So I am about to roll a Knight Enchanter for nightmare playthrough.
What exactly did they nerf about this class with latest patch?
Can you still create heavy armor with silverlite and faded-silverlite and generate guard and barrier everytime you swing? Or did they nerf that?
I want to create the most OP build so I can breeze through nightmare on this 2nd playthrough cause I want the platinum and I am a cheap bastard on my 2nd playthroughs.
I have no idea what they nerfed if they nerfed anything...I currently playing a KE and on normal I basically solo'd the dragon in the Storm Coast (Hard). Of course I haven't even crafted anything for my guy as of yet... So I have no idea how broken he can get...
I'm just over 10 hours in but I think I want to make a second character, up the difficulty and play solo. I really dislike managing the inventory/equipment/crafting systems for (right now) 7 characters. Such a time sink. I also need to read this thread for some protips, I didn't realize I should be selling all the valuables besides the monster stuff.
I have no idea what they nerfed if they nerfed anything...I currently playing a KE and on normal I basically solo'd the dragon in the Storm Coast (Hard). Of course I haven't even crafted anything for my guy as of yet... So I have no idea how broken he can get...
I'm loving the game, but I'm having a hard time figuring out the correct order to play the zones. I'm about 50 hours in, level 16 and advanced through the main plot which was in the 12-15 level range. I still need to open 2 whole zones and have a shitton of quests to finish in the rest of the ones i did open. I'm afraid i'm probably waay to high level for those 2 zones i still have to open up.
I almost wish there was some sort of level scaling honestly.
There is level scaling, it just happens within a set range, which is how all Dragon Age games have handled it. But yeah, the scaling doesn't go high enough to prevent overleveling for certain zones. I don't think there is any order that will prevent that if you are intent of doing most side quests in each zone.
I have no idea what they nerfed if they nerfed anything...I currently playing a KE and on normal I basically solo'd the dragon in the Storm Coast (Hard). Of course I haven't even crafted anything for my guy as of yet... So I have no idea how broken he can get...
All they nerfed was the ability to create team combo's with spirit blade. Which is so minor for KE's anyway, their survivability is still ridiculous as ever.
Ready to start the final mission - have some questions:
1.) do any of the war table mission results change the ending that you get (e.g.,
making peace between Orlais and Ferelden; Varric's novel; the Qunari spy thing
)? Not sure I really feel like advancing my PC's clock to get through all the stages, but if they're referenced in the end game, I will.
2.) do any of the Inquisition perks unlock tier 4 materials (only tier 4 I am aware of is the stuff that dragon's drop).
3.) I've gotten all of the companion side quests except for Solas and Sera - do they trigger at any point or do I actually need to be friends with them?
4.) will I be using all team members in the final mission, like DAO? That is, should I make sure they are outfitted properly? I stopped using Iron Bull because he's just not very hardy on Nightmare and I've barely used Solas and Sera.
5.) any way to get the "killed all 10 dragons" achievement to pop? I killed them all, but it didn't flip.
I stayed in the Hinterlands until about level 8. Playing on Nightmare I feel like I need to be at least equal level to the opposition or one higher. Then again, my strategy might be fairly dumb and I don't enjoy using tactical mode much because it ruins the pace of the battle for me.
Couple questions. How many total inquisition perks do we get (besides the agents)? And should I hold on to all these valuables I keep finding but don't know what they're used for?
All they nerfed was the ability to create team combo's with spirit blade. Which is so minor for KE's anyway, their survivability is still ridiculous as ever.
They also nerfed the AoE slow ability to no longer affect bosses, although I barely ever used that skill anyway due to a) the very long cooldown and b) trying to get into the center of a pack of enemies wasn't really worth the effort to make it worthwhile.
I also didn't know about the team comboability with Spirit Blade and was just relying on my own self-sufficient combos. And the class was still super boring to me by level 20 due to it being nothing but Spirit Blade and Immolation spamming to keep Barrier up.
Having tried the Necro to level 15, then restarting and playing a Rift Mage, while keeping Dorian (Necro) in the group, then finally switching him out for Solas again, I'm confident in saying that in general the Rift Mage is not only more fun to play, it also adds more group survivability and damage than either of the other two specializations on Nightmare. The only thing a Necro has going for it is the Haste on dragon fights, and they *might* be able to do slightly more damage than a Rift Mage on those over time. KE just brings guard demolishing and mass res (which you shouldn't need).
