Dragon Age 2 - Here be spoilers.

[Sjofn]

I just micromanage Anders when I feel the need. I cannot be bothered to set up his (or anyone else's) tactics particularly deeply. I'd just as soon pause and make him do what I want him to do at that moment.

I wish I could have Carver while being a warrior. 

[stray]

I just micromanage Anders when I feel the need. I cannot be bothered to set up his (or anyone else's) tactics particularly deeply. I'd just as soon pause and make him do what I want him to do at that moment.

I wish I could have Carver while being a warrior. 

The problem with him is that he can't heal himself in Vengeance mode. It's like the Blood Magic tree. I would think it gets kind of tedious turning sustains on and off manually, especially when timing and positoning might be of the essense (not that all fights are that hectic, but still).

Other things worth setting up in tactics are cross-class combos.

[Sjofn]

Generally with Anders I have him start off in Vengeance, and 90% of the time, he can happily stay that way without a care in the world. If I notice him getting significantly hurt, I turn it off myself. If I don't, he faceplants and we just have to deal with it. <shrug> Given I also always manually pick when he should fire off group heal, which requires a sustain change anyway, it works fine for me. Honestly, depending on my character, sometimes I just play Anders himself. My s/s warrior did not need a whole lot of input, for example. :P


So the new DA2 DLC is out. I have 20 minutes left on the download. MORE UPDATES AS EVENTS WARRANT


UPDATE: My rogue archer that has Isabela as his girlfriend? I'm not sure I will be able to put together an acceptable RP group. :P Maybe he'll get to do it on easy!

[stray]

Generally with Anders I have him start off in Vengeance, and 90% of the time, he can happily stay that way without a care in the world. If I notice him getting significantly hurt, I turn it off myself. If I don't, he faceplants and we just have to deal with it. <shrug> Given I also always manually pick when he should fire off group heal, which requires a sustain change anyway, it works fine for me. Honestly, depending on my character, sometimes I just play Anders himself. My s/s warrior did not need a whole lot of input, for example. :P


So the new DA2 DLC is out. I have 20 minutes left on the download. MORE UPDATES AS EVENTS WARRANT


UPDATE: My rogue archer that has Isabela as his girlfriend? I'm not sure I will be able to put together an acceptable RP group. :P Maybe he'll get to do it on easy!

Fair enough. You could say I'm lazy really.

The one thing I don't know how to fit into tactics is martyr. I need to figure that out.

I'm doing another warrior play through. Last time I screwed up and didn't get to kill Merrill. I'm going to make sure of it this time.  Then I'll play the new DLC.

[Sjofn]

Took me three and a half hours? Ish? I wasn't super thorough, though, and I need to do at least one more playthrough anyway (but I know I will do more than that). I didn't like it as much as Legacy, but it was good, and I enjoyed the end boss fight more than Legacy's.

I am really pleased with how they've done the non-stupid-equipment DA2 DLC so far.

[stray]

This sucks. They make Merrill the hardest person to get rid of. No matter what her friendship/rival level, I think, she'll side with you so long as you finish her quests. If you side with Templars, you can still have her in the party, regardless of friend status. Or so it seems.

The only reason why I want to kill her (rp-wise) is for leading her tribe to doom. And I like Marethari a lot. But you can't kill Merrill off unless you just leave the Dalish be (and I'm assuming, Marethari lives). I'm starting to think that maybe I should just go full rival with her and side with the mages. If I'm going to keep her, it might as well make sense.

[Ingmar]

You're just as much to blame, if you helped her with her quests. 

[stray]

You're just as much to blame, if you helped her with her quests.  

@spoiler: Yeah, I recently found out about that.

I partly blame them too for being rabid/stirred up to begin with. 

I'm more sad about Marethari. I hate that there's no way to make Merrill pay for it. And it makes no sense to have a party persist into the game with both her and Fenris. I imagine that Fenris himself would eventually kill her.

[Ingmar]

Marethari chose to do what she did; in a sense you'd be devaluing the whole point of her sacrifice if you then turn around and kill the person she did it to save in the first place.

[Sjofn]

Yeah, I think Merril is an idiot, but crapping all over Marethari's sacrifice by getting Merril killed seems sort of ... messed up. I also don't think Fenris would kill Merril, he'd just stay way the fuck away from her. He and Anders are both huge dicks to her throughout the game anyway. But they all hang out with you, and know YOU would (in theory) be pissed if they did more than that ... so they don't.

[stray]

Damn you and your logic.  

Yes, the thought came to me before (about Marethari's efforts).

