Dragon Age II - Gen. Discussion and Info - Mark of the Assassin DLC 10/11 800 pts.

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I was hanging out in that thread for a while when they were posting about 2-4 pages a minute.

Mid way through some people sounded like they were getting ready to hand out the kool-aid.
 
Yeah I just got finished skimming through it and I swear reading that thread is better than cable. I think I'm going to add some of those banners to my sig later this week. Pure gold. Of course until the demo goes live on the 23rd or a dev has the okay to give us confirmation of its existence I'm not believing any of that for a second. If it is a PC exclusive demo then I couldn't care less.
 
Those threads on the BioWare forums were great. :lol:

I'm kind of surprised that none of the game blogs have really picked up on the "02.01.2011" debacle. Particularly Destructoid since they love a bit of schadenfreude, and Eurogamer since they'd report on BioWare's cafeteria menu.
 
So I was checking out hte Dragon Age wiki and saw this

Choices from Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, The Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt will also be imported. The player must import his or her save games in a single chain tracing all the way back to Dragon Age: Origins to be able to import all game data (i.e. rather than two separate transfers from Origins/Awakening to the respective DLC).[7]
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Does this mean if I let my Warden die in Origins, so used a new one in Awakenings I can't import my data?

That is really lame.

Or since I did use the same Warden for Origins, Golems, and Witch Hunt can I just go ahead and replay Awakenings with him and then be able to bring my data over?
 
[quote name='Hell Monkey']So I was checking out hte Dragon Age wiki and saw this



Does this mean if I let my Warden die in Origins, so used a new one in Awakenings I can't import my data?

That is really lame.

Or since I did use the same Warden for Origins, Golems, and Witch Hunt can I just go ahead and replay Awakenings with him and then be able to bring my data over?[/QUOTE]

Your end game save from Awakening has to be the import you've ported to start future DLC campaigns because it is the only DLC that retains decisions from the main game. You cannot skip past it onto another DLC and expect all decisions to be properly retained. For a successful all DLC inclusive decisions port Awakening must play the middle man and your warden has to be the character you've used to complete it.

[quote name='Ink.So.Well.']From my understanding since Awakening is the only DLC that actually stores Origins decisions for DA2 all players have to use that end game save as the basis to import the remaining DLC saves. You certainly don't have to play Golems then import THAT save to Witch Hunt for its end game save to matter if you have no interest in an all DLC inclusive final game save.

In your case the chain would follow as such: Origins > Awakening > Witch Hunt > DA2 w/ all three.

A completely viable scenario that would include decisions from all three properly imported to DA2 using the end game Witch Hunt save. So long as your Awakening save is the import you used to start Golems or Witch Hunt you aren't forced to play through both unless you want ALL (Golems & Witch Hunt) of those DLC related decisions carried onto DA2.

Mine would follow the original chain since I've played through them all - Origins > Awakening > Golems > Witch Hunt > DA2 +w/ all DLC reflected.

This is the mandatory order the main game and DLC apparently MUST BE played in order for all of those decisions to be carried over to DA2. Of course if you don't care about the DLC or never bought it you can just use your end game Origins save to import and be done with it.

What you CAN'T do however is import any stand alone end game DLC saves lacking an Awakening origin e.g. Origins > Golems or Witch Hunt > Awakening > DA2 w/ all DLC reflected. Awakening HAS to be the middle man if you want to import ANY DLC related decisions to DA2. If you just have Awakening then that would be the end game save you'd want to import to DA2 i.e. the most recent save.

Sucks for those that skipped it altogether but from what I understand that is how it's going to work for now.[/QUOTE]
 
Shit on a stick.

I didn't use my Warden in Awak since y'know..he was dead. Still I can just replay Awaken (15 long hours) and the two DLC (which takes all of 4 hours) and not replay the main game at least.
 
The continuity debacle for Awakening was quite moronic indeed. I don't recall the exact reasoning nor explanation behind it but with all main game + DLC related decisions importable to DA2 you've got to wonder how allowing the player to suddenly resurrect their hero from the dead without any explanation what so ever was acknowledged as a fine idea.
 
Just beat Awakening, due to the recent talk about the save debacle.

Wondering
How the Architech will come into play in #2
Im so damn pumped for #2, seeing how the choices i made in DA1 work in 2. BRING ON MARCH 8th!

Edit: Also, i have not played any of the extra dlc yet, but own it all. Now that i beat Awakening, what DLC can i play now to make my save still "safe" for DA2? Thanks.
 
I just the golems DLC, and when i imported it gave me two characters to import, the DAO and the DA awakening character. I chose the DA Awakening char to import since it was the char from DAO, now i started witch hunt, and i chose the character from Golems dlc, hope im doing this right, i want all my characters decisons to work in the new game.
 
You should be golden for DA2. Just make sure the save you import to that game is from Witch Hunt. Once you've finished Awakening the most recent save is the only one you need use and worry about. Again, the chain is Origins > Awakening > Golems > Witch Hunt for an all decisions port. You've followed that chain so unless they change everything at the last minute or the dev was mistaken then you're fine.
 
