Dragon Age Inquisition

[Inkidu]

You have to have a person to pass judgement on first. Then the first thing that happens is the promoting of Barris and you move on to other courtly matters.

Ah, well I cleared the main quest of the Exalted Plains nd am working on the Emerald Graves and I have yet to get a new captive to pass judgement on.

EDIT: I know some people weren't happy with the Qunari redesign in DA: II, but damn do I like it. I kind of wish there was an option for a rams-style horn, that'd look so badass adorable on female qunari. :3

Also I liked that they toned down the anime-esque elements of the elves from 2.

[Hemingway]

I don't see that much of a change from the previous design of elves.

I love and adore Sera, though. Can I just ... y'know, say that and leave?

[Inkidu]

I don't see that much of a change from the previous design of elves.

I love and adore Sera, though. Can I just ... y'know, say that and leave?

Generally the eyes are smaller and more realistic, and the facial structure a little more subdued.

[Hemingway]

Generally the eyes are smaller and more realistic, and the facial structure a little more subdued.

Ahh, I didn't notice.

I'm ridiculously torn at the moment. I want to finish the story, but ... I don't want it to end. I want to drag it out, but there's really no reward at this point from doing side missions. I'm almost level 20, I have the highest tier of armor and weapons ( at least that are craftable ), and I've progressed as far as I can with followers I actually care about.

Eh, guess there's nothing to do except finish the main story. Then start over. And pray I manage to create a new character I'm happy with, to avoid going with the same character and choices all over again.

[mia h]

Well there are little things like taking out all 10 dragons which is fun. And then there end-credits\story wrap up which leave lots of threads dangling for a possible DA:4

[Inkidu]

I think I'm going to go with a male elf dual rogue. Probably going to romance Cassandra.

While I like the romance options better than DA 2's with everyone but the day-one DLC character is bisexual. The options are kind of not sparse but weird. Eh, it's a small part of the game.

I've killed two dragons so far and I know of 4 more. They're fun, finally put down the Feredlan Frostback. Honestly I'm having trouble finding the quarries right now. As rare as the "stands" are they should get a map marker.

[mia h]

Honestly I'm having trouble finding the quarries right now. As rare as the "stands" are they should get a map marker.

They do. If you buy the right perk.

[Inkidu]

They do. If you buy the right perk.

Oh snap, you're right. I haven't even thought about that perk.

Lilliana gets all the good perks.

Darn, I'll have to wait or Influence level 11 now.

[Hemingway]

And then there end-credits\story wrap up which leave lots of threads dangling for a possible DA:4

Yeah, no kidding. I was expecting a few hours of story still - took me around 25 minutes. My thoughts on the ending ( spoiler: I'm moderately disappointed ):

ENDING SPOILERS

What a complete and utter anti-climax! Chase Corypheus up some stairs, kill his dragon, chase him up some more stairs ... done. Corypheus goes out like he was a footnote in the story rather than the main villain. Seriously! It all felt so incredibly rushed. The fight itself was not challenging in the least - I think I used all of two potions in the entire final section. It didn't feel epic in any way. Corypheus just stood there, mostly, doing nothing that could actually hurt my people. The dragon was disappointingly easy, too. I think I'd have more trouble with the Frostback, even at level 19 and with my current gear.

The wrap-up segment with the others wasn't much better. At least Sera was there, even if nothing really came out of that.

And then all the teasing. Seriously! If they tried any harder to set up the inevitable follow-up, it would've been on-disc DLC. It was interesting, sure, and unexpected. But come on! The most interesting part about a game's ending should not be what we can expect from the next installment!

I was expecting so much more from this. With all the talk of the Fade and of godhood and so on, I expected the final fight to actually take place in the Black City. That would've been awesome! But, no.

Oh, well. It's not like it went the ME3 way of retroactively making the game less fun to play. But it was a huge disappointment. It certainly killed my desire to start a second playthrough right away ( and I have absolutely no desire to continue playing my current character just because ).

EDIT: Well, just on a whim I decided to check my options with a new character. I decided having a character I could run around on and do random things without it feeling pointless ( i.e. without having finished the main quest ) would be nice.

I ended up making a human warrior who looks ... oddly like Soap MacTavish, of Call of Duty fame. I quite like it.

[Inkidu]

Yeah, no kidding. I was expecting a few hours of story still - took me around 25 minutes. My thoughts on the ending ( spoiler: I'm moderately disappointed ):

ENDING SPOILERS

What a complete and utter anti-climax! Chase Corypheus up some stairs, kill his dragon, chase him up some more stairs ... done. Corypheus goes out like he was a footnote in the story rather than the main villain. Seriously! It all felt so incredibly rushed. The fight itself was not challenging in the least - I think I used all of two potions in the entire final section. It didn't feel epic in any way. Corypheus just stood there, mostly, doing nothing that could actually hurt my people. The dragon was disappointingly easy, too. I think I'd have more trouble with the Frostback, even at level 19 and with my current gear.

The wrap-up segment with the others wasn't much better. At least Sera was there, even if nothing really came out of that.

And then all the teasing. Seriously! If they tried any harder to set up the inevitable follow-up, it would've been on-disc DLC. It was interesting, sure, and unexpected. But come on! The most interesting part about a game's ending should not be what we can expect from the next installment!

