Dragon Age 3

[murdoc]

So, how do you get a class specification on your character?  Do you need to talk to the NPC that has it?

There's a war council mission you have to do to get the specialization people to show up at Skyhold, then you pick the one you want and do their fetch quest.

[Polysorbate80]

I just killed the level 19 dragon on the storm coast; that makes 5 (out of 10?).  I find spirit damage works well, they've all been vulnerable to it.  The knight-enchanter ability that does 1000 percent damage when you rematerialize inside an enemy is critting for up to 3k on them.

I had trouble keeping Varric and Sera alive.  Eventually I just let them die and cassandra and I finished off the last half of its health with barely a scratch between us.  She's a tanking machine.

[Bhazrak]

Choose the mages!  That mission is awesome.

I actually did the templar mission as I really wanted to see what the hell was up with the Lord Seeker guy. I'm going to do at least one other play through however, but it won't be for a while, hah.

I'm also surprised by the multiplayer. Played a few rounds with some friends lastnight, but I enjoy it just as much as single player. Wasn't really sure what to expect, but I liked going through the singular missions as normal Inquisition troops. Though it seems getting decent, useful gear is very luck based. It makes me wish there was a co-op experience for the main game though, kind of like Divinity: Original Sin.

[Ceryse]

If you're having trouble keeping someone alive, just craft them a weapon or piece of armour with fade touched obsidian. The +3 guard on hit is stupid powerful, especially for mages due to attack speed. My current party all has crafted gear and I dropped the +3 guard o hit onto everyone's armour and I went from them getting banged up here and there to no one taking damage ever except on dragons (which went from the occasional death to occasionally needing a potion). Now, I'm playing on normal and am considering upping it to hard just because of this one change. It isn't even remotely balanced how good + guard on hit is.

Game gave some pay-off with my female Qunari romancing Sera though. The sheer.. disappointment in the choice of doing so from some of the other party members was hilarious. Along the lines of 'Sera? Seriously? Are you insane? You have an image as the Inquisitor and you're with Sera!?'. And a couple others more along the lines of 'Sera? Hah! Good luck with that..'

The actual romance isn't that great (but none ever are), but some of the dialogue has been funny.

[Tannhauser]

I'm romancing Cassandra and one scene in it is the funniest moment I've ever had in the Dragon Age games. 


I haven't crafted and +guard stuff but I have strong Fire and Lightning Resist potions that made the fights pretty easy.  That and I was a couple of levels higher than the dragon.  Haven't done Storm Coast one, I got there and I wasn't prepared.

[Khaldun]

I eventually left the desert and came back and the miner was where she had been the first time. So it might just be that there was something glitchy about her. Though getting the key turned out to be something of an anticlimax.

She wanders.  If you just set the quest to active it shows you where she currently is.  Problem is, she can go up to the highest level if she can path her way through some caves.

The Crestwood zone is my favorite so far.  Do yourself a favor and find the dragon after finishing off the quests.  Close fight, but I did the last 3rd while being completely out of potions.  I found out the AI wasn't maximizing the use out of Solas' Fist of the Maker (I may be mixing up the Rift Mage spells).   With a +25% crit staff, that think was hitting for 650+ dmg more than half of the time.

So, how do you get a class specification on your character?  Do you need to talk to the NPC that has it?

That was my problem--when I was setting her to active, it was showing her to be in a place that she and I couldn't get to. I could actually see where it was supposed to be (nothing above and below it) and she not only wasn't there, I couldn't get there either. I think she wandered off a path and was inside a wall or something. I have seen mobile NPCs inside of things occasionally.

[Ceryse]

So, how do you get a class specification on your character?  Do you need to talk to the NPC that has it?

To get your class specializations you need to do a war table mission that unlocks the trainers (think it is called something like Specialization or something close to it, on the war table). I think it requires you to have Skyhaven and level 10. After that, you'll get a brief cut-scene of three people showing up to Skyhaven, and you can talk to them to get a quest for each of the three specializations available to your class. Quests are generally 'get writings detailing the specialization', 'get x number of special item that only drops in certain zones/from certain mobs' and 'craft specialization book', which is just the prior two items and going to a requisition table to 'craft' it. The writings are easiest, as just find whichever follower is that specialization (Solas for Rift Mage, Cass for Templar, etc.) and nearby them (or in Cass' case, the building next to her) there will be some papers or a book you can interact with to get the writings. The x number of ingredients is more annoying, but usually trivial in just having to go out, kill some mobs in certain areas and get one to drop (certain Venatori in Exalted Fields drop a Venatori tome for the Rift Mage spec, as an example).

[Tannhauser]

I found the Artificer tome on the table beside Varric.  You can complete all three quests before choosing a specialization also.

[Ceryse]

I found the Artificer tome on the table beside Varric.  You can complete all three quests before choosing a specialization also.

I'd recommend at least taking all three quests. I didn't and after I finished up Rift Mage I still have the exclamation marks on my Skyhold map indicating the other two quests (even though the NPCs aren't even there anymore). It's slightly annoying.

