Dragon Age 3: Inquisition announced

[maniacalpha1-1]

I think you mean Agent 47, from the Hitman series. He was cool; the second game is one of my all-time favourites.

KT

Not sure if serious! HK-47 is the murderous robot from Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) that

Spoiler

knows your character is actually Darth Revan but your memory has been wiped (and his own memory is locked away and not revealed until later in the game)

.

 

[Mem]

I think i'm gonna give DA2 a try...your guys seem to have appreicated the game.

Combat is faster paced then DAO in DA2,in fact if you look at every DA game they all play slightly different.


DA2 is closer to DAO in both skills and playing then DA:I.

 

[zinfamous]

The hell? None of these names ring a bell and you claim to love Mass Effect? Garrus, Wrex, Tali, Joker (Mass Effect), Mordin . . . these were some of the most badass characters in the game and some of Bioware's best.

I liked Merrill in DA2, but she doesn't hold a candle to Garrus, Wrex, Tali, or Liara.

I play those games every 2-3 years? whenever I get around to it--just started ME3 the other day--see above.

I don't recall any of the names of anyone until I meet them again in the next one. I play them through once, because they really aren't worth a 2nd playthrough.

 

[zinfamous]

The trebuchet thing went easily enough for me at level 8.

Main is a qunari two hander
Blackwall tanking with sword and board
"red jenny" running dual wield (debating swapping her for cole, but it's kind of pointless. I'd like his banter less, and I think that's the only real difference)
solas running ice

It probably helped me that I had just upgraded everyone's gear from the previous story event and crafted myself some new stuff. I was able to "strategically" use caches, as I'd survive pretty okay. When my whole party was looking beat up, I'd drink what I had and re-stock.

I'm mostly pleased with the AI, and that's a good thing since the tactical view is kind of a joke. I can't issue commands like revive because you have to hold a button down, and hold position might as well not even exist.

Fallow Mire was one of the first extra areas I unlocked, and I'm just now able to run through it halfway to level 10.

You should consider moving Sera to bow--once you get her focus tree, she is really geared more towards bow (and yeah, there is already Cole). She puts out way more Deeps on Bow, anyway, plus that feels like 1-too-many on the front line. (I do that anyway, as well )

Fwiw, I also started her out dual wield backstabby tree, and very stubbornly switched over

 

[Mem]

You should consider moving Sera to bow--once you get her focus tree, she is really geared more towards bow (and yeah, there is already Cole). She puts out way more Deeps on Bow, anyway, plus that feels like 1-too-many on the front line. (I do that anyway, as well )

Fwiw, I also started her out dual wield backstabby tree, and very stubbornly switched over

I had Sera as bow(maxed out all bow skills) then threw in some poison and she was very good,the bow I crafted her was far better then any purple drop even after I finished the game.

Quite fun seeing her leaping around in close then out back to range and cloaking etc...

I gave her a bit on constitution/dex stats plus healing on bow too.

 

[zinfamous]

I had Sera as bow(maxed out all bow skills) then threw in some poison and she was very good,the bow I crafted her was far better then any purple drop even after I finished the game.

Quite fun seeing her leaping around in close then out back to range and cloaking etc...

I gave her a bit on constitution/dex stats plus healing on bow too.

I just gave her a purple bow with a 4x/hit mod that dropped...I dunno where. I never bothered to craft anything for any companions.

Still, with that Bow, she was hitting dragons at ~30-40% of their health in a single hit/rotation. If a crafted Bow is better than that, then I'd like to see it (yeah, I don't think that bow has a dragon slaying rune of any sort, so it could certainly be made better for dragon fights--is there an upgrade mod/master craft material that puts the 4x attribute on bows; or is that only on unique drops?)

 

[bystander36]

I just gave her a purple bow with a 4x/hit mod that dropped...I dunno where. I never bothered to craft anything for any companions.

