Dragon Age 2 - BioWare's next out now! Use spoiler tags! Patch coming soon!

Just bought the game. Now I am trying to figure out how I wanna level my mage ability wise. There is a lot of fun looking abilities there :lol:.
 
I can't figure out why this thread is only 3 pages long, but the XBOX one is 39??? I own a XBOX and PS3 and do not understand why there is such a dramatic difference between the threads? (I bought Dragon Age 2 for PS3).
 
[quote name='Mogambi']I can't figure out why this thread is only 3 pages long, but the XBOX one is 39??? I own a XBOX and PS3 and do not understand why there is such a dramatic difference between the threads? (I bought Dragon Age 2 for PS3).[/QUOTE]

KZ3??? Black Ops Map pack......all kinds of reasons could factor into it.
 
[quote name='Mogambi']I can't figure out why this thread is only 3 pages long, but the XBOX one is 39??? I own a XBOX and PS3 and do not understand why there is such a dramatic difference between the threads? (I bought Dragon Age 2 for PS3).[/QUOTE]

Don't go into the 360 thread much, but that is interesting. Sometimes explainable when one came out on the other first or is a poor port etc... but not the case here as the PS3 DA O was superior to the 360 one. Doesn't much matter though, playing field looks level with the sequel.
 
[quote name='Mogambi']I can't figure out why this thread is only 3 pages long, but the XBOX one is 39??? I own a XBOX and PS3 and do not understand why there is such a dramatic difference between the threads? (I bought Dragon Age 2 for PS3).[/QUOTE]

Sheer numbers. There are way way more fanatical (but good people ;)) fans of Bioware games that get their version on the 360. A lot of them post about 1 billion times per thread.

Also I kind of disagree about rogues being underpowered. My Hawke is a ranger and does absolutely disgusting damage. Also Rogues have so many crowd control/support abilities that any dps hit they might take is more than made up with those abilities. I'm not trying to start an argument though, I am just curious as to why you feel that way peloquin17.

Anyways this game fucking rocks. I'm about 19 hours in, just hit the deep roads and feel like the game is just beginning. I sincerely hope Hawke's story feels as epic as the tale of the Wardens did in DA1.
 
[quote name='eurogamer']

BioWare has more Dragon Age II downloadable content besides Exiled Prince and Black Emporium "in the works" - and we're promised "beefier" experiences than were offered for Dragon Age: Origins.

"We're going to keep it very focused on your character [Hawke]," DAII lead designer Mike Laidlaw told Eurogamer.

"Some feedback we caught out of Origins was that while people liked Leliana's Song, where you primarily played as her, they wanted their Warden to be a part of that story."

"We don't have a solid date on [more DLC]; we certainly have some more in the works. But we'll be announcing more of that as we get closer to locking it down. A big focus for us is to make sure we get it right and we make sure it's, honestly, a beefier experience than the Origins DLCs and one that introduces something new to the Dragon Age game."

Dragon Age: Origins received seven downloadable add-ons: The Stone Prisoner, Warden's Keep, Return to Ostagar, The Darkspawn Chronicles, Leliana's Song, The Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. But whereas Mass Effect 2 DLC gained momentum, culminating in a 9/10 for Lair of the Shadow Broker, the add-ons for Dragon Age petered out, with Witch Hunt scoring 6/10.

"With DLC it's tricky: what exactly constitutes a DLC 9/10?" asked Laidlaw. "It's actually hard to say because we've only seen very few examples.

"For me, the core goal of DLC is to deliver an experience that integrates very smoothly with the game, one that feels like it works no matter when I'm playing so I don't have to start a brand new game - I want to be able to load a save near the end or almost at the end. And I want to feel like if I've done stuff in the DLC then it does matter; be it loot or experience or knowledge or information or something new that I saw - a new creature or something - those are all the kinds of things you want to see in downloadable content, because what they do is enrich the overall tapestry, which again ties to our idea that you are playing as Hawke - your character and your followers have that same consistency all the way through."

"As a general rule," he added, "you can assume that some new characters are always critical to anything that's going to have story in it, for sure. But I can't go into any specifics."

Laidlaw explained that there is no "specific" time-line for Dragon Age II DLC. "It's something we'll evaluate as we go forward," he said.

