Dragon Age: Inquisition

[Unkindled]

@Luxorek, by Colonel, @Veleda means me She got mixed up with my other forum names. Anyway, yea you can respec as much as you want, though of course that costs money. Easy to come by though, and enemies are endless, so you may as well try some of these out for yourself and switch it up to find what you like the most.

 

[Tishen-13]

I enjoy both the fire and lightning trees. Ice, not so much. It's a good CC tree for Solas. You can always respec using the amulets you can buy from your Inquisition smith. Get one in Haven since he'll reload again later with a 1-gold version.

I do like Static Cage and Energy Barrage, but Colonel is right that combined with rift mage's Pull of the Abyss ability, Fire Mine does crazy damage. That's a late game strategy though, so you could start out with lightning and then respec. Knight Enchanter is kind of boring IMO but you're able to solo a dragon so some people like it. It has really good passives, so on my main elf I take it and then just use Spirit Blade on enemies that have high guard or armor, like dragons and revenants.

The Frost tree works well with the Necromancer specialization if you want to create a support and control oriented mage. There is a good reason why Necromancer in multiplayer is a Frost Mage.

Alternatively Pull of the Abyss has a great synergy with Ice Mine and more importantly Blizzard. Additionally, Rift Mage gives you high mana regeneration which somewhat negates the issue a mage will have with Blizzard, which is running out of mana.

Static Cage with its upgrade is insanely good.

Here is my Rift Mage build

1. Stonefist
2. Pull of the Abyss
3. Energy Barrage
4. Fire Mine
5. Blizzard
6. Static Cage
7. Barrier
8. Mark of the Rift

This is a late game build but it is extremely powerful. You will be god of nuking and crowd controlling. Add a staff with masterwork that generates guard on hit you will be nigh invincible.

You can play a Knight Enchanter as a hybrid spellsword character if you want to get more out of it

1. Spirit Blade
2. Fade Cloak
3. Energy Barrage
4. Immolate
5. Winter's Grasp
6. Static Cage
7. Barrier
8. Resurgence / Mark of the Rift

You can heal, can negate damage, can melee, can cast all types of elemental spells and have some form of crowd control with Static Cage. A good trick to use is to cast Static Cage and then enter it and start using Spirit Blade.

For Necromancers, they are theoretically versatile since they have pets, DOT and can control time but Bioware needs to fix the buggy Spirit Mark AI.

1. Horror
2. Spirit Mark
3. Walking Bomb
4. Energy Barrage
5. Wall of Flames
6. Fade Step
7. Static Cage
8. Barrier

With this build you can crowd control, do damage over time, debuff and avoid damage like nobody's business. Perfect support build IMO.

 

[Jamessh1]

It's meant to sell games for an AAA developer. Of course it's not blindingly original. The Witcher games aren't even an original IP, so it's a bit rich to compare them. You can still enjoy something even though it's not terribly unique or out of the ordinary.

Crafting can change the game a lot so definitely collect materials and consider Inquisition perks that will get you good materials. The war table quests are mostly optional but can open up some further quests so yeah, check them out. Don't get too burdened by the "get 10 of this and 5 of that" kind of quests. You'll get plenty of Power and Influence just doing more interesting things. Stick to plot-central and companion quests and some exploring.

On of my problems is that I don't really know how to use the crafting system and the levelling up system seems to take forever. I've gone to Val Royeaux but still need 1 power point to progress it. I've opened storm coast and a foggy mist place full of undead. Currently level 6 and it's taking forever to level up......any areas good for grinding this early in the game? There is still a rift in a ravine in the upper right part of the hinterlands that I am nowhere close to closing. Some dispair demon and higher level terrors after the first time I disrupt it clear my party out out very quickly.

Can anyone recommend a crafting guide or place to level?

 

[PrincessCiri]

On of my problems is that I don't really know how to use the crafting system and the levelling up system seems to take forever. I've gone to Val Royeaux but still need 1 power point to progress it. I've opened storm coast and a foggy mist place full of undead. Currently level 6 and it's taking forever to level up......any areas good for grinding this early in the game? There is still a rift in a ravine in the upper right part of the hinterlands that I am nowhere close to closing. Some dispair demon and higher level terrors after the first time I disrupt it clear my party out out very quickly.

Can anyone recommend a crafting guide or place to level?

