We've Been Betrayed: The Joining & Tower of Ishal | Blind Playthrough | Dragon Age Origins [Ep. 3]

[@happyslapsgiving5421]

"Not sure how I feel about Sir Jory." Me: Don't... don't worry too much about Sir Jory. 😅

[@_shhenanigans_]

I had no idea what was coming 😭🤣

[@kamilkukowski5369]

@@_shhenanigans_ flemeth even spoiled his fate by saying he's irrelevant in the grand scheme of things

[@joandsarah77]

@@_shhenanigans_ "Sadly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things" Pretty sure that was Flemeth foretelling his demise.

[@mikeburke8772]

BioWare loves their redshirts. Corporal Jenkins had a long career ahead of him and Trask Ulgo was just an Ensign with the Republic Fleet.

[@JBLoveSav]

You’re delightful to watch! I hope you end up loving this game as much as I do. Alistaire is, as they say, Best Boy. ❤

[@_shhenanigans_]

Thank you! Alistair definitely caught me off guard and has me a little like 👀

[@inquisitive6786]

“Does your elven mind give you a different viewpoint?” This dialogue changes depending on what character you made

[@Papaneeks]

“Swooping is bad.” Love ya Alistair.

[@trengilly01]

Morrigan's mothers life stories . . . Well they certainly are interesting . . . Perhaps you'll have a chance to hear them sometime! 😉

[@GeorgeMonet]

Maybe she'll tell us stories about the time she was lost in the Delta Quadrant.

[@shannonpage6665]

Words cannot adequately express how much I love Claudia Blacks voice!

[@Shadowpack95]

So Duncan's in his late 40s here, which for the Dark Ages, which is equivalent of where Thedas is technology/knowledge wise, was considered Old.

[@squares4u]

This is actually a very common but false assumption. People in the Dark and Middle Ages routinely lived into their 60s, 70s, and some even into their 80s. If you didn’t die within the first few years of childhood (high mortality rate), you had a presumably good chance of living a full life. Anyway. Fun fact.

[@shadowfragment]

The whole sequence of events here is great. Meeting Morrigan, the Joining, the big battle, it's a great introduction to the game. It was a lot of fun seeing you go through it all.

[@_shhenanigans_]

It was a crazy start to the game! I was blindsided in the best way lol

[@Anna-B]

I’m a new subscriber, and I’m loving your commentary. You catch so much more than I did. And I’m glad you can appreciate Alistair! He’s my favorite character in the game

[@_shhenanigans_]

I’m so glad you’re here! And yes, alistair definitely caught me by surprise this episode! His banter is so funny and cute

[@Bloomingtide]

@@_shhenanigans_ Ahhh Alistair is still my fave and always will be, even 15 yrs and two games later. My og bae makes me still squeal and giggle and i love spending time in his head when writing him. He is funny, yes but there is also much more to him than a comic relief, character-wise. Aka using his humor to deflect ppl/more heavy situations and he is very observant, (emotionally) smart/witty and a very genuine guy overall, you will see. Ppl just conflate his understandable inexperience with him being dumb which is so wrong Bc you really have to keep in mind that he is canonically only 19/20 yrs old during the events of da:o which should re-contextualize a lot of things you will/have learn(t) about him ;)

[@Bloomingtide]

Also don't be afraid to be snarky/sassy/humorous with alistair he returns it in kind and it results often in the more interesting dialogue option :D As long you are not insulting/ridiculing him or call him weak, that is, of course generally don't be afraid to question matters before agreeing to something or progress with it, as it gives you often more companion comments and background about that thing.

[@FlameQwert]

woohoo finally reached the big "oh shit" moment 😄

[@_shhenanigans_]

There were a couple of those moments this episode 😭

[@ikarikaoka]

Ahhh, a great game. Rarely in history have we had access to an RPG game with such a dynamic dialogue system, the appreciation of free will in unique moments, a bold plot with its present twists and a group of memorable characters with whom it is possible to develop a relationship more organic. I wish you could play the title more often because its content is dense and if your intention is to play the entire franchise (which will be expanded soon), it will take time to update this long process.

[@_shhenanigans_]

Once I get a few more episodes in, I’ll upload more per week. I want to get a handle on the game/combat and implement any tips or tricks before getting too far ahead.

[@ikarikaoka]

​​@@_shhenanigans_ Ah, good news. I hope you continue to enjoy the experience. As for the game system and learning to deal with it, I don't think I remember even 20% of what I "knew" when I played DAO in the "old days". Don't worry too much about it. The worst that can happen is watching Darkspawn win the war.

[@BruceRKF]

"Mass Effect makes me cry enough." Ouch, this could be a though one, since Dragon Age Origins is overall darker and more serious than Mass Effect... The relationships with the characters feel even more in-depth than in ME, at least to me. Paying attention to the lore and what the characters have to say is not only interesting, but also instrumental for understanding the world and its peoples. This will arm you with the knowledge to make informed decisions that can be quite far-reaching, so no pressure ;) Now that the first shocking twist is over, let's see how all the rest of them will affect you. I will be watching with interest :)

[@_shhenanigans_]

All I do is cry on the internet over these games and characters 😭😭

[@BruceRKF]

@@_shhenanigans_ I guess they are doing something right if they can evoke such strong emotions though ;) And your audience loves to see you suffer, as you can probably imagine XD

[@patinho5589]

My favourite two games of the last 20 years.

