LogFAQs > #892975964

InfestedAdam posted...

On a different note, how much of a different experience will Awakening be if I import my Warden from Origins instead of starting from scratch? Does it matter if my Elven mage died after defeating the Archdemon?

Not much. You play as an Orlesian Warden who is brought in to rebuild the Ferelden branch of the order post-Archdemon. All of the quests and story are more or less exactly the same, and most of the major characters interact with you in exactly the same way.

(Mechanically, a Warden imported from DA:O will likely have better gear and stats than one starting fresh, but it's not a huge handicap.)

The only real difference is that a number of NPCs will be a bit ruder to you in conversations (no one in Ferelden trusts Orlesians due to backstory historical reasons), whereas if you play as a Warden from DA:O everybody is a bit more polite/grateful to you because you're basically the "Hero of Ferelden" who saved the country from evil.

The one downside (at least in my opinion) is that you CAN'T set up a scenario where you play as an Orlesian Warden but have the game reference your Warden from DA:O (assuming they died). If you play continuing off a save file from DA:O where you died, Awakening just mysteriously has you alive again with no explanation and puts you in the main character role, while playing as a new Orlesian Warden just has everyone be vague as hell about who/what the DA:O Warden was and what they were like (ie, none of your previous play carries over at all).

If you start with Awakening and then upload that save file into DA2, it treats the flags for DA:O as if you were a female Dalish Elf who died (which is also one of the three preset options in DA2), but it can also cause a couple of dialogue bugs in DA2.



InfestedAdam posted...

I'm loath to sacrifice Alistair so might opt to use Loghain if I can figure out how to recruit him without pissing off Alistair.

You can't. That's an either/or choice. If you pick one, the other one leaves/dies.

If you make Loghain a Warden, you will literally be forced to either have Alistair executed or exiled. If he survives, he basically leaves the Wardens and becomes a drunk, and you can find him in the tavern in DA2.

If you don't want to sacrifice yourself, and don't want to lose Alistair, the Dark Ritual is your only real option.



InfestedAdam posted...

Of course there's also Morrigan's option which I guess based on the DLC is the canon choice?

Not canon, no. The DLC works equally well regardless. The initial assumption works whether or not the game assumes you're looking for Morrigan with ill-intent or out of friendship (or love, if you romanced her), and whether or not you did the ritual. It also takes into account if/how you handled Flemeth in the main game.

That being said, the DLC actually has the most impact narratively if you play a male Warden who romances Morrigan and does the Dark Ritual with her (and that carries over into DA:I to some extent). Though I'm too fond of playing a female Warden who romances either Alistair or Leliana to benefit from it.

(Tangential Side-Note: romancing Alistair, letting Anora keep the throne, doing the Dark Ritual, and staying together as a Warden couple has TERRIBLE consequences in DA:I - once I figured that out I absolutely refused to ever play the save file I have where those conditions all applied.)


---

"Wall of Text'D!" --- oldskoolplayr76
"POwned again." --- blight family