Game:

Dragon Age: Origins (2009)

Duration: 2:52

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18

As requested by a viewer, this video shows 2 clips of the Invincible Arcane Warrior tanking the fight with Ser Cauthrien, on Nightmare Difficulty, in Dragon Age: Origins, as a member of a party.

The party consists of:
- the Hero (Armor 63, Defense 121 including bonuses from Alistair's Rally)
- Alistair in Cailan's armor (Tier 7 Massive Armor): Armor 43, Defense 105
- Zevran in the Felon's Coat and Cadash Stompers (Armor 22, Defense 124), and
- Shale with the best Spirit Crystals equipped (with Stoneheart on: Armor 32, Defense 66)

The first clip shows the party operating with 2 tanks: the Hero, and Shale with Stoneheart on. As most players know, with the Stoneheart tree maxed out, Shale usually draws and holds all the aggro to herself in a fight. Here, the Hero still draws Ser Cauthrien's attention until she falls from Alistair's sword. To highlight the difference in durability between the Hero and the rest, I did not heal the other party members; note that Shale went down to the attacks of Ser Cauthrien's gang, whilst the Hero, with that kind of Armor, is barely scratched by all those hits.

The second clip shows Shale with Pulverising Blows on. Effectively, this means the Hero is now the sole party tank - and as can be seen, she draws and holds the aggro from all the enemies perfectly, and still walks out of there as good as new, whereas Ser Cauthrien is now missing a head, thanks to Zevran.

Even then, the Hero could still cast spells like Group Heal (video time 02:00) during the fight when someone else takes damage - which does happen; although the Hero drew all the aggro, enemy AOE attacks (magic or physical), including Scattershots, hurt everyone. The same ultra-tough Hero that ignores most ordinary attacks, also heals the party members. Essentially, a walking juggernaut that also keeps everyone else alive and kicking. What more can one ask for in a single character? She ends the fight with a Winter's Grasp (video time 02:40) when the last enemy tries to run from Shale.

Also note that I could easily have chosen to turn on Cleansing Aura instead of Shimmering Shield, which is tremendously valuable in a close-quarters fight like this, healing all the rest of the party - and it would have drawn even more aggro to my Hero.

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