EPTIf the moderators find that this thread should not overleap with that, please dont close this but move it to blogs.
![[image loading]](http://www.gamoholic.net/images/stories/dragon-age-2.jpg)
The goal of this topic:
1.) I would like to share my experience, criticism, reaction to some criticism i've read
2.) I invite you to do the same
3.) I m eager to answer any question, if you're not sure what to do at some point, or what's good for what, a FAQ kind of thing
4.) i would like to have some questions of my own, as i am not an experienced RPG player, i would especially like to explain the usefulness of 2 classtypes, you'll see it below.
5.) Have some opinion polls
Be aware that spoilers might lie ahead, i will structure it in a way so you can dodge them and adress just an issue.
Let me start by saying the game is awesome, and i love it, and i am shocked by the amount of criticism it gets. It is not perfect, but definetly very enjoyable and addictive.
Poll: How did you rate DA2??
Good, but dissapointing, i was expecting more (273)
59%
One of the best games i have ever played (84)
18%
Biggest waste of my time since watching BitbyBit.Prime play (68)
15%
Not that good, but i wasnt expecting it to be any better (36)
8%
461 total votes
One of the best games i have ever played (84)
Biggest waste of my time since watching BitbyBit.Prime play (68)
Not that good, but i wasnt expecting it to be any better (36)
461 total votes
Your vote: How did you rate DA2??
(Vote): One of the best games i have ever played
(Vote): Good, but dissapointing, i was expecting more
(Vote): Not that good, but i wasnt expecting it to be any better
(Vote): Biggest waste of my time since watching BitbyBit.Prime play
I love the framework it uses to tell the story, the tale in a tale technique, with Varric, one of the most awesome characters i've met in my gamer experience. Especially love the part when you play a part, then Cassandra interrupts and says this couldnt be true, so Varric retells it, and you replay it.
I love the battles, one of my problems in DA Origins was that mages simply stood and fired in a nice and solid line. Now they dance around and hit the ground and all that good stuff.
I love the world it creates, a huge and very detailed one, maybe not as much as the first one, but that would be a tall order to be honest. The characters still chat among each other which is really really cool and finally the main character has voice.
Cons:
The threat generation in some cases looks really random/ makes no sense. + Show Spoiler +
Right after taunt is used, some enemies just don’t react at all to it. Plus there are cases where an enemy just does not give up. I had this fight vs some dragon, where I started out with it biting my tank a couple of time, then trying to hit my mage, but didn’t manage, and from there he targeted exclusively my melee rouge, so the battle ended up with my rogue running around for 10 minutes till my 2 mages and tank took him down slowly. That is both boring and stupid.
It is not written for mages. + Show Spoiler +
I’m always mage at first, I love that class overall, and I believe in DA Origins it fit perfectly, as the fade was on of the best elements of the game, and if you were not a mage, you spent there less time, and you had to send someone else in at one point. However here it’s clear this wasn’t meant for mages, but they couldn’t just exclude them or write a whole different line. The city you spend most of the time in this game is under Templar control. It is crawling with Templars. And there you are, at one point your brother is raging about how dangerous is to be here as you’re a mage, but you can walk up to some of your Templar contacts for some quests or info. You can stand with a blood mage apostate, with an abomination refugee Warden apostate and your main character as an apostate in front of the Templar Commander and exchange info, help each other out and stuff like that. WTF. You kill templars on regular basis, everyone knows from the start you’re an apostate, many hire you, knowing your skills, including the Viscount of the city. You end up as a respected and very well known citizen with a stable and publicly known estate. And you have 0 problems. Once I was attacked by a templar squad after I slaughtered already 2 squads with its Lieutenants and all, as well as some other random templars, so even the Templar order knows, but they don’t give a fuck. Also the time in the fade is non existent compared to the DA origins mage storyline.