[@patinho5589]

@@_shhenanigans_you engage with the games fully! Would love to find someone like you!

[@valkyrie27studios81]

Morrigan walked so Shadowheart could run, they're very much two sides of the same coin. She's one of the most complex characters in the series as a whole, and is most definitely a consistent fan favorite

[@_shhenanigans_]

That is such a good way to put it - she had to have inspired a bit of Shadowheart!

[@trengilly01]

Honestly Morrigan shares more traits with Lae'zel than Shadow 😉

[@valkyrie27studios81]

Definitely at first yeah, the harsh attitude and coldness. She shares a lot of traits that both Lae'zel and Shadowheart have, but by the end she mirrors Shadowheart a bit more in my opinion ​@trengilly01

[@inquisitive6786]

Morrigan walked so Shadowheart could sit. Shadowheart has nothing on Morrigan

[@_shhenanigans_]

@@trengilly01 I think laezel has one of the best romances in BG3. Its not my personal favorite (I’m a Gale girlie) but I love the romance arc

[@mepatrik1]

That was great, I'm looking forward to the next one! And since you wanted some tips: you can bind potions to hotkeys, so you won't have to open your inventory each time when you use them.

[@OguzBoz]

Hmmm I guess I should use…. Winter’s grasp…. What should we do here? Winter’s Grasp… I unlocked 3 new spells, what should I use next?…Hmmm I guess… Winter’s grasp, yes. 😂

[@_shhenanigans_]

I knoooooow. But it’s so useful 😭. You mean I can stop a HUGE ogre in its tracks?! Yes please 🤣😭

[@OguzBoz]

Just give other spells a chance 😂 Please 😂

[@amypetty5013]

I'm not going to spoil anything really, but I will say this: It is absolutely NOT the case that they were about to win the darkspawn battle. The game does a poor job of showing this early on, but it is SUPPOSED to be the case that you are presented with a scenario that could be interpreted more than one way. Remember that Duncan was less optimistic than Cailan, that he tried to temper Cailan's enthusiasm, and tried to get him to wait for Arl Eamon's reinforcements that were less than a week away. Also remember the sheer SIZE of that darkspawn horde. There's a very sound case to make that Loghain made a rationally sound strategic choice in not wasting soldiers. I love the game, but this is one pretty significant part of the lore that they don't do a good job of presenting, because it is canonically supposed to be a case where there's no objectively sound choice between whether Loghain made an ugly but reasonable decision, or was a traitor who betrayed his King and son-in-law. As a player (not the character) you are supposed to be able to see solid arguments both ways.

[@Nebula_Coffee]

Out of interest, in what way could they have shown this better? Personally, it really didn't come across that it was that hopeless of a situation to me and I always just was focused on Logain's betrayal. It would have been great if they could have made it more obvious but I'm not sure how that could have been handled better since we only get to see the scenario with Logain's retreat and the consequences after that.

[@amypetty5013]

@@Nebula_Coffee They easily could have done that - primarily by having more characters express doubt about the coming conflict. First and foremost they could have had Loghain more explicitly object to Cailan's plan, or Duncan himself, given that he already indicates to you the new recruit that he's not as optimistic as Cailan in the first place. The background for this was already solidly in place, given that Loghain has actual experience in war and unquestionably would have had a better grasp of the situation than Cailan ever could. The Devs went out of their way to redress this this later on, in one of the DLCs to this game. But they go much harder at it in the two next games. Similar to how the Devs have openly talked about their handling of the mage-templar conflict. They always meant for this to be a choice that depended on whether you came down on the side of honor and idealism versus reality and pragmatism.

[@kevinhanke6212]

I recommend to ask people what they can give you before agreeing to help. For example in the second video with the man in the cage (the deserter) if you ask him what you would get when you give him the water and food he will give you a key for a chest in the camp in ostagar. And take everything you find and sell it, if you don't need it.

[@Zeonvict7]

"In war Victory, In peace Vigilance, In death Sacrifice" Rip Duncan

[@mikeburke8772]

I love how they foreshadow Loghain’s betrayal with his subtle jabs at the Grey Wardens, his constant verbal sparring with King Cailan, and the ominous tone as he says “Yes, Cailan. A glorious moment for us all.” I also subscribe to the theory that Cailan knew Loghain intended to betray him (despite appearing to be a walking/talking Ken doll, obsessed with glory and valor, I feel he had more…sense than he let on) and chose to put two of the Grey Wardens-the Protagonist and Alistair-away from the bulk of the horde. The protagonist obviously had to be away from the fighting otherwise they’d have died and wouldn’t make a very good protagonist since there’s no Cerberus to bring them back. As for Alistair? Well, he was the only other living Grey Warden not in the valley besides Duncan, which means he gets saved by default.

