I was super excited for this game when it was released November last year, but decided to be sensible and hold off from getting it until my postgrad studies were over and I'd actually have time to play it properly. It took all my willpower but now, nearly a year later, I'm done with uni and have picked up my copy of Dragon Age: Origins. 
I should mention that I got the 360 version. The PC version seemed the way to go but my 2nd gen MacBook can barely run Civ 4.
 
After sailing through the origins story (elf warrior) and fumbling my way through Redcliffe getting Allistair all pissy with me in the process, i was loving Dragon Age and figured I had a reasonable handle on the difficulty. Now 20 hours in, I'm almost ready to take it back. It has to be one of the most frustrating experiences I've had with any game I've played. I remember Diablo and Baldur's Gate being difficult but this is just maddening. Each new encounter is becoming a tedious trial of draw weapons - clusterfuck - die - repeat until I find an exploit or win out of sheer luck. Right up to the wall I've hit now (first fight in Werewolf Lair). I try in vain to work with the AI strategies to have my team remember to heal themselves before dieing but they will invariably snuff it if left to their own computer assisted devices. 
 
I can hear the shouts of "You're playing it wrong!" as i type this but, seriously, fuck that. I'm willing to admit that I suck at it, but sucking at a game has never made me want to stop playing. Super Street Fighter 4 is a perfect example - I'll regularly have my ass handed to me but the times that I do win are that much sweeter for it. In Dragon Age, when I eventually pull a victory out of thin air I just feel drained and angry. I don't feel like I won; I feel like I got away with it.
 
There's obviously an excellent game here that I'm missing and there is something about it that keeps me coming back. Everything was shaping up to be a fantastic and lengthy experience right up to this point. The story is engaging enough to overlook the at times woeful voice work, and the combat (when it works) is genuinely satisfying. What's infuriating me the most is I can't see a way past it to more of the game.
 
Has anyone else had a similar experience at the start of their game? I've decided to start again with a new character build now that I have a better feel for the skill trees. Any tips or suggestions on race/class? It's been a year waiting to play this game, and I'm not ready to give up on it just yet.

I was super excited for this game when it was released November last year, but decided to be sensible and hold off from getting it until my postgrad studies were over and I'd actually have time to play it properly. It took all my willpower but now, nearly a year later, I'm done with uni and have picked up my copy of Dragon Age: Origins. 
I should mention that I got the 360 version. The PC version seemed the way to go but my 2nd gen MacBook can barely run Civ 4.
 
After sailing through the origins story (elf warrior) and fumbling my way through Redcliffe getting Allistair all pissy with me in the process, i was loving Dragon Age and figured I had a reasonable handle on the difficulty. Now 20 hours in, I'm almost ready to take it back. It has to be one of the most frustrating experiences I've had with any game I've played. I remember Diablo and Baldur's Gate being difficult but this is just maddening. Each new encounter is becoming a tedious trial of draw weapons - clusterfuck - die - repeat until I find an exploit or win out of sheer luck. Right up to the wall I've hit now (first fight in Werewolf Lair). I try in vain to work with the AI strategies to have my team remember to heal themselves before dieing but they will invariably snuff it if left to their own computer assisted devices. 
 
I can hear the shouts of "You're playing it wrong!" as i type this but, seriously, fuck that. I'm willing to admit that I suck at it, but sucking at a game has never made me want to stop playing. Super Street Fighter 4 is a perfect example - I'll regularly have my ass handed to me but the times that I do win are that much sweeter for it. In Dragon Age, when I eventually pull a victory out of thin air I just feel drained and angry. I don't feel like I won; I feel like I got away with it.
 
There's obviously an excellent game here that I'm missing and there is something about it that keeps me coming back. Everything was shaping up to be a fantastic and lengthy experience right up to this point. The story is engaging enough to overlook the at times woeful voice work, and the combat (when it works) is genuinely satisfying. What's infuriating me the most is I can't see a way past it to more of the game.
 
Has anyone else had a similar experience at the start of their game? I've decided to start again with a new character build now that I have a better feel for the skill trees. Any tips or suggestions on race/class? It's been a year waiting to play this game, and I'm not ready to give up on it just yet.

Turn the difficulty down?

I might be wrong, but there's a Megaman-like method to which order you can tackle the story missions that make it easier.   Redcliffe is first, but I think the werewolves are supposed to be last.  

You have a at least 1 healer in your party right? I know you most likely do, but I just want to be sure. The best way to survive, at least in my experience is having a healer and lots of mana/health potions. If you don't have those, then you are going to hit many walls.

too late, already hated

If I ever go back to playing Dragon Age: Origins I know I'm going to have to start over on easy and I never play games on easy.

