Dragon Age Inquisition V: Hard in Hightown

[Psyren]

And "Jerquisitor" could just as easily apply to an aggressive Inquisitor than an absolute failure of one.

So could "Assquisitor" really. I think I'll just stick with "Failquisitor" then. (There are only a few failure points in DAI though - letting Florianne's coup succeed, driving away half your party, drinking the well etc.)

Blow him away in ME1.

Let him live to ME3

You guys are no help at all!

If he dies in ME1 and then you don't sabotage the cure for Wreav, on the other hand, the galaxy goes straight from battling the Reapers to the Krogan Rebellion II: Revenge of the Krogan. (As least, once they repair enough mass relays that they can invade other systems, considering that I'm sure this FailShep will have very low war assets and choose the Destroy option*.)

Yeah a Failshep would definitely mean sabotaging the cure. It's worth noting that Wreav likely won't be a problem if Eve is alive either, as she is much smarter than he is and will end up running the show - but of course, Failshep would also mean she is dead, so you definitely want to get rid of the cure at that point.

[Kish]

If you let Florianne's coup succeed rather than choosing some combination of Celene/Briala/Gaspard to rule, you wind up dead, don't you?

[Landis963]

So could "Assquisitor" really. I think I'll just stick with "Failquisitor" then. (There are only a few failure points in DAI though - letting Florianne's coup succeed, driving away half your party, drinking the well etc.)

Letting it succeed? I thought you got a non-standard game over for that. Or do you mean "allowing Celene to die?"

You guys are no help at all!

We aim to please. Or, you know, to vex, confuse, and obfuscate.

[Psyren]

I meant Celene dying, yes, with Gaspard or Gaspard + Briala taking over. Remember, the vision from Hushed Whispers was that it all starts with Celene's death, so that is the fail condition the Inquisition went into the party with. It's only later in the evening that you figure out the real win condition is keeping Florianne from taking over - in other words, Celene can die just fine, so long as the Venatori do not take her place.

[StabbityRabbit]

I was checking out the Keep, and I noticed that once you actually click on some of those hidden options an option will sometimes be presented based on what choices you made in game. This is almost certainly old news, but I digress. One of the hidden things I looked at was, "What was the general principle upon which the Inquisition was founded?". The only option I could see was "Player declared for Inquisitor" which gets me interested in the other options (there are two others) because as far as I know that's the only thing that could happen. So, does anyone on the playground have any different options, and if so what are they?

I apologize if this has already been gone over.

Edit: Just noticed something else too. For some reason the Keep won't load the character from my first playthrough, but any decisions he made are options for my second character. Even going so far as to give me the option to be a Tempest as a mage. And clicking on Tempest would change my Inquisitor to some guy named Mahanon. So I think I just found stumbled upon the name of the generic male elven rogue.

[Landis963]

I was checking out the Keep, and I noticed that once you actually click on some of those hidden options an option will sometimes be presented based on what choices you made in game. This is almost certainly old news, but I digress. One of the hidden things I looked at was, "What was the general principle upon which the Inquisition was founded?". The only option I could see was "Player declared for Inquisitor" which gets me interested in the other options (there are two others) because as far as I know that's the only thing that could happen. So, does anyone on the playground have any different options, and if so what are they?

You can also declare for "Faith" or for "Order." The world state I currently have had my Qunquisitor declare for order.

Edit: Just noticed something else too. For some reason the Keep won't load the character from my first playthrough, but any decisions he made are options for my second character. Even going so far as to give me the option to be a Tempest as a mage. And clicking on Tempest would change my Inquisitor to some guy named Mahanon. So I think I just found stumbled upon the name of the generic male elven rogue.

That's because the spoilers are unlocked cumulatively with imports from Inquisition to Keep, although it sucks that your first character essentially got munched because of that. I have all the spoilers unlocked on mine, and Mahanon Lavellan is in fact the name of the generic elf male. Fun fact: the Trevelyans are Maxwell and Evelyn. Evelyn Trevelyan just seems like one of those names that either rolls off the tongue really easily or not at all.

[StabbityRabbit]

You can also declare for "Faith" or for "Order." The world state I currently have had my Qunquisitor declare for order.

I actually really want to know how you can establish it for "Faith" or "Order" now. My first hunch would be when you are declared Inquisitor based off what you say. And now I'm also curious what that would affect. Stock phrases of inquisition members in the next game? We can't really know the answer to that last one until the next game though. Which will hopefully be a while.

That's because the spoilers are unlocked cumulatively with imports from Inquisition to Keep, although it sucks that your first character essentially got munched because of that. I have all the spoilers unlocked on mine, and Mahanon Lavellan is in fact the name of the generic elf male. Fun fact: the Trevelyans are Maxwell and Evelyn. Evelyn Trevelyan just seems like one of those names that either rolls off the tongue really easily or not at all.

