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

So I'm making progress in Act 3 and thinking about playing again with a mage but realized for all the achievements I'll have to
side with the Templars in my 2nd game, which as a mage makes no sense.
 
[quote name='Hell Monkey']So I'm making progress in Act 3 and thinking about playing again with a mage but realized for all the achievements I'll have to
side with the Templars in my 2nd game, which as a mage makes no sense.
[/QUOTE]
That's why I played as a rogue in my second game. Although I kind of want to try that, just to see how the writers can possibly justify it. You're a masochist? Self-hating closet case? :lol:

But even aside from that, you're still taking quests from Templars as early as Act 1, waltzing around Kirkwall with a hood on and a staff strapped to your back... being a mage kind of doesn't make sense just in general.
 
I tried to load my last game and file was corrupted... ok I have a save from like 1 minute before that... whatever.

I jumped into combat with my dual weapon rogue.... holy crap I got hit by the attack speed bug. I swear it wasn't effecting me before, but all of a sudden I swing about as fast as my Aveline.

I think when I was fighting the achievement giving high dragon, he was sorta bugged out. Wouldn't come off his perch, had to run around to different parts of the battlefield then eventually he came down. One time he was only down for 10 seconds, but the second time he was down long enough for me to finish him. Battle must have took over 20 minutes. I assume it's either time based or minion killing to get him down? It's not damage based is it? One of my coworkers mentioned a bugged dragon, maybe this is what he was talking about.

I'm very near the end. It appears I missed a few Lyrium deposits. I'm just going to push forward and worry about achievements at a later date, maybe after they patch it and fix the bugs.
 
Well got back into the game due to the latest patch that fixes the DLC. I decided to continue my playthrough and try to see what happens not getting Isabella to 100% friendship. Well I was close but then I did a piece of the story and her rivalry went way up lol.

Ok question, if you don't get the loot at the end of the battle and a cutscene takes place right afterward does it automatically go to your inventory if you aren't allowed back to where you fought before?!
 
[quote name='Spybreak8']
Ok question, if you don't get the loot at the end of the battle and a cutscene takes place right afterward does it automatically go to your inventory if you aren't allowed back to where you fought before?![/QUOTE]

Depends on the battle. Sometimes you're left to roam around the area afterwards and other times it immediately transports you somewhere else and you lose access to the loot.
 
[quote name='bvharris']Depends on the battle. Sometimes you're left to roam around the area afterwards and other times it immediately transports you somewhere else and you lose access to the loot.[/QUOTE]

I had that happen to me in a quest near the end of Act 2 and missed an armor upgrade. It's crap.
 
[quote name='Hell Monkey']I had that happen to me in a quest near the end of Act 2 and missed an armor upgrade. It's crap.[/QUOTE]

Not as much crap as the fact that the final quest in the game activates without a warning if you go to the Gallows once it's available.. Even though there are other quests which require you to go to that area. This despite the fact that the point of no return request for both of the first two acts gave warnings.

I actually liked the game a lot, but it's astonishing how blatantly obvious it is how rushed this title was in almost every facet of the game.
 
Quick question! How does one become the Viscount for the achievement? It's one of the few achievements I have left to get (besides the Sebastian achievement).
 
[quote name='GhostShark']Quick question! How does one become the Viscount for the achievement? It's one of the few achievements I have left to get (besides the Sebastian achievement).[/QUOTE]

Side with the Templars during the last quest. You can do this even if you've sided with the Mages every other time in the game.
 
The item "Dura's Blue Flame" is supposedly unlocked today in the Legends Facebook game (and thus in DA2). All you have to do is log into the game and it will be on your unlock screen. I'm trying to verify but I can't even get the game to start right now.
 
I really wish they would hurry up with a patch (or two) for some of these bullshit issues. I really want to play, but just don't have the patience for some of this crap and don't want it to ruin my experience.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']The item "Dura's Blue Flame" is supposedly unlocked today in the Legends Facebook game (and thus in DA2). All you have to do is log into the game and it will be on your unlock screen. I'm trying to verify but I can't even get the game to start right now.[/QUOTE]

I've tried twice daily since DA: Legends came out and NEVER been able to get into the game.
 
I just tried on a different computer and was able to get into the game, and sure enough, a little popup says that Dura's Blue Flame is now unlocked on my account. Not sure when I'm going to play the game next but I'll confirm whether it actually unlocked in-game.
 
[quote name='Hell Monkey']So I'm making progress in Act 3 and thinking about playing again with a mage but realized for all the achievements I'll have to
side with the Templars in my 2nd game, which as a mage makes no sense.
[/QUOTE]

Simple.
Role-play a self-loathing collaborator. Anders will love you.
 