[@Matixsb]

Few Most important advices beside buying backpacs - TAB - reveals all interactable things and npc's in the room, recomend to use it when before leaving rooms instead of entering to not break imersion to much - Buffs -Each Mage in the party can have only one weapon enchancment spell active + each character can have only 1 of each type of buff (both sustained ones that reduce max mana/stamina and activated ones with time limit), so for Your Cold Wepons and Telekinetic only one you activated last is active (you can stack diferent types of weapon spells if you have more mages in group with each casting diferent one), only "stackable buffs" are poisons where your mele characters can stack diferent versions of same potions (Deathroot/Concentrated Deathroot Extract Etc.) - F5 - When crosin Ostagar Bridge (you have this one behind you) and when Traversing Denerim City: While in this damn city set up on the phone 5-15 min timer and hit F5 every time it rings, after changing area (loading screen) -> F5, end of major fight -> F5, Any Texture while in the city looks and acts "Funny" (including loading screen) -> F5 (This City with its memory leak is responsible for 80-85% of all my offline game crashes in my histoy of gaming (even with all fix-mods)) Lesser advices - To avoid "Regrets of a Loot Goblin" stop by Merchants always after you leave "quest zone/dungeon" to sell unnecesary stuff while you can get back to majority of areas to pick up your loot you have left, there are few that are story locked like Ostagar or have chests rearanged like Orgin areas, while all backpacks add up to decent max size of inventory, keeping all named items and ingeridients for potions + all of Potions/Poisons/Salves/Granades (there are only 2 real uses for traps in whole game) - It is also worthy to get some Mod for camp Storage there are few options online (personaly i use MerAnne's Camp Storage, mostly for its multiple "chests" which is usefull to sort all "Items for Later" like gifts and early game Named Items that dont scale with endgame) (It might be worthy to store some better gemstones and lower runes after you switch them for better ones, they can be usefull😉)

[@_shhenanigans_]

Ohh these are all awesome tips, thank you! I will for sure look into the camp chest mod!

[@trashtv6138]

Hi hope you're doing well! I was wondering what your thoughts would be on these parts of the game, especially Duncans death! Morrigan and Flemeth are amazing right? Absolutely love both of them! I feel like you've now officially started the "real" game (idk how else to describe it lol!) the game really opens up from here! I'd also like to echo what others have said (though maybe not so bluntly) that more episodes a week would be great, but of course only do what you can or want to do, got to make sure you're having fun afterall! Just think it's worth mentioning incase you had thought whether people would be interested in seeing more videos on a regular basis. No pressure though, and as I said above make sure that first and foremost you're doing what's best for you. Thanks again for another great video :D

[@balrog92000]

40:26 Jory drew his sword first and made it clear he was unwilling to risk his life for others, even his wife and child. He was warned there was no turning back. Recruitment into the Grey Wardens is a one way trip.

[@_shhenanigans_]

Oh, I love this. When we first met Jory I was so iffy because it felt like he ran away from his wife during a time of need and then in a way tried to run away from The grey wardens when it got real

[@Drums_of_Liberation]

Even if he didn't draw his blade first, Jory had to die to ensure the secrecy of the Joining

[@volourn9764]

Jory drawing his sword is a red herring. He was dead the moment he said no. I don't blame him. He was lied, gaslit, and manipulated. You can't make a legit informed decision if you don't know all the facts. Duncan was in the wrong.

[@Shadowpack95]

@@volourn9764 How many would actually join of they knew the full dangers? Most of Thedas has drunk the Chantry Kool-Aid and The Joining Ritual and most of what Grey Wardens do actually goes against most of the Chantry's policies.

[@volourn9764]

@Shadowpack95 How about tell the truth? If your cause is just you should not fear the truth. Or, at the very least, do a better job scouting. Duncan had to know Jory has a family, and had the aptitude of a soldier. I thought the idea was that Duncan picks the 'best of the best'... how is Jory considered that? Shameful.

[@proteuswest1084]

I love seeing playthroughs of BioWare games, and following your Dragon Age journey so far has been fun! I was definitely worried for you when I saw how you were crushing on Duncan, but I am confident that future traumatic experiences will make your current trauma seem like a distant memory. A couple tips that hopefully will be of help to you, you can use them if you wish. Since enemies tend to swarm, it's almost always good to try to clear as many out as quickly as possible, so having your teammates focus down priority targets or kill small targets quickly is really nice. If you get into your behaviors, you can set a behavior so each of your party members will automatically attack your target, which allows you to clear enemies much faster than if they split their focus. Also, it's not that intuitive when you first start out, but if you plan on turning a Warrior like Alistair into a tank, you may be tempted to dump a lot of points into Constitution to increase his health pool, but it's good to instead focus on his Strength stat because certain types of armor have hard Strength requirements to equip, and that's much more beneficial to his survivability than a high HP pool. You already used this with the Cunning breakpoints for the coercion skill, and you'll see that unlocking the higher level magic in your skill trees will have a Magic requirement, so it's good to look those over and see what numbers you want to be at to unlock those. It's okay to dump into those breakpoint stats and then even it out as you progress.

[@_shhenanigans_]

That’s one thing I need to spend some time on is setting combat tactics! Target my target is such a good tip!

