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]

Originally Posted by Saulbadguy

That sucks. I was close to that point last night but finally ended up winning a battle after many tries.

I hate when you think the battle is over or you only have one mob left and a bunch more spawn out of nowhere.

The problem for me was that it's too hard a fight for the level of my characters. And I didn't save before I activated it. Once you talk to Anders and say 'go' there's no way to leave the Chantry. And that fight was impossible for the characters that I had (I can't explain why without spoiling it....). So I was forced to go to a save from about 3 hours earlier. Which turned out being okay, I just did things in a different order. I've worked on Aveline's quest instead. Which comes with it's own problems. Assassins can 2-shot anybody in my party. Including Aveline.

Originally Posted by frazod

You must be playing a magic user - for me (rogue), Carver got greased about 10 minutes in. It hadn't occurred to me that whether he or Bethany survives is based on your class.

I think I prefer my way. He seems like a real mama's boy, and the sister is SMOKIN HOT. Definitely having some dirty thoughts....

I hate Carver, but I always play a mage first.

I don't think he's a mama's boy, but he talks a lot about how much he hates mages, and his rivalry level is way down there, even after positive conversations. I think he's going to screw me. He doesn't seem to have a special skill tree like the other characters, which makes me think he's going to have some kind of turning point in his character questline (does Bethany have a tree?) He talks a lot about hating mages, so I wonder if that means he can become a Templar? Wouldn't that be a perfect BioWare stab-in-the-back twist....

Originally Posted by frazod

Now that I have Merrill I generally don't bother with the other rogue. I'd rather have two mages.

I'm up to level 7 or 8, but I may start over. I foolishly wasted some ability points on strength early on (duh), and now it seems like I'm eternally one or two points off from being able to use upgraded weapons I find.

I always run with a rogue, I've got to open every chest damnit! Varric seems like a really cool character, too, and rogues this time around have some crowd control abilities which are pretty useful at times on Nightmare.

Although I'm thinking on my next run through the game, whether I'm a Rogue or a Warrior, Merrill is going to be a must-have on Nightmare because of her skill tree (doesn't hit friends). Spec her for primal, and she'll be a beast (lighting doesn't hit your party either - that's what my mage is, all lightning).

Oh, last thing on Carver, he can't take a lot of hits, but he does insane damage to groups of weak mobs. He can clear a group himself as easily as my mage can. But the flip side is he can also kill Aveline if I'm not careful, because friendly fire includes warrior and rogue skills in DA2.

Originally Posted by Saulbadguy

I bet there is a way to respec at some point...i'm not sure though.

Black Emporium would be my guess. There were some powerful looking potions in there.

Merrill is a romance character, I just had a conversation with her in her house that had a heart option.

I think Isabela is the other one, but I haven't met her yet.

[QuikSsurfer]

Black Emporium doesn't have anything that allows you reallocate your points.. It does however have a item that allows you to alter your appearance.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by QuikSsurfer

Black Emporium doesn't have anything that allows you reallocate your points.. It does however have a item that allows you to alter your appearance.

I believe I heard Laidlaw say during one of his demos that the items change over time in there. There were some expensive potions in there that gave attribute and skill points (I think, I haven't been in there in a while...), so I'm thinking maybe a respec potion down the line. Just a guess though. I'm avoiding spoilers as much as possible...

[Saulbadguy]

Fenris quest is the same way, once you say "lets go", you can't leave the mansion. That sucked hard. I barely made out alive, some of my characters were double and triple injured.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Saulbadguy

Fenris quest is the same way, once you say "lets go", you can't leave the mansion. That sucked hard. I barely made out alive, some of my characters were double and triple injured.

I haven't encountered him or Isabela yet. I've decided what I'm going to do is try to get as many side quests and other character quests done before I get into any more characters or main quest stuff. Anders' quest was just a warning of things to come.

On the plus side, I've started to upgrade my lightning spells. That tree's almost done, and I'm dishing out some pain.

Need to start delving into cross-class combos. Anything that boosts damage in combat...

[keg in kc]

Spoiler!

Jesus Christ, saving the Viscount's son is a pain in the ass. Multiple waves, no save points. And an assassin in the 3rd wave.

[keg in kc]

Anybody wondering about potions vanishing? I had been. Now we have an answer:

Originally Posted by Luke Barrett (bioware)

Just to throw some fuel on the fire:

Not only are Assassins insanely difficult on Nightmare but they also steal your potions!
Just wait until an encounter that has you fighting more than one at the same time.

[Frazod]

You guys and your nightmare settings. **** that. I just play at normal and if something's too much of a pain in the ass I switch over to casual.

Real life is annoying enough.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Spoiler!

Jesus Christ, saving the Viscount's son is a pain in the ass. Multiple waves, no save points. And an assassin in the 3rd wave.

Spoiler!

As it turns out, you can save, you just have to be quick about it. It also helps if you fight all the way in the back, by the wall. I originally placed myself back there because I wanted to keep the assassin from being able to backstab, but as it turns out, the waves split if you're back there.

[keg in kc]

I actually enjoy it more on Nightmare, unless I'm just burning through a story as fast as I can (which I'll do later as a rogue or warrior...). It's a little more challenging and it takes a lot longer to get through the game. I'm already 15 hours in and barely halfway to level 8. Although about 3 hours of that was backtracking because I didn't keep an up to date save, which was my own stupid fault...

Interestingly it looks like the game counts your entire time played on a character, even if you go back to an earlier save.

[Saulbadguy]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Anybody wondering about potions vanishing? I had been. Now we have an answer:

Man, **** that. LOL

[Saulbadguy]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I actually enjoy it more on Nightmare, unless I'm just burning through a story as fast as I can (which I'll do later as a rogue or warrior...). It's a little more challenging and it takes a lot longer to get through the game. I'm already 15 hours in and barely halfway to level 8. Although about 3 hours of that was backtracking because I didn't keep an up to date save, which was my own stupid fault...

Interestingly it looks like the game counts your entire time played on a character, even if you go back to an earlier save.

Nightmare is much more enjoyable.

I play normal on "twitch" games, any kind of shooter or platformer - otherwise the game is needlessly frustrating.

If I play Normal on Dragon Age, the game just isn't challenging, and you can use the same tactics to get through any fight. Nightmare FORCES you to use all of your skills and abilities rather than just spam the same stuff over and over again for every battle.


IMO.

[Mr. Laz]

Just now starting this game btw


looks like you could have quite the defensive mage build if you wanted. Lots of damage resist and party buff spells.

Do they all stack?
what if you had 2 mages running the same buff, would they stack? (i doubt it. lol )

[QuikSsurfer]

Ah!! Maker's Sigh is the potion to rebuild ur characters

Very nice

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Saulbadguy

Nightmare is much more enjoyable.

I play normal on "twitch" games, any kind of shooter or platformer - otherwise the game is needlessly frustrating.

If I play Normal on Dragon Age, the game just isn't challenging, and you can use the same tactics to get through any fight. Nightmare FORCES you to use all of your skills and abilities rather than just spam the same stuff over and over again for every battle.


IMO.

Different people play for different reasons. It gets frustrating on Nightmare sometimes, but the feeling I get when I finally get past that battle I didn't think I was ever going to win is pretty great.

Right now though, I just want to kill every ****ing assassin and rogue everywhere.

Finally hit level 8.

This game is so much more challenging than Origins so far.