Dragon Age 3: Inquisition announced

[TheUnk]

The whole % to masterwork is a mess. I'm pretty sure each item is predetermined for success or not when you first get it and not when you use it to prevent players from save/loading until it works. Either that or it just predetermines how many of a type you need to use before success.

For example lets say you have five 30% chance ones. The 4th one gives you success, load your game over and over and every single time it's the 4th one. So basically just figure out when you get it and craft a bunch of throw away gear with the rest.

 

[bystander36]

^ TW2 is great in its own way. The combat is still a little weird, though closer to a traditional system than before. The graphics are good. The story is involving, though a little hard to follow at times, yet I still enjoyed following it. The game is definitely more on rails than this, but that isn't always a bad thing.

Obviously it has great reviews, so there is no reason not to give it a go. The only turn off is likely going to come from the combat. Some people like it, some people don't.

 

[bystander36]

The whole % to masterwork is a mess. I'm pretty sure each item is predetermined for success or not when you first get it and not when you use it to prevent players from save/loading until it works. Either that or it just predetermines how many of a type you need to use before success.

For example lets say you have five 30% chance ones. The 4th one gives you success, load your game over and over and every single time it's the 4th one. So basically just figure out when you get it and craft a bunch of throw away gear with the rest.

With a 40% chance material, I tried it 8 times straight. Without success or reloading. While that is possible to have happen, it is pretty unlikely. I had a stack of the same material. I wonder if they predetermine the specific material in a stack, and they all share the same fate. So even if you had 100 of the same material, if the 1st fails, they all fail.

 

[Mem]

And how was TW2? I have it but never even installed to this point.

Great game since you can replay it twice from different sides of the story(which you choose without spoiling storyline) which gives you different quests, areas etc,looking forward to TW3 next year .

 

[Rhezuss]

And how was TW2? I have it but never even installed to this point.

The game is cool. Interesting story that pushes you forward. A bit linear but with a good story I didn't cared much and actually could follow up with it. Controls were intuitive, combat was fun but nothing spectacular.

Lots of side quests and some exploration/hidden treasures involded which was great and well implemented in a linear world. I found a couple of great armors and swords just by exploring the linear maps. You could rush in and pass some nice loot or take a few more minutes and find some nice loot.

Visually the game is amazing with "Ubersampling" and everything on Ultra. Ran butter smooth on my PC. Wind in trees, grass and plants, water reflexions, textures on the characters and environment, everything is well made and cry quality.

Dialogues were well done too and important characters had their own personality. Same faces are used a bit too much and sometimes you could think that the whole village of 50+ citizens are from only two different families lol but it's nothing that divert you from the story or the immersion.

I tried to complete the game numerous times but I think I wasn't in the right mood for it. I restarted the game 3 weeks ago and couldn't stop playing it which was a good sign.

Three chapters that sail you through the story where you meet multiple NPCs and listen to a lot of dialogues, some nicely done others a bit weird. Like many games, Chapter 1 on longer than Chapter 2 which is longer than Chapter 3. FWIW, I completed Chapter 3 yesterday in 4 hours while the first one took my multiple 3+ hours sessions.

I really liked how they did the crafting in this game. You find and can buy recipes for potions, certains materials and equipment. Some can be found in secret caves or chests, others are part of a quest.

Story wise again, the only gripe I have is while you play and unfold new plot twists or new informations there's no real concrete fact or story element that are really clear. But then you at the end you are presented with a 15 minutes dialogue between Geralt and another character and everything is said and thrown at you. So you sit back for 25-30 hours of gameplay and wondering all this time what is going on and then at the end BANG! Everything is said without restraint and you have to swallow all these informations in a short laps of time...then something happens then there's the credits

Overall i'd say it's a solid 8/10 when I mix in everything like visuals, voice acting, story, gameplay. Awesome gaming experience and coming from me, a gamer that have a hard time finishing a game, that speaks a lot

 

[exar333]

With a 40% chance material, I tried it 8 times straight. Without success or reloading. While that is possible to have happen, it is pretty unlikely. I had a stack of the same material. I wonder if they predetermine the specific material in a stack, and they all share the same fate. So even if you had 100 of the same material, if the 1st fails, they all fail.

