Dragon Age II, Part 2: The Qun is pretty deep, you wouldn't understand it.

[Mr.Silver]

Originally Posted by Archpaladin Zousha

Wait, so Sandal and Flemeth are MARRIED?!

What? No. Don't be ridiculous.

They're clearly the same person.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

So Andraste is the Maker?

[VanBuren]

Originally Posted by Archpaladin Zousha

So Andraste is the Maker?

What? No. Weren't you paying attention?

Andraste was the first Darkspawn.

[Yora]

I have the luxury of having both a PC, PS3 and 360.

Since my PC is quite low hardware with only DirectX 9 and I think DA2 probably plays a lot better on console (and I don't like playing for long time at my desk anymore), I should probably go for either PS3 or 360.
Since I use my PS3 a lot more and I'm not entirely sure if I want to keep my 360 around once I grew tired of Mass Effect 3, I'd strongly favor the PS3, but are there any really good reasons to go for 360 anyway?

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Yora

I have the luxury of having both a PC, PS3 and 360.

Since my PC is quite low hardware with only DirectX 9 and I think DA2 probably plays a lot better on console (and I don't like playing for long time at my desk anymore), I should probably go for either PS3 or 360.
Since I use my PS3 a lot more and I'm not entirely sure if I want to keep my 360 around once I grew tired of Mass Effect 3, I'd strongly favor the PS3, but are there any really good reasons to go for 360 anyway?

Only if you have Dragon Age: Origins on your 360, I'd imagine. I haven't heard of any particular differences between the two console versions.

Zevox

[Dhavaer]

What's a good time to start Legacy? I'm just a little way into Act 2 at the moment.

[Edge]

Originally Posted by Dhavaer

What's a good time to start Legacy? I'm just a little way into Act 2 at the moment.

Some time in Act 3, probably before you start picking up most of the Champion armour set, so you might actually get some use out of the loot in Legacy.

[sihnfahl]

Originally Posted by Edge

Some time in Act 3, probably before you start picking up most of the Champion armour set, so you might actually get some use out of the loot in Legacy.

And then, it might not last long, except for niche builds.

Finished legacy in Act I, just for the achieve, and went back to a prior save to try later.

Spoiler

Just looooved the Corypheus fight. I thought I was in WoW again ... "Why, oh WHY, are you just standing in the fire!? And ... it's moving. WHY ARE YOU MOVING WITH IT!?"

And if you micromanage the team, man, the fight's a joke.

Love Corypheus' monologuing and the implications.

[Guancyto]

Hmm, this may have come up before. What's the smallest party you can achieve by endgame? In the vein of "Shepard dies during suicide mission." So far I have

Spoiler

Act 1: Take Hawke sibling into Deep Roads; keeps your class from determining whether or not you get them back in Act 3
Act 2: Fail to achieve enough friendship or rivalry with Isabela to get her to come back
Act 3: Banish Anders, causing Sebastian to leave. Side with mages, fail to influence Fenris or Aveline enough to stick with you.

Final party of Merrill, Varric and Hawke.

Trying to get it down to just Varric and Hawke. Any ideas?

[Psyren]

Originally Posted by Mr.Silver

What? No. Don't be ridiculous.

They're clearly the same person.

They certainly kick equal amounts of ass
(Can you tell I just started act 2?)

And I am loving all the mage-centric quests in Act 1 so far, especially the three where you

Spoiler

- Help the half-elf
- Help the runaway mages from the Starkhaven circle
- Help the Qunari mage (!!!)

The first two involve probably the coolest Templar I have met since Alistair

I just wish my companions would talk more. It's starting to feel like calibrations up ins.

[Mr.Silver]

So, is Sebastion worth buying? I didn't bother on my first play-through because he seemed a bit redundant (Varric seems to have the archer rogue role covered).

