Dragon Age Inquisition - all platforms

[Brand86]

So who is playing this at the moment? I am loving it so far, so deep - excellent.
I am a warrior and using a rogue, a mage and another single handed warrior most the time
In my last quest I just sided with the templars, so the mages don't like me...just like real life!
Still getting to grips with the equipment, is the order or rarity grey>blue>yellow>purple?
I am level 8 so far, just starting to get more interesting now I have a few more abilities in my team. Is there a way to reset stats like there was in the original though? Would like to refocus some people if I can

 

[Sargara]

Im almost 60hrs in now, deliberately avoided progressing the main story line so I can concentrate on the companions, side missions and war table stuff. Theres still 2 zones I havent even visited yet (Hissing Wastes and another, i forget). The rarity scale you posted seems correct, all the items i craft are yellow too FYI but are more customisable than Purple items (Purple items only let you add runes, Yellow items you can add handles, weights, runes etc).

Brand you can reset your spells (theres no stats) at the Blacksmith place. Theres a banner you can interact with that opens up a shop selling reset tokens. Havent done it myself but it seems fairly straight forward.

 

[Brand86]

Cool I'll try that then - as in most RPGs you figure out a strategy as you get more into it, but in most RPGs with parties I usually have a defensive warrior with party buffs, an offensive warrior with big attacks, a healing mage and either an offensive mage or rogue. I found that having a dagger wielding rogue is better than an archer, as if your 2 warriors get flanked then the archer and support mage can be too vulnerable

Have you got your own castle yet? If so how/when do you get that??

 

[Sargara]

Yeah I wont spoil it but keep going with the story missions until you end up at Skyhold (castle) that replaces Haven the town you start off with. If you've done the story bit about chosing either the Mages or Templars to side with you arent far off now.

If you havent figured it out when you look at the War Table, the story missions are the operations with the green glowing void effect above the marker, these significy story missions that progress the game. Any other mission is just a side quest essentially.

My "main" party consists of my main (Mage), Casandra as a sword+shield tank, Blackwall as a 2handed Melee dps and then Varric is a 2 dagger rogue.

 

[Brand86]

Man I hate Varric! I've got Cole instead or Sera. Charging Bull has better dialogue than the Grey Warden so use him, and using Solas as he is more useful healing. Later on will start levelling his attacks more too as quite vulnerable on his own
I've got to a couple of bits where I have had to flee, came to a rift void in the south of Hinterlands where it was spawning enemies with flame damage and tore my party a new one...will go back eventually to nail them!

 

[BenPhill]

I've played it for about 35 hours now, level 16 warrior, it's a very good game, I expected this thread to be a but busier!

 

[Brand86]

Same! Lots of Fallout and Skyrim fans on here, this one seems to be overlooked by many, despite being better than both in my opinion

 

[Scutch]

I downloaded it using EA Early Access so played the opening segment but in the 6 hours I had to play it, I only spent around an hour on it. I found the combat awful compared to Skyrim. I should really have played it longer, as most of my mates have said how good it is. I absolutely loved Skyrim, too.

Hmm.

 

[Brand86]

Yeah it is a bit slow to get going, but that's like all RPGs. The combat is different to Skyrim though, more tactical and requires more thought - it gets a lot better once you level up as to begin with it is basically just hammering the basic attack button. The missions, characters, upgrading are all way more detailed than Skyrim and the world seems a similar size but more detailed
Don't get me wrong, Skyrim is amazing, but this is a step up in every area as far as I am concerned

 

[Scutch]

May have to invest.

 

[BenPhill]

Yeah it is a bit slow to get going, but that's like all RPGs. The combat is different to Skyrim though, more tactical and requires more thought - it gets a lot better once you level up as to begin with it is basically just hammering the basic attack button. The missions, characters, upgrading are all way more detailed than Skyrim and the world seems a similar size but more detailed
Don't get me wrong, Skyrim is amazing, but this is a step up in every area as far as I am concerned

Can't say I've put much thought into the combat, I just go in and smash s**t up [emoji14] I just let the other characters crack on lol

 

[Brand86]

Skyrim is probably more visceral as it has the FPS option but as you have a more 'stanrdard' skill upgrade path in Dragon Age it is a bit more tactical. By the end of Skyrim it was ridiculously easy as I had pretty much everything - a tank warrior with obscene destructive magic, ability to heal and conjure 2 hardcore demons, and fly on a dragon!
In Dragon Age there is also a meta-game, romances, a more meaningful story and your own castle to deck out (although Skyrim had this, of sorts)

 

[Sargara]

I've found this game plateau's as well though, difficulty wise. The zones dont scale and are fixed so if like me when you get around lvl20 there isn't much short of Dragons that pose a challenge anymore from a combat perspective.