I was expecting so much more from this. With all the talk of the Fade and of godhood and so on, I expected the final fight to actually take place in the Black City. That would've been awesome! But, no.

Oh, well. It's not like it went the ME3 way of retroactively making the game less fun to play. But it was a huge disappointment. It certainly killed my desire to start a second playthrough right away ( and I have absolutely no desire to continue playing my current character just because ).

EDIT: Well, just on a whim I decided to check my options with a new character. I decided having a character I could run around on and do random things without it feeling pointless ( i.e. without having finished the main quest ) would be nice.

I ended up making a human warrior who looks ... oddly like Soap MacTavish, of Call of Duty fame. I quite like it.

Warriors are more fun in this Dragon Age than they ever have been. I've got a champion that can solo dragons. (I just don't because it would take forever.

[Hemingway]

Warriors are more fun in this Dragon Age than they ever have been. I've got a champion that can solo dragons. (I just don't because it would take forever.

I'm not sure I agree entirely. The awful targeting system makes it more difficult to play than a ranged character. I'm going with a Reaver, though, I hear they're sick. I don't know why, exactly. It's been my favorite warrior specialization since forever, though.

One thing I don't really get is how Guard is supposed to be even remotely balanced. If you have one of those weapons that gives guard on hit, you can just keep it up indefinitely. On Normal, my tank didn't even take damage from dragons. Barriers are nearly useless in comparison. They just run out too quickly. But Guard? Just taunt some dudes and you'll have guard for days!

[Inkidu]

In one-on-one that's true, nothing will ever take you down, but I was fighting the second dragon in Empire du Lions and when it can stunlock-summon lvl 19 dragonlings it's hard to keep your guard up even with taunt. It's not nearly as bulletproof as it might seem. Plus if you get hit was a gaurd breaker move like the shield dudes' rush attack there goes your guard.

Anyway, I'm going on record stating I hate, hate, hate the dragons that summon dragonlings. The cooldown on that move is way too freaking fast, basically I drowned in dragonling carcasses. What the hell. Not only did I get that dragon down to one third its health with a party that was beat to shit I was winning until that bitch pulled out the kamikaze baby attack. >:[

It's just cheap...

[Slywyn]

I'm not a huge fan of the leveling progression. I like to finish an area as soon as it's open and that's just completely impossible. Running into level 12 mobs at level 6 is not fun.

[Inkidu]

I think what pisses me off most about that dragon fight is that it's blocking an occularium. I can't find shards (a quest) until I beat a level 21 dragon with level 19 or 20 dragonlings (which as I was informed all high dragon fights were in fact optional). So no, forcing me to fight a fucking dragon is really piling the straw on the dromedary's back. 

[mia h]

There are a couple of dragons that do act as door keepers to other things, but those things are optional so I guess that makes the dragons optional too.

Anyway what I found with the dragon fights is you need to hit them and fast. If the party is too tankie then sure they can soak up the dragon's damage but you're not doing enough damage to deal with the guard and\or dragonlings but you have to balance that with not going into all out attack and ending up with a party that can't take any damage. The Knight-Enchanter spirit blade can do 2-3K damage against a dragon's guard which melts it away giving you time to do actual damage, I respeced Viv to have Ice Armour and she was walking away from dead dragon's without having broken a nail.

Just a random thought or two on the dragons, why are just about all the dragons you meet female? And why are they all such lousy mothers? Calling on the kids to help out in that situation isn't great parenting.

[Hemingway]

Solas is a rift mage, right?

Because Pull of the Abyss + cold spells will sort those dragonlings out in no time. Well, my Inquisitor sorted them out that way.

[Inkidu]

Honestly, I probably would have won that fight if I hadn't been beaten to crap fighting the other dragon. I did not realize that the area had two of the dang things. I'm going to be making a mace with a dragon slaying rune and uber guard penetration. >:3

I think all high dragons in Dragon Age are female. There's a bit of lore in Origins breaking down how dragons work. Male dragons are much, much smaller.

[mia h]

I did not realize that the area had two of the dang things. I'm going to be making a mace with a dragon slaying rune and uber guard penetration. >:3

You might want to count again 

[Inkidu]

You might want to count again 

Don't tell me...

Empress Du Lion has three dragons.

[mia h]

OK I won't

But do you really thing the three coliseum like buildings are there by accident?

[Inkidu]

OK I won't

But do you really thing the three coliseum like buildings are there by accident?

Q__Q

There is no Maker, the throne of the gods is empty!

[LaLu]

Q__Q

There is no Maker, the throne of the gods is empty!

Spoilers!!! ^_^

[Inkidu]

Spoilers!!! ^_^

I just realized that. I was more distraught at having to fight two more freaking dragons.

[LaLu]

I just realized that. I was more distraught at having to fight two more freaking dragons.

This is spoilers for me. But its ok. Spoilers don't tend to kill things for me most days.

[Inkidu]

This is spoilers for me. But its ok. Spoilers don't tend to kill things for me most days.

I'm not going to tell you exactly where they are, that's the surprise of it. ;3

I often use Varricisms when talking about Dragon Age.

My personal favorite: By Andraste's dimpled butt-cheeks.