Dragon Age: Inquisition

[XXXIV]

Credits rolled yesterday. Sorry to see the game end.

I finished almost all the side quests so no where to really go.

Tip to the guys that haven't got that far. Something I didnt think through... If you are playing normal difficulty, finish the game at or preferably before level 20. The final two boss battles were far too easy.

When is the expansion coming ?

[Danimal]

I finally got to the part where I'm now at Skyhold. Articles suggesting moving on with the plot instead of side quests were right on. Once I did this the game felt more epic and less random MMO quest.

However now I am overwhelmed with possible missions and new areas. I'm not exactly sure where to go at this point. Any tips on what should be tackled.

Hinterlands is almost completely done
Storm Coast I have one location to discover I can't seem to locate a a cave that is no enterable at the end of the map.
Went to the confusing Desert area, did most of the temple but missing shards to complete it.

I'm level 11 right now.

[TCrouch]

Fallow Mire is "next" on your list of areas.

That cave requires a specific item, I forget what it was. Can't do anything with it until you get the quest.

There are a couple of desert areas. One is for the shards, which you should do as early as possible (start with fire!) and then the actual Western Approach.

Also, if you haven't done the 'specialties for the inquisitor' mission that you can get at level 10, do that. That allows you to train in more specialized abilities. And the "buy/sell" area of the smith area lets you purchase a respec necklace so you can redistribute your skill points (for any character) any time you want. Useful when you unlock a new specialization, for example.

[Danimal]

Thanks, Fallow Mire it is.

I did the shards thing somewhat. Meaning I couldn't completely get through any one door. It kept saying i didn't have enough shards.

[TCrouch]

Right.

One set of doors buffs your fire resistance, one set of doors buffs cold resistance, etc. All of those shards you've been collecting through the glowy skulls in Hinterlands, and then in other zones? You "spend" those at the doors to open them and further buff your defenses.

[XXXIV]

Once I found out what the shards for I went shard crazy.

Had to open em all and I mean all.

[Sudz]

I have this one coming today.

Kinda like Skyrim?

[TCrouch]

Vaguely. But also a lot different.

You're not a lone warrior out destroying everything. You'll have a role in a 4-person group. If you're a sword-and-board warrior, then you will be responsible for keeping bad guys off of your squishy rogues and mages, and they in turn will blow the ever living sh*t out of everything that moves. They will do ten times the damage you do, but die three times as quickly.

It can get overwhelming with the sheer amount of stuff to do, and in that respect, it's sort of like an MMO.

But it's got dragons and swords, so in that case, yeah...it's sorta like Skyrim.

[Sudz]

Thanks. I played through the 1st part and am now where I can do what i want.

So, should I set the warriors to attack or to defend the guys with bows? The tactical part kind of eludes me.

[RobVarak]

Thanks. I played through the 1st part and am now where I can do what i want.

So, should I set the warriors to attack or to defend the guys with bows? The tactical part kind of eludes me.

They should attack, but more importantly they should use their skills to draw aggro like war cry etc. Proximity contributes to the amount of threat they create, so put them out front for sure.

[TCrouch]

There's definitely a limitation into their behaviors now, compared to the earlier games. That's the one frustration I have with it. In DA1 and 2, I would set my rogue and mage to always target the nearest visible mage, and if there weren't any, the nearest rogue. Lastly, they'd attack my target.

That let me clear rooms efficiently without micromanaging. Now, you have a generic "defend/follow" option. It's not a step forward, but I've shifted around with how I feel they should be used. I've started leaving it on Follow, and then I'll attack the biggest baddie in the group. Then I'll look around, and use the LB command to attack my target so that everybody else picks off the mages/rogues, mops up, and then we finish off the meanest guys at the end, while I tank them throughout the fight. It works, it's efficient, it's just sort of a PITA to do mid-fight.

I tested a sort of different configuration recently that worked pretty well, too. I set Iron Bull to defend Solas, so if he was attacked, Iron Bull would come charging to his defense. Then I set Solas to defend Varric. So I had this sort of conga-line of defense that really started working well as I gained more experience with it. I'd watch Iron Bull and when he went charging off in another direction, it's because Solas pulled aggro. So rather than micromanaging each fight, I was just sort of watching my surroundings and adapting.

It was more fun playing that way, honestly. Just a bit weird compared to the first games, where I could fine tune every behavior until I was operating a well-oiled fighting machine.

[Danimal]

This game will never have the combat pleasure of Divinity but I find that in tough battles going into strategic view and giving orders and then just fast forwarding in that view works. Of course it's about as fun as watching paint dry.

Now back to me I actually had already started the Creestwood area before asking my question above so I've done most of that. It kind of suck I knew what was going on here with my first conversation with the mayor but I guess games are predictable in that way.

I've still yet to take on a Dragon although one clearly awaits in this area as well as a Wyvern. I think I'll head back to my castle and do the Fallow Mire before attempting either of those.

[TCrouch]

If you haven't taken on a dragon, you need to head back to Hinterlands.

You missed an area, because you can't miss the f'n dragon when you get there. You literally cannot. miss. him.

[Danimal]

If you haven't taken on a dragon, you need to head back to Hinterlands.

You missed an area, because you can't miss the f'n dragon when you get there. You literally cannot. miss. him.

Hmm, I'm not sure where I missed an area, will check it out tonight but I went to every map edge i thought.

[TCrouch]

Try looking in the Northeastern area. Where you have a camp, and possibly you didn't know the area continued past that camp's little bottleneck

[XXXIV]

You will also get shards there to complete the shards in the Hinterlands. You will need every shard in the game to open all the doors.