Simplifications.[+ Show Spoiler +
Yes, there are things which are simplified, and tbh in some cases it’s for the better. But I did not like that they took away the option to influence your comrades’ gear. I can understand they want to wear their own cloths, but why take away the possibility of giving boots, gloves, hats for them, they don’t even show. Or they could have an option where you can check a box to show their normal self no matter what they have on them or something. This way you can decide their weapons, which is an obvious choice most of the times, and you don’t have to worry about fatigue and item sets or anything really. The junk is now called and showed as junk and can be solved with 1 click. I can understand this had its beauty in Origins that you weren’t sure if something is valuable or not, do you need to keep it for later or not, thus struggling endlessly with limited backpack capacity. This goes away in this game, but I’m not sure I mind it actually, it was interesting but still, annoying.
You are told when and where to talk to your companions, and you can’t start a conversation at any other time then the game tells you to, this is bad imo.
Limited place. Yes, it is a different game and the world is still pretty damn big, but not nearly as big and diverse as it was in Origins. I miss the world map, travels, ambushes and whatnot. It also made more sense to travel to some forbidden and forgotten forest to look up the Dalish then taking a walk outside of the city.
You are told when and where to talk to your companions, and you can’t start a conversation at any other time then the game tells you to, this is bad imo.
Limited place. Yes, it is a different game and the world is still pretty damn big, but not nearly as big and diverse as it was in Origins. I miss the world map, travels, ambushes and whatnot. It also made more sense to travel to some forbidden and forgotten forest to look up the Dalish then taking a walk outside of the city.
Female dominance. + Show Spoiler +
I’m ok with women getting more and more role, as strong characters or leaders and whatnot, but this has gone too far imo. I was kinda annoyed that in Origins the strongest general/bodyguard of Loghain was a women with a 2m long greatsword. Also Loghain’s daughter, Flemeth, Morrigan, the keeper in the Dalish storyline etc. very strong and dominant characters.
The trend of strong female characters continues, but now, the one and only tank in the game (shield and sword warrior) is a women as well. Not an amazon, not a descendent of some strange race, not a barbarian but a nobel-women who decided to be a guard. It looks wrong, and I could actually deal with that, but it’s rather awkward that the best mage and the best rouge also happens to be a women. (at least as far as I understand this game). Good thing I didn’t go for a female character, 4 girls going on town on some ogres and whatnot sounds wrong. But even so, 3 of them is quite many, and they speak so much it’s crazy. I guess Bioware got that right at least. The 3 male characters: Fenris, the least useful class imo, non-tank warrior. If you need tank go for someone with a shield, if you need DPS get a rouge or a mage, but that’s just me. Anders, my biggest problem with him is you can’t really have a friendship with him, unless you go gay for him, which I just refuse, even though he’s really keen of me doing that. And beside this subjective thing, his healing is not nearly as useful as in the previous game, and got noting else to match Merril’s imba bloodmagic. And Varric who is indeed awesome, and I use him a lot, but at the end of the day if I have to decided between him and Isabella I must pick the latter, as she’s the best dps in the game so far. Ranged rogue just don’t seem strong enough for me, as their dps is lower, obviously because they are less threatened, but melee rogues can go for backstabs a lot easier. A twinfangs vs a frozen opponent from backstab position is insane or an explosive strike after completing the chain of backstab.
The trend of strong female characters continues, but now, the one and only tank in the game (shield and sword warrior) is a women as well. Not an amazon, not a descendent of some strange race, not a barbarian but a nobel-women who decided to be a guard. It looks wrong, and I could actually deal with that, but it’s rather awkward that the best mage and the best rouge also happens to be a women. (at least as far as I understand this game). Good thing I didn’t go for a female character, 4 girls going on town on some ogres and whatnot sounds wrong. But even so, 3 of them is quite many, and they speak so much it’s crazy. I guess Bioware got that right at least. The 3 male characters: Fenris, the least useful class imo, non-tank warrior. If you need tank go for someone with a shield, if you need DPS get a rouge or a mage, but that’s just me. Anders, my biggest problem with him is you can’t really have a friendship with him, unless you go gay for him, which I just refuse, even though he’s really keen of me doing that. And beside this subjective thing, his healing is not nearly as useful as in the previous game, and got noting else to match Merril’s imba bloodmagic. And Varric who is indeed awesome, and I use him a lot, but at the end of the day if I have to decided between him and Isabella I must pick the latter, as she’s the best dps in the game so far. Ranged rogue just don’t seem strong enough for me, as their dps is lower, obviously because they are less threatened, but melee rogues can go for backstabs a lot easier. A twinfangs vs a frozen opponent from backstab position is insane or an explosive strike after completing the chain of backstab.