On enemies that are not resistant or immune to fire damage, Pull of the Abyss + Fire Mine (or two) > Virulent Walking Bomb. Even though you could Pull + Mine + Walking Bomb, it's just more consistent having two Pulls and two mines.
Spirit: Barrier and its cooldown upgrade. If you have another Mage in the group casting Barrier, have them focus on the Barrier upgrades in the Spirit tree first while you focus on cooldown/regen passives from the other trees.
Fire: Immolate and its upgrade. Chaotic Focus, Clean Burn.
Ice: Fade Step and its upgrade, Winter's Stillness and potentially Mana Surge.
Spirit: Everything except the Spirit Blade upgrade unless you really have that many issues with projectiles (works on dragon missle attacks), the Focus ability unless you're constantly wiping, because the Inqusitor's special Focus ability is better overall and Disruption Field is "okay" but more of a fluff ability that you may or may not want.
Side note: some spells cause your character to move forward while casting. This will interrupt or completely prevent Winter's Stillness from actually working (looking at you Energy Barrage).
No. None of the war table stuff seems consequential at all.
3.) I've gotten all of the companion side quests except for Solas and Sera - do they trigger at any point or do I actually need to be friends with them?
They are gated both by story progress and approval level. Some don't unlock until late game even if you are friends. But approval does matter.
4.) will I be using all team members in the final mission, like DAO? That is, should I make sure they are outfitted properly? I stopped using Iron Bull because he's just not very hardy on Nightmare and I've barely used Solas and Sera.
Doing a second run through on nightmare. The game feels so much faster and more fluid once you've already gone through a lot of the content and know what to expect. I'm actually enjoying my second play through quite a bit more than my first, anyone else in the same boat?
I stayed in the Hinterlands until about level 8. Playing on Nightmare I feel like I need to be at least equal level to the opposition or one higher. Then again, my strategy might be fairly dumb and I don't enjoy using tactical mode much because it ruins the pace of the battle for me.
Couple questions. How many total inquisition perks do we get (besides the agents)? And should I hold on to all these valuables I keep finding but don't know what they're used for?
I fell like Nightmare is much less of a pain in the ass and more fun if you are over-leveled. I'm almost done with the game and the hardest fight still remains the battle at Haven (the
trebuchet
fight), mostly because it's very difficult even if you're not under-leveled and you don't have your specializations yet.
There is no hard cap on inquisition perks - you will find a vendor that will actually sell you treaties that can raise your inquisition level (not cheap, but possible). That said, I would recommend skipping the schematics you can unlock under Cullen's area. They're only tier 2, nothing higher. Worth unlocking imo are the potions expansion, the various dialog options, the inventory expansions, the focus expansions, Deft Hands, Fine Tools, the Short List. On nightmare I would wait on the dialog expansions until you reach the mid-to-end missions, I unlocked them first and didn't see any options to use them until the mid-to-end missions. The potions and inventory expansions, as well as Deft Hands are much more useful early on in nightmare. Also worth obtaining is the perk that gives you more plants when you harvest.
Can I remove a rune from a weapon before I sell it?
I can see that I can trade it out for a different rune but it doesn't seem to allow me to remove it completely.
Can I remove a rune from a weapon before I sell it?
I can see that I can trade it out for a different rune but it doesn't seem to allow me to remove it completely.
I fell like Nightmare is much less of a pain in the ass and more fun if you are over-leveled. I'm almost done with the game and the hardest fight still remains the battle at Haven (the
trebuchet
fight), mostly because it's very difficult even if you're not under-leveled and you don't have your specializations yet.
There is no hard cap on inquisition perks - you will find a vendor that will actually sell you treaties that can raise your inquisition level (not cheap, but possible). That said, I would recommend skipping the schematics you can unlock under Cullen's area. They're only tier 2, nothing higher. Worth unlocking imo are the potions expansion, the various dialog options, the inventory expansions, the focus expansions, Deft Hands, Fine Tools, the Short List. On nightmare I would wait on the dialog expansions until you reach the mid-to-end missions, I unlocked them first and didn't see any options to use them until the mid-to-end missions. The potions and inventory expansions, as well as Deft Hands are much more useful early on in nightmare. Also worth obtaining is the perk that gives you more plants when you harvest.