Also, I just found out there's music in this game besides cut-scenes, plot points and taverns on a casual trip to the DA:I official forums and reading a bit of the party banter bug thread. I've never had any music outside of the aforementioned times. Greatly annoyed me. Thankfully I don't have the party banter bug, though (I do get occasional sound clipping issues with dialogue, though).

[tmp]

Also, I just found out there's music in this game besides cut-scenes, plot points and taverns on a casual trip to the DA:I official forums and reading a bit of the party banter bug thread. I've never had any music outside of the aforementioned times. Greatly annoyed me. Thankfully I don't have the party banter bug, though (I do get occasional sound clipping issues with dialogue, though).

Music seems pretty rare and location based so you ain't missing all that much. Although what little of it plays is rather nice.

[satael]

Finished the game (rushed thru near the end so did the end fight at level 16 and it still wasn't a challenge on normal difficulty but not a fan of the combat system so didn't see the appeal on increasing difficulty).

I'd give it a solid 4 out of 5 with the point missing due to poor combat and the story (not really gripping and suffered from bloat). Technically the game was great with nice visuals and sounds and it only crashed twice during my 40 hourish playthru and I didn't come across any game-breaking bugs. 

[satael]

One advice that might be considered a bit spoilery but I wish I had known before playing:

[Phildo]

Wonder how long before we get the "Expand Skyhold" dlc?  There are a lot of extra quarries and logging areas available that don't seem to do anything else.

[rk47]

Is there no 2nd hotbar in this game?
Or do I have to pay $5.00 to unlock more hotbars?
I tried spamming guild chat but no one would answer.
I tried opening GM ticket but there's no response.

[CaptainNapkin]

Surprisingly this is Amazon's gold box deal today. 25% off ($45) all platforms. Didn't expect a sale so soon since it's been received so well.

[Khaldun]

Dragon fights are fun. Just took down the first dragon in Emprise du Lion and then tried the second one with a part of lvl 16-17 folks. We got overwhelmed by the adds right at the very end, but I didn't mind, the fight felt fairly epic up to that point. Party was Sera, Blackwall, Dorian and my Spirit/Knight-Enchanter mage.

Fight actually felt sort of like what a MMO boss fight should be more like--there was some fast-paced improv (I only used tactical a few times, largely to do potions), it felt organic rather than like an elaborately rehearsed choreography despite the scripted phases in the fight.

[Rasix]

I love everything about the dragon fights except the stupid vortex move when it sucks you in, and at least one or two (or all) of your squishies end up getting chunked.   The pathing doesn't seem to be able to handle it.   Sometimes a barrier can save it, but you have to rely on it being up and it's only going to help at most one.  The other mechanics I think are fine and make the fight feel epic.   At this point I don't have enough fade touched obsidian have the +guard-on-hit on anyone's gear.

The Exalted Plains dragon wasn't that hard, but he was unfortunately heavily resistant to the damage I was doing.  Still took me more than one time, because the first party I brought wasn't much of a dragon killing combo.   Until I finish the Rift mage spec, I think I need Solas for the deeps, Cassandra is the best tank, and Sera's damage is through the goddamn roof.  Of course, I could just keep Solas around and go for the knight-enchanter, but I kind of like being ranged.

Sera continues to be awesome.  The scene with the noble in her personal quest line had me rolling.  Plus, now she has a new background.

[Polysorbate80]

I did the first two emprise dragons last night, the second was a surprise so I hadn't rested or restocked.  That, as well as the fact neither of them were vulnerable to spirit damage, made it a much more interesting challenge, but it was doable.

Luckily that forwarned me enough about the third dragon not to stumble right in and start that fight    Saving that one for today.  That will make 9 out of 10; the one in Hissing Wastes is the only one left after it...

[Ingmar]

56 hours into this, level 16, and there are still several open-world zones I haven't even visited yet.

[Paelos]

I just hit level 13 at 30 something hours, and I am in some plains area.

I'm slow. I read everything pretty much. I just see no point in hurrying in this game, which is a complete rarity. I'm enjoying the ride a lot.

[Phildo]

Started over as a mage and totally get the complaints about melee now.  Combat is so much nicer, though I'm sure I'll bitch a lot when I encounter something that I can't damage at all because I packed the wrong element.

[murdoc]

77 hours and I finished the main story. Will probably go back to an earlier save before the final confrontation so I can play in some of the zones I missed a bit of.

Main story was pretty dull overall and I really didn't feel like any of my choices really mattered - things were going to end up the same way no matter what. They did a little storyboard thing to show what came of some of your choices, but it was more of a footnote than anything else. The most interesting thing happens after all the credits roll anyways.

Having said that - I thoroughly enjoyed playing it and after taking a bit of a break to play something else I'll probably revisit it again with a different class. I rarely ever finish games, especially games of this length but I didn't have any trouble sticking with this one until the end. If I had known nothing really comes of my choices I probably wouldn't have started that final battle, but just kept puttering around the zones doing each of their area missions. There is absolutely no reason to rush to the end of this unless you are getting really bored and just want to see the end.