If you're getting killed by enemies don't worry about grinding (you really don't need to bother) just go do some other stuff and come back later. There are several enemies that appear early in the game that you're not meant to be able to defeat so you can leave them until later. Look in your journal for quests and try to do them instead, as they'll give you power and influence and then you can unlock Val Royeaux.

What about the crafting system don't you understand? If it's gathering materials, you can get nugskin/iron/onyx from Haven and the Hinterlands, Blue Vitrol and Summerstone from the Fallow Mire (undead place), and Summerstone/Ramskin/Iron etc in the Storm Coast.

However if materials aren't your issue, I'm assuming you mean you're having a hard time finding schematics? In which case, keep exploring/doing quests in the Fallow Mire/Storm Coast/Hinterlands as the more quests you complete, the more likely it is that you'll find a chest or whatever containing schematics. Currently where you're at in the game, tier 1 schematics will be a high enough level for you. You can also buy these schematics from merchants found in the Hinterlands (one at the crossroads and several others in Redcliffe village).

Then to make use of the crafting system, just go back to the Haven blacksmith and use the armour/weapon crafting stations to make things using the materials you've gathered.

Is there anything else you're unclear about?

---------- Updated at 02:52 PM ----------

Also I'd like to add that my favourite mage classes are Knight Enchanter combined with Storm abilities with one or two fire abilities. Storm is the best because of static cage and then energy barrage, you can do soooo much damage and generally I find this makes my mage the strongest member of the party.

 

[octavian123]

I wish they made an expansion pack for this game. Many loose ends.

 

[Blooddrunk]

I wish they made an expansion pack for this game. Many loose ends.

I was actually surprised when i saw they had no day-1 DLC character or any story content, which made me happy.

They have a perfect chance to pull Awakening with Inquisition, at least im hoping that's the case considering it's been almost 4 months since the game came out and we didn't receive any other announcements aside from fix patches.

 

[Cheylus]

Yep, I would like to know what happens to the Architect, after what happened in DA:I I wonder if he is alive and what he would be doing.
To me DA:I was like an "extended" Awakening already.

 

[Thothistox]

Hilariously Awful Dragon Age Inquisition Screenshots

Like many people, I have a love/hate relationship with DA:I. Sometimes it reminds me of the good old days of Dragon Age Origins, and other times it's bland, tedious and just outright confusing. Along the way it can sometimes be unintentionally funny, and this is what I'd like to share.

View attachment 10592

First off, we have the fabulous art direction. Players of DA:I tend to agree that the vistas and environments are full of exploratory eye candy but the costumes are hit and miss. I wanted to ask this Orlesian noble if he can collect rain water with that thing.

View attachment 10593

Then there are the enemies. Here my party is getting photobombed by a wolf that looks like something out of Bad Taxidermy. It was pretty rainy in that area, and that meant that everything was caked in shiny slime, making the wolf look like it was made of plastic or as if a colony of squirrels had just given birth on him.

View attachment 10594

Speaking of enemies, the darkspawn sure have seen better days. This one looks like he's begging to be killed again.

View attachment 10595

If you've had enough of the enemies you can always try to find love. Hey baby, how about we go out for dinner some time? For some reason I have a hankering for Texas steak. I hope you won't think of it as cannibalism.

 

[octavian123]

The only thing I really despise in this game are the heart icons that indicate a potential love interest. You can't even turn them off like the others. BioWare thinks I'm too stupid to figure out if I'm flirting or not. Even someone as socially awkward as I knows when things get hot.

BTW did this really need its own thread?

 

[Jamessh1]

If you're getting killed by enemies don't worry about grinding (you really don't need to bother) just go do some other stuff and come back later. There are several enemies that appear early in the game that you're not meant to be able to defeat so you can leave them until later. Look in your journal for quests and try to do them instead, as they'll give you power and influence and then you can unlock Val Royeaux.

What about the crafting system don't you understand? If it's gathering materials, you can get nugskin/iron/onyx from Haven and the Hinterlands, Blue Vitrol and Summerstone from the Fallow Mire (undead place), and Summerstone/Ramskin/Iron etc in the Storm Coast.

However if materials aren't your issue, I'm assuming you mean you're having a hard time finding schematics? In which case, keep exploring/doing quests in the Fallow Mire/Storm Coast/Hinterlands as the more quests you complete, the more likely it is that you'll find a chest or whatever containing schematics. Currently where you're at in the game, tier 1 schematics will be a high enough level for you. You can also buy these schematics from merchants found in the Hinterlands (one at the crossroads and several others in Redcliffe village).