[@spencerkay9438]

You know, if it helps...you can drag the last edge of your quickslot bar all the way across the screen (to the right) to open up loads more quickslots for potions and abilities etc. Love seeing someone start the Dragon Age journey, it brings back memories of when i did it myself.

[@kevinhanke6212]

I also recommend looking in every corner of the map, so you don't oversee something. And talking is also important for solving quests. If you use some specific options, different ways for solving a quest will unravel. And look often in your quest log. You left a few quests unsolved in the Kocari Forest.

[@Iceman-Raikkonen]

Can't wait for the next episode. Lothering is gonna be interesting

[@rpmfla]

22:56 I played this game over a dozen times and have watched quite a few playthroughs since, and this cutscene gives me chills every single time. Claudia Black just has such a fantastic voice for this character! Plus, the staging of her character intro is perfect.

[@_shhenanigans_]

The intro was 👌

[@r.lyster8280]

It's a trick! She's not the witch of the wilds - she's a Federation starship captain in disguise. 🤣🤣🤣 Kate Mulgrew, Claudia Black and Tim Russ, all in the same game. Quite a cast.

[@GeorgeMonet]

Why can't she be both? Maybe she made a pact with a demon to defeat the Borg?

[@TorgoMazing]

Really enjoying your playthrough so far! Love the ears! Your voice is very pleasing to my sensitive ears and I like the way you don't rush through the game. I'm interested in seeing your journey through all the games! Alistair is like a golden retriever! I love him he's so funny!

[@timnewman7591]

You joined a mystical order that uses magic in it's rituals, and like all magic in Dragon Age it's got a dangerous side. Rogues can disable traps. Take control of them and they can see a red outline - they can then move in and disable it if you click on it with them. They also open traps, if you have one in your party. You can also drag potions into the quickbar slot of characters - both your own and any companions, to make it quicker to use them.

[@GeorgeMonet]

It's not really magic. It is just drinking archdemon blood mixed with normal Darkspawn blood. Either it kills you if you body does not adapt or it poisons you and your body poisons the poison. Using magic to trap the soul of the Archdemon would probably be a better safer way than making people drink poison. But because of the Church of the Maker calling all magic evil, they refuse to let mages conduct research into capturing archdemon souls.

[@shyanfakhraey4841]

If read dragon age stolen throne book main character that book is Loghain and king maric father of king cailen. If read book you can understand loghain motivation and his character

[@generaldreagonlps6889]

Unfortunately it's up to you and Alistair now. As Duncan mentioned before, all the Grey Wardens in Ferelden were at Ostagar so everybody else is too far away.

[@GeorgeMonet]

Nothing says good planning like putting all your eggs in one basket. Although considering how much time must have passed during each act of the story for the events to progress the way they did, more than enough time passed for other Gray Wardens from other nations to arrive.

[@christinapatrick3039]

I was so nervous for you when you wanted to romance Duncan

[@_shhenanigans_]

At least he went out bravely 😭

[@christinapatrick3039]

@@_shhenanigans_ He did indeed. A true hero to the end

[@svolozhanin7627]

Ah yes, I always like seeing people reaction to 'Loghain Mac Tir'(The Evil looking guy that dick) betrayal, and to be honest if you know your tropes, we should all seen it coming the red flags were here with all information you had gathered for it to happened. I mean, he DOES look evil isn't he? Neverthe the less, it's time for the old fan's favourite character: Morrigan had joined the party! You are right she is the fan's favourite(mostly us old farts), and you will see why. Altough, sadly I think you won't be able to TRULY appreciate her character unless you play Male Warden and romace her(she is straight) to have a full experience her character's writing like I and many others did back them. And yes, she is the best, just like Shadowheart. Maybe it's just my pink nostalgia glasses speaking for me, but I think newer games(Inqusition and soon The Veilguard) does not hold a candle for what the legacy this game gave us. (RIP Duncan and King Cailan. You were the Gigachads)

[@_shhenanigans_]

Def should have realized he was the bad guy because when he came out of his tent in episode two I couldn’t believe his character design. But just assumed he was around to be an a**hole FIL to the king.

[@Bloomingtide]

@@_shhenanigans_ Loghain is paranoia personified and also lol already shady af in ostagar. He doesn't get any less shady either. I totally disagree that you HAVE to romance Morrigan "to get her full story/fully appreciate her" tho. Her friendship path with a female warden is AMAZING and so so so rewarding. Still my fave all these years later and her words at the end of the game always make me tear up. I love her a lot even without her romance

[@Shadowpack95]

Loghain's actions at Ostagar actually make sense from a Tactical point of view, his later actions though are truly revolting.