I wish they'd replaced the GS PC demo date with that of ours. Two weeks before launch isn't much to rejoice over but we could have not gotten one at all like I expected so I'm content either way. Besides it'll give me time to decide how I feel about Varric's exaggerated flashbacks and which of the two siblings is more entertaining.
 
Joystiq has a picture of Hayder's Razor:

haydersrazor23.jpg
 
Love the sig Ink.

This whole thing becomes even funnier now that we learn that they actually did have a demo under wraps the whole time!

The fans were clamoring for it, it was ready to be revealed, the celebrated 02.01.2011 finally came... and they decided to give out some beta keys for a Facebook game. And then reveal the demo two days later. They have to be trolling the fans on purpose. They just have to.
 
The demo is a good indicator. If they thought the game sucked, they wouldn't let us experience the suckage before purchase, that's for damn sure.

So yeah, I really hope this game is awesome.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Here are some beta keys for the Dragon Age Legends Facebook game:

DLXD-XAMS-VASJ-SPR3
DLXD-XAMS-4BDT-SQFA
DLXD-XAMT-DBZ4-NHZQ

HOW TO REDEEM YOUR BETA KEY:
GO TO HTTP://APPS.FACEBOOK.COM/DRAGONAGELEGENDS/
INSTALL THE FACEBOOK APPLICATION
LOGIN OR CREATE AN EA ACCOUNT
ENTER YOUR BETA KEY
START YOUR LEGENDARY ADVENTURE![/QUOTE]

Thanks. I used the middle one. The last one has been used, it seems, as well.


With a game like this, I would prefer that instead of a demo they did a separate story/mission/prequel etc. They could still show how the game plays and leave a cliffhanger that makes you want to buy the game.
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']Thanks. I used the middle one. The last one has been used, it seems, as well.


With a game like this, I would prefer that instead of a demo they did a separate story/mission/prequel etc. They could still show how the game plays and leave a cliffhanger that makes you want to buy the game.[/QUOTE]

Sorry, I forgot to post that I had used the last one.
 
LOL @ the nug gif. Thanks guys. Hats off to their official forum community though for providing me with about a hour's worth of pure comedy. I had plenty of material to work with but what had me in stitches was the guy spoofing Chantry scriptures.

"And thy shall be named Maleficar... FOR THEY DID NOT GIVE ME MY MOTHERF*CKIN' DEMO."
 
lol i think you mistake Dragon age 2.

Mass effect can never be demoed. thats what people said before it came out too. Well they released a demo out before hand.

Either way bioware never fails. Case in hand im sick of people complaining about free shit. You know your getting the game, a taste before hand, and free items ROCKs.
 
I found some yummy insight on strategy for tackling this DA's Nightmare difficulty straight from the horse's mouth. Check it out. The general idea(s) applies to first game's version of it as well.

There were a number of new mechanics introduced in Nightmare this time to make it more of a challenge. I... er... am not sure what I can discuss about that, though.

In my Nightmare playthrough, I had a weapon and shield warrior (tank), a dual weapon/archer Hawke (DPS), an offensive/healing mage (AoE DPS/healing), and either an archer (DPS) or another offensive mage (AoE DPS). This conforms to the holy trinity you mentioned, but there is a reason why each of those things is important in the context of DA2 on Nightmare.

Tank

In DA2, you generally have a party size of 4. That's not that many people. Usually you will be outnumbered, sometimes by a lot. The threat system is essentially the same as DAO. If you do lots of damage to an enemy, you will become their target. A new concept in DA2 is force. If an enemy does a lot of damage in a hit, you will be knocked around (or whatever) by the force of the blow. On Nightmare, where damage done by enemies is increased, force is also increased as a consequence. Allowing a weak character to get swarmed will cause them to be ineffective or dead. Threat/aggro management is important to prevent that. Also, since force is based on damage done, a highly armored character (or one with lots of Strength, like I mentioned in a previous thread) will be most likely to resist that force. This is the reason that a tank is an important part of gameplay. Damage is redirected from where it will do the most harm (squishy, knocked around character) to where it will do the least (tank character).

Other methods of reducing the damage are by not being where the damage impacts (running in circles; constant micro; doesn't work against most ranged attacks), or by CC effects preventing the enemy from attacking (constant ability use; decreased effectiveness of most effects on higher difficulties; some enemies immune).

If you want to play without a tank on Nightmare, you will have to solve the crowd control problem. There are abilties for each class that can do things like that, but constantly using them will mean that there are a lot of other things you aren't doing at the same time. Like damaging the enemies. You're probably only slowing them down.

Healer

Healing is important, but it's more for emergencies than a constant spam. This was a conscious design choice in DA2. If I find myself relying on that one heal to save me, then I'm probably going to wipe anyway. In my case, the utility of the mages wasn't primarily in healing, but in AoE DPS and varying damage types (to take advantage of enemy resistances/vulnerabilities).