Still, with that Bow, she was hitting dragons at ~30-40% of their health in a single hit/rotation. If a crafted Bow is better than that, then I'd like to see it (yeah, I don't think that bow has a dragon slaying rune of any sort, so it could certainly be made better for dragon fights--is there an upgrade mod/master craft material that puts the 4x attribute on bows; or is that only on unique drops?)

That bow comes late in the main story, but I thought it was 3x, either way, it is only great against large targets, as the bows shots in a wide arc. But I bet it is pretty good against a dragon if you don't use her focus ability. A crafted bow can do a lot more damage with a Thousand Cuts, and I was able to kill every dragon but 1 with a single press of a Thousand Cuts. The last one required a few extra hits after. This was on Nightmare. I'm also pretty certain that it only effected your auto attacks. I'll have to test that part again. (I haven't done that quest yet on my current char).

So I don't know what would really be better, but given that the bow you are talking about is found during the

Spoiler

well of souls quest

, late in the game, you should have lots of time with a crafted bow as well.

 

[Mem]

I just gave her a purple bow with a 4x/hit mod that dropped...I dunno where. I never bothered to craft anything for any companions.

Still, with that Bow, she was hitting dragons at ~30-40% of their health in a single hit/rotation. If a crafted Bow is better than that, then I'd like to see it (yeah, I don't think that bow has a dragon slaying rune of any sort, so it could certainly be made better for dragon fights--is there an upgrade mod/master craft material that puts the 4x attribute on bows; or is that only on unique drops?)

Try this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShXpuuaYR0Q

 

[bystander36]

I like my bows better, though I'm not sure which works best. Super crit or Attack. I don't need armor penetration due to build. I have 20% armor pen ring, stealth and 6 second after gives 50% and I sunder on crits in the trap line.

 

[Mem]

I like my bows better, though I'm not sure which works best. Super crit or Attack. I don't need armor penetration due to build. I have 20% armor pen ring, stealth and 6 second after gives 50% and I sunder on crits in the trap line.

Mine was better then youtube one,point being crafting bows is more fun/powerful and you can experiment with different types,we all like different stats etc so crafting is the way to go if you want the best.

 

[Red Hawk]

I think you mean Agent 47, from the Hitman series. He was cool; the second game is one of my all-time favourites.

KT

Just...no...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHy5OvJJN1A

 

[zinfamous]

That bow comes late in the main story, but I thought it was 3x, either way, it is only great against large targets, as the bows shots in a wide arc. But I bet it is pretty good against a dragon if you don't use her focus ability. A crafted bow can do a lot more damage with a Thousand Cuts, and I was able to kill every dragon but 1 with a single press of a Thousand Cuts. The last one required a few extra hits after. This was on Nightmare. I'm also pretty certain that it only effected your auto attacks. I'll have to test that part again. (I haven't done that quest yet on my current char).

So I don't know what would really be better, but given that the bow you are talking about is found during the

Spoiler

well of souls quest

, late in the game, you should have lots of time with a crafted bow as well.

ah cool. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't spend much time testing various gear and skills with anyone but my inquisitor. I only, occasionally, noticed some crazy shit happening behind me and was like...whoa.

I think I had a 3x bow, then replaced it with that 4x, and yeah--I only notice that craziness on big targets like dragons or Pride demons and giants. I spent zero time crafting for my companions because, on hard, nearly every fight was pretty easy, so never had incentive to do much. Nearly every piece of gear on my companions was a found purple item, or the 2-3 hand-me downs from the total of ~6? items that I initially crafted for my inquisitor.

 

[zinfamous]

Mine was better then youtube one,point being crafting bows is more fun/powerful and you can experiment with different types,we all like different stats etc so crafting is the way to go if you want the best.

I'm sure it is...just never found the need. Maybe on Nightmare.