[@JCHB322]

Steve Valentine provides the voice for Alistair. I had the wonderful pleasure to meet him last year. He isn't just an actor/voice actor... He is a professional magician! He did a show in Estes Park last year and it was INCREDIBLE! I got to meet him after the show. He is very sweet and kind to his fans... and very tall! Steve is 6'3" (I'm 5'5" and I felt really short next to him) which is kind of ironic in a way... b/c Alistair (canonically) is also 6'3" (You can't tell in the game b/c back then they couldn't differentiate height between humans like they can nowadays). Lore-wise, Qunari are the tallest race (usually over 7 ft). Elves (5' to 5'5" ft) are shorter than humans (range 5'6" to over 6ft) and dwarves are the shortest race (4' to 4'6"). However in the game here you will notice all elves are the same height. All humans are the same. But in the new game, DA:V, they will have a height and weight slider in the character creator! How far we have come with games! I didn't see you buy the backpacks here. I know last episode you saw that the quartermaster had one. You probably could have sold enough gear and junk to buy the first one then, but you didn't know... and that is okay. Blind playthroughs are learning experiences. But here is a little known secret... you can buy that backpack from him TWICE. If you had gone to him before seeing Duncan and sold all your stuff from the Korcari Wilds, he has that same backpack in his inventory that you can purchase again! Normally when you buy items from a merchant (unless it is potion/poison/trap ingredients, or generic armor/weapons) they only have the item ONCE. You buy it and it is gone. This is an easy way to get two backpacks early and cheaply... as they only get more expensive later in the game. Also, a little known joke amongst those of us who have played this... A lot of players will strip Daveth and Jory down to their skivvies and sell all their armor and weapons to the quartermaster (again, this has to be BEFORE you speak with Duncan). It is a funny way to earn even more gold early in the game. Comic by Champions and Heroes: tapas.io/episode/1994739 😂 (I only reveal this b/c you are further in the game now...) After the King's meeting, there is a line of dialogue that Alistair has that makes me laugh so hard... It is easy to miss, but if you had selected, "I agree with Alistair, we should be in the battle." Ducan will lightly chastise you and basically say, what the king wants, the king gets... Then Alistair quips, "Just so you know, if the king ever asks me to put on a dress and dance the Remigold, I'm drawing the line... darkspawn or no." Then you can say, "I'd like to see that!" Alistair will reply, "For you? Maybe. But it will have to be a pretty dress!" Duncan groans at that. 🤣 This game really does have some great and hilarious dialogue! Loghain's betrayal Even after as many times I've played this game, it still hits hard. He may have had his *reasons*... but he is still a bastard in my opinion.

[@GeorgeMonet]

Alistair is the best. I always romance him every playthrough. Really all the companions except for the elf and the bard and the tower wizard are great.

[@balrog92000]

1:21:59 Oh, if you think you hate him now, just wait. 😁 You should speak with Flemeth before you leave. The exchange between her and Morrigan is not only funny, but enlightening.

[@taymazkhan-nt8jw]

theres a video on youtube showing and revealing why the battle of Ostagar as a whole is a stratigical blunder ESPECIALY when it comes to cailan. the way i se it thats why loghain retreated to minimize casualties. i could link you the video but it might contain spoilers for DLC so nah.

[@Cassimfan]

So, the hound charge was a signature of Ferelden. The Mabari hounds are huge and vicious. A single Mabari is nothing to sneeze at, but an entire army move centered on them is actually quite terrifying.

[@Nebula_Coffee]

I would be careful using mods for your first playthrough. Some can mess up your game really bad. It's one thing when that happens when you already have played through it before (still not great of course) but when it's your first playthrough you might not even notice for quite some time (since you don't know how things are supposed to go) and then have to redo several hours of game play or even worse. I've noticed you use an auto loot mod. I've heard of several different ones causing at times problems with quest items and making completion of quests impossible (making finishing the game as a whole impossible in some instances). I haven't had these issues since I never used one myself but it seems to be a problem that does occur for some people and in general sometimes mods can lead to unforeseen issues when different things come together and you might not even know what exactly is the problem when it is a rare one, that doesn't happen for many people. For that reason I would stay away from especially anything that makes changes to game mechanics - at least for your first playthrough. Cosmetic mods should usually be fine, I think. In general it is good to really know well what you are doing when installing such mods as some conflict with each other or are outdated or just have some things not implemented well from the start and never got fixed so they might not work properly. I usually read a lot of comments and bug reports from people before using a mod because some things can be avoided beforehand or I might decide it is not worth the risk in the first place. Another thing I noticed is the lockbash mod. It's kind of a bit like cheating and you are taking away a mechanic in the game with making this option available to any character. As a mage you normally cannot open locked containers or doors. Usually you would have to rely on a companion with that skill then and also skill them in the right way so they are able to open the higher ranking locks.This takes balancing all of this away and is also a bit disappointing from a roleplaying perspective. I get, that it is not that important however. Usually locked containers don't have important stuff anyway. But it is something, that you would at least have to consider, how you manage your companions abilities and where you put skill points, what you prioritise and what party composition you choose for which quest. But as I said, not really that important, more personal preference, I think.

[@nomeaning4771]

I have been waiting for this video for a while 🎉

[@_shhenanigans_]

Poor Duncan 😭

[@patinho5589]

I think the mind blast would have worked.. but that you were out of range. Ogres don’t have strong minds after all.

[@kevinhanke6212]

When you're attacking even a little bump or stool can block your attacks, so you must have a free attack line. And i had problems with the continouse spells and sometimes deactivate them and activate them again when switching companions, because the new ones didn't have them.

