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If I ignored crafting I can't deck out my entire party in plaidweave and I can't have that.
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May 21, 2020 15:29
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Smol posted:KE's defensive skills skills Fade Shield, Fade Cloak and Ice Armor make you immortal if you can deal damage fast enough. Spamming Spirit Blade was never the best way to deal damage though, it was merely sufficient. It was the best way to deal with defenses pre-patch.
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May 21, 2020 15:52
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I just fought the Crestwood dragon and it was not great. Dorian died fairly early on even with the weird amulet that gives him a high chance to autorevive. Iron Bull came close to dropping several times but I gave him the guard on hit weapon before the fight and I think that made the difference. Time for the Abyss!
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May 21, 2020 16:00
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Geostomp posted:It was the best way to deal with defenses pre-patch. Yeah it used to have some frankly absurd bonus VS shield/guard that made you wipe out even the highest amounts in like 1 or 2 hits.
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May 21, 2020 16:11
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Finished Awakening, Golems and Witch Hunt yesterday, so time to move on to DA2! Not sure what kind of Hawke I want to play this time. Think I did a sword & shield warrior last time, so perhaps I’ll choose something else than that. Smol fucked around with this message at 06:31 on May 22, 2020 |
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May 22, 2020 06:29
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Rogue and mage are both much more fun than sword and board warrior. Rogue you get Bethany again, mage you'll end up with Carver and the cognitive dissonance of walking around Kirkwall openly as an apostate.
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May 22, 2020 08:37
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I think Dual Wield Rogue might be the most fun class. It's certainly the most fun to look at. I've done 2H Warrior, two Mage runs and a DW Rogue run. The second mage run, my last, was the first one I played on Normal and had to actually try a bit harder to grasp the battle system. Played a combination of Blood Magic and the debuff specialization. Was a lot of fun to watch the enemy's HP just plummet once you stacked debuffs on them. For my next run I'm still not sure how I'll get by without some way to instantly silence the Arcane Horrors like I did with my Mage Hawke.. They can kill your entire party in seconds if you don't stop them from casting. Also I say I beat DA2 on Normal but I still can't beat the Ancient Rock Wraith without going down to Casual. I hate that fight so much.
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May 22, 2020 09:20
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I like Bethany more than Carver, so I'll probably go with Warrior or Rogue. 2H warrior can be a bit painful on nightmare due to friendly fire (if you aren't careful about your party composition, anyhow), so maybe I'll go rogue. I actually found S&S warrior to be a lot of fun the last time. It's not like I was playing some kind of a tank build, I went full offense with Vanguard, Reaver and whatnot else. It becomes particularly powerful when your rogues get Fatiguing Fog - the synergy with Assault and Scatter is immense.
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May 22, 2020 09:44
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I think the most important tip I can give for the Ancient Rock Wraith is to add lightning resistance runes to everyone's armor. They alone can turn the fight from frustratingly hard to almost too easy.
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May 22, 2020 09:53
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NikkolasKing posted:Also I say I beat DA2 on Normal but I still can't beat the Ancient Rock Wraith without going down to Casual. I hate that fight so much. I've played this games twice. The first time I started on Nightmare but then switched to Normal. The second time was recent, I've started on Nightmare. I felt fine, couldn't remember why was it so hard for me. But then I got to Ancient Rock Wraith and remembered why. Seriously, DA2 starts well with a difficult ogre battle that probably telling you if you set the difficulty too high. But that rock thing adds huge difficulty spike. And it's not like you can see that it's too hard, go back and grind or buy potions. Nope, you need to reload a save from several hours ago before you start the expidition.
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May 22, 2020 10:06
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I enjoyed DA2 as a 2h Warrior because you can stack attack speed to the point where you're basically playing as Cloud from the FF7 remake with how fast you throw your greatsword around. You attack so fast you can't even see the attack animation and you're hitting everything in front of you so its pretty strong. The Arishok fight is unbearable on the higher difficulties though.
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May 22, 2020 11:00
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Smol posted:Not sure what kind of Hawke I want to play this time. Think I did a sword & shield warrior last time, so perhaps I’ll choose something else than that. Mage is the best class, lore-wise, to play in every game but the most important character choice to make in DA2 is to always pick the sarcastic replies so you get Smarmy Hawke. Once you have that personality soft-locked the game's bullshit is a lot more tolerable.
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May 22, 2020 12:19
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The Arishok fight is pretty easy if you have a weapon that does frost or nature damage. S&S warriors get one just before the fight, so it's fairly easy for them, even on nightmare.
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May 22, 2020 12:37
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Skippy McPants posted:Mage is the best class, lore-wise, to play in every game but the most important character choice to make in DA2 is to always pick the sarcastic replies so you get Smarmy Hawke. Once you have that personality soft-locked the game's bullshit is a lot more tolerable. It’s much easier to accept the game when even the main character is acting like they don’t want to take the idiocy around them seriously. I would expect nothing less from Varric’s best friend.
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May 22, 2020 13:39
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Finished the Abyss, forgot there was an even bigger goddamn spider at the end. A poo poo ton of missions unlocked at the war table, and I made several passes through the companions because there were loads of cutscenes to catch up on. Sorry about hiring the wardens Solas, but unless you were planning to fight the next Blight by yourself it had to be done.
