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[Lakitu]

Emprise du Lion is the best area in the game, gorgeous snowy environment with many highlights:

Spoiler

The battle towards Suledin's Keep including two giants in close proximity. Then getting to claim it afterwards. It's the best looking keep in the game.

The overarching 'battle' with the Red Templars. You actually feel like the inquisition is putting a significant foothold in the region.

Battling the Templars in the Quarry and although there are fetch quests, they truly feel like they're much less than other areas.

Lots of interesting landmarks like the Tower of Bone.

And of course, the three epic dragon battles.

 

[molnizzle]

Warrior upgraded grapple chain will knock them down, 2h Warrior mighty blow will knock them down, 2h Warrior pommel strike will stun them, Warrior can combat roll out of AOE, mages can fade step out of AOE, mage can freeze them...

Rogues should be archers to stay out of the way, why ever make dagger rogue you silly person... ¯\_(&#12484_/¯

The problem is they don't seem to give a shit about aggro at all. They'll pop from character to character no matter how many times my tank taunts them. They just zip to each of my ranged characters and repeatedly knock them down until dead, I can't get them to stay on the tank.

Is there no way to get them to focus on the damn tank? I really hate being forced to use tactical view just to get out of the way of shit. Makes fights take forever.

 

[The Last Wizard]

I just want my voice bug fixed :'(

I don't know what I'll do if that's not part of the first patch lol

I know how you feel bro, I'm waiting for this exact reason as well. It's defintely in the first patch, they confirmed it.

 

[TimeEffect]

Thanks for the tips.

I think it's just a junk mechanic. It doesn't help that the combat never feels smart or tactical enough where you can both feel in control and responsible for the way you fight

It's a different game entirely, but X com feels like a great difficult game where I fully feel in control of all my actions. The combat here though just feels mindless and I just can't trust my a.i teammates or control them all sensibly.

There are so many times where I've tried to get a.i to revive a teammate while I use another player to distract the enemy. What ends up happening? The a.i quits reviving to chase the enemy.

It drives me insane.

Guess I'll settle for normal difficulty and try this save - at - supply crates strategy.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Wait, there's more after the Hinterlands?

Even though the Hinterlands are awesome, it'd be a pretty lame game (and poorly designed) if it was just the Hinterlands.

 

[Nabbis]

I really don't like how the combat and the questing turned out. Both can be summerized as being too mmoie. I would like a little more engaged storylines within the zones, even at the expense of their size. Less is more and quality over quantity. I can kinda see why this game got more of a 85+ instead of a 95+, the new formula that Bioware is trying is not all that fleshed out.

 

[Grover Cleveland]

There is no escaping the Hinterlands.

Once you're there, you're there...forever

 

[tcrunch]

The problem is they don't seem to give a shit about aggro at all. They'll pop from character to character no matter how many times my tank taunts them. They just zip to each of my ranged characters and repeatedly knock them down until dead, I can't get them to stay on the tank.

Is there no way to get them to focus on the damn tank? I really hate being forced to use tactical view just to get out of the way of shit. Makes fights take forever.

Yeah that's why you need someone to knock them down (2h warrior) or slow them down (mage with ice magic, the snowflake spell will do fine iirc).

If you bring 2 mages you can have them alternating Barrier casts too which can help (also 2x Dispel to cut down on the # of terrors at rifts).

 

[Zafir]

Thanks for the tips.

I think it's just a junk mechanic. It doesn't help that the combat never feels smart or tactical enough where you can both feel in control and responsible for the way you fight

It's a different game entirely, but X com feels like a great difficult game where I fully feel in control of all my actions. The combat here though just feels mindless and I just can't trust my a.i teammates or control them all sensibly.

There are so many times where I've tried to get a.i to revive a teammate while I use another player to distract the enemy. What ends up happening? The a.i quits reviving to chase the enemy.

It drives me insane.

Guess I'll settle for normal difficulty and try this save - at - supply crates strategy.

I do agree there needs to be overall more control with your party members.

Decided to play on Nightmare for this second playthrough, and there's some bits which just don't seem well designed for the combat and how little control you actually have(unless you turned off the AI and baby sat everyone). Templar one was most annoying, the entire area only has 2 supply crates, and due to the sheer numbers it shoves at you at a given time, I don't think it's quite enough, especially considering you most likely won't have the perk to carry 12(I didn't).

The party members just take damage like no ones business. Even if you do set them to target themselves, it makes them a little better, but not really. They'll still stand there and tank hits from enemies, chomping potions like addicts if you don't keep a watch out and try and prevent it.

