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

[quote name='Kezmer']Thank you very much for this ! I must be terrible because I am nearing the end of Act 1 I think ( i am almost out of quests) and I don't have hardly anyone at friend or rival, maybe Carver is almost full rival because no matter what conversation I choose he hates it, or anytime I help a mage he hates it. seems most of mine are just teetering in the middle after 12 hours. Not sure what I am doing wrong, I am just playing the conversations from a good hearted standpoint[/QUOTE]
It can be tough in Act 1 depending on who you take along and how you play. You can get close to max for characters like Fenris, Merrill, and Anders who have strong opinions on the mage vs. Templar issue, but for other people like Isabela or Aveline, it's tough to get much movement. It gets easier in Act 2 when you start being able to give them gifts and help them with companion quests. I was having trouble scraping together more than a few friendship points for Isabela in Act 1, then within 10 minutes of starting Act 2, I gained +45 friendship in two conversations.
 
So
I took Bethany along with me to the deep roads and she died at the end of it from the Blight disease :(, is there any way to avoid that or is that a foregone conclusion if you take her with you to the deep roads?
 
Seems so. Which is pretty fucking lame.

The idea that you can lose party members? Sure, I'm fine with that. In fact, pretty much any truly significant choice you make in DA2 is significant because it can cause you to lose party members.

But their loss should not be god damn arbitrary. If you leave your sibling behind, nobody else dies in their place. It's just... bring sibling? SUDDENLY SOMEONE DIES!
 
[quote name='GhostShark']So
I took Bethany along with me to the deep roads and she died at the end of it from the Blight disease :(, is there any way to avoid that or is that a foregone conclusion if you take her with you to the deep roads?
[/QUOTE]

If you have Anders with you as well you have the option of having her become a Grey Warden, but she'll still leave. If you don't bring her, she joins the Circle and leaves. So, yes, you can avoid her death, but not her leaving the party.
 
Played 3 hours and like it a lot so far.

Are rumors worth checking out?

And...
I read those spoilers. So I have no choice but to lose my sister later? Lame, shes my support/healer! What will I do? :(
 
Sean:
You have... a bit of a choice, but not much of one. But regardless:

1. You get a better healer than her.
2. Healers suck.
 
I just got anders, who's the better healer, Merrill?

And like I said, what's the deal with rumors? Some xp? Money? Items? All of the above? Honestly, I don't feel like doing much without a waypoint :lol:
 
[quote name='seanr1221']
I just got anders, who's the better healer, Merrill?

And like I said, what's the deal with rumors? Some xp? Money? Items? All of the above? Honestly, I don't feel like doing much without a waypoint :lol:[/QUOTE]

Anders. Merill can't heal at all.

The rumors in the questlog just tell you where to go to pick up sidequests.
 
You can buy a potion at the Black Emporium to respec characters, if that's what you're worried about. The shop never runs out.
 
[quote name='GhostShark']So
I took Bethany along with me to the deep roads and she died at the end of it from the Blight disease :(, is there any way to avoid that or is that a foregone conclusion if you take her with you to the deep roads?
[/QUOTE]

Take Anders with you as well. You lose her at that point regardless of what you do, but having her and Anders in the Deep Roads is the best outcome.
 
[quote name='Magus8472']
The rumors in the questlog just tell you where to go to pick up sidequests.[/QUOTE]

Some aren't active right away, right? That's what I've noticed.
 
[quote name='seanr1221']
I just got anders, who's the better healer, Merrill?

And like I said, what's the deal with rumors? Some xp? Money? Items? All of the above? Honestly, I don't feel like doing much without a waypoint :lol:[/QUOTE]
No. Anders is the best non-PC healer you can get, though I think a mage Hawke can do better. As a general rule - haven't looked into it too much - a PC Hawke can specialize better than most any companion. You can be a better healer than Anders or a better blood mage than Merril or whatever, except...

The first time I played Origins, I went with a two-hander focused human. As it turns out, this was a very stupid idea, because you get two companions who fill that role perfectly fine as it is.

So this time, I started off with a tank. This turns out to be a very stupid idea, as Aveline can make a way better tank than Hawke ever could, due to the lack of a pro-tanking specialization.
 
[quote name='Indignate']Some aren't active right away, right? That's what I've noticed.[/QUOTE]

It seems that way, but I'm not sure.
 
Does anyone know exactly what's required to trigger the 'Inside Job' quest in Act 2? I partnered with Hubert in Act 1, but I haven't received the letter from him yet to start the second group of mine-related quests. I feel like I'm running out of stuff to do in Act 2 and I'm getting a little scared that it's glitched, and I won't be able to get the Supplier achievement on this playthrough. :(
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Hmm. That one fired properly for me. I do recall that it took its sweet as time to get going, but I can't say exactly how long.[/QUOTE]
In terms of main quests, I've completed Blackpowder Courtesy and Offered and Lost, and I'm doing Prime Suspect now. Hoping the letter from Hubert will arrive after I finish Prime Suspect. :cold:
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']In terms of main quests, I've completed Blackpowder Courtesy and Offered and Lost, and I'm doing Prime Suspect now. Hoping the letter from Hubert will arrive after I finish Prime Suspect. :cold:[/QUOTE]
Relief! According to a sage on the BioWare support forum, Prime Suspect is a prerequisite for Inside Job. For some reason I remembered doing all of the Bone Pit stuff at the very beginning of the Act and the whole freaky
Frankenstein serial killer blood mage
arc at the very end.
 