Dragon Age: Origins also received an acclaimed expansion called Awakening, which earned a whopping 9/10. Will Dragon Age II get an expansion? "I really don't have anything to say on that at this point," shrugged Laidlaw. [/quote]


Source

====

Hope they do pack more in because DA:O's dlc price/gameplay was not worth it. In any case, I'm glad to have rented this. I'll be content to buy the inevitable 'Ultimate Edition' next year just like DA:O.
 
Restarted my game since Varric is pretty much the only rogue you need and Aveline blows hard for a tank. Decided to play 2H warrior (sans taunt; Varric goads everything to me) and it's just dominant. Cleave + Reaper/Whirlwind is simply OP and I swear there must be hidden modifiers on Hawke for damage mitigation, because I take hardly any damage except for magic.

I will say this: GL beating the mid-game boss on nightmare for consoles, because from what I understand trying to move your party together is far more challenging without KB/M. I finally beat him last night after 45 minutes of theorycrafting and getting timing down for a no-pause nightmare clear. For anyone who is stuck on the boss (you'll know it when you get there), know that kiting and preemptive party movement is key. Anders simply must have greater heal, haste, pancea, and heroic aura. Without it, you're pretty much fucked.

I'm really disappointed in BioWare, because it almost feels like all the choices are made for you in this game. My preferred class is rogue, but it's simply not conducive to have one after Varric joins. Many of the fights are so much smoother having a team that can cleave enemies down quickly and normal sword and board tanks are just useless here. Somehow I think they lost sight of balancing the game for individual playstyles and made it far more rewarding if you combo the 'right' group makeup.

At least the boss fights are really challenging and make you think.
 
[quote name='Jodou']Restarted my game since Varric is pretty much the only rogue you need and Aveline blows hard for a tank. Decided to play 2H warrior (sans taunt; Varric goads everything to me) and it's just dominant. Cleave + Reaper/Whirlwind is simply OP and I swear there must be hidden modifiers on Hawke for damage mitigation, because I take hardly any damage except for magic.

[/QUOTE]
That's how I felt about my Sword & Shield Dwarf warrior by the end of DA:O. I had 1 mage (i must have hit a button wrong in the circle- Wynne flipped out and I had to kill her), 2 rogues, and a bunch of warriors.

Oghren just solidified my hate for the character I had picked.
 
Dragon Age 2: Moulin Rogue(s)

My Hawke is an archer so I'm just flooded with rogues and short on healing mages. Anders is a permanent fixture on my team which makes party member rotation a bit stale since I only have two slots instead of 3. :cry:

I had some issues with Avaline as a tank at first as well and as was using 2h Fenris as my tank for a while. It was fine until some boss battles made me realize that I needed a shield tank to make things go a bit smoother. I just respecced her last night and tweaked her AI settings a bit and she's doing fantastic now. But I definitely want to try a 2h warrior for my next game.
 
[quote name='pLaYeRiTo']any1 getting screen tearing? wish i could enable vsync on this game.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='Fell Open Ian']My understanding is that on both 360 and PS3 v-sync is on and locked. Here's analysis of the demo:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-dragon-age-ii-demo-analysis[/QUOTE]
I am also experiencing some pretty intense screen tearing.

Lens of Truth's review shows some pretty high screen tearing on the PS3 version: http://www.lensoftruth.com/head2head/verdicttie/head2head-dragon-age-ii-analysis/

If they have v-sync locked on, I am not sure what is going on then.
 
I'm working through Awakening now... started a new character and am really enjoying it. I think I may wait for a patch or two before I start DA II... not 100% decided though. In addition to screen tears, anyone come up against some ugly bugs/glitches?
 
^ one of my friends said something about the console versions of the games not having the auto attack files that the PC version has (a mistake). I'm assuming that'll be handled via a patch. Don't know if that really makes any difference.
 
maybe they left vsync OFF? a simple error like that can happen on an unreal engine game.

aside from the button mashing and screen tearing, i want to rant about this weak ass story...
the whole game is in one town? seriously. and i dont even know the point of this game, in part 1 you had an objective and you clearly knew why you was playing n where you were going, part 2 is just like, wtf, the sims with mages, dwarves, and elves. who gives a crap about kirkwall and your everyday life in that dump. im about done with act 3 since im already getting parts of my "champion" armor set, which should indicate to me this game is just about done. good riddance. weak story and dumbed down.

oh and pretty much everything i did in part 1 has no meaning in this, besides meeting 2 characters from origins, big woop...
 