[quote name='bvharris']Depends on the battle. Sometimes you're left to roam around the area afterwards and other times it immediately transports you somewhere else and you lose access to the loot.[/QUOTE]

Wow does that utterly suck.

[quote name='Ryuukishi']The item "Dura's Blue Flame" is supposedly unlocked today in the Legends Facebook game (and thus in DA2). All you have to do is log into the game and it will be on your unlock screen. I'm trying to verify but I can't even get the game to start right now.[/QUOTE]

Yeah the Facebook game finally launched for me as it was down for the past two days. I'm stuck on a quest in the Foothills with 59%. Stupid spiders and the lack of antidotes. nm finally beat the level and unlocked the last of the 5 items.

Plus it seems like DA2 and DA:L both think harder = more waves of enemies :whistle2:x
 
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[quote name='Spybreak8']Wow does that utterly suck.
[/QUOTE]

Quite. It's frustrating for sure that the game has so many issues because the underlying game is definitely high quality. It just lacks the usual BioWare polish. I tend to blame EA for rushing them, though that could very well be me wanting to let my favorite dev off the hook. Both share the blame for releasing a title which is so buggy and unpolished.
 
I don't know about "BioWare polish." Not that bugs are excusable, but if anything, DA2 is in more solid shape than Origins was when it launched. ME1 is pretty rough in the technical department too. ME2 is really the only current gen BioWare game that I'd characterize as "polished."
 
Maybe my recollection of those issues have faded with the years, those games definitely had some bug issues. I think when I say "BioWare polish" I'm talking more about the feel of having a finished game rather than an unrealized one. The pacing, the reused environments, and yes the bugs all make it seem like a game which was developed in way less time than a game like this needs, which of course it was.

It's definitely a testament to BioWare that I really enjoyed the game anyway.
 
Yeah, the reused environments are pretty rough. In the 1UP interview with Mike Laidlaw, it sounded like that was the one thing the staff really regrets about the game.
 
Well I'm screwed. I'm at the end of Act 2 and
I was avoiding getting Isabela's freindship up to avoid the bug and now she's taking off on me. I didn't know you needed at least 50 percent towards one side to get her to stick around. My oldest save is about four hours back and the quest in between that and now don't do much for adding points to her bar. Will I be missing out on anything important if I don't get the relic or have Isabela? Does she have a companion quest in Act 3?
 
[quote name='Indignate']Well I'm screwed. I'm at the end of Act 2 and
I was avoiding getting Isabela's freindship up to avoid the bug and now she's taking off on me. I didn't know you needed at least 50 percent towards one side to get her to stick around. My oldest save is about four hours back and the quest in between that and now don't do much for adding points to her bar. Will I be missing out on anything important if I don't get the relic or have Isabela? Does she have a companion quest in Act 3?
[/QUOTE]
She does have an Act 3 companion quest, which contains a unique crafting resource that you need for the Supplier achievement. So I hope you weren't going for that on your current playthrough. Other than that, I wouldn't sweat it. I lost Isabela on my first playthrough too.
 
[quote name='Hell Monkey']Darnit Ryu! I can't recognize your posts with your new avatar.[/QUOTE]
Ha! I actually had Jack for a long while before switching to Lightning. I thought I'd rock her again to commemorate the end of ME2 DLC.
 
I got hit by the Aveline's 4th upgrade not being lootable bug, oh well.

I just beat it. I liked it a lot. I found it a lot like Mass Effect 2 (shocking).

The two big issues are the bugs and the reused environments. I only had 1 bug that forced a restart, but ran into a lot of the other common bugs. I was sorta sick of Kirkwall by the middle of Act 3. If they didn't reuse so many of the locations it would have been fine to have it centered in Kirkwall the whole game. Game really needed more unique and exotic locals and new creature types. Would have really like to fight trolls or werewolves or something. The game is pretty much all spiders, undead, demons, and humans. Would have also liked to see a sloth demon as one of the elite demons, give him an slow aura or something.

The fact that Merill (or the playing character) can use blood magic is the big plot hole... it should change how the game plays out, but there are only limited resources and can't rewrite all the cutscenes.
 
Well this sucks. I can't beat the demo but the part of the demo in the game I can. Might have to give the demo one more shot. Did they make the demo harder than the game?
 
Ugh so I'm worried I just screwed up my Romance achievement.

With Isabelle
I did her Act 3 quest and said I'd leave on her boat with her.

Then a bit later I shacked up with Merrill
and had her move in.

Then I went and ask Isabelle is she was jealous and she didn't break it off.

So am I still in both and will get a choice later or did I mess up?
 