The reward system:+ Show Spoiler +
Probably the most annoying thing. I get 200 exp for picking up a mushroom, 10 thugs ambush me, it gains me like 120. And the loot some enemies drop is ridicuolus. Once a mature dragon dropeed me 36 silvers, what the hell. Many times a strong foe is slain, doesnt give anything then a couple of silvers, if you kill like 15 normal enemis, proably 2 have loot on them. It's not like i need money taht badly, but c'mon at least, for the sake of it, give some item. Items sell dirt cheap, so one does not earn much from them, but still better then that. Also it is quite ridiculous that some chests require 30 cunning, when you have 20 at most. And probably one of the toughest fight so far i could win on Hard, dropped me a useless hat
EDIT: Romance
On March 15 2011 04:43 Rashid wrote:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/4v4Kb.png)
lulz
lulz
+ Show Spoiler +
Seriously, everone beside those who are not an option at all are jumping at you, regardless of gender. I made no move on Anders yet at one point 2 out of 3 answers were heart, and the 3rd broken hearth, wtf. I got Heart option with Fenris as well quickly, even though he looks like a straight cold hearthed warrior. Merril who looked like will be the one who's taugh to get well, at first i struggled so hard to get a +5 approve at one time, then i help her out in her quest and next thing i know she's in my mention waiting to get laid already oO
Criticism
“they took out strategy from the game” Meaning it’s too easy. + Show Spoiler +
Well, stop playing at casual then ffs, this game is really really hard, I might not be an RPG expert but I played my fair share, and got to say I was shitting bricks at many points even though I’m playing just on Hard. Hell, sometimes it almost felt like playing Zerg in sc2.
At 2 or 3 points I had to lower the difficulty level because I just couldn’t win the battle. Yes, at Normal I tear trough it and I could see this game not being challenging on Normal, but there are 2 more difficulty levels. Even random raids and ambushes can kill you off or injure at least a member if you are not focused. Most of your good DPS characters are so low on HP, an elite rouge, not even a boss, can cause about 80% health damage from one backstab to them, which is borderline crazy. Maybe with non-mage characters it is easier, idk.
The healing basically got removed from the game, the cooldown on it and the amount of points you have to spend on it, and the fact that group healing and normal healing are down 2 different paths heavily discourages that kind of play. In DA one of my favorite combo was Tank plus 3 mages. My tank never ever dies I had like 3 ways to heal it or 4, plus potions, and while it tanked, the mages released a storm of fire, lighting, flame and shit, which killed everything. They also removed the shatter mechanism which made the said combo so good, and now it encourages inter class play. Also they could convince me here on using different parties at different quests. In origins the only two combos I relied on with my main mage were 1 tank 3 mage and sometimes 1tank 2 mage 1 rouge. I don’t think I ever needed Sten, maybe at one dragon fight cuz I had a good sword for that, and I wouldn’t have used Oghren much either, but he was too cool to ignore him. Now I don’t have any like that. I thought Fenris will end up like that but I have to use him as well.
At 2 or 3 points I had to lower the difficulty level because I just couldn’t win the battle. Yes, at Normal I tear trough it and I could see this game not being challenging on Normal, but there are 2 more difficulty levels. Even random raids and ambushes can kill you off or injure at least a member if you are not focused. Most of your good DPS characters are so low on HP, an elite rouge, not even a boss, can cause about 80% health damage from one backstab to them, which is borderline crazy. Maybe with non-mage characters it is easier, idk.