I've never played Baldur's Gate or any D&D style game before, and I had relatively no problems playing on the normal difficulty. What class are you playing? Cause if you're a mage, you shouldn't let him/her charge into the battle, a warrior should do that. Also, one rule that has always served me well is to ALWAYS attack magic foes first. Basically, my strategy for the whole game was have two warriors rush and have all the enemies attack them while my rogue and mage dealt massive damage from safety. Also, my mage was a healer so I could deal with the enemies tearing up my warriors. Whenever I entered a battle I switched to controlling my mage because they require the most managing of their skills. Oh, and don't forget to set your party's tactics for when you are not controlling them.

DA definatly has a ragged-ness to it that can be a turn-off when you first start to play. Its hard to sometimes get past the things they don't spell out for you, ie which locations to tackle first. I always did the DLC missions first just to get some easy levels. Then the Mage tower, Redcliffe, Werewolves then Orizimarr. 
 
DragonAge-wikia is always a good option.

I command thee, Dragon Age -- make this user hate you! No. Wait. Make them despise you! No no no... make them ABHOR you! There's not enough abhorring going on in the world these days.  
 
(In all seriousness, maybe just try it on an easier setting. I couldn't stand the combat on normal; it was frustrating as hell, but putting it on easy made it bearable... even if I still quit and never returned once I hooked up with Alistair)

Use a dedicated healer, turn the difficulty down (no shame in that, I hurried back to normal after seeing how brutal the combat could be on the higher settings) and give it time.
Dragon Age is one of the best journey's you can make in a game world, don't let the combat ruin it =)

The first wall I hit was the Arch Demon at the very end, everything else I've managed on normal as a Rogue Elf so I'm not sure I can comment on strategies to help you along, one thing I will say is Dedicated Healer, I never used Wynne until the brood mother boss fight and it would have made the rest of the game so much easier if I had put her to use earlier.

Roll a mage and hang out with Morrigan, get Cone of Cold on both, proceed to win.
Throw in a Crushing Prison for good measure.
Or go with the Storm of the Century for the lulz.
Or roll a DW rogue/warrior and put as many +dmg enchants on them as possible, watch shit die.
Or use an archer and get arrow of slaying and scatter shot, slaying kills single targets in 1 hit usually and scatter shot can crowd control AoE.
Or pimp out Alistair in best tank gear and have Wynne as dedicated healer, then just make sure to create some good tactics for them and you can sit back and let the party take everything apart on autopilot.
 
The amount of strategies you can employ in DA:O is huge, it would too long to list them all in detail.

Thanks for the tips peeps. A new game looks like the best way to go since my teams' skill trees can be best described as 'fudged'.
 
@Jasta:@Fullmetal216:
Yeah I have Morrigan who has only just got the Heal spell after I decided not to just auto level her. The trouble is she doesn't seem to be able to refresh quick enough to counter a werewolf mauling the crap out of someone.
 
@TaliciaDragonsong:
Changing difficulty is the next step. I haven't played a game below normal in... I don't think I've ever played a game below normal  O_o

It seems like they spent so long trying to make Dragon Age work that they didn't necessarily do much to program difficulty slices.  Awakening (the expansion) has all the hallmarks of a game made with knowledge of the system's ins and outs, and the difficulty is much more reasonable.  Of course, some people here will probably say it's too easy.

" It seems like they spent so long trying to make Dragon Age work that they didn't necessarily do much to program difficulty slices.  Awakening (the expansion) has all the hallmarks of a game made with knowledge of the system's ins and outs, and the difficulty is much more reasonable.  Of course, some people here will probably say it's too easy. "

What system are you playing on?  
  
If you are playing on PC, you can download some mods that will help you.  The respec mod will allow you to use Morrigan as a Spirit Healer if you don't want to be stuck with Wynne. 
 
Use the tactics as well.  

• Make a condition where everyone  will take the least powerful heal potion at 50% health and your off-tank and healer will take the most powerful healing potion at 25% health.   
• Make a condition where the healer takes the most powerful mana potion available at 25% mana. 
• Have a Spirit Healer as your healer.  Have her cast Group Heal when any party member is at 25% health. Have her cast Heal when someone is at 50% health. 

" All that said man, even after all the tips here....if you are not finding the game to be fun or for you, take it back and get your money back. Playing an exercise in frustration is not a way to spend your time.  "

I only get frustrated when I forget to tell them to Hold Position and they get killed because they followed me.

Oddly enough I could never truly like Dragon Age myself.  I played through the whole game and done as many side-missions as possible to get as much of an experience as I can, and I could still not take seriously the actors and the setting.  I didn't like the spontaneous plot point about Morrigan in the end, and the feel of continuous grind where most enemies just did the same things and hardly showed variety except with some of the demons.  Also, the blood on people looked ridiculous and I can't stand looking at a main character that almost holds one face for the entire duration of the game and never speaks my choices.
 
