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-   -   My Review of Warden's Keep (http://www.ironworksforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101152)

Luvian 11-07-2009 06:07 AM

My Review of Warden's Keep
 
I finished Warden's Keep last night. Here's what it is:

- Saying it lasted an hour would be generous.
- It's about a dozen fights, some I found pretty hard.
- You get a unique looking set of Warden Commander armor as well as a magical sword.
- You get two new skills. For the warrior it was an attack speed/walk speed stance that drains your life and an area of effect knockdown skill that uses your life instead of stamina. The attack animation is not bad but both skills aren't really that unique.
- You get a storage chest.
- The keep has a merchant. He sells a specialization book but I forget which one.

So basically it's a pretty short DLC. The home base kind of ones except it's a really small home base with not much to see.

If you want a couple more fights, a new set of plate armor, some extra lore, two average but different looking powers and a place to store loot maybe you'll want to spend 7$ for it. But it's really nothing special. You're basically paying for a courtyard with a chest, a mid level armor and two skills. I don't regret buying it but I wouldn't have missed anything if I hadn't gotten it.

Lord of Alcohol 11-07-2009 08:44 AM

Re: My Review of Warden's Keep
 
Thanks for putting that up here Luvian. I'm a bit broke so I hate missing anything "major" but I think I can pass on that. I think a lot of these early paid downloads will become free after a few months. Or bundled with a couple others.

Luvian 11-08-2009 04:36 PM

Re: My Review of Warden's Keep
 
Here are the descriptions of all the powers:

Warrior

Blood Thirst: The warrior’s own tainted blood spills in sacrifice, increasing movement speed, attack speed, and critical hit chance. For as long as the mode is active, however, the warrior suffers greater damage and continuously diminishing health.

Blood Fury: The warrior sprays tainted blood to knock back nearby enemies, which they may resist by passing a physical resistance check. The gush of blood, however, results in a loss of personal health.

Mage

Dark Sustenance: A self-inflicted wound lets the mage draw from the power of tainted blood, rapidly regenerating a significant amount of mana but taking a small hit to health.

Bloody Grasp: The mage’s own tainted blood becomes a weapon, sapping the caster’s health slightly but inflicting Spirit damage on the target. Darkspawn targets suffer additional damage for a short period.

Rogue

Dark Passage: Tapping the power of tainted blood makes the rogue more nimble, able to move more quickly while using Stealth, and more likely to dodge a physical attack.

The Tainted Blade: The rogue’s blood gushes forth, coating the edges of weapons with a deadly taint. The character gains a bonus to damage determined by the cunning attribute, but suffers continuously depleting health in return.

Micah Foehammer 11-08-2009 05:01 PM

Re: My Review of Warden's Keep
 
For what it's worth, my copy of the DA:O was discounted 7$ in price to makeup for the lack of Warden's Keep with the game. Not sure if that applied to ALL outlets, but it certainly did if you pre-ordered the game direct from Electronic Arts Online store. :)

uk_john 11-16-2009 12:33 PM

Re: My Review of Warden's Keep
 
Why is it, whether it's a professional review or a user review, like the one above, that no one wants to tell you that one you leave the Keep after the battles, YOU CANNOT GO BACK IN!!!!! The merchant and storage chest, mentioned about, is OUTSIDE the Keep in the Courtyard, it is freezing with snow everywhere and although the merchants have a huge bonfire, it is ridiculous they are outside and not inside an empty keep!

Ask the merchant about a Mage you left behind and he'll say that the Mage hasn't bothered him, implying the merchant has been inside! In other words, even after you know you cannot go back in the game still pretends you can!

Every bit of marketing and trailers for this DLC implied you got to own the Keep, which by it's implication means you can walk around inside of it as much as you want!

So it's bad enough that you finish the quest in an hour, but if you don't have a high level rogue or don't look in every nook and cranny, any chest you cannot open or anything you missed is lost forever!

One conversation you have with the final boss includes him asking why you're there. You can respond that you're here to take ownership of the Keep. That is the last moment where you're still thinking about every room you have fought through and wondering if you can store things in that chest or this crate.

I doubt i'll be going back to the Warden's Keep until a mod comes along that lets you back in. There are other merchants I can go to as well as blacksmiths, and thanks to a Bioware developer, there is a free mod that spawns a storage chest at the camp!

I see no reason at all for this Warden's Keep mod, especially if you paid good money for it! Get the free storage chest mod and forget about this DLC until a mod comes along that improves it dramatically. Having played through it there is no doubt this should have been part of the game, and (until the mod appeared) to force people to get this because it was the only way to get storage was despicable!

But why has no one mentioned about not getting back in? It's not a spoiler because it tells you nothing about the story! This info needs to be spread far and wide, so that more people are not succoured into spending £5/$7 for this rip-off!

Luvian 11-16-2009 05:57 PM

Re: My Review of Warden's Keep
 
You are absolutely right. I don't know why I didn't mention it, considering because I too found it really stupid. Probably because after I saw I couldn't get in I just moved on with the game and never went back.

Chewbacca 11-17-2009 07:27 PM

Re: My Review of Warden's Keep
 
Whoa, I'm tempted to save $7 bucks! No free chest mod for PS3 yet though.

Am I wrong that the the stuff you sell the dwarf merchant at camp stays there and you can buy it back o the same amount as sold? You sell stuff you want to store and buy it back if you want to use it with no penalty, right? So is the chest just more useful or wat?

Luvian 11-17-2009 07:59 PM

Re: My Review of Warden's Keep
 
I think you pay full price when you try to buy it back.

Chewbacca 11-17-2009 08:20 PM

Re: My Review of Warden's Keep
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Luvian (Post 1235515)
I think you pay full price when you try to buy it back.

Ah, well NM then.

uk_john 11-18-2009 06:11 AM

Re: My Review of Warden's Keep
 
Chewbacca, I don't understand you. You sell stuff because you don't want it, you don't sell it to buy it back! When has any merchant ever sold back at the same price bought in any game? I don;t play console, sop maybe on console that happens, but if it does, that is very dumbed down!

You can hold up to 70 items, and you can buy backpacks that bring that up to 120, the items your team is wearing is not counted and you will find weapons and armour that is weaker than what you have and that you would never need to buy back!


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