I don't think this is true.

I used the great bear claws and saw about 1/3 or 1/4 work. I had accumulated about 12 of them and got 3 or 4 masterworks from that stack. The first 3 didn't work, then I got a couple in a row, then I got a bunch of fails. It really did seem to be pre-determined for each item though.

As an experiment, I tried re-loaded after both a fail and a successful result. Both times, after reloading, each result was the same.

 

[Subyman]

There are moments like that in DAO and DAI.

Leliana turns against you if you poison the Urn of Sacred Ashes.
Shale turns against you if you side with Branka against Caridin
Oghren turns against you if you side with Caridin against Branka
Alistair leaves the party if you

Spoiler

let Loghain live and become a Grey Warden.

Zevran will try to assassinate you again if you don't get high enough approval.
Morrigan leaves the party if you turn down her plan at the end.

In DA2 Sebastian turns on you if you let Anders live during the end game sequence.

Some of these you can prevent if you have a high enough persuade.

How do you remember that stuff? You must have looked it up. I couldn't tell you anything about DA:O and I beat it lol.

I played some more DA:I and it seems to be too easy. I don't even use the tactical view anymore. I just run in blow cool downs and hold the auto attack button. Then rotate around and potion people up if needed. The only things that give me a decent fight are 3-4 levels higher than me.

As for the side missions, so far the Hinterland side missions have been pretty generic. Stumble upon a dead body, read a note, and find some relative or, the opposite: find a relative, they tell me a story, and I go find a dead body. Was hoping for a few more interesting side missions that expanded the universe a bit more. So far they seemed tacked on to pad out the game. I'm having a good time with it though.

It is funny how sometimes the game looks gorgeous and other times it looks real bad. The characters, armor, and buildings don't look that great, but the natural vistas are really nice.

 

[Red Hawk]

How do you remember that stuff? You must have looked it up. I couldn't tell you anything about DA:O and I beat it lol.

I played some more DA:I and it seems to be too easy. I don't even use the tactical view anymore. I just run in blow cool downs and hold the auto attack button. Then rotate around and potion people up if needed. The only things that give me a decent fight are 3-4 levels higher than me.

As for the side missions, so far the Hinterland side missions have been pretty generic. Stumble upon a dead body, read a note, and find some relative or, the opposite: find a relative, they tell me a story, and I go find a dead body. Was hoping for a few more interesting side missions that expanded the universe a bit more. So far they seemed tacked on to pad out the game. I'm having a good time with it though.

It is funny how sometimes the game looks gorgeous and other times it looks real bad. The characters, armor, and buildings don't look that great, but the natural vistas are really nice.

Nope. I've just got good memory, and I've played through DAO at least 5 times. I can't remember many DA2 examples because I've only played it all the way through once. (I meant to say DA2 instead of DAI, by the way).

So you know, you're supposed to leave the Hinterlands pretty quickly to advance the main plot and open up more game areas. You can come back to do the sidequests later. If you stay too long, you'll end up overleveled.

 

[Subyman]

Nope. I've just got good memory, and I've played through DAO at least 5 times. I can't remember many DA2 examples because I've only played it all the way through once. (I meant to say DA2 instead of DAI, by the way).

Ahhh, that explains it haha. I played through once when it first came out. Did you ever play Awakening? I actually enjoyed it more than the original game.

So you know, you're supposed to leave the Hinterlands pretty quickly to advance the main plot and open up more game areas. You can come back to do the sidequests later. If you stay too long, you'll end up overleveled.

Yes, I know OP!!!!!!! Might have to choose Knight Enchanter too.

 

[bystander36]

Ahhh, that explains it haha. I played through once when it first came out. Did you ever play Awakening? I actually enjoyed it more than the original game.

I did. You are probably like me, and find combat pretty boring in the early levels. The only problem with Awakening is that a lot of the abilities started to become way OP. By the end of Awakening, I recall my Arcane mage could solo almost every fight on Nightmare difficulty. 2h warriors were pretty fun in that one, with a lot more exciting abilities than Origins.

