Dragon Age II

[Maiandra]

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?

I'm not really a power-gamer, so I don't know if my character build is the BEST one possible, but I did try to plan it out and take abilities that would complement each other and make my rogue balanced.

I tried to focus on giving her passive abilities that would increase her chance for critical hits in various situations, as well as giving her a small range of combat abilities for different situations. I managed to avoid taking too many talents I didn't want.

The melee rogue works best taking down small weak opponents quickly, while the fighter is kept busy with the boss or tougher enemies. It's also beneficial to attack whoever is attacking other party members, instead of seeking out targets of your own.

My rogue is currently level 15 and she has the following talents:

Dual-Weapon

• Backstab+Murder (a good quick-charging hit)
• Unending Chain (this is more beneficial than it sounds)
• Explosive Strike (good against higher rank enemies)
• Twin Fangs (really good at dealing damage)

Pretty much all the talents in this tree are useful, but so far I've taken those I consider most useful. I may take the rest of them as the game progresses (at least the upgrade of Twin Fangs).

Sabotage

• Miasmic Flask (good for keeping enemies inert while you deal with others)

I really wanted to take Fatiguing Fog and its upgrades, but I didn't want to have to take Rush, which is a prerequisite, since it didn't seem like a very rogue-like talent. So I didn't bother taking it, but you might want to consider it.

Subterfuge

• Evade+Tactical Withdrawl (gets you quickly out of the way of major boss attacks or enemy groups, and can stun groups of enemies to stop you from getting overwhelmed)
• Chameleon's Breath+Chameleon's Cloud (great for increased defense and increases opportunity to attack with related talents)

Scoundrel

• Blindside (this is where the attacking enemies who are attacking party members is beneficial)
• Back-to-Back (took this to get Twist the Knife, but it turned out to be useful to teleport across the battle field, either to help a party member, or to escape. )
• Twist the Knife (complements Miasmic Flask and Tactical Withdrawl)

I'm considering also taking Follow-Through later.

I chose Shadow and Duelist for my specialisations because they were more in-line with my other talents and my plan of trying for a number of passive talents. Plus, they have one or two talents in them that are worth taking alone, whereas most of the really good talents in Assassin require taking most of the tree.

Shadow

• Pinpoint Precision (a nice, passive bonus)
• Disorienting Criticals (complements Chameleon's Breath+Chameleon's Cloud, plus Varric's Smoking Arrow)

I really want Predator, but it would require me to take Decoy+Rigged Decoy and Shadow Veil (the best options). Shadow Veil would be useful if I took Invisible Friend or Stealth, but I'm not very interested in Decoy, let alone upgrading it. So I'm holding off for now.

Duelist

• Parry (gives a good defense bonus for tougher enemies)

I plan to take Evasive Maneuvers, so I will definitely take Riposte to get it and possibly En Garde. As an alternative to En Garde, I may take Throw the Gauntlet, which is less desirable, but leads to Sure Strikes, which I also want.

I started out giving her a small range of talents, then focused on gradually expanding them and taking the related talents that would give critical hits.

There really are a lot of options for melee rogues and it would be entirely possible to come up with a different talent set and focus and still be very (or more) effective.

[Maxor127]

I have a rogue too. He pretty much acts like my warrior in Origins. He deals a ton of damage and the only negative is that he can get killed easily and can't really handle crowds.

I just did the Rock Wraith fight. It was pretty ridiculous on Hard. And the sad thing is once you learn the pattern, it isn't that hard as long as you have a couple healer mages. I almost beat it my second try with my rogue, Bethany, Anders, and Varric. But it was just so long and tedious, and I finally died when I accidentally pressed the wrong quick slot for one of Anders' spells and switched off Panacea for Vengeance. No way I was going through that fight again, so I just turned the difficulty to casual and probably would've killed it in under a minute if it weren't for its scripted attacks and enemy spawns.

