#1: Human Noble: I personally enjoy the human noble. #2: Circle Mage: The human mage happens to be related to Hawke in Dragon Age 2. #3: City Elf: The female elf side is much darker than the male counterpart. #4: Dalish Elf: Could have added more context to the origin. Especially the NPCs. #5: Dwarf Noble: I don't mind it, great details about the origin. #6: Dwarf Commoner: Least favorite. I know the grey wardens recruit anyone from either common or noble birth. This origin just felt out of place.

I agree with not overlooking willpower as a mage, for using sustained abilities

I've just found your channel as i've just started my first ever playthrough and plan on playing all the way through the trilogy for the new release. Solid video a very helpful guide for my mage.

I love ALL the Origins. But if I ever made a list, it would (probably) be somewhat similar to yours B-Tier. Like, while Mages are my favorite class to play, the Mage Origin DOES feel a bit "meh" to me too. Also (from a totally min/max standpoint), the Dwarf Noble is awesome because you can START with up to around 28 gold SOVERIEGNS! (that's a small fortune for a starting character) Of course, that always makes me think, "They took ALL his equipment when they arrested him, but they didn't take his GOLD? Didn't they FIND it? What did he do? Swallow it? Cram it up his 'behind' BEFORE he went on the quest for the shield?!?" LOL For me? Human Noble is probably the most emotional one. Because the Couslands are/were such "good" people & rulers. (And such a loving family)

Just stumbled upon your guides during my current DAO playthrough. What amazing guides you have - almost perfect for my taste! Calm voice, no focus on minmaxing, consideration for flexibility, a hint of roleplay style and most of all very understandable. Thank you for your great guides :)

thank you so much this made me want to pick up the game again

I like using the Reaver Sten mod. 😈

I pretty much run her as a heal and buff bot so I don't need to ever worry about it. I use all the tactics on Wynne so that she never really needs to be managed at all and I can focus on blowing stuff up with my mage instead. I wish I ever found any of this gear, I never find much of anything.

Poor Sten getting outclassed by the dog. 😂

Gorim, the loyal friend, who tells you he's always going to be your man and then later he's like "nah, bro, I can't join you in saving the world, I took an arrow to the knee" or something.

Thank you for the video, doing a full run in preparation for DA:V and i wanna take the bestest boi thru the whole first game!

I personally liked the human origin story the best, because for me it was the most immersive one. I agree that Bhelen is the best king, not as a person itself but it is for the best for the dwarven society in the long run. He is a bit like Tywin Lannister, yeah he is a bit evil, but not evil because he likes being evil, he is evil because it works.

I think the Dalish elf being the only one to not actually return to their place of origin in the main story is intentional and makes sense with the themes of the Dalish Origin and the Dalish Elves as a whole. They don't have a set home and they're instead always on the move. The whole time you're building up to what Duncan's "cure" could be, you're also constantly being told that the clan is about to move north. It's very clear that once you leave them, you likely won't see any of them again, and it's a lot more final than the others. Whereas the dwarf origins, city elf, and circle mage all have their important origin-related characters show back up later in the story, and while the human noble watches their family die so they know they won't be back, the Dalish Elf both knows everyone (except Tamlen) is still alive but that even so leaving is basically permanent. It actually led into one of my favorite examples of naturally-unfolding story that really set the tone for how my Dalish elf felt about the Grey Wardens. Duncan starts off trying to give you the illusion of choice by letting you agree to become a Grey Warden. But you can push the issue by saying things like "Am I being exiled from the clan?" or "I'll take my chances [with the infection]." And eventually Duncan just conscripts you and apologizes because he wishes it had been your choice. I RPd my Dalish elf as someone who would've rather died with his clan than been forced into human conflicts, and so he was pretty snippy with everyone and especially got into arguments with Alistair because he doesn't like Duncan. Also, as a bonus, the Dalish elf probably makes the most sense to play if you're someone who likes to exhaust dialogue options. It makes sense the most isolated origin wouldn't know shit about the outside world.

I recently replayed origins and chose Harrowmont since I always choose Bhelen. Man it just felt wrong , having experienced Dwarf commoner before 😂

#1 Dwarf Noble. #2 Dwarf Commoner. #3 Human Noble. #4 Elf Commoner. #5 Circle Mage. #6 Dalish Elf.