I played through Origins and Awakening a few times. I got a whole new experience once I started to figure out how to work the tactics actions. It was almost like creating auto-bots.

 

[ControlD]

Ahhh, that explains it haha. I played through once when it first came out. Did you ever play Awakening? I actually enjoyed it more than the original game.



Yes, I know OP!!!!!!! Might have to choose Knight Enchanter too.

I'm playing as a Knight Enchanter and I still find the game to be quite fun. I'm probably not as good at this game as others however, and I still find some decently challenging fights even at normal difficulty.

I would like to say I'll go back and play as a rogue at some point, but I doubt I will start a new game immediately after finishing this play through. There is a LOT to do in this game and I have a feeling I'll want a break. Hopefully there will be some good quest related DLC that comes out in that time to freshen things up a little.

Plus, now I have to play TW2 after the above recommendations! I should play TW1 as well. And about half a dozen other RPGs sitting in my Steam account lol.

 

[Subyman]

I did. You are probably like me, and find combat pretty boring in the early levels. The only problem with Awakening is that a lot of the abilities started to become way OP. By the end of Awakening, I recall my Arcane mage could solo almost every fight on Nightmare difficulty. 2h warriors were pretty fun in that one, with a lot more exciting abilities than Origins.

I played through Origins and Awakening a few times. I got a whole new experience once I started to figure out how to work the tactics actions. It was almost like creating auto-bots.

Oh yeah, I remember having a party of three mages and a tank. It was hilarious. Light up the entire room in a few seconds. That game was really fun on nightmare with mages. I remember liking Awakening's story more and I think I got 30 hours out of it. It was a hefty expansion. I liked how it was more focused than Origins.

 

[Red Hawk]

Ahhh, that explains it haha. I played through once when it first came out. Did you ever play Awakening? I actually enjoyed it more than the original game.

I did play Awakening. It was a good expansion to Origins, though it was rather overpriced and really buggy. I think it's interesting how Inquisition is sort of a return to the premise of Awakening, with you managing an organization to fight against the antagonists and running your own castle. Inquisition is much more fleshed out, obviously.

 

[ControlD]

My problem with Awakening was that I was already so powerful as a dual wield, Assassin rogue, there just wasn't that much challenge to it. I never actually finished it. I have finished Origins probably 4 or 5 times now, but I never get around to playing further. Origins is just so good, I'm not sure I'll ever get tired of it.

 

[bystander36]

My problem with Awakening was that I was already so powerful as a dual wield, Assassin rogue, there just wasn't that much challenge to it. I never actually finished it. I have finished Origins probably 4 or 5 times now, but I never get around to playing further. Origins is just so good, I'm not sure I'll ever get tired of it.

It wasn't so much the rogue Assassin was so powerful, but I think they made the game too easy. Rogue assassins were fun, but they weren't the real powerhouse. Tanks were powerful too, and normal mages, but all of them still required support from their team, but the overall ease of the game was too great. The only class that was absurd was the Arcane Warrior (mage). Partnered up with Battlemage, and you were a better tank than a warrior, and dished out great damage and healed with nothing but sustainable spells. There were only 2 fights my Arcane Warrior/Battlemage/Druid (not sure if that was name of 3rd mage spec) could not solo and I did play through the game solo once. The mage/demon thing in the blackmarsh, as it would heal up if you were too slow, and the final battle against the mother, because you needed some range attacking on the boss, though the mage could keep everything else killed in seconds.[/spoiler]

Spoiler

It also occurred to me, that the "Father" from Awakening must have also been one of the Taventer mages which caused the 1st blight. I also wonder if the sightings of these original Taventer mages, like "The Father" and Ceryphius, is due to Marrigan's ritual. She took the soul of the old gods and changed it, perhaps awakening the darkspawn, Father, Ceryphius and others, so they had more free will.

 

[bystander36]

My problem with Awakening was that I was already so powerful as a dual wield, Assassin rogue, there just wasn't that much challenge to it. I never actually finished it. I have finished Origins probably 4 or 5 times now, but I never get around to playing further. Origins is just so good, I'm not sure I'll ever get tired of it.

