Dragon Age VI: Siege Harder

[Giggling Ghast]

I can't decide if I wanna play an elf sword and shield Warrior or Knight Enchanter Mage in Inquisition.

If it at all affects your decision, keep in mind that at the end of DAI, Solas ...

Spoiler

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... leaves your party, so you'll be down a mage.

I'd play a mage in DAI for that reason, but ... I just can't. Melee fighter for life, bro.

[Morty]

Knight-Enchanter does offer a sort of unique playstyle, what with being a mage who gets up close and personal. I'm playing one right now. But from what I've seen of the weapon/shield style, it seems Inquisition actually manages to make it interesting - compared to the "stand in the front and not die" style of the first few games.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Honestly now I'm considering an Artificer Rogue instead. It makes that prosthetic crossbow thingy at the end make more sense. Plus, if a First is so important, why would Clan Lavellan risk sending them as a spy?

[Metahuman1]

So, does anyone know of a glitch of a bug that shuts down the tactical camera option during wicked hearts and wicked minds on the PS4?

I'm having that problem, and I've swapped controllers and characters and it only is having trouble on the character going through that quest.

[Morty]

The Artificer specialization never struck me as very practical. But maybe it gets better if you control it yourself, rather than leaving it to Varric's AI.

[Keltest]

The Artificer specialization never struck me as very practical. But maybe it gets better if you control it yourself, rather than leaving it to Varric's AI.

I'm not in love with it either. its definitely meant for an archer, but any good rogue is going to avoid having people come after him to begin with.

[Dienekes]

The Artificer specialization never struck me as very practical. But maybe it gets better if you control it yourself, rather than leaving it to Varric's AI.

Yeah, I had Varric with me the entire game, and after fiddling about with Artificer for awhile I just abandoned every ability from the tree.

There are a bunch of neat abilities to set up traps so that your archer can get out of the way when someone comes for him. The problem is, the enemy AI is stupid and it is downright trivial to position your archer right so that that doesn't happen, and if it does, you only need 1 get out of trouble ability. And it's hard to justify picking a different escape ability when Stealth is right there as a 1 level dip into Subterfuge.

That said, running into melee, setting up traps and using Fallback plan is fun as you see the enemies get stuck and damaged and whatnot. Only, it drastically reduces your DPS and puts the archer in unnecessary danger. Both of which are directly opposed to what an archer is supposed to be doing. It's more fun than just playing a generic archer, but at the cost of efficiently doing an archer's job.

I will say, some of the passive abilities are pretty nice to have since they give the entire party a nice damage bonus. I haven't exactly done the math to see if passive vs passive Artificer is better than Tempest or Assassin, but my gut says that they are.

[Inarius]

I'm not in love with it either. its definitely meant for an archer, but any good rogue is going to avoid having people come after him to begin with.

It can be used to great effect with melee. The only thing that really makes it seem like artificer is for archers is its focus ability, which is a great ability but overall I find focus abilities to be entirely skippable. Going with Sigil of the Great Bear + elemental mines + throw everything upgrade (extra mines for every 5 stamina you have) you can put out insane damage without having to be at range.

[Morty]

Yeah, I had Varric with me the entire game, and after fiddling about with Artificer for awhile I just abandoned every ability from the tree.

There are a bunch of neat abilities to set up traps so that your archer can get out of the way when someone comes for him. The problem is, the enemy AI is stupid and it is downright trivial to position your archer right so that that doesn't happen, and if it does, you only need 1 get out of trouble ability. And it's hard to justify picking a different escape ability when Stealth is right there as a 1 level dip into Subterfuge.

That said, running into melee, setting up traps and using Fallback plan is fun as you see the enemies get stuck and damaged and whatnot. Only, it drastically reduces your DPS and puts the archer in unnecessary danger. Both of which are directly opposed to what an archer is supposed to be doing. It's more fun than just playing a generic archer, but at the cost of efficiently doing an archer's job.

I will say, some of the passive abilities are pretty nice to have since they give the entire party a nice damage bonus. I haven't exactly done the math to see if passive vs passive Artificer is better than Tempest or Assassin, but my gut says that they are.

That seems to sum it up. It's a very neat concept for a specialization, but Inquisition's combat mechanics just don't really gel with it.

If it does work better in melee, that'd be kind of ironic, given how your other ranged rogue also has a specialization that works better in melee.

On a semi-related note, I kind of hope that whenever the next Dragon Age game happens, we get a dwarven companion who genuinely believes in their tradition and lore. Oghren was irreverent and interested primarily in booze, fighting and women; Varric actively rejected them. So it'd be a nice change.

