Dragon Age 2

[keg in kc]

Trailer premiered at gamescom a few minutes ago, seems like a good time for its own thread.



(is that Flemeth's voice?)

[keg in kc]

Oblivion was awful, I don't hold much hope for Skyrim. It'll look pretty, but I expect it to be completely devoid of anything interesting aside from leveling my character.

I'm 90+ hours into DA2, haven't slowed down yet, but I'm starting to wonder if it ever actually ends. I was expecting it to be shorter than Origins, maybe 60 hours, and my initial run of that game (on Nightmare also) only ran 84 hours. (This is not a complaint by any means)

I do have a few complaints, but not really many. The maps are repetitive, as I think everybody would agree. I miss the fully isometric camera (although I got used to the way DA2 is during the demo). The idea of actual junk loot may be one of the worst, most annoying inventory decisions I've ever seen. I wish I could toggle weapons. Not being able to completely click off tactics (like in origins) and the fact that my party members would randomly auto attack unless I put them on Passive annoyed me. I'm so incredibly sick of rogues, assassins and templar hunters at this point. And I like the scripted boss encounters (i.e. Ancient Rock Wraith, Varterrals, etc.), but the idea of unending buckets of hp really gets old.

I think my experience with the game is probably better than a lot of people's because of the fact that I do play it on Nightmare, and really, really enjoy the combat. I played a little bit yesterday on Casual, and the game was basically a joke. Ridiculously easy. And I don't imagine Normal would be much better. But on Nightmare, I actually found it to be a better game than Origins, in terms of sheer gameplay.

Story-wise, I really dig it so far, although the epic moments are few and far between. One complaint I neglected to mention is the abrupt time jumps in the story. Seemed a little random with the whole "1/3/3 years later" thing. But other than that, I like being part of a story that isn't the stock Hero's journey right out of Joseph Campbell. I think the party interaction is better than Origins, and I think the companions are more interesting than those in Origins (I really only liked Alistair, Leliana and Morrigan - I'm going to do playthroughs with everyone in DA2).

I think in the end, what DA2 is to me is unrealized potential. I think it could have been a truly epic game if it had another 6-12 months of development time. As it stands, I think I'd probably rate it above Origins but below ME 1 and 2.

As far as Arrival goes, I've played it and liked it, but much like DA2, I get the sense reading the forums and certain reviews that the reaction is not so positive.

[QuikSsurfer]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Oblivion was awful, I don't hold much hope for Skyrim. It'll look pretty, but I expect it to be completely devoid of anything interesting aside from leveling my character.

I'm 90+ hours into DA2, haven't slowed down yet, but I'm starting to wonder if it ever actually ends. I was expecting it to be shorter than Origins, maybe 60 hours, and my initial run of that game (on Nightmare also) only ran 84 hours. (This is not a complaint by any means)

I do have a few complaints, but not really many. The maps are repetitive, as I think everybody would agree. I miss the fully isometric camera (although I got used to the way DA2 is during the demo). The idea of actual junk loot may be one of the worst, most annoying inventory decisions I've ever seen. I wish I could toggle weapons. Not being able to completely click off tactics (like in origins) and the fact that my party members would randomly auto attack unless I put them on Passive annoyed me. I'm so incredibly sick of rogues, assassins and templar hunters at this point. And I like the scripted boss encounters (i.e. Ancient Rock Wraith, Varterrals, etc.), but the idea of unending buckets of hp really gets old.

I think my experience with the game is probably better than a lot of people's because of the fact that I do play it on Nightmare, and really, really enjoy the combat. I played a little bit yesterday on Casual, and the game was basically a joke. Ridiculously easy. And I don't imagine Normal would be much better. But on Nightmare, I actually found it to be a better game than Origins, in terms of sheer gameplay.

Story-wise, I really dig it so far, although the epic moments are few and far between. One complaint I neglected to mention is the abrupt time jumps in the story. Seemed a little random with the whole "1/3/3 years later" thing. But other than that, I like being part of a story that isn't the stock Hero's journey right out of Joseph Campbell. I think the party interaction is better than Origins, and I think the companions are more interesting than those in Origins (I really only liked Alistair, Leliana and Morrigan - I'm going to do playthroughs with everyone in DA2).