But as Brand pointed out, that doesnt mean im left with nothing to do however there are still plenty of things to be occupied with!

 

[martynzs]

Put around 10 hours into this so far but leaving it until ive completed Wolfenstein and Sunset' (4 games over xmas and cant be playing all at once!)

Im a dwarven 2 handed warrior but contemplating starting again as a rouge....

 

[Brand86]

I like in RPGs are you get higher up you feel more powerful, but not to the point where it is easy.

I think the different between Bioware games and other RPGs is the stories/characters are so much better you do actually care about outcomes and the external events going on, not just maxing out your character. Getting the full armada for the end of Mass Effect 3 was really rewarding, and I was disappointed when I didn't do one of the loyalty missions for my team and they ended up a depressed mess afterwards

 

[Scutch]

Caved and bought it.

 

[Brand86]

Haha good lad. Where are you up to? The first few missions are quite dry, but like all RPGs once it opens up it really comes alive

 

[Scutch]

I haven't even started it yet mate. Got Far Cry 4 to play.

 

[BenPhill]

Just completed it, found the end surprisingly easy... On to shadow of mordor now!

 

[Scutch]

Just completed it, found the end surprisingly easy... On to shadow of mordor now!

How many hours in total?

 

[Sargara]

He said he was at 35hrs back on Friday so around that I imagine.

Im on 60hrs+ and just doing my last unexplored area now; Hissing Wastes. Its massive!

 

[BenPhill]

40 hours I think it was, good story though, definitely worth a go to anyone thinking of buying it

 

[Brand86]

40 hours is pretty quick! I've done about 15 and feel like I am getting started. I spent about 80 on the original, although that included the DLC too

 

[Scutch]

Right. Started this last night. I'm enjoying it, just been wandering through Haven so not that far in at all. However, I'm a bit f*cking baffled. I've never played a Dragon Age game before, so spent a good 30 minutes or so creating my character. I chose to be a human and took a while deciding which class to be. I usually go for Warrior (like me), but decided I'd be a Mage in this one, as part way through I believe you get the chance to be a Knight-Enchanter which is a bit of both I think. Anyway, created a white haired, white beared, white eyed God-like guy and started off. All good. Then I have a team of 4 people and I'm finding items and unlocking points and crafting sh*t and I'm getting confused. I can control ANY of the folk in my party when I'm in battle, so I can't just upgrade my stuff, I have to consider them too. So if I can do that, why have I just spent so f*cking long creating my character when I can sack him off (that was sack) and control one of the other guys instead?

Like I say, I've only played for an hour and a half, and it seems very good, but I think I need to read up on this and watch a few videos to get me more up to speed with how everything works - especially upgrading and crafting stuff as I don't really understand how the crafting items are allocated. Plus the whole "attribute points" trees, of which I have four as the Mage. So I unlocked two from the Fire tree so I now have 2 magic spells assigned to the X and B buttons. But like I say I can also upgrade my 3 party members. How f*cking long is this going to take to do all that?! Add to that the fact I can mix and match team members further on in the game, will I get enough ability points to actually do what I want to do? Should I focus on my own character first or upgrade others? That guy with the Crossbow seems ok, but he's called it Bianca. I was told to upgrade that first off because it's the only long ranged weapon he'll use in the game. Why's that my problem? I'm a mage.

etc.