[quote name='pLaYeRiTo']i want to rant about this weak ass story...
the whole game is in one town? seriously. and i dont even know the point of this game, in part 1 you had an objective and you clearly knew why you was playing n where you were going, part 2 is just like, wtf, the sims with mages, dwarves, and elves. who gives a crap about kirkwall and your everyday life in that dump. im about done with act 3 since im already getting parts of my "champion" armor set, which should indicate to me this game is just about done. good riddance. weak story and dumbed down.

oh and pretty much everything i did in part 1 has no meaning in this, besides meeting 2 characters from origins, big woop...[/QUOTE]
The game is pretty much trash for anyone expecting the level of RPLoL of the first, so if you're one of those people heavily into character development and story you'll be disappointed. For those of us who couldn't care less and basically spam option 1 through the entire game just to get to the next fight, prepare to be enthralled. I think the only reason Dragon Age II is even getting review scores above 7 is thanks to the in-depth combat system and level of character customization. The first game got this right as well, but DA2 refines it to the level of 'push button, something fucking awesome happens'.

To put it bluntly: don't bother wasting your time if all you want is story. Do waste many, many hours if you love min/maxing and really challenging fights (nightmare).
 
I'm actually finding myself very involved in the story. I thought I would miss the "epic" scope of the first game, but I really like the more personal feel this game has. It is certainly a different beast from DA:O but I find DA2 has its own unique set of charm in the story. Also the pacing seems to be much tighter this time around and I can't complain about that.
 
Within the last probably 5 hours of gameplay I have really started to become more engrossed in the story.

I did a lot of side questing early on, and felt like I should just power through the main quests after I completed the Roads. However, the companion quests that popped up left me wanting to tie-up some loose ends.
Bartrand needed to get it

I really feel much more connected with the game than I was anticipating.
 
whats good at least is that any decision you make in the game will come back either to bite you in the ass or help you out somehow, so choose your dialog options wisely!

which ending battle was more difficult for the rest of you? origins or part 2?
 
Which classes are you lovely people playing btw?

My altaholic self is rolling:
Snarky Female Rogue (mostly playing her so far)
Asshole Male Mage
Goodie Female Warrior
 
i used a female mage, got the story all crazy with the templars
my bro joined em
and the circle of mages
that damn elf leader let some sick mage take my momma
 
playing as a melee rogue now. bad choice.
not impossible, but the amount of equip drops im getting for mages is retarded.

about halfway through act 2. been doing all the side quests.

i cant wait to beat the game, and roll a new character.
 
[quote name='peloquin17']playing as a melee rogue now. bad choice.
not impossible, but the amount of equip drops im getting for mages is retarded.

about halfway through act 2. been doing all the side quests.

i cant wait to beat the game, and roll a new character.[/QUOTE]

I did the beginning fo the game with each character and was not thrilled wtih the rogue at all.

Though I will say as a Warrior I'm having somewhat of the same issue. 90% of the armor drops I'm getting are for mages.
 
FYI, game-breaking bug was discovered that is potentially unavoidable since you must group with certain characters during your playthrough. Without spoiling anything, if you achieve friendly status with Sebastian and Isabela they will bestow a passive buff on Hawke while they're in the party. Problem is, when they're removed from the party it permanently debuffs your stats (rather than removing the buff) with a penalty to damage taken and movement/attack speed depending on what character(s) you're using. This stacks over time for each time they're removed, so eventually the game becomes unplayable. Theoretically speaking, if you let them join your party and never remove them then you'll be fine. However, visiting your house will remove them from the party as part of the RPLoL.

PC owners can work around this by fixing variables in a save game editor; not sure if console users can do the same. It is confirmed for all versions, so my recommendation is simply not to use those characters for now (which is a shame since Sebastian is the DLC character and a powerhouse for damage). If you suspect your save is corrupt, you can tell by checking attack speeds or your resistances tab. Some players have like -10% damage modifiers on their saves, so it's pretty devastating lol.
 
Ran into a funny glitch during Act 3 's Mine Massacre. I was fighting the High Dragon and getting my butt handed to me, Hawke and Isabelle were both down leaving my two mages Anders and Merrill. Well turns out neither of them would die, if they were hit they would auto regenerate in one second but also the menu greyed out my option to even throw a revive on my fallen members. So I had to sit there and very slowly chip away at the dragon.
 
