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[Lostconfused]

Hawke's armor is 78. Aveline is near 600 and counting. Best shield ever or am I doing it wrong.

Its a bug, you might as well abuse some more and make Aveline immune to physical damage I guess.

 

[Kyoufu]

Hmmmmmm............

Ok so I'm 12 hours in so far. Not a terrible game, but 12 hours have gone by and I feel like I haven't progressed in the storyline at all. What is the story about anyway? I've just been doing errands and quests for the people in Kirkwall...

I don't like the lack of varied environments, and the combat isn't much of an improvement over the first. Right now I feel like spamming X will get the job done as opposed to doing anything fancy or even tactical.

I also don't like that I can't choose which member I want to use a potion on. Switching characters and then switching back is annoying.

I don't hate the game though, and I thought I would after I played the demo, so that is a good thing I guess. I hope the game doesn't end in the next 8 hours.

 

[Zeliard]

Hey, uh, so I'm still relatively early, I'm doing the whole Will thing for your Mom, and I just found it, and there was a Blank Heraldic Shield in the chest where I found the Will.

So Aveline is my Sword and Shield person, so I go to check out the new item. It's fine, +5 Armor, nothing crazy but better than what I currently have, Ser Wesley's Shield. So I Inspect it and I switch back and forth equipping between the two shields to see how it affects my stats.

Then I notice something. Now, I can be completely mistaken since I'm kind of out of it this afternoon, but the bottom left most stat is your Armor stat, right? That shows your current defense? It seems like whenever I switch these shields, that number is compounding. It keeps adding up. I'm at over 600 armor now. And I've exited out, come back, and my stat says the same.

Hawke's armor is 78. Aveline is near 600 and counting. Best shield ever or am I doing it wrong.

Holy shit dude. You done bugged the game. Put it on Nightmare and enjoy having a hell of a fucking tank, lol.

Its a bit too easy to manipulate the characters whichever way I want. I want some consequences for being a gigantic jerk to some of them just for the sake of trying to max out a meter.

Maybe I just have to live with the fact that sarcastic Hawke is a jackass with the heart of gold. He will help you with your troubles and make fun off you the whole time you are with him just cause he feels like it.

Still not liking the dialogue wheel at all, though. If something does make the whole dialogue interaction stuff feel artificial at points, it's that damn predictable wheel.

 

[Grisby]

Wow at act 2 stuff. Major spoiler,

Spoiler

Hawk's mom went out in a grisly manner. That was some Condemned Criminal Origins shit there.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

So i just finished the game....what the fuck was that all about?

 

[Xevren]

So i just finished the game....what the fuck was that all about?

That was kind of my reaction at the end. Really hated the end.

 

[John Harker]

Its a bug, you might as well abuse some more and make Aveline immune to physical damage I guess.

Is this a known bug?

First I was pretty excited, but this is kind of a rip. It'll be impossible to damage her haha. Which makes her pretty useless now if I wanted an actual, ya know, challenge.

 

[Zeal]

Wow at act 2 stuff. Major spoiler,

Spoiler

Hawk's mom went out in a grisly manner. That was some Condemned Criminal Origins shit there.

i was say this was one of the only parts of the game that surprised me. i mean yes, it was really fucked up, but it seemed completely out of place in the context of the game.

Spoiler

this isn't silent hill or bioshock. wtf was going on?

 

[Hilaho]

Is this a known bug?

First I was pretty excited, but this is kind of a rip. It'll be impossible to damage her haha. Which makes her pretty useless now if I wanted an actual, ya know, challenge.

Something about unequiping and re-equiping a shield. Increases the defense each time.

 

[HK-47]

Varric for character of the year?

With games like Witcher 2, Deus Ex 3 and Portal 2 on the way I'd say thats way too early to call.

 

[Zeliard]

Is this a known bug?

First I was pretty excited, but this is kind of a rip. It'll be impossible to damage her haha. Which makes her pretty useless now if I wanted an actual, ya know, challenge.

What happens if you simply de-equip her current shield instead of replacing it?

 

[firehawk12]

Yeah but the whole siding with templars/mages thing is basically the core theme of the game and is built into many dialogue interactions you'll have, one way or the other. You'd basically have to never bring a mage to prevent such a thing, though since they're the only ones with healing abilities beyond pots, it's generally a good idea to have at least one mage (on higher difficulties at least).