Doing a second run through on nightmare. The game feels so much faster and more fluid once you've already gone through a lot of the content and know what to expect. I'm actually enjoying my second play through quite a bit more than my first, anyone else in the same boat?
I felt like less of an idiot on my second run. Except for the trebuchet fight of course. Makes fools of us all. Made me rather cocky about the game actually, but that only bit me in the ass a few times.
Seriously, it's such a pain in the ass mission, and on Nightmare it's just so tedious. Ended up taking me an hour or two to get through, since I could only
advance the trebuchet -extremely- slowly to avoid getting absolutely flooded by enemies. I did read one person's post who ended up getting through it by ignoring the enemies as much as possible to zoom through advancing. If you do it quickly enough, apparently, the final scene with Corypheus will trigger even if you haven't killed the mini-boss.
Can anyone point me towards a good one-handed weapon for a sword and shield spec? I have been using the Axe of Green Edges that drops in crestwood for a while and don't have any schematics that are an upgrade. I'm currently level 16.
Not bad, honestly. Some are tedious, but for the most part, like 30% of the shards are there as "breadcrumbs" to smaller details and discoverables, about 50% are there to make you explore terrain and platform, and about 20% are just stupid.
I just think the combat is incredibly mediocre. Especially the magic system is a huge disappointment for me since there really isn't much support magic. I started as a mage but quickly discovered that there are only two things to do in battle:
Either stand there, hold the attack button and use my specials.
Or run away from enemies till somebody else aggros them and I can continue to hold the attack button.
Compared to DA:O there is just not much to for a mage besides casting shield from time to time.
I started over as a warrior after two hours or so. It's a more enjoyable class but the combat still feels just like "Hold the attack button until everything is dead" to me. I rarley even change characters since it's not needed and the tactical view on PC is just an unusable mess to me. I started playing on the hard difficulty but dropped to normal, not cause I felt like the game was too hard but it didn't really feel more tactical and the fights just took me longer.
The story doesn't really grab me, but it's interesting enough to keep me playing(and even though I really loved DA:O I'm not gonna pretend as if the story in that game was that amazing) but I just can't care about any of the characters.
Though I really feel like "Hey, the big bad guy is a dude who some other guy already killed in a DLC for the last game" is a pretty weird and somewhat anticlimactic thing to do.
The only one I find enjoyable is Dorian but the rest are just.....boring. They are just boring. Well, with the exception of Sera who I find so horribly written that just had to romance her.
And last but not least, there is just so much in the game that feels like wasting my time. Why is the Wartable not accesible from anywhere? Or at least from a camp? Why all the "Collect 30 pieces of rock" quests? The only somewhat interesting quests so far have been character specific quests and even those can be pretty disappointing
Like the Iron Bull one: Warp to a camp, then walk for a minute, fight 5 enemies, make a choice. End of mission.
Same for Sera. Spawn, fight 5 enemies, make a decision. End.
This is especially mindboggling to me since the companion quests were by far the best part of Mass Effect. Maybe they get better later on, but so far they feel pretty hit and miss. And when they miss, they miss hard.
As I said, I don't think the game is bad by any means, it's just a huge disappointment cause it really looks amazing the environements can be just breathtaking.
Can anyone point me towards a good one-handed weapon for a sword and shield spec? I have been using the Axe of Green Edges that drops in crestwood for a while and don't have any schematics that are an upgrade. I'm currently level 16.
There's a tier 3 one-handed axe schematic in the Hissing Wastes. Do the Tomb of Fairel quest and you will have it by the end of it (among other great schematics)
Shards are yet another attempt to make the huge, open areas feel as though they're worth exploring. It is one of the most meaningless game elements, while also being among the least effective at its job.
The Batman Arkham games, with their puzzle-y Riddler trophies, do a much better job at promoting exploration while also highlighting the game's clever design. Bioware attempted to replicate this through the shards (traversal & environment puzzles), glyphs (awareness challenges), hidden items (environment puzzle), and astronomy connect-the-dots (logic puzzle); but, even taken together, they do a worse job.
Companion quests weren't a huge part of DA anyway. Remember Goldanna? Or Sten's sword? Wynne's apprentice? I think on the whole the cast of characters here are stronger than previous DA games. Obviously Morrigan Alistair and Lelianna are super carefully crafted in Origins but you don't have Oghren or Zevran here at least.