The problem is they don't seem to give a shit about aggro at all. They'll pop from character to character no matter how many times my tank taunts them. They just zip to each of my ranged characters and repeatedly knock them down until dead, I can't get them to stay on the tank.

Is there no way to get them to focus on the damn tank? I really hate being forced to use tactical view just to get out of the way of shit. Makes fights take forever.

As I mentioned in my post on the previous page, use stuns. If you stunlock them they become incredibly easy.

 

[molnizzle]

If you bring 2 mages you can have them alternating Barrier casts too which can help (also 2x Dispel to cut down on the # of terrors at rifts).

How does that work? I've only been using Dispel on enemies with their own barriers, I didn't know there was another use for it.

I always have two mages, Vivienne and my Inquisitor. 2x barrier is nice for the tank provided that the enemies are actually attacking the damn tank. That never happens at rifts, it's always a shitshow.

Also, I don't have any 2H warriors...

 

[tcrunch]

How does that work? I've only been using Dispel on enemies with their own barriers, I didn't know there was another use for it.

I always have two mages, Vivienne and my Inquisitor. 2x barrier is nice for the tank provided that the enemies are actually attacking the damn tank. That never happens at rifts, it's always a shitshow.

After you defeat the first round of enemies, the rift will put some green lines toward the ground. Choose dispel on your mage's menu and pause the game, then hover over where the lines make contact. You will hear a singing noise. Use dispel and the portal the rift was going to open will disappear and you still get xp.

edit: If you are not playing the 2h warrior yourself it's probably good not to have one haha.

 

[Zafir]

How does that work? I've only been using Dispel on enemies with their own barriers, I didn't know there was another use for it.

I always have two mages, Vivienne and my Inquisitor. 2x barrier is nice for the tank provided that the enemies are actually attacking the damn tank. That never happens at rifts, it's always a shitshow.

There is red circles on the ground with green glow around them just before enemies spawn from a rift. You can use dispel on those red circles, and it stops the enemy from that spot from spawning. If you know where the stronger enemys spawn, you can dispel their spawn point and not have to deal with them at all.

As for stuns, Shield Bash, Rift Mage tree has stuns so you may consider speccing your character in that if you wanted stuns.

 

[HoopzBarkley]

I'm really looking foward to how tempest will be with the Archer, I only got fire flask and ice flask, ice flask is pretty good since enemies always seem to focus on me most the time so it helps.

 

[molnizzle]

After you defeat the first round of enemies, the rift will put some green lines toward the ground. Choose dispel on your mage's menu and pause the game, then hover over where the lines make contact. You will hear a singing noise. Use dispel and the portal the rift was going to open will disappear and you still get xp.

There is red circles on the ground with green glow around them just before enemies spawn from a rift. You can use dispel on those red circles, and it stops the enemy from that spot from spawning. If you know where the stronger enemys spawn, you can dispel their spawn point and not have to deal with them at all.

Yep, that's what I wasn't getting. I didn't know I could dispel the second wave spawn points. That changes everything, holy shit.

 

[ComputerBlue]

I think I might have hit a bug with Collins companion quest called Before the Dawn.

There's a part where it tells me to go to the war room to

Spoiler

find Samson's weakness in his armor, but nothing shows up on the war table.

Anyone know what's up?

Edit: Nevermind, left the area and came back and it showed up.

 

[Xevren]

I'm really looking foward to how tempest will be with the Archer, I only got fire flask and ice flask, ice flask is pretty good since enemies always seem to focus on me most the time so it helps.

Tempest archer is my favorite. If you ever use lightning flask switch to another character and just watch them go like a machine gun. Kind of boring to watch in slo-mo.

 

[Xeteh]

So I was dreading my second time through the Winter Palace quest.

Spoiler

I felt it dragged a bit my first time through, I figured it would end up being DA:I's equivalent to the Fade in DA:O. However it went by super quick, I finished it with 100 Approval without even trying to and didn't have to fight Florianne (thank god, I brought along Cassandra as a 2H warrior because my MC is a tank... and she dies like crazy) so I skipped that whole ordeal.

I'm pretty happy with how that turned out.

Also a quick question, I keep reading conflicting answers but as far as masterwork items go... The "10% chance to..." stack with other pieces but ones like "Gain 3 Guard" don't? I feel like someone said the only way to make the "Gain Guard" stack was to use different values but if you had 2 of Gain 3 it wouldn't stack... Is that true or am I dumb?

