Support NeoGAF

[Xeteh]

Well I ask because Assassin seems to be better for an archer than whatever class Varric has but I heard that Bianca can be modded/upgraded to have a very high DPS.

Both Assassin and Artificer are very strong for an archer but between having to build your team around an Artificer to get the most out of his cooldown reducing passive and the AI being totally unable to play it well it makes it a bit worse.

Edit: Damnit, didn't mean to double post.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

Well I ask because Assassin seems to be better for an archer than whatever class Varric has but I heard that Bianca can be modded/upgraded to have a very high DPS.

The highest DPS i saw with Bianca is somewhere around 200, if that.

With dragon bone you can easily get up to 300 with Sera/Cole.

Plus the Masterwork that applies 10% Thousand Cuts is jawdropping good.

 

[Tabby]

Both Assassin and Artificer are very strong for an archer but between having to build your team around an Artificer to get the most out of his cooldown reducing passive and the AI being totally unable to play it well it makes it a bit worse.

Edit: Damnit, didn't mean to double post.

The highest DPS i saw with Bianca is somewhere around 200, if that.

With dragon bone you can easily get up to 300 with Sera/Cole.

Plus the Masterwork that applies 10% Thousand Cuts is jawdropping good.

Guess I'm going to go with Cole then.
Thanks guys.

 

[sticks435]

Does anyone know the best way to find your choices in DA:O for setting up the Keep? I was going to try to use the "Story so Far" on the old Bioware Social Network, but it's completly blank when I go into my character now. Then I thought I would re-install DAO and read through the Journal in the game, but it won't freaking activate to EA's servers after upgrading to Windows 8.1. Thought about trying to use the toolset to read through the save file, but not sure where the choices are stored.

 

[LurkerPrime]

Does anyone know the best way to find your choices in DA:O for setting up the Keep? I was going to try to use the "Story so Far" on the old Bioware Social Network, but it's completly blank when I go into my character now. Then I thought I would re-install DAO and read through the Journal in the game, but it won't freaking activate to EA's servers after upgrading to Windows 8.1. Thought about trying to use the toolset to read through the save file, but not sure where the choices are stored.

You'd have to use a save editor or something, I think. Watching the post-game epilogue only highlights the big choices, but the Keep tracks far more than that. I am also unsure how accurate the journal is for this purpose - it would still overlook some of the events, like romances.

It'd probably be best (and easiest) to set up a game state from your best memory. Even if it's not 100% accurate it will be nigh indistinguishable from your actual playthrough.

 

[sticks435]

Yeah, I finished it in like August, but strung the whole playthrough out over 6 years, so I only remember bits and pieces. Mostly the

Spoiler

Broken Circle and Elvish

quest lines are what I can't remember, plus some of the random encounter stuff.

 

[Putyouinmyoven]

Hey guys, I'm getting this with a PS4 for christmas - I've never played any of the Dragon Age games before, but from what I gather, the story is awesome (which is why I decided to get this game in the first place!) - is there an easy way for me to catch up with the story so I get a bigger impact from my playthrough? I've read something about a movie kicking around too, should I watch that?

 

[KrM DeLorean]

No further options are made available. The only thing you can do really is tell your AI characters to give priority to certain abilities.

It's too bad the AI is really stupid. Ranged characters never try to get away from melee attackers. It wasn't that big of a deal in previous games because it was easy to reposition characters manually, but that's a huge pain in the ass in Inquisition.

You can open up the tactical menu and press X (on PS4) on a character to hold position. So when the fight starts, you can tell your ranged characters to hold their spot in the back. The friendly AI in general is not very good though, they don't seem to have any meaningful AI actually..

Go in to Character Record for any of your ranged characters and under behavior set them to follow themselves. It helps keep them at range but it isn't perfect, it seems to help sometimes and do nothing others.

Thanks for the tips guys. Going to try this tonight.

 

[Tabby]

Hey guys, I'm getting this with a PS4 for christmas - I've never played any of the Dragon Age games before, but from what I gather, the story is awesome (which is why I decided to get this game in the first place!) - is there an easy way for me to catch up with the story so I get a bigger impact from my playthrough? I've read something about a movie kicking around too, should I watch that?

Ralemont's Dragon Age Lore Thread.
Kotaku's Beginner's Guide to Dragon Age.
IGN's helpful 5 minute video.
ShoddyCast's Dragon Age Lore Series.
Gamespot's Dragon Age Lore in 2 Minutes.