I just think the combat is incredibly mediocre. Especially the magic system is a huge disappointment for me since there really isn't much support magic. I started as a mage but quickly discovered that there are only two things to do in battle:
Either stand there, hold the attack button and use my specials.
Or run away from enemies till somebody else aggros them and I can continue to hold the attack button.
Compared to DA:O there is just not much to for a mage besides casting shield from time to time.
I started over as a warrior after two hours or so. It's a more enjoyable class but the combat still feels just like "Hold the attack button until everything is dead" to me. I rarley even change characters since it's not needed and the tactical view on PC is just an unusable mess to me. I started playing on the hard difficulty but dropped to normal, not cause I felt like the game was too hard but it didn't really feel more tactical and the fights just took me longer.
The story doesn't really grab me, but it's interesting enough to keep me playing(and even though I really loved DA:O I'm not gonna pretend as if the story in that game was that amazing) but I just can't care about any of the characters.
Though I really feel like "Hey, the big bad guy is a dude who some other guy already killed in a DLC for the last game" is a pretty weird and somewhat anticlimactic thing to do.
The only one I find enjoyable is Dorian but the rest are just.....boring. They are just boring. Well, with the exception of Sera who I find so horribly written that just had to romance her.
And last but not least, there is just so much in the game that feels like wasting my time. Why is the Wartable not accesible from anywhere? Or at least from a camp? Why all the "Collect 30 pieces of rock" quests? The only somewhat interesting quests so far have been character specific quests and even those can be pretty disappointing
Like the Iron Bull one: Warp to a camp, then walk for a minute, fight 5 enemies, make a choice. End of mission.
Same for Sera. Spawn, fight 5 enemies, make a decision. End.
This is especially mindboggling to me since the companion quests were by far the best part of Mass Effect. Maybe they get better later on, but so far they feel pretty hit and miss. And when they miss, they miss hard.
As I said, I don't think the game is bad by any means, it's just a huge disappointment cause it really looks amazing the environements can be just breathtaking.
Re combat - it only shines, I think, when playing on Nightmare and you try to put builds together to be overwhelming in combat, otherwise I agree that it's not as much fun. Also the AI is incredibly dumb and some things are just broken (the resurrection spell won't work in tactical view about 75% of the time). DAO had much better combat and at least DA2's didn't waste your time.
Re companions: I've also found them pretty disappointing, particularly in comparison with DAO and DA2, however I've been hit with the banter bug pretty badly (I'm getting maybe 1 banter exchange an hour and in some regions nothing - in some cases only one banter will repeatedly fire, e.g. the one between Vivienne and Dorian about Corypheus being Tevinter), so I'm really looking forward to my next playthroughs in the hopes that the bug won't reoccur and I will actually learn something about these people. Right now I just don't feel connected to them at all.
I absolutely love the level design and side missions (because they make me explore the levels). They are absolutely gorgeous, I'm actually sad no new areas are opening up because exploring them has been so enjoyable.
Shards are yet another attempt to make the huge, open areas feel as though they're worth exploring. It is one of the most meaningless game elements, while also being among the least effective at its job.
The Batman Arkham games, with their puzzle-y Riddler trophies, do a much better job at promoting exploration while also highlighting the game's clever design. Bioware attempted to replicate this through the shards (traversal & environment puzzles), glyphs (awareness challenges), hidden items (environment puzzle), and astronomy connect-the-dots (logic puzzle); but, even taken together, they do a worse job.
Companion quests weren't a huge part of DA anyway. Remember Goldanna? Or Sten's sword? Wynne's apprentice? I think on the whole the cast of characters here are stronger than previous DA games. Obviously Morrigan Alistair and Lelianna are super carefully crafted in Origins but you don't have Oghren or Zevran here at least.
Those three characters are better than the best in Inquisition, just my opinion.
Solas - Pretty cool, its fun to play an Elf to get his viewpoints on Elven history through the fade. The other stories he tells about the fade are quite interesting as well and provide some really good lore/world building.
Sera - She is alright, kind of funny/witty
Vivienne - Boring
Cassandra - Boring
Varric - Kinda boring
Cole - He's ok I guess
Blackwall - Pretty boring
Iron Bull - Interesting, not a bad character, too bad he is so gimped that he is impossible to take on missions on harder difficulty.
Dorion - Pretty interesting, good character to get some Tevinter lore.
