Dragon Age 3: Inquisition announced

[Mem]

Just as an aside, I STILL don't understand how people play FP games like Skyrim with a controller. DA:I is pretty easy because it is third person. That's really what keeps me on PC these days, otherwise I might have just thrown in the towel and bought a console by now.

I use game pad for things like racing games,my mechanical QPAD keyboard (brown switches)was not cheap and is my main gaming keyboard so obviously want to use that rather then game pad for DA:I or even most games.


The engine for DA:I I hear is very hard to mod,maybe that is why Bioware used it,don't want us improving their games or any design flaws we find.

 

[ControlD]

I use game pad for things like racing games,my mechanical QPAD keyboard (brown switches)was not cheap and is my main gaming keyboard so obviously want to use that rather then game pad for DA:I or even most games.


The engine for DA:I I hear is very hard to mod,maybe that is why Bioware used it,don't want us improving their games or any design flaws we find.

I use a Razer Tartarus and a mouse for almost everything I play, so I much prefer the old kb+m setup as well. I had some tendonitis in my elbow some time ago and tried playing Borderlands 2 with a gamepad (using a mouse hurt too much) and it was miserable.

I don't think there is any great conspiracy with the engine choice though. The Frostbite engine is used for other big ticket EA games. It is an engine developed by and owned by EA so it only makes sense that this would be used for a new AAA title like Inquisition.

 

[bystander36]

I have most of those skills already,bearing in mind level 13 at the moment,anyway combat is not fun,maybe it's my gear which I've started crafting myself which seems to be better then loot drops etc,then again maybe not .

Anyway scratching my head on this one, since still end up using default staff range attacks most times while waiting on cooldowns etc...

I have no skill slots in hotbar left so will be concentrating on passive abilities(I presume you can swap skills in and out of hotbar which will be a pain to do and pointless),still no excuse why they did not give us more skills slots.

Also to get to some passive skills you need to take offensive ones so again nowhere to stick those .

I read some players reaching level 23 so that is like another 10 skills that I have no where to stick down the road unless I go pure passive ones,again how did the developers overlook this major issue?


It's these sort of things that make the game annoying,maybe not an issue for you but they should of never been overlooked in the first place,the first two DA games did not have this issue and yes it's not helping my enjoyment of this game.

As a beta tester for games myself, I would of brought these issues to attention right a way.

At level 22, I have 2 skills not applied to my hotbar (just got a new skill I can't hotkey). It sounds like you've not taken any upgrades on your skills, nor the passives. You should not be running into a lot of extra skills for some time, as you really need to improve what you have. I will admit that at your level, I was disappointed as well. In part because I didn't read the details of all the passives and upgrades, and had not worked out how to exploit it all, and simply because it takes time to get the gear and skills to make it all work.

At level 12, I did a lot more passive attacks than I do now, but as you get better crafted gear, passives and skill improvements, things get better. But as mentioned by another, you can control your whole party. It can be fun using the detonator combos too. Have your mage set it up, and your rogue or warrior blow them up with a combo. That will keep you entertained until you can keep up with your casting. Lyrium potions also give 50 mana, if you want to try being a lyrium addicted mage (I haven't gotten into this).

I do agree that it would be nice to have 10-12 spell slots. I don't think more is needed, but that would have been nice. For my current level 22 mage, 10 slots would be perfect. But rather than letting it bother me, I focus on the positive.

Btw, my hotbar looks like this:
Firestorm (focus ability)
Stonefist
Immolate
Fire Mine
Purge (or is that dispel)
Barrier
Fade Step

My armor has over 20% crit chance on it (get Great Bear and Lurker hides). On utility slots that give you con or cunning, get cunning, and on offensive slots, get crit chance.

Oh, and one other thing you might be surprised, as I was too. I'm actually getting fire mine crits for up to 14,000 damage against fire vulnerable enemy and its an AE attack. Against most, crits are 5-7k.

 

[bystander36]

I have always played male characters in RPGs. I'm not sure I have ever played a female character unless the game required it. Usually I make a character that looks as close to what I look like IRL actually.

Maybe I should try playing a female character one of these days and see what I'm missing out on!

I never tried a female character in an RPG, especially Bioware games, until recently. I prefer to have the romance interactions to be of the right persuasion. It feels weird when you talk to a guy and he starts flirting with me. Though that seems to happen a bit more now with all the gay relationships (seems there may be more gay than straight relationships. They even have a codex talking about it).

