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

[quote name='Tha Xecutioner']Oh, and since no one else has said it, femHawke (at least the default one - aka the one you should be playing as) is hot as hell.[/QUOTE]
Ain't that the truth.
 
Made it through the departure from Lothering and made it at the beginning of Kirkwall, though it brings up a question.

Ended up going with the default femHawke and a mage, BTW.

At the stage where I run into the ogre initially, it picked up Bethany and killed her. I ran into the same thing from the demo, where the ogre picked up either Bethany or Carver and killed them. Since I'm assuming she's gone and not to return, why did she get killed and not Carver? Or Mommy Hawke for that matter?
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Carver dies if you're a physical class. Bethany dies if you're a mage. Leandra Hawke survives Lothering regardless.[/QUOTE]That makes sense, since I think when I did the demo as a rogue or warrior, Carver died when meeting the ogre.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Carver dies if you're a physical class. Bethany dies if you're a mage. Leandra Hawke survives Lothering regardless.[/QUOTE]

Yes, she survives Lothering. But, that one mission later in the game.....ewww. Gross.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Spoilers, dumbass.[/QUOTE]
Since I didn't really create an "official" spoilers policy for the thread (like another more thorough and all around X-cellent poster might have), and since shrike is the only one currently playing through the game AFAIK, do you want to drive this shrike? Just let us know what you do and don't want to see in spoiler tags.
 
It's pretty simple courtesy, I think.
is pretty damn easy to throw in, and since someone who's never played the game before is very clearly reading and posting in the thread, why not put the tags up?

Grace and Thrask run the most mind-bogglingly stupid and ass-pulled conspiracy I have ever seen in any game ever.

See? Easy.

Seriously, fuck those guys.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Since I didn't really create an "official" spoilers policy for the thread (like another more thorough and all around X-cellent poster might have), and since shrike is the only one currently playing through the game AFAIK, do you want to drive this shrike? Just let us know what you do and don't want to see in spoiler tags.[/QUOTE]Doesn't bother me, though I'll spoiler anything I run into that didn't come up in the demo.

The bit I went through last night was the intro in the demo, so it's the same bits and not worth spoilering.
 
Yeah no offense chubbyninja but yeah that needs spoiler tags. That's something I hope the mobile version of CAG gets soon because I don't think you can do it on there as of now.
 
I don't even consider that spoiler territory. My comment could mean anything and the game has been out for along time and now. While I am normally all for web pacifism and I'm certainly for not spoiling anything for anybody, I stand behind my decision to not spoilertag that post. :nottalking:
 
Made it through about five hours of DA2 as a mage, and as going through the first section on the way to Kirkwall was a bit of a yawner, once I made it to Kirkwall, I've been enjoying it so far.

At this point, I've
picked up Merril on the quest Flementh gave me about the amulet, helped Aveline on her quest to work up to captain of the guard, picked up Varric and have done some random side quests. I think I may have also done my first flirting with Merril in her house.

I think finding Anders is the next step I'm going to work towards.

Getting the Signature Edition armor and weapons add-ons were a nice help, as they've made things a bit easier with the bonuses they provide.

I'm enjoying the inter-character banter very much, as my two parties have been Carver/Varric/Aveline and Aveline/Varric/Merril. Aveline + Varric and Carver + Varric have been good for quite a few laughs.
 
The banter is the best and the reason I kept Varric in my crew at all times. And, the opening is probably the most boring part, so it only gets better!
 
[quote name='chubbyninja1319']The banter is the best and the reason I kept Varric in my crew at all times. And, the opening is probably the most boring part, so it only gets better![/QUOTE]Since I had gone through it three times in the demo, it was a bit tiring to do it the fourth time.

I'm curious where the other section from the demo slips into the game timeline, though I'm sure I'll find out soon enough.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']Since I had gone through it three times in the demo, it was a bit tiring to do it the fourth time.

I'm curious where the other section from the demo slips into the game timeline, though I'm sure I'll find out soon enough.[/QUOTE]

The other part of the demo is just the intro quest to recruit Isabella. Note the game does not tell you about this. You MUST randomly walk into the Hanged Man at some point of Act 1 and see Isabella fight off the attackers just like in the demo or you will miss her completely.

Also depending if you want to keep her or not there are some specifics to fulfill during act 2 if she stays into act 3 as a follower.
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']The other part of the demo is just the intro quest to recruit Isabella. Note the game does not tell you about this. You MUST randomly walk into the Hanged Man at some point of Act 1 and see Isabella fight off the attackers just like in the demo or you will miss her completely.

Also depending if you want to keep her or not there are some specifics to fulfill during act 2 if she stays into act 3 as a follower.
[/QUOTE]
In regards to your minor-ish spoiler,
You also have to have her rivalry or friendship at a certain level. Otherwise, you can do everything "right", but still lose her.