And then we almost get zero dwarven lore into the next two games

My first and most loved warden was a surana so I am somewhat sentimental towards the mage origin, I enjoy the early lore additions and appreciate that my character was actually having a pretty normal day(post harrowing) that just happened to get messed up because their friend is an idiot, I was playing an arc that starts my character off as naive and easily manipulated before learning more about the world and it lead to this situation where they had a mutual betrayal with jowan as he truthfully thought it was a mistake that could be talked out with the first enchanter. It may be a little more dry than others but returning to the tower? Having Wynne as a mentor after that has a deeper understanding of their mage pov and meeting jowan in Redcliff after so much has changed? I love that, I love that I then went on to play the Amell mage as cunning and anti circle and how these two characters felt like they could (unhappily) coexist Also I remember on my first playthrough I wondered into a room and an NPC said that my stuff was being moved out of the apprentice room and I was so upset that my poor elf couldn't sleep in it even once and then it got destroyed(sad to see plush bed and then get ground bedroll lol) They all have their strengths and weaknesses, especially in the context of the broader story and beyond but I had to stand up for that time mage warden was having a normal one until they weren't lol

Good god, Solas with hair is a nightmare.

I think a lot of ppl undersell the dwarf commoner origin. The full emotional impact of the origin doesn’t happen within the origin itself but when you return & are betrayed & forced to kill Leske, your best friend. It’s definitely most tragic of the return home quest types outside maybe circle where your home is infested with demons & many you know are dead or in peril.

I actually like Jowan, or rather the way he is written. It's a prelude of how mages are treated, and the complexity of magic in the south. If you identify as a mage, then the Ferelden Circle is a good teaching. It will also put you on the spot; do you help Jowan, or First Enchanter Irving. Myself I think Jowan is afraid and foolish, but also sincere in his repent. His story marks the first demon atrocity, and why magic is dangerous.

im just gonna say, after playing cousland, doing ALL the work by Myself only for fergus to miraculously sweep in at the very end and become teyrn in my stead just because he happens to be the eldest child, im thinking maybe behlen was onto something there.

For me it was always the dwarf commoner (female), it was my first playthrough and, well... dwarfs rule and down with the aristocracy! But jokes aside I like the premise of the origin, and the proving grounds finale is epic. As I said I played a female dwarf and didn't find Leske that bad, but then again I'm a guy, to me he seemed one of those hopeless flirty thirsty guys, and I imagine the perception of them can change drastically. I liked the political conspiracy of the dwarf noble a lot, and the exiled prince/princess fighting their way through the deep roads was cool, by the way, playing a female Aeducan I remember Gorim being somewhat sleazy, it kinda stuck with me. City elf is the perfect origin for playing an angry warden, I think somebody else mentioned the ban on weapons being imposed because of the origin story, also, I think playing the male part of the origin as a rogue grants the largest amount of xp. I thought the human noble origin was competent, Rendon Howe is such a hateable villain, and that las line... I deserved more... glorious. I found the dalish elf origin just somewhat bland, it's also one of the shorter ones if I recall correctly. Circle mage is cool but I agree Jowan is a dunce, and I generally dislike when a game tells me yeah this is your greatest friend... but he's a total bellend.

My favourite origin is the dwarven commoner. The prooving reveal moment is epic, the nobles are horrified that a castles, who shouldn't even have access to watch has beaten their best warriors, its delicious.From castles to Paragon at the end of the game. In inquisition, a bunch of dwarves are standing around the winter palace. If you had this origin imported, they mention that they need the guidance of paragon Brosca in these trying times 😊

