Dragon Age II

[DeadPoolX]

Can I ask you, just out of curiosity, what was your outcome in the "Dissent" quest? Anders companion quest, that is.

He killed the Mage girl. I don't know why since I tried snapping him out of his "Justice persona," but it didn't work.

That scene was amazing! But, piece of advice, during the Lily Killer quest, spare Gascard, bring him in Quentin's lair and watch Varric's reaction. I was speechless for a moment and then I started applauding.

I spared Gascard, but after that, I never saw him again. He didn't help at all.

My reaction was: "Quella puttana figlia di troia," which is the exact Italian translation of what Aveline actually says if she's in the party when Isabela bails. I didn't have enough friendship with her, though, so that was the last I saw of her. And by the way, yes, if you give her to the Arishok, she's taken to Par Vollen and you completely loose her.

Okay, so I know what "puttana" means, but I couldn't get the rest of it. I tried Google Translate and that made it even more confusing.

Oh, and DPX, do you have the Exiled Prince DLC? If so, I'm sure you'll enjoy Sebastian's personal quest in Act 3. I can't say why, but I'm sure you will

Nope, I don't have that DLC. Honestly, I doubt I'd keep him as from what I've read, he seems very annoying.

Although... I have to admit, I'd love to hear this dialogue:

Sebastian: You've been watching me all day. It's getting a little... distracting.

Isabela: Merrill's right. Your armor is shiny. I can see myself in it. Look!

Isabela: Shit. Oh, shit. Is that a wrinkle? Is that a wrinkle between my brows?

Sebastian: Um, I don't see...

Isabela: Hold still!

OR THIS

Isabela: It's been years and not once have you tried to get me to repent and turn to the Maker.

Sebastian: Preaching rarely works, Isabela. To change a person's heart, one has to led by example.

Isabela: Huh. That makes sense. I can respect that.

Sebastian: I grew weary of the strings of nameless lovers and the nights of full of mindless pleasure. You will, too.

Isabela: (Gasps) That's the cruelest thing anyone's ever said to me! I think I'm going to cry.

[AndreaDraco]

He killed the Mage girl. I don't know why since I tried snapping him out of his "Justice persona," but it didn't work.

At the present time, it's not clear what prevents Vengeance from taking full control. Some say the "star option" appear if Hawke has been usually diplomatic, others say that the option is tied to Anders' friendship. In my playthrough, I snapped him out of Vengeance and, after that, he had appropriate dialogue reflecting his fear of totally loosing control.

I spared Gascard, but after that, I never saw him again. He didn't help at all.

After Leandra disappears, if you let Gascard live, if you go to Darktown, you'll find Gascard in the Abandoned Mining Tunnels and you can ask him to perform a blood ritual to instantly locate Quentin's lair. After that you'll be automatically transported to the foundry and Gascard will be with you. If you don't intend to replay the game, you can see what happens here.

Okay, so I know what "puttana" means, but I couldn't get the rest of it. I tried Google Translate and that made it even more confusing.

It means "that bitch daughter of a whore," or, as Aveline puts it, "that bitch-born whore."

Nope, I don't have that DLC. Honestly, I doubt I'd keep him as from what I've read, he seems very annoying.

Oh, don't mistake me: I hate Sebastian. But his quest in Act 3 features a cameo of (don't highlight if you plan to download the DLC at a later date) Leliana, now one of the Chantry secret spies, under the alias of Sister Nightingale.

[DeadPoolX]

I made the mistake of fighting the High Dragon right after starting Act 3. I didn't know I'd come across a dragon; if I had, I would've used some fire resistance runes and brought Merrill (in addition to Anders) instead of Isabela. I beat it, but we used up a shitload of health, stamina and mana potions.

Something odd happened when I killed it as there was a cinematic of what I imagine was supposed to be killing the dragon. However, for some reason the dragon didn't show up, so my character looked like he was riding and killing something invisible.

BTW, did you guys have any problems picking up the equipment the dragon drops when killed? I couldn't see anything under the dragon (even though we could walk right through it) and it took me a while to hit just the right spot to pick up the loot.

Oh and is there any way to make absolutely sure you're in a romance with a companion? After I killed the Arishok, the entry for Isabela states that she and Hawke had an argument and she left. She's back now and she's rejoined my party, so the romance should be there, but even so, I'd like to make sure before going too far.