[Giggling Ghast]

That'll be interesting. The Descent proved that dwarven belief is, to an extent, actually correct: they DO come from the Stone. They ARE connected to it. And their souls may very well return to the Stone in death.

But there's still much to learn there. How did the dwarves seperate from the Titans? Are the Sha-Brytol a breakaway sect or are they truly how dwarves are supposed to be? And how can red lyrium pre-date the first Blight?

[Kish]

On a semi-related note, I kind of hope that whenever the next Dragon Age game happens, we get a dwarven companion who genuinely believes in their tradition and lore. Oghren was irreverent and interested primarily in booze, fighting and women; Varric actively rejected them. So it'd be a nice change.

The biggest problem I see with that, is that a dedicated Orzammar patriot would be really unhappy about going to the surface.

[Keltest]

The biggest problem I see with that, is that a dedicated Orzammar patriot would be really unhappy about going to the surface.

IIRC, in Awakening, Sigrun was a member of the Legion of the Dead, and thus allowed a significantly greater degree of freedom, what with being officially dead and all. However, she was also largely traditional for a dwarf.

In principal though you are correct. Traditional orzammar dwarves do not go on adventures. We could possibly see whats up with Kal Sharok though.

[Giggling Ghast]

On a related note, World of Thedas Volume 1 states that a large number of surface dwarves live in the Tevinter Imperium due to the old alliance between dwarves and Tevinter. They aren't considered citizens but rather foreign dignitaries (regardless of how long they've lived there). They have their own branch of government, unlike surface dwarves of other nations.

Interestingly, the dwarven embassies in Minrathous, Neromenian and Qarinus are subterranean and dwarves who serve there retain their caste. Some dwarves even spend their whole lives in these embassies.

[marycrook]

I agree that, There are a lots of abilities to set up traps so that your archer can get out of the way when someone comes for him.

[Morty]

That'll be interesting. The Descent proved that dwarven belief is, to an extent, actually correct: they DO come from the Stone. They ARE connected to it. And their souls may very well return to the Stone in death.

But there's still much to learn there. How did the dwarves seperate from the Titans? Are the Sha-Brytol a breakaway sect or are they truly how dwarves are supposed to be? And how can red lyrium pre-date the first Blight?

My theory about that is that the Blight is older than the darkspawn as humans know them.

Spoiler: Trespasser spoilers

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I think the Evanuris uncovered it while mining the Titans' bodies from lyrium - they unleashed something terrible, we know that. And Solas locked it away in the Fade, along with the "gods" themselves. Solas clearly knows more about the Blight than he lets on - he gets very angry at the Grey Wardens for thinking they can "trick" it.

Then the Magisters freed it again while invading the Black City. Hard to say why the Old Gods tricked them into doing that, but the Old Gods are an enigma in either case.

If the Blight did come from the depths of the earth, the red lyrium might have been infested even before the Evanuris Dug Too Greedily and Too Deep. As far as dwarves being disconnected from the Titans go, it probably happened when Mythal and her followers struck the Titans down. The Sha-Brytol might be a reflection of what the dwarves used to be, but Valta says the Titan doesn't actually need them. There are hints that the Titans and the dwarves were linked by hive-minds.

The biggest problem I see with that, is that a dedicated Orzammar patriot would be really unhappy about going to the surface.

That's a problem, yes. The warriors of the Legion of the Dead get dispensation to leave the surface sometimes, like Keltest said, so something like that might be possible. They would need a very important reason to leave the underground, certainly.

On a related note, World of Thedas Volume 1 states that a large number of surface dwarves live in the Tevinter Imperium due to the old alliance between dwarves and Tevinter. They aren't considered citizens but rather foreign dignitaries (regardless of how long they've lived there). They have their own branch of government, unlike surface dwarves of other nations.

Interestingly, the dwarven embassies in Minrathous, Neromenian and Qarinus are subterranean and dwarves who serve there retain their caste. Some dwarves even spend their whole lives in these embassies.

Indeed, which is why I hope we'll get to see more dwarves if the next game does take place in Tevinter.

[Giggling Ghast]

There is the possibility that the ancient elves accidentally uncovered the Old Gods, which made them withdraw from the Deep Roads. Solas did seem to piddle himself a little when he learned about the Wardens' plan to seek out the remaining Old Gods.

[Keltest]

There is the possibility that the ancient elves accidentally uncovered the Old Gods, which made them withdraw from the Deep Roads. Solas did seem to piddle himself a little when he learned about the Wardens' plan to seek out the remaining Old Gods.

It does beg the question of where the Darkspawn came from though, and why the Magisters became them.