If you asked Merrill to move in, then you are on the romance track with her, even if you didn't formally break if off with Isabela (I think). Just make sure you give Merrill both of her gifts, and make sure you always take any flirt conversation option that's available, and you should be good. Like in the Mass Effect series, you don't "finish" the romance and pop the achievement until immediately before the final boss battle.

Or are you saying that you want to romance Isabela instead? I think you may actually be locked in to Merrill at this point. I think once you move somebody in with you, it may be too late to break it off and pursue someone else instead.

There is a bug in the epilogue
where if you have sex with Isabela first but then finish the romance with Merrill, Varric will not mention Merrill but instead indicate that you finished the romance with Isabela. But that doesn't affect the achievement or anything else except that one line in the epilogue.
 
Hmm..ok. Well I'll just see how it plays out. I already gave both gifts to each of them. Long as I get the achievement, I'll deal with whatever happens in the end.
 
I've beaten the game, and after beating the game I can honestly say I have no desire to ever play it again.

I'm going to say this...DA2 is a bad game, it's laughably bad.

Gameplay, story, mechanics, graphics, design...all worse than the shittiest parts of DA:O.

for a single player RPG, isnt the story supposed to be one of the strengths of a game?

the combat mechanics are best summed up by what another CAG told me, a dumbed down version of dynasty warriors, recycled dungeons and caves, something that DA:O avoided for the most part, it was refreshing to see new parts of the world, all the different architecture of the world. Not so in this game and even then you have to backtrack for almost all of the quests.

I have alot more gripes about this game that cant be summed up by my horribly worded post.

If bioware does release more DLC for this game, I will be highly hesitant to buy it.
 
Gonna start my third playthrough today as a mage to get the Sebastian achievements and the others I missed (Chantry histories, blood mage tomes, and supplier then I should have them all). Such a great game, can't wait to see what Carver is like as a character and a teammate.
 
[quote name='joe2187']I've beaten the game, and after beating the game I can honestly say I have no desire to ever play it again.

I'm going to say this...DA2 is a bad game, it's laughably bad.

Gameplay, story, mechanics, graphics, design...all worse than the shittiest parts of DA:O.

for a single player RPG, isnt the story supposed to be one of the strengths of a game?

the combat mechanics are best summed up by what another CAG told me, a dumbed down version of dynasty warriors, recycled dungeons and caves, something that DA:O avoided for the most part, it was refreshing to see new parts of the world, all the different architecture of the world. Not so in this game and even then you have to backtrack for almost all of the quests.

I have alot more gripes about this game that cant be summed up by my horribly worded post.

If bioware does release more DLC for this game, I will be highly hesitant to buy it.[/QUOTE]


I am with you for the most part. Its easily Bioware's worst game since Neverwinternights but, I am hesitant to call it "Bad", it definitely feels incomplete, and buggy, and Misguided. Won't go so far as to say I will never play it again, but its going to the shelf until its patched at the very least.
 
[quote name='Indignate']A dumbed down version of Dynasty Warriors?

Really?[/QUOTE]

That was also the point at which I ceased to take that particular critique seriously. :D
 
And the thing is, if all you want is a button mashing, hack 'n' slash experience, the game does offer that-- just choose a warrior, set the difficulty to Casual, and go to town. But if you don't want that experience, it's entirely up to you to choose something different.

It's just like ME2. If you want a Gears of War clone, you can choose a soldier, set the difficulty to Casual, pretend the RB button doesn't exist, and you're set. But that hardly means that that's the only experience that the game offers.
 
[quote name='bvharris']That was also the point at which I ceased to take that particular critique seriously. :D[/QUOTE]

Had Bioware put an auto-attack option in the console version of the game it would be a lot harder to make that, somewhat absurd claim.
 
[quote name='joe2187']...
the combat mechanics are best summed up by what another CAG told me, a dumbed down version of dynasty warriors,...[/QUOTE]

I do believe I am the one who said this :D.

I still feel this way about the combat. I am on my 1st playthrough currently, and I don't feel the same magic with this game. I'm am not turned off of it, nor has it felt like a chore to keep playing though. Simply put, my impression of this game is that it is wholly inferior to the original, but far from bad (or BioWare's worst for that matter... which would be Mass Effect, for me).
 
You folks are already finished? I have yet to finish it.

Been playing this game on Nightmare on my first playthrough...
Nightmare is no joke. Mobs will overwhelm you. And rogues are fucking bastards for stealing my potions. Jesus, the only sure way I could survive deadly was to lure them away from their areas and engage them little by little.

One thing I really hate about DA2 is the new inventory system. I really miss where every piece of item had a small description.
 
Beat it last night. I have to say I found the ending to be extremely unfulfilling overall. I did get the glitch though with the romances you guys described at the end.
 