[Khaldun]

90 hours and I'm still moosing around some of the areas, with dragons left to fight.

Mostly I'm curious now about how some of the character interactions could be different. Female human mage who is sexing Iron Bull, who is pretty amusing to sex. Solas doesn't like me, Cole really doesn't like me, and Sera is kind of half-and-half on me since I chewed her out after her loyalty mission. Dorian likes me a lot, Cassandra likes me a lot, Varrick likes me pretty much, Blackwall likes me a lot, Cullen likes me a lot lot, Josephine likes me a lot. I think a second time through I'd like to play a Chantry-hating but also mage-hating rogue who gives sharp or aggressive answers to almost everything and see what happens.

[Rasix]

That Storm Coast region dragon is level 19.  Needless to say, it kicked the hell out of my level 15 party that was balanced for "banter" not dragon slaying. 

[Ingmar]

That Storm Coast region dragon is level 19.  Needless to say, it kicked the hell out of my level 15 party that was balanced for "banter" not dragon slaying. 

This is extra sneaky because it's only level 16 when you get your first glimpse of it on the coast!

[rk47]

The fade sequence in this game is pretty much utter trash compared to the first game.
I don't understand how can they convert a plane where things are really strange and mindfucking into a corridor full of green monsters and demons you've fought before outside the Fade, littered with loot containers and fetch quests giving you stat ups for very little effort.

[Tannhauser]

I get your point, but personally I'm glad the Fade wasn't another annoying 'dream sequence'.  Easily my least favorite part of DA 1.

[rk47]

30 hours and I've experienced Knight Enchanter on Vivi. (Who green-lighted this bullshit build?)
And then I ditched daggers cause I got bored of hooking, and firing off the same 2-3 hotkey cycle over n over.
Archery. Pew pew. 3000 crit. 1500 crit.

Hahah. What the fuck.

The most head-scratching part was there's just no feeling of impact, arrow just sort of fly to the mark, silently hit, and red numbers pop out, suddenly red chunks of meat on the floor. I'm just glad this would clear areas much quicker than chasing fleeing mobs around on Vivi. Dorian AoE fear basically made them brainless chickens while I just press 1234 and occasionally hold left mouse button while stamina regens.

[Azuredream]

I remember DA1 Fade as being cool and interesting the first time and an utter slog every time after.

[rk47]

I remember DA1 Fade as being cool and interesting the first time and an utter slog every time after.

Yep. That's my point. My first run in DA:I was pretty much a ho hum, corridor of monsters affair in green looking places.
Loot stuff here there, read a bunch of letters n enjoy some expositions. Ho hum.
Here's some KFC by the bucket in case your HP gets low.
Go and explore, kids. It's fun.
It looks pretty, I admit. But there's nothing engaging about it.
People telling me it's not bad cause it's short will get nothing from me.
It's still bad.

[Comstar]

I feel unable to play the game till they fix Party Banter. This may take some time, as last I heard, Bioware was saying they are unable to replicate any "bug" and it must be working it's not their fault, it can't be them.

[Ceryse]

I feel unable to play the game till they fix Party Banter. This may take some time, as last I heard, Bioware was saying they are unable to replicate any "bug" and it must be working it's not their fault, it can't be them.

This is a surprisingly massive issue for me as well. I re-started on a whim, in part because I was concerned about having missed a number of banters past the Hinterlands, due to the lack of music I was getting in a lot of places where music was supposed to be. Six hours or so into the new playthrough and the amount of music I hadn't gotten and the sheer pace of banter was astounding. What took my Qunari mage to get in ~20 hours in the Hinterlands my new character got most of it in less than two hours. Having music in a number of places key up as you explore general areas.. music in cities/towns and every cut scene also added a ton to the experience.

I actually enjoy the game a fair bit on ranged classes, but am somewhat loathe to play the game because it is fairly annoying to continually go through the motions to work around the banter/music bug.

And I had almost 71 hours on my Qunari mage and it won't get played again because I know I missed maybe.. 40%, at least, of possible banter. Well, that and the save files might be fucked because I was getting some banter from the future (said character hasn't gone to the Ball, even, and I got a couple banters from.. several plot points ahead of that) and a few other issues.

[tmp]

Apparently a fix that works for lot of people re: banter is to go to your Codex and quest journal (both the active quests and the completed ones), and visit every entry marked as "new" so the + mark disappears from it. Might be worth a try if you didn't already.

[Ceryse]

Yeah, I've been doing that on my new playthrough as well as the other work-arounds (such as using the War Room fast travel and going offline from Origin, which helps a ton).

[Maledict]

I'm fine with banter, but apparently have the bug that prevents Dorian's quest lines from unlocking (beyond the "kill Venatari mission", which as he's in my party constantly and my intended romance option means I wn't be progressing through the main storyline anytime soon.