I'm playing on easy mode. The benefit of easy mode is that you are not vulnerable to friendly fire.

I had no trouble with the ogre. I had Dog and Alistair torment him while I (archer) and a mage dropped his health. What I found strange was that my offficial game guide said that when you enter the tower a guard and a soldier would join your party. However, I had Alistair and I automatically got Dog. It was a no name mage that joined us (no guard or soldier). He was a very good mage, too. Nobody died.

Don't worry - after the battle at Ostagar is over, you get to keep all your companions that you recruit after that, -unless you specifically ask them to leave, at which point you can of course, first remove all their inventory.


Glad you're enjoying the game, Rowan! I just want to mention, that in my case, both with my mage and with my Dalish elf, I was able to trigger the quest for dog, by speaking first to the kennelmaster in camp. Then I'd get the item needed for the dog, later when you have to go out into the wilds in any case for other business.

I picked up first the guard while making my way to the tower, and the mage at the entrance to the tower.

Warning: the mage and the guard do not remain with you, though dog and Alistair do.

Regarding the long tactics post that Demosthenes posted, and other remarks about playing on "easy" and "normal"

I'd started off on normal, and then while doing the Redcliffe area, fighting a certain enemy proved so hard, that I turned the game down to easy for a while, until I decided to get Shale and some cool area effect spells. Now playing on normal again.

The biggest difference, is that on normal you have to be extremely careful of friendly fire. In fact, I had a case of Wynne killing herself with her own fireball!

So what I do, is I make diligent use of the hand (stop) button before every single battle, and I micromanage my party member's every single move. It's a bit like a chess game. Fun.

PS. Demosthenes: Are you by any chance a Disciples fan, hmm? Just wondering because of the nick...

Where do companions go after you release them from your group? I'd like to be able to change my mind and get them back.

Your companions will be waiting for you at your camp, assuming you didn't choose them to go with you. If you asked them to leave, that may be different. You can reach it by going to the exit of the city or area map and then clicking on your camp in the upper right of the world map. You can heal everyone and buy supplies there. I've had Sten waiting there for a while.

However, what I had meant was, you can let them leave you permanently if you want to, though I have no idea why anybody would want to do that.

One also has to keep in mind, that if their disposition gets too low, and party members start to dislike you too much, they can leave your camp out of their own accord. Making certain plot choices in their presence, could also make them leave you, and apparently even attack you.

The best way to have them like you, is to give them gifts appropriate to the party member. If they only like you 2 or 3 points more, you'll know that you gave the wrong gift to the wrong person. If their disposition towards you rises by 6 points or more, you'll know it was the right gift to give.

Thanks for the taunt suggestion against the ogre, Pokey. That did the trick.

I'm having a problem with the back alley quest in Denerim. I've done two of the alleys, but the last one, I think it is Dark Alley, is really difficult. I thought having Morrigan use cone of cold would help, but I can't get her to use it consistantly. Most of the time nothing happens. It is very effective when it does work but I am not sure what is wrong. I could use some ideas for winning this battle.

First of all, make sure you're in direct control of Morrigan while she casts Cone of Cold. If you issue the order and then switch characters, there's a chance her tactics list will take over and choose to do something else.

Secondly, remember that CoC, like other spells, has a fairly long cooldown. After you've cast it, you'll need to let it recharge before you can cast it again.

When you select the spell, make sure to position the cone appropriately. Just clicking the button to cast the spell won't work if you don't then tell Morrigan which direction to cast the spell (by clicking an area near her.)

Also note that while positioning the cone, the area of effect will be outlined. If there's no outline when you click, the spell isn't going to be cast.

Finally, don't try to move her until after she's finished casting the spell, as moving will interrupt it.

Thanks for the tips. I went back and tried it again and was successful this time. It is a very effective spell. We beat the thugs in Dark Alley but seems there are more even though we did all three alleys.

A small tip: If Wynne has the Stone Fist spell, target a frozen enemy with it almost immediately after he'd been frozen, and you will more often than not be able to "shatter" the frozen enemy, which completely destroys it!

Excellent idea, thanks. Am really enjoying this game and the story.

The last room in the deserted house in Denerim was tough for our levels 7 and 8. Morrigan doesn't have many good spells except cone of cold, but she was the last survivor and took down the two mages by herself. She used about every spell she had and a lot of potions.

Pokey, you are way ahead of me. I'm doing the Broken Circle quest now and I'm spending a lot of time doing the side quests here. Some of the Hidden notes are very hidden and a lot of time is invested searching for them. The Revenant was a surprise!

Rowan, I think we just went different directions. I did Lothering and then went to Denerim. Things are slowing down here so may leave and check out another area. Have you been to Redcliff?