I only tried going female in DA:Origins because I had exhausted all my romance options, and wanted to see something new. Now, with all the bisexual options, I may try it more in this game.

 

[bystander36]

I use a Razer Tartarus and a mouse for almost everything I play, so I much prefer the old kb+m setup as well. I had some tendonitis in my elbow some time ago and tried playing Borderlands 2 with a gamepad (using a mouse hurt too much) and it was miserable.

I don't think there is any great conspiracy with the engine choice though. The Frostbite engine is used for other big ticket EA games. It is an engine developed by and owned by EA so it only makes sense that this would be used for a new AAA title like Inquisition.

I used to use the Belkin Nostromo 52e, which is what Razor purchased and has evolved into what you are using. I have never gone back to gaming with a keyboard since. I use the Logitech G13 now. Most because of the Lua scripting ability it has which allowed me to put shift keys on my mouse to control the G13. I think Razor's software has improved so that may no longer be a problem, but I can still do so much more with the scripting, so I haven't gone back.

Anyways, I do believe the idea of limiting PC users to what console users have could be in part that they wanted to make sure console gamers don't feel slighted. Both PC users and console users get the same experience. I hate that consoles have changed gaming as much as it has, but unfortunately, PC users do not have enough people who pay to play their games.

 

[ControlD]

I used to use the Belkin Nostromo 52e, which is what Razor purchased and has evolved into what you are using. I have never gone back to gaming with a keyboard since. I use the Logitech G13 now. Most because of the Lua scripting ability it has which allowed me to put shift keys on my mouse to control the G13. I think Razor's software has improved so that may no longer be a problem, but I can still do so much more with the scripting, so I haven't gone back.

I used the N52 for years and years. I finally had to upgrade to the Razor this year because the last set of correctly working drivers ended with Vista, and they REALLY don't work well under Windows 8.1. I almost went with the G13 but I didn't like the thumb controls and wasn't sure I wanted to try to re-train those years of muscle memory.

 

[bystander36]

I used the N52 for years and years. I finally had to upgrade to the Razor this year because the last set of correctly working drivers ended with Vista, and they REALLY don't work well under Windows 8.1. I almost went with the G13 but I didn't like the thumb controls and wasn't sure I wanted to try to re-train those years of muscle memory.

I remember the conversion to the joystick. It was difficult at first, but like it was with the n52e, it takes about a week of use to get used to. I tried going back since, and I feel the same way using the n52e now. It feels very foreign now.

 

[ControlD]

I sort of wish I had chosen the Rift Mage specialty rather than Knight Enchanter, although I am having fun with the game still (90 hours and counting). The KE was a lot more fun when the spirit blades acted as a detonator, but that got nerfed with patch 2. As it stands now, the KE is basically a weak damage melee character without a good combo finishing move.

It would be nice if the respec amulet also reset the chosen specialization.

 

[Udgnim]

there are some moments in DA:I where certain events have more meaning if you have played DA:O and/or DA2

people that haven't played DA:O won't know it's DA:O related at least from what I've experienced so far

 

[KeithTalent]

there are some moments in DA:I where certain events have more meaning if you have played DA:O and/or DA2

people that haven't played DA:O won't know it's DA:O related at least from what I've experienced so far

I'm happy I am playing DA2 for this reason. There are lots of little things throughout the game so far which reference back to Origins and it just makes the experience so much more enjoyable.

"Enchantment? Enchantment!"

KT

 

[zinfamous]

Just as an aside, I STILL don't understand how people play FP games like Skyrim with a controller. DA:I is pretty easy because it is third person. That's really what keeps me on PC these days, otherwise I might have just thrown in the towel and bought a console by now.

Skyrim is a 3rd person game in my hands. I hate FP perspective to no end. When given the option, I zoom out. I especially don't like trying to play a melee character in first person.

 

[ControlD]

I'm happy I am playing DA2 for this reason. There are lots of little things throughout the game so far which reference back to Origins and it just makes the experience so much more enjoyable.

"Enchantment? Enchantment!"

KT

In fact, to me it feels like Inquisition references DA2 more than DA:O. For sure the first game sets up the entire world and lore for the series, so that would be quite substantial to miss. Actual story events seem to reference DA2 more however.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah, give it a shot. I've played dudes here and there, but I naturaly lean towards creating a female character.

One thing I've always wanted to do is play a complete jerk of a character, but no matter how hard I try I always end up making nice guy choices. One day I am going to try and force a play-through making only the jerk/bad guy choices.