So character's absorbing others is just a feature of the keep? Well that's annoying. Evelyn Trevelyan is actually a pretty name, and it rolls off the tongue really easily for me.

[Psyren]

IIRC, you click on the default name in the Keep but then it will bring up your actual name from your save file. My Trevelyan is Malcom, so it's nice to know I wasn't far off from what BW thought was a good name for him.

I actually really want to know how you can establish it for "Faith" or "Order" now. My first hunch would be when you are declared Inquisitor based off what you say.

I'm 99% sure it's based on what you say here (2:50), when Cassandra and Leliana give you the sword:

[Landis963]

IIRC, you click on the default name in the Keep but then it will bring up your actual name from your save file. My Trevelyan is Malcom, so it's nice to know I wasn't far off from what BW thought was a good name for him.



I'm 99% sure it's based on what you say here (2:50), when Cassandra and Leliana give you the sword:

I wonder what the vengeance option translates to in the Keep. The Faith and Self options were obvious, and the "Corypheus must be stopped" option is clearly for order, but that leaves vengeance as the odd one out.

[ImperiousLeader]

Ehh, I didn't Cullen all that much. I didn't hate him or anything, but I always felt like he was just sort of...there. Dorian on the other hand, I thought was great.

Maybe I just like the boring, competent guys with the sexy voice. After all, I always hook up with Kaiden.

Actually, it was when my first Inquisitor hit on him and he had this "I don't know how to deal with this" response that kinda endeared him to me.

[StabbityRabbit]

I wonder what the vengeance option translates to in the Keep. The Faith and Self options were obvious, and the "Corypheus must be stopped" option is clearly for order, but that leaves vengeance as the odd one out.

That probably also leads to Inquisitor. If you look at the option in the keep it says, "Whether driven by ambition or the urge to be an exemplar" I think exemplar translates to vengeance.

Maybe I just like the boring, competent guys with the sexy voice. After all, I always hook up with Kaiden.

Actually, it was when my first Inquisitor hit on him and he had this "I don't know how to deal with this" response that kinda endeared him to me.

I can understand that. Especially that bit about the response, maybe if he had more cute stuff like that I would have been interested. But it's like you say: he's boring. Nothing wrong with that, in fact it's probably smarter than some of the romance options I took. (Leliana, and Merrill are both cute, but also not the most stable people in the world.)

[Kish]

That probably also leads to Inquisitor. If you look at the option in the keep it says, "Whether driven by ambition or the urge to be an exemplar" I think exemplar translates to vengeance.

I'd say it's far more likely that "exemplar" translates to one of the "I'll lead as a mage...as an elf...as a dwarf...as a Kossith" options.

[StabbityRabbit]

I'd say it's far more likely that "exemplar" translates to one of the "I'll lead as a mage...as an elf...as a dwarf...as a Kossith" options.

Could be both. I wouldn't find it farfetched to think that Bioware put in a non-selfish option for Human Rogues and Warriors.

[Psyren]

Maybe I just like the boring, competent guys with the sexy voice. After all, I always hook up with Kaiden.

Actually, it was when my first Inquisitor hit on him and he had this "I don't know how to deal with this" response that kinda endeared him to me.

I love that Male Inquisitors have the option to try and hit on him too. It must have been so awkward around the War Table that afternoon...

[Giggling Ghast]

Downloaded the Black Emporium. Nothing too exciting: I got access to a few schematics that were above my level and there's some unique items that are very pricy. Also, there's a miniature bear called Chauncey running around for some reason.

[ImperiousLeader]

Do I need to do something special to get Black Emporium? I'm not seeing it as an available DLC.

[Squark]

My computer tried to patch the game as soon as I launched Origin. Given the file was over a gigabyte in size, I'm pretty sure that was the file. You might have to set it to auto-patch if you've disabled that, though.

[Giggling Ghast]

I had to download the BE from the XBox One store. XBox One-users got access to the Black Emporium a little earlier than everybody else, probably because Bioware recognizes we're just better than the rest of you. (Actually, it was just early for Gold subscribers. I got it early because I paid for it.)

There was also a substantial patch released yesterday. (Details here.) I believe it also added the three MP characters.

You also have to download Dragonslayer separately if you want access to the High Dragon maps. And on that note, here's a trailer for Dragonslayer! I would give it a look even if you don't like DAIMP; Zither gets off a pretty good zinger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ2a...1Nd91a_O8vlzp1

[Landis963]

Does Xenon have any good lines? I heard the one about Chauncey the miniaturized bear and the one about the vast library of forbidden magic that he can't turn his head to look at on the Bioware stream, but are there others?