I'm really looking foward to how tempest will be with the Archer, I only got fire flask and ice flask, ice flask is pretty good since enemies always seem to focus on me most the time so it helps.

It is insanely dumb if you're willing to exploit the Fire Flask bug. If you have Thousand Cuts you can use it while Fire Flask is active to not consume any focus. So you can use Thousand Cuts (and/or Mark of the Rift if it is your MC) every 30ish seconds.

 

[Darkstorne]

Looking forward to returning to the Hinterlands! Damn those level 12 demons tempting my level 5 army. Level 14 now, but... dammit, I just can't let go of my Grey Warden armour. I've passed on several better outfits now, and this armour doesn't even have upgrade slots I can take advantage of. It's just so purdy.

 

[BlueDogAnchorite]

Lol love that title. I am still doing side quests in the Hinterland. I'm about 9 hours in and I'm loving this game. I hated the first dragon age, and the second dragon age was just good. I just love the way the combat works.

 

[Xamdou]

People (like me) used to stay hours and hours leveling on Hinterlands because "I MUST END ALL THESE QUEST BEFORE LEAVING!!!" and it's not the way the game should be played. People ended up tired of MMORPG-like questing and overleveled a lot making most of the game too easy even in Hard.

About your room problem...go to a Shop and sell shit.

I see, when I first got to the Hinterlands I was like damn this place is huge I plan to uncover and finish the entire area. I got about a quarter of the map uncovered and realized its time to to the war room thang and I am now at that Storm Coast looking for missing Grey Wardens.

As for the storage problem, selling em don't help hoarder players... do we get a storage chest in town or something?

 

[Schweinehund]

Is there a tier 3 templar armor schematic + where?

Whats the difference between master work and regular schematics?

Can I cast shield bash on a weapon proc even if I'm not a warrior or don't have shield equipped? I'm thinking of making my tier 3 weapon with that, guard on hit, or hidden blades.

 

[Delta Assault]

They're pretty bad at it. Fire mines get placed in the most random places or often, not at all. Static cage is the only one they seem to work well with.

Okay, good to know. Guess I'll just spec into direct damage spells.

 

[RPGam3r]

Why do people insist on telling people how to play this game? If you want to level up and fully explore Hinterlands than do it.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Why do people insist on telling people how to play this game? If you want to level up and fully explore Hinterlands than do it.

Yeah, this also works.

I can pretty much take Level 12 Rifts with three mages all with Dispel.

 

[Teknoman]

Why do people insist on telling people how to play this game? If you want to level up and fully explore Hinterlands than do it.

They want people to avoid the usual Open World RPG effect. Every game in the genre has it: Xenoblade, Dragons Dogma, Fallout 3/NV, Skyrim, etc.

Loads of sidequests in areas, many of which are boring or detract from the main story, ends up burning out players who are really interested in the main story, they never finish the game.

Honestly its probably best to rotate through areas so you dont get bored of one...unless you arent that kind of person to get bored.

 

[Zafir]

Why do people insist on telling people how to play this game? If you want to level up and fully explore Hinterlands than do it.

I think it was more for the benefit of those who were getting burned out on side quests courtesy of the hinterlands being so large.

 

[Parmadillo Marshmallow]

Why do people insist on telling people how to play this game? If you want to level up and fully explore Hinterlands than do it.

I think the issue is with people doing this, and then saying "the game is nothing but boring fetch quests".

 

[III-V]

I haven't been able to play this much in the past week, but my overall feeling is EPIC

I'm fairly new to Skyhold.

 

[ComputerBlue]

I think the issue is with people doing this, and then saying "the game is nothing but boring fetch quests".

Also because there's sooo much more to see.

 

[LuuKyK]

There is no escaping the Hinterlands.

Once you're there, you're there...forever

I am honestly inclined to believe that. I dont think I will ever leave this place. :lol

 

[molnizzle]

As for the storage problem, selling em don't help hoarder players... do we get a storage chest in town or something?

Nope, the game is designed to actively force you to manage your inventory. Use your non-primary companions to store rings/necklaces that you think you might want later. Nothing else should be hoarded. It's simply not necessary. After your inventory fills up, head back to base and clear out your shit like this:

1. Hit the creature research table since those items are considered "valuables" and can be vendored quite easily if you're not careful.
   
2. Head to the blacksmith and manage the weapons for your primary party members. If a new one has a higher number, equip it.
   
