DragonAge mod guide

Stilgar · Post by **Stilgar** » Sun Jan 24, 2010 5:22 pm

Here is a list of small mod's that helped me alot to improve the gameplay.
If you found any other mod's please feel free to add to the list, or send me a PM and i'll ad them to the first post.
Most mod's can be found at DragonAge Nexus

Storage Chest - A chest in your basecamp where you van store items. (Bioware's own mod)
Autoloot - Automaticly loot chests and bodies. Ability to turn it on/off (read the readme)
Character Respec - Lets you respec your character / party member
No helmet - Removes the helmet animation (turn on/off)
No starting abilities - Party members start out without abilities and you can level them manually
Gift Guide - Shows what gifts are intended for which party member
Detailed Tooltips - Shows a better spell/ability disciption

Recommanded by others:
Extra dog slot - Makes your Dog take up a summon slot instead of a partymember slot

fable · Post by **fable** » Sun Jan 24, 2010 7:41 pm

Good list! Shame there are over a hundred on TES Nexus, and there's barely a dozen (or less) that do more than change a face or clothing. Hopefully, that will become better over time.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 2:57 am

I'm using the storage chest, respec and no helmet mods, and they have all been great.
I'm especially fond of the respec mod, very handy! I took away Leliana's points in stealing and added them to locks/traps instead..

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 6:10 am

I'm using the re-spec mod myself, but more for build testing than anything else. I haven't respecced any of my characters in mid adventure.

How is the no-helmet mod? How exactly does it work? What lets you remove or add the helmet to your character's appearance?

Stilgar · Post by **Stilgar** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 10:55 am

Crenshinibon wrote:How is the no-helmet mod? How exactly does it work? What lets you remove or add the helmet to your character's appearance?

Every helmet animation is automaticly turned off, you get a book that you can use to turn the animation on for that character.

flix · Post by **flix** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 5:14 pm

After browsing the site, I didn't see any essential mods that Stilgar didn't mention. I also grabbed the "Interesting Boss Drops" mod for bosses that aren't guarding treasure, and the "Deathblow"mod which increases the frequency of the deathblow animations (which I had yet to see even once after a full playthrough).

I don't get the remove helmet mod though. The game already removes the helmet from your portrait and during cutscenes...I guess this mod removes any and all helmets from being rendered? What's the point of that?

If I had a supercomputer I would get one of the high quality texture mods because they look great in the screenshots.

Excalibur_2102 · Post by **Excalibur_2102** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 7:01 am

I also use the personal annoyance remover, which bassically gets rid of all the auras around your characters from things like rally, threaten and the horrible one on song of courage. Check the link for the full list, but its good if you dont want all those over the top auras on you in cutscenes. It might also help performance on lower end machines too, not sure.

Personal Annoyance Remover at Dragon Age Nexus - Dragon Age mods and community

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 12:52 pm

Recommended by Thantor, I've recently been using the [url="http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=664"]extra dog slot[/url] mod.
It makes the dog into a summon so he doesn't take up a companion slot. However, you still receive all of the interactions and events, and everything works exactly the same. I really enjoy this mod because I like dog, I just couldn't justify taking him along because I didn't want to sacrifice party banter.
You'll want to increase the difficulty level, since dog is quite powerful, but I definitely give it a big thumbs up.
In addition to having dog's "personality" along, you also have a bit more flexibility in your choice of party members for the more difficult areas of the game.
So far I haven't experienced any bugs, it seems to work flawlessly.

Stilgar · Post by **Stilgar** » Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:31 pm

Nice, i love Meatshield the Dog!
Will give it a try.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Tue Feb 16, 2010 5:00 pm

I just found a nice replacer for the female versions of the [url="http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=665"]female studded leather armour[/url]. The colours are much more saturated and they vary depending on the tier; also, it tastefully shows more skin. If you feel that armour should look more protective just download the 1_0 version instead

Seems to work fine with nudity mods.

thantor3 · Post by **thantor3** » Wed Feb 24, 2010 10:22 am

The mod situation at DA:O appears to be moving out of the simple face/hair change mods. A good example of this are these two, which I am currently installing and will be checking out:

Dragon Age Redesigned Version 6.3

Improved Atmosphere

Please be aware that these are huge mods that change major aspects of the game, so it is not recommended that you use them unless you have played through the game at least once. In addition, you need to read through the accompanying description information carefully to ensure they work properly, that you are ok with the changes they make, and that they will function without conflicting with your other mods.

Improved Atmosphere significantly changes the milieu of the game. It adds ambient NPC's in many areas that move around, makes dead enemies not disappear, adds more party banter triggers, changes the levels of armor NPCs wear, changes the behaviors of merchants, changes the items you get in your origin stories, adds new item drops, changes or adds approval for finishing quests, adds a whole new class of armor material ("Hardened Gold") and so on. All of this is editable, but you have to read the directions carefully.

Dragon Age Redesigned changes the look of your companions and most of the named NPCs in the game. The changes occur via an installer, so you do have some control over what is installed or not. For example, you have the choice of three settings: Lore (for example on this setting Wynne looks older), Aesthetic (makes the NPCs look prettier or more balanced), and Recommended. You can also choose whether to change the look of your companions (Morrigan has 3 or 4 versions) or not. There are numerous image files on the authors page (use the tabs/links right above the Description section to move to Images, Files, Comments, etc.). The mod is being updated today (2/24), so you may not be able to access it until the update is complete.