Then to make use of the crafting system, just go back to the Haven blacksmith and use the armour/weapon crafting stations to make things using the materials you've gathered.

Is there anything else you're unclear about?

---------- Updated at 02:52 PM ----------

Also I'd like to add that my favourite mage classes are Knight Enchanter combined with Storm abilities with one or two fire abilities. Storm is the best because of static cage and then energy barrage, you can do soooo much damage and generally I find this makes my mage the strongest member of the party.

Thanks for the input! I think I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the crafting options and trying to maximize why I could make or refine. I spent most of today in fallow mire and went from level 5 to level 9. Even beat a nasty leader in a castle that was well beyond my level after a handful of deaths (back at level 6-7). Also wandering off the beaten path in hinterlands, finally closed those rift that was giving me grief and just generally had some better success today. Despite still feeling trike there are way too many things to do all the time, I am Having fun . Have about 45 power points now too!

 

[Veleda.980]

I wish they made an expansion pack for this game. Many loose ends.

Mark Darrah said on Twitter that they're working on DLC content. But they won't do an expansion pack. I figure a good, meaty DLC or two is better than a bigger one that would probably just lead to more tangents.

The only thing I really despise in this game are the heart icons that indicate a potential love interest. You can't even turn them off like the others. BioWare thinks I'm too stupid to figure out if I'm flirting or not. Even someone as socially awkward as I knows when things get hot.

BTW did this really need its own thread?

Did the game need its own thread? And they added the flirt icons because people complained about ninja romance. Like Leliana, who was impossible to shake if you were a female Warden and anywhere near her.

Thanks for the input! I think I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the crafting options and trying to maximize why I could make or refine. I spent most of today in fallow mire and went from level 5 to level 9. Even beat a nasty leader in a castle that was well beyond my level after a handful of deaths (back at level 6-7). Also wandering off the beaten path in hinterlands, finally closed those rift that was giving me grief and just generally had some better success today. Despite still feeling trike there are way too many things to do all the time, I am Having fun . Have about 45 power points now too!

Power is pretty easy to accumulate if you explore, because of the rifts and camps. One tip on the crafting- snoufleur skin will remove class restrictions on medium armor and silverite does so on heavy armor, so your mage could wear any set in the game. With Fade-touched materials, you can also change the final color in addition to getting some pretty kickass abilities. Snoufleurs are in the Exalted Plains and lots of them as well as silverite are in Emprise du Lion.

 

[octavian123]

Did the game need its own thread? And they added the flirt icons because people complained about ninja romance. Like Leliana, who was impossible to shake if you were a female Warden and anywhere near her.
.

@thothistox started his own thread about parts he disliked about DA:I so that's why I asked.

 

[TheDeathRun]

Is anyone having trouble with cutscenes? Gameplay is smooth, but whenever a cutscene started the following would happen:

1. FPS would drop by 5-10.
2. There would be really weird pauses between lines e.g. "We have to close the breach!" *silence, characters look at each other, camera cuts to another angle, silence, and then* "How are we going to get there?" It happens in every cutscene so I'm pretty sure it's not intentional. It got FAR worse in the Hinterlands, not that it wasn't already bad before.
3. Once the cutscene ends I would experience cutscene levels of FPS for the next 10 or so seconds. Then gameplay would be smooth again.

This phenomenon annoyed me enough that I returned the game, since story is supposedly its strong point and I can't enjoy that with this happening. For the record, I'm running the game on a laptop that's probably barely reaching the minimum requirements. But all graphics settings are set to low, and gameplay itself is perfectly fine so it's just the cutscenes. Also I tried adding a command line on the desktop shortcut that's supposed to remove the 30FPS cutscene lock, but it didn't change much.

Anyone experienced this? Was there a patch that mentioned fixing something like this?

 

[Luxorek]

I guess I can post some impressions now, since I've played about 8 hours of DA:I now.

First of all, the game is really pretty. And I mean it. I'm playing on PC with all the bells and whistles, and sometimes I like to stop and just watch the surroundings for a moment. I don't know why, but I am particurarly impressed by the grass Unfortunately the animations and character models often do not live up to that high standard. Horse riding looks particurarly horrible. And if we are talking about animations, I swear some of them are ripped straight out of Dragon Age II. Picking ore uses the lockpick animation and it's just looks soooo funny.

