Hey Kids! More Dragon Age DLC Announced!

[DoctorFinger]

Been enjoying Dragon Age: Origins? I was going to say that I doubt many of you have beaten it yet, but then I remembered who I was talking to. But, whether you've beaten the game or not, I know some of you will be interested in the next batch of DLC for the game.

The "Return to Ostagar" DLC, set for release before the end of the year, sees you questing to acquire the arms and armor of King Cailan. To get this phat loot you'll have to travel to Ostagar, site of the Grey Wardens' greatest defeat. The DLC will cost 400 Microsoft Points on the Xbox, $5 on the PS3 and 400 BioWare Points (wait, Bioware has their own currency now? Since when?) on the PC.

[Jackel]

Saw this on shacknews a bit ago. I'll probably grab this one, although I have to admit so far both DLC packages have been really short. They have barely lasted me an hour, so I might hold off on a day one purchase and spend that money on Torchlight.

We'll see.

Also, why does Bioware think they need Bioware points?

[menage]

The Stone dude DLC basically gives you a whole new Chara, so that's more than an hour I think. The Warden was kinda sucky though

I'll grab this

[Illuminus]

http://dragonage.bioware.com/addon/

Sounds interesting, although... short? Hopefully it will come out soon while i am still doing my second play through.

[TrackZero]

The warden took me 2-3 hours as I recall, but I took my time with it. Really liked it. Except the quest to find the hidden cache which i only realized I had after I couldn't get back in there anymore.

[Illuminus]

Sorry, no waffles but there will be some voicework, including from the followers. We put a particular focus on the various followers who were also present at the battle.

As for precisely when it will come out, we don't have a specific answer to that yet which is why we're being vague. We're still tackling one last optimization issue and then we need to make it through final testing and certification across all three platforms.

Average playtime is always tough to pin down because everyone's mileage will vary (and developers player the game in a very different manner than a typical first-time player). I can do a speed run (skipping through conversations and cutscenes, using a buff party, controlling Dog, avoiding some combats, ignoring loot drops, not looking at the scenery, etc) in about 15-20 minutes. I suspect it would take a typical first-time player about an hour to complete.

More details from the Bioware Social forums.

[Iron Past]

Originally Posted by menage

The Stone dude DLC basically gives you a whole new Chara, so that's more than an hour I think.

He also had his own personal quest in the Deep Roads.

I liked both packs, so I'll pick this up.

[Illuminus]

I think it might be worth it for the conversations alone :P

There better be some juicy drama if you take Loghain back to Ostagar!

[Telefrog]

One hour of playtime for a typical first run? Pass!

[National Kato]

Originally Posted by menage

The Warden was kinda sucky though

The Warden DLC gave you the chance to earn two entirely new abilities:

If you chose to drink the experimental potion, you can use a sort of demon-blood magic in your attacks. It gave my Rogue two additional abilities, one permanent and one you can activate.

To me, that made it a little more interesting and more comparable to the Stone Prisoner DLC.

[Iron Past]

Originally Posted by National Kato

The Warden DLC gave you the chance to earn two entirely new abilities

Actually, two per class, so six total. Kinda nifty.

[Hotcod]

Funny thing is this is exactly the idea i had when I met him at the start... pretty much "oooo i wonder if you can get that amour" then on replays of the starting missions "some one will likely mod the amour in or do a quest line about coming back to the battle" nice know bioware is thinking along the same lines as i am for new content.

I might just hold off my second play through until this comes out then, i'm a sucker for this game and i'm clearly going to spend a lot of money on it but given what great value the game was out of the box i'm not as put off by the cost of the DLC as i might have been.

[JayK47]

Sure, why not? I mean, it will take me a year to beat the game. Lets make it longer. Lets make it cost more. Shake me upside down, I think I have a few bucks left on me. Because I pretty much want that damn armor. Minus 400 BioWare buckaroos for me.

[Hotcod]

They could have made the game 6 hours long and charged $10 more for it right off the bat :P

[Vigil80]

Hey, when I'm putting in extra time with work, this is just the sort of thing I'm thinking about. Keep it coming.

[Jason]

Add me to the sucker...er, buyers list.

[Narradisall]

I think I may hold off on this one for a while.

Lots of good holiday games and once a few bits of DLC are out I'll do a run, pick them all up and play through again with all the new stuff.

I'll still buy it, hopefully I can pick them all up together for a lower rate!

[RandoM51]

Stone Prisoner adds another area later on in the game if you develop your relationship with Shale.

Arguably the best 1h sword(you can also get it in 2h form but I don't know how the 2hander rates) in the game is part of the Wardens' Keep DLC. You won't get this sword in the keep itself, there is a random encounter later on in the game that will start you on the path.

Wardens Keep and Stone Prisoner are both worth it in terms of the items they offer in comparison to the main game, if you're into loot. The King's Armor is probably epic, but there are already more sets of heavy armor in the game than you really need. I'll have to go back to that cutscene and check out his weapons. I can't recall what weapons he used. UPDATE: Looking at pics on the wiki, I'd say that is a 2-handed sword hilt sticking over his right shoulder.

[ElektroDragon]

Can't wait.... already finished the first two DLC packs! That's a first for me.

[ElektroDragon]

Originally Posted by Jackel

Also, why does Bioware think they need Bioware points?

For their upcoming "me too" MMO cash-in efforts, no doubt!