Dragon Age 3: Inquisition announced

[bystander36]

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.

Earlier on, some of the purple stuff I'd find was definitely the best. For some reasons, staves I found were usually better than what I could craft. As time went on, I usually crafted everything on my main character and put all my purple stuff on my party. You only have so much great crafting material, and I usually saved the best stuff for my character.

 

[zinfamous]

I gear all my companions with the purple/Unique stuff that you find, and occasionally the Inquisitor, too. I think I crafted 3 pieces of armor, and 4 one-hand weapons--all for the Inquisitor, throughout the entire playthrough.

 

[ControlD]

Interesting to see how much people are / are not using the crafting system.

I believe I have crafted armor (including arms and legs) and weapons for all of my main party characters (Cassandra, Iron Bull, Varric, Dorian, Sera) at least twice now. More for my character. I usually hand down my crafted items to Dorian or another mage when I get better materials or schematics. I think the only dropped items I am currently using are daggers as I have not found really good schematics for those.

Spoiler below for a decent piece of light crafted armor:

Spoiler

I find it amusing that the "formal attire" schematic is actually one of the best light armor plans. It has way better armor protection than any of the Tier 3 mage armor plans I have found to this point.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Tier 3 armor plans are sold in the hissing wastes down in the canyon. There is a merchant there. Tier 3 weapons can be purchased when you finish the keep in emprise du lion.

Tier 3 dagger and bow schematics from the tombs in the hissing wastes as well. The dual blade slicer schematic can do over 350dps if you get a successful masterwork. I ended up with two of them on one of my rogues in the last play through and it was incredible. I will play through the game again but with a different party setup and not go dual blade.

 

[ControlD]

Tier 3 armor plans are sold in the hissing wastes down in the canyon. There is a merchant there. Tier 3 weapons can be purchased when you finish the keep in emprise du lion.

Tier 3 dagger and bow schematics from the tombs in the hissing wastes as well. The dual blade slicer schematic can do over 350dps if you get a successful masterwork. I ended up with two of them on one of my rogues in the last play through and it was incredible. I will play through the game again but with a different party setup and not go dual blade.

Ohhh ... dang, I saw that merchant icon pop up when I was there and totally forgot to check it out. I know the next place I'm travelling to!

 

[facetman]

Tier 3 armor plans are sold in the hissing wastes down in the canyon. There is a merchant there. Tier 3 weapons can be purchased when you finish the keep in emprise du lion.

Tier 3 dagger and bow schematics from the tombs in the hissing wastes as well. The dual blade slicer schematic can do over 350dps if you get a successful masterwork. I ended up with two of them on one of my rogues in the last play through and it was incredible. I will play through the game again but with a different party setup and not go dual blade.

Thanks - I am level 15 and still using a picked up rare sniper bow with 100 DPS I picked up when I was level 12 for my inquisitor as I have not found a better bow or a better schematic yet. Now I know were to look.

 

[Red Hawk]

Played through the assault on Adamant Fortress last night.

Spoiler

Loved how I was able to use my Inquisition knowledge perk to talk down Clarel. The trip in the Fade was...interesting. Now I know the full details about how I came to have the mark. I found the remark the Justinia...spirit? Ghost?...made about how if you believed in the Maker before, you should still see the Maker's hand in this, and if you did not, then it changes nothing, to be an intriguing perspective.

Gosh darnit BioWare, with you and your choices. Choosing whether or not to send Hawke or Loghain to die? Arghhhhh why do I need to choose. Ultimately I chose Hawke to die, because I figured that Loghain would be instrumental in gaining the support of the remaining Grey Wardens for the Inquisition.

I was reeeeeeally tempted to make that Erimond guy into a tranquil. He was clearly unafraid of death, and I wanted to do something to wipe that smug condescension off his face. But I'm playing as a "lawful/neutral good" type mage, and to do so feels OOC for my Inquisitor. So I just sent him off for the Wardens to handle him. Maybe they can do the Rite of Tranquility on him instead of me...

Next up: Preventing the assassination on Empress Celene.

 

[Zenoth]

Played through the assault on Adamant Fortress last night.

Spoiler

Loved how I was able to use my Inquisition knowledge perk to talk down Clarel. The trip in the Fade was...interesting. Now I know the full details about how I came to have the mark. I found the remark the Justinia...spirit? Ghost?...made about how if you believed in the Maker before, you should still see the Maker's hand in this, and if you did not, then it changes nothing, to be an intriguing perspective.

