In response to a viewer query in a 200k subscriber Q&A for his YouTube channel, former BioWare producer Mark Darrah defined why Mages in Dragon Age: Origins had been so characteristic wealthy or “full” when in comparison with Rogues and Warriors.
“I might say it is extra as a result of the design house that Dragon Age: Origins was being constructed into was closely influenced by second version D&D,” mentioned Darrah. Superior Dungeons & Dragons, or AD&D, shaped the premise of the mini RPG golden age of Infinity Engine video games began by Baldur’s Gate.
Famously, on the time of its launch, Dragon Age was BioWare returning to its roots to make a extra tactical, complicated RPG just like the Forgotten Realms-based duology that put it on the map.
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“The truth is: [Fighters] and Rogues, they had been thinner courses. They had been easier courses,” Darrah defined. “And the Mage was the stronger, extra totally applied, extra totally thought of class. Way more difficult, when it comes to spells and such.”
This was one thing I struggled with coming to Baldur’s Gate after later RPGs like Neverwinter Nights: Feats weren’t actually a factor till third version D&D, cribbing off Fallout’s notes with perks.
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Fighters and associated fight courses within the OG Baldur’s Gates are largely there to auto assault enemies, the Battlemaster maneuvers and whirlwind assaults of later video games only a twinkle in some designer’s eye.
Mages, in the meantime, might summon demons, draw on a number of direct harm and crowd management results, and even interact with an interactive Want spell with ironic punishments for poorly worded needs as a consequence of a low Knowledge rating. You may see Baldur’s Gate 2’s Throne of Bhaal enlargement attempt to ameliorate this with the addition of “Excessive Degree Skills”—principally feats by one other identify.
I’ve all the time been a fan of Rogues in Origins, however you may see who obtained probably the most love of the trio: Warriors and Rogues share archery and twin weapon means bushes, with some particular soiled tips and the requisite sneak assaults for Rogues, whereas Warriors get unique entry to two-handers and the sword and board setup. Similar to in Baldur’s Gate, Mages have a smorgasbord of game-changing spell results.
However there’s yet one more issue Darrah factors to as properly: Origins’ relative realism in comparison with later entries within the collection. “Of all of the Dragon Ages, Dragon Age: Origins is probably the most ‘grounded,'” mentioned Darrah. “It is the one which’s worrying probably the most about all the pieces making good sense throughout the general lore of the sport.”
“So Warriors and Rogues in Origins principally do not have skills or abilities that violate physics, whereas, as we transfer into Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition and Veilguard, you get much more issues that aren’t actually doable for somebody to bodily do.”
That is one thing that all the time vexed me in Inquisition and Veilguard particularly: Why are Mages so persecuted if principally everybody has godlike magical skills now? Assassins get flash step shadow clones, Reavers have fireplace blood dragon claws, Champions in Veilguard can do AoE fireplace magic spellsword stuff. All people’s a brilliant hero.
It is definitely enjoyable and feels very cool to do wild Tempest elemental stuff in Inquisition or poison Duelist flurry assaults in Veilguard, however I discovered it contributed to this flattening impact on the category fantasies. Issues may need been unbalanced in Origins, nevertheless it made Mages really feel particular in a fiction the place they had been speculated to be extremely highly effective.