Just my two cents though, I think Solas and
Iron Bull
are really the only two interesting characters. The others just feel kind of 1 dimensional.
I do feel like the combat I'm has been overly simplified. But I do enjoying being a knight enchanter mage. It's satisfying to decimate enemies with the spirit blade. But I digress, I do agree that the lack of support options is annoying. No healing spells and revive is all the way at the bottom of the spirit tree.
But I don't play Dragon Age for the combat (except dragon fights). I do agree that some of the companion quests are shallow, like Vivienne and Sera. But Blackwall's, Varric's, and Cassandra's especially were amazing.
I was overjoyed when they revealed the villain, I speculated that it would be who it was and I literally yelled "yes!" when the villain came on screen. I haven't finished the game yet, I only just finished What Pride Had Wrought. So I can't comment on anything further in the story.
I've pretty much ignored all of the fetch quests and basically only done the main quest lines for each area. If I was a completionist I could see the problems with many of the side quests.
I especially miss characters like Shale. She was just such so different from what you were used to. Same reason people loved HK 47.
All the characters in DA:I are either stern warriors, stern mages, puckish rogues or Dorian (and Cole I guess). Just not that interesting to me.
But I don't play Dragon Age for the combat (except dragon fights). I do agree that some of the companion quests are shallow, like Vivienne and Sera. But Blackwall's, Varric's, and Cassandra's especially were amazing.
I'd say, in DAI, Iron Bull is the only classic, enduring character. Most of the others are well-written and performed, but Iron Bull is on another level; he's basically the Morrigan/Minsc/HK47 of this game.
I especially miss characters like Shale. She was just such a different to what you were used to. Same reason people loved HK 47.
All the characters in DA:I are either stern warriors, stern mages, puckish rogues and Dorian (and Cole I guess). Just not that interesting to me.
Exactly what I was thinking, hk-47, probably the best companion of any Bioware game (including minsc....well maybe not that far).
Yep, you nailed it, I want someone who defies expectation, thats why shale was so cool.
Finding out "he" was actually a "she" was really fun
. These characters have no story arc, other than Leiliana (whose arc is actually really good I think), they are the exact same 1 dimensional characters you started with in Haven.
I'd say, in DAI, Iron Bull is the only classic, enduring character. Most of the others are well-written and performed, but Iron Bull is on another level; he's basically the Morrigan/Minsc/HK47 of this game.
Damn, Fade Touched Obsidian is great (+ guard on hit). I'm playing as 2H Reaver so it comes very handy since my HP is always low.
Apparently Fade Touched Silverite is a better version of it but so far I haven't found any.
Yeah my second palythrough I'm playing around with crafting, seems like guard on hit is something I've gotta make for my dagger rogue in my party in order to have him survive dragon fights. I put hidden blade or whatever on iron bull and it's working out pretty well. Unsure what to put on my knight enchanter.
Exactly what I was thinking, hk-47, probably the best companion of any Bioware game (including minsc....well maybe not that far).
Yep, you nailed it, I want someone who defies expectation, thats why shale was so cool.
Finding out "he" was actually a "she" was really fun
. These characters have no story arc, other than Leiliana (whose arc is actually really good I think), they are the exact same 1 dimensional characters you started with in Haven.
Don't know if I agree with this - Blackwell's quest is pretty amazing (I was not expecting what happened at all). But the impact of no banter is really significant, imo. I just don't feel like I know these people because they're not saying anything between missions or unless it's a one-line scripted comment at locations. So I don't really care about them the same way I cared about my crew in DAO or DA2.
Don't know if I agree with this - Blackwell's quest is pretty amazing (I was not expecting what happened at all). But the impact of no banter is really significant, imo. I just don't feel like I know these people because they're not saying anything between missions or unless it's a one-line scripted comment at locations. So I don't really care about them the same way I cared about my crew in DAO or DA2.
So, no spoilers, but can I keep playing after the last quest? I'm on the penultimate quest, and I'm debating whether to do the last 2 right now or if I should go do a ton of side stuff.
So, no spoilers, but can I keep playing after the last quest? I'm on the penultimate quest, and I'm debating whether to do the last 2 right now or if I should go do a ton of side stuff.
So, no spoilers, but can I keep playing after the last quest? I'm on the penultimate quest, and I'm debating whether to do the last 2 right now or if I should go do a ton of side stuff.