3. Next manage the weapons for your secondary companions. Anything left over should be added to "valuables" (L2).
   
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 for armor and accessories.
   
5. Lastly make sure you have the best upgrades currently equipped for both armor and weapons. Any leftover upgrades should be added to valuables.
   
6. Use the vendor by the blacksmith and press Triangle/Y to sell all valuables.

You should be totally cleared out now, unless you're saving some higher level stuff that you can't use yet.

Remember: You should never buy any armor, weapons or upgrade items from vendors. The best gear is always crafted. Buy recipes and crafting materials only. You never need to worry about getting rid of upgrades that you think you might want later, because you can always just make another one. Also there's a 99% chance that you'll have better recipes then anyway.

 

[Teknoman]

I still really want to play...is the gender referral bug something that can mess up your gameplay later on? Or is it just a VA glitch?

 

[JerkShep]

Hitching to go back for a second playthrough but I'll wait for the first patch. I must say though that in 90+ hours of gameplay, for a game this big, I didn't find many bugs in my first playthrough. I'd say four or five crash on PS4, but with the way the game autosaves I lost five minutes of playtime at most. There was a bit of jank, but thanks god no broken quest chains or the stranger bugs like sex change/VA change. I should consider myself lucky I guess.

I'm quite torn on which character to do next, any standouts for you? I've played a Male Elf Warrior (Champion), specced for Sword and Shield and I liked it a lot. Also tried the 2 Handed Warrior for a bit but I didn't really feel it, a tad to slow and weak in comparison to the immortal tank I used. The mage seem really interesting, can't decide on the specialization though, they all seem pretty good. Cole was a monster when placed right in combat, so even a two swords assassin might be interesting. Decisions decisions.

Long story short, which are your favorite classes/specialization for the main character?

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

I think the issue is with people doing this, and then saying "the game is nothing but boring fetch quests".

The Hinterlands, as a first area, is great game design.

It's fucking gigantic and it offers you really easy quests to not only level up to but to introduce you to the game mechanics.

 

[hipsterpants]

Here Lies the Abyss... wow. I can see why there aren't too many main story missions in this game.

Also, any pro-tips for a 2h templar? Anything to keep archers from all focusing on me every single time.

 

[cleveridea]

forced reload bug for bioware devs - in the starting level, where you have to close the rift after the mage asks you. I happened to have triggered the touchpad strategy mode, and it was impossible to exit it - I could forward time with R2 but not leave strategy mode since touching touchpad did nothing.

I think its because it was in partial tutorial mode.

this was on PS4

I had to reload (auto save was recent fortunately)

I also had a bug fighting level 8 bandits with my level 3 characters in hinterlands (starting camp, from the back entrance ie wheat fields) I had my green hand as my portrait, my other characters got knocked out, I ran back to camp, my portrait then got replaced with a skull icon but I was still alive and running about (since I never reached a health of 0)

I have noticed every now and then the green hand sticks around forever

 

[Zafir]

I still really want to play...is the gender referral bug something that can mess up your gameplay later on? Or is it just a VA glitch?

I've heard it can cause issues with romances. That said, people said you can prevent it from happening by swapping between male and female on the character creation screen a few times before proceeding. Not sure whether that fix still stands.

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Is there a tier 3 templar armor schematic + where?

Whats the difference between master work and regular schematics?

Can I cast shield bash on a weapon proc even if I'm not a warrior or don't have shield equipped? I'm thinking of making my tier 3 weapon with that, guard on hit, or hidden blades.

For the Templar armor schematic

Spoiler

I didn't buy it so I'm not sure if it's tier 3, but there's a shop run by a dog in the Hissing Wastes that sales some expensive ass templar armor schematics.

 

[JerkShep]

NRemember: You should never buy any armor, weapons or upgrade items from vendors. The best gear is always crafted. Buy recipes and crafting materials only. You never need to worry about getting rid of upgrades that you think you might want later, because you can always just make another one. Also there's a 99% chance that you'll have better recipes then anyway.

Now that you mention it, I never bothered to check something: can you buy the same recipe twice by mistake or the one offered are always the ones you miss?

 

[Parmadillo Marshmallow]

The Hinterlands, as a first area, is great game design.

It's fucking gigantic and it offers you really easy quests to not only level up to but to introduce you to the game mechanics.

Personally, I agree with you. But there are a lot of people who said the game was boring and hadn't left the Hinterlands. But that wasn't me...