Has anyone read anything about when a patch might be out? I want to do my 2nd playthrough and finish up the achievements, but I'd prefer to wait until after they've plugged at least a few of the holes.
 
[quote name='bvharris']Has anyone read anything about when a patch might be out? I want to do my 2nd playthrough and finish up the achievements, but I'd prefer to wait until after they've plugged at least a few of the holes.[/QUOTE]
I haven't heard anything, and I'd say we're unlikely to know anything in advance. For all of BioWare's interaction with fans and such, this is the kind of thing that they play extremely close to the chest.
 
Makes sense. On the one hand you'd think they'd want to get it out as fast as possible since there are so many issues. On the other hand, there are so many issues that it's probably going to take them a while to fix them and get them through MS (which I understand to be a fairly lengthy process). Maybe I should just suck it up and dive back in, which should be fine as long as I don't let the attack speed glitch trigger.
 
It's sort of a 'too late now', but I was able to get the Ring of Whispers DLC from Epic Weapons at MegaCon this past weekend. The letter openers were on sale for $5 a pop, and still included the code on a printout.

If it's something you're interested in, but don't want to spend that much for a low-level ring, it might be worth checking out the bigger conventions in your area.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']And the thing is, if all you want is a button mashing, hack 'n' slash experience, the game does offer that-- just choose a warrior, set the difficulty to Casual, and go to town. But if you don't want that experience, it's entirely up to you to choose something different.

It's just like ME2. If you want a Gears of War clone, you can choose a soldier, set the difficulty to Casual, pretend the RB button doesn't exist, and you're set. But that hardly means that that's the only experience that the game offers.[/QUOTE]

Exactly, well put.

I just got past a certain Bone Pit challenge, challenging but not as bad as when you faced it in Origins, and my warrior is seriously fun to play and micro. Adrenaline stacks, holy shit you couple that with Bolster and Second Wind and you can do some damage. I really don't understand the difficulty though, some times it's balls to the wall hard and other times you're looking for enemies to target but your party has already killed everyone lol.

Which poison do people favor? I usually use Crow Venum and the one that makes enemies less resistant to magic, forgot what it's called, as my mage in the back row rain down pain (or freeze them and I smash the enemies to bits).;)
 
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[quote name='Spybreak8']
I just got past a certain Bone Pit challenge, challenging but not as bad as when you faced it in Origins[/QUOTE]

Definitely the hardest encounter in the game, I had way more trouble with it than I did with the last boss, though that's probably because
I didn't go into it knowing what to expect so the party I had at the time wasn't prepared to do much ranged damage when it hopped up there on the ledge. Probably took me longer than it would have if I'd brought the right crew for it, but I ended up beating it the first try anyway.
 
[quote name='bvharris']Definitely the hardest encounter in the game, I had way more trouble with it than I did with the last boss, though that's probably because
I didn't go into it knowing what to expect so the party I had at the time wasn't prepared to do much ranged damage when it hopped up there on the ledge. Probably took me longer than it would have if I'd brought the right crew for it, but I ended up beating it the first try anyway.
[/QUOTE]

I actually had a harder time of it then I did in Originsn for the same beast. In Origins I just parked my tank right in front and it never paid attention to anything else.

As Anders is a crap healer compared to the awesomeness of Wynne in DA:O and Aveline can take damage but never seemed to draw much aggro, I had it coming after my 2-handed warrior all the time.
 
[quote name='Hell Monkey']As Anders is a crap healer compared to the awesomeness of Wynne in DA:O.[/QUOTE]

Agreed. I also don't really like the Anders is your only real option as a healer unless you want to make one yourself (and who would?) At least in Origins you could spec Morrigan as a healer if you so desired, for example if you were doing a douche playthrough and chose to.... not recruit.. Wynne.
 
[quote name='bvharris']Agreed. I also don't really like the Anders is your only real option as a healer.[/QUOTE]

It really doesn't help later
he goes full Al-Qaeda at the end game. I ganked the hell out of him at that point.
 
[quote name='Hell Monkey']It really doesn't help later
he goes full Al-Qaeda at the end game. I ganked the hell out of him at that point.
[/QUOTE]

At least if you're playing as a Rogue or Warrior you can get Bethany back at that point to step in.
 
[quote name='bvharris']Agreed. I also don't really like the Anders is your only real option as a healer unless you want to make one yourself (and who would?) At least in Origins you could spec Morrigan as a healer if you so desired, for example if you were doing a douche playthrough and chose to.... not recruit.. Wynne.[/QUOTE]

I made a healer...

Well, my mage has a heal spell, which really only acts as the first potion in battle because that spell takes forever to cooldown.
 
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