You should be fine just reading Kotaku's guide but take your pic.

Regarding the movie I've never seen it so I can't comment on that.

 

[Grisby]

The Final Piece. Wow.

I think there was a theory going around that kind of spoiled me a bit, but it was still a really cool scene, and I'm glad about the choice I made earlier.

Question though, does (massive near end game spoilers yo)

Spoiler

Flemeth always get the old god soul if Morrigan has a kid or does it turn out different if she drank from the well?

 

[texhnolyze]

Wow, finally some SweetFX mods for DA:I

Perfect for my 2nd playthrough.

 

[Xeteh]

Question though, does (massive near end game spoilers yo)

Spoiler

Flemeth always get the old god soul if Morrigan has a kid or does it turn out different if she drank from the well?

She still gets it.

 

[KePoW]

Wow, finally some SweetFX mods for DA:I

Perfect for my 2nd playthrough.

Can you please give instructions on where to download this and what to do??

 

[Putyouinmyoven]

Ralemont's Dragon Age Lore Thread.
Kotaku's Beginner's Guide to Dragon Age.
IGN's helpful 5 minute video.
ShoddyCast's Dragon Age Lore Series.
Gamespot's Dragon Age Lore in 2 Minutes.

You should be fine just reading Kotaku's guide but take your pic.

Regarding the movie I've never seen it so I can't comment on that.

Thanks! I guess the movie isn't essential viewing to understand everything then?

 

[LurkerPrime]

Yeah, I finished it in like August, but strung the whole playthrough out over 6 years, so I only remember bits and pieces. Mostly the

Spoiler

Broken Circle and Elvish

quest lines are what I can't remember, plus some of the random encounter stuff.

Well, with how the Keep works you'll be seeing all of the outcomes possible anyways. If the descriptions don't jog your memory I doubt anything but a full recap would suffice.

By the way, six years is some real dedication. I salute your resolve to kill the Archdemon.

 

[texhnolyze]

Can you please give instructions on where to download this and what to do??

It's on the Nexus.
Pretty easy installation, unzip and play. You might want to set your gamma higher if the game becomes too dark though.

 

[Tabby]

Thanks! I guess the movie isn't essential viewing to understand everything then?

The movie is about the origins of Cassandra Pentaghast.
It's an anime style movie though and not the same VA for Cassandra.
You could watch it if you feel like but I doubt it'd help much in regards to the knowledge of the DA universe.

 

[Laughing Banana]

Well I ask because Assassin seems to be better for an archer than whatever class Varric has but I heard that Bianca can be modded/upgraded to have a very high DPS.

There's a video out there showing Varic in Nightmare killing a dragon in 16 seconds using his Hail of Arrows.

Of course, a Tempest Inquisitor/Sera can do it even faster so yeah

 

[Tabby]

There's a video out there showing Varic in Nightmare killing a dragon in 16 seconds using his Hail of Arrows.

Of course, a Tempest Inquisitor/Sera can do it even faster so yeah

I feel like there's videos of solo Nightmare dragons of everything tbh.

Nope. No Sera. Period. Ever. I don't care how good she is, she's never going to be in my party.

 

[Laughing Banana]

I feel like there's videos of solo Nightmare dragons of everything tbh.

Nope. No Sera. Period. Ever. I don't care how good she is, she's never going to be in my party.

Her mocking down Solas is pretty funny though.

I believe it's the only time Solas actually swore at a companion which is nice to hear, hahaha.

 

[Ricker]

Okay,why am I stuck in the starting oval like part of the map in Emprise du Lion....? I went all over and can't reach the other markers on the map...not seeing a cave or something lol..?

 

[Refna]

Just bought the game yesterday and played a good 20 hours started as a mage in normal. Such a beautiful game and lots of stuffs to explore.

Spoiler

I don't want to leave hinterlands =(

 

[bananafactory]

I'm loving this game at 16 hours in but I feel like I have no fucking idea what's going on. I get the main story so far, the divine was destroyed and now I have to close the breach. But everytime characters talk it's like I jumped into the middle of university physics class. Bunch of names and places I have no idea what they are. I'm sure the codex explains lots but I can't really be bothered to go through and read it all, I just wish it was explained better in the narrative.

 

[Grisby]

She still gets it.

Interesting. I'd be curious to know

Spoiler

what happens when there's no kid involved. Maybe on my second go through I'll test it out.