Oh, don't mistake me: I hate Sebastian. But his quest in Act 3 features a cameo of (don't highlight if you plan to download the DLC at a later date) Leliana, now one of the Chantry secret spies, under the alias of Sister Nightingale.

Wait a sec... you mean I have to own the DLC with Sebastian to see Leliana? That sucks, especially since I'm already in Act 3.

Do you get to see other DA:O characters make an appearance? I saw Alistair leading the Grey Wardens during the battle against the Qunari, but what about anyone else?

[AndreaDraco]

Wait a sec... you mean I have to own the DLC with Sebastian to see Leliana? That sucks, especially since I'm already in Act 3.

Err... no. Leliana has a brief cameo even in the core game. The one in the Exiled Prince DLC further explains her... involvement.

Do you get to see other DA:O characters make an appearance? I saw Alistair leading the Grey Wardens during the battle against the Qunari, but what about anyone else?

You can see Zevran if you accept the "A Murder of Crows" quest. You can see Nathaniel, proved that you saved him and recruited in Awakening, in the "Finding Nathaniel" quest. Both are in Act 3.

About your question on the romances, you should be safe. The official guides confirms that, once Isabela returns in your party, you can still pursue a romance with her... even if I can't think of any reasons you should. How can both you and Tawmis prefer her over the sweet Merrill? Bah... guys

[Tawmis]

About your question on the romances, you should be safe. The official guides confirms that, once Isabela returns in your party, you can still pursue a romance with her... even if I can't think of any reasons you should. How can both you and Tawmis prefer her over the sweet Merrill? Bah... guys

She's a pirate.

And a gorgeous - if not, extremely slutty - woman! Sometimes you want a well versed woman to teach you the ways!

[AndreaDraco]

I just reached the point of no return in Act 3.

I foresee that we - me, Tawmis, DPX and Maia - will fight over what happens at the end. Oh boy! It was... shocking, to say the least.

[DeadPoolX]

I just learned something new: if you romance Isabela, you won't get her second "romance outfit" unless you respec her. This is due to a bug that the developers have very little interest in fixing. I can see why as the costume change is minimal and doesn't affect the character's stats, but even so, it's slightly annoying.

Of course... if you do respec her, you'll lose the rune slot that Isabela got from her first armor upgrade. The only way around that is to buy her armor upgrade AFTER you've already slept with her.

I got her the armor upgrade before ever "doing the deed" so if the choice is between a minor cosmetic change or a rune slot that can make an actual difference in-game, I think I'll take the latter option.

You can see the differences between her pre-romance (or never romanced) and post-romanced outfits here. Hardly a major change and to be honest, I like her normal outfit the best.

About your question on the romances, you should be safe. The official guides confirms that, once Isabela returns in your party, you can still pursue a romance with her... even if I can't think of any reasons you should. How can both you and Tawmis prefer her over the sweet Merrill? Bah... guys

I did the "nice girl" thing with Tali in ME2 (although Tali wasn't naive, like Merrill is), so I had no interest in doing it again. Besides, the elves look really odd and way too frail in DA2.

Anyway... I've dropped Anders from my party. He's still there in the character selection screen, but I'm no longer bringing him with me. I started doing this after his personal quest ("Justice") in Act 3.

I tend to sympathize with Mages and certainly don't like Templars, so no surprise there. But between how evasive he was being when questioned and how zealous he seems in his cause, I have a bad feeling he's going to do something that'll kill a lot of people.

After that I took back all the items and started using Merrill as my Mage. I'd used her before, so she had some good spells and a decent staff. Giving her Anders' stuff helped a lot.

Oh and I also met Zavran today. From the dialogue between him and Isabela, I almost thought they were going to have sex. I said to her, "I really don't want you doing this" (or something similar) and she complied. That's probably a good test to see if your romance with Isabela is working; if she isn't romanced, she won't even consider Hawke in her decision.

[AndreaDraco]

Anyway... I've dropped Anders from my party. He's still there in the character selection screen, but I'm no longer bringing him with me. I started doing this after his personal quest ("Justice") in Act 3.

I tend to sympathize with Mages and certainly don't like Templars, so no surprise there. But between how evasive he was being when questioned and how zealous he seems in his cause, I have a bad feeling he's going to do something that'll kill a lot of people.