KT

playing a jerk is awesome. Most games, though, I can't play it completely because I still gravitate towards certain outcomes--particularly if you are trying to win favor from a companion, which makes this difficult. What makes it difficult is that it often limits your options--if you want to experience all of the content, you often have to do the "nice" thing--You know, don't kill Griselda the ale wench when she refuses to sweep the floor, and she might give you a quest later :\

Best time I had playing an evil jerk was in Star Wars ToR--you really have to do it as a Sith (all classes of which are just better than lightside if you ask me--story wise). And the only way I could tolerate playing a Jedi was to play a darkside Jedi. The Jedi path is so obnoxiously sterile, I couldn't help but rebel against their bullshit.

 

[KeithTalent]

In fact, to me it feels like Inquisition references DA2 more than DA:O. For sure the first game sets up the entire world and lore for the series, so that would be quite substantial to miss. Actual story events seem to reference DA2 more however.

Ah good to know, makes me feel even better about going through DA2. :thumbsup:

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

playing a jerk is awesome. Most games, though, I can't play it completely because I still gravitate towards certain outcomes--particularly if you are trying to win favor from a companion, which makes this difficult. What makes it difficult is that it often limits your options--if you want to experience all of the content, you often have to do the "nice" thing--You know, don't kill Griselda the ale wench when she refuses to sweep the floor, and she might give you a quest later :\

Best time I had playing an evil jerk was in Star Wars ToR--you really have to do it as a Sith (all classes of which are just better than lightside if you ask me--story wise). And the only way I could tolerate playing a Jedi was to play a darkside Jedi. The Jedi path is so obnoxiously sterile, I couldn't help but rebel against their bullshit.

Ah yes, good point. I do worry about missing content by being a donkey.

Good call on KoToR. I did do a play through as a Sith/bad guy in KoToR; not sure I actually finished it though due to a crash and lost game save. :\

KT

 

[zinfamous]

I have most of those skills already,bearing in mind level 13 at the moment,anyway combat is not fun,maybe it's my gear which I've started crafting myself which seems to be better then loot drops etc,then again maybe not .

Anyway scratching my head on this one, since still end up using default staff range attacks most times while waiting on cooldowns etc...

I have no skill slots in hotbar left so will be concentrating on passive abilities(I presume you can swap skills in and out of hotbar which will be a pain to do and pointless),still no excuse why they did not give us more skills slots.

Also to get to some passive skills you need to take offensive ones so again nowhere to stick those .

I read some players reaching level 23 so that is like another 10 skills that I have no where to stick down the road unless I go pure passive ones,again how did the developers overlook this major issue?


It's these sort of things that make the game annoying,maybe not an issue for you but they should of never been overlooked in the first place,the first two DA games did not have this issue and yes it's not helping my enjoyment of this game.

As a beta tester for games myself, I would of brought these issues to attention right a way.

I'm at level 23 with a shield warrior. I unlock lots of passives (these are generally better than the action skills), and probably 1 or 2 unlocked action skills that I don't use.

...because they are redundant. Yes, it is worth spending a skill point on an unused action skill just to unlock a passive, as some of them are that good.

The action skills, when you compare them to similar games, seem to stack the effects of several typical RPG skills into one skill. knockdown+guard. guard+taunt. Taunt + weakness. Immolate + Fear + Weakness.

The action bar truly is designed to optimize use of 8 skills, because effects are more stacked within each skill than you may be used to in other games. Upgrading each skill adds almost always adds another skill on top of that.

The way mana and stamina is pooled in this game, you wouldn't be able to effectively use all the skills you want, anyway. It is all part of the design decision: shit loads of skills that do one thing each, or a collection of skills with combined effects in each skill.

This game is insanely easy, just running around and using only 6 of your primary skills, to be honest. I've only tried it on Hard difficulty

 

[zinfamous]

Ah yes, good point. I do worry about missing content by being a donkey.

Good call on KoToR. I did do a play through as a Sith/bad guy in KoToR; not sure I actually finished it though due to a crash and lost game save. :\

KT

oh yeah--KoToR too. I meant The Old Republic, though (that damn Bioware MMO). I played KoTOR as male Jedi first time through, then an evil female jedi.

There's a moment in the prologue (ToR) where, if playing a Jedi, you have to squeal on some two kids that are kissing. Squeal on them = Jedi. Let them live their lives = sith. fucking Jedi.

It helps that I had already played a Sith Inquisitor and most of the way through as a Bounty Hunter--so I already had a taste for being evil.