I think in the end, what DA2 is to me is unrealized potential. I think it could have been a truly epic game if it had another 6-12 months of development time. As it stands, I think I'd probably rate it above Origins but below ME 1 and 2.

As far as Arrival goes, I've played it and liked it, but much like DA2, I get the sense reading the forums and certain reviews that the reaction is not so positive.

I stopped here.

Did you ever play Morrowind?

[Saulbadguy]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Oblivion was awful, I don't hold much hope for Skyrim. It'll look pretty, but I expect it to be completely devoid of anything interesting aside from leveling my character.

I'm 90+ hours into DA2, haven't slowed down yet, but I'm starting to wonder if it ever actually ends. I was expecting it to be shorter than Origins, maybe 60 hours, and my initial run of that game (on Nightmare also) only ran 84 hours. (This is not a complaint by any means)

I do have a few complaints, but not really many. The maps are repetitive, as I think everybody would agree. I miss the fully isometric camera (although I got used to the way DA2 is during the demo). The idea of actual junk loot may be one of the worst, most annoying inventory decisions I've ever seen. I wish I could toggle weapons. Not being able to completely click off tactics (like in origins) and the fact that my party members would randomly auto attack unless I put them on Passive annoyed me. I'm so incredibly sick of rogues, assassins and templar hunters at this point. And I like the scripted boss encounters (i.e. Ancient Rock Wraith, Varterrals, etc.), but the idea of unending buckets of hp really gets old.

I think my experience with the game is probably better than a lot of people's because of the fact that I do play it on Nightmare, and really, really enjoy the combat. I played a little bit yesterday on Casual, and the game was basically a joke. Ridiculously easy. And I don't imagine Normal would be much better. But on Nightmare, I actually found it to be a better game than Origins, in terms of sheer gameplay.

Story-wise, I really dig it so far, although the epic moments are few and far between. One complaint I neglected to mention is the abrupt time jumps in the story. Seemed a little random with the whole "1/3/3 years later" thing. But other than that, I like being part of a story that isn't the stock Hero's journey right out of Joseph Campbell. I think the party interaction is better than Origins, and I think the companions are more interesting than those in Origins (I really only liked Alistair, Leliana and Morrigan - I'm going to do playthroughs with everyone in DA2).

I think in the end, what DA2 is to me is unrealized potential. I think it could have been a truly epic game if it had another 6-12 months of development time. As it stands, I think I'd probably rate it above Origins but below ME 1 and 2.

As far as Arrival goes, I've played it and liked it, but much like DA2, I get the sense reading the forums and certain reviews that the reaction is not so positive.

I've tried "Hard" difficulty for awhile, and while it's challenging, it's not "give me a ****ing break" challenging on some of the tougher fights.

[QuikSsurfer]

The ancient stone wraith on hard was ridiculously difficult.. took me at least 5 tries.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by QuikSsurfer

I stopped here.

Did you ever play Morrowind?

Yes, I loved Morrowind.

I couldn't even finish Oblivion.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Saulbadguy

I've tried "Hard" difficulty for awhile, and while it's challenging, it's not "give me a ****ing break" challenging on some of the tougher fights.

Nightmare got much easier when I found a thread on the forums that tabulated all the enemy resistances, and began to set up my characters for certain encounters with runes (armor and weapon both). Once I began to incorporate that, it became so much more manageable. I mean, my character is glitched right now (because of Sebastian) with -55% damage reduction, and I'm still able to get through the game on Nightmare.

This is, honestly, the first game I have ever played where I didn't horde potions, where I actually have to both buy them and use them, and where I actually worry about stuff like runes.

Just to paint a picture, when I really figured this out was a few days ago in Act 2 when I fought Wasp Spiders for the first time (if you don't know what those are, they're poison-spitting spiders with lots of HP that attack in packs). The first time in there, I wiped faster than I had against anything in the game prior to that. We're talking dead in 3 seconds kind of thing. Went back to my Manor, equipped nature resistance runes on all my characters, put lightning runes in all their weapons, and voila I was through the fight with little trouble in a party consisting of myself, Varric, Aveline and Merrill (i.e. no healer...).

Makes a big, big difference.

I would not, however, criticize anyone for lowering the difficulty setting on the boss fights...