These two mods are great for replay, since they really change significant areas of the game. However, they also have the potential to conflict with other mods like More Hairstyles, Don't worry Be hairy, Combat Tweaks, Pineappletree s Vibrant Colors, etc. so please be aware of this. In other cases, like in certain versions of Morrigan, they may require another mod (in this case, More Hairstyles) so read the directions carefully.

For ongoing mod development, check the Top Lists page at Dragon Nexus: Top Lists

Now, if you will excuse me, I need some me time in my Personal Castle and Harem mod...

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:38 am

I haven't really ventured at all into the cosmetic mods; in general I quite like the vanilla portrayals of the NPCs.

However, I did just install [url="http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34"]this[/url] Leliana morph.
I think it suits her voice and character quite well.

And, on the topic of Leliana, this [url="http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=793"]item set[/url] is very nicely done.

btw, any chance of making this thread a sticky?

Ashen · Post by **Ashen** » Thu Mar 04, 2010 4:59 pm

Warning about the extra dog slot! Spoilers for the actions taken, this happens in the Ashes quest, in the Gauntlet.

Spoiler

Once you pass to the test where you have to fight your own party, make sure that your dog either does not get killed or that you un-summon it (I am guessing that would do, if he is near death). Mine died and once the fight was over I could not recall it for some reason though usually it's fine.

Thinking I may find him in the camp (happened before) I went on. By the time I exited and finished the whole thing, and reached it I had 2 whistles and a dead dog on the ground in the camp. There was no way to un-do this so now I have to go back to an earlier save and do this allllll over again.

Very, very unhappy. Still love the dog though. BUT! If

Spoiler

this happened before the fight with the you know what, I would have gone ballistic and maybe decided to chuck it!

thantor3 · Post by **thantor3** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 1:29 am

Ashen wrote:Warning about the extra dog slot! Spoilers for the actions taken, this happens in the Ashes quest, in the Gauntlet.

Here is an addtional warning about the dog slot, which is that it can interfere with the middle portion of the Broken Circle quest. Spoiler details:

Spoiler

When you are captured by the Sloth Demon and enter into the Fade, there is a part at the end where you have to rescue your companions. Because Dog is part of your companion set, I was unable to rescue Wynn - Dog was there instead. I tried disabling the mod and going back a couple of saves - made no difference. Fortunately, you can confront the Sloth Demon without Wynn, but it makes the fight more challenging. Wynn reappears once you exit the Fade.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 1:58 am

I haven't had either of the two above examples occur for me when using the extra dog slot... (seems like it could be random?).
But, I've experienced my own bugs here and there. The most nasty occasion was when I decided to make one character a ranger. Eventually, the wolf showed up as a permanent tag-along that was not in my party, yet followed me everywhere. In battles, even though the wolf went down to zero HP, it was apparently immortal.
This was irritating, but not game-breaking, as such. However,

Spoiler

when I sent Irving into the Fade to rescue Conner

(spoiler in previous line: highlight).. Wynne was an automatic tag along, once that quest was over, Wynne had somehow become replaced by Dog, and was nowhere to be found, not even at camp.

I'm not sure if there was a conflict between the ranger summon and the dog slot.. or if I had the dog summoned while adjusting a character via the respec mod, which also seems to create issues.

So, basic rule of thumb:
Do not have the dog summoned in areas where party composition changes without your control.
Do not have the dog summoned while respecing a character.

I've actually just managed to get a character to the pre-Landsmeet portion of the game, and by using the above "rules" I've been fine.

And just to keep this thread on topic...

This crafting mod looks very interesting. I haven't tested it myself yet, but I intend to:
[url="http://dragonage.phaenan.net/"]The Winter Forge[/url]

Ashen · Post by **Ashen** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 6:32 am

I didn't have that Fade problem, but I did go back and forced my issue several times. The error occurred every time so just un-summon the dog to be sure there. Am not sure what is conflicting but probably the duplication.

And that sounds nice DW, thanks!

GoldDragon · Post by **GoldDragon** » Fri Mar 05, 2010 5:59 pm

I had the Fade problem, but I couldn't get Dog.

However, yet a THIRD problem with the Extra Slot for Dog:

Spoiler

If he is summoned in the fifth slot when you fight the Archdemon, AND you don't do Ultimate Sacrifice, my game crashed consistently. I ended up having to disable the mod entirely.

Hmmm.... Dog problems...

dopeme · Post by **dopeme** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 12:58 pm

Quite a shame about the dog slot mod bugs. I wanted to try it out if ever I played the game a second time. The expansion will be out soon and if I finish the game once then it'll then be time for the expansion.

Nightmare · Post by **Nightmare** » Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:46 pm

Good to know about the Extra Dog Slot mod, I've been using it so far without any hiccups.

Been using quite a lot of the mods listed here too, all without conflicts (so far).

I'd like to echo the sentiment that this topic should be sticky.

phxhawk · Post by **phxhawk** » Thu Mar 18, 2010 5:18 pm

Thanks for the head's up about using Dog in the Fade!