Originally Posted by Guancyto

Hmm, this may have come up before. What's the smallest party you can achieve by endgame? In the vein of "Shepard dies during suicide mission." So far I have

Spoiler

Act 1: Take Hawke sibling into Deep Roads; keeps your class from determining whether or not you get them back in Act 3
Act 2: Fail to achieve enough friendship or rivalry with Isabela to get her to come back
Act 3: Banish Anders, causing Sebastian to leave. Side with mages, fail to influence Fenris or Aveline enough to stick with you.

Final party of Merrill, Varric and Hawke.

Trying to get it down to just Varric and Hawke. Any ideas?

Spoiler

If you're siding with the mages, Anders may turn-up again as an ally before the battle in the circle tower if you didn't kill him. He did in my game anyway, and I didn't have full friendship/rivalry with him.

[sihnfahl]

Originally Posted by Mr.Silver

So, is Sebastion worth buying? I didn't bother on my first play-through because he seemed a bit redundant (Varric seems to have the archer rogue role covered).

I guess it comes down to whether or not you want to go Templar or Mage by endgame. Sebby's a little better for the first, Varric's a little better for the second. (Some of the tricks Sebby can do are rather fun, too... +20% to crit rate, +25% crit damage, Up to -45% damage resistance on targets, etc)

Spoiler

Just as long as you're willing to accept that, if you want Sebby along for the last bits of the game, you'll have to kill Anders. He won't accept anything but Ander's death. Hope you have another healy mage...

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Mr.Silver

So, is Sebastion worth buying? I didn't bother on my first play-through because he seemed a bit redundant (Varric seems to have the archer rogue role covered).

Eh. Combat-wise, I'd say no, Varric is definitely better, given he has multiple specialization abilities that increase his attack speed significantly. Sebastian's specialization abilities mimic the Shadow specialization and have some archery versions of two-weapon fighting talents, which aren't as useful. Otherwise, well, he does come with a decent quest during act 2 and a Leliana cameo during act 3, and at least one very nice item (my mage ended up using a staff from his act 2 quest all the way through the endgame, mostly because it has 3 rune slots) so maybe for those.

Zevox

[SowZ]

Originally Posted by Guancyto

Hmm, this may have come up before. What's the smallest party you can achieve by endgame? In the vein of "Shepard dies during suicide mission." So far I have

Spoiler

Act 1: Take Hawke sibling into Deep Roads; keeps your class from determining whether or not you get them back in Act 3
Act 2: Fail to achieve enough friendship or rivalry with Isabela to get her to come back
Act 3: Banish Anders, causing Sebastian to leave. Side with mages, fail to influence Fenris or Aveline enough to stick with you.

Final party of Merrill, Varric and Hawke.

Trying to get it down to just Varric and Hawke. Any ideas?

Well...

Spoiler

Fenris is easy to get rid of by never recruiting him or giving him to the slavers. Anders/Sebastain/Isabella are easy to kick out. Three people is the smallest you can get. Merill will only leave if you side with the mages and Aveline will only leave if you have a certain rivalry. So you could be Aveline, Varric, Hawke... With such a small group Zevran joins up with you.

[Candle Jack]

So, I heard some rumours that there's a new item pack of some kind coming out next week. Few details, though.

I'm normally receptive to DLC, but geez, is the game long enough to justify buying all these extra armor sets and weapons?

[Zevox]

*shrugs* I don't buy item packs, so releasing those is a waste of time with me. The only DLC I have so far is Exiled Prince and Legacy (and I actually haven't played Legacy yet - been busy with other games).

Zevox

[Candle Jack]

Originally Posted by Zevox

*shrugs* I don't buy item packs, so releasing those is a waste of time with me. The only DLC I have so far is Exiled Prince and Legacy (and I actually haven't played Legacy yet - been busy with other games).

Same here, though I did get some of the promotional items, like Hayder's Razor, the Lion of Orlais and Fadeshear.

But I shouldn't bitch. As is the case with all DLC, if you don't like it then you don't buy it.

[Zevox]

Originally Posted by Candle Jack

Same here, though I did get some of the promotional items, like Hayder's Razor, the Lion of Orlais and Fadeshear.

I got some of those as well, but I don't tend to count/think about them, since they were free and all.