 

[Brand86]

Scutch - your character is always part of your party, in a bit you will get more playable characters in your group and you can choose 3 to take into battle/mission with you. You can then give each character a more specific role, e.g. if you have 2 mages you could make 1 more focussed on destructive magic, the other more supportive/healing

As you go along you will upgrade all your team members (even if you don't take them into battle, you can still level them up) and doesn't actually take that long - you get 4 trees per player, so would just focus on 1 or 2 not all 4. E.g. I prefer to focus all on ice magic to become really powerful at that, not a bit of ice, fire, healing etc. In the late stages of the game you might do a bit of each for passive buffs, but for active abilities I would just choose 1 (especially as you can get enchanted weapons which can supplement your upgrades further). You can also buy a charm thing if you decide you want to reset your abilities later on

Once you get more members in your party you might decide you don't want a rogue in your active team at all, or you could have 1 which specialises more in close range daggers (which is what I have). Up to you to decide what works best on a particular mission really, but in general I go with:
1. My character, a sword/shield warrior with some group buffs
2. A heavy tank with good offence
3. A rogue specialised in daggers, good for flanking enemies
4. A healing mage, who can create a powerful shield and resurrect dead team members

Once you get a bit further on, things become clearer and better - like most RPGs its a little slow to start!

 

[Sargara]

Yep your main character (the one you made) has to ALWAYS be there; the other 3 are optional and you can pick and chose who you like. Not to mention your main character is present for all the cutscenes/dialogue so it pays to have spent some time on the character creator getting it just right! (In hindsight i didnt, my eyes are alittle too close together meh)

 

[Brand86]

I chose some vivid blue/purple eyes which I thought would look mystic, but in reality just look a bit weird!

 

[Scutch]

Up to Level 7 now. Slowly but surely.

Just met up with Iron Bull. That guy can swing a hammer.

 

[Brand86]

Yeah he is cool - basically if you like someone's personality I generally prefer to have them in my party. I employ a strict 'no nobbers allowed' policy...

 

[Sargara]

Finished this last night after 67hours. I'd done all war board missions available (the repeatable resource ones at least once), romanced a character (josephine) and killed 6 of the 10 dragons as the remainder had the same elemental property as my main character (mage) and were too difficult without respecing my abilities (couldnt be bothered).

I highly rate the game as the areas/levels were well made and there was alot of content to keep me busy, id say 60hrs is getting my moneys worth. If all "next gen" RPG's live up to this then I look forward to playing more in the future. Fingers crossed for a Dragons Dogma sequel @Brand86

 

[Brand86]

Yeah I think Dragon's Dogma was my favourite RPG last gen - with the expansion taken into account too. I never killed Death in the end and just realised I have no traded it in. Incidentally, they have just today announced Dragon's Dogma online - although it will only be released in Asia to begin with

 

[Scutch]

If you can recall, what build did you go with, Mage wise @Sargara?

 

[Sargara]

@Scutch I spent the majority of my skills in Lightning with some in Spirit (Barrier related spells only). Later on when you get to choose a Specialisation to unlock a 5th spell tree I went with Necromancy but I regret this. From the name I imagined being able to summon skeletons and stuff like that but in reality it was just a couple of curses that did Damage-Over-Time, lame

 

[Brand86]

The conjuring skills in Skyrim were awesome, I'd love more spells like that (basically like Visionaries)

 

[Scutch]

@Scutch I spent the majority of my skills in Lightning with some in Spirit (Barrier related spells only). Later on when you get to choose a Specialisation to unlock a 5th spell tree I went with Necromancy but I regret this. From the name I imagined being able to summon skeletons and stuff like that but in reality it was just a couple of curses that did Damage-Over-Time, lame 😧

Yeah, a lot of folk seem to go with Knight Enchanter, basically because it is massively overpowered.

 

[Scutch]

The conjuring skills in Skyrim were awesome, I'd love more spells like that (basically like Visionaries)

Skyrim mixed in everything so, so well. Loved that game.

 

[Brand86]

Yeah it was a good one! I think the other danger with RPGs is, as you play more of them, your expectations get higher. And, for me anyway, the stories become more and more cliched even though in reality they are much better written and more nuanced

 

[Jack!]

Just about the start playing this - I got it cheap when I bought Witcher 3 from Game, bit behind the times now, but looks good. Opening download file is big. Not looking forward to that bit with all RPGs at the start where you feel pathetic as you try to adjust to new dynamics, combat, movement etc - sure it's gonna be good after that though.

 

[Brand86]

This game really is good. Just did the missions in Orlais where you are at the banquet and have to do some investigation. I initially thought it was quite slow but became quite interesting by the end. I failed to collect all the items as going round though, not sure if I can go back?

I've finally mastered all the crafting etc too which has massivelly helped. I don't have enough resources to max out all my characters now but pretty much use the same party members - me (sword and shield tank), Iron Bull, Solas and Cole (although may switch him with Sera as he basically hates me)