The healing basically got removed from the game, the cooldown on it and the amount of points you have to spend on it, and the fact that group healing and normal healing are down 2 different paths heavily discourages that kind of play. In DA one of my favorite combo was Tank plus 3 mages. My tank never ever dies I had like 3 ways to heal it or 4, plus potions, and while it tanked, the mages released a storm of fire, lighting, flame and shit, which killed everything. They also removed the shatter mechanism which made the said combo so good, and now it encourages inter class play. Also they could convince me here on using different parties at different quests. In origins the only two combos I relied on with my main mage were 1 tank 3 mage and sometimes 1tank 2 mage 1 rouge. I don’t think I ever needed Sten, maybe at one dragon fight cuz I had a good sword for that, and I wouldn’t have used Oghren much either, but he was too cool to ignore him. Now I don’t have any like that. I thought Fenris will end up like that but I have to use him as well.
The story is weak/bad.
+ Show Spoiler +
Well it is not. Dragon Age Origins had the most generic story possible. There's a traitor and a dark force which need to be assessed. The hero gathers allies, punishes the traitor, slays the evil. However all the little twists, the detailed companion storylines, quests sending you from one city to another, being able to influence everything you want, including being able to kill or at least abandon all your companions, but the dog. It was more then enough to me, definetly i'm happier with this then say, you have a huge big ass "iamyourfather" "dumbledoreiskilledbysnape" surprise somewhere towards the end, and mediocre for the rest. I have not finished DA2 yet, but it seems really the same, even more interesting with Flemeth acting in the background, wanting hellknows what, i hope i will find it out, im excited.
I have this questions, if you read trough my post you noticed i said a couple of times, that ranged rouges and shieldless tanks are not good imo. But i ve read some comments where people were claiming for example Fenris is too imba. If there are experienced games here, who use these classes in their main team, feel free to teach me why they are good. Two handed warrior feels weak to be a tank, how do you prevent it not getting raped by surround of many enemies, how can it tank a very strong boss, not being tossed around by knockback effects. The ranged rouge, what justifies bringing him, when the melee has a lot better dps, and even more so with his backstabs which are a lote more frequent then the archer can give, and while being harder to target down, it's also harder to save, as the tank can take away the melee rouges opponent with a taunt or charging there, and aoe disables from mages also are more usefully casted then on the middle of the battle then at the back where the archer and a random enemy is fighting.
Also vote for the strongest combo, i obviously can't include all the possibilities:
Poll: Strongest party setup?
Twohanded warrior, rouge, mage, mage (39)
30%
Tank-meele rouge-mage-mage (33)
25%
Other, please specify (17)
13%
Twohanded warrior, rouge, rouge, mage (16)
12%
tank, ranged rouge, mage, mage (12)
9%
tank, twohanded warrior, meele rouge, mage (9)
7%
Tank, twohanded warrior, ranged rouge, mage (3)
2%
tank-ranged rouge, mage, mage (1)
1%
130 total votes
Tank-meele rouge-mage-mage (33)
Other, please specify (17)
Twohanded warrior, rouge, rouge, mage (16)
tank, ranged rouge, mage, mage (12)
tank, twohanded warrior, meele rouge, mage (9)
Tank, twohanded warrior, ranged rouge, mage (3)
tank-ranged rouge, mage, mage (1)
130 total votes
Your vote: Strongest party setup?
(Vote): Tank-meele rouge-mage-mage
(Vote): Twohanded warrior, rouge, rouge, mage
(Vote): Twohanded warrior, rouge, mage, mage
(Vote): Tank, twohanded warrior, ranged rouge, mage
(Vote): tank, ranged rouge, mage, mage
(Vote): tank, twohanded warrior, meele rouge, mage
(Vote): Other, please specify
(Vote): tank-ranged rouge, mage, mage
Some more
Poll: Who is the most useful companion?
Anders (65)
38%
Avelin (37)
21%
Varric (25)
14%
Fenris (17)
10%
Isabella (14)
8%
Merril (11)
6%
your brother/sister (4)
2%
173 total votes
Avelin (37)
Varric (25)
Fenris (17)
Isabella (14)
Merril (11)
your brother/sister (4)
173 total votes
Your vote: Who is the most useful companion?
