Importing a save from Dragon Age Origins into Dragon Age 2 on Steam Deck

[sah3sh]

So, I am just getting into this game after finishing Origins (also on Steam deck) and as a Linux n00b I thought I would leave this here in case it's helpful to others.

Here's what happened

• I had to log into EA play (connecting Steam to EA) before the game would launch
  
• I chose offline play when my newly made EA password + login refused to work
  
• Dragon Age Inquisition (sequel) imports saves from Dragon Age 2 via a system called Dragon Age Keep[dragonagekeep.com]. In order to activate the DLCs and sync your playthroughs, I would actually recommend logging into EA from within DA2. The first time I tried this, the DLCs came up as "unauthorised" (you can check this under the Downloadable Content section of the main menu before the game starts). Make sure that you are logging in with the right credentials. Apparently it's possible to have multiple EA IDs (from e.g. console games and steam games creating their own separate variants of your EA account) all tied to your master email address. This means that you may think that you've logged in correctly, but that your DLC is still showing up as "unauthorised" in-game. One way to check this is to open up the game in Steam Deck desktop mode, alt-tab out and check the EA ID listed in the EA Play app. You'll want to make sure that user ID matches the one that's listed on Dragon Age Keep. Essentially the Dragon Age Keep credentials should = the Steam EA Play app ID which should = DA 2 credentials that you manually sign into the game with. If these 3 are all the same then EA should a) authorise your DLC and b) sync your saves, enabling you to continue the trilogy in DAI.
  
• hit "new game" into the very confusing prologue / tutorial (A = pause on default community control scheme)
  
• remapped left and right mouse buttons (default control scheme has left as L2)
  
• played through the battle and chose "Events from Dragon Age: Origins" > Import from Origins (your save) --- the first time I tried this, nothing came up.

If this was you...

Copying your Dragon Age Origins save from Origins to Dragon Age 2

Several posts on this forum talk about this (importing a save on Linux, even someone asking for steamdeck specifically) but when I read these threads I got stuck because I had no idea where my steamdeck save data actually was. So here are the baby steps.

• exit out of DA 2 and hit the power button to get into Desktop mode on Deck
  
• find the file browser, you are looking for the Linux save file path described on this website.[www.pcgamingwiki.com] You will need to have "hidden folders" visible. The ".local" folder was on the home drive (for me) under steam deck. I had to click around a bit for it, it wasn't immediately visible after clicking on "home".
  
• once inside the pfx folder, you'll basically be in a mini-windows-like file system. Go to the C drive, then steamuser and then the rest of the windows path described on PCGamingWiki (same page).
  
• once you get to the Bioware folder, open it > right click > copy "Dragon Age"
  
• now find the save files for Dragon Age 2[www.pcgamingwiki.com] and paste the "Dragon Age" folder into the Bioware folder there. It was about 500 files for me.
  
• on reload the save comes up.

Note that two other people have posted this solution already, so I can't take credit for it. I am just laying out the steps here in case anyone else is having difficulty finding the save game folders on Deck like I was.

WARNING although Steam will sync your progress in DA2 and restore your save from Steam cloud even when you uninstall your game, the Deck will delete the Origins' PFX folder referenced above (that DA2 needs to copy the save from) when you uninstall Origins. So if you do want to transfer saves, you'll need to have both games installed on Deck for the duration of the transfer. This also means that your DAO saves will be gone, forever, once you uninstall the game from Deck - unless you manually back them up.

[Saren]

could you explain how to dao and da2 transfer clearer? i dont know which fileit is

[sah3sh]

Hi Saren, it's not a file but a whole folder. Look for the heading Save Game Location on this page[www.pcgamingwiki.com].

At the time of writing (Sept 2024) the path to the DAO save file is:

<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/47810/pfx/

Followed by:

%USERPROFILE%\Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age\Characters\

You copy the "Dragon Age" folder, i.e. Dragon Age\Characters, and copy that across to the DA2 save file location.

[Hades]

Bless your soul grinding the series thank you so much

[!Remmets!]

Sah3sh can I please speak with you?

[godiva1038]

Thank you so much for this!!