That whole sidequest left a bad taste in my mouth.
 
I completed the game yesterday, and will be going through it again soon -- mainly because I missed Isabella. At first I thought this game was a blast,
but after I got back from the deep roads (the expedition was like 30 mins long, wtf)
and was placed in the same city and sidequests, I decided to just pursue the main story and get it over with. For a game that takes place in just one town, it's really not that well presented. Loot was repetitive junk, environments were recycled to an embarrassing degree, and characters were hit and miss (Merril, Varric, and Aveline were good IMO). The city had little culture or noticeable detail to it, just looked prettier than anything Origins had, really. Weapon/armor customization was also severely lacking.

It's still got those good Bioware decision moments, and the combat is very similar to Origins if you turn the difficulty to max (game is awfully boring on anything below hard IMHO), so I enjoyed how they made the combat more engaging to watch. Enemy variety was even worse than what Origins had though, my god. Facing the same demonic shades the whole game and I forget why they're even there. And you can't zoom out on PC anymore, so when an enemy mage spawns (the only thing in this game that can kill you), and you don't notice that it's there in the corner of the field, you lose :bomb:

I also disliked the ending, personally, seemed to force you into a situation regardless of your "big" decision.
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']The other part of the demo is just the intro quest to recruit Isabella. Note the game does not tell you about this. You MUST randomly walk into the Hanged Man at some point of Act 1 and see Isabella fight off the attackers just like in the demo or you will miss her completely.

Also depending if you want to keep her or not there are some specifics to fulfill during act 2 if she stays into act 3 as a follower.
[/QUOTE]Guess I know where I'm going after
I go through and find Anders' friend Karl in my attempt to get Anders to come along into the party. Just made it to the Chantry courtyard and then saved the game before proceeding.
 
According to Kotaku, the Dragon Age series is getting multiplayer. Apparently it's a PvP arena with players controlling both humans and dragons, developed using the Frostbite 2 engine. It's not known whether it's supposed to be part of Dragon Age III or a standalone spinoff game.

The same source says that in addition to Dead Space 3, the Dead Space series is getting an FPS, a flight sim game, and an Uncharted-style action-adventure game. I enjoyed Extraction, but that seems a bit like overkill. EA can't seem to let any IP just stick to what it's good at...
 
Oh well. My only wish is EA leaving Dead Space to its own devices because I openly adored everything about Dead Space 2. One of the best sequels I've ever played. I couldn't care less for what they do to DA. Since the sequel the devs made it perfectly clear their new vision comes first so that ship has sailed.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']In regards to your minor-ish spoiler,
You also have to have her rivalry or friendship at a certain level. Otherwise, you can do everything "right", but still lose her.

That whole sidequest left a bad taste in my mouth.
[/QUOTE]

Right I just didn't want to get too detailed.
 
I don't get Bioware at all, they want to do the same thing to Dragon Age with what they did to Mass Effect, but about 100x less effort goes into the DA franchise, and it's very noticeable. DAII took up 2 gigs on my computer, ME2 took about 11.
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']I don't get Bioware at all, they want to do the same thing to Dragon Age with what they did to Mass Effect, but about 100x less effort goes into the DA franchise, and it's very noticeable. DAII took up 2 gigs on my computer, ME2 took about 11.[/QUOTE]

I wonder how much of this has to do with the engine / assets though. ME2 runs Unreal Engine 3, whereas DA2 is modified off the propriatory DA1 engine that had been indevelopment since, what, 2002ish? I know DA:O had a hella long dev time from announcement to release.
 
[quote name='intoxicated662']I just got this game today for $9 @ target on clearance. Which dlc is worth getting or should I just wait for a sale? Never got around to playing the game.[/QUOTE]

There's only 3 story based DLC's for the game. One gives you a new companion that stays with you at least until the events of Act 3, one explores a little more of the backstory of the Hawke family, and the final one is the Felicia Day vehicle.

Unless you want the gamerscore I would not worry about the Prince one until it's on sale as I NEVER used Sebastian outside of his quests because Varric is 100 times for awesome and cool. He is fully integrated into the main quest though and has good VO work, etc. but most of us here got him for free because he was the freebie w/Signature Edition. Both Legacy and Mark of the Assassin are very cool and are the best DLC's in either DA game IMO.

Legacy and Mark can be played at any time once you get into Kirkwall, but I think they're easier if you play them post-game, especially if you want to complete all of the optional fights. They're both about 5 hours long each; your choice if you want to pay $10 each for them since you got the game so cheap.
 
Some decent weapons for each class that are seperated by level and a few of them level as you go. Also there are some accessories stamped to your party members that are that class. It's only good if you're starting from scratch as you are.