Gosh darnit BioWare, with you and your choices. Choosing whether or not to send Hawke or Loghain to die? Arghhhhh why do I need to choose. Ultimately I chose Hawke to die, because I figured that Loghain would be instrumental in gaining the support of the remaining Grey Wardens for the Inquisition.

I was reeeeeeally tempted to make that Erimond guy into a tranquil. He was clearly unafraid of death, and I wanted to do something to wipe that smug condescension off his face. But I'm playing as a "lawful/neutral good" type mage, and to do so feels OOC for my Inquisitor. So I just sent him off for the Wardens to handle him. Maybe they can do the Rite of Tranquility on him instead of me...

Next up: Preventing the assassination on Empress Celene.

Spoiler

Regarding the Fade level and the choice at the end, going for Hawke made no sense, for me anyway, simply due to what Hawke says: "Corypheus is mine."

The problem I had with that line was the fact that it's not Corypheus, it's just a Fear Demon. Everyone in the party realizes they're in the Fade (it's tough for some to process the whole thing at first, sure, but they all eventually realize it), Hawke included. If you bring Solas with you during that mission (which I did) he gives more clues and details about the situation so that everyone else can understand what they're experiencing (even Solas sort of needs to snap out of its initial fascination and excitement upon entering the Fade).

It made no sense to me that only at the very end Hawke would just disregard everything that had been discussed between the party members and suddenly suffer amnesia, listens to some impulsion, "forgets" that he/she is in the Fade, deciding out of the big blue that facing a Fear demon that impersonates Corypheus instead is a good idea. It's not Corypheus. If Hawke considered that Corypheus really is his/her duty to deal with then he/she would have wanted to get out of there alive to kill the real one, not staying behind to kill a false one in the Fade.

So that part in my opinion wasn't well-written for Hawke, that one meager line just felt way too forced and out-of-context. I couldn't rely on suspension of disbelief at that point and say "Oh, actually you didn't say that and I'll choose you because you're just a bad ass fighter anyway". I had to go with Stroud and pretend that Hawke just didn't say anything.

 

[bystander36]

Tier 3 armor plans are sold in the hissing wastes down in the canyon. There is a merchant there. Tier 3 weapons can be purchased when you finish the keep in emprise du lion.

Tier 3 dagger and bow schematics from the tombs in the hissing wastes as well. The dual blade slicer schematic can do over 350dps if you get a successful masterwork. I ended up with two of them on one of my rogues in the last play through and it was incredible. I will play through the game again but with a different party setup and not go dual blade.

You must not have used dragon bone on those daggers. I'm pretty sure before I added a rune to mine, they were over 370 DPS, and over 400 DPS with master fire runes.

 

[AgentUnknown]

I played for a few min last nite. It's pretty fun. My first DA game. I am not used to the controls. Does anyone play with an Xbox controller?

 

[Bateluer]

Played through the assault on Adamant Fortress last night.

Spoiler

Loved how I was able to use my Inquisition knowledge perk to talk down Clarel. The trip in the Fade was...interesting. Now I know the full details about how I came to have the mark. I found the remark the Justinia...spirit? Ghost?...made about how if you believed in the Maker before, you should still see the Maker's hand in this, and if you did not, then it changes nothing, to be an intriguing perspective.

Gosh darnit BioWare, with you and your choices. Choosing whether or not to send Hawke or Loghain to die? Arghhhhh why do I need to choose. Ultimately I chose Hawke to die, because I figured that Loghain would be instrumental in gaining the support of the remaining Grey Wardens for the Inquisition.

I was reeeeeeally tempted to make that Erimond guy into a tranquil. He was clearly unafraid of death, and I wanted to do something to wipe that smug condescension off his face. But I'm playing as a "lawful/neutral good" type mage, and to do so feels OOC for my Inquisitor. So I just sent him off for the Wardens to handle him. Maybe they can do the Rite of Tranquility on him instead of me...

Next up: Preventing the assassination on Empress Celene.

I left Stroud myself. Seemed like the least useful individual.

Spoiler

I has a sad now though. There was a young elf you rescue in Crestwood. She's enamored with the Wardens after watching a pair of them fend off the undead attacking the village. I encouraged her to join the Wardens. She says she just wanted to help people, then gets her throat slit by Clarel and turned into a demon. I executed Erimond without hesitation.

