VERSION 1.1
In this update, I have fixed a nasty bug with Disorient effect, and have fixed the Urn of Sacred Ashes Overseer encounter by adjusting the new [Spell Shield] to work only for the party. Additionally, [Drain Life] and [Death Magic] will now bypass [Blood Magic] penalties to allow blood mages a more sustained playstyle. Two-Handed tanking has been buffed with [Indomitable], as it was significantly more squishy than W&S. A few minor adjustments were made to several other abilities.

MOD DESCRIPTION
This mod overhauls the majority of spells and talents, as well as some other things, in order to improve combat and unlock many new ways to build and play characters. It’s simply impossible for me fit every single change that has been made in the description (those you can find in the PDF I’ve uploaded), so I will point out some of the key features:

• All Warrior and Rogue specializations are now compatible with both melee and ranged setups
• Crossbow archery is now a thing
• Warriors can be decent archers
• Shapeshifters, Arcane Warriors and Two-Handed Warriors can now be efficient at tanking
• Weapon and Shield Warriors can be damage dealers
• All specializations, spells and talents have been somewhat balanced out in power, meaning no 'must-have' or 'should-avoid' abilities
• Talent trees now allow you to take multiple approaches based on attributes, diversifying your build order and itemization. This makes it possible to have several builds that feel different
• Some abilities which were deemed repetitive, boring or useless, have been swapped with completely new ones
• ~130 abilities from Origins and Awakening have had from minor tweaks to complete remakes
• The mod doesn't discriminate in its balancing, there are nerfs as well as buffs
• Changes also apply to enemies who use these abilities, creating interesting encounters
• Various difficulty adjustments to make up for the power gain
• All abilities have been purged of bugs, as well as some item, combat and stat bugs
• In-game tooltips and effect statuses have been updated so you can play and discover, without the need of documentation (which is available for those who want it) (English only)
  

PREVIEW
The following is a very small list of some of the changes, to give you a quick idea of what the mod truly does:

• [Below the Belt] used to impose attack, defense and movement penalties. Now it strips the target from sustained spells/talents and prevents it from casting any abilities for 10 seconds.
• [Destroyer] was a passive which allowed auto-attacks to impose armor penalties to the target, which was redundant due to the branch's already present [Sunder Armor]. It will now use excess armor penetration to determine if an auto-attack will crush the target: automatic critical strike that applies a random injury.
• [Curse of Mortality] used to prevent healing on the target, which wasn't useful, due to the severe lack of enemies who heal. It has been replaced with a new ability called [Life Shift]. This new ability allows the mage to target an ally to swap health percentages with.
• [Shield Defense], [Shield Wall] and [Shield Cover] are now stances which the warrior must change based on circumstance. [Shield Wall] is no longer the one that remains active at all times, while the other 2 leave your action bar. From now on, [Shield Wall] has an advantage against melee, while [Shield Cover] has an advantage against ranged and spells. [Shield Defense] is a middle ground against mixed groups.
• [Crippling Shot] will now knock down targets who are rooted by [Pinning Shot], allowing a chained crowd control that requires better awareness
• Shapeshifting will no longer cancel sustained spells and the act of shapeshifting is now instant. Bear and Spider shapes have had their stat scaling changed, making Bears dexterity-based tanks, and Spiders - strength-based DPS. Bears also have an area of effect Taunt now.
• [Arcane Warrior]'s 50% fatigue has been replaced with a penalty to spellpower instead. Rather than go 'oom' after one or two casts, the Mage can cast just as much as before, at the cost of damage. In addition, shield-wielding Arcane Warriors have a taunt
• [Captivating Song] is now a major area of effect taunt which slows each taunted enemy and also stuns anyone who damages the Bard. This allows the Bard to lead enemies through trap setups or areas which your mages are nuking.
• Most Archery talents are now instant casts, meaning that their aim speed is the same as when auto-attacking.
  

If you wish to get familiar with every single change in perfect detail, refer to the documentation that I've provided.


INSTALLATION
This is a .dazip package, so pasting it in your override folder will not work. Follow the instructions below:

• Extract the .dazip file anywhere on your computer
• Navigate to the Dragon Age installation folder and open the Dragon Age/bin_ship folder
• Run daupdater.exe
• Drag and drop the .dazip file you extracted before into daupdater
• Click once on the added mod to highlight it and then click on Install Selected
• Once its status becomes "Installed", close daupdater and launch the game
• Select "Downloadable Content" from the main menu of the game and make sure Dragon Age Reborn is checked
• You're ready to play
  

To update the mod, download the new version and redo the steps above.

I strongly advise you to start a new game. Although the mod will work just fine with an existing campaign, you may see removed abilities lingering in your action bars, because they were learned prior to their removal. You can fix these issues by re-specializing your character (Awakening only; Origins requires a mod).

TROUBLESHOOTING
Some answers to common issues.

Issue: Duplicate abilities. If you see both the old and new versions of an ability in your spellbar, this means that you likely installed the mod mid-playthrough. Duplicates happen because you already had the original ability (which the mod cannot remove).

Issue: Missing ability descriptions. If you are using  FCR, delete "ABI_zCT.GDA".

Everyone who has empty spell and skill descriptions. (Thanks to Nika93 / MoonAerin)
1. After installing the mod, open the da_reborn_module.erf file (Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\AddIns\da_reborn\module\data) with ErfEditor.exe in "tools" folder (for example: D:\Origins Games\Dragon Age\tools). You must have Toolset installed.
2. Extract the da_reborn_en-us.tlk file to any folder. Close ErfEditor.exe.
3. Move the extracted da_reborn_en-us.tlk file to the "date" folder in Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\AddIns\da_reborn\core\data.
4. Rename da_reborn_en-us.tlk to da_reborn_c_en-us.tlk (the letter "C" stands for "Core").
5. Open the da_reborn_modcore.erf file (Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\AddIns\da_reborn\core\data) with ErfEditor.exe.
6. Delete the da_reborn_c_en-us.tlk file by pressing the Delete key, save the da_reborn_modcore.erf file.


COMPATIBILITY
Other .dazip mods which alter abilities will likely conflict. Mods which you placed in the override folder will likely override changes made by this mod (if those mods alter abilities). If using other bug-fixing mods, remove any of their fixes for abilities, Swift Salve, Magebane, Soldier's Bane, ranged aim speed, +Healing on items, as these are already fixed by this mod. If you're unsure if a particular mod might cause issues, ask!

Dain's Fixes compatibility pack: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DZTqQAgpLA46qJRDi-_XgQhC15fRI1G0/view?usp=drive_open
Thanks to stephanvdk for making this.


SHARE YOU EXPERIENCE
Use the Forum to discuss builds, abilities, party setups, you name it. Having such discussions will help improve the mod further.


REPORTING BUGS
Before you report a bug, make sure that Dragon Age Reborn is the culprit: see if the bug occurs without this mod enabled. Report bugs in the relevant Bugs section, rather than posting, as that would make it easier for me to track. Describe the problem and how to reproduce it in as much detail as you can.


FELLOW MODDERS
I will cooperate as much as I can to help with the creation of patches. Or, if you simply have modding questions - ask