 

[ControlD]

Hmm. I now believe I have the desire that do a second play through.

My next character will be a chaotic evil, lesbian, dual wield rogue. That sounds like it might actually be more fun than playing the normal characters I use in these games. Would require some actual role playing.

 

[KeithTalent]

oh yeah--KoToR too. I meant The Old Republic, though (that damn Bioware MMO). I played KoTOR as male Jedi first time through, then an evil female jedi.

There's a moment in the prologue (ToR) where, if playing a Jedi, you have to squeal on some two kids that are kissing. Squeal on them = Jedi. Let them live their lives = sith. fucking Jedi.

It helps that I had already played a Sith Inquisitor and most of the way through as a Bounty Hunter--so I already had a taste for being evil.

Oh right, I tried a Sith in ToR as well, but I ended up being sort of a good guy Sith in that too. I just can't help myself I guess.

I loved that game in the beginning.

KT

 

[zinfamous]

Oh right, I tried a Sith in ToR as well, but I ended up being sort of a good guy Sith in that too. I just can't help being Canadian.

I loved that game in the beginning.

KT

--fixed that for you, and I think I found the problem.

The Sith Inquisitor story was great in ToR; it was one worth finishing. I heard a lot of good things about Agent, as well, but that was just too much time for me. I never maxed out my alt toons, but they were fun for a spell.

ToR got, and probably still gets a lot of shit, but I think it's primarily the MMOness of it. If you treat it as a single-player, story-driven bioware type game, it is really quite good. It's certainly the only MMO anywhere with an actual story, so it has that going for it.

 

[zinfamous]

Hmm. I now believe I have the desire that do a second play through.

My next character will be a chaotic evil, lesbian, dual wield rogue. That sounds like it might actually be more fun than playing the normal characters I use in these games. Would require some actual role playing.

Hey! That's my second character.

 

[ControlD]

--fixed that for you, and I think I found the problem.

The Sith Inquisitor story was great in ToR; it was one worth finishing. I heard a lot of good things about Agent, as well, but that was just too much time for me. I never maxed out my alt toons, but they were fun for a spell.

ToR got, and probably still gets a lot of shit, but I think it's primarily the MMOness of it. If you treat it as a single-player, story-driven bioware type game, it is really quite good. It's certainly the only MMO anywhere with an actual story, so it has that going for it.

Can you play TOR offline, as a single player game?

I never even considered the game because I figured it was online only.

 

[KeithTalent]

--fixed that for you, and I think I found the problem.

The Sith Inquisitor story was great in ToR; it was one worth finishing. I heard a lot of good things about Agent, as well, but that was just too much time for me. I never maxed out my alt toons, but they were fun for a spell.

ToR got, and probably still gets a lot of shit, but I think it's primarily the MMOness of it. If you treat it as a single-player, story-driven bioware type game, it is really quite good. It's certainly the only MMO anywhere with an actual story, so it has that going for it.

Haha, that just may be sir.

That is pretty much how I treated ToR; once I finished the main story though, I kind of gave up on it since all of the cool story stuff was done.

KT

 

[zinfamous]

Can you play TOR offline, as a single player game?

I never even considered the game because I figured it was online only.

No, you have to be online. But you can just, you know, ignore everyone else and do your thing.

One thing to consider, though, is that during a playthrough, you have a specific set of missions that require teams to complete. I think it's ~10-12 series of story-based missions. These are more or less separate from the main story, and you can completely ignore them if you want.

However, these are actually directly related to the KoToR storyline, so if that whole Bioware Star Wars world interests you, then you probably want to play through those. I think the last one of those is also the final mission of the main story...so you at least have to group for that. You get KotoR history and lore and stuff like that on the main game, doing sidequests and whatever, but to get continuation of that story (it is mostly a running sidestory to the ToR story), you would need to do those.

 

[Squeetard]

For the life of me I can not play a bad guy in an RPG. I mean come on, this is a game a role playing game. I just can't be a jerk. Or a female for that matter. Hmmmph.

Also, I've used my speedpad N52te for as long as I can remember, haven't touched a keyboard in a game since the mid 2000's? I have worn all the black off the keys and may wear clean through the W soon.

I have the keys at the standard wasd layout with ctrl shift and tab on the left. The dpad is assigned numbers one to 8. The button above the dpad shifts all the keys to ESc then F1-F12, the wheel is up arrow and down arrow, my mouse wheel side to side rocker is left and right arrow. Been able to play every game in every genre easily with this set up for 7-8 years.