- Dragon Age Origins Mage Guide
- Mage Robes Dragon Age Origins Review
- Mage Robes Dragon Age Origins Cheats
- Mod Manager and DAModder for installing DAZips
- ModWrangler - For Mac. Thanks /u/diskarte!
- Improved Atmosphere - Thanks /u/cirion5! Important Note: Imrpoved Atmosphere can sometimes cause missing thumbnails. The fix for that can be found here. Thanks to /u/Ganrao for pointing this out.
- Dragon Age Redesigned – Adds a lot of environmental changes, and updates some of the weirder faces in the game, as well as makes small changes to more accurately reflect events and dialogue. Several variants available.
- Character Respecialization - Adds a raven to most areas with free respec potions.
- Lock Bash - Bash through locks on chests and doors you can't pick.
- No Helmet Hack - Hide helmets for your party.
- Beyond Ferelden Chest - A storage chest for your party camp.
- Sleeping Tent – A tent for your Warden in camp. Note: This appears to spawn in the same location as the chest, which render one or both unusable. I would pick and choose between this mod and the Beyond Ferelden Chest.
- Skip the Fade - Gives you all the same stat points, etc. All you have to do is run through the companion and final cutscenes/fights.
- Forced Deathblows - Because deathblows are awesome. Can also be used to turn off deathblows almost completely.
- Auto-Loot - Screw the dialogue box.
- Awakening in the OC - Adds the essential features of Awakening to the base game. I would not recommend this for beginners. It's very easy to mess up your game and likely has a slough of comparability issues.
- Sleep Until Dawn - Lets your Warden go to bed (including some interaction with your love interest), and creates a Dawn state for camp.
- Beat the Hell out of Howe - For all your Human Noble vengeance needs.
- Dialogue Tweaks - Fixes some dialogue options that are slightly not contextually appropriate and adds in responses that should really be in the game, fixes some references.
- Two Spec Sten - Because he somehow only gets one Specialization point.
- MADD Gift Guide - Adds a notation of the intended companion for preferred gifts. Be warned: it spoils the identity of the Mystery Companion if you've never finished the game before.
- Make Console Commands Visible - Some mods and game bug fixes require you to type things into the console, but the console is naturally invisible, which causes some problems. This will let you see the console text. Make sure you also grab the linked fonts.erf file.
- Advanced Tactics - Fixes and deepens the tactics system.
- Combat Tweaks - Smooths out skills and makes them balanced. Makes some of the more terrible skills actually useful.
- White Teeth - Because some of the teeth textures are really distracting.Unzip the contents of the archive, run the trainer, and then the game. Winrar 64-bit download. Note: The cheats and tricks listed above may not necessarily work with your copy of the game. During the game you will be able to use the following keys:NUMPAD0 -immortalityNUMPAD1 -unlimited amount of AmmoNUMPAD2 -you do not need to reload weaponsNUMPAD3 -easier to eliminate opponentsNUMPAD4 -$ 1000NUMPAD5 -1000 racing certificatesNUMPAD6 – 50 Boomerang darts (Wingstick)NUMPAD7 – 50 bandagesNUMPAD8 -50 grenadesNUMPAD9 -50 lockpicksNUMPAD- -more sturdy vehicleNUMPAD + -unlimited turboPlease Note!Trainer works with version 1.01 of the game.
- Symmetrical Massive Armor - This mod was actually made by our very own /u/svk151! Lets you pick one shoulder style and one glove style for the Massive armor.
- Effects Handler - Includes quite a few handy tweaks and removes effects out of combat.
- Baldur's Gate II Redux - Irenicus' Dungeon from Baldur's Gate II. Huge, amazing mod.
- Alley of Murders - 'Experience the dangerous underbelly of Denerim's streets by investigating a series of murders that will see you battle thieves, murderers, darkspawn and more.'
- Dark Times - Act I - 'A search for a cure to the eventual death sentence that comes as a result of the Joining leads the Grey Warden to the Confederacy of Malkuth, a loose collection of city states which exists south of Ferelden, beyond the Uncharted Territories.' NOTE: This is a torrent file, you will need a program to open it, such as uTorrent. Look for the required file under the 'Files' tab, labeled Torrent Dark Times Act One v1_07.rar
- Quests and Legends (Thanks /u/Shabutaro!) - HUGE game extension, and apparently extremely well done, including full voice acting.