[@Augustus087]

Can you specify exactly what patches you are using so we can avoid a mistake? Thanks! Nice touch with the ears.

[@_shhenanigans_]

Wait, what does this mean 😳😅? I have installed 4gb patch, Quinn + Dain fix (but removed the lucky folder and out of combat speed). I think those are it as far as patches/fixes go.

[@Augustus087]

@@_shhenanigans_ Thank you.

[@BryanCF]

What mod are you using for Auto Loot? I started a playthrough after watching your videos, but the mod I found on the Nexus is not as good as yours. haha

[@briangronberg6507]

“Men’s hearts hold shadows darker than any tainted creature.” So good!

[@taymazkhan-nt8jw]

1:21:40 ....yeah when it comes to loghain its not that simple. In my opinion Cailan from a purely strategical pov was an idiot.

[@anamimi18]

15:10 not only force field incapacitates enemies, but it can also protect allies, keep it in mind if someone gets grabbed or if you need to protect someone

[@inquisitive6786]

Should check out the city elf in the alienage origin until ostagar too and show us😊 then go back to this one😊

[@davidvaughan5512]

I always forget how amazing the Battle of Ostagar cinematics are.

[@Master_Chitlin]

Just started watching. Was really looking forward to watching you go further in this game. I’m so torn because I also want to watch you play more Mass Effect too 😂 keep up the good work, love your content and keep it coming. Also I love the cosplay. Looks great!

[@_shhenanigans_]

There was so much elf and mage hate on my first video, I had to throw on the elf ears 😭🤣

[@Master_Chitlin]

@@_shhenanigans_ elf mage is my canon play through 💪

[@Kiayin7]

Don't listen to the haters, elf + mage is an excellent combination, especially as an introduction to the setting. You're immersed right away in some of the most unique aspects of the lore, and mages have the most versatile gameplay. That's part of why it's extremely popular. And the cosplay is fun, those ears look amazing! ☺️

[@_shhenanigans_]

It really surprised me the comments about how it was the least interesting start to the game. It feels like in games like this, selecting humans gets more pushback

[@johndes66677]

Many different paths you can follow in DAO game as DA2 was first a dlc for DAO called Exodus... i hope you really enjoy story games by BioWare

[@_shhenanigans_]

I’ve been loving biowares games so far! So much so that eventually I may even try kotor and I don’t even like Star Wars!

[@tahnadana5435]

are you convince that its better made than any of the new ones now?

[@Master_Chitlin]

Yes Morrigan is a fan favorite and a pixel crush for a lot of young men, myself included (when I was a young man haha). I don’t remember all of the combinations but you can use different things to interact with each other. Like the way winters grasp freezes things solid, there are other spells and even abilities from other classes that will “shatter” the frozen target doing a lot of damage. Might be worth while looking up a spoiler free build guide if you want to have more direction with your build but there’s also nothing wrong with just winging it.

[@patinho5589]

Your character looks like you..! And your reactions are heartfelt and excellent.. you are truly experiencing the story and the game… which I think is one of the finest works of art in human history!

[@_shhenanigans_]

I’m having so much fun playing!

[@kamilkukowski5369]

The camp is an area in the top right corner of the world map

[@IC-vq9sz]

Duncan is indeed dead, Loghain is indeed a traitor.

[@bellehed]

So glad I found your channel! And so happy that you're playing one of my favourite game all time! And also love that you basically play as I do haha 😆

[@_shhenanigans_]

I’m so glad you’re here!

[@marko21xx]

7:25 Oh true!.. I use blood and gore everytime I go out!.. xD

[@_shhenanigans_]

Works every time!

[@ЯрославЛ-ф1ж]

12:00 sounds like someone needs to play actual horror games. Ostensibly to make this sort of stuff easier but realistically for the audience's amusement.

[@_shhenanigans_]

I love horror movies but watch them like this 🫣. It would be so hard to play a horror game like that 🤣

[@mayaamis]

hi in setting you can toggle on the setting that makes all lootable and intractable objects always visible in the environment (otherwise without it you need to hold tab to see them) it's a good option to turn on so you dont miss the loot and notes etc :) You are doing great in combat!! awwww I love this game and character so much always love seeing them again

[@mayaamis]

p.s. if you love Winters Grasp you will LOVE "Cone Of Cold" spell

[@draakgast]

Lol, hey we all sometbimes make that classic blunder of "wandering to far into the story" and miss out on things 😂

[@_shhenanigans_]

Thank you for saying this! I think it’s forgotten that it’s a blind playthrough and this will likely happen often.

[@Papaneeks]

For those who have watched Star Trek Voyager, Morrigan’s mother is Janeway.

[@Nebula_Coffee]

She has such a distinctive voice. I think she is great as Flemeth, I couldn't imagine someone else voicing her.

[@bluemoon1716]

Bioware used a bunch of star trek actors in their games. Janeway, Tuvok, Deanna Troi, even Worf

[@kamilkukowski5369]

My favorite spell is the living bomb , good for groups of nasties

[@_shhenanigans_]

Oooh I need to see what that is all about!