So I'm guessing there's no penalty for lowering the difficulty? Doesn't seem like there's an achievement associated with it. I've been playing Hard so I have somewhat of a challenge, but even then it's too easy without friendly fire. But it kind of has to be because the battles are so cheap. It's stupid how reinforcements just appear out of nowhere. Jump from the ceiling like ninjas even. Makes me feel like I'm playing an elevator section in any beat 'em up from the 90s. But the boss fights are the worst because they're so tedious and sad. Every fight I've had pretty much boils down to range attacking the boss while it wastes its time chasing one of my party members, preferably my tank.

[AndreaDraco]

Good point. Maybe Anders' actions will provoke what occurs in DA3. In fact, this sort of thing might be a good way for Morrigan's kid to take control.

Have you seen Morrigan's figure at the end, drawn in the book Cassandra had? There's even Shale!

I tried to focus on giving her passive abilities that would increase her chance for critical hits in various situations, as well as giving her a small range of combat abilities for different situations. I managed to avoid taking too many talents I didn't want.

This is kinf of like I wanted to build it, without many combat abilities and many passive or supporting abilities. In short, I'd like to build him around the Scoundrel, Sabotage and Subterfuge tree, without spending point in Dual-Wielding. Is it possible in your opinion? Or the combat-related talents are just too good to be true?

It's stupid how reinforcements just appear out of nowhere. Jump from the ceiling like ninjas even. Makes me feel like I'm playing an elevator section in any beat 'em up from the 90s. But the boss fights are the worst because they're so tedious and sad.

I agree on the tiresome waves, but I really like the boss fights. You've only see the Rock Wraith, which was nice but nothing exceptional. Act 2 and Act 3 feature more interesting and compelling boss fights, believe me

[Tawmis]

I just did the Rock Wraith fight. It was pretty ridiculous on Hard. And the sad thing is once you learn the pattern, it isn't that hard as long as you have a couple healer mages. I almost beat it my second try with my rogue, Bethany, Anders, and Varric. But it was just so long and tedious, and I finally died when I accidentally pressed the wrong quick slot for one of Anders' spells and switched off Panacea for Vengeance. No way I was going through that fight again, so I just turned the difficulty to casual and probably would've killed it in under a minute if it weren't for its scripted attacks and enemy spawns.

So you know when the Rock Wraith goes super nova - or when he does the "suction" spell (for lack of a better word) - you can hide behind the pillars and avoid all damage? I figured this out the second time I fought him (first time I fought him I was pretty much murdered, because I was ill prepared for him). The second time, I figured out the pillars - and that made the fight incredibly easier.

So I'm guessing there's no penalty for lowering the difficulty? Doesn't seem like there's an achievement associated with it.

No penalties that I am aware of. I dropped a specific fight out by the Bone Pit from Hard down to Normal, and still got a specific achievement (on the X360).

It's stupid how reinforcements just appear out of nowhere. Jump from the ceiling like ninjas even. Makes me feel like I'm playing an elevator section in any beat 'em up from the 90s.

Dude. Flash backs of "Double Dragon" just came to mind when you said that, and I could not stop laughing...

But the boss fights are the worst because they're so tedious and sad. Every fight I've had pretty much boils down to range attacking the boss while it wastes its time chasing one of my party members, preferably my tank.

So I am doing my second play through (but not in any kind of rush), since I have beat the game. If there's something I learned from playing it the first time - it's that the Boss Fights are indeed - a lot of what you said. Essentially everyone attack, while I try to keep the aggro on me, with the tank, and have it chase me around. This happened with a fight when attempting to rescue some Qunari that got abducted; this happened with the fight with the Airshok; this happened with the fight against the High Dragon; fighting TWO freaking Pride Demons at the same time ... So this time, I am playing HARD for all the normal fights, but INSTANTLY dropping the option to casual for the boss fights. It loses some of the fun when you're spending so freaking long on a boss fight, that it annoys and frustrates you.

