Dragon Age: Inquisition (Plot Details in Spoilers!)

So I finally got around to playing this, but so far it is like a shittier version of Witcher 3... I really liked DAO and DA2 wasn'tthatbad.

I'm lvl 8 in the Hinterlands and the amount of MMORPURGER fetch quests is infuriating, especially combined with all the backtracking bullshit they have you do. Does it get better or should i just ignore anything that requires me to collect 10 bear asses ? I like getting the best endings possible etc. so I'd hate to find out just because I wasn't maxing my influence/power all game I get to eat dirt. Same goes for gathering materials, the most boring part of a MMO in a single player game ...

That war room missions are interesting, but holy shit the loading times are unbearable and walking through Haven every single time gets dull really fast. I simply don't have 40GB on my SSD just for this. Combat is bearable, even if it feels like the tactic mode is completely unnecessary and depth is limited to chaining freeze/shatter/knockdown/rupture pain train on a single enemy with occasional CC if you want to get fancy. Crafting has so much space but so far the rewards have been questionable at best.

I'll just say that whoever designed the PC UI needs to be bitchslapped.

So yeah, not feeling it, is the story at least good ?

It's a while back, but to repeat the past - DON'T TRY TO FINISH HINTERLANDS OFF THE BAT.

Most areas are meant to be one and done - Hinterlands is not one of them. It's meant to be something you do a stretch of, then come back to a few times.

If you feel yourself getting bogged down just start skipping the side stuff, because there is a massive amount of side stuff in the game. Camp collections are entirely skip-able except for one or two attached to other quests. And you don't even need to do the most side quests in zones to progress the main story. They're just there to help you level up, acquire gear and they usually provide some good backstory to the region you're in.

Also if you're not playing on nightmare you can probably skip crafting for the most part and run with found gear. And for potions only pickup the herbs for the resist potions(spindleweed, rashvine) and regeneration potions(rashvine, elfroot). The wide array of potions, gear schematics and the tactical view aren't needed if you're not playing on nightmare. And even that can be seen as a way to slow down progress and prolong the game.

Basically stop collecting every herb and bear ass, concentrate on main story and some of the side stories and it should make for a more non-mmo like experience. I liked the story and thought it was worth the trip. It's not the Witcher 3 of course, but it came out a year before it and I can't think of any company that puts the same amount of detail in their games as CD Project Red. So any comparison of Witcher 3 vs other game is going to lead to a feeling of disappointment.

Make sure you kill all the dragons, they are the coolest part of the game IMO.

Nester_sl said:

Make sure you kill all the dragons, they are the coolest part of the game IMO.

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Felt completely the opposite. Visually and loot wise very cool, but I found the fights themselves tedious and highlight just how fuck awful the AI is in the game. Turned the difficulty down to easy just to sleep through them for the purps after the first couple. Love the game though.

Zaphid_sl said:

So I finally got around to playing this, but so far it is like a shittier version of Witcher 3... I really liked DAO and DA2 wasn'tthatbad.

I'm lvl 8 in the Hinterlands and the amount of MMORPURGER fetch quests is infuriating, especially combined with all the backtracking bullshit they have you do. Does it get better or should i just ignore anything that requires me to collect 10 bear asses ? I like getting the best endings possible etc. so I'd hate to find out just because I wasn't maxing my influence/power all game I get to eat dirt. Same goes for gathering materials, the most boring part of a MMO in a single player game ...

That war room missions are interesting, but holy shit the loading times are unbearable and walking through Haven every single time gets dull really fast. I simply don't have 40GB on my SSD just for this. Combat is bearable, even if it feels like the tactic mode is completely unnecessary and depth is limited to chaining freeze/shatter/knockdown/rupture pain train on a single enemy with occasional CC if you want to get fancy. Crafting has so much space but so far the rewards have been questionable at best.

I'll just say that whoever designed the PC UI needs to be bitchslapped.

So yeah, not feeling it, is the story at least good ?

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Hinterlands is the chokepoint for most at the start. I felt the same way until i finally left that place then the game went full awesome ahead. Personally i love this and Witcher 3, the only thing i like far better is the melee combat in Witcher 3 - it totally eclipses the melee atrocity of DAI.

Loved witcher 3, i played this a bit but couldn't get into it. Felt like Guild wars 2, combat was boring as hell, mashing same shit over and over.. ( although witcher is that as well but the storyline in wticher 3 was great ).