[Inarius]

Spoiler: Blighty Stuff

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It's fairly heavily implied that the Elven Pantheon dealt with the blight at some point in their history and that the Forgotten Ones were the ones harnessing it as a power source. It infected one of the Enuvaris, Andruil, and corrupted her people and lands until eventually Mythal fought and defeated her.

On top of that there's some evidence that the Blight predates even the Forgotten Ones in the Jaws of Hakkon DLC. Geldauran was there looking for power that would allow him to become more powerful than the Enuvarius. So the Blight has probably been around for a very long time, and probably was intentionally locked up in the Golden City.

[Morty]

Spoiler: Blighty Stuff

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It's fairly heavily implied that the Elven Pantheon dealt with the blight at some point in their history and that the Forgotten Ones were the ones harnessing it as a power source. It infected one of the Enuvaris, Andruil, and corrupted her people and lands until eventually Mythal fought and defeated her.

On top of that there's some evidence that the Blight predates even the Forgotten Ones in the Jaws of Hakkon DLC. Geldauran was there looking for power that would allow him to become more powerful than the Enuvarius. So the Blight has probably been around for a very long time, and probably was intentionally locked up in the Golden City.

Spoiler

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Yeah, that's my reasoning as well. I think the Forgotten Ones were Darkspawn like Corypheus, the Architect and others. Since the Blight would give them the power equal or greater to the Evanuris, they'd go down in myth as a rival pantheon.

That being said, the Darkspawn do deliberately seek out the Old Gods and corrupt them. It's a missing piece of the puzzle. I think they were dragon gods in the same way Evanuris were elven gods, but their connection to the Blight, or reasoning for sending the Magisters into the Fade, are still elusive.

[JadedDM]

Indeed, which is why I hope we'll get to see more dwarves if the next game does take place in Tevinter.

Speaking of the 'next game,' has there been any word on that whatsoever yet? Has Bioware even officially announced yet that they are even working on it?

[Anteros]

Speaking of the 'next game,' has there been any word on that whatsoever yet? Has Bioware even officially announced yet that they are even working on it?

I doubt we'll get much until after the new Mass Effect game is out.

[Inarius]

Spoiler

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Yeah, that's my reasoning as well. I think the Forgotten Ones were Darkspawn like Corypheus, the Architect and others. Since the Blight would give them the power equal or greater to the Evanuris, they'd go down in myth as a rival pantheon.

That being said, the Darkspawn do deliberately seek out the Old Gods and corrupt them. It's a missing piece of the puzzle. I think they were dragon gods in the same way Evanuris were elven gods, but their connection to the Blight, or reasoning for sending the Magisters into the Fade, are still elusive.

I think the Old Gods intentionally had the blight released thinking they would be able to control it, but because of what Solas did putting up the Veil they weren't able to control the blight like they thought they would be able to and wound up getting consumed by it instead of mastering its power.

[Morty]

Speaking of the 'next game,' has there been any word on that whatsoever yet? Has Bioware even officially announced yet that they are even working on it?

I doubt we'll get much until after the new Mass Effect game is out.

Pretty much. We know it'll happen, because Inquisition ended with a very clear segue into a next game, but that's all. And right now, their marketing is focused on Mass Effect: Andromeda. So we might find out more a while after it's out.

I think the Old Gods intentionally had the blight released thinking they would be able to control it, but because of what Solas did putting up the Veil they weren't able to control the blight like they thought they would be able to and wound up getting consumed by it instead of mastering its power.

That's entirely possible. There's also the possibility that they were blind-sided by the Blight, though. Sending the Magisters to the Fade might have been their means of escape, since they were asleep underground for some reason.

[Giggling Ghast]

Speaking of the 'next game,' has there been any word on that whatsoever yet? Has Bioware even officially announced yet that they are even working on it?

Not so much as a peep.

[JadedDM]

Oh, I'm aware that unless there's some kind of unexpected disaster, like a meteor crashing into Bioware HQ or something, there will be a fourth Dragon Age game. I know the epilogue of the last game hinted at it, too. I just think it's weird Bioware has been so deathly silent on it. Not even a tweet?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I've narrowed it down between Artificer Archer Rogue and Knight Enchanter Mage now for my upcoming Lavellan playthrough.

Spoiler: Pros and Cons (WITH SPOILERS!)

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Artificer Pros: Her card will have a wolf on it, which will sort of match up with Solas, her romance, makes more sense for Clan Lavellan to send a mere hunter instead of someone as valuable as their First, different from my Warden and Hawke, who will be a Warrior and Mage respectively, meaning each game was played with a different class lending it a sense of completeness. Makes the prosthetic crossbow arm seen in Tresspasser's ending card make sense (where'd she get it? She's an artificer, she built it herself!).

