None

Mages – Human & Elvish Attributes, Skills & Spells

So lets start with Magi, the attributes are different between Human and Elvish Mages but this is the ONLY difference!


Human Magi Starting Attributes

  • Strength: 11
  • Dexterity: 11
  • Willpower: 14
  • Magic:16
  • Cunning:12
  • Constitution:10


Elf Magi Starting Attributes

  • Strength: 10
  • Dexterity: 10
  • Willpower: 16
  • Magic:17
  • Cunning:11
  • Constitution:10

These are the attributes as they stand when you first generate a character, you will also have 5 points to spend in any category.

Magi Starting Skills


Both Human and Elvish Mages start with 1 point in herbalism and 1 point in Combat Tactics.

Magi Starting Spells

Both Human & Elvish Mages start with the Arcane Bolt spell.

Conclusion & recommendations
Both mages have similar skills but the Elf seems to have the better starting attributes, I haven’t tried the Elvish Origin story of Magi and am unsure as to whether being an Elvish Mage affects the way others treat you (as Elves do hold hostility toward the Human Mage) It is really a preferential thing.

I would recommend Maximizing Coercion as quickly as possible on ANY class you play, mage included as this allows you to make story changing dialogue choices that you could not otherwise, for complementary spells to your starting spell I recommend Healing and Glyph of Paralysis but feel free to experiment with what suits your playstyle, you can always use a mod that allows you to reset your Attributes, Skills & Talents/Spells back to Zero allowing you to reallocate your points entirely!

As A Mage I like to control the battle entirely, you can actually cast spells from around a corner, meaning that the enemy will not engage you in active combat, using a combination of glyph of repulsion+ paralysis you can leave a large group of enemies helpless, before casting something really debilatating like death cloud, playing as a mage is very fun as you get a lot of choice of how to play the character!

Rogues – Dwarven, Elvish & Human Attributes, Skills & Talents

Its time for those sneaky little rogues, with their stealth and their DPS! we can choose to be a Rogue from all three races and have 5 origin stories so lets take a look at each of their starting Attributes, Skills & Talents!


City Elf Rogue Starting Attributes

  • Strength: 10
  • Dexterity: 14
  • Willpower: 14
  • Magic:12
  • Cunning:14
  • Constitution:10


Dalish Elf Rogue Starting Attributes

  • Strength: 10
  • Dexterity: 14
  • Willpower: 14
  • Magic:12
  • Cunning:14
  • Constitution:10


Dwarf Commoner Rogue Starting Attributes

  • Strength: 11
  • Dexterity: 15
  • Willpower: 12
  • Magic:10
  • Cunning:14
  • Constitution:12


Dwarf Noble Rogue Starting Attributes

  • Strength: 11
  • Dexterity: 15
  • Willpower: 12
  • Magic:10
  • Cunning:14
  • Constitution:12


Human Noble Rogue Starting Attributes

  • Strength: 11
  • Dexterity: 15
  • Willpower: 12
  • Magic:11
  • Cunning:15
  • Constitution:10

As you can see the Dwarves & Elves from different background still start with the same attributes, and all three races have different attributes, and its your choice which would suit you best.

City Elf Rogue Starting Skills


City Elf Rogues start with 1 Point in Coercion and 1 Point in Poison-Making

Dalish Elf Rogue Starting Skills


Dalish Elf Rogue start with 1 Point in Survival and 1 Point in Poison-Making

Dwarf Commoner Rogue Starting Skills


Dwarf Commoner Rogues start with 1 Point in Stealing and 1 Point in Poison-Making

Dwarf Noble Rogues Starting Skills


Dwarf Noble Rogues start with 1 Point in Poison-Making and 1 Point in Combat Training

Human Noble Rogues Starting Skills


Human Noble Rogues start with 1 Point in Poison-Making and 1 Point in Combat Training

So the Rogues have varied options, as per their upbringing and surroundings. I am merely here to show you the differences between all of them. I will point out however that Poison-Making is featured in all starting sets and may be of importance.

City Elf Rogues Starting Talents

City Elf Rogues start with Dirty Fighting, a 4 second stun that allows you time to backstab the enemy for more damage!

Dalish Elf Rogues Starting Talents

Dalish Elf Rogues start with Dirty Fighting, a 4 second stun that allows you time to backstab the enemy for more damage!

Dwarf Commoner Rogue Starting Talents

Dwarf Commoner Rogues start with Dirty Fighting, a 4 second stun that allows you time to backstab the enemy for more damage!

Dwarf Noble Rogue Starting Talents

Dwarf Noble Rogues start with Dirty Fighting, a 4 second stun that allows you time to backstab the enemy for more damage!

Human Noble Rogue Starting Talents

Human Noble Rogues start with Dirty Fighting, a 4 second stun that allows you time to backstab the enemy for more damage!

So all Rogues have Dirty Fighting as standard, which will mean your choice is based upon the Attributes and Skills rather than the Talents.

Conclusion & recommendations

I would recommend Maximizing Coercion as quickly as possible on ANY class you play, Rogue included as this allows you to make story changing dialogue choices that you could not otherwise, remember that Strength allows you to Intimidate, Cunning allows you to Persuade.

As a Rogue you have the Choice of Dual Wielding or Ranged, it is really upto you but I personally have only tried Dual Wielding, that said as you get to a higher level you may want to use both.