One of the reasons why I waited with buying DA:I was that I knew such a big game would be buggy. Playing it five months after release I can say I haven't encountered that many bugs... yet. Some bizzare stuff happened, yes. Like me killing some random templars in Hinterlands and Cassandra remarking that they must be Red Templars sent by Corypheus [???]. How do you know that, Cass, who told you? Or an enemy camp just dissapearing in front of my eyes and moving to a different location.

Combat... well, it hard to say anything as I don't have the access to late level abilities, but for me so far, playing as mage, it's been spamming cooldowns and the basic attack. I barely even switch to other characters as they do just fine by themselves. Normal isn't particurarly challenging (I tend to play games on this difficulty for the first playthrough) and I can easily take on enemies up to three levels higher than me, anything more and I die. All that remains in the Hinterlands for me to kill, is the dragon and some 12 level tear.

BUT... boy, oh boy. They couldn't have picked a worse starting area than Hinterlands. Pretty, but so... lifeless. No day/night cycle. Villagers just stuck in one place. And the questing, oh maaan. Fetch quest overkill I like to call it. Bring 10 of these, estabilish 5 of those, find 6 of that and so on. The only quest so far that didn't make me feel apathetic was the one with the dead grandpa. It was sorta funny.

I've been playing in small doses, about an hour or two a day, as my new uni semester has just started and it works in the game's favour. I can understand now, why people were complaining - it's easy to get burnt out on a game when all you do is meaningless crap. But still... the Hinterlands made me feel like this was some bizzard offline MMO.

So now... a question. Where should I go next? I've unlocked the Marshlands [I think that's what they're called] and that Coast area. Or should I do the Val Royeaux mission?

 

[PrincessCiri]

Thanks for the input! I think I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the crafting options and trying to maximize why I could make or refine. I spent most of today in fallow mire and went from level 5 to level 9. Even beat a nasty leader in a castle that was well beyond my level after a handful of deaths (back at level 6-7). Also wandering off the beaten path in hinterlands, finally closed those rift that was giving me grief and just generally had some better success today. Despite still feeling trike there are way too many things to do all the time, I am Having fun . Have about 45 power points now too!

Glad to hear it! On my first playthrough I found the crafting system pretty confusing too, I think it's quite expansive so that can be a bit daunting when you're new to the game. But on lower difficulty levels and at the beginning of the game it doesn't make too much difference (if any) if you're just using equipment you picked up, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. I think in my second or third playthrough I started really getting into the crafting system.

Lol you'll be surprised now how you're going to have so much power you won't know what to do with it, that's what normally happens!

So now... a question. Where should I go next? I've unlocked the Marshlands [I think that's what they're called] and that Coast area. Or should I do the Val Royeaux mission?

The Marshlands (I'm guessing u mean the Fallow Mire) is my least favourite place to go, I hate that area BUT you get a cool boss fight and it's a decent place to level up and get another agent for the Inquisition so while you don't have to go there it's probably worthwhile.

Personally I'd have a look around the Storm Coast first, then go to Val Royeaux and then decide what you're going to do from there, as the plot will start happening again.

 

[EliHarel]

I don't know why, but I am particurarly impressed by the grass

Next-gen is all about grass.

 

[Veleda.980]

I guess I can post some impressions now, since I've played about 8 hours of DA:I now.
So now... a question. Where should I go next? I've unlocked the Marshlands [I think that's what they're called] and that Coast area. Or should I do the Val Royeaux mission?

Fallow Mire is a bit difficult at low level. I'd do your companion recruitment quests and Val Royeux first.

 

[KingHochmeister]

Anyone experienced this? Was there a patch that mentioned fixing something like this?

I don't know about a patch fixing this, the 30 FPS lock in cutscenes pissed me off, if that is the only way to make lip-synching work in a game, do not do it

So now... a question. Where should I go next? I've unlocked the Marshlands [I think that's what they're called] and that Coast area. Or should I do the Val Royeaux mission?

Do anything, but never go back to the Hinterlands, ever, that is by far the worst area in the game, at least, to me.

 

[PrincessCiri]

Do anything, but never go back to the Hinterlands, ever, that is by far the worst area in the game, at least, to me.

I like the Hinterlands. I find it relaxing. It reminds me of the countryside around my home village.

 

[KingHochmeister]

I like the Hinterlands. I find it relaxing. It reminds me of the countryside around my home village.

But it has the most boring side quests in the entire game like collecting 10 herbs for someone while the herbs are right outside her cabin, etc ...