I invoke the right to remain silent.

After that I took back all the items and started using Merrill as my Mage. I'd used her before, so she had some good spells and a decent staff. Giving her Anders' stuff helped a lot.

Problem is: Merrill can't heal. She doesn't have access to the Creation school or the Spirit Healer specialization. How can you manage without a group healing or some glyphs or the heroic buffs?

Oh and I also met Zavran today. From the dialogue between him and Isabela, I almost thought they were going to have sex. I said to her, "I really don't want you doing this" (or something similar) and she complied. That's probably a good test to see if your romance with Isabela is working; if she isn't romanced, she won't even consider Hawke in her decision.

Yes. If she refused sex with Zevran, it means that the romance is a go. Zevran is incredibly bugged, though. I don't know if you took the time to explore every dialogue option but, even if your warden is well and alive, Zevran will refer to him/her as if he/she did the Ultimate Sacrifice. And if your Warden was in a relationship with him, he won't recognize it. We know it's a bug, though, because we have access to the complete talk-table and Zevran's lines are supposed to be different if the Warden was his friend or his lover.

[DeadPoolX]

After that I took back all the items and started using Merrill as my Mage. I'd used her before, so she had some good spells and a decent staff. Giving her Anders' stuff helped a lot.

Problem is: Merrill can't heal. She doesn't have access to the Creation school or the Spirit Healer specialization. How can you manage without a group healing or some glyphs or the heroic buffs?

NOTE: I don't think we need to put spoiler tags around a discussion of spells. Anyone who's started the game can see which spells Anders and Merrill have access to from the start.

Like in DA:O, I don't see the need for a healing spell. Healing potions are more economical -- they take less time to recharge and can be used by everyone in your party at once.

Anders' heal spell can only target one person at a time and, like I said above, takes a long time to recharge. I know his character-only abilities have some good healing spells, but they very situational. Sure, you could activate Panacea, but then you can't cast any offensive spells, so your usefulness has just plummeted. If nothing else, Vengeance was more useful and that had nothing to do with healing at all.

Besides, I like the Entropy line of spells that Merrill has. Horror, when upgraded with Despair, can do a real number on the enemy. Couple that with a fully upgraded Crushing Prison spell and you're good to go.

[Maiandra]

OK, well I can't participate in most of this yet, since I still have to finish Act 1. Too much stuff going on this week and I wanted to wait until my long weekend before getting into the game again, so I could enjoy it properly.

I'll just say that I'm liking it so far. The lack of stealth was glaring for me a few times, but other than that I like the game. I do enjoy the music and the setting. I actually don't mind having it in the city, since there is quite a few areas and I really like the day/night cycle.

Are you liking the new companions so far? If you're going to pursue a romance, I'll be very curious to know which companion you'll choose!

I like the companions so far, but I've made a point of only taking a few of them with me, so that if I do choose to replay the game, I still have some new conversations and reactions to hear. So the only ones I really spent a lot of time with in Act 1 (I just started Act 2) were Aveline, Anders, Varric and (to some extent) Bethany. That gave me a well-balanced group.

So far, the three I've had with me have the their friendship at 100 now. That was a little harder to do with Aveline, being a rogue and all. So if I really feel like taking some others with me, I could, but I probably won't. I'm half tempted to take Isabella with me and see if I can make her a rival.

I like Aveline for her support and loyalty, even if I don't always agree with her views. I thought it was cute when she had that kind of flirty interaction with the guardsman you rescue in Act 1.

Varric is awesome. I wasn't expecting to like his character that much, but he's really fleshed out and likable. I love it when you can let him jump in a conversation to convince people of things and he spins this entire ridiculous story. Plus, he has that great duster! I want one for my rogue!

The entire Anders/Justice thing is really interesting. I've liked him during Act 1 (except for when he seemed wanted to kill Templar Thrask, who seems to be one of the few good ones). I support mages being free and self-governing, but I prefer a peaceable solution. We'll see how that goes from here, since I'm not sure that will be an option.

As for romances, I was planning to have my character romance Anders. Although Fenris was more appealing than I was expecting, I just liked Anders better to begin with. However, now that I'm in Act 2, his new super hard-line paranoid personality is a little off-putting and I suspect I'm setting myself up for trouble by being involved with him. That seems to be a theme for me in these games. I'll probably end the game with my character being alone and miserable again. Honestly, at this point, Fenris seems the more charming of the two, which isn't saying a lot. However, from a role-playing perspective, I don't think my character would be that fickle. So, despite my misgivings I'll stick with Anders and just hope my support of him does some good.