I think the friendship/rivalry system isn't bad. It's obviously still very binary, since it's still two opposite extremes, and it would have been more effective if they'd hidden the meters and the notification of points entirely. But overall I think it functions well enough when it comes to what actually causes those meters to go up and down. It isn't quite as blatant as we often see from Bioware.

It's harder to game because they force you to travel in order to change your party members, but I have a feeling it'd be possible to be friends with everyone as easy as it was in the first game.
I think the party influence system has a lot of merit, but the way BioWare implemented it has been fairly poor.

Of course, I'm still only at the end of Act 1. Maybe at some point an indispensable Templar joins the party and actually shakes up the whole system.

It is rather easy to game. In some conversations you can either piss off one character if you pick option A just to get +rivalry or you can pick option B to get +friendship with a different character without any negative consequences.

Hah, go figure. Of course, another solution is to just take out meters and have your relationship with a character come through via text/acting... but that's probably too much for the dialog engine to handle.

 

[X-Frame]

And like ME2, BioWare inexplicably missed an opportunity to deliver on a very unique potential party member.

Spoiler

Like how Tank-Bred Krogan had more potential than the Krogan we got in ME2, the Mage Qunari should have been a DEAD FUCKING GIVEAWAY for a party member. But he kills himself at the end of the quest. What.

OMG you are so fucking right it KILLS me that BioWare didn't give us him as a companion. WOW.

He was THE most interesting character I've met so far in DA2, by far.

Now I'm pissed. Lol.

 

[Zeliard]

It's harder to game because they force you to travel in order to change your party members, but I have a feeling it'd be possible to be friends with everyone as easy as it was in the first game.
I think the party influence system has a lot of merit, but the way BioWare implemented it has been fairly poor.

Of course, I'm still only at the end of Act 1. Maybe at some point an indispensable Templar joins the party and actually shakes up the whole system.

Hasn't really been an issue for me since I travel with two mages and Fenris, with the latter basically functioning as a Templar (that dude does not like mages). So the whole mages/templars thing is a strife within my own party as well - Anders and Fenris will get into random arguments with each other, and they'll tend to speak up when the topic of mages comes up with another character.

Isabela is my fourth, and she does not give a shit about that whole argument. It was actually pretty amusing - at one point Anders asked her what she thinks of the whole mages/templars debate, and she responded that she doesn't care. Anders pressed her about it and Isabela just went "I really am that shallow."

 

[DodgyGeezerFella]

Haste + Barrage is some ass kicking awesome shit.

 

[John Harker]

What happens if you simply de-equip her current shield instead of replacing it?

No good. Appears to be a permanent increase. Not only that, even unequiping the shield adds more when I reeqiup. Almost up to 650 now!

 

[BoboBrazil]

I just beat the game and kind of regret I spent 40+ hours on this. Ending was a big let down after all the time I spent.

Spoiler

I sided with the mages and I still end up having to fight them and the templars.

I saw in the trophies that there is one for becoming vicount. How can I do that? Also, what the fuck happened to the lady that turned into a dragon? She never reappeared.

 

[Ducarmel]

I just beat the game and kind of regret I spent 40+ hours on this. Ending was a big let down after all the time I spent.

Spoiler

I sided with the mages and I still end up having to fight them and the templars.

I saw in the trophies that there is one for becoming vicount. How can I do that? Also, what the fuck happened to the lady that turned into a dragon? She never reappeared.

Flemmeth? Did you play Origins.

Spoiler

Clearly her part in the story is to make us gamers know she is not dead and our hero in origins does not kill her, and she did say our agreement is concluded I don't think she hinted she would need us after that

edit: I meant flemmeth not flemming

 

[BoboBrazil]

Flemming? Did you play Origins.

Spoiler

Clearly her part in the story is to make us gamers know she is not dead and our hero in origins does not kill her, and she did say our agreement is concluded I don't think she hinted she would need us after that

Ahh, never played Origins so that makes sense I guess.

 

[-tetsuo-]

First Act is done. Good to see a choice I made that seemingly wouldn't matter have some real consequence. Some nice, difficult boss fights at the end. This game reminds me of The Witcher.

 

[Lostconfused]

This game reminds me of The Witcher.