Nice spoiler, nerd.

Found two more bugs, related to Templar spec this time. Cleanse will remove heroic aura from Hawke and Annulment (50% magic resistance) will reduce uptime of friendly spells cast on you, such as haste. I've only played Nightmare, so friendly-fire rules may or may not be the reason why this occurs. The more I play this game, the more frustrating it is just working around bad code. In fact, I almost got stuck with a game-ending bug during the Act II finale. Make sure you always have a hard save at your house before engaging in any main story quests, because it can really save you having to restart all over again.
 
Anyone with the Signature edition feel it was worth it for the extra items? I know you can get the Prince quest/character DLC for $7. So if I can get a used regular copy for $40 + $7 DLC, is the ~$13 difference worth it for the Emporium/warhound/Legends Hawke character?
 
Will probably start playing soon... auto attack was a big want for me.

"The 1.02 Patch on PC/Mac (1.01 Title Update on X360/PS3) is still in the final certification process with EA, Microsoft, and Sony but is not expected to come out this weekend. Thank you for your continued patience and we look forward to getting this in your hands soon.

The patch includes fixes for over 100 issues. We’ll discuss some of the platform-specific issues in greater detail next week and we’ll release the formal patch notes once the updates are actually ready to download and install but here’s a high level view of some of the core gameplay fixes that everyone will see regardless of platform:

- The effects of various follower talents and item properties are now being properly removed and re-applied when loading and saving.
- Party members who are resurrected during a fight now rejoin combat properly.
- Hawke no longer gains random spells or talents after using the Maker's Sigh potion, then saving and reloading.
- The “Duty” plot will now appear on the Chanter’s Board even if the player accepted all of the board’s quests before installing the Exiled Prince premium content.
- In the “Finders Keepers” plot, if the player leaves Woodrow’s Warehouse before finding the crate, it is now possible to return to the warehouse to complete the quest.
- Merril no longer refers to the aftermath of “A New Path” before the plot has been completed.
- Aveline’s final armor upgrade is now available during the “Favor and Fault” plot.
- Varric is no longer confused about which character Hawke has been romancing.
- Various other gameplay and story-scripting issues no longer appear.

We’ll delve into some of the platform-specific details early next week. In the meantime, a special shout out and thanks to our mighty beta test group who’ve been a big help in confirming how these fixes will behave in the wild.

-----------------

UPDATE: Monday, April 11, 2011.

Hi everyone. I hope you had a good weekend. We're working with Valve right now on dotting the i's and crossing the t's for the Steam rollout. Based on our current estimates, we expect the 1.02 Patch to go live on PC/Mac sometime tomorrow (Tuesday, April 12).

On consoles, the 1.01 title update is progressing smoothly through final certification at Microsoft and Sony. No issues have been found and they're currently projecting release dates of sometime next week - we're working with them to see if we can pull those dates in any further.

Last Friday we discussed some of the universal fixes that we’ve made across all the platforms. Today we’re providing a high-level view of some of the platform-specific fixes that you can expect.

CONSOLES:
- The options menu now includes auto-attack.
- Armor values now adjust correctly when changing shields.
- Choosing a target at close range is now easier.
- Cinematics are no longer distorted on certain standard-definition televisions.
- Hawke no longer gains excessive coin and experience from rapidly and repeatedly completing a single sidequest.
- Various technical changes should improve performance, limit crashes, and address memory-related issues.

PC & MAC:
- Various issues specific to DirectX 11 no longer occur.
- It is now easier to select party members by clicking on their portraits when the level-up arrow is displayed.
- The game now functions correctly across different desktop sizes.
- The video options menu now allows a wider full-screen gamma range.
- Various technical changes should improve performance and limit crashes.
- We’ve improved our crash reporting and our ability to analyze those reports. If you’re still experiencing crashes, we encourage you to play logged in so we can identify and resolve your issues in the future.

This patch should address the bulk of the major issues that people are experiencing. We’re already hard at work on addressing further issues with our next patch and we’ll be setting up some specific threads in the various tech support forums to help capture any major issues that you’re still facing after these patches go live."
 
Nice. . .except I've already beat the game. I think I'll wait next time when their game is $20 and finished before buying it.
 
