i seem to recall that being the scene I saw where you could hug Varric. i had no such option because
i sacrificed Stroud. i think he is a DA2 DLC character or something, because I've never met him before. although I despised DA2, hawke was my character so I couldn't sacrifice myself over some character I just met... although I understand Loghain/Alistair could be in Stoud's place in which case I would sacrifice Hawke
i seem to recall that being the scene I saw where you could hug Varric. i had no such option because
i sacrificed Stroud. i think he is a DA2 DLC character or something, because I've never met him before. although I despised DA2, hawke was my character so I couldn't sacrifice myself over some character I just met... although I understand Loghain/Alistair could be in Stoud's place in which case I would sacrifice Hawke
Seriously?
Stroud's the guy you meet in the Deep Roads if you brought Anders and your sibling with you so you could make him/her a Grey Warden to save them from the blight illness. You later meet him again in Act 2's finale as they aid you in a fight against some Qunari, and he gives Hawke an accessory to help.
i seem to recall that being the scene I saw where you could hug Varric. i had no such option because
i sacrificed Stroud. i think he is a DA2 DLC character or something, because I've never met him before. although I despised DA2, hawke was my character so I couldn't sacrifice myself over some character I just met... although I understand Loghain/Alistair could be in Stoud's place in which case I would sacrifice Hawke
Seriously?
Stroud's the guy you meet in the Deep Roads if you brought Anders and your sibling with you so you could make him/her a Grey Warden to save them from the blight illness. You later meet him again in Act 2's finale as they aid you in a fight against some Qunari, and he gives Hawke an accessory to help.
thx. going to have to give an insightful there. unfortunately, I have forgotten many things about DA2, as I only played it once at release. I hated that game. i think the only names I know are the actual companions and some major characters you see a lot.
@heindrich I believe there are 6 left for him if I remember correctly how many he fought so far. it must continue! loot, experience, and an achievement await!
@shandyr btw, do not fear those cold dragons too much on their own. i think the cold ones had to be the easiest for me, except for the 21 and 23 dragons because they both summon dragonlings and generate guard. i was able to kill the level 23 one before I could even kill the 19 shock one at the storm coast, however, so that says a lot about how strong the elements are in comparison.
edit: also, great work using that charge to dodge the dragon! i can never stress how many ways that ability is worth it
@shandyr i never tried icewall because I can generally keep Solas away from getting aggro, but I never thought about using it to block the dragon sucks him in. usually my strategy there is that if both Solas and Varric are too far to get in without damage I'll barrier Varric and allow Solas to survive through his automatic barriers at 0 health. alternatively one of them is close enough to not be in danger and I'll barrier the other, or Solas has the instant cooldown fire passive ready so he barriers both of them. maybe next time I'll try ice wall if it is in the path of things I want.
@shandyr honestly, even though they allow me to play the optional stuff after the main story I am really glad I didn't do so. the loss of (huge ending spoiler)
Solas as a party member really hits me. I stuck with the starting team to the end, and I grew EXTREMELY attached to Solas. as much as I like Cass and Varric, but they have the bonus I give to returning characters (I like old faces) so I think if not for that he would easily be my absolute favorite.
for that I really hope they make a DLC, because there is no way I could wait until the next game for that plot to end. I need to know what happens now! that twist was so... unexpected and crazy it really caught me by surprise.
the main story did have it's moments though. some of the beginning suffered, but then the mage/templar quests up to the first quests after getting skyhold were all great. the quest after that was ok, but it took until the end of it for it to get good. after just getting skyhold is easily the best part because you have some companion dialogues to do, as well as quests for them. you also get a lot of new areas to explore then, and of course a castle. it is the moment this game really opens up.
still, even the biggest Bioware fan I know on youtube stated in her review that the villain (not spoiling, unless we already did lol) could have been so much more, and I agree. I never played the legacy DLC to know him there (i played DA2 once and would not return for another run or the DLC) but apparantly he was a lot more there. also, his final boss fight kind of sucks! i am glad they had a final boss fight, or I would be getting really upset after ME3 had none and Bioware stated "it would be too video gamey to have a final boss" (it is a video game Bioware. even as we complain about MGS being a movie with all those cutscenes that still has boss fights). I recall him barely doing any damage to the party compared to many other enemies throughout the game, and if I recall he was also single target. it was simply too easy to keep a barrier up in any case, so we really didn't get hurt by him. when we then fight his dragon it is already hurt! it is already hurt AND you don't need to take down all it's health. i didn't even feel bad when I finished him with my focus abilities within a second because it only saved time when he had no chance.