[DeadPoolX]

There are ways to make the boss fights easier.

For the High Dragon, stock up on fire resistance runes and install cold runes into your weapons. For Mages, make sure you've got cold spells as well.

Fighting against the Arishok is a LOT easier if you use a Rock Armor Potion and Debilitating Poison on your weapon.

The cheapest boss fight was, without question, the one against Meredith. I realize she's the end-game boss, but you had to fight her several times (and her lyrium-energized statues) before finally killing her.

[Tawmis]

For the High Dragon, stock up on fire resistance runes and install cold runes into your weapons.

Assuming one knows that it's a High Dragon they're about to fight... I had no idea. So I went in with what I had. I could have restored, got runes, swapped out all the weapons runes and such; but that's too much of a pain in the arse.

[DeadPoolX]

For the High Dragon, stock up on fire resistance runes and install cold runes into your weapons.

Assuming one knows that it's a High Dragon they're about to fight... I had no idea. So I went in with what I had. I could have restored, got runes, swapped out all the weapons runes and such; but that's too much of a pain in the arse.

Same here. I had no idea I was about to fight a High Dragon. As I said before in a previous post, I used up almost every health, stamina and mana potion I had. My Warrior barely needed any help, but my teammates did and quite often.

BTW, Tawmis, you said earlier that even though you romanced Merrill, your character stayed with Isabela, right? That's because there's a bug in the game where whoever you sleep with first is who Varric says you stay with at the end. It doesn't matter if you complete a romance with someone else.

Maybe that works for your character, but a lot of people on the BioWare Social Site were pissed off about that bug. I would be too, but I intended to romance Isabela anyway.

Oh and I'm replaying my game from before the Deep Roads when I meet Nathaniel. Even though I really wanted to side with the Mages, I couldn't stomach my decision when so many basically gave a big "f*ck you" to me after I spent the entire game defending them. So I'm going to side with the Templars.

[AndreaDraco]

So I am doing my second play through [...]

What are you playing this time? Mage?

[Tawmis]

BTW, Tawmis, you said earlier that even though you romanced Merrill, your character stayed with Isabela, right? That's because there's a bug in the game where whoever you sleep with first is who Varric says you stay with at the end. It doesn't matter if you complete a romance with someone else.

Maybe that works for your character, but a lot of people on the BioWare Social Site were pissed off about that bug. I would be too, but I intended to romance Isabela anyway.

I would have restored had it said I went with Merill. Nothing against her, was hoping to romance her also - see if there was any kind of achievement for romancing everyone - such, does not appear to be the case. So Isabella is who I would have wanted to race off with anyway!

So I am doing my second play through [...]

What are you playing this time? Mage?

A rogue, this time around. Being far more of an arse (since my warrior pretty much had every saintly response). Also, because I figure as a RogueI might side with the Templars. If I do a Mage play through, obviously I wouldn't side with the Templars... so I wanted to do something very different.

[Tawmis]

I was going to put this in the rant thread - but figured I'd post it here instead, since it deals with Dragon Age II.

So, remember when I said, my preference is play the game without modding it (unless it's to fix bugs and such), first time through? Someone... I know, is a prime example of why I dislike modding the game before initially beating it (and when I say modding from here on out, I mean - to basically slant things in the character's favor - like unlimited inventory, changing damage spells do, etc).

So I was playing Dragon Age: Origins, when said person came along and asked, "What are you playing?" I said, "Dragon Age: Origins." So this person says, "Have you played Dragon Age II yet?"

I explained that I had, and at the time, felt I was near the end of the game (and I was, as I would end up beating it two days later). So this person was like, "Yeah, Dragon Age II sucks compared to Origins!" And at first, I was with this person. I was like, "Yeah, there's a lot of things in DAO that I liked more."