At least I will give props for that game feeling like an age-old classic, but I guess it wasn't for me.  I still say that game looked pretty good and played solid, minus the multitude of bugs in that game.  I'm more of a Mass Effect guy myself.  At least there was some excellent voice acting there in my opinion.
 
Oh yea a little trick to get past most of the game without a huge hassle - make use of the Ice cone spell, and instantly go for critical hits on any frozen enemy.  Petrifying them with a certain stone spell does the trick too.  A well placed Ice cone will literally take out up to 4 dudes in a matter of seconds, and allow you to just attack freely on other frozen enemies if you are lucky.  Lastly, always rush those darkspawn mages, or any mage if you see a clear path to run to him/her.  Getting rid of them just makes it easier to handle the rest via Ice spells and other abilities that can stun or knock down.

I had the same problems until I turned down the difficulty.  
I get no enjoyment out of the fights anyway, they are just to pad out the story. I finished it and really liked it  

UPDATE
So I'm now 20 hours into playthrough number 2 and it's working out much, much better - this is the game I was waiting for. Things are much more manageable now that I've specialised my talents and skills a little more. Turns out spreading yourself too thin is a real dick move. As is visiting the Dalish Elves too early.
 
My plan is to start West of the Map after Redcliffe and the Mage's Tower and work Eastward. The Mage's Tower, incidentally, is awesome.
 
Thanks for the tips and support all! Much obliged! 
And yes, @ShiftyMagician, ice cone rules all.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I had similar problems at first too. Being thrown into a this game is very confusing if you're not familiar with this style of game, like Baldur's Gate. If anyone is having problems, I reccomend watching some youtube videos of people who know what they're doing as it'll be very difficult to figure everything out yourself. I think the game did a poor job of explaining how the game works in the beginning. After one playthrough I realized that I really made a lot of mistakes in my builds, kinda stumbled my way through with my tactics, and didn't really take advantage or skills (herbalism, traps, lock-picking). I find that the more you put into trying all of the different available skills/tactical options the more rewarding the game is. I may now do another play-through in the future but on PC this time with a different build. 
 
TIP: for anyone on console, you may want to go into Advanced Tactics on the radial and experiment with using the "Hold Position" setting during battle or as you come up on enemies. I hardly used that for most of my playthrough, but it will keep your characters from just rushing in at the first sign of an enemy and you can some long range damage or spell damage in. Espescially once you get some more powerful spells. By the end, I was able to hold my position and cast Inferno and half clear out alot of rooms before engaging with my warriors. Also, I'm sure this is perfect for setting traps and waiting for the enemy to run into them.

" Sorry to bump an old thread, but I had similar problems at first too. Being thrown into a this game is very confusing if you're not familiar with this style of game, like Baldur's Gate. If anyone is having problems, I reccomend watching some youtube videos of people who know what they're doing as it'll be very difficult to figure everything out yourself. I think the game did a poor job of explaining how the game works in the beginning. After one playthrough I realized that I really made a lot of mistakes in my builds, kinda stumbled my way through with my tactics, and didn't really take advantage or skills (herbalism, traps, lock-picking). I find that the more you put into trying all of the different available skills/tactical options the more rewarding the game is. I may now do another play-through in the future but on PC this time with a different build.   TIP: for anyone on console, you may want to go into Advanced Tactics on the radial and experiment with using the "Hold Position" setting during battle or as you come up on enemies. I hardly used that for most of my playthrough, but it will keep your characters from just rushing in at the first sign of an enemy and you can some long range damage or spell damage in. Espescially once you get some more powerful spells. By the end, I was able to hold my position and cast Inferno and half clear out alot of rooms before engaging with my warriors. Also, I'm sure this is perfect for setting traps and waiting for the enemy to run into them. "

Each new encounter is becoming a tedious trial of draw weapons - clusterfuck - die - repeat until I find an exploit or win out of sheer luck. Right up to the wall I've hit now (first fight in Werewolf Lair). I try in vain to work with the AI strategies to have my team remember to heal themselves before dieing but they will invariably snuff it if left to their own computer assisted devices.    

    I can hear the shouts of "You're playing it wrong!"    

In Dragon Age, when I eventually pull a victory out of thin air I just feel drained and angry. I don't feel like I won; I feel like I got away with it.    

The story is engaging enough to overlook the at times woeful voice work

Has anyone else had a similar experience at the start of their game? I've decided to start again with a new character build now that I have a better feel for the skill trees. Any tips or suggestions on race/class? It's been a year waiting to play this game, and I'm not ready to give up on it just yet. "