DA:O specs & gameplay

[ElfBane]

My rig is above Minimum but below (only single core 2.4Ghz) Recommended. Is anyone else trying this game BELOW recommended?
AND,
Has anyone ventured with a mage yet? And are they weak as kittens starting out?
AND,
Do you start out L1 (or whatever they call it), or do you start out higher as per BG2?

[Lord of Alcohol]

My video card is below spec (everything else well above) and its running perfectly.

I'm playing mage, currently level 6. You arent that wimpy to start, especially since you arent shackled into the AD&D only "x" amount of spells per day. And when you're waiting for a spell cooldown you can always shoot magic bolts with your mage staff. Not as damaging as spells but beats throwing darts.

[Luvian]

My friend made a mage and got 3 attack spells. He pretty much never has to wait on cooldown.

He kills way faster than the characters I tried so far, but then again he hasn't been in an extended fight. Mana might be a problem then.

[JrKASperov]

The game really does run very well. Other games should take an example out of this game in that department! It also looks really gorgeous from the tactical view. Like a souped up version of BG with handdrawn backgrounds but with perspective. I'm pleased about that.

[Kazilan]

In line with the original question, could people using older PCs post their specs (even just their video cards)? I was planning to get this for 360 but it looks like my computer might be able to handle it on low settings - the bottleneck would be the video card, an ATI x1400, I'm wondering if it would be worth trying.

[JrKASperov]

Athlon 64 X2 4200+
2Gb ram
Radeon 4850
Gigabyte S3 motherboard

I've got everything high except anti-aliasing (dont need it with my resolution) and anisotropic (hardly notice the difference). Playing on 1680x1050, the native of my monitor. Runs well, couldn't give you the exact fps, but I wager it is around 30 average.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Originally Posted by ElfBane ~ Has anyone ventured with a mage yet? And are they weak as kittens starting out? ~

HELL NO.

Plop a decent meatshield in front of them (Alistair... buddy!), and they pretty much fling hellfire and brimstone upon their foes. Magic is grossly overpowered in this game, and most of the difficult fights are due to nasty magic.

The NPC-mages have an absurdly random-selection of spells, so they don't really reflect the true power a Mage can have. Properly specialised, a Mage can either be a DPS-Juggernaut to reckon with, a master of Crowd Control, or just plain healing.

Heck, one spell alone made a lot of boss fights laughable. Crushing Prison. The invulnerability shield spell is also incredibly cheesy as enemies do not stop attacking invulnerable targets (I'm looking at you, Mister Revenant).

Dragon Age has thrown away the stereotype that Lvl-01 Mages are meant to die from papercuts, and lore-wise, it makes a lot of sense.

Cheers.