[quote name='Magus8472']
If you have Anders with you as well you have the option of having her become a Grey Warden, but she'll still leave. If you don't bring her, she joins the Circle and leaves. So, yes, you can avoid her death, but not her leaving the party.
[/QUOTE]

Man, that's really weak.
They're basically forcing you to use Anders if you want a healer for your group. :|
 
For those who have beaten the game, how long did it take you toi beat it? Did you do all sidequests and explore all areas? (Assuming there is much to explore since I hear that most of this game takes place in kirkwall). Also have you guys tried nightmare difficulty? Is it available from the beginning? Because I think ill play with that, coinsdiering I played origins in nightmare on my first playthrough
 
[quote name='giantqtipz']For those who have beaten the game, how long did it take you toi beat it? Did you do all sidequests and explore all areas? (Assuming there is much to explore since I hear that most of this game takes place in kirkwall).[/QUOTE]My first playthrough clocked in at 42 hours, and I did absolutely every quest that I could get my hands on.
 
Just taught Anders Pancea. What's the best way to set his tactics if i want him as a support/healer? I would have to set it up so he heals, then uses Pancea right?
 
Looks like I have the Isabella friendship ability glitch, just started Act 2 and its noticeable now. Guess I haven't noticed it since I always have her in the party, but Act 2 has a couple of places where she gets removed so I guess that's what did me in. This pretty much kills this playthrough as a dual weapon rogue is useless with low attack speed. Guess its a good thing I wont have time to play for a few months, maybe by then a patch will be out.
 
So is this version having trouble with bugs?
I've heard of corrupt saved but I think that's only on PC.

How is the game anyways? Hopefully when I get it I won't have any problems like I did with Fable 2.

Has anyone seen any good deals for Dragon Age 2 on the 360?
I'm waiting it to go down to at least 40$ on amazon.com
 
I guess it really depends on what you want your character to do.

I use the dwarf guy as a ranged attacker, anders as a healer/support, Merrill as a magic attacked and then my hawk uses berserk and kills everything.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']1. A "conversation quest" with Merrill triggers at the beginning of Act 3 instead of when it's supposed to. It spoils what happens in the quest that's supposed to come before it, but does not impede progress.

2. Achievements for the Exiled Prince DLC are awarded on BioWare Social Network but do not unlock on Xbox Live.

3. When Sebastian and Isabela are at full friendship and are removed from the party, their passive friendship buff is removed from the main character twice, resulting in a permanent stat decrease every time this happens. Added up enough times, it can eventually make the PC so slow and weak that the game becomes essentially unplayable, especially on harder difficulties. Entering Gamlen or Hawke's house does count as removing characters from the party.

[/QUOTE]

I have had the first 2 happen to me. I wonder if I am afflicted by the 3rd. I am kicking ass on normal and hard, so I assume it hasn't. I will just play the game normal and if worst comes to worst drop the difficultly down to casual. I would rather enjoy the game than obsess if my characters is being slowly screwed over by a bug.
 
[quote name='pimpinc333']What r the best tactics to set? I have no idea on what im doing with the tactics setup...[/QUOTE]What class are you using?

When all else fails, resort to the generic team makeup of the Healer (Anders), the Damager (Varric), and the Tank (Aveline). Make Anders Ranged (at least) and make sure he doesn't ever get swarmed, keep Varric at range and let him deal with crowd control, and keep Aveline in the middle of every fight in order to draw the most attention. Whatever class you choose will be a nice addition to the party: an extra supporter, an extra ranged damager, or an extra blade to thin out enemy groups.

Generic never hurts. Once you get a good feel for these barebones tactics, you can start to move into more advanced playstyles.
 
So am I crazy or do I remember that in the demo you could see all the skill trees and zoom in on each specifically like in the PC version? I like being able to see what I can upgrade in which tree at first glance. Don't understand why they took that out.

I also really don't understand why they don't allow you to open doors or pick up items during combat. This is probably the most annoying thing about the game.
 
[quote name='Tha Xecutioner']What class are you using?

When all else fails, resort to the generic team makeup of the Healer (Anders), the Damager (Varric), and the Tank (Aveline). Make Anders Ranged (at least) and make sure he doesn't ever get swarmed, keep Varric at range and let him deal with crowd control, and keep Aveline in the middle of every fight in order to draw the most attention. Whatever class you choose will be a nice addition to the party: an extra supporter, an extra ranged damager, or an extra blade to thin out enemy groups.

Generic never hurts. Once you get a good feel for these barebones tactics, you can start to move into more advanced playstyles.[/QUOTE]

I'm using Rouge. Pretty much doing what you said with the generic party tactics. No real healer as of yet. Not too far in the game... doing more side quests then main plot missions.
 