I like the Dragon schematics, because you can stack offense. I "assume" that going crit chance/damage and either attack or armor penetration is the way to go. I also really like guard damage. It's not a constant damage modifier, obviously, but outside all other stats, I find base damage and one of the stats good enough to kill most things quickly. Guard damage takes down those jerks, like dragons, that rudely try to extend play past your bedtime.

 

[zinfamous]

Just...no...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHy5OvJJN1A

shut up, meatbag.

 

[bystander36]

ah cool. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't spend much time testing various gear and skills with anyone but my inquisitor. I only, occasionally, noticed some crazy shit happening behind me and was like...whoa.

I think I had a 3x bow, then replaced it with that 4x, and yeah--I only notice that craziness on big targets like dragons or Pride demons and giants. I spent zero time crafting for my companions because, on hard, nearly every fight was pretty easy, so never had incentive to do much. Nearly every piece of gear on my companions was a found purple item, or the 2-3 hand-me downs from the total of ~6? items that I initially crafted for my inquisitor.

So I just finished doing the area with that bow

Spoiler

you need to ally with the ancient elves to get to it

, it fires 3 arrows, not 4 and it only works on autoattacks. Your skills only fire a single arrow. While the base damage is nice (still lower than my crafted bow, but close), its stats are lacking, and there is no grip slot. All in all, I think I'll stick with my crafted bow. Auto attacks against large targets just doesn't happen enough, and the loss of stats, and as a result, damage from skills, makes it less likely to be worth it.

It is definitely tempting. I'd have a harder time giving it up if the arrows fired in the same direction.

 

[Red Hawk]

I did some more testing with my brother's Q6600, 4 GB DDR2, Radeon HD 5770 1 GB system. This time, I turned down the mesh quality setting from "high" to "medium". The problems it was having with very noticeable hitching while progressing through a level (the opening prologue) practically vanished, and gameplay when walking around and when in combat is a good deal smoother.

Why is this? Well first of all, the "mesh" setting has to do with geometry detail. Tessellation is a whole different setting (which I had set to "low"), but other geometry tasks are related to tessellation and use the same greater geometry engine that tessellation does. Which, on the Radeon HD 5000 series, was rather notoriously weak. That could be causing some of the bottleneck. Second, I recently read that meshes consume memory on a similar level as textures. By placing it on "high", I may have been pushing it to the level used on consoles. The 1 GB of VRAM and 4 GB of system RAM just weren't enough to handle it all.

So from that experience, I can't recommend running the game on a 1 GB graphics card with mesh or textures turned to high. It's kind of sad for the mesh setting, because going from "high" to "medium" takes a good amount of environmental detail and effects out.

 

[psychosiz]

I did some more testing with my brother's Q6600, 4 GB DDR2, Radeon HD 5770 1 GB system. This time, I turned down the mesh quality setting from "high" to "medium". The problems it was having with very noticeable hitching while progressing through a level (the opening prologue) practically vanished, and gameplay when walking around and when in combat is a good deal smoother.

Why is this? Well first of all, the "mesh" setting has to do with geometry detail. Tessellation is a whole different setting (which I had set to "low"), but other geometry tasks are related to tessellation and use the same greater geometry engine that tessellation does. Which, on the Radeon HD 5000 series, was rather notoriously weak. That could be causing some of the bottleneck. Second, I recently read that meshes consume memory on a similar level as textures. By placing it on "high", I may have been pushing it to the level used on consoles. The 1 GB of VRAM and 4 GB of system RAM just weren't enough to handle it all.

So from that experience, I can't recommend running the game on a 1 GB graphics card with mesh or textures turned to high. It's kind of sad for the mesh setting, because going from "high" to "medium" takes a good amount of environmental detail and effects out.

On the technical forums for Bioware this was a huge issue for lots of people as it caused all kinds of crashing. They released a patch and it was stable for awhile for some people. Mazny of my friends play this game with 1 GB on their video cards and they all seemed to have issues which are now resolved it appears. I also agree there is a noticeable difference in the graphics and details at medium as opposed to high. Its even very apparent in log on screen.