Healing type spells are essentially substitutes for healing potions that don't cost you finite resources. The number of healing potions in the game is lower than DAO, and they are a less frequently used resource. This makes healers good, but the time and mana spent using them isn't being used to damage the enemy. You may only be drawing a battle out, not winning it. This is why I only had a single healer, and didn't have much in the way of healing abilities. Time spent healing was not time spent winning the fight.

DPS

Having DPS characters, however, is vitally important. Nightmare is... unfair, though I can't describe all the ways that it is. Being able to thin out enemy numbers quickly, do enough damage to cause force effects on them, and lowering the health of higher ranked creatures quickly is kind of essential. On Nightmare specifically, there were certain (surprisingly plentiful, non-boss) single enemies that, if my party was reduced to my tank and a single DPS character, I was not able to do damage quickly enough to kill them. Sometimes it meant a slow death, sometimes a fast one. On some, even my entire party (as I had built it) was only barely enough.

DPS, by itself, isn't enough. There are enemies that can take too much damage, or attack in too large numbers that can't be whittled down in short time. Characters built more towards DPS are also the ones most likely to be affected by the force of enemy attacks. They're strong, but weak in other areas that the other roles make up for.

If you can provide effective solutions to the problems that each of those roles addresses, then you wouldn't be required to use that role as such.
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So I was just browsing the Bioware forums and stumbled upon an interesting piece of info. Originally posted by Fernando Melo of Bioware

Demo item is added to your account on completion of the demo - so you'll want to be logged in at the time on one of your playthroughs. You can then verify it on your registered promos page here on social. If you see it there, then there is no time limit from that point until whenever you decide to log in to DA2, you'll get the item. No code is given/needed.



Promo items appear at your 'home location' in Kirkwall in a chest dedicated for these.
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That last part got me thinking that a "bag of holding" wont be necessary and the dev's had already thought of everything. Hope now there will be even more dlc to come.
 
I have some down time (game-wise) until DA2 hits. I'm going to play through Witch Hunt finally. I feel like I should play awakening, but I just don't have any desire to do so.
 
[quote name='chubbyninja1319']I have some down time (game-wise) until DA2 hits. I'm going to play through Witch Hunt finally. I feel like I should play awakening, but I just don't have any desire to do so.[/QUOTE]
Awakening is really good. Story- and character-wise, I thought it was better than the base game.
 
Yeah, but witch hunt is really short. I just got done with C-Vania and not really in the mood for anything lengthy. But, 15ish hours isn't too bad. Maybe I'll give awakening a go. I just feel obligated to play it, since I enjoyed the base game so much and I'm so hyped for DA2.
 
[quote name='JohnBoy1280']snip.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the heads up. If this applies to all DLC items I'll be extremely happy. There's nothing more tempting (and annoying...) than lugging around that much equipment when you plan on your initial play-through being as authentic as possible.
 
Bioware Vs. Fox News Vol. II?

The soccer moms of America are going to have a field day with this one. For the life of me I can't understand why the company itches to stir up needless controversy when instead of sticking to their guns they'll adopt the same "ass up, face down" position they did for Mass Effect.

A new "exclusive" (lol riiiighhhttt) DLC item for Best Buy has also shown up: Amulet of Ashes

Anyone else convinced more than half of this so called DLC is actual in-game items they've just decided to throw at us as soon as humanly possible? God knows I am. It's free though so that is essentially all that matters.
 
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[quote name='Ink.So.Well.']Bioware Vs. Fox News Vol. II?

The soccer moms of America are going to have a field day with this one. For the life of me I can't understand why the company itches to stir up needless controversy when instead of sticking to their guns they'll adopt the same "ass up, face down" position they did for Mass Effect.[/QUOTE]

How? Reading the description, it's relatively tame and no worse than an R rated movie, and I doubt the media wants another "Mass Effect is a sex simulator" fiasco.

God forbid they push the envelope with their games. Hell, I'm still irked there's no same-sex relationships in Mass Effect 2. Dragon Age is more progressive than Mass Effect, and that's a GOOD thing.
 
There have been lots of games with sexual content released since ME1 that haven't generated any media controversy. I think the story is played out.

On the topic of DLC items, I was giving serious thought to buying multiple copies of the game to make sure I got everything, but it's getting ridiculous now. I'm going to take whatever Amazon gives me and maybe I'll find some reasonably priced codes on eBay some time for the rest. Or maybe not. I did decide to spring for Dead Space 2 though since it's $40 today on Amazon.
 
Besides one huge story related 25 pointer which I'm personally excited about there isn't much spoiler worthy material on that list. A lot of it is more or less routine for DA though seemingly easier to obtain by comparison.
 
I'm glad to see no difficulty-based achievements, though the one about not having any party members knocked out during a year might be a little tough. I'll probably try to knock it out at the first opportunity just so I won't have to worry about it anymore.

And in case anyone was hoping to find out which party members are romanceable, the romance achievements are generic this time around, not character-specific. :(

Overall not very spoiler-y, some plot details but nothing super specific. I still would steer clear if you are the kind of person who wants to have absolutely no idea where the plot is heading.
 
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