Also, he has a good line if you use the mirror: "You went with THAT?"

[Giggling Ghast]

Funny, when I used the mirror, he just laughed maniacally.

I heard him mention the Montilyet family (he sold one of Josephine's ancestors a severed hand) and he suggests the Inquisitor take a free sock.

[Tome]

I've tried out the new MP additions.

The dragon fights are amazingly fun, though the netcode is still as horrible and laggy as ever.

Isabella has some interesting mechanics and seems to be made with the way the game actually plays in mind. I expect Zither and the Avaar to be similarly well designed.

[StabbityRabbit]

I had to download the BE from the XBox One store. XBox One-users got access to the Black Emporium a little earlier than everybody else, probably because Bioware recognizes we're just better than the rest of you. (Actually, it was just early for Gold subscribers. I got it early because I paid for it.)

There was also a substantial patch released yesterday. (Details here.) I believe it also added the three MP characters.

You also have to download Dragonslayer separately if you want access to the High Dragon maps. And on that note, here's a trailer for Dragonslayer! I would give it a look even if you don't like DAIMP; Zither gets off a pretty good zinger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ2a...1Nd91a_O8vlzp1

Interesting, so Sky Watcher is sort of like a Spirit Warrior then? Hmm, it seems I might actually use multiplayer, if only to see what the possible spiritual successor to that spec. plays like.

I also really hope Zither is a companion in the next game. Any character that says they're "dead sexy" as they're dying, is someone I want in my party.

EDIT: @Tome Would you mind explaining what you mean by "made with how the game actually plays in mind"? I'd be interested to see if this DLC is actually good enough to make me get up and play multiplayer.

[Tome]

EDIT: @Tome Would you mind explaining what you mean by "made with how the game actually plays in mind"? I'd be interested to see if this DLC is actually good enough to make me get up and play multiplayer.

Many characters and abilities are rendered less than useful in practice due to how things actually play that wouldn't be apparent on paper or in test conditions.

For instance, most characters aren't very useful on Perilous difficulty because the primary danger is that archers can one shot you from across the room. Even Guard isn't really a defence, as they do enough damage to punch through it faster than it accrues. So characters who don't have some way to keep themselves from being feathered with arrows tend to suffer. Isabella's primary defence is her ability to accrue up to three stacks of Evasion by using certain moves in combination, which allows her to completely negate the next attack she takes. So Isablla is useful on Perilous because she can negate the odd arrow that comes her way. It also lets her negate the Demon Commander's scream, letting her actually melee him without getting locked down by Panic.

Similarly, melee only characters without some way to close the distance rapidly tend to suffer because ranged characters will often clear the room before they get there - Perilous is very much a game of rocket tag. Isabella has plenty of ranged moves that set up her melee ones as she closes in, as well as an ability that lets her enter and leave melee range easily. So she can get in there fast enough to contribute and get out again if she gets swarmed.

The other two dagger based Rogues tend to suffer from instantly dying if they're caught outside of Stealth and have problems using their, albeit rather damaging, abilities due to needing to get into position first. The developers clearly didn't understand how Perilous difficulty was going to be a game of rocket tag with the original characters, but Isabella has the tools she needs to keep up (and excel, by all accounts). Even on lower difficulties, the other two melee Rogues tend to either be reliant on that one ability that lets them regain stealth whenever they kill an enemy or suffer huge downtime whilst they wait for Stealth to cooldown, while Isablla isn't dependant on a single ability to be effective.

[StabbityRabbit]

Many characters and abilities are rendered less than useful in practice due to how things actually play that wouldn't be apparent on paper or in test conditions.

For instance, most characters aren't very useful on Perilous difficulty because the primary danger is that archers can one shot you from across the room. Even Guard isn't really a defence, as they do enough damage to punch through it faster than it accrues. So characters who don't have some way to keep themselves from being feathered with arrows tend to suffer. Isabella's primary defence is her ability to accrue up to three stacks of Evasion by using certain moves in combination, which allows her to completely negate the next attack she takes. So Isablla is useful on Perilous because she can negate the odd arrow that comes her way. It also lets her negate the Demon Commander's scream, letting her actually melee him without getting locked down by Panic.

Similarly, melee only characters without some way to close the distance rapidly tend to suffer because ranged characters will often clear the room before they get there - Perilous is very much a game of rocket tag. Isabella has plenty of ranged moves that set up her melee ones as she closes in, as well as an ability that lets her enter and leave melee range easily. So she can get in there fast enough to contribute and get out again if she gets swarmed.