I bought Item Pack 1 and especially the Mage pack had some good stuff in it that helped as I fiddled around with the mage a bit for achievements. You would have to ask the experts if the packs are worth $5.
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']There is another new armor set in this DLC and it's the new most powerful armor suit (if you get it post-game at least.) They were lazy though as it looks EXACTLY the same as the armor set you find in Act 1 of the game, just a LOT more powerful.[/QUOTE]


Although your post MSUHitman is rather old now, I have to intervene ;).

Actually in max level for each (level 26 for Regalia of Weisshaupt and level 30 for Orlesian Lancer), I have mixed feelings. I think each are for a particular type of character. We will take a look to all the stats of the Regalia of Weisshaupt and the Orlesian Lancer with all pieces and with set bonus:


Regalia of Weisshaupt:

819 armor
+1 cunning
+9% damage resistance
+6 fortitude
+6 strength
+7% healing to this character
+39 health
+60 defense
+10% physical damage
Immunity to flanking
2 rune slots



Orlesian Lancer:

861 armor
+357 attack
+10% attack speed
+115% healing to this character
+50 health regeneration rate
+10% damage resistance
4 rune slots



The Regalia of Weisshaupt seems to be more interesting for a tank (one-handed weapon+shield), since it has a lot of defensive stats:
- damage resistance
- cunning (increases defense)
- fortitude (resistance against the effects of knockdown)
- strength (increases fortitude)
- healing to this character
- health
- defense (ability to deflect, dodge or parry incoming attacks)
- immunity to flanking (if someone is located in within 120 degrees, 180 for rogues, of your back, he receives a flanking bonus - for example a full flanking bonus of +15 to attack negates the equivalent of 15 attribute points of your dexterity, 5 full levels)



Take a look to the Orlesian Lancer. It has two high level attack stats:
- attack (chance of successfully hitting an enemy with a basic attack)
- attack speed

For the rest, only "damage resistance" is good for a tank but not sufficient, "healing to this character" is pretty useless since most of healing spells give you almost all your HP and the goal for a tank is not to be healed, but to avoid taking damage. "Health regeneration rate" sounds good but the Orlesian Lancer set doesn't have enough defensive stats to really used it to its full potential, putting this stat just as a nice secondary bonus.


So I think that, if you are a tank, the Regalia of Weisshaupt set sounds better but if you are a DPS, the Orlesian Lancer is more interesting for you =).
 
The Regalia of Weisshaupt is the set findable in the Legacy DLC =) (I saw on your post you have called it "Fortress set", its possible second name since each pieces are named "Fortress something").
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']The Legacy DLC is on sale for $5 today on XBLM. Witch Hunt for DA:O is also discounted to $4.[/QUOTE]So I noticed and picked it up, since I'm in the middle of the end part of Act 2 and will need the DLC shortly.
 
(Sorry for the double post.)

Ended up finishing up Act 2 last night. Enjoyed the endgame of the act like I did with the endgame of Act 1.

Originally, I had started the end quest with Aveline, Merril and Varric, though repeatedly ended up getting my ass handed to me by the Arishok and his crew, especially with the saarebas dropping spells on my head. I could handle the major groups of qunari, though by the time I worked my way through to the Arishok, I was on the ropes with no health/restoration/elfroot potions left. Ended up being picked up one by one, even with bringing the out-of-action party members back.

Went back to my prior save before going into the Qunari compound and swapped the party to Fenris, Anders and Varric and made sure to stock up on extra health/elfroot/restoration potions, as well as lifeward potions. I assumed that Anders' additional healing spells would help more than Merrill's spells, and Fenris seemed to work better against the Qunari than Aveline did. Worked my way back to the Arishok and ended up dueling him in single combat after Fenris pointed out that I could duel him (with the mabari at my side for a useful distraction) and kicked his ass in a single pass. It was close, though it worked by hitting him with everything but the kitchen sink for spells.

I had Isabella run off with the Tome and didn't come back to return it, as I found out her Friendship wasn't high enough to have her return. Will fix that on second playthrough.

Ended up boinking Isabella on the beginnings of a romance with her, though it switched over to a romance with Merrill at some point, as Merrill was my original romance starter. Romanced Merrill to the point of having her move into the estate.

Somehow missed Volume #2 of the History Of The Chanty, so missed out on the Archivist achievement, so that'll be for the next playthrough.

I think I'm at Level 19 at the beginning of Act 3, though I'm wondering what the level cap is. I believe I'm at 36-38 hours into the game at this point, and have Legacy downloaded because it was on sale. Don't have Mark Of The Assassin downloaded yet.
 
[quote name='shrike4242'](Sorry for the double post.)

Ended up finishing up Act 2 last night. Enjoyed the endgame of the act like I did with the endgame of Act 1.