Reminds me more of japanese visual novels. If you didn't do something specific an hour or maybe several hours before, bad things happen to you.

 

[kai3345]

Yeah kinda weird how they hyped up Flemmeth pre release (she's even in the intro EA and BioWare screens) yet she has an extremley minimal role in this game

 

[Cyborg]

I read so many complaints about the game......WTF did they do?

 

[Xilium]

Yeah kinda weird how they hyped up Flemmeth pre release (she's even in the intro EA and BioWare screens) yet she has an extremley minimal role in this game

Witch Hunt 2

You heard it here first.

 

[MechaX]

I read so many complaints about the game......WTF did they do?

Long story short, they made changes with good intent, but tried to please every single audience possible and comes out all the worse for it. So your personal mileage my vary.

 

[kai3345]

Witch Hunt 2

You heard it here first.

fuck. i hope not

 

[Hixx]

fuck. i hope not

I hope so! It was kind of a shitty DLC but that fucking ending drove me mad.

 

[nib95]

Probably already been mentioned...but Banned site with phony sales info has a pretty damning article on EA and Dragon Age II.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

End of Act II Spoilers

Spoiler

Arishok is such horseshit. Seriously? He has an enormous amount of health, every hit is a knockdown, and he has UNLIMITED potions? What dumb fuck designed this shit. I guess I'll try it on normal before I turn down the duel.

Edit: Beat him on Normal, no problem. Just took like 15 minutes. I think the same strategy would work on Hard, it would just take like half an hour. Basically stun, unload talents, attack a couple of times. Run, stun, repeat. This is with a 2h warrior, by the way.

 

[RiderKairuu]

Now it's crashing at yet another point, it's impossible for me to progress at this rate. I'm about to call it quits.

 

[Angelus Errare]

End of Act II Spoilers

Spoiler

Arishok is such horseshit. Seriously? He has an enormous amount of health, every hit is a knockdown, and he has UNLIMITED potions? What dumb fuck designed this shit. I guess I'll try it on normal before I turn down the duel.

What class are you? As a rogue you can't go up 1 to 1 against him, what I did was hit him a few times, and when he swings run away. If he got lucky and tagged me, I would run around until he did his dumb charge, then I'd hide behind a pillar and pop a pot.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

What class are you? As a rogue you can't go up 1 to 1 against him, what I did was hit him a few times, and when he swings run away. If he got lucky and tagged me, I would run around until he did his dumb charge, then I'd hide behind a pillar and pop a pot.

I edited above, but I'm a 2h warrior. Terrible in a one-on-one boss fight. Not hard, it is just the patience that is required to run "Mega Man" him for 30 minutes, with the risk that you get knocked into a corner and die.

 

[Ceebs]

First Act is done. Good to see a choice I made that seemingly wouldn't matter have some real consequence. Some nice, difficult boss fights at the end. This game reminds me of The Witcher.

Are you talking about what happens with

Spoiler

Bethany

?

They sort of beat you over the head with it prior to starting that main story quest.

 

[FLEABttn]

Aveline Vallen:

Spoiler

how the fuck are you supposed to friendship her? She doesn't like you breaking the law, except when she thinks you should, so you randomly gain and lose with her. What is the strategy here?

 

[Kyoufu]

Does this game have a main storyline? Almost 16 hours through now and still doing quests for random people in Kirkwall. Feels like I'm playing a side-quest expansion or something.

 

[Ceebs]

Does this game have a main storyline? Almost 16 hours through now and still doing quests for random people in Kirkwall. Feels like I'm playing a side-quest expansion or something.

The murder investigation sidequest has been far more interesting than the main quest so far (In Act 2) although I think even that may have abruptly ended on me.

 

[SerArthurDayne]

Does this game have a main storyline? Almost 16 hours through now and still doing quests for random people in Kirkwall. Feels like I'm playing a side-quest expansion or something.

Not much. A little bit more in Act II. Just started Act III myself.

 

[Basileus777]

Does this game have a main storyline? Almost 16 hours through now and still doing quests for random people in Kirkwall. Feels like I'm playing a side-quest expansion or something.

The whole templars vs mages story that they beat over and over into the ground is the main plot.

 

[Gvaz]

The whole templars vs mages story that they beat over and over into the ground is the main plot.