Zevox

[Candle Jack]

Here are some neat videos that I found on Youtube featuring Varric talking about each of Hawke's companions (not including the sibling). I guess they were recorded to be part of character trailers that never got released, but some enterprising soul found them. I particularly like Aveline's intro.

Aveline

Fenris

Merrill

Anders

Isabela

Varric

Note: some of the images in the videos are slightly spoiler-ish.

@V: OK, thanks. It's fixed now.

To answer your other question: it's a mod, I would imagine. These aren't the actual companion trailers that Bioware developed; someone just found Varric's dialogue encoded in the game and put them into fan-made trailers.

[Mukora]

The Fenris one links to Isabella's video.

Also, question: Why is Isabella's outfit black in her video?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Originally Posted by Mukora

The Fenris one links to Isabella's video.

Also, question: Why is Isabella's outfit black in her video?

Mods I think.

[Gralamin]

Originally Posted by Archpaladin Zousha

Mods I think.

From the Wiki:

If Isabela is romanced, she will update her outfit with a black corset, added goldwork embroidery to the bottom hem of her sash, a red scarf around her right bicep, and replaces the leather pauldron on her left shoulder with a metal one.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Yes, but that's not what Isabela looks like in the video there.

This is what Isabela looks like if you romance her.

Spoiler

The outfit in the video doesn't have the altered shoulderpad of the romanced look, and it's all black with white strings, instead of a black corset around the waist. If it were the romanced look, Isabela's "top" wouldn't be black as well.

That's what leads me to believe it's modded. Looking at the other videos by this person strongly suggests this, as the color schemes of many outfits has been altered.

[Candle Jack]

On this point, I agree.

[JadedDM]

Okay, so I'm in Act II, playing a Warrior (Mace and Shield), and here are my opinions so far:

Has anyone tried romancing Aveline? Yes, you cannot succeed, but you can try. And got-dang, is it depressing. I actually wanted to give Hawke a hug after it was over.

But he moved on, and I started up a rival romance with Merril. Wow, that didn't turn out how I expected. I guess being denied her cultural heritage gets her all hot.

The re-used dungeons are really starting to annoy me, but really it's combat I hate. It's so boring. I loved the combat int he first game, but here it is such a chore. And just when you think it's over, another wave of enemies spawns out of nowhere and drags it on further. Ugh.

One last thing, though. In one of the little tidbits of info I saw during loading screens, it said that if you attack an enemy and they are resistant to that kind of attack, a shield pops up over their head. This happens to me a lot. My weapon has no elemental or special properties, which makes me wonder if all of these enemies are just resistant to...maces. Are maces totally worthless in this game or something?

[Candle Jack]

Originally Posted by JadedDM

Okay, so I'm in Act II, playing a Warrior (Mace and Shield), and here are my opinions so far:

Has anyone tried romancing Aveline? Yes, you cannot succeed, but you can try. And got-dang, is it depressing. I actually wanted to give Hawke a hug after it was over.

A-yup. Though it's not the most depressing thing that occurs in Act 2 by far.

Originally Posted by JadedDM

The re-used dungeons are really starting to annoy me, but really it's combat I hate. It's so boring. I loved the combat int he first game, but here it is such a chore. And just when you think it's over, another wave of enemies spawns out of nowhere and drags it on further. Ugh.

It does get a bit wearying, though my issue with it is that it makes the fights so much harder. I completed the quest Night Lies yesterday and OH MAKER that was a tough battle.

My only recommendation is to use lots of poison and get really good at cross-class combos.

Oh, and don't play a sword and shield warrior, as they frakkin' suck.

[Dienekes]

Originally Posted by JadedDM

Okay, so I'm in Act II, playing a Warrior (Mace and Shield), and here are my opinions so far:

Has anyone tried romancing Aveline? Yes, you cannot succeed, but you can try. And got-dang, is it depressing. I actually wanted to give Hawke a hug after it was over.