The other two dagger based Rogues tend to suffer from instantly dying if they're caught outside of Stealth and have problems using their, albeit rather damaging, abilities due to needing to get into position first. The developers clearly didn't understand how Perilous difficulty was going to be a game of rocket tag with the original characters, but Isabella has the tools she needs to keep up (and excel, by all accounts). Even on lower difficulties, the other two melee Rogues tend to either be reliant on that one ability that lets them regain stealth whenever they kill an enemy or suffer huge downtime whilst they wait for Stealth to cooldown, while Isablla isn't dependant on a single ability to be effective.

Okay, I think I understand now. Isabella is a generally versatile character able to deal with enemies in close, and distant combat. Just from reading this she seems all around seems to be designed cleverly. There's also that new evasion mechanic that you mention which makes it sound like the combat designers are experimenting a bit.

This really makes me want to go see if they designed Sky Watcher just as cleverly, but I don't want to have to grind for a character.

I wonder if Bioware is just using multiplayer as a testing grounds to see what sticks. Look at what characters need buffs, which ones need nerfs, what ability sets need to be entirely redone, and which mechanics add to the experience. Thinking about it they've got to be, it'd be dumb not to. They have an entire mode devoted to gameplay separate from the main game, allowing them the freedom to just spitball it. Typing all that out, I think I've come around on multiplayer. I used to think it was a silly, unnecessary mode, forced in by EA. Looking at it instead as a mandatory testing grounds makes me far more amiable to it.

[Giggling Ghast]

Sky Watcher plays as a two-handed warrior with elemental damage added on top, with the ability to change the type of damage he does based on the last ability he used.

[Landis963]

I wonder if Bioware is just using multiplayer as a testing grounds to see what sticks. Look at what characters need buffs, which ones need nerfs, what ability sets need to be entirely redone, and which mechanics add to the experience. Thinking about it they've got to be, it'd be dumb not to. They have an entire mode devoted to gameplay separate from the main game, allowing them the freedom to just spitball it. Typing all that out, I think I've come around on multiplayer. I used to think it was a silly, unnecessary mode, forced in by EA. Looking at it instead as a mandatory testing grounds makes me far more amiable to it.

Bioware stream backs you up on this. Laidlaw (I think?) said something along those exact lines, as in what styles of play work and what ones don't, and what buffs and nerfs are required.

[Psyren]

Okay, I think I understand now. Isabella is a generally versatile character able to deal with enemies in close, and distant combat. Just from reading this she seems all around seems to be designed cleverly. There's also that new evasion mechanic that you mention which makes it sound like the combat designers are experimenting a bit.

This really makes me want to go see if they designed Sky Watcher just as cleverly, but I don't want to have to grind for a character.

I wonder if Bioware is just using multiplayer as a testing grounds to see what sticks. Look at what characters need buffs, which ones need nerfs, what ability sets need to be entirely redone, and which mechanics add to the experience. Thinking about it they've got to be, it'd be dumb not to. They have an entire mode devoted to gameplay separate from the main game, allowing them the freedom to just spitball it. Typing all that out, I think I've come around on multiplayer. I used to think it was a silly, unnecessary mode, forced in by EA. Looking at it instead as a mandatory testing grounds makes me far more amiable to it.

They've been collecting metrics on how people play since ME2, they're certainly doing it for DAI. MP gives them more immediate feedback.

Given the combat system of that other game they're working on (assuming that's still going) it wouldn't surprise me if they are applying the lessons here directly.

[Tome]

I had an interesting experience going after a dragon with Zither today. During either round one or two he somehow glitched and his abilities stopped costing mana. No idea how, but as Zither lacks cooldowns and is mostly restricted by his mana supply in the first place...

Easiest dragon kill ever.

[StabbityRabbit]

Sky Watcher plays as a two-handed warrior with elemental damage added on top, with the ability to change the type of damage he does based on the last ability he used.

Oooh, that sounds right up my wheel house. Reading that kind of reminds of my end game Warden. Two handed Spirit Warrior that did spirit, frost, shock, and fire damage with every swing. Aside from constantly offering me ladders, he was pretty fun. Getting off memory lane now, Candle, is Sky Watcher like the spiritual successor to Spirit Warrior? That was by far my favorite spec. and I'd love to see it back in some way.

Bioware stream backs you up on this. Laidlaw (I think?) said something along those exact lines, as in what styles of play work and what ones don't, and what buffs and nerfs are required.

They've been collecting metrics on how people play since ME2, they're certainly doing it for DAI. MP gives them more immediate feedback.

Given the combat system of that other game they're working on (assuming that's still going) it wouldn't surprise me if they are applying the lessons here directly.

I figured as much. Last I knew Psyren, Shadow Realms had been canceled.

[Landis963]

Aside from constantly offering me ladders, he was pretty fun.

This is why I went with the Snarky voice set (that and Robin Sachs's voice wasn't nearly young enough for the Human Noble).