[quote name='Spybreak8']Hehe I feel like I'm competing with Aveline as the party tank. She goes look at me! Then I'm like no no look over here! hahaha[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I did that a lot, too, as my main character tended to piss off anyone who wasn't Aveline/Merril/Varric so much that I had no option but to go with a tank/tank/rogue/mage party.

As I said before though, unless you specifically spec her away from tanking, you can't really out-tank her...

I refuse to do another play-through until we get a better fix on the Isabela thing. The one I linked to is technically functional, but less-than-ideal.
 
The only character's personal tree I don't like is Anders. It reminds me the talents of DA:O, it's very exclusive. You have to pick and choose between healing or damage and auras/buffs.

I originally thought Merill was the same way until I realized her talent tree is actually the opposite. Go all magic and constitution and blood magic items and you can have a bunch of sustained abilities on and still spam spells and she is extremely sturdy.

I really like how Isabella's tree makes her into an offtank. Very well done.
 
Right now I got my mage, Varric, Fenris, and Aveline.

I debating whether I should switch out either Varric or Fenris for Anders so that way I can have one mage focusing on healing and the other on offense. I can handle both by myself right now, but looking at the healing spec tree where you have to have that sustained ability on that locks out offensive spells got me thinking. I've already hit a few spots in the first act on hard where I either died or came very close to it where I would had to cheat the system by having Aveline run for her life and then take out the enemies one by one.

Since I like having two people up front, I'm thinking I switch out Varric for Isabela, because I need a rouge or I'll go crazy not getting any locked chest, and Fenris for Anders as I'd rather use the crazy killing spells rather than heal. I think I can do that better than Merrill.
 
Just finished up for the first time last night. Not too many glitches, though it did freeze on me twice within the final hour. Overall, I really liked the game, but I couldn't shake the feeling of missing the 'grander' story of Origins. Going from defeating a huge dragon thing to settling a dispute between city officials seemed... well, it seemed like a step down. Still, really enjoyed it.

I had gone through as a mage, and my party was generally Aveline, Merrill, and Isabela. Really, though, once I completely filled out Spirit Healer and some general buffs, the game became a cakewalk. I, literally, couldn't die. It's like being a walking tank. Add in the resurrect spell, and it would've seriously been impossible for me to lose. Ever.

Enjoyed that, but I started a warrior playthrough last night to add back in some of the suspense, as it were.


Oh, and random thought: am I the only one who would run around the Wounded Coast and *really* get sad there was no KOTOR3? That environment and music, coupled with the robes/staff of my mage, really felt like what I always envisioned a next-gen KOTOR to be. Sad.
 
So I just came across a doozy of a bug.

I bought a maker's breath potion from the black emporium. I used in the middle of a quest dungeon (don't remember which one) that I kept dying in (Playing on Hard). I respeced my Hawk to Blood Magic Healer just for shits and giggles and saved the game right before the big battle I kept losing.

As soon as I respecced, All my spells were as expected, and I died in my fight again. I reload last save and - I now have all my old spells back WITH my new spells. It somehow loaded my old spec with my new spec. I have 2x the abilities and spells now - which makes me god like. I'm level 14 with most force mage spells, most lightning spells, most special healer spells and most blood magic spells.

I haven't gone to see if the changes are permanent after shutting the game off shortly after.

Also, is anyone else playing a Mage Hawke with Blood Magic? What's the secret? Because all I do is die really fast.
 
950/1000, and all I have left to do is
become the viscount
and get to Kirkwall as a mage. I've actually got all of the DLC achieves too, so here's hoping the next patch just unlocks them automatically. Not that I would mind getting them again on a mage playthough. :)
 
[quote name='thrustbucket']

Also, is anyone else playing a Mage Hawke with Blood Magic? What's the secret? Because all I do is die really fast.[/QUOTE]

I had a bug where I respecced and didn't lose points in lacerate or precision. It might have been because they were currently on.

I know with Merill you go all Magic and Conc (no points in willpower) with blood magic + mana/hp items and health items. Not sure how similar she is to main char blood mage. I always have rock armor on with her and she is a beast in damage and hp. Either upgraded wrath of the elven or upgraded ensare also heals her.
 
Nope. :(

I didn't play Origins until 2010, so maybe someone who was around at that game's launch can elaborate, but I think that it had very similar problems with launch-day DLC achievements not working, and it didn't get patched until a month later.

Also it depends on what they knew right away after the game went gold a month ago and have presumably been working on already (this includes the missing auto-attack toggle), and what didn't come to light until after the retail launch (I suspect this includes the issues with Isabela and Sebastian's passive buffs, and possibly the broken achievements as well).
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Nope. :([/QUOTE]Could you do a favor to those of us that haven't played it yet?

Whenever they do release the patch to fix the issues that most of you seem to have, can you put that fact in the title of the OP?
 
[quote name='shrike4242']Whenever they do release the patch to fix the issues that most of you seem to have, can you put that fact in the title of the OP?[/QUOTE]
Yeah, no doubt.
 
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