It wasn't so much the rogue Assassin was so powerful, but I think they made the game too easy. Rogue assassins were fun, but they weren't the real powerhouse. Tanks were powerful too, and normal mages, but all of them still required support from their team, but the overall ease of the game was too great. The only class that was absurd was the Arcane Warrior (mage). Partnered up with Battlemage, and you were a better tank than a warrior, and dished out great damage and healed with nothing but sustainable spells. There were only 2 fights my Arcane Warrior/Battlemage/Druid (not sure if that was name of 3rd mage spec) could not solo and I did play through the game solo once. The mage/demon thing in the blackmarsh, as it would heal up if you were too slow, and the final battle against the mother, because you needed some range attacking on the boss, though the mage could keep everything else killed in seconds.

Spoiler

It also occurred to me, that the "Father" from Awakening must have also been one of the Taventer mages which caused the 1st blight. I also wonder if the sightings of these original Taventer mages, like "The Father" and Ceryphius, is due to Marrigan's ritual. She took the soul of the old gods and changed it, perhaps awakening the darkspawn, Father, Ceryphius and others, so they had more free will.

 

[ControlD]

The only class that was absurd was the Arcane Warrior (mage). Partnered up with Battlemage, and you were a better tank than a warrior, and dished out great damage and healed with nothing but sustainable spells.

Man, I have tried to build an arcane warrior a couple of times in DA:O and I just never had much luck with it. I must not understand the mechanics involved or something. It seemed like I was never able to keep my sustained abilities going without running out of mana in a hurry. Maybe it was just a fiddly build that required a lot of micro-managing?

It seemed like once I got my rogue able to backstab from anywhere he just became a wrecking ball of destruction. But, I'm sure I couldn't solo the game with him most likely. That was just such a fun build.

 

[bystander36]

Man, I have tried to build an arcane warrior a couple of times in DA:O and I just never had much luck with it. I must not understand the mechanics involved or something. It seemed like I was never able to keep my sustained abilities going without running out of mana in a hurry. Maybe it was just a fiddly build that required a lot of micro-managing?

It seemed like once I got my rogue able to backstab from anywhere he just became a wrecking ball of destruction. But, I'm sure I couldn't solo the game with him most likely. That was just such a fun build.

I was talking about Awakening, but even in Origins, they become powerful after level 15ish. I forget exactly when, early on, they were not great, but they did give you the ability to wear plate armor. The key early on, was simply to get the first ability so you could wear plate, and let it simmer for several levels. They become beastly in the late teens, when you could take advantage of their deeper higher end skills.

It was Awakening that they became absurd. With the Battlemage AE abilities, they were tanks who could damage and heal with ease. They took less damage than warriors with close to double their armor.

 

[facetman]

Ha - just finished much of one map and went back to the camp. At camp I get a request to go kill a giant bear that is terrorizing the camp ..... - so off I go ... well this was no ordinary bear. NOT to mention the family..... So get that nearly under control and another elite bear comes along ... What the heck- how many bears are there in this one small area!! CRAZY...

 

[bystander36]

Ha - just finished much of one map and went back to the camp. At camp I get a request to go kill a giant bear that is terrorizing the camp ..... - so off I go ... well this was no ordinary bear. NOT to mention the family..... So get that nearly under control and another elite bear comes along ... What the heck- how many bears are there in this one small area!! CRAZY...

Are you on the Hinterlands quest, or is it one much later in the game? I was just in the Hinterlands doing a bear quest, and by the time I finished fighting, 3 more elite giant bears died, along with 4 assassins that joined in. I think the fight lasted 20 mins. If I recall correctly, the same thing happened on my first play through.

 

[ControlD]

Does anyone actually use weapons and armor that you find as loot? It seems like once you find some decent crafting schematics there is litle reason to do anything but just sell 99% of the things picked up. Rings/Belts/Amulets are an exception of course, but since crafted items have no level requirements it seems like they are always superior to dropped loot.