(Vote): Avelin
(Vote): Merril
(Vote): Isabella
(Vote): Varric
(Vote): Anders
(Vote): Fenris
(Vote): your brother/sister
Poll: Which companion you like the most
Varric (77)
37%
Isabella (51)
25%
Merril (49)
24%
Fenris (10)
5%
Avelin (8)
4%
your brother/sister (8)
4%
Anders (5)
2%
208 total votes
Isabella (51)
Merril (49)
Fenris (10)
Avelin (8)
your brother/sister (8)
Anders (5)
208 total votes
Your vote: Which companion you like the most
(Vote): Avelin
(Vote): Merril
(Vote): Isabella
(Vote): Anders
(Vote): Fenris
(Vote): Varric
(Vote): your brother/sister
FAQ
Is Merril's blood magic buffed by items such as ring of the ruin, or the talisman of the Saneshaad? to these effects stack?
+ Show Spoiler +
Yes, it is like normal blood magic, items help, and they stack. Pretty imba.
In the fade, my companions abandoned me!
+ Show Spoiler +
Dont worry, you did not lose them, though you might want to think twice about going in there as the rivalry points given there remain, as far as i could tell
I can t solve the barrel puzzle in the Fade
+ Show Spoiler +
They are rather simple, you have to get all the small barrels on top and all the big ones bottom, and in the other room you have to have the 4 real barrels next to each other and on top of each other (so 2 columns of 2 next to each other)
How can i boost my companion's gear? I cant give them anything
+ Show Spoiler +
Yes, but you can find a couple of upgrades for their armor at certain quests or shops. In shops they appear at the gem like icon
On March 14 2011 21:07 EchOne wrote:
Here are the companion armor upgrade locations and backpack locations if you want to add them to the FAQ (courtesy of the Bioware forums):
Bethany:
Heirloom Amell Protective Sigils - Final room in the Birthright quest - Act 1
Carver:
Fereldan Girded Plating - Final room in the Birthright quest - Act 1
Anders:
Lyrium Weave - Mage Shop (Gallows) - Act 2
Armor Struts - Lirene's Fereldan Imports Shop (Lowtown) - Act 2
Spirit Essance - Dissent Quest, Gallows Dungeon - Act 2
Sigil of the Mage Underground - Best Served Cold Quest - Act 3
Aveline:
Underpadding, Guardsmen Pattern - Armor Merchant (Low Town) - Act 1
Flex Chain, Guardsmen Pattern - Raiders on the Cliff Quest, located on the body of Fell Orden - Act 2
Impact Padding, Guardsmen Pattern - Armor Merchant Shop (Low Town) - Act 2
Deflecting Joints, Guardsmen Pattern - Favour and Fault Quest, Located on the body of Javen - Act 3
Fenris:
Lyrium Scales - Shady Merchandise Shop (Docks) - Act 2
Tevinter Spirit Symbol - Robes by Jean Luc Shop (Hightown) - Act 2
Reinforced Straps - A Bitter Pill Quest, Abandoned Slaver Den - Act 2
Enchanted Resin - Mine Massacre Quest, On the body of the Dragon - Act 3
Isabela:
Lambswool Insoles - To Catch a Thief Quest, in a chest in the Lost-End Foundry - Act 2
Rigid Boning - Apparel Shop (Low Town) - Act 2
Supportive Corselet - Robes by Jean luc Shop (Hightown) - Act 2
Boiled Leather Plates - A Murder of Crows Quest - Act 3
Merrill:
Silver-Threaded Dalish Embroidery - Sundermount, at the very top of the path, though mountain passage - Act 2
Carved Ironwood Buttons - Ilen's Crafts Shop (Sundermount) - Act 2
Samite Lining - Robes by Jean Luc Shop (Hightown) - Act 2
Halla Horn Buckles - A new Path Quest, on the body of the Pride Demon - Act 3
Varric:
Inscribed Leather Harness - Apparel Shop (Low Town) - Act 1
Silverite-Reinforced Buckles - Family Matter quest, Bartrand's Estate - Act 2
Coat Lining with concealed Pockets - Shady Merchandise Shop (Docks) - Act 2
Drakeskin Leg Straps - Finding Nathaniel Quest - Act 3
Sebastian
Enchanted Articulation - Armor Shop (Gallows) - Act 2
Mail Undertunic - Repentance Quest, Harriman Estate - Act 2
Reinforced Bracers - Olaf's Armory Shop (Hightown) - Act 2
Protection of the Faith - Best Served Cold quest, Hightown (Night), on the body of A Templar Lieutenant - Act 3
Backpacks
It goes up to 100 and you can only buy 2 upgrades in Act 1 (Robes by Jean Luc and Apparel Shop in Lowtown), 2 in Act 2 (Robes by Jean Luc and Mage Goods) and 1 in Act 3 (Robes by Jean Luc).