Originally, I had started the end quest with Aveline, Merril and Varric, though repeatedly ended up getting my ass handed to me by the Arishok and his crew, especially with the saarebas dropping spells on my head. I could handle the major groups of qunari, though by the time I worked my way through to the Arishok, I was on the ropes with no health/restoration/elfroot potions left. Ended up being picked up one by one, even with bringing the out-of-action party members back.

Went back to my prior save before going into the Qunari compound and swapped the party to Fenris, Anders and Varric and made sure to stock up on extra health/elfroot/restoration potions, as well as lifeward potions. I assumed that Anders' additional healing spells would help more than Merrill's spells, and Fenris seemed to work better against the Qunari than Aveline did. Worked my way back to the Arishok and ended up dueling him in single combat after Fenris pointed out that I could duel him (with the mabari at my side for a useful distraction) and kicked his ass in a single pass. It was close, though it worked by hitting him with everything but the kitchen sink for spells.

I had Isabella run off with the Tome and didn't come back to return it, as I found out her Friendship wasn't high enough to have her return. Will fix that on second playthrough.

Ended up boinking Isabella on the beginnings of a romance with her, though it switched over to a romance with Merrill at some point, as Merrill was my original romance starter. Romanced Merrill to the point of having her move into the estate.

Somehow missed Volume #2 of the History Of The Chanty, so missed out on the Archivist achievement, so that'll be for the next playthrough.

I think I'm at Level 19 at the beginning of Act 3, though I'm wondering what the level cap is. I believe I'm at 36-38 hours into the game at this point, and have Legacy downloaded because it was on sale. Don't have Mark Of The Assassin downloaded yet.[/QUOTE]

The cap is 50 I think but you shouldn't worry too much about it, I beat the game before I even hit 30 doing everything on the side (I missed some ingredients so missed the collection and crafting achievements but was able to get everything else)
 
[quote name='gotdott']The cap is 50 I think but you shouldn't worry too much about it, I beat the game before I even hit 30 doing everything on the side (I missed some ingredients so missed the collection and crafting achievements but was able to get everything else)[/QUOTE]Good to know that I'm nowhere close to the level cap, as there are some magic trees I wanted to make sure I maxed out before getting to the endgame and the DLC.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']I think the max you can achieve without glitching the game is 30-35 anyway, IIRC.[/QUOTE]Gotcha.

In other news, is there any compelling reason to play Legacy or Mark Of The Assassin before the endgame?
 
Only for the extra EXP I guess. Depending on what items you're using there might be some more powerful weapons and armor to be had but I don't recall the DLC containing anything game-changing (in other words there is no medieval Locust SMG equivalent :) ).
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Only for the extra EXP I guess. Depending on what items you're using there might be some more powerful weapons and armor to be had but I don't recall the DLC containing anything game-changing (in other words there is no medieval Locust SMG equivalent :) ).[/QUOTE]I wasn't sure, as I seem to be doing well enough with the items from the Mage Pack I + II without picking up random items here and there to use.

I remember that it didn't need to be done post-game and there wasn't pacing issues if you it pre-endgame.

I'll keep that in mind if I want a diversion off of the main game to do those two. Now, if MOTA would just go on sale.
 
The only thing is the special weapon/armor you get from the DLC seems to be stronger if you do it post-game, but then EA has been dead silent about any more DLC for the game so all we may be getting is the 2 missions. (see discussion a few pages back.)
 
Finished up the main DA2 game, as well as Legacy. The end of DA2 wasn't quite as hard as what I read made it out to be, especially since I seemed to have just about everyone showing up to help out.
I ended up siding with the mages, though I'm told that if you side with the templars, it's harder to work through The Last Straw since you have to fight more mages and Orsino's harder when you have to fight him.

Meredith wasn't as hard as I expected her to be, as I was dropping AoE spells all over the place, a mix of Maelstrom, Tempest, Fireball, Fist Of The Maker, Crushing Prison + Winter's Grasp, Chain Lighting and Spirit Bolt seeming to do well. Having Varric, Merril and Carver in my party, with Fenris, Aveline, Anders and Nathanial helping fight her, seemed to make it much easier.

I think I ended the game on Level 24. Missed a few achievements, such as Financier (spent too much money in the first Act), Chantry Historian (missed the 2nd & 3rd Chanty scrolls), Crowning Glory (can't do it on a mage-sided game), Supplier (had Isabella leave and not come back, so couldn't do her final quest and get the Ambrosia),
Rival (went the friendship route), Mass Exodus (only did one playthrough), Mercenary (sided with the smugglers), and Mage Hunter (sided with the mages). Ones to pick up on a templar-siding playthrough with another character.

I would have to agree that Legacy was an extremely well-done DLC piece. Close to Lair Of The Shadow Broker class. The endgame combat was especially satisfying. I can see why people give it as much praise as they do.

Just started Mark Of The Assassin, though haven't gone very far in it yet.
 
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