It's the main plot but it barely comes up enough, or does with enough weight to feel like anything but a subplot or something people mention in passing.

 

[Grisby]

Are achievements still borked for Sebastien's quest line?

 

[Basileus777]

It's the main plot but it barely comes up enough, or does with enough weight to feel like anything but a subplot or something people mention in passing.

It comes up all the time, much of the main plot and sidequests deal with the issue. It just has little depth or substance to it. Bring Fenris to one of these quests and he basically sums up the whole deal in a sentence,

Spoiler

all mages succumb to the temptation of blood magic when in need,

 

[BoboBrazil]

Aveline Vallen:

Spoiler

how the fuck are you supposed to friendship her? She doesn't like you breaking the law, except when she thinks you should, so you randomly gain and lose with her. What is the strategy here?

I had friendship with her, but I hardly ever took her on quests with me until the 3rd act. Despite all the flirting in the world I still couldn't fuck her though. She made me help her hook up with another guy lol.

 

[Xevren]

Are achievements still borked for Sebastien's quest line?

Wouldn't work for me.

 

[eek5]

Does this game have a main storyline? Almost 16 hours through now and still doing quests for random people in Kirkwall. Feels like I'm playing a side-quest expansion or something.

I think it just gets diluted because all of the side quests take place on the same areas as the main quest so they lose some significance. DA2 really feels like they took a DLC and added 15 hours of sidequests and called it a game.

 

[Delio]

End of Act II Spoilers

Spoiler

Arishok is such horseshit. Seriously? He has an enormous amount of health, every hit is a knockdown, and he has UNLIMITED potions? What dumb fuck designed this shit. I guess I'll try it on normal before I turn down the duel.

Edit: Beat him on Normal, no problem. Just took like 15 minutes. I think the same strategy would work on Hard, it would just take like half an hour. Basically stun, unload talents, attack a couple of times. Run, stun, repeat. This is with a 2h warrior, by the way.

I somehow stun locked that enemy and he never moved so i was just unloading spells while my dog chomped on him lol.

 

[Basileus777]

I somehow stun locked that enemy and he never moved so i was just unloading spells while my dog chomped on him lol.

I did the same thing on hard, I kept him disabled with cone of cold and crushing prison and just burned though mana potions while slowly killing him.

 

[Delio]

I did the same thing on hard, I kept him disabled with cone of cold and crushing prison and just burned though mana potions while slowly killing him.

Minds happened after i casted Gravity Well. He just stayed in one place after it was done and never moved.

 

[esserius]

Spirit Healers in this game are really broken. One time, I just wanted to see how hard it was to kill me. I was getting attacked by multiple casters and 5-7 melee, my health simply regened too fast for them to kill me. As long as my Healing Aura's active, I'm virtually unkillable. Guess the designers just thought "LAWL WHO PLAYZ HEALERZ AMIRITE?!"

This game is just a culmination of so many hilariously bad design decisions...

 

[wayward archer]

Spirit Healers in this game are really broken. One time, I just wanted to see how hard it was to kill me. I was getting attacked by multiple casters and 5-7 melee, my health simply regened too fast for them to kill me. As long as my Healing Aura's active, I'm virtually unkillable. Guess the designers just thought "LAWL WHO PLAYZ HEALERZ AMIRITE?!"

This game is just a culmination of so many hilariously bad design decisions...

There's a bug where where the game sometimes considers you out of combat and your health goes up to full in between the enemy hitting you, I'm guessing that's what happened to you. Either that or you are playing on easy and were fighting 5-6 really weak enemies. I promise you that aura doesn't keep you alive against that many enemies on normal or hard. I've tried. I've even had Anders use the healing aura and my main character use it, standing right next to each other, and we still go down pretty quickly if the enemies gang up on us.

 

[esserius]

I suppose, though that doesn't really make things better if it's true? Does it relate to the combat itself, or does it relate to healing aura? Because I've turned off Healing Aura a number of times and it's never changed (as in, turned the ability off and turned it back on--but when it's off my health functions normally, while when it's on, my health regen spikes through the roof), my health regeneration has always been pretty ridiculous.

I'm playing it on Hard, by the way. I'm gonna be a bit miffed if the reason the game seemed so easy was because of a bug though (or rather, more miffed than I already am).