Bleh. It's not only a problem with Merrill. I hate the role I'm placed in with some of these people. I hate keeping Isabella around to redeem herself too. It makes sense if you were in a rivalmance with her, but I hate listening to her at the end, if you're just a friend. "I'm gonna pull through for you now!" Can you imagine having one of your friends telling you that? I feel like a damn school counselor. Like the patient friend unlocking everybody's inner potential. I don't think I'm that kind of emotionally receptive person. Go call Oprah or something.

I tried doing a romance with Merrill and it was horrible. "Please, you can't save me!" Cue angry sex scene.

The only person with angst I don't feel that way with is Fenris. He's completely justified and able to sway me instead. And Varric and Aveline have few problems, if any. In fact, Aveline's the only person I like to romance. It's actually more entertaining to get my heart broken by her than put up with anyone else's shit.

[rk47]

Killing Merrill would've redeemed her story somewhat. It's a good lesson in itself, 'Mess with Blood Magic, and you get fucked.' For a Templar inclined Hawke playthough that whole scene must've been frustrating. You were forced to bring this apostate with you to Kirkwall, a city known for their prejudice against magic users, and not being able to DO something about it except to leave her in her crappy house.

[Sjofn]

omg, so I'm doing a second playthrough of the DLC


And that isn't a huge spoiler or anything, just an itty bitty one, but Ingmar can't play the DLC yet, and he is worried I'll blurt something IMPORTANT, so he bitches when I say anything at all, such as "ooh, my rogue dude isn't going to really be able to do this with his rogue girlfriend in the party." I think if I could keep Anders' little endgame secret without exploding (AND IT WAS KILLING ME, NO MISTAKE), I can keep a lid on the actually important bits of the DLC. :P

[rk47]

Strange, was reading another player's playthrough of the DLC and saw him bringing Beth along just fine after finishing the main campaign, maybe that's why.

[caladein]

My post-campaign game with a Warden Bethany can't take her.  I also can't take a Templar Carver in my game that's in Act 2.  Not sure what the prerequisites are either way.

Just booted it up to check that, don't know if there's party selection after the initial one to start the DLC.

[stray]

I'll have a Circle Beth after I finish up. We'll see how that works out.

edit: Still though. That sounds like a sign they're etching out the siblings, either way.

Not a move I can appreciate. Considering how half of my companions are retarded.

[Tebonas]

But so are half your siblings.

[stray]

After this, I'm gonna try to finish FFXIII. And have a protagonist who can hate on their companions the way I was meant to.

[Sjofn]

Strange, was reading another player's playthrough of the DLC and saw him bringing Beth along just fine after finishing the main campaign, maybe that's why.

I had a Warden Bethany in that first playthrough, it was post-campaign, and she was not available. Act 3 Warden Carver WAS. So ... I dunno, maybe she's bugged when she's a warden? I have a Circle Bethany save I can play through (one of my LadyHawkes), and also a Templar Carver save (another one of my LadyHawkes!). I can test it all. For the children.

[stray]

Bah. There must be something wrong with me. Not the game. I let Merrill live again, and just sided with the mages. 

It was kind of worth it this time for seeing Emile De Launcet in the tower though (yes, I was an asshole and locked him up).

[Sjofn]

I usually let him get laid then tell him to go back to the Circle, as he obviously cannot survive in the Wild. 

[stray]

I usually let him get laid then tell him to go back to the Circle, as he obviously cannot survive in the Wild.  

That's what I did too.

I thought his comment about Meredith was funny.. "She's a handsome woman! Too bad she wants to kill me." Agreed.

Unfortunately, it looks like Orsino might have used him for his sacrifice.

As for Merrill, the one thing I like about her is that she believes in Hawke's abilities, for better or worse.

[tmp]

I usually let him get laid then tell him to go back to the Circle, as he obviously cannot survive in the Wild. 

I told him to go back right then before the templars find him. Trollhawke is a natural cockblock, obv.

[stray]

Does anyone know if Ella is in there if you send her back to the Circle? She's the kid Ser Alrik tries to rape and Anders kills/almost kills. I always send her outside Kirkwall.

Not sure why I didn't catch it before, but Bethany's letter mentions her. She apparently looks up to her. I don't know why, but that just makes me sad and more sympathetic to the "mage cause".

[Sjofn]

I think she is, but I don't quite remember. I send her back to the Circle too, usually. 

[stray]

I think she is, but I don't quite remember. I send her back to the Circle too, usually. 

Lol.. I thought you were mage-heavy in how you sided.