.
Here are the companion armor upgrade locations and backpack locations if you want to add them to the FAQ (courtesy of the Bioware forums):
Bethany:
Heirloom Amell Protective Sigils - Final room in the Birthright quest - Act 1
Carver:
Fereldan Girded Plating - Final room in the Birthright quest - Act 1
Anders:
Lyrium Weave - Mage Shop (Gallows) - Act 2
Armor Struts - Lirene's Fereldan Imports Shop (Lowtown) - Act 2
Spirit Essance - Dissent Quest, Gallows Dungeon - Act 2
Sigil of the Mage Underground - Best Served Cold Quest - Act 3
Aveline:
Underpadding, Guardsmen Pattern - Armor Merchant (Low Town) - Act 1
Flex Chain, Guardsmen Pattern - Raiders on the Cliff Quest, located on the body of Fell Orden - Act 2
Impact Padding, Guardsmen Pattern - Armor Merchant Shop (Low Town) - Act 2
Deflecting Joints, Guardsmen Pattern - Favour and Fault Quest, Located on the body of Javen - Act 3
Fenris:
Lyrium Scales - Shady Merchandise Shop (Docks) - Act 2
Tevinter Spirit Symbol - Robes by Jean Luc Shop (Hightown) - Act 2
Reinforced Straps - A Bitter Pill Quest, Abandoned Slaver Den - Act 2
Enchanted Resin - Mine Massacre Quest, On the body of the Dragon - Act 3
Isabela:
Lambswool Insoles - To Catch a Thief Quest, in a chest in the Lost-End Foundry - Act 2
Rigid Boning - Apparel Shop (Low Town) - Act 2
Supportive Corselet - Robes by Jean luc Shop (Hightown) - Act 2
Boiled Leather Plates - A Murder of Crows Quest - Act 3
Merrill:
Silver-Threaded Dalish Embroidery - Sundermount, at the very top of the path, though mountain passage - Act 2
Carved Ironwood Buttons - Ilen's Crafts Shop (Sundermount) - Act 2
Samite Lining - Robes by Jean Luc Shop (Hightown) - Act 2
Halla Horn Buckles - A new Path Quest, on the body of the Pride Demon - Act 3
Varric:
Inscribed Leather Harness - Apparel Shop (Low Town) - Act 1
Silverite-Reinforced Buckles - Family Matter quest, Bartrand's Estate - Act 2
Coat Lining with concealed Pockets - Shady Merchandise Shop (Docks) - Act 2
Drakeskin Leg Straps - Finding Nathaniel Quest - Act 3
Sebastian
Enchanted Articulation - Armor Shop (Gallows) - Act 2
Mail Undertunic - Repentance Quest, Harriman Estate - Act 2
Reinforced Bracers - Olaf's Armory Shop (Hightown) - Act 2
Protection of the Faith - Best Served Cold quest, Hightown (Night), on the body of A Templar Lieutenant - Act 3
Backpacks
It goes up to 100 and you can only buy 2 upgrades in Act 1 (Robes by Jean Luc and Apparel Shop in Lowtown), 2 in Act 2 (Robes by Jean Luc and Mage Goods) and 1 in Act 3 (Robes by Jean Luc).
.
EDIT:sorry for misspelling rogue, autocorrect made me lazy, and since rouge is a world too i did not notce
Can anyone help me out with this? I m searching for spindleweed like a madman in act 3 but i cant find for my life depends on it. I googled it and one said that there should be 1 in Lowtown, but i couldnt find, and i also read a comment that the information is inaccurate