[Saulbadguy]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Nightmare got much easier when I found a thread on the forums that tabulated all the enemy resistances, and began to set up my characters for certain encounters with runes (armor and weapon both). Once I began to incorporate that, it became so much more manageable. I mean, my character is glitched right now (because of Sebastian) with -55% damage reduction, and I'm still able to get through the game on Nightmare.

This is, honestly, the first game I have ever played where I didn't horde potions, where I actually have to both buy them and use them, and where I actually worry about stuff like runes.

Just to paint a picture, when I really figured this out was a few days ago in Act 2 when I fought Wasp Spiders for the first time (if you don't know what those are, they're poison-spitting spiders with lots of HP that attack in packs). The first time in there, I wiped faster than I had against anything in the game prior to that. We're talking dead in 3 seconds kind of thing. Went back to my Manor, equipped nature resistance runes on all my characters, put lightning runes in all their weapons, and voila I was through the fight with little trouble in a party consisting of myself, Varric, Aveline and Merrill (i.e. no healer...).

Makes a big, big difference.

I would not, however, criticize anyone for lowering the difficulty setting on the boss fights...

Wasp spiders, in the Deep Roads area when you do that side quest with the 3 dwarven brothers?

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Saulbadguy

Wasp spiders, in the Deep Roads area when you do that side quest with the 3 dwarven brothers?

I don't think I did that one. I found them doing Merrill's act 2 quest that ends with the Varterral, and then later on in Act 3 doing a quest dealing with the Antivan Crows.

[keg in kc]

Major patch incoming sometime soon:

Hi Everyone

We know that people are waiting on more patching to fix issues they are having with Dragon Age II. We have said previously that we are working on patching for all 4 platforms (PC, Mac, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3), but we have not yet given any detail about what this patch will contain nor when it will be available. We greatly appreciate your patience as we work to fix issues with Dragon Age II and ensure that these fixes do not introduce new issues to the game. To help keep you updated on the status of the next patch (the first patch for PC and Mac Dragon Age II can be found HERE) we wanted to provide you with a more detailed message on the next Dragon Age II patch.

BioWare has prepared a patch for PC, Mac, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. We are currently testing the patch and are submitting it for certification with EA, Microsoft and Sony. Certification is where testing teams outside of BioWare confirm the fixes we make and ensure that no new issues are introduced. We continue to test the patch during the certification process to ensure quality. Once the patch has passed certification, it is then released to the public. We do not have a more exact ETA of when it will be available to you, but when we do know when it is available, we will let everyone know.

We cannot reveal to you the exact contents of the patch until it passes certification. We can say that there are more than 100 fixes including gameplay, quest and platform specific issues. We can also say that the implementation of auto-attack on both Xbox 360 and PS3 is included. When we can reveal the patch notes, we will let everyone know.

BioWare is dedicated to continuing to support Dragon Age II. We thank our community members who have helped our team fix issues by providing details and reports on the problems they are having. We appreciate your patience and your support.

[keg in kc]

I guess they saved all the cool items for act 3. I'm getting tons and tons of cool stuff now.

[keg in kc]

Well, I just got to the worst fight in the game so far. Hybris.

[Pants]

Sorry if this has been covered before, but I didn't want to read anything in this thread lest I stumble upon a spoiler, but is it possible to advance your friendship with Anders without being super gay about it?

[QuikSsurfer]

Originally Posted by Pants

Sorry if this has been covered before, but I didn't want to read anything in this thread lest I stumble upon a spoiler, but is it possible to advance your friendship with Anders without being super gay about it?

No. You have to sleep with him -- naked.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Pants

Sorry if this has been covered before, but I didn't want to read anything in this thread lest I stumble upon a spoiler, but is it possible to advance your friendship with Anders without being super gay about it?

Yeah, I was full friend with him in Act 2, and I think I only chose one heart option the entire time. It's just common sense stuff, take him along on quests that involve mages, and side with them. Take him into the fade and don't be demonic. That kind of stuff.

I'm also full friend with Fenris. Neither one of them have been even remotely gay with me, really, once I established early on I wasn't going that route. I romanced Merrill.

[Pants]

I want to tap that pirate skank, but she doesn't fit in my party... is there any way to do that without having her tag along?

My party is a 2 handed warrior (me), the tank chick from the city guard, Anders and Varric.