Dragon Age Origins: Tips and Tricks Dragon Age: Origins Guide

Our tips for Dragon Age Origins will help you begin your adventure with the game and avoid common mistakes. You can learn, among others, about choosing the difficulty level and origin, party composition, character development, or behavior during battles.

Last update: 13 June 2024

Before setting off on a journey, you should read the tips and tricks. This page of the game guide for Dragon Age: Origins contains useful tips related to creating and developing characters, recruiting potential companions, avoiding deaths during battles, and managing an optimal party.

• Choose the normal level for the first playthrough
• Check at least a few character origins
• Choose the Coercion skill for the main character
• Recruit all the companions as soon as possible
• Return regularly to the party's camp
• Do everything in Lothering
• Be sure to have a rogue in your party
• Heal the party members right away to avoid injuries
• Do not give gifts randomly

Choose the normal level for the first playthrough

1. Normal difficulty is the optimal choice if you are just starting the game. It should offer you a sufficiently high level of challenge, but at the same time not overly complicate the gameplay. It forces you to take care of the party, but you don't have to plan more advanced tactics. It also puts less emphasis on using appropriate potions and spells in battles.
2. An additional advantage of the normal difficulty level is the lack of friendly fire for your party. This is particularly useful when using spells and area skills. You don't have to worry about injuring or accidentally killing your companions.

Check at least a few character origins

1. Dragon Age: Origins offers 6 variants of the prologue, also called an Origin. They differ from each other in terms of settings, the protagonist's past, and the course of events. Only after completing a given origin will you proceed to the first common quest, Joining the Grey Wardens, in Ostagar.
2. Each origin is approximately 60 minutes of gameplay, so checking out all of them, or at least a few of them, isn't very time-consuming. You can also test different races and classes, and see how your character might be perceived by other inhabitants of the game world. For example, playing as an elf, you can expect a worse attitude towards you from most NPCs.
3. The safe origin is a Human Noble. This prologue provides a good introduction to the game's mechanics (including combat), and you can be accompanied by a mabari hound almost from the very beginning as a full companion (characters of other origins can recruit the hound a little later).

Choose the Coercion skill for the main character

1. You can choose this skill when creating a new character and when leveling up. We recommend developing it to at least the second level quite early, if possible.
2. Coercion will allow you to access special dialogue options for Intimidate (linked to the Strength attribute) or Persuade (linked to the Cunning attribute). Thanks to them, you can, for example, avoid unwanted fights or persuade NPCs to reveal secrets or give you unique rewards. This can be useful both during regular conversations and in solving some quests.

Recruit all the companions as soon as possible

1. The party is a very important element of the game - companions can help you win fights, you can gradually develop relationships with them and even start romances. Some allies will join you automatically, but others you have to find and recruit personally - their list can be found on the page Companions list.
2. Plan carefully the composition of your active party, i.e. the one traveling around the world. These should be characters from different classes with different skills and talents. It would be good if their character also fits a good or bad protagonist. This will help you avoid conflicts within the party and it will be easier for you to gain positive relationship points for your decisions that they agree with.

Return regularly to the party's camp

1. The party's camp will become available when you start traveling around the world map. It has several very important functions. First and foremost, you can treat wounds for free and change the composition of the active party by choosing characters from among the recruited companions.
2. Various story scenes can be triggered in the camp and it is also an ideal place to meet party members. You can deepen relationships with your companions and, e.g. give them various gifts. Later in the game, the camp will also provide support to members of friendly factions. We recommend returning to the camp at the end of each visit to every subsequent larger location or even more often, if necessary.

Do everything in Lothering

1. Lothering is a location you will reach quite early in the campaign. This takes place after the dramatic events in Ostagar and upon starting the Lothering and the Imperial Highway main quest.
2. Complete all possible activities during your first visit to Lothering - find new potential companions, complete all optional quests, have all conversations with unique NPCs and collect as much loot as possible (also from locked chests, if possible). All of this is very important, because as a result of the events from the main story, you will lose access to Lothering later in the campaign. Missed or unfinished matters can become irretrievably lost.

Be sure to have a rogue in your party

1. In Dragon Age: Origins, having characters from all three main classes in your party is highly recommended, but in the case of a rogue, having one is especially important in the first hours of the game. The rogue, thanks to their talents, is able to open locked chests and disarm traps. This allows you to acquire more valuable loot and reduce the risk of exposing your party to danger.
2. If your main character is not a rogue, recruit Leliana during your visit to Lothering (good choice if you are playing as a good character) or wait until you can recruit Zevran (recommended for an evil protagonist).

Heal the party members right away to avoid injuries

1. After one of your party members loses all health points, they will be knocked down. If the remaining heroes win the fight, the fallen character will be "resurrected", but unfortunately they will receive an injury. These can be various penalties to attributes, regeneration rate/maximum health and other statistics. It is very important to remove injuries - you can visit the camp or use an Injury Kit. They can be bought from stores, can be found as loot, or can be crafted.
2. Make sure to avoid situations where you lose someone from the party during a battle. In addition to receiving a new injury, it can also increase the risk of game over (when you lose all heroes). Go into battle with a supply of medicines and healing spells. Use them whenever someone from the party loses more health, especially if you are fighting an elite opponent or a group of them.

Do not give gifts randomly

1. Throughout the game, you can find or buy items marked with a pink Gift text. These are items that you can pass on to your companions in the camp with the hope of improving relations.
2. Some of the gifts will appeal to almost all heroes, but in most cases a given gift is "intended" for a specific ally - you can gain a lot of positive relationship points thanks to it. Choosing the "wrong" companion will result in a small increase in points or refusal to accept that gift. On the page List of Gifts you will find their list along with the names of the companions to whom you should present them.