Widely considered one of the greatest RPGs of all time,Dragon Age: Originshas unfortunately aged less gracefully than many games of its time. Although its storytelling and worldbuilding are still excellent, other elements don’t quite match modern standards. Luckily,Dragon Age: Originsis the most moddable game of the series and still hosts a thriving modding scene even 15 years after launch.
Anyoneplaying through theDragon Agesaga in orderbefore the launch ofDragon Age: The Veilguardwill find that moddingOriginsis the key to the best overall experience. Despite its age,Dragon Age: Originsis surprisingly mod-friendly, with a diverse set of easy-to-install mods. Here are some of the best, most essential mods forDragon Age: Origins.
Dragon Age 2: Best Mods for 2021 (& How to Install Them)
The best mods for Dragon Age 2 enhance the game and add key features, both cosmetic and integral to telling the Tale of the Champion.
How To Install
Install the.dazip file using DAUpdater
Early on inDragon Age: Origins, The Warden gets the opportunity to recruit their very own Mabari War Hound: a breed of exceptionally intelligent and ferocious dog. BothOriginsandDragon Age IIfeatured canine companions, butdogs were conspicuously absent fromInquisition, much to its detriment. Apart from offering comic relief at the party camp,Dogis also a force of nature on the battlefield and has a unique set of unlockable talents.
Unfortunately, as players recruit more companions, it quickly becomes difficult to justify including Dog in the party.TheExtra Dog Slotmod makes a simple tweak, allowing The Warden to summon Dog using a custom item.This ensures that players can continue their adventures with their loyal canine without using up a valuable party slot.
The Warden can take advantage of Dog’s unique abilities. He may dig up gifts and other assorted items outside camp.Additionally, Dog can mark his territory in select spots throughout the world, buffing his stats.
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Extract all mod files to the Override folder
Giving gifts is one of the best ways for The Warden to raise Companion Approval,and each ofDragon Age: Origins’companionshas their own set of loved gifts.
There are a few generic gifts that award +5 Approval when gifted to all companions, but others grant up to +10 Approval if given to the right companion.Players need to speak to each companion to become familiar with their tastes; for example, the witch Morrigan loves jewelry, while the dwarf Oghren is fond of all kinds of rare alcoholic brews.
TheMadd Gift Guidemakes a simple but effective tweak by placing the name of the best companion in the item description.While this may seem insignificant on paper, this is actually a valuable quality-of-life tweak. The Warden gets the maximum Approval from gift-giving, and players save time by not having to search through the Dragon Age Wiki.
Approval is tracked on a scale of -100 to 100. With extremely low Approval, companions may leave the party. In contrast, gaining Approval can unlock new companion events, dialogue options, and quests.
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An undeniable favorite of anyone who has ever playedDragon Age: Originsmore than once,Skip the Faderemoves a significant portion of a particular story mission. As part of their efforts to recruit the Circle of Magi, The Warden finds themselves trapped in the domain of a powerful sloth demon. To escape, players must explore a complex maze-like map in the dream realm, The Fade, learning to shapeshift into new forms and rescue their companions from personally handcrafted nightmares.
The Fade is worth experiencing, especially for new players, and there are even bonus permanent stat boosts to be found if The Warden explores the entirety of the sloth demon’s domain.However, seasoned players may quickly grow tired of exploring the maze, andSkip the Fadeprovides a suitable solution.
To unlock certain skills and talents, including thebest powers inDragon Age: Origins, The Warden may need to meet a specific stat requirement, so gaining permanent stat boosts is incredibly useful.
With Skip the Fade installed, The Warden still enters the sloth demon’s domain, but the mission is much more linear. The maze is removed, so The Warden only has to rescue each of their companions from their nightmares before facing the sloth demon in battle.They still gain their temporary shapeshifting powers and permanent stat boosts off-screen, so nothing valuable from The Fade is lost.
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Without mods, players need a Rogue with lockpicking skills in their party to unlock chests and doors. It’s worth noting that Rogue is one of thebest classes to play inDragon Age: Originsdue to its versatile DPS and exploration abilities. However, for non-Rogue players, having to walk past locked doors and chests can quickly become frustrating.
TheLock Bashmod introduces a new mechanic: characters can attack and break locks to open locked doors and chests.However, for the sake of gameplay balance, the mod also tweaks the game so that items in locked chests may be destroyed when the lock is broken.This provides an interesting dynamic: players need to balance the chance to obtain rare items with the potential risk of destroying them completely.