 

[Varna]

I'm loving this game at 16 hours in but I feel like I have no fucking idea what's going on. I get the main story so far, the divine was destroyed and now I have to close the breach. But everytime characters talk it's like I jumped into the middle of university physics class. Bunch of names and places I have no idea what they are. I'm sure the codex explains lots but I can't really be bothered to go through and read it all, I just wish it was explained better in the narrative.

Did you play Dragon Age: Origin? Kind of appreciate that this game just throws you in the think of it in terms of lore... but yeah, must be pretty overwhelming for new players. I didn't play Dragon Age 2 but I was able to get the gist of it since I had a decent understanding the Dragon Age lore. Are you exhausting all the dialogue with your party member? I found they do a pretty good job of offering more exposition about things like the fade, other nations and the mage rebellion. Your character is a foreigner so it kind of fits that you are learning things along the way.

I thought the game was pretty open before act 2... but damn. I'm on nightmare so those areas with lots of higher level foes seem a bit out of the question. So I'm just picking away at all the zones at the moment.

One thing I really hate about the story is the way the missions are set up... I absolutely hate when games try to make events urgent knowing full well that you will probably be playing side content for a very long time. A simple narration change would make things fit better with the gameplay... but nope! Gotta make it EPIC!

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

Interesting. I'd be curious to know

Spoiler

what happens when there's no kid involved. Maybe on my second go through I'll test it out.

I watched a video on YouTube.

Spoiler

Doesn't look like she does actually.

 

[Xeteh]

Interesting. I'd be curious to know

Spoiler

what happens when there's no kid involved. Maybe on my second go through I'll test it out.

Spoiler

That scene where you go to talk to Morrigan and you find Leliana there telling you that Morrigan chased her son through the Eluvian doesn't happen.

 

[bananafactory]

Did you play Dragon Age: Origin? Kind of appreciate that this game just throws you in the think of it in terms of lore... but yeah, must be pretty overwhelming for new players. I didn't play Dragon Age 2 but I was able to get the gist of it since I had a decent understanding the Dragon Age lore. Are you exhausting all the dialogue with your party member? I found they do a pretty good job of offering more exposition about things like the fade, other nations and the mage rebellion. Your character is a foreigner so it kind of fits that you are learning things along the way.

I thought the game was pretty open before act 2... but damn. I'm on nightmare so those areas with lots of higher level foes seem a bit out of the question. So I'm just picking away at all the zones at the moment.

One thing I really hate about the story is the way the missions are set up... I absolutely hate when games try to make events urgent knowing full well that you will probably be playing side content for a very long time. A simple narration change would make things fit better with the gameplay... but nope! Gotta make it EPIC!

I played through about 90% of Origins but didn't quite finish it. That was quite a few years ago though so it's pretty hazy, I remember some stuff about the blight, grey wardens, chantry etc but not much else. Skipped DA2, so I guess I'm coming into this one pretty blind. Probably my own fault. Still like I said, I'm really enjoying it. And no i haven't dug into too many conversations yet so I'll try some more of that and see how it expands things. Thanks for the advice

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Restarting because my Kristen Connoly Elf looks hideous.

It's on the Nexus.
Pretty easy installation, unzip and play. You might want to set your gamma higher if the game becomes too dark though.

I have to pay?

 

[Xeteh]

Restarting because my Kristen Connoly Elf looks hideous.



I have to pay?

I haven't tried to download it but I've used NexusMods for a ton of different games and they've never hid their downloads behind paywalls.

 

[Tabby]

I played through about 90% of Origins but didn't quite finish it. That was quite a few years ago though so it's pretty hazy, I remember some stuff about the blight, grey wardens, chantry etc but not much else. Skipped DA2, so I guess I'm coming into this one pretty blind. Probably my own fault. Still like I said, I'm really enjoying it. And no i haven't dug into too many conversations yet so I'll try some more of that and see how it expands things. Thanks for the advice

Check out the some of the video links I posted earlier in the page to jog your memory a bit.

 

[sticks435]

Well, with how the Keep works you'll be seeing all of the outcomes possible anyways. If the descriptions don't jog your memory I doubt anything but a full recap would suffice.

By the way, six years is some real dedication. I salute your resolve to kill the Archdemon.

So I did some reading, figured out how to get it to install (you have to do it through Origin now, and not the Amazon installer). Between the completed quest journal entries and using a save game editor on my DA2 savegame to read the imported choices from DAO, I manged to get answers to all but 2 or 3 choices, so took my best guess there lol.