 

[bystander36]

I left Stroud myself. Seemed like the least useful individual.

Spoiler

I has a sad now though. There was a young elf you rescue in Crestwood. She's enamored with the Wardens after watching a pair of them fend off the undead attacking the village. I encouraged her to join the Wardens. She says she just wanted to help people, then gets her throat slit by Clarel and turned into a demon. I executed Erimond without hesitation.

I left Hawke, because if I was really in that position, knowing what was happening, it made since to me that you may need the Wardens to defeat what ever is happening. Though the fact they give you the choice should let you know that it isn't needed to have Wardens, or at least him. I decided to play it the way I would if I was there.

 

[ControlD]

I played for a few min last nite. It's pretty fun. My first DA game. I am not used to the controls. Does anyone play with an Xbox controller?

I am using a X360 controller and the game plays quite well with it (and I normally stink at using controllers in general).

 

[Red Hawk]

I left Stroud myself. Seemed like the least useful individual.

Stroud? Is that a Grey Warden you get in place of

Spoiler

Loghain

if you play the game with

Spoiler

Loghain

Spoiler

dead from DAO

?

I left Hawke, because if I was really in that position, knowing what was happening, it made since to me that you may need the Wardens to defeat what ever is happening. Though the fact they give you the choice should let you know that it isn't needed to have Wardens, or at least him. I decided to play it the way I would if I was there.

Well of course you don't "need" the Wardens, in the sense that if you don't have them, you won't be able to beat

Spoiler

Corypheus

and finish the game. That doesn't mean that having the Wardens won't positively affect the course of events.

 

[Bateluer]

Stroud? Is that a Grey Warden you get in place of

Spoiler

Loghain

if you play the game with

Spoiler

Loghain

Spoiler

dead from DAO

?

Yes. Loghain, that traitorous bastard, never lives in any of my games and I'm never willing to let Alistair become a wandering drunk over it.

 

[ControlD]

Speaking of Loghain (who is in my game because I never did the whole Keep thing before I started), why did they make him look so different? It took me a bit to realize this is the same guy from DA:O. He was a gnarly looking guy in Origins, and in this game he looks like a roadie for Motorhead.

 

[Rhezuss]

Ok after finishing The Witcher 2 I tried Darksiders 2 on my new Wii U...and i'm freaking hooked dammit.
Can't play 2 games at the same time...but I really need to get DA:I started for real.

 

[Red Hawk]

Yes. Loghain, that traitorous bastard, never lives in any of my games and I'm never willing to let Alistair become a wandering drunk over it.

Loghain may have been paranoid, but his betrayal at Ostagar was done for understandable reasons. He fought in a war against the Orlesians, lost family members to them. Cailan was calling on Orlesian support against the Blight. Loghain doubted that it was even a Blight or that the Grey Wardens were needed to beat it, and he saw letting the Orlesians in as a greater threat. He wanted Ferelden to stand on its own.

His line at the Landsmeet, "where were you when the Orlesians burned your fields and raped your wives"? That actually happened to his mother.

Also, Alistair doesn't need to become a wandering drunk over it if you say the right thing to him when you visit his sister in Denerim.

 

[bystander36]

Loghain may have been paranoid, but his betrayal at Ostagar was done for understandable reasons. He fought in a war against the Orlesians, lost family members to them. Cailan was calling on Orlesian support against the Blight. Loghain doubted that it was even a Blight or that the Grey Wardens were needed to beat it, and he saw letting the Orlesians in as a greater threat. He wanted Ferelden to stand on its own.

His line at the Landsmeet, "where were you when the Orlesians burned your fields and raped your wives"? That actually happened to his mother.

Also, Alistair doesn't need to become a wandering drunk over it if you say the right thing to him when you visit his sister in Denerim.

While I understand his paranoid reasoning, it was still a traitor, and was leading Feraldon down the wrong path for emotional reasons.

 

[bystander36]

Ok after finishing The Witcher 2 I tried Darksiders 2 on my new Wii U...and i'm freaking hooked dammit.
Can't play 2 games at the same time...but I really need to get DA:I started for real.

I actually was pleasantly surprised by Darksiders 2. I liked the mix of RPG and puzzles. It was almost like they mixed in Tomb Raider with the RPG genre.

 

[cmdrdredd]

You must not have used dragon bone on those daggers. I'm pretty sure before I added a rune to mine, they were over 370 DPS, and over 400 DPS with master fire runes.