But he moved on, and I started up a rival romance with Merril. Wow, that didn't turn out how I expected. I guess being denied her cultural heritage gets her all hot.

My first character when i didn't know Ave was non-romancable. He tried to help her out anyway and was happy for her and Donnic but ended up as a bachelor.

The re-used dungeons are really starting to annoy me, but really it's combat I hate. It's so boring. I loved the combat int he first game, but here it is such a chore. And just when you think it's over, another wave of enemies spawns out of nowhere and drags it on further. Ugh.

One last thing, though. In one of the little tidbits of info I saw during loading screens, it said that if you attack an enemy and they are resistant to that kind of attack, a shield pops up over their head. This happens to me a lot. My weapon has no elemental or special properties, which makes me wonder if all of these enemies are just resistant to...maces. Are maces totally worthless in this game or something?

Reusing dungeons was horrible and I have no idea why Bioware went that route. Well ok I do. They wanted to ship the game out fast and level design takes time.

What really annoys me though is the whole "see the world around you develop" bit they were saying. I'd actually be ok if my adventures took me to the same dungeons and buildings if I saw them develop a lot so each time you could see where they were and how they've developed. And if they were different caves don't use the same one and close up a few doors. Jeez that reeked of laziness.

Now as to combat using cross-class abilities makes it alot faster and makes you more deadly. So that might help if you think of it as a chore. Still have to deal with the ridiculous amount of waves though.

As to maces. I think, unfortunately, that the game uses the idea that swords are just better. Though I don't think that there are any added resistances.

[JadedDM]

My only recommendation is to use lots of poison and get really good at cross-class combos.

Hmm, I haven't used any poisons at all so far, on account that I'm not a rogue. Guess I could brew some for my rogues to use, though.

I never did learn how to use cross-class combos, though. The game didn't do a very good job at teaching me how to do that.

Oh, and don't play a sword and shield warrior, as they frakkin' suck.

They were a perfectly serviceable class in the first game! Would I be having more fun if I was something else?

My first character when i didn't know Ave was non-romancable. He tried to help her out anyway and was happy for her and Donnic but ended up as a bachelor.

That's the option I went with. Well, first, I facepalmed three times when Aveline was all like, "Say, do you think there ever could have been anything between us?" Then I told her to be happy. But oh, Maker, that big fake smile he put on for her sake before he walked away. I just knew he spent the next several hours in the Hanged Man, drinking after that.

Reusing dungeons was horrible and I have no idea why Bioware went that route. Well ok I do. They wanted to ship the game out fast and level design takes time.

What really annoys me though is the whole "see the world around you develop" bit they were saying. I'd actually be ok if my adventures took me to the same dungeons and buildings if I saw them develop a lot so each time you could see where they were and how they've developed. And if they were different caves don't use the same one and close up a few doors. Jeez that reeked of laziness.

I guess on the bright side, I'm starting to memorize all of the dungeon layouts...

I'm starting to think everything about this game stems from trying to release it as quickly as possible. Not just the reused dungeons, but also the whole 'human only' and 'Kirkwall only' stuff, too.

What also annoys me is I start a quest, play through it, and find myself wondering what would have happened if I had done things differently? So I look it up on the wiki and discover, oh wait, the same thing happens no matter what you do. (For instance, the Qunari mage quest. No matter what you say or do, same result.)

Also, there's a lot of clipping in this game. My mace clips through every shield I've ever owned (when they're on my back, I mean). My armor clips through most of my shields. I've seen Isabella's clothes clip through her own body. Hell, one time, I saw a corpse on the ground (not a corpse I made, mind you; one of those lootable corpses that you find everywhere, like piles of rubble or bones) that was clipping through the ground.

This to me, is like watching a movie where the monster's zipper is clearly visible. I don't play games with much of a technical eye, so if even I'm noticing these things, that's pretty bad.

As to maces. I think, unfortunately, that the game uses the idea that swords are just better. Though I don't think that there are any added resistances.

In the first game, maces did less damage than swords overall, but they had high armor penetration values, making them really useful against heavily armored opponents.