Gotta kill them Dragons. They drop some good loot.

I found the killing all the dragons achievement to most satisfying even though I had to kill the last one twice( going back to pre fight save point. Strange bug) for the One to recognize it.

[Brando70]

I am floored by how enormous this game is. I'm about 25 hours in and just moved on from The Hinterlands to The Storm Coast. I did the Val Royeaux quick mission and Redcliffe, but I'm heading to the Storm Coast before I decide which faction to back. I am playing as an elemental mage right now (storm and fire) so I'm probably going to back mages since that makes more sense with my character.

I cleared out most of the Hinterlands. I think I have one side quest left, and three rifts that were too much of a pain to close yet. I did manage to get all the shards but I clearly am no ready to defeat the Hinterlands dragon yet. What level were you guys when you took it on?

I have made my peace with the combat interface, but it definitely is a step back from Origins and from a lot of other games. I would kill for an XCOM battle interface or something like VATS from Fallout 3.

[Zeppo]

Swampy area should be the third zone you visit, so you pretty much skipped half of Hinterlands and then the entire Storm Coast.

I don't think I hit the Fallow Mire until I was level 10 or 11.

Personally, I treat it like an MMO. I clear everything I can do in a zone before moving to the next. The only things I didn't have done in the Hinterlands before I left were the level 12 rifts and the landmarks/shards. The rifts because they'd beat me down at level 8 or 9, and the shards/landmarks because you have to kill the dragon to get to them.

But in general, I clear absolutely everything I can realistically do before moving on. Even uncovering the entire map.

I'm conning into this very late, and very slowly but: how can you tell what level the rifts are?

I may be taking you too literally, since I still haven't been anywhere but the Hinterlands and Haven so far, despite clearing all the war room stuff as far as I can tell. But some rifts are just too much for me so far. I'm about level 7 I think.

Also:

If you leave the Hinterlands long enough to do the quick second story mission, you can pick up 3 more party members (one of which can replace Varrick).

How do you identify the story missions? Are they just the top category ones, "Hero's Journey" or whatever?

Also I've been super reluctant to do the Visit Val Rayaux (sp.) War Room thing. Should I just get over it and do that already?

I'm feeling a little bogged down, with so many little things to clear out in Hinterlands but I'm wary that if I leave I won't be able to come back. Is this foolish?

One thing that bothers me is that my guys never seem to stay where I put them when I set them to Hold Posisition. I'd been playing a lot of DA:O on and off the last year, and my technique would be to have all my guys Hold Position, and array them as appropriate outside a door or at some choke point or other, and then go and pull a mob or more with my archer, drawing them to my group. I can't seem to do that here as I will set my guys to Hold and as soon as any fighting starts, they break ranks and start running around. I'm still getting used to the tactical camera mode (which I love) and have barely scratched the surface of character behaviors and tactics

[Danimal]

Zep do that mission, don't fret it. The game plot really once you do a story mission or two. I'm being vague too not ruin anything. I was the same way, just doing Hinterlands stuff and other areas but do the mission in the Inquistors Path I think it is called. Otherwise the game will feel like an MMO for long enough you may not like it.

[XXXIV]

Yes. Do Val and advance the story.

I never noticed what the rift levels were but there is a rift in the Hinterlands you wont be able to do til later. North east of the horse farm in the river. I had to come back to it later.

[TCrouch]

Inquisitor's Path is the main story. It's separate from the rest in the journal, at the top. The rest are divided into individual zone quests or something else specific.

When you advance near a rift (or anything, really), if you're playing on console, click the Right Stick to lock a target. If you're on PC, press tab. That will lock a monster, but do it before you're in range to draw them to you. It will show their name, a symbol, and their level in the middle. A symbol like a shield is a strong mob, a shield with a flaming bottom is an "elite" mob, etc. So when you go near the couple of "hard" rifts in the Hinterlands, lock a target. You'll see they're level 12. That's why I was calling it a level 12 rift.

You can always come back to any zone. There's no harm in advancing the story as far as you wish, then going back and doing the rest of the Hinterlands. I've even skipped a couple of zones (went from the Hinterlands to Crestwood on this most recent character), so it seems pretty lenient in forcing you down any specific path.

[RobVarak]

I've put so many hours into this game that I think I have dual-citizenship in Thedas. Level 21 right now and counting.

[XXXIV]

I've put so many hours into this game that I think I have dual-citizenship in Thedas. Level 21 right now and counting.

I stopped playing when I was out of things to do.

Get it all!

One of the greatest games ever for sure.

[Brando70]

The thing I like about the side quests in the game is that many of them don't feel like a distraction from the main storyline. That's usually a big disconnect for me in games like this. Sure, some of the side quests are trivial and not at all related, especially in the Hinterlands. Once I moved into the other areas, though, I felt like I was still doing things that made sense from a story perspective.

And the mission after fixing the bridge in the Exalted Plains... That was amazing.

[RobVarak]

The thing I like about the side quests in the game is that many of them don't feel like a distraction from the main storyline. That's usually a big disconnect for me in games like this. Sure, some of the side quests are trivial and not at all related, especially in the Hinterlands. Once I moved into the other areas, though, I felt like I was still doing things that made sense from a story perspective.

And the mission after fixing the bridge in the Exalted Plains... That was amazing.

Agreed. Sometimes the dialogue will even address that. NPC's will say, "Whoa, I can't believe that you have the time to help me with this," which is pretty cool.