Oldman, I don't, but rod or no, Shale is active and ready to go.

Obviously the problem I was having was a Vista issue. Something else downloaded, very fast, just before all of this started working. As though I only had part of the downloads and the rest installed just now.

Anyway, Shale is unexpected. How interesting, a golem, um, girlfriend, to swap fashion tips with. And how easy to get her approval rating up to max. I might take her back with me into the Deep Roads along with Morrigan and Oghren, for that final fight.

Definitely take Shale with you into the Deep Roads;

Yaaay! Hooray for you, Hagatha! Yes, take her with, you might then be able to trigger her personal quest, which is rather nice!

Only problem is that my party with Oghren, Shale Morrigan and Self (rogue/duellist) is not strong enough to get past TWO stone golems, let alone the whole bunch. I don't know how to use Shale's skills, but none of them look very useful so far.

Hagatha,

I remember that room too well... and not fondly. I brought Wynne - specced with Cone of Cold - instead of Morrigan. That way, not only could she heal the party (needed quite often) but she could freeze the golems as the rest of the team took them on. Moving through the room slowly, I was able to have only 2-3 golems attacking at the same time - couple of times I got lucky and only had one attacking. Made the battle much easier. In the end, only Shale was left standing.

Sounds like a good strategy!

Shale was always my strongest warrior. I never saw her down. Pity you never had a chance to try out her powers. Her slam is good, her throwing rocks is good, and her buffing powers are also good.
I always found Morrigan rather indispensable. If you had Morrigan, you could always throw a shield around someone who can draw aggro (like herself, for instance), and have Shale slam them as they attack her. Or you can have her put a paralyze on the boss while you clean up the rest of the room; ..-and so on.

In this game I wanted only one mage so that I could have a well-balanced party. I gave Morrigan Spirit Healer at level 14. She is now on the third tier of that specialty and is pretty much unbeatable, with her Healing and her Mind spells and the four levels of Cold and Electricity. By the time we get to the end of the game she will be a real powerhouse, and Wynne can rest her old bones.

My dual-wielding Assassin/Duelist/Thief is also unstoppable. I gave her an iron Constitution so I can send her into combat with Alistair without worrying too much.

Oh no ... help me help me!

I am completely in love with this game, I've played thru twice already. I'm on my third time and I have to ask this ... does that dog bark non-stop thru the whole game??

The first time I played, I was an elf and missed my opportunity at Ostagar. The second time, I acquired him and at camp he barked so non-stop that I had to actually start over and not accept him.

I'm playing this time as a human and I have him from the start. I love this dog, he's a great warrior! And I love dogs, but I'll be darned if I want to hear a dog barking all the time! When I go to camp, I want to talk to my new friends but I can't think straight because of the barking.

Does he stop barking, ever??

I just realized I posted this on the awakening announcement instead of the regular thread ... oops! Sorry! It's the dog, the barking is driving me to distraction!

Let's wait for an arf arf help.
I moved your post to the 'regular' thread.

I think there's a mod, maybe on Dragon Age Nexus?, that will calm down the dog a bit. Or you might need to edit an .ini file in the da settings, I think?

Many people on the DA forums at Bioware's social site have also complained about the dog barking...

Thanks Karsten, you're right, there are alot of people complaining about the bark bark bark. It really is just awful.

I guess I'll start over and this time I'll just leave the dog in the kitchen!

Thanks for moving me MaG, you're a doll!

Just in case anyone else wonders about this, I've tried 3 times to do the Human Noble without getting Dog the Barker and it doesn't seem possible. No matter where I go, the subject pops up and the quest is added on. This is really sad because I just can't take it. This doesn't make me a very Noble Human does it?

I quite like the dog and make a point of talking to him every time I went to camp. And the party member's reaction to him is funny.

I'm a bit miffed that after the coronation Dog is the only party member you can't speak to. Tht seems odd, to me. But I always get the suspicion that Dog is going away with Sten. He is a war dog, and Sten is a soldier for life, and a Mabari would never be happy settled down in a castle. Sten and Dog understand each other, and they would make good comapanions for one another. So I just pretend that Dog has switched allegiance and is going away, and that's why he doesn;t greet me at the end.

I've not started the game myself yet but one of my pals, who was complaining about the dog, found this ....

[I don't know where she found it and I haven't been in touch with her again yet to know if it solved the problem.]

"When present as a 5th party member, you can tell the dog to leave or call him
back by using a new Dog Whistle item which will appear in your inventory after
you aquire the dog as a companion."

Does it mean you can maybe be without the dog - even if only on a temporary basis ??

As far as I know, David Gaider (the lead writer) has said on the Bioware forums that Dog isn't going anywhere.

And yes, you can tell the Dog to leave, to go on searches for you...and then call him back again.

Many people on the Bioware forums are very sad about the fact that Dog, their most trusted companion, wasn't there to greet them at the end of the game...