It is upto you to experiment with each character on what works best for you and remember, you can always use a mod that allows you to reset your Attributes, Skills & Talents/Spells back to Zero allowing you to reallocate your points entirely!

Warriors – Dwarven, Elvish & Human Attributes, Skills & Talents

Now onto the big class, the warriors! we can choose to be a warrior from all three races and have 5 origin stories so lets take a look at each of their starting Attributes, Skills & Talents!


City Elf Warrior Starting Attributes

  • Strength: 14
  • Dexterity: 13
  • Willpower: 12
  • Magic:12
  • Cunning:10
  • Constitution:13


Dalish Elf Warrior Starting Attributes

  • Strength: 14
  • Dexterity: 13
  • Willpower: 12
  • Magic:12
  • Cunning:10
  • Constitution:13


Dwarf Commoner Warrior Starting Attributes

  • Strength: 15
  • Dexterity: 14
  • Willpower: 10
  • Magic:10
  • Cunning:10
  • Constitution:15


Dwarf Noble Warrior Starting Attributes

  • Strength: 15
  • Dexterity: 14
  • Willpower: 10
  • Magic:10
  • Cunning:10
  • Constitution:15


Human Noble Warrior Starting Attributes

  • Strength: 15
  • Dexterity: 14
  • Willpower: 10
  • Magic:11
  • Cunning:11
  • Constitution:13

As you can see the Dwarves & Elves from different background still start with the same attributes, and all three races have different attributes, and its your choice which would suit you best.

City Elf Warrior Starting Skills


City Elf Warriors start with 1 Point in Coercion and 1 Point in Combat Training

Dalish Elf Warrior Starting Skills


Dalish Elf Warriors start with 1 Point in Survival and 1 Point in Combat Training

Dwarf Commoner Warrior Starting Skills


Dwarf Commoner Warriors start with 1 Point in Stealing and 1 Point in Combat Training

Dwarf Noble Warrior Starting Skills

Dwarf Noble Warriors start with 2 Points in Combat Training

Human Noble Warrior Starting Skills

Human Noble Warriors start with 2 Points in Combat Training

So the Warriors have varied options, as per their upbringing and surroundings. I am merely here to show you the differences between all of them.

City Elf Warrior Starting Talents

City Elf Warriors start with Dual Weapon Sweep, if you want to use two weapons this may be a good starting choice.

Dalish Elf Warrior Starting Talents

Dalish Elf Warriors start with Pinning Shot, so if you prefer bows this may be a good starting choice.

Dwarf Commoner Warrior Starting Talents

Dwarf Commoner Warriors start with Dual Weapon Sweep, if you want to use two weapons this may be a good starting choice.

Dwarf Noble Warrior Starting Talents

Dwarf Noble Warriors start with Shield Bash, so if you prefer to use a sword and shield this may be a good starting choice.

Human Noble Warrior Starting Talents

Human Noble Warriors start with Shield Bash, so if you prefer to use a sword and shield this may be a good starting choice.

Conclusion & recommendations
There you have it, both nobles start with sword and shield skills, city elves and dwarven commoners start with dual wield skills and the dalish elf starts with ranged skills. Remember this is just one skill and you can use two weapon sets, but its a good thing to think about before wasting a first skill if you won’t use it!

I would recommend Maximizing Coercion as quickly as possible on ANY class you play, warrior included as this allows you to make story changing dialogue choices that you could not otherwise, remember that Strength allows you to Intimidate, Cunning allows you to Persuade.

Sword and Shield
This is my bread and butter, I highly recommend shield bash, pummel, overpower and assault, as they put enemies on their arse and you can cause some real damage/interrupt any damage they may do to your party, ie mages!

Two Handed Weapons
I usually leave this to the NPCs such as Sten and Ogrim, but if in battle, activate Indomitable, Powerful Swings, use two handed sweep to cause knockdown to large groups of enemies in melee combat, allowing you time to cause damage without any hassle, Mighty Blow any enemies that try to escape from melee range, critical strike to take down enemies quickly, especially if at 20% health or less and use pommel strike or stunning blows to keep enemies from attacking, whether it be to pound them harder or to defend yourself/party members.

Dual Weapon
Honestly I think rogues are the best for this, but you need to weigh up when to use dual striking and momentum, usually I would use dual striking, which i am aware allows more damage but no crits or backstabs, but if you choose to use momentum, you have an increased attack speed, you could pair this with flurry, whirlwind if surrounded by enemies, the punisher if you want to end an enemy quickly and Cripple, Riposte and Dual Weapon Sweep to help deal with runners, Stunning enemies to negate action and knocking over a large group of enemies at a melee range.

Archery

This is a good option for players who like to stay at range in fights, using either a Longbow, Shortbow or Crossbow to assault their prey. I urge you to complete the entire Archery tree, rather than spliting between melee and Archery, the most interesting skills are Aim and Arrow of Slaying in Dragon Age: Origins, coupled with Accuracy and Rain of Arrows in Dragon Age: Awakening

Thanks – Sources

Thanks for reading my New Character Guide, some of the information in the guide is from the in game menus which I screenshotted to put into the guide.

Some of the info is from the dragon age wiki, please go there to see tables of information regarding everything covered in the guide,. Dragon Age Wiki[dragonage.wikia.com]

Thanks to Bioware for creating the game, but no thanks for not fixing the bugs that are present, (lets just blame EA for the after care?) and thank you for reading!

Enjoy the game!!!

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