[@joandsarah77]

I knew you would find the end of that fight upsetting, it's extreamly brutal. And yes your first thoughts about Logain leaving when they should be flanking are correct.

[@_shhenanigans_]

It took me by surprise! I know that others in comments have said that it was the right choice because they were overwhelmed, but it didn’t even seem like they tried. Just noped on out 😭

[@joandsarah77]

@@_shhenanigans_ Overwhelmed? I mean it's possible they might have still been, but that isn't the reason for his withdrawing the troops. You will find out more as the story progresses.

[@ANCIENTWARRI0R]

Great playthrough.

[@Papaneeks]

Also for those who don’t know, Duncan is Master Splinter front the ol Ninja Turtles cartoon.

[@joandsarah77]

Chickens 😄 I think they are meant to be some form of squirrel but that sound is all through the wilds. Pretty sure all the hangings you see over the course of the game are done by the dark spawn. My other suggestion when it comes to picking your characters spells/abilities, is check all along the row you are choosing, there are some very strong spells and abilities in forth spot, even if you have to pick up or 1 or 2 you don't bother to use along the way. So you may not use force field, but the last spell in that row is very OP.

[@joandsarah77]

My best advice is travel the entire map to the edges and hold down TAB a lot. This highlights items, codex, quests. Sell and sell some more to every merchant you come across as some can be scarce in large areas. Check every vendor for a back pack and check early and check later as they get them at different times. Some will never have one some will have one but sometimes two. Go to camp often, this is the best place to make sure everyone has the best gear and to chat and sell to the merchant you will get there. You can kind of use him as a storage chest. Dialogue is not just for amusement it can effect the outcome of the game. Save often.

[@kevinhanke6212]

Also use the tactic options. They are really helpful for example you can order that if a fiend is frozen Alistair uses a attack with shatter ability or that he deactivate or activate continouse abilities when specific conditions are met.

[@balrog92000]

1:01:14 One of the most useful mods I have that I always use is the bag of holding mod. You can collect as much loot as you want and then sell it the next time you meet a merchant.

[@maf939]

Now Dragon Age Origins actually begins..Good luck !!

[@shyanfakhraey4841]

Morrigan only romanceable with male character and Alistair only romanceable with female character first time i played game i find Alistair little bit annoying more i played game and did his romance in my third playthrough i come really like alistair

[@Papaneeks]

“From this moment forth, you are a Grey Warden.•

[@mutantanemone]

YES! I'm so excited to see your journey continue. 🥳

[@nevsca]

Oh Shen , superb episode .... have played this game for 14 years and you do it justice ..... sooooo looking forward to the rest of your journey .... the elf ears are gorgeous.

[@_shhenanigans_]

I’m really enjoying it so far! The NPCs are so interesting

[@idthejc]

Welcome back for episode 3! Good to see the journey continuing. Thank you again for the 4GB patch advise. I got that set up and the game experience is a million times better! Thank you!

[@_shhenanigans_]

Yay, I’m so glad it worked!

[@eriiiin]

5:08 made me laugh, I do that too 💀 it could be the most important cutscene in the game with jaw dropping information but if it cuts to my character I’m always like “She’s so pretty I love her nothing else is important rn 💕✨ “

[@_shhenanigans_]

I love this 🤣🥰

[@CimmerianAssassin]

I like how you kept the connection between the ogre here and kasumi mass effect 2 mission. People forget about those connections or never played one of the two games. You'll find other random connection or two to mass effect here as well

[@_shhenanigans_]

I think I only remember because I was appalled at seeing the ogre in the vault during kasumis mission 🤣. I thought it was an alien foe we’d meet in the future

[@SamSung-dh8dr]

1:08:29 A choice you won't regret.

[@_shhenanigans_]

@@SamSung-dh8dr is this where narrator voice steps in and says: “she will, in fact, regret this later.” 😅😭?!?!?

[@SamSung-dh8dr]

@@_shhenanigans_ Hahaha 😆😆 As a mage, cunning will be able to solve problems that force can only make worse.

[@johandark5736]

