Traps and tricks

got a bit done today in Dragon age, got 2 new part members, started several quests, figured out some interesting tricks, and died a lot.

I traveled from my camp to an odd golden icon on the map to see what it was about. tuns out that it was another of those DLC merchants, but this one was for the DLC that game free with the game so I agreed and went off to pick up my stone golem. On the way though my part was stopped by a woman saying her caravan was attacked by raiders, and for some reason I knew right away that it was a trap. Unfortunately I didn't know just how much of a trap and my party was killed instantly

After dying a couple times I decided to cheat a little and cast my area lighting and earthquake spells in the ambush area before the cut scene could be triggered, shocked and falling down assassins were much easier to kill. The main perpetrator of the assassination attempt was a rogue who talked very much like Prince Naveen from The Princess and the Frog, so I had to let him join my party (kicking my knight out).

So now my party had 2 rogues and 2 mages, it's cool but a little in balanced, as I found out when I entered the location of the golem and was killed again. After loading back at the DLC merchant I killed the assasins again, picked up Naveen, and then saved at the town of the golem. This time I did the trick of shock/quake before entering the town and things went much better (m character stilled died but the rest handled well). Then when the golem would not activate I went into Wilhelm (Ahhhhaaa) cellar, and there I found another interesting trick.

Turns out that not only can the area spells be cast through walls and in other rooms, but it also shows the names and health of the targets it's the the area of. So in a dungeon I can use it to scout far ahead and see where monsters are waiting, and then attack them long before they can even get to me. Using this trick I clear out the cellars in no time and then find that the only one who can tell me how to activate the golem won't help me until I find his daughter deeper in the cellar.

So after clearing out more ghosts (who I can't use the look ahead are trick on), I find that the daughter is save and with a talking cat (who is really a demon) and to free her I need to... solve a sliding puzzle! It was actually pretty interesting how the incorporated the game mechanics into allowing a complex puzzle, and rather fun. After the puzzle I killed the cat demon and finally got the password for the golem.

On the way back to the golem I was thinking how I already have another larger strong character in my party that I never use since he has no personality, and I figured how interesting could a rock monster be? Boy was I wrong. The golem turned out to be a cross between Bender from Futurama and HK-47 from KotOR, including the character trait of calling me "it" just for her (as much as rock can be female)own amusement.

After that I accepted man small quests from the town i saved from the demon possessed kid, which mostly involved going around and killing everything that moved, and finally wound up in the forest home of a race of elves who's help I need defeating the big bad guys. I just have to solve their werewolf problem first...