Is it just me, or was it a little odd that both Fenris and Anders, in their new character description at the beginning of Act 2 are both described as increasingly reclusive and paraniod? I think they always screw the player over in some way with the male romancables.

[AndreaDraco]

Like in DA:O, I don't see the need for a healing spell. Healing potions are more economical -- they take less time to recharge and can be used by everyone in your party at once.

Sure, healing potions are quicker and cheaper, but they also restore only a fraction of the ally's health, whereas Heal - when upgraded and maybe boosted by some healing-enhancing item, like Bassrath-Kata - can fully replenish the health bar. And Anders's Aid Allies and Regroup are wonderful abilities in their own rights: the only offensive spells I gave are Winter's Grasp, Cone of Cold, Crushing Prison and Walking Bomb. I usually use him as a damage-dealer in the first half of the most long and challenging battles, like Xebenkeck's one, or the High Dragon, and then switch to Panacea to become a supporter.

Anyway, even without Heal, I couldn't do without the Glyphs, which are the most useful crowd-control spells of the bunch, especially Glyph of Repulsion, which is vital to keep enemies that usually target mages away from Anders himself and especially Hawke, since his AoE spells draw a lot of threat.

Different strategies, I guess

[AndreaDraco]

So the only ones I really spent a lot of time with in Act 1 (I just started Act 2) were Aveline, Anders, Varric and (to some extent) Bethany. That gave me a well-balanced group.

With the exception of Bethany (being a mage, I had Carver, of course), that's exactly my party composition

As for romances, I was planning to have my character romance Anders. Although Fenris was more appealing than I was expecting, I just liked Anders better to begin with. However, now that I'm in Act 2, his new super hard-line paranoid personality is a little off-putting and I suspect I'm setting myself up for trouble by being involved with him.

I planned to romance Fenris. I was adamant about this choice up until the first Anders' quest, the one involving Karl. From that moment, I was hooked to him. Everything about the character deeply resonated with me and I knew he was the right choice for my Hawke. As for the trouble... Brace yourself

Is it just me, or was it a little odd that both Fenris and Anders, in their new character description at the beginning of Act 2 are both described as increasingly reclusive and paraniod? I think they always screw the player over in some way with the male romancables.

Well, straight males don't have it that much better, considering that Merrill is a pariah among her own people for her reckless use of blood magic. Furthermore, she grows even more addicted to her Elhuvian as the game progress. And Isabela... well, she's Isabela.

What I really like about the whole Anders/Fenris dynamic is that they are incredibly similar, considering how much they both value freedom, and yet they manage to fall to the opposite sides of the spectrum, at least at the beginning of the game.

A question for you, Maia: I'm planning to play a rogue on my second playthrough. Always using Varric (and sometimes even the Starkhaven prince) I have a good understanding on how Archery works, but, since I never took Isabela with me, I know nothing about the dual-wielding options. Are you liking the new talent trees? Is it fun to play?

[Tawmis]

"Who Needs To Be Rescued" is apparently bugged in DA2 for many... including myself.

After the set up, and the person is killed who starts the fight - there's one boss - standing by himself (who looks a lot like Zeveran, incidentally)... but there's no dialogue and the frappin' quest is stuck in the quest log...

[Tawmis]

And if I ever have to fight a High Dragon again - it will be be too freaking soon.

[Tawmis]

Anyway... I've dropped Anders from my party. He's still there in the character selection screen, but I'm no longer bringing him with me. I started doing this after his personal quest ("Justice") in Act 3.

I tend to sympathize with Mages and certainly don't like Templars, so no surprise there. But between how evasive he was being when questioned and how zealous he seems in his cause, I have a bad feeling he's going to do something that'll kill a lot of people.

After that I took back all the items and started using Merrill as my Mage. I'd used her before, so she had some good spells and a decent staff. Giving her Anders' stuff helped a lot.

I almost giggle that you kick out Anders but take Merrill along?

Just did Merrill's Quest for Act 3... and I'd like to see how you react (depending on how things go down, I am sure) - for hers.