Good king Bhelen

I'm not certain, but I thought the notice about "any elves with weapons will be imprisoned" only showed up after the origin story, in retaliation to what happened to the Arl of Denerim's son. Even though the other elves in the origin story mention your skills as "trouble" and otherwise treat it as a dirty secret, they never mention it being illegal. Which, if it was, I think they would. Of course my memory isn't prefect and I know nothing of codex entries. It makes sense for the world for weapons to be banned for elves, and if they aren't, it's probably a combination of oversight and arrogance of their "betters". Which is probably how the city elves prefer it, and why they frown on your abilities in the first place. It's my personal favorite. I'm a total sucker for the underdog and elves and city elf combines both. I didn't hate Jowan, because I considered him like a brother. An annoying brother. It makes sense that in such confined company you'd get close with people of similar age, and either the Hero began looking out for the screw-up from early on, or he knew who to suck up to from an early age. Although yeah, the fact that even if you conspire with Irving Jowan still gets away because "they didn't expect a bloodmage to be so strong" is pretty dumb writing in hindsight. Or just goes to show they didn't actually believe him to be a bloodmage and were going to tranquil him anyways. What I do like about the mage background is it does (minus the mage's circle) make me feel pretty impartial to everything. You're not really loyal to any king or traditions, and you have legitimate reasons to doubt the Chantry. It's freeing in a way. As much as I love the city elf campaign, it does sort of stain how that character views humans. They're all really fun. The human noble is my least favorite. Even if it interacts well with a lot of the story, I just don't like watching an entire castle full of people die for "my family's honor". I understand these things help organize and motivate people, but it still sucks. At least as a Dwarf noble, only you and Gorim suffer. Don't entirely agree with the ideas on Bhelen. You're mostly right, but I see where Harrowmont supporters are coming from. Bhelen dissolves the assembly if he becomes king. (At least in the epilogue of Origins) Sure, he reforms evil traditions, but in the process he's allowed the next king (probably his child without the assembly) to revoke all that progress in a generation. And although the Dwarven caste system is evil, Orzammar is in a constant state of being nearly eradicated. It is the time for reforms, but what scared people do is stick to tradition. Although yeah, a majority of the Dwarven nobles are in it for their own gain. And as for the feminist comments, Bhelen also makes a comment, something about "two of them being queens" when he's talking to his sister. The fact that queens are rarer does suggest that most daughters don't become rulers. Even if it's not as bad as medieval times in reality, it seems there is some push back there. Personally, I like it whenever a character points out that my character is female through out origins. Even if it is a negative interaction, I like that the game recognized I am female, and might it help male players roleplay as a woman a little better. Although mine seems to be a very rare opinion. It'd be nice if there were similar interactions that singled out a male warden, but those seem much fewer and less intentional. All right, my thesis is done. I love this game to much, and this video was just a fun excuse to nerd out.

Dwarf Noble is the GOAT for sure. It has great politics, great characters, and great links to the rest of the game. Your Warden feels the most like a real person, I think.

If i'm doing a dwarf noble playthrough, I choose Harrowmont, but if i'm doing anything else, I choose Behlen.

Does it matter now if an item is DLC? I'm not really sure but I think the default DAO I got on steam comes with all the DLC baked in. I think this was the default game

Great list man. Thanks for the vid

Thank you for this build as it helps me with building my main character. After a few years I now started my 2nd playthrough. My first one was a templer/ tank warrior and now I am onto a mage. The arcane warrior + blood mage combination sounds cool but I would like to play a support mage with buffing and healing for my main character because the mage class is very complex for me and has a so many interesting skills that I otherwise couldn't decide what to get. I thought about getting Alistair as a tank, Morrigan as an offensive mage and maybe an offensive warrior or a rogue as my 4th member. Do you have some other recommendations for a party or for some skills for my main character as I won't use Wynne and can play around with the skills on the MC a little more?

Love all your guides, especially that you mention early game substitutes as a lot of people don't do that in build guides for literally every rpg

Thanks for the guides, im doing my first playthrough and was playing it blind and kinda struggling, had to get a respec mod to fix many things 😅 Awesome builds 👍

This has inspired me for another play through but with a warden tank. This is because I nearly always have Alistair in my party so if I'm the tank I can try different members that don't normally get used.

Your character build have helped me a lot with my Arcane warrior and the companions. In terms of combat I have no problems, only slightly annoyed when my character gets picked up by the ogres or during the Flemeth boss fight lmao.

yes-sir another great video, what difficulty do you often play on?

absolutely love your shit bro

Yo this would have been so helpful when I started playing :))) I was just kinda mashing buttons but now I know

Hey there, You recommended a respec mod in some of your companion guides, would you happen to have a link to the one you use? I found a couple but wasn’t sure which one works

I'm doing my first play through of da:o and have struggled a lot, particularly with my character builds. Your video guides have been extremely helpful and have made the game much easier for me to understand!

It was a crime not allowing us to get his armor. It looks so badass

Can't wait to do my 2nd playthrough with a arcane warrior

The DAO Unofficial Remaster's description mentions it isn't compatible with Theta HD. Is this accurate or did you manage to use them together?

Skip the Fade

Really appreciate this for my current playthrough, cool to see people still have passion for this game. You have a nice voice too.

This is really helpful! I'm just about to replay the games and try mods for the first time, so am grateful for this!

Great work!

in the words of Iron Bull "today is a good day. today is a very good day." nice word as always!!