[quote name='Jodou']Nice. . .except I've already beat the game. I think I'll wait next time when their game is $20 and finished before buying it.[/QUOTE]
Tell me about it- Mine has been sitting on my tv stand untouched since release waiting for this patch.

Between this taking so long, and the ME2 save corruption issues, it makes it really hard to be excited about ME3.
 
this patch isn't going to help people that are affected by the isa/sab bug. copied from the da2 forums posted by mod

The majority of the fixes will not require a new game but specific ones will. We're currently looking in to ways to introduce retroactive fixes to those issues specifically but this will not be done by the time Patch 1 goes live.

And since the next question, inevitably, is 'which issues require starting a new game?' I'll just pre-emptively answer and say that there isn't a definitive list. I can however tell you that in the case of the Isabela/Sebastian friendship (de)buff, you'll need to start a new game or load back to before you started losing attack speed. The issue will never get worse or happen again but the stats are baked in to your saves. (this also applies to the +armor from shields glitch)

Again, we're looking in to a retroactive fix for these issues but in the mean time you'll have to put the playthrough on hold or load back before it becomes 'unplayable'.
 
LOL, well PC owners can fix it themselves with a save editor and have been for a while now. Sebastian is the only useful rogue to bring along with Varric anyways and only if your main is not already a rogue. I just recommend not using them at all unless a quest locks them into the party.

I can't remember the last time I heard of a game-breaking bug so bad that starting over was required. If I were you guys, I'd demand a refund.
 
Just beat the first one plus most of the DLC. Has to be my favorite game I've played. Just opened Dragon Age II and it is downloading game data now.
 
I've been playing it a good amount. Gonna just mess around with it for now. Once the patch comes in, I think I will start over. Can I import my character from last game again?
 
Looks like the patch is live, downloaded it earlier this morning. The final patch notes:

------------------------
Dragon Age II 1.01
------------------------

NOTE: Some plot fixes are retroactive, but not all. Players with plot-breaking
bugs may need to revert to an earlier save, particularly a save prior to
visiting the affected area during the current year in the game.

GAMEPLAY
- The effects of various follower talents and item properties are now being
properly removed and re-applied when loading and saving.
- Anders's default set of tactics will now activate Haste when appropriate.
- Aveline's final armor upgrade is now available during "Favor and Fault."
- Aveline's Retaliation talent no longer imposes a delay when activated.
- The warrior's Rally talent now functions as described.
- The rogue's Lacerate talent now functions as described.
- Party members who are resurrected during a fight now rejoin combat properly.
- Hawke no longer gains random spells or talents after using the Maker's Sigh
potion, then saving and reloading.
- Potions, poisons, grenades, and runes can now still be ordered from the Hawke
estate after the main campaign is complete.
- Various minor gameplay issues no longer occur.

QUESTS (SPOILER WARNING)
- "Duty" will now appear on the Chanter's Board even if the player accepted
all of the board's quests before installing the Exiled Prince premium content.
- The journal for "Duty" will now update if the player left the Docks (Night)
area immediately after killing the Flint Company mercenaries.
- In "Finders Keepers," the door to Woodrow's Warehouse will now open if the
player steals the location to the warehouse from the harbormaster's office.
- In "Finders Keepers," if the player leaves Woodrow's Warehouse before finding
the crate, it is now possible to return to the warehouse to complete the quest.
- In "Herbalist's Tasks," the varterral's heart is now available even if
the player killed the varterral before receiving the quest.
- Merrill no longer refers to the aftermath of "A New Path" before the plot
has been completed.
- Varric is no longer confused about which character Hawke has been romancing.
- Various minor story-scripting issues no longer occur.

PS3-SPECIFIC FUNCTIONALITY
- The options menu now includes auto-attack.
- Armor values now adjust correctly when changing shields.
- Choosing a target at close range is now easier.
- The rogue's Goad and Armistice talents now target party members directly.
- Hawke no longer gains excessive coin and experience from rapidly and
repeatedly completing a single side quest.
- Icons for the cross and circle buttons now display correctly on PS3 systems
in certain regions of Asia where those buttons are reversed.
- Various technical changes should improve performance and limit crashes.
 
I just started Act 3 and so far I'm really enjoying it. The combat is different but I like it.

My biggest complaint is that Hawke's motivation is much less defined than the warden's was in Origin's and Awakening. He doesn't have a goal, he just seems to like getting involved in everyone elses business.
 
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