I did...every time. Notice I said over 350...not an exact number because I don't remember exactly. I think they ended up as 396dps or so with a masterwork but I slotted one with a superior rune of corruption and the other with a superior rune of cleansing. So anything living got +50dmg and anything corrupted got +50 as well.

 

[Udgnim]

experience with AMD VSR

some textures at 1920*1080 are blurry compared to what's displayed at 25*14 & 32*18, but still need at least 2xAA to deal with jaggie shimmering at those resolutions

the blurriness is only noticeable in still comparison screenshots, I'm not really going to notice the difference in game whereas jaggie shimmering is noticeable

so still going to be playing at 1080 & 4xMSAA

think 25*14 0xMSAA is possibly playable from my limited experience with it. 25*14 2xMSAA was ~30 FPS without much activity going on

playing with stock 4770K and R9 290 @ 1040

 

[zinfamous]

For shits, I started up another game of DAO just to see what was what--couldn't find my old save games. Thought they were on my backup from reformatting, but apparently not. (DAI seems to have found at least one of them, or so it said at world creation, but whatever)

It's been so long, and wow--it's quite surprising how vastly different DA:I is in terms of character build detail compared to Origins. I forgot the individual attribute control, the 2 and 3 tiers of ability trees, how so much more complex the tactical system is--because the fights are actually hard.

I was also surprised that it looks so, um....bad? I recall the textures being a little more vivid and detailed, and movement to not be so stilted.

It was like re-installing KoTOR a year or so ago, after having gone through the Mass Effect evolution at Bioware. Very similar type of game, but the character build and stats are so far gone in ME games, a forgot that KoTOR was actually rather dumbed-down for its time, but it feels absurdly complex now.

I don't know...I think I have to bring my DA:I impression down to an 8/10 from 9/10. ....maybe even 7.5 or 7 is fair. This has annoyed me throughout my playthrough of Inquisition: when you look at your character page--the grey bars at the bottom next to shield, sword, helmet...whatever. COMPLETELY USELESS. You can't even see what they describe, let alone control them outside of a few pieces of gear.

 

[Carfax83]

Here's an excellent YouTube channel that goes in depth on various abilities and class builds.

Dragon Age Inquisition class build guide

That video is for the Reaver, but he has other videos as well. It's a useful source to figure out how to optimize your character without going through lengthy experimentation.

 

[ControlD]

For shits, I started up another game of DAO just to see what was what--couldn't find my old save games. Thought they were on my backup from reformatting, but apparently not. (DAI seems to have found at least one of them, or so it said at world creation, but whatever)

It's been so long, and wow--it's quite surprising how vastly different DA:I is in terms of character build detail compared to Origins. I forgot the individual attribute control, the 2 and 3 tiers of ability trees, how so much more complex the tactical system is--because the fights are actually hard.

I was also surprised that it looks so, um....bad? I recall the textures being a little more vivid and detailed, and movement to not be so stilted.

It was like re-installing KoTOR a year or so ago, after having gone through the Mass Effect evolution at Bioware. Very similar type of game, but the character build and stats are so far gone in ME games, a forgot that KoTOR was actually rather dumbed-down for its time, but it feels absurdly complex now.

I don't know...I think I have to bring my DA:I impression down to an 8/10 from 9/10. ....maybe even 7.5 or 7 is fair. This has annoyed me throughout my playthrough of Inquisition: when you look at your character page--the grey bars at the bottom next to shield, sword, helmet...whatever. COMPLETELY USELESS. You can't even see what they describe, let alone control them outside of a few pieces of gear.

I tend to agree with your assessment overall, although for some reason I still like the graphics of DA:O. They just feel right for the game.

I haven't finished my run through DA:I yet, and I am enjoying it. However, I don't think I will feel compelled to replay this one any time soon. There is a real mystery and sense of gratification when it comes to building a character in Origins that just isn't there in the new game. Stats get bumped with abilities. There is no agonizing over bumping up one stat at the expense of another. The skills all sort of wash together, and you will never use most of them anyhow since you are limited to 8.

I know people don't like auto leveling of zones these days, but it gives a real reason to play things differently in Origins. If you know there is a path that fits a given character better (the arcane warrior sword in Haven for example) you can make a note of that for a future play through, etc.

Five years from now I can see me wanting to try another run in Origins. I'm not sure I will say the same thing about Inquisition. It is a good game that has given me a lot of play, but maybe that's enough for one run through the game and that's it.