anyway, I do love the game. beyond that final boss I was satisfied with the ending, something ME3 also didn't achieve for me. the ending itself is more important to me, and I like that I truly know where life is heading for my companions and the organizations of the world. the thing I hate most in an ending is when you are left without a clue of the future. generally you are expected to head canon, but I personally feel I am not the author of this tale and I am merely a part of it. i say Bioware can kill off romance interests post ending or do whatever they want, but I want to know that life goes on within the world and how. I now look forward to whatever the future brings for DAI, and will be back when I feel up to it or when a new DLC arrives. that is something I cannot say of DA2 or ME3.
@shandyr did they get much dialogue at all there in the end? i mentioned before Cass didn't say much at the romance part of the ending. she just makes a big deal about the future and how I will be very busy now, but wants a moment while they have the chance. i guess at least it's not as bad as if I made her divine and I would have to end it there... but it was still extremely short and didn't do much. i do still like having you and LI looking off the balcony before the credits though
@shandyr interesting... I now wonder what all the variables are for that. I thought it would be that if you support Lelianna she is it, if you bring the idea to Vivienne she is it, and if you do neither Cassandra is it. well I guess I am glad things worked out as I had hoped lol.
went back in game to have a look at the highest texture and mesh options as well as see if I could make a good female elf inquisitor in the case there is ever a Solas DLC similar to Witch Hunt. I am not dissapointed with the graphics or my potential future inquisitor:
also, I really wish my characters would stop looking to the side like that...
one last thing too. if anybody wanted to get the game now it is 33% off on origin still as I write this. idk how much longer that will last
right now I am actually thinking of using that inquisi I made, or at least another similar one I made with refinements. i tried playing BG, but I don't think I'm feeling it right now due to having been regularly playing an MP game that is still ongoing. it just stops me from having the break I need from my last SP playthrough to jump back in. meanwhile DAI is still new with more I can do, and honestly I had the most fun in the beginning so it may be fun going back there.
now the only question would be if I made her romance Solas or Cullen. i mean, Solas's plot makes me want a game with him in the hopes of an eventual DLC focused around him, but I also hear Cullen is a good option. I would probably have to go Solas because of the chances of a continuation of his story and the fact that I already tend to never play female so it is unlikely I would get another chance to do his and have a game if they do such a dlc.
I heard Iron Bull goes both ways. He's probably dominate in that relationship also.
yeah, he comments on that! when I did my youtube searches of what I didn't do I ended up with m/m for the bull scene. i only didn't really search on things that I was interested in perhaps eventually doing myself, though. sorry, Bull, you are cool but I wouldn't be interested in you even with my female character lol
so after my last game became an absolute faceroll on nightmare difficulty I think I've decided I need to make some rules up this game:
- only going to use tier 1 armor rating material crafted armor (tier 2 if that is just too hard). the moment I created my final armor set using the armors available in hissing wastes this game quite literally was no fun anymore. in this way I can use the materials I actually like the look of also, and I won't be impossible to kill even without all the countermeasures - not going to make twin fangs absolutely spammable. if things prove too difficult in the end I may allow myself to get the required skill for that near the very end. it was just ridiculously OP doing constant 4k damage with one hit. i will allow varric to do so however as bows are already pretty UP in my opinion, and he never became nearly as spammable as my rogue - no focus abilities. they insta killed dragons the moment they fell down from a hurt leg. they are just too easy to get and end battles without any effort.
anyway, random pics of my inquisi so far in different lighting, angles, expressions.
note: i forgot to edit these images of the weird white space after I print screen. damn origin not having a proper screenshot function...
^ easily my favorite pic. that smile alone almost makes me want to put her with Cullen, even though my original intention was a game with Solas in case he gets a future DLC around him
honestly, I suck at character creation in every game. that was the best I could do. it may just be that I am a critic, though
also on the subject of armors I REALLY wish there was a schematic for the inquisition armors. it is easily my favorite armor yet it is quickly surpassed by armors in the hinterlands. i mean... it is the inquisition armor. i would rather wear that than warden armor.