I can't be the only one who felt like trespasser is the real ending to DAI? Feels like this was taken out at the last minute and saved for DLC since they were behind schedule. Makes sense after the abrupt ending in the main DAI game.

Nah Trespasser was just made this year so it wasnt taken out - Anyways i like the ending of the "game" (with final DLC done) more than i liked the ending of Witcher 3(tho the W3 story is not complete).

I made alot of odd choices at the end so im curious to see how DA4 will be with all the shit i did.

XXEXX: Pretty sure that the "issue" you mention happens no matter what. Wife and I both got that with all the different tweaks to continuing story we each got. I was 99% sure the Inquisitor was just for DA:I and 100% sure now. He might show up as support like Hawke did in DA:I but nothing more than that for sure.

Vaclav_sl said:

XXEXX: Pretty sure that the "issue" you mention happens no matter what. Wife and I both got that with all the different tweaks to continuing story we each got. I was 99% sure the Inquisitor was just for DA:I and 100% sure now. He might show up as support like Hawke did in DA:I but nothing more than that for sure.

Spoiler

Iron Bull's "ending" really pissed me off though - so abrupt and pointless

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My group was so fuckin OP - with Viv and Dorian back together i was just wrecking shit so fuckin ridiculously.

Did you find out how to get the Grail Vac? and if so what did it do?

Ah nm i looked up what it really was - hmm i feel like replaying the DLC to see what i missed - apparently there are a bunch of easter eggs to find.

X X E X X_sl said:

Did you find out how to get the Grail Vac? and if so what did it do?

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First I've heard of it, so nope.

Vaclav_sl said:

First I've heard of it, so nope.

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Its actually chalice and a room with about 250k gold

I just picked up the GotY Edition. Before I get too far along, I wanted to ask a couple questions. First, melee or ranged? The combat seems a little clunky as melee. Would you suggest a ranged toon? Second, here are the classes I'm considering: 2H Templar, ranged artificer or tempest, or a Knight Enchanter mage. Any of these either highly recommended or should avoid status? Any other tips or links to useful resources would be appreciated. My initial tip is to remap the search key to your mouse if playing on PC! Thanks for any feedback.

Other observations (let me know if I am wrong or missing something on these): Seems like the UI has some MMO influences but not enough customization features. For example, you cannot zoom the minimap in or out. You cannot filter the icons on main or mini map. You cannot track more than 1 quest at a time. There is no range indicator for melee to know whether they are in range to hit with their attack or not. These are just a few I've noticed at the start. I know they are not necessary, but would be welcome.

I used bow to enjoy the games combat fully - I also have a dagger dude but omg melee was terrible!

Ranged Artificer is what i think i was, i loved throwing out magical skittles everywhere.

I used xbox controller on PC so i cant comment on the kb/mouse usage. Minimap stuff i really cannot remember much of, but i dont recall having many issues with it at all.

taho_sl said:

I just picked up the GotY Edition. Before I get too far along, I wanted to ask a couple questions. First, melee or ranged? The combat seems a little clunky as melee. Would you suggest a ranged toon? Second, here are the classes I'm considering: 2H Templar, ranged artificer or tempest, or a Knight Enchanter mage. Any of these either highly recommended or should avoid status? Any other tips or links to useful resources would be appreciated. My initial tip is to remap the search key to your mouse if playing on PC! Thanks for any feedback.

Other observations (let me know if I am wrong or missing something on these): Seems like the UI has some MMO influences but not enough customization features. For example, you cannot zoom the minimap in or out. You cannot filter the icons on main or mini map. You cannot track more than 1 quest at a time. There is no range indicator for melee to know whether they are in range to hit with their attack or not. These are just a few I've noticed at the start. I know they are not necessary, but would be welcome.

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Dagger assassin was the only way to make melee fun for me as all the -neg armor + high crit explosions make combat faster and thus weightier (my biggest complaint on DA2/3 combat being the lack of physical response to anything other than a straight knockdown). At release, Knight Enchanter would have been third choice, but after the Trespasser patch KE is just another mage and your mileage will vary based on how you choose your spells, Force Mage is the better route now, imo. If you want to play range (and as a first play through I highly recommend it until you see the bullshit you have to deal with movement wise although its not as bad now that the melee movement abilities aren't buggy as fuck), play an Archer. It's not flashy, but its consistent dmg and occasionally spike dmg.

Word of warning though. As much as the party AI mechanics downgraded in DA2, they got significantly worse in DAI. Be prepared to actively play 2-4 characters for anything remotely difficult unless you want to run to camp frequently.

Thanks for the suggestions.