HAHA yeah, I pre-ordered the collectors edition, played it, got side tracked with some other game, went back to it, repeated a couple of times, finally finished the main game May of last year, then look me about another year to finish all the DLC lol.

 

[Varna]

I played through about 90% of Origins but didn't quite finish it. That was quite a few years ago though so it's pretty hazy, I remember some stuff about the blight, grey wardens, chantry etc but not much else. Skipped DA2, so I guess I'm coming into this one pretty blind. Probably my own fault. Still like I said, I'm really enjoying it. And no i haven't dug into too many conversations yet so I'll try some more of that and see how it expands things. Thanks for the advice

I forgot to mention, did you set up your world state? Those short dragon age keep videos do a pretty decent job for summarizing the last two games. If you customize your story you can jog your memory on a lot of the quest too.

 

[Freezasaurus]

How is Cole is a Archer?
I can't decide if I want him or Varric as my Rogue.

I have to admit, in two playthroughs, I don't think I've ever had Cole in my party. Most boring character design ever.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I have to admit, in two playthroughs, I don't think I've ever had Cole in my party. Most boring character design ever.

Agreed. Emo dude with a dumb-looking hat.

Everything about him just seemed really half-baked and random.

Felt similarly to Fenris in Dragon Age 2. Just felt completely out of place.

 

[Brian Fellows]

I have to admit, in two playthroughs, I don't think I've ever had Cole in my party. Most boring character design ever.

I use him a little bit.

I haven't used Varric since I got a 4th companion.

 

[Xeteh]

I have to admit, in two playthroughs, I don't think I've ever had Cole in my party. Most boring character design ever.

Agreed. Emo dude with a dumb-looking hat.

Everything about him just seemed really half-baked and random.

Felt similarly to Fenris in Dragon Age 2. Just felt completely out of place.

Aw, you guys missed out.

Yeah, he isn't the most hilarious but he digs in to your other party member's backgrounds with his banter. With Solas he starts talking about other atrocities/spirits you encounter. I get why people might not dig Cole but I always found him super interesting and his banter makes it work.

 

[leng jai]

Actually the visual design of your potential party members were probably the weakest part of the game. Cole and Sera in particular look dreadful, and the rest are merely okay. I would have preferred to have the advisors in my party.

 

[The Shogun]

So much atmosphere

 

[Xeteh]

So much atmosphere

The Fallow Mire is pretty awesome. It is a shame its such a short zone, though.

 

[Deified Data]

Aw, you guys missed out.

Yeah, he isn't the most hilarious but he digs in to your other party member's backgrounds with his banter. With Solas he starts talking about other atrocities/spirits you encounter. I get why people might not dig Cole but I always found him super interesting and his banter makes it work.

Cole is awesome. Great banter and surprisingly able combatant.

 

[Jibbajabbawockky]

I'm real close to just putting Inquisition aside until whenever BioWare or Nvidia get their act straightened out. Post Patch 2, the performance on my 970 has gone to crap with near constant stuttering down to single digit FPS. I've tried just about every possible fix I've been able to find on the internet, but it seems like performance being crap on Nvidia cards is just some known thing. I thought I had it somewhat worked around but going into Emprise de Lion and the game is only around 40FPS dipping into single digits. And now that's just par for the course even going back to other areas like Skyhold where the performance and stuttering had been ok post Patch 2.

This is far and away the most issues I've had with a game this year and probably any BioWare game ever.

And what makes it more annoying is how mute BioWare has been on their further support for the game. They've just nebulously said about a month ago that they're working on patches but then they just release Patch 2 which killed the game's performance for me and basically haven't said anything since. Ugh.

 

[Dr_Boris_Goltz]

I started skipping dialogue at the base. This is something I have never done before in a Bioware game, but I find all of the characters with minor exceptions (Solas) superbly monotonous, and there's just TOO MUCH conversation.

It doesn't feel optional either.

I'm so torn on this game. There's so much to like, but the old fashion animations, especially during cutscenes, the terribly uninteresting party members, and the slow pace of the game really drag it down for me.

Who thought it was a good idea for you to have a million conversation options as soon as you hit Skyhold, then refresh the place after talking to Solas only to have a MILLION MORE CONVERSATION OPTIONS? I've been here for an hour doing nothing.