I'm not complaining necessarily, but it does sort of take away from that cool moment when you kill a really tough enemy (like a dragon) knowing full well that you will simply sell everything that gets looted. I had the same feeling with Skyrim. Once I got to the top of the crafting skills in that game I could simply craft god-like weapons and armor.

 

[Rhezuss]

Does anyone actually use weapons and armor that you find as loot? It seems like once you find some decent crafting schematics there is litle reason to do anything but just sell 99% of the things picked up. Rings/Belts/Amulets are an exception of course, but since crafted items have no level requirements it seems like they are always superior to dropped loot.

I'm not complaining necessarily, but it does sort of take away from that cool moment when you kill a really tough enemy (like a dragon) knowing full well that you will simply sell everything that gets looted. I had the same feeling with Skyrim. Once I got to the top of the crafting skills in that game I could simply craft god-like weapons and armor.

That's sad, I prefer looting some nice items then having to farm mats and craft it in no time...that's where Skyrim missed the mark as many other modern RPGs.

I remember back in the days when you had to explore to actually find good items, I miss those days.

 

[ControlD]

That's sad, I prefer looting some nice items then having to farm mats and craft it in no time...that's where Skyrim missed the mark as many other modern RPGs.

I remember back in the days when you had to explore to actually find good items, I miss those days.

Yeah, I sort of like the way it was in Origins, but I guess in that game the best items had to be purchased and gold was hard to come by unless you cheated.

That being said, I suppose you don't have to craft items and could just rely on dropped loot. Once you see what can be crafted however chances are most people won't do that.

In the beginning parts of the game you rely on dropped items for sure. Where I am now though (level 18) anything I can craft is going to be markedly better than even dragon-level enemy drops.

 

[Aristotelian]

Does anyone actually use weapons and armor that you find as loot? It seems like once you find some decent crafting schematics there is litle reason to do anything but just sell 99% of the things picked up. Rings/Belts/Amulets are an exception of course, but since crafted items have no level requirements it seems like they are always superior to dropped loot.

I'm not complaining necessarily, but it does sort of take away from that cool moment when you kill a really tough enemy (like a dragon) knowing full well that you will simply sell everything that gets looted. I had the same feeling with Skyrim. Once I got to the top of the crafting skills in that game I could simply craft god-like weapons and armor.

Take this with a grain of salt, but I _only_ use weapons/armor that I find, and I've found some purple armor and weapons already at level 11 that are really good for my level.

In terms of itemization, I only have one problem - Varric. Even with Bianca arms 3, the best scope and grip I can find (I don't use a rune yet), the DPS indicated on Bianca is around 88 or so, which I find to be low. I like Varric's banter so I use him over the other rogues you get (one of whom has dual wielded epics that are each 120dps or so).

Do any of you use Varric and find that you can upgrade Bianca so that it's potent? In DA2 Varric was one of my best DPS dealers - especially if I froze targets, he'd lob these blasts with huge crit chance that did massive damage.

I have one problem so far -

Spoiler

I did a major event resulting in my wandering through a snow field for a while, and after that I can't interact with any rifts that show up on maps. There's an achievement for closing 70 rifts in a single playthrough and I think I'm nowhere near that - did I bork this achievement? Or will there be more rifts later?

 

[ControlD]

Do any of you use Varric and find that you can upgrade Bianca so that it's potent? In DA2 Varric was one of my best DPS dealers - especially if I froze targets, he'd lob these blasts with huge crit chance that did massive damage.

Once you get some Tier 3 schematics for Bianca Varric can do some nice damage for sure. I almost always have him in my party as well. It took some time, but all of the sudden I picked up several very good Bianca schematics and things got better for him quickly. I also made sure to craft him some armor that had %attack increases, invested heavily in stealth and added poisoned weapons. Once you stack all that up Varric can be pretty potent as a ranged attacker. I think you really need to craft upgrades to make Bianca viable most likely.

If I were playing as a traditional ranged mage (I am a Knight Enchanter so more of a melee character) I would probably stick more with a dual wield rogue over Varric however. I still like the "standard" party consisting of a tank, a DPS melee, support mage and ranged attacker.