Dragon Age Origins Mage Guide
- Vibrant Colors - Adds a ton more colors for hairstyles and eyes, as well as a bright white tattoo color that kinda glows.
- Tucked Hair - Most vanilla hairstyles, now tucked behind the ears.
- LOTC Hairstyle Collection - You can see some images under 'discussions.'
- The Phoenix Armory for Females - Has some game-breaking stats and are available extremely early on, but it has three levels of stats (including a very limited set available at Ostagar). And, they're lovely. Females only.
- Dusk Mage Robes - Again, game-breaking stats, though there is a version with milder stats, they're still pretty over powered.
- Ivory Tower and Nightfall Bloom - For your Arcane Warrior.
- Underworld Armory - Adds some more armors to the game, armor models originally from an Oblivion mod.
- Wings of Velvet Mage Robes - Thanks /u/cirion5!
- HSLI Sexy Mage Robes (NSFW) - These are not lore friendly, but some people really like these, and they are very well animated.
- HSLI Sexy Outfits (Semi-NSFW) - More lore friendly (but not by much).
- HSLI Revenant Armor - Allows you to wear Revenant Armor. Semi-NSFW version available.
- HSLI Darkspawn Armor - Allows you to wear Darkspawn armor. SFW.
- Sacred Ashes Companions - Updates Morrigan, Leliana, and/or Sten to more closely resemble their appearance in the Sacred Ashes trailer.
- Morrigan Sacred Ashes Robes - Replaces Morrigan's armor with her kickass trailer armor. Especially useful if you're not a fan of her vanilla, cleavage-heavy robes, but want to keep her looking unique.
- DA2 Flemeth and Isabela in DA:O - If you are bothered by the huge redesign they did on these characters but prefer the DA2 models, or just want some consistency.
- Armor of the Devout - New armor specific to Leliana available at the site of Andraste's Ashes, with an extra, similar set for Zevran or your rogue PC. World of final fantasy ultima.
- Armor of the Sten - Special armor for Sten, found in Lothering.
- Tranquil Tattoos - Replicates the forehead tattoos present on Tranquil mages in DAII.
- DA2 Style Qunari in DA:O - Works on Sten, too.
- Grey Wardens of Ferelden - Replaces the armor of every Grey Warden in the game with a class appropriate version of the Grey Warden armor from DA2, and spawns a class-appropriate set in your inventory upon joining the Wardens. It even changes the armor of every warden in the Soldier's Peak DLC. Extremely well done, but as far as I can tell, all the armor is low level. There are also weapons in this mod.
- Ser Gilmore NPC - Someone went through and completely fleshed out Ser Gilmore from the Human Noble origin to make him a companion. It's not voiced by the same actor for the rest of the game, but the sheer effort required is amazing.
- Ser Gilmore for Awakening is also available. With continuity.
- Karmas Origins Companions - Lets you recruit pretty much anyone, ever.
- Extra Dog Slot - Adds your dog as a permanent, summonable companion, much like in DA2. Makes the game a bit easier.
- Dog Gifts Tweak - Dog's approval is pretty much stuck at +100, making gifts useless. This mod makes each gift add stats instead.
- Mabari Recolors - Make your best friend fashion forward.
- Extended Dog Talents - When you reach a high enough level, you run out of talents for Dog. Now you won't.
- Extended Zevran Romance - Lots of small extended scenes.
- Extended Alistair Romance - More small scenes, including a special scene for each origin. Very sweet.
- More visible Alistair kiss - Because seriously.. his armor is huge.
- Cullen Romance Option - A very well done mod, if you wanted to follow up on hitting on Cullen as a mage. Adds a scene when you first see him, when you leave, and during Broken Circle.
- Free Love - Allows females to romance Morrigan, though be warned: she will refer to your character with male pronouns, and she will still proposition you for the dark ritual, allowing you to lesbian conceive. Also allows for males to romance Alistair, but again, he will refer to you with female pronouns. This affects party banter, too.