 

[Ralemont]

I just started an Assassin Nightmare playthrough and I'm really enjoying it so far. Solas spams Winter's Breath and I just Twin Fangs all the things. The tutorial boss is a real bitch of a fight with warrior and mage but with rogue being able to Stealth > Disrupt Rift makes it cake.

I'm also impressed with how much reactivity there is to me being Dalish. My first playthrough was human and it seemed...normal? Definitely a lot of references to my noble past with Josie, though. The first conversation you have where Solas goes lolDalish is pretty funny.

Spoiler

and super interesting in a second playthrough.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I'm real close to just putting Inquisition aside until whenever BioWare or Nvidia get their act straightened out. Post Patch 2, the performance on my 970 has gone to crap with near constant stuttering down to single digit FPS. I've tried just about every possible fix I've been able to find on the internet, but it seems like performance being crap on Nvidia cards is just some known thing. I thought I had it somewhat worked around but going into Emprise de Lion and the game is only around 40FPS dipping into single digits. And now that's just par for the course even going back to other areas like Skyhold where the performance and stuttering had been ok post Patch 2.

This is far and away the most issues I've had with a game this year and probably any BioWare game ever.

And what makes it more annoying is how mute BioWare has been on their further support for the game. They've just nebulously said about a month ago that they're working on patches but then they just release Patch 2 which killed the game's performance for me and basically haven't said anything since. Ugh.

I've got a 970 and have never experienced anything like that.

Obvious questions, but you're running the latest drivers, right? Any weird issues in other games? What processor? Also, did you try turning off MSAA?

 

[Ashodin]

You best not be smack talking Cole.

His slippery sounding, searching scintillating speech makes me smacked with speechlessness all the time

 

[Wingfan19]

Finished it tonight, 121 hours. First ever RPG-ish game I've played. Never played any of the Mass Effects, Final Fantasy's, etc. I fucking loved this game though. Problem is, I got screwed out of 3 trophy's and I'm super pissed about it. I don't plan on re-playing the game as I just don't think I can muster the effort to put in another 120 hours for a single game, I also don't really have the time anymore.

Following 3 trophy's didn't unlock

Belle of the Ball
Dragon's Bane
Keymaster

I played through as a Rogue Assassin and it was pretty fun, I don't know how people can play as a Mage though, seems so boring. I'm also a little lost on how I haven't unlocked some of the codex cards. I've uncovered every part of all the map and have to have found like 98% of all the loot in the game so I don't see how I can be missing any. Were they unlocked through conversations I didn't have?

 

[Xeteh]

Finished it tonight, 121 hours. First ever RPG-ish game I've played. Never played any of the Mass Effects, Final Fantasy's, etc. I fucking loved this game though. Problem is, I got screwed out of 3 trophy's and I'm super pissed about it. I don't plan on re-playing the game as I just don't think I can muster the effort to put in another 120 hours for a single game, I also don't really have the time anymore.

Following 3 trophy's didn't unlock

Belle of the Ball
Dragon's Bane
Keymaster

I played through as a Rogue Assassin and it was pretty fun, I don't know how people can play as a Mage though, seems so boring. I'm also a little lost on how I haven't unlocked some of the codex cards. I've uncovered every part of all the map and have to have found like 98% of all the loot in the game so I don't see how I can be missing any. Were they unlocked through conversations I didn't have?

Grats and glad you enjoyed it. You should give the Mass Effect games a go. The first is a bit archaic in the gameplay at this point but it is still fantastic.

I'm not entirely sure about the other two but Dragon's Bane is bugged. The only real solution other than replaying is to reload a save right before you killed the last dragon (maybe any dragon?) and kill it again.

 

[Jibbajabbawockky]

I've got a 970 and have never experienced anything like that.

Obvious questions, but you're running the latest drivers, right? Any weird issues in other games? What processor? Also, did you try turning off MSAA?

For me, the game worked great, solid 60 FPS, before Patch 2. Since then, the game stutters constantly in gameplay using the most recent Nvidia drivers and the beta 347.09 drivers.

Just trying to play a bit today and I could swear its gotten worse. Not quite as bad as in this video, but this is the basic idea. And it seems like my CPU (4670k) and GPU are going 100% when I'm running the game. Its nuts. It seems like its a known issue at least with Nvidia, since they referenced it as an open issue in the 347.09 driver notes.

 

[Aurizen]

Anyone know where to get a tier 3 Wrapped Staff Grip?