In this game, though, the just seem to suck. I kind of wonder what the point of them was.

[Candle Jack]

Originally Posted by JadedDM

Hmm, I haven't used any poisons at all so far, on account that I'm not a rogue. Guess I could brew some for my rogues to use, though.

You don't need to be a rogue to use poison in DA2. My two-handed warrior Hawke uses them plenty. And they generally last a half-hour, so you can use them over several fights.

Originally Posted by JadedDM

I never did learn how to use cross-class combos, though. The game didn't do a very good job at teaching me how to do that.

Well, that's part of the problem. Your fights will go a bit smoother if you use combos.

It's pretty easy: just read the ability descriptions of spells and talents. Pay attention to talents that render opponents STAGGERED, DISORIENTED or BRITTLE. Then have other characters pick talents that deal extra damage to enemies in those states.

For example: Varric can DISORIENT an opponent with Pinning Shot. Then Merrill can hit that opponent with an upgraded Stonefist for massive damage.

You can tell whether an opponent has one of these status effects by watching for the little symbols over their heads.

You as a sword and shield warrior can STAGGER opponents with Shield Bash and deal extra damage to DISORIENTED opponents with Battery or Disperse.

Do you have the Black Emporium? If so, you might want to invest in some Maker's Sigh potions if you've been ignoring this stuff up to now.

Originally Posted by JadedDM

They were a perfectly serviceable class in the first game! Would I be having more fun if I was something else?

IMHO, two-handed warriors are way better in this game and function nearly as well as tanks.

Originally Posted by JadedDM

I guess on the bright side, I'm starting to memorize all of the dungeon layouts...

That's about the only upside of it.

Originally Posted by JadedDM

I'm starting to think everything about this game stems from trying to release it as quickly as possible. Not just the reused dungeons, but also the whole 'human only' and 'Kirkwall only' stuff, too.

I think delaying the game a year would have helped the game overall, as they would have had more time to develop extra maps and work out some of the quest-related bugs. Maybe they would have been able to include Ketojan as a party member as originally planned.

But I highly doubt that the plot of the game would have changed much or that the protagonist of the game would be someone other than Hawke.

It seems to me that a fair bit of thought went into plotting the story and fleshing out Hawke as a protagonist. A lot of work has been put into the supporting cast (though your mileage may vary) and in the dialogue system. They make some mistakes, but there's no perfect formula for crafting art.

Also, the dev team has made it somewhat clear they wanted to go in a different direction than Origins. Some of the main complaints about the first game was that the hero was an emotionless mannequin and that Bioware recycled its "hero joins elite group/saves the world from ancient evil" plot. Say what you will about DA2's plot, but it isn't a carbon copy of its previous games.

They also wanted to make dialogue more "cinematic". Personally, I'm not be-moaning the inability to talk to companions whenever you want, as I rarely did that anyway in Origins.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I'm starting another playthrough, and I'm trying to figure out just how to run things. I know for a fact that I want to play this Hawke as a peacenik, wanting to reconcile differences between others but generally going with the side that will promote the most peace in the long run if forced to choose between two sides. I'm uncertain as to just how that kind of Hawke would lean leading up to the ending. I know a few things for certain:

Spoiler

He'd side with the Templars in the end, to keep the uprising in Kirkwall from causing strife for the whole world.

He'd definitely have a rivalry with Anders, disliking his extreme stance on mage liberation.

He's return Ketojan to the Arvaarad, as well as attempt to get Isabela to return the Tome, as he wants to promote peace with the Qunari, but he'll duel the Arishok because Isabela is part of his Nakama, and while he believes in peace, he won't sell out his friends.

In the "On The Loose" quest he'll convince Emil to return to the Circle, and in the following quest he'll push for Meredith to go easy on the rebels.

I'm uncertain about other quests though. The Act I quests like Wayward Son and An Act of Mercy really force you to choose sides. What would be the best way to resolve Feynriel's issues so as not to cause more strife (sending him to the Circle, I imagine, but that makes Feynriel miserable).

Any advice?