 

[Xeteh]

Long story short, which are your favorite classes/specialization for the main character?

Archer Rogue has been my favorite so far. I've always dug archery character and they're really solid this time around.

 

[molnizzle]

Now that you mention it, I never bothered to check something: can you buy the same recipe twice by mistake or the one offered are always the ones you miss?

They're always new. You can't have more than one version of a recipe. As far as I know, there's only one copy of each recipe available in the world. Either that or the extra copies disappear once you acquire one. You also can't sell or get rid of recipes.

If a vendor is showing a recipe available then buy it. You don't have it yet.

 

[TheSpoiler]

I'm a 2h Warrior at the beginning of the game. What in the fuck should I be focusing on? I got the chain, and one move as an upgrade let's me do knockdowns but those rarely happen unless my chain delivers it, and I don't wanna be reliant on that.

What do I do, GAF? How do I make this guy the damaging monster he's suppose to be?

 

[Schweinehund]

For the Templar armor schematic

Spoiler

I didn't buy it so I'm not sure if it's tier 3, but there's a shop run by a dog in the Hissing Wastes that sales some expensive ass templar armor schematics.

Nice I'll look into it. I've only

Spoiler

Explored emerald graves for tier 3 areas, haven't looked into Hissing Wastes or EDL yet. I miss my templar commander armor I found in western approach .

 

[Deified Data]

Remember: You should never buy any armor, weapons or upgrade items from vendors. The best gear is always crafted. Buy recipes and crafting materials only. You never need to worry about getting rid of upgrades that you think you might want later, because you can always just make another one. Also there's a 99% chance that you'll have better recipes then anyway.

This isn't always the case, unfortunately. My masterwork scout armor I bought on my first visit to Val Royeaux carried me through most of the game, until I found a better set at the Winter Palace. Again, found. I don't doubt that schematics are better, but sometimes it's luck of the draw what schematics you get. On my first playthrough I felt like I was always lacking the right schematic for shit. The flow of weapons and armor was a lot more plentiful than the flow of schematics so I just typically found better gear than the stuff I could make - I was kind of disappointed because crafting was fun but not very rewarding for me on that playthrough. Hopefully my second is different.

 

[TerryLee81]

Kinda OT, but I just took some screenshots (PS4) in nice locations. Copied them to a USB drive and guess what, they look like shit.

Is there a way to take better screenshots?

 

[Teknoman]

I've heard it can cause issues with romances. That said, people said you can prevent it from happening by swapping between male and female on the character creation screen a few times before proceeding. Not sure whether that fix still stands.

Didnt work for me unfortunately (started playing about two days ago) and as soon as I woke up again, "There she goes".

Dunno if this is a glitch or not as well, but i've also got two ice based daggers in my inventory with no name (i'm a 2H warrior for reference).

 

[molnizzle]

This isn't always the case, unfortunately. My masterwork scout armor I bought on my first visit to Val Royeaux carried me through most of the game, until I found a better set at the Winter Palace. Again, found. I don't doubt that schematics are better, but sometimes it's luck of the draw what schematics you get. On my first playthrough I felt like I was always lacking the right schematic for shit. The flow of weapons and armor was a lot more plentiful than the flow of schematics so I just typically found better gear than the stuff I could make - I was kind of disappointed because crafting was fun but not very rewarding for me on that playthrough. Hopefully my second is different.

I'm pretty sure the recipe locations are static. I started over after about 50 hours to play on Nightmare, and I've now acquired most of the same recipes I had before.

That's one of the benefits of fully clearing zones, I guess. There's stuff to be had out there. =P

Also should always check the recipe vendors in Val Royeaux and Redcliffe after significant story missions. Sometimes they get new shit. Skyhold vendors too, but not often.

 

[Poodlestrike]

I'm pretty sure the recipe locations are static. I started over after about 50 hours to play on Nightmare, and I've now acquired most of the same recipes I had before.

That's one of the benefits of fully clearing zones, I guess. There's stuff to be had out there. =P

Also should always check the recipe vendors in Val Royeaux and Redcliffe after significant story missions. Sometimes they get new shit. Skyhold vendors too, but not often.

Nope, random. I once found a tier 2 staff 5 minutes into the Hinterlands, never happened in any subsequent playthrough.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Is there anywhere to see which dragons you have left to kill? I'm missing one more and don't know where it is. I remember at the start of the game I saw one fighting a giant, but I don't remember where that was. Was that one I can kill, if so, where the hell was that at?