 

[Mem]

I'm sure it is...just never found the need. Maybe on Nightmare.

I like the Dragon schematics, because you can stack offense. I "assume" that going crit chance/damage and either attack or armor penetration is the way to go. I also really like guard damage. It's not a constant damage modifier, obviously, but outside all other stats, I find base damage and one of the stats good enough to kill most things quickly. Guard damage takes down those jerks, like dragons, that rudely try to extend play past your bedtime.

If you don't craft then no point getting schematics or resources,requisition resources only give you power points for your war table and even those are not really needed since you will have over 300 spare at the end of game ,crafting is very useful regardless,you can remove stuff from drops you found and add them to your own crafted or crafting materials.

I made a light dragon armour for my mage that was way better then any purple armour so again it's not just weapons but defence as well and also they look better on your character and companions in most cases,just more reasons why they are worth doing regardless of the level you play the game at .

 

[psychosiz]

I crafted some incredible armor for my mage that was twice as high as anything else I found in game. If you have the best materials, crafting is epic. I also found that as you level up, you can craft armor with the right materials equivalent to a few levels above you or even higher sometimes.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I crafted some incredible armor for my mage that was twice as high as anything else I found in game. If you have the best materials, crafting is epic. I also found that as you level up, you can craft armor with the right materials equivalent to a few levels above you or even higher sometimes.

Yep and if you have some masterwork materials you can craft an item that gives +10% to all crafted stats. The material you use also changes the armor's color scheme.

Not sure if serious! HK-47 is the murderous robot from Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) that

Spoiler

knows your character is actually Darth Revan but your memory has been wiped (and his own memory is locked away and not revealed until later in the game)

.

"Forgive me for saying such master but an Organic Meatbag such as yourself could never understand. Shall I blast him for you now master?"

He had some great lines as well.

 

[Red Hawk]

On the technical forums for Bioware this was a huge issue for lots of people as it caused all kinds of crashing. They released a patch and it was stable for awhile for some people. Mazny of my friends play this game with 1 GB on their video cards and they all seemed to have issues which are now resolved it appears. I also agree there is a noticeable difference in the graphics and details at medium as opposed to high. Its even very apparent in log on screen.

Well of course the game is patched up to date on my brother's PC. I don't think patching would really help a 1 GB card run a game that's using more than 1 GB of graphics memory, though. With that said, I don't think that playing with mesh on high on my brother's PC is unplayable, all the occasional hanging can just be pretty annoying. The patch's performance improvements likely lied elsewhere.

 

[Blanky]

Level 13 now. Wow this game is very long.

Am I the only one who thinks the movement mechanics are f**king garbage, though? I mean sometimes I am just swearing at the horse. At least twice he's reared up as if he's in front of a wall but it's just a path and I can't get him to go through. Also, never seen a slower horse in any video game ever. His gallop is a damn jog. But also just the moving around is not fluid. The jumping is horrendous, mainly.

Also I was in a fight trying to recover an ally but since they were next to loot I looted instead in the middle of a fight. wtf.

 

[Red Hawk]

I've never even bothered with the horses.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I've never even bothered with the horses.

yep me either. they were always a hindrance to me. Fast travel is fast enough anyway if you set all the camps.

 

[Mem]

Level 13 now. Wow this game is very long.

Am I the only one who thinks the movement mechanics are f**king garbage, though? I mean sometimes I am just swearing at the horse. At least twice he's reared up as if he's in front of a wall but it's just a path and I can't get him to go through. Also, never seen a slower horse in any video game ever. His gallop is a damn jog. But also just the moving around is not fluid. The jumping is horrendous, mainly.

Also I was in a fight trying to recover an ally but since they were next to loot I looted instead in the middle of a fight. wtf.

Yep mechanics could be improved,I did not use my horse much to be honest,you should reach level 23/24 by end of game.