so... got to skyhold and still haven't decide between Cullen and Solas. for now I think I'll go with Cullen, as my main reason for wanting to go with Solas is for the personal connection if he gets future content. there is no guarantee that we'll see his story continued anytime soon, however. Cullen, on the other hand, is put with Dorien as one of the best options for romance. for now I think I'll just flirt with Dorien until he pushes me aside because my lady inquisitor doesn't interest him. i can experience half of his romance then
also, just realized how much better taking screenshots is with windowed full screen mode. honestly, it feels no different than full screen when it comes to viewing experience. wish I were using it sooner...
i also got an amazing driver update yesterday that did wonders for my HD 7700 with Inquisition. the game got so smooth out of nowhere that I went from high to fade touched textures, as well as ultra meshes and high shadow quality. game looks so amazing now. sometimes I am surprised at what my card can still do.
haha omg I love this Iron Bull dialogue so much! i am literally in tears right now, I just heard it.
i took him with me to get him into a relationship with Dorian, but this also made it so worth it:
Iron Bull: Rah... that's some good armor. Cassandra: Are you referring to me? Iron Bull: Some high-ranking women wore ornamental crap with tits hammered into it. One good shot, and all that cleavage gets knocked right into the sternum. Real messy. Good on you for going practical. Cassandra: I aim to please. Iron Bull: Leave something to the imagination too.
thank you Bull for using sense. funny that they should mention that in the Dragon Age universe when Origins and 2 had a lot of boob cup armors. i thought fantasy just ignores the fact
edit: yep, i might just have to drop varric from my normal party. iron bull is absolutely amazing to have around! I don't know what to expect when he starts talking, but it almost always has me laughing. he seems especially good with Cassandra. i just finished up a battle to have him compliment her fighting in the battle before randomly asking if she was as turned on as he was by it all! of course she was ignorant to what he was asking lol.
@shandyr turns out we both lucked out on our first playthroughs. it is now on my second playthrough that I learned Dorian's quest is bugged and could be made incompletable. luckily it doesn't affect me too badly as I don't romance him and don't even have the option in this playthrough, but I am still missing content and I would hate for you to fall victim to this. make absolutely sure that Mother Giselle shows up in the main hall after the talk about Felix's fate. if she doesn't, you will want to reload so you aren't like me who doesn't even want to redo the storm coast just for his quest. the best way to do this is likely to leave skyhold and come back right after, making the construction start. a good way of doing this is by doing Solas's conversation. after that you can talk to Dorian and get him to the Felix conversation, although make sure to not judge Alexius first just in case.
does suck for me that now I wonder if I can get Dorian and Bull together, though. I can still try, but I am unsure if they will when Dorian never officially stated he is gay. i am now also pretty sure I'll do another female elf playthrough down the road, as the Solas thing makes me almost want this to be my main inquisitor. however, I don't want a bug to possibly mess with her friendship with Dorian if it were part of my canon timeline.
Comments
@heindrich I believe there are 6 left for him if I remember correctly how many he fought so far. it must continue! loot, experience, and an achievement await!
@shandyr btw, do not fear those cold dragons too much on their own. i think the cold ones had to be the easiest for me, except for the 21 and 23 dragons because they both summon dragonlings and generate guard. i was able to kill the level 23 one before I could even kill the 19 shock one at the storm coast, however, so that says a lot about how strong the elements are in comparison.
edit: also, great work using that charge to dodge the dragon! i can never stress how many ways that ability is worth it
the main story did have it's moments though. some of the beginning suffered, but then the mage/templar quests up to the first quests after getting skyhold were all great. the quest after that was ok, but it took until the end of it for it to get good. after just getting skyhold is easily the best part because you have some companion dialogues to do, as well as quests for them. you also get a lot of new areas to explore then, and of course a castle. it is the moment this game really opens up.
still, even the biggest Bioware fan I know on youtube stated in her review that the villain (not spoiling, unless we already did lol) could have been so much more, and I agree. I never played the legacy DLC to know him there (i played DA2 once and would not return for another run or the DLC) but apparantly he was a lot more there. also, his final boss fight kind of sucks! i am glad they had a final boss fight, or I would be getting really upset after ME3 had none and Bioware stated "it would be too video gamey to have a final boss" (it is a video game Bioware. even as we complain about MGS being a movie with all those cutscenes that still has boss fights). I recall him barely doing any damage to the party compared to many other enemies throughout the game, and if I recall he was also single target. it was simply too easy to keep a barrier up in any case, so we really didn't get hurt by him. when we then fight his dragon it is already hurt! it is already hurt AND you don't need to take down all it's health. i didn't even feel bad when I finished him with my focus abilities within a second because it only saved time when he had no chance.