However, this mod also features an .ini file, soLock Bashcan be configured as players see fit.This includes reducing the chance of items being destroyed.
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One of theharsh realities of replayingDragon Ageis thatDragon Age: Originslacks mechanics that players often take for granted in modern games.One of the most glaring omissions is character specialization: the ability to reset a character’s attributes, skills, and talents and redistribute points to refine a character’s build. Respec is incredibly common, and in games likeBaldur’s Gate 3, players can practically respec on a whim.
TheCharacter Respecializationmod introduces a raven that appears at the party camp and in other locations across Ferelden.Interacting with it allows the player to respec their character and companions.For balance, The Warden still needs to unlock certain specializations through story decisions to make them available.Character Respecializationis a seamless add-on to the world ofDragon Age: Originsand provides a mechanic that’s become essential for most modern RPGs.
Extract mod files to the Override folder
Dragon Age: Origins’dated visuals have aged poorly since launch, making it thetoughestDragon Agegame to start playing. A few popular mods are designed to enhance the game’s aesthetic, swapping old textures with new high-resolution replacements. However, due to the way in whichOriginswas developed, massive graphics packs can cause the game to suffer memory leaks and frequent crashes.
TheRetexturing DAOmod is arguably the best option for an overall graphics boost.Although it doesn’t replace all textures, it offers plenty of high-resolution replacementsthat giveDragon Age: Originsa much cleaner and sharper look without being unsubtle. The game arguably won’t ever look “modern” even with mods, butRetexturing DAOfinds a happy medium with nice resolution-boosted textures that don’t clash with the game’s overall aesthetic.
As a bonus,Retexturing DAOanecdotally causes fewer crashes than other graphics mods.
Mod comes with its own installer and instructions
WhereRetexturing DAOdeals with environments,Dragon Age Redesigneddeals with characters and NPCs.This massive mod redesigns all NPCs inDragon Age: Originsto make them appear more realistic and lifelike than their base game designs.Like some of thebest mods forDragon Age: Inquisition,Dragon Age Redesignedcan be customized. Players have three presets to choose from in a custom-built installer:
Dragon Age Redesignedalso features optional alternate appearances for almost all companions, and custom installers for each.With this mod installed, NPCs have been painstakingly improved to look their absolute best. Depending on the preset, the effect can be both subtle and effective.
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Install a .dazip file using DAUpdater and extract a folder into the game’s Override folder
Dragon Age IIhas spectacular storytelling ability, and a lot of that is due to how its developers created a more seamless world compared to the first game. InDragon Age: Origins,the Grey Wardens never felt like a particularly cohesive organization, with its members using weapons and gear commonly worn and used by other characters.TheGrey Wardens of Fereldenmod introduces an assortment of Grey Warden armor sets and weapons taken fromDragon Age II.
Each class receives a custom Grey Warden armor set based on Grey Warden designs from the second game. Grey Warden characters such as Duncan and NPCs in theWarden’s KeepDLC andAwakeningexpansion also wear these armors, making the Grey Wardens feel like a true organization.
Additionally, these armor sets are more than purely cosmetic add-ons tyingOriginstoDragon Age II.Each armor has its own stat boosts and effects, making it viable for most of the game.
Mod comes with its own detailed instructions
Improved Atmosphereis one of the biggestDragon Age: Originsmods, and it has a transformative effect on the game. More NPCs are added, and their ambient behavior has been greatly improved. Item appearances have been tweaked and revised, and new items have also been added, contributing to overall immersion and making Ferelden feel like a real place inhabited by real people.
Perhaps the most compelling reason to installImproved Atmosphereis bug fixes.The mod fixes conversations, causes party banter to trigger more often, restores dialogue options, and even reintroduces lore-friendly cut content.Additionally, it has a modular design: players can choose whether to use the full mod or take just a few choice improvements.
To see some of Improved Atmosphere’s restored content in action, check out the video above fromSpaceExileon YouTube.
Improved Atmosphere makes so many significant changes that it’s impossible to sum up; however, its transformative effect makes it one of the best and most essential mods forDragon Age: Origins.
Source:Character Respecialization,Dragon Age Redesigned,Extra Dog Slot,Grey Wardens of Ferelden,Improved Atmosphere,Lock Bash,Madd Gift Guide,Retexturing DAO,Skip The Fade,SpaceExile/YouTube