Artificer Cons: Redundant with Varric, who's also an Artificer and probably going to be Lavellan's best bud, and Sera, who's also an elf archer. Also redundant to my Warden, who is also a Dalish hunter. Bows seem divided between low-tier ones that look simplistic and boring, and high-tier ones that look ridiculous. The consensus seems to be that Artificer is really fussy to work with. Not probably going to be as invested in Mage freedom and Chantry politics as the game seems to want you to be due to not being a mage and an outsider.

Knight Enchanter Pros: One of the most powerful combos in the game, at least if it hasn't been nerfed. MAGIC GLOWING SWORD, WHO DOESN'T LOVE THOSE?! Gives a real sense of delving into Dalish history as Knight Enchanter has its roots in Dalish traditions. More of a connection to Solas and Ameridan, as they're a Dalish Mage. More of a stake in the fight for Mage freedom.

Knight Enchanter Cons: Kind of redundant to Hawke, as they're going to be a mage, and even more redundant to Merrill, who is Hawke's love interest in this playthrough. Card is now a halla, which doesn't quite gel with Solas' wolf card like the non-mage class cards do. Prosthetic crossbow arm now comes out of nowhere (she's a mage, why does she need a crossbow arm?)

Also, Dragon Age Legends seems to no longer be supported for download. Would I be able to pull it from my old hard drive to my new computer?

[Morty]

An archer rogue is powerful, but pretty dull. You're going to pump out crazy amounts of damage, but there's not much variety to it. Granted, I played with the Assassin specialization, not Artificer. And Assassin pretty much doubles down on the "crazy damage" aspect. Artificer strikes me as fairly impractical. Cool concept, but the mechanics of Inquisition don't do it justice.

I'm pretty sure Knight-Enchanter was, in fact, nerfed. But it does offer a unique playstyle with it. You're a mage who mixes it up in close combat. Their slow field is a fun spell, and knocking enemies around by phasing through them would be fun if it worked reliably.

That's as far as mechanics go. I have no insight of the flavour aspects, since you're attaching your own story to it.

Oh, I'm aware that unless there's some kind of unexpected disaster, like a meteor crashing into Bioware HQ or something, there will be a fourth Dragon Age game. I know the epilogue of the last game hinted at it, too. I just think it's weird Bioware has been so deathly silent on it. Not even a tweet?

My best guess is that they didn't want to divide people's attention between it and Andromeda.

Once I'm done with my human mage, I've got a third Inquisitor prepared. A female elf warrior with axe and shield. But I may start over with that and make it a male elf warrior, instead. I want to try out Dorian's romance, and none of the options available to a female Inquisitor really appeal to me. I might also go with a qunari instead of elf, not sure. But I do know I'll go with a shield-using warrior. Not only are two-handed weapons a twisted parody in Inquisition, but shield-using actually seems pretty fun. There's some dynamic elements to it, as opposed to standing in front of your team and not dying.

[Keltest]

Ive got a human rogue assassin with daggers who's about to make Corypheus very sad and very dead, and a dwarf 2h reaver who I am struggling to be interested in. Anybody have any interesting mage builds they like to share? I'm not all that hyped about being a support mage, but crowd control could be interesting.

[Cozzer]

Oh, I'm aware that unless there's some kind of unexpected disaster, like a meteor crashing into Bioware HQ or something, there will be a fourth Dragon Age game. I know the epilogue of the last game hinted at it, too. I just think it's weird Bioware has been so deathly silent on it. Not even a tweet?

I think there have been a few very obscure tweets from known DA developers, with no new information except for "yes, we're alive". I agree with morty: they're probably working on it, taking it slowly, but they want to keep ALL OF THE HYPE focused on Andromeda. When that ship has sailed, I think the marketing might shift again towards the DA series. Which is a pretty reasonable way to handle things, I think.

[Inarius]

I think there have been a few very obscure tweets from known DA developers, with no new information except for "yes, we're alive". I agree with morty: they're probably working on it, taking it slowly, but they want to keep ALL OF THE HYPE focused on Andromeda. When that ship has sailed, I think the marketing might shift again towards the DA series. Which is a pretty reasonable way to handle things, I think.

Yeah, I'm sure they're mostly focused on Andromeda atm. After that they'll probably go quiet for awhile and either announce the next DA game or whatever new IP they're working on is going to be.

Edit: well it looks like the next game we're going to be getting news on is the new Mystery Ip which is scheduled to launch early next year (End of this fiscal year). I can't imagine them mentioning much about the next Dragon Age game when they have a whole new IP to begin revealing after they get finished with the post launch stuff for Mass Effect.