So basically, you just did what I did. Mostly templar choices until the end?

I'm playing Sebastian/Beth/and Varric in Legacy. Which is funnier than I thought it'd be.

[Sjofn]

It really depends on what I'm aiming for with my Hawke. I have a lot of varying degrees, but I think my general attitude could be best described as "mages can't have nice things, but for heaven't sake, Templars, take it down a notch."

My first playthrough was RAH RAH FREEDOM FOR MAGES WAIT WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO ANDERS GODDAMMIT. Then my next one was a little less gung-ho on the freeing mages part. Third one (I have problems) was when I finally actually sided with the Templars at the end, but it felt sort of bleh. Because again: Anders is RIGHT THERE. Kill ANDERS, not EVERYONE IN THE CIRCLE.

Mostly I stick to shooing mages back into the Circle if they seem iffy at all about being an apostate (Emile, for example, just wanted to get laid, I doubted he would last ten minutes as an actual apostate). However if they were never in the Circle (like half-elf dude whose name I cannot spell, starts with an F), or seem really, really earnest in wanting to be free without, oh, suggesting I murder templars for them, I'll let 'em walk.

Basically I can't ever go full-on YAY TEMPLARS. There's an achievement for siding with them five times in a playthrough, and out of five (I think five) playthroughs I apparently have yet to do it. Even on my pro-Templar playthrough.

[stray]

Because again: Anders is RIGHT THERE. Kill ANDERS, not EVERYONE IN THE CIRCLE.

Yeah, I know.

How long was the game out until Sebastian's DLC came in? He's the only one who points this out. I wonder what the hell they were thinking to begin with.

Mostly I stick to shooing mages back into the Circle if they seem iffy at all about being an apostate (Emile, for example, just wanted to get laid, I doubted he would last ten minutes as an actual apostate). However if they were never in the Circle (like half-elf dude whose name I cannot spell, starts with an F), or seem really, really earnest in wanting to be free without, oh, suggesting I murder templars for them, I'll let 'em walk.

Feynriel. Yeah, I usually free him. I made him tranquil once, but it's depressing seeing him in the gallows later. lol. Besides, he seems like he has some potential for showing up in the future.

I have the Templar achievement, but I kind of like the big brother/sister saves Beth from the Circle plot the most. It has some coherency that others don't.

[Ingmar]

Sebastian was there at release, I can't remember if he was from the special edition or just regular first-owner day 1 DLC.

[Sjofn]

He was the special pre-order bonus that Steam people got screwed out of.  


EDIT: I should probably point out I have yet to knife Anders for being a terrorist. Even when I sided with the templars at the end, I had rival'd Anders with me (it's really depressing to do that, by the way, knifing him would've been kinder. But Bethany was dead, so he had to live.  ).

[stray]

I'd rather behead him. I do wield a big sword, after all. I see no reason to pull out a knife. It almost makes it seem like I'm supposed to feel bad about it.. portraying me as a backstabbing Judas to some great cause, and how Anders is happy he'll be a marytr.

I've played it where I sided with the Templars, told him to leave, then fight him in the gallows later.. But knowing Bioware, I'm afraid that choice will not "flag" correctly or something. Like future games might assume I let him go.

This happened to me with Gascard Dupuis. I let him fight Quentin with me at the end of Act 2 - then showed up in darktown later and killed him with Fenris. Then in Act 3, I get a letter from him saying how grateful he was for sparing his life.  

So yeah, Anders gets backstabbed. Whatever.

BTW, I can't play my Circle Bethany in this new expansion.

[Tebonas]

There was another option than knifing him? Really, I was pro-mage to a fault, but that bitch went down 5 seconds after it was clear that he used me to kill an innocent (even if deluded) person.

[Sjofn]

BTW, I can't play my Circle Bethany in this new expansion.

I am wondering if Bethany is bugged, 'cause after the initial "meet what's her face" part, Carver is available.

[stray]

I just finished the DLC. I probably could have used Bethany, but the team was Varric, Aveline, Tallis, and me (2h warrior). It was hard, but not too bad.

Both of these DLCs were a big improvement over the core game. Presentation wise/map wise, etc..

[stray]

The more I think about it, I don't see myself playing another DLC unless it's a sequel and starts carrying the story forward. An "ACT 4".

This could have been okay, but it's more like ACT 3.1. I would highly recommend it in that sense. The gear you get is perfect for that timeframe too (specifically, belts and necklaces..and a couple companion specific rings). Easily would have freed up about 150 gold in my case.