Hi, I see you are experiencing the things others wrote about in the previous comments :D Do not worry, it happened to most, if not all of us on our first playthrough. If you want, I offer a few tips: - As you already know, and experienced, sell all unnecessary items before going to new locations, and even return to merchants mid locations if you have less than 10 inventory space left, just to be sure. Even then you will most likely leave the merchant with 50% of your inventory full of "consumables, gear for later, gifts etc". - The progress is event / quest driven (as you experienced in this episode many times, like the looting of the broken chest in the wilds, going near the war council etc). There is no time limit, even if the story says otherwise (but sometimes you have to save some NPC, so finishing the battle fast might be a thing). So you can take your time in most cases to search the area, look for scenery (I recommend to watch the battle from the bridge on the way to the tower next time, at least for few seconds). - Regarding the classes and stats, here are the most important ones for each class (other than those, maybe a bit of constitution for everyone can help, but even that is not necessary if you keep your TANK in the party all the time). Warriors need STR (primary) for DMG, gear and skills, and Constitution (secondary) to keep them alive. Rogues need Dexterity (Primary for melle rogues, secondary for archers), it increases hit chance, DMG for daggers and bows, and dodge chance. Rogues also need Cunning Primary for archers, but upgrade their dex too for better gear when needed), because Cunning increase Armor penetration and Crit DMG. Well build archer is the most devastating class in the game, by a lot. For mages, you need Magic (Primary) for gear, skills and Spell DMG/effectivity. Wisdom increases your Max Mana, so a bit leveling here and there helps, but it is your secondary stat. - Rogues have skills that can detect and disarm traps, and that unlocks chests (you are using a mod for chests, but you should still invest into that skill). Once you get a permanent rogue, this should be the first thing you focus on. Disarming traps and unlocking chests also gives XP. - The basic Tank, Healer, 2 DPS works great here, I usually use 1 Tank (warrior with 1h+shield), 1 Healer (only mages can do that well), 1 rogue (with maxed traps detection and disarm, and chest opening skills, usually an archer), and the 4th is my main, usually DPS char too. - Also, save often, even to the hard saves, to have checkpoints, like to sell your gear after the Joining to have space for the tower (again, beginner mistake, you will learn fast ;) ) - Maybe a bit of spoiler about party: So far a lot of your companions were temporary, so except taking away their gear before them leaving you (or their death), there was not much to do with them. But after the tower of Ishal, all companions will be (If I remember correctly) your main party companions for the rest of the game, so think twice about their lvling and gear ;)

[@_shhenanigans_]

I was so disappointed in myself when I accidentally walked near the war council and got pulled into the cut scene. I had completely forgotten Duncan saying he’d be there.

[@daxxad6]

Tip from me I recomebd If you have DLC, do Warden Keep dlc (Soldier Peak) after completion you wont have to worry about inventory space as you'll get access to chest. Store every low tier weapons armor becouse they will magically scale you in tiers in chest in return you can sell them for more, exanoke iron dagger tier 1 sells fir 15 bronze, then tier 7 sell for 1 sovering and 20 silver. That way you will afford laye game awsome items that are around 75 to 120 soverings. When it comes to junk items Sell everything except Corpse Galls and Garment's. All armors (except clothes/robes) are part of item set that provide buff (green square icon with blac armor) if you wear all 3 or 4 pices. Hope that helps.

[@trengilly01]

'Did i just join a cult' 😆 well yes . .

[@_shhenanigans_]

A cult with only two people left. Drank all that demon blood and for what?!? 🥴😭😅

[@joshuacordero8163]

The cosplay costume is pretty cool!

[@_shhenanigans_]

I don’t know how often I’ll do it, but it was fun. I was repeatedly told that elf + mage was the most boring thing I could have chosen, so had to bust out the elf ears in response 🤣

[@ZeEvilOne]

"I don't know how to feel about Duncan", well don't worry, Shan, he isn't feeling anything anymore, lol. As for Loghain leaving Cailen and his forces, if you rewatch the cutscene, they were outnumbered by a far margin. He had it right in my eyes.

[@Shadowpack95]

There was soooo much you missed in the Wilds, lore, quests, items. Please for the love of the Maker in the future explore the areas, you might not be able to return in the future, like the Wilds.

[@_shhenanigans_]

Please remember that this is a blind playthrough and things will be missed and some things may not be pursued because it doesn’t make sense for the character or where I’m at in the story.

[@kamilkukowski5369]

@@_shhenanigans_ if it's any consolation, the stuff you missed is easily missable even for a seasoned player

[@inquisitive6786]

And people think Veilguard is similar to origins😭😭 , the tower of Ishal looks like it takes place in 40k

[@Nebula_Coffee]

Really? In what way do they think it is similar? (haven't heard anything like this so far)

[@inquisitive6786]

@@Nebula_Coffee People were annoyed in general that DA2 and Inquisition are a bit lighter in atmosphere and were happy that the veilguard gameplay had a “darker” aesthetic so were kinda like: “dragon age going back to its roots”. They’re blind but many comments had this take for some reason even after the pride demon looking like a fortnite skin

[@sean437]

Well, for a Grey Warden, Duncan is old.

[@_shhenanigans_]

Wait, what? I know nothing about that. Shen’s been a a grey warden all of five seconds😭🤣.

[@sean437]

@@_shhenanigans_ You know, I questioned if I should mention it. Apologies if you feel spoiled. Eventually Alistair will teach you.

[@balrog92000]

The comments about Grey Wardens being old are not actually about their physical age, but how long since they became grey wardens. The ritual that makes you a grey warden also starts a clock ticking. When the clock reaches zero, the warden begins to go mad and degenerate. They then remove themselves from society and seek death fighting, killing as many darkspawn as possible before they are killed.

[@Bloomingtide]

Pls don't spoil these things for her tho. I am pretty sure she will being able to put two and two together once she has the full picture about why/how.

[@liberator8858]

finally why took so long. I really want to see how events will develop

[@_shhenanigans_]

For the first few episodes I’ll only release weekly, that way I can get a handle on how the game/combat works and implement and tips or tricks I’ve been given. Uploads will increase once we get a bit into the series!