anyway, I do love the game. beyond that final boss I was satisfied with the ending, something ME3 also didn't achieve for me. the ending itself is more important to me, and I like that I truly know where life is heading for my companions and the organizations of the world. the thing I hate most in an ending is when you are left without a clue of the future. generally you are expected to head canon, but I personally feel I am not the author of this tale and I am merely a part of it. i say Bioware can kill off romance interests post ending or do whatever they want, but I want to know that life goes on within the world and how. I now look forward to whatever the future brings for DAI, and will be back when I feel up to it or when a new DLC arrives. that is something I cannot say of DA2 or ME3.
also, I really wish my characters would stop looking to the side like that...
one last thing too. if anybody wanted to get the game now it is 33% off on origin still as I write this. idk how much longer that will last
right now I am actually thinking of using that inquisi I made, or at least another similar one I made with refinements. i tried playing BG, but I don't think I'm feeling it right now due to having been regularly playing an MP game that is still ongoing. it just stops me from having the break I need from my last SP playthrough to jump back in. meanwhile DAI is still new with more I can do, and honestly I had the most fun in the beginning so it may be fun going back there.
now the only question would be if I made her romance Solas or Cullen. i mean, Solas's plot makes me want a game with him in the hopes of an eventual DLC focused around him, but I also hear Cullen is a good option. I would probably have to go Solas because of the chances of a continuation of his story and the fact that I already tend to never play female so it is unlikely I would get another chance to do his and have a game if they do such a dlc.
I heard Iron Bull goes both ways. He's probably dominate in that relationship also.
- only going to use tier 1 armor rating material crafted armor (tier 2 if that is just too hard). the moment I created my final armor set using the armors available in hissing wastes this game quite literally was no fun anymore. in this way I can use the materials I actually like the look of also, and I won't be impossible to kill even without all the countermeasures
- not going to make twin fangs absolutely spammable. if things prove too difficult in the end I may allow myself to get the required skill for that near the very end. it was just ridiculously OP doing constant 4k damage with one hit. i will allow varric to do so however as bows are already pretty UP in my opinion, and he never became nearly as spammable as my rogue
- no focus abilities. they insta killed dragons the moment they fell down from a hurt leg. they are just too easy to get and end battles without any effort.
anyway, random pics of my inquisi so far in different lighting, angles, expressions.
^ easily my favorite pic. that smile alone almost makes me want to put her with Cullen, even though my original intention was a game with Solas in case he gets a future DLC around him
honestly, I suck at character creation in every game. that was the best I could do. it may just be that I am a critic, though
also on the subject of armors I REALLY wish there was a schematic for the inquisition armors. it is easily my favorite armor yet it is quickly surpassed by armors in the hinterlands. i mean... it is the inquisition armor. i would rather wear that than warden armor.
also, just realized how much better taking screenshots is with windowed full screen mode. honestly, it feels no different than full screen when it comes to viewing experience. wish I were using it sooner...
i also got an amazing driver update yesterday that did wonders for my HD 7700 with Inquisition. the game got so smooth out of nowhere that I went from high to fade touched textures, as well as ultra meshes and high shadow quality. game looks so amazing now. sometimes I am surprised at what my card can still do.
i took him with me to get him into a relationship with Dorian, but this also made it so worth it:
Iron Bull: Rah... that's some good armor.
Cassandra: Are you referring to me?
Iron Bull: Some high-ranking women wore ornamental crap with tits hammered into it. One good shot, and all that cleavage gets knocked right into the sternum. Real messy. Good on you for going practical.
Cassandra: I aim to please.
Iron Bull: Leave something to the imagination too.
thank you Bull for using sense. funny that they should mention that in the Dragon Age universe when Origins and 2 had a lot of boob cup armors. i thought fantasy just ignores the fact
edit: yep, i might just have to drop varric from my normal party. iron bull is absolutely amazing to have around! I don't know what to expect when he starts talking, but it almost always has me laughing. he seems especially good with Cassandra. i just finished up a battle to have him compliment her fighting in the battle before randomly asking if she was as turned on as he was by it all! of course she was ignorant to what he was asking lol.
does suck for me that now I wonder if I can get Dorian and Bull together, though. I can still try, but I am unsure if they will when Dorian never officially stated he is gay. i am now also pretty sure I'll do another female elf playthrough down the road, as the Solas thing makes me almost want this to be my main inquisitor. however, I don't want a bug to possibly mess with her friendship with Dorian if it were part of my canon timeline.