- Polygamey - Allows you to romance anyone and everyone (this is all four available romances, if you use the previous mod). No jealousy. Allows the threesome/foursome with Isabela, even if companions aren't hardened.
- Alistair's Nightmare - This is a companion mod for Sleep Until Dawn, and requires that mod for this to work. Adds an extremely well done cutscene to the game, triggered after certain conditions are met.
- Milder Romance Scenes - Yes, these make the sex scenes less explicit.
- Many flavors of extended/kinkier sex scenes - Fairly well animated, if you're into that.
- Rendezvous at the Tavern - Again this is a lot kinkier. Adds a rather remarkable number of new, fully animated and dialogued sex scenes available at The Pearl.
Being a Dragon Age Origins Blood Mage
So you’re playing a mage in Dragon Age Origins, and thinking about taking the Blood Mage specialization. This is one of the more interesting Dragon Age specializations, with clear strengths and weaknesses. On one hand the spells it grants you are very powerful, but on the other hand they subtract from your health instead of your mana. This is a great specialization for mages who tend to hang back away from the battle and not take much damage, while the tanks engage the enemy directly. That way when you run out of mana, you’ll have health points to spend on blood mage spells without putting yourself in too much danger. Alternately, specialize in blood mage and arcane warrior for a powerful mage tank.
Dragon Age Origins Blood Mage Spells and Benefits
A blood mage gets a permanent +2 to constitution and +2 to spellpower, as well as the following tree of new mage spells.
Blood Magic: This is a mode that allows you to spend health points on spells instead of mana. This applies to ordinary spells, and is necessary for the next three blood mage spells. A great option for those times when you run out of mana before the battle is over, and you’ve still got plenty of health. Unfortunately, any spells or effects cast on the blood mage while this mode is active will be less effective than normal
Blood Sacrifice: A rather disturbing option, this spell allows you to drain health from one of your allies. You gain health at their expense, and if you drain too much the ally can die. A good option for mages who tend to find themselves in the middle of battle taking a lot of damage, or a last resort to keep your mage alive at the expense of a less valuable party member.
Blood Wound: This is an area of effect spell, damaging all the enemies close to the caster and not harming any of the caster’s allies. It inflicts a good deal of damage and paralyzes enemies at the same time, unless they pass a physical resistance check. Certain creatures such as skeletons and wraiths that don’t have blood aren’t affected by this spell. This is a great spell to use on large groups of living enemies—anyone who’s played Dragon Age as a mage knows how useful AOE (area of effect) spells are. Blood Magic must be active to use this spell.
Blood Control: The most powerful of the blood mage spells, this one allows you to take control of an enemy and make it fight for you (unless it passes a resistance check, of course). Even if they do pass the check they still take a good deal of damage. As with Blood Wound, however, creatures that don’t have blood aren’t affected. Blood Magic must be active to use this spell, and it can be a lifesaver if you manage to use it effectively on a high-level enemy.
How to Unlock the Blood Mage
Spoiler Alert: This section contains spoilers for the Arl of Redcliffe quest.
There is only one way to unlock this specialization, and it doesn’t involve a book or a party member. At the end of the Arl of Redcliff quest, when you are in the Fade and speaking with the Desire Demon who possessed Connor, you must not kill the demon. Instead, agree to the bargain she proposes and for your reward ask her for arcane secrets. This unlocks the Blood Mage specialization for you and everyone else in your party.
Specialization Combinations
Now that you’re a blood mage, what second specialization should you take? Or if you’ve already taken a first specialization, is blood mage a good second choice? There isn’t one right answer—it depends on the kind of mage you want to be.
Blood Mage + Arcane Warrior: This is one of the highest damage combinations in the game. This is for the mage who loves being at the center of the action and wants to become a powerful tank. Arcane warrior spells drain mana quickly, but being a blood mage solves that problem by allowing you to use your health instead for other spells. You’ll take a lot of damage, though, so be sure to bring plenty of health poultices and buff up your constitution and magic stats (high magic means poultices will heal you for more). Going strategically in and out of blood magic mode can also help control the level of damage you’ll take.