So first, I will explain his valid points...
Caves and rooms are utterly recycled, repeatedly, for everything. Almost every mission in the cave, is the same exact cave, with just "rock doors" blocking access to certain areas. But it's pretty much "Cave_01" with modified doors. Same to be said about the majority of buildings you enter as missions (excluding your own Estate, the Chantry, etc - but the extra mission houses you enter). That, I felt was valid.

He began explaining how he walked through everything - even on Hard - and that he played a Mage and sat back and pretty much just healed while his party went on killing sprees.

I could see this. Mages are, after all, quite powerful.

Where he lost me - was when he was like, "Yeah, I think I just started the third Act, and I have this really cool staff." And I was like, "Oh? From the Deep Roads?" And he shook his head, "No, it's this two headed snake staff."

I was like, "Oh, you mean like the First Enchanter's in DA2? His has three snake heads."

He was like, "No, I am pretty sure it's just two." And I was like, "No, his is three. Maybe yours is two? What's yours called?"

He said, "The Staff of Vilation."

At the time - that meant nothing to me, because I hadn't yet fought First Enchanter Orsino.

But then he went on to say how he made his inventory limitless, through a mod. Then he changed how much damage his spells do, as well as healing.

And I was like, "This is why I am so against people like you who mod a game before initial play through and say it sucks, because it presents no challenge."

Then two days later, I beat the First Enchanter in the fight and look the Staff of Violation.

So not only had he modded his inventory, spell damage, but clearly his weapons as well, as he had just begun Act 3, and not started the fight with the Templars/Mages....

[DeadPoolX]

I have nothing against modding a game, before or after having beaten it once, but if you make it easier for yourself, complaining that it's "too easy" is idiotic. You made the decision to do that.

The mods that I put in do cosmetic changes, like adding "pants" to Isabela. Believe it or not, I think she looks better, especially if you choose this type. It fits her character and outfit.

The same guy (or girl, not sure which) who did that mod also has "lighter skin" versions. Some people think that's "racist" or whatever, but Isabela's skin wasn't anywhere near as dark in DA:O. I didn't add the "lighter skin" version because the head wasn't changed, so you have a darker skinned head with a lighter skinned body.

I wish there had be a reskin for Hayder's Razor. The way it normally looks is ridiculously stupid.

I have to admit that I would've installed the mod that makes my inventory limitless had I known about it. I hate having to manage inventory space, which is one reason why I liked ME2 so much -- no inventory!

[Tawmis]

The mods that I put in do cosmetic changes, like adding "pants" to Isabela. Believe it or not, I think she looks better, especially if you choose this type. It fits her character and outfit.

Okay, admittedly, those pants do look good. My little trashy pirate is hot no matter what!

The same guy (or girl, not sure which) who did that mod also has "lighter skin" versions. Some people think that's "racist" or whatever, but Isabela's skin wasn't anywhere near as dark in DA:O. I didn't add the "lighter skin" version because the head wasn't changed, so you have a darker skinned head with a lighter skinned body.

I am fine with how dark she is (and wouldn't see it racist if someone wanted a lighter skin!) I do like Alistar's comment (if you have her in the party when he comes to town) where he says, "You, uh, look... different."

I wish there had be a reskin for Hayder's Razor. The way it normally looks is ridiculously stupid.

I have to admit that I would've installed the mod that makes my inventory limitless had I known about it. I hate having to manage inventory space, which is one reason why I liked ME2 so much -- no inventory!

Well there's apparently a mod for it (the inventory).

As for Hayder's... I am surprised no one's made a mod to make any of the swords appear as lightsabers...

[AndreaDraco]

I agree with both of you. Why complain that the game is too easy and that you have nothing to do, if it was you who modded the game to be this way?

And about Hayder's Razor... am I the only one that likes it?

[Tawmis]

And about Hayder's Razor... am I the only one that likes it?

Well, other than it looks like something from Final Fantasy VII, I thought they were all fine.

[AndreaDraco]

Well, other than it looks like something from Final Fantasy VII, I thought they were all fine.

Never played it