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May 22, 2020 14:43
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I think my next playthrough I might just go Warrior all the way through the three games. I've definitely never done a Warrior in 2 or 3 and Reavers seem damned fun so I kinda want to try them out. I have done Warriors in Origins before and they are generally powerful and fun there.
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May 22, 2020 18:06
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I think DA2 has the most fun mage, especially the most fun mage specialization in Force mage, that you should check it out at least once.
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May 22, 2020 18:25
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Force Mage / Spirit Healer just keeps all enemies helpless on the ground and all allies in top murdering condition so with friends you are a unstoppable walking magic threshing machine.
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May 22, 2020 21:46
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Force Mage/Spirit Healer is the way to go. Only way to get Group Heal other than Anders, and gently caress Anders.
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May 23, 2020 03:57
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Anders is my boy, my only regret is that he didn't let me bomb the Chantry with him
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May 23, 2020 04:21
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Anders is a gormless twit who wanted to do the right thing and somehow, in a world of options, found the worst possible path forward. I hardly ever kill people in Bioware RPGs, but I knifed the hell outta him.
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May 23, 2020 04:24
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Skippy McPants posted:Anders is a gormless twit who wanted to do the right thing and somehow, in a world of options, found the worst possible path forward. At least that's a kindness in a way. It frees him ad Justice. Better than all the people who are like "I hated Anders so much that I kept him alive to aid the Templars and genocide innocent people." AKA they pulled a Sebastian. gently caress that spineless piece of poo poo.
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May 23, 2020 05:09
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Anders gets a lot of poo poo for being a dude whose possessed. He makes his own decisions, but is super guided by vengeance, which makes him do things he likely otherwise wouldn’t. Ill never understand folks who complain about Anders in DA2 being completely different than Anders in awakening when that’s entirely the point.
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May 23, 2020 05:11
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chaosapiant posted:Anders gets a lot of poo poo for being a dude whose possessed. He makes his own decisions, but is super guided by vengeance, which makes him do things he likely otherwise wouldn’t. Ill never understand folks who complain about Anders in DA2 being completely different than Anders in awakening when that’s entirely the point. People who complain that Anders is different weren't paying attention in Awakening. His world view back then was just as warped and myopic. The only thing Justice did was give Anders the drive to intact his terrible ideas. Seriously, am I the only one who remembers the bit in Awakening where he praised Tivinter because it was a society where Mages weren't oppressed? He's like the Ferelden equivalent of a Tankie. Skippy McPants fucked around with this message at 05:19 on May 23, 2020 |
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May 23, 2020 05:16
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Skippy McPants posted:People who complain that Anders is different weren't paying attention in Awakening. His world view back then was just as warped and myopic. The only thing Justice did was give Anders the drive to intact his terrible ideas. Ok, but.. he had a kitty!
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May 23, 2020 05:38
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Skippy McPants posted:People who complain that Anders is different weren't paying attention in Awakening. His world view back then was just as warped and myopic. The only thing Justice did was give Anders the drive to intact his terrible ideas. When your choices are"oppressed all your life fro being born differently' or "live in a country where people like me have actual power" it's not really comparable to idolizing the USSR. Unless you're like a sweatshop worker making a penny a day and you yearn to live in the glorious worker utopia the USSR marketed itself as. Awakening Anders hated the Templars and the injusitce mages suffered but he was too selfish and cowardly to do anything about it except try to save hmself. Justice gave him the nerve to try and help all mages.
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May 23, 2020 07:17
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It's not a perfect metaphor, I agree, but it's more like "oppressed all your life for being born differently" and "oppress everyone else all your life for being born differently." I found the exact line from Awakening,quote:Anders: There's nothing a mage can do to prove himself. Everyone needs to be protected from you. The end. Everyone who isn't Anders or a member of the Imperium understands that Tevinter is not model Mages should follow, but Anders doesn't understand that because Anders is an idiot. And the problem in DA 2 is that he's is still selfish and cowardly. Justice gave him the will to act, but he couldn't give him any good ideas. He nearly squanders the first chance Mages have in forever to wrench themselves away from The Circle because he's too impatient and conceited to come up with a better idea than, "start an impossible war and hope things get better?" If Corypheus hadn't shown up to present a larger threat, his uprising woulda been squished, ending with Mages driven back into an even more oppressive system. I don't blame him for wanting to tear down the whole rotten edifice; I blame him for sucking so bad at doing it.
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May 23, 2020 07:49
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Anders was just the wrong sort of person to be expected to lead to any positive change. The mages needed a figure to rally behind. One who could somehow have enough clout, patience, and cleverness to manage to get their message out without the Templars suppressing it. It’s a rare sort of person with even rarer connections. All of which are things Anders lacks. The thing is, Anders admitted that himself earlier. In his rational moments, he admits he’s no leader and that the mages are too fractured to stand a chance in battle. The problem is that we aren’t dealing with just Anders anymore. He let himself host a creature of pure emotion that has no concept of complexity or patience into his mind out of some misguided idea that this would somehow help both serve others. Even that wouldn’t have been too bad if not for the fact that his own issues warped said creature into a dark parody of itself. Instead of adding the skills he needed, all he got was intense motivation, lessened control, and a power boost. Now we have a man hosting a borderline demon who has a desperate desire to cause change, but none of the abilities needed to enact his will or even calm down in a place of endless corruption. That’s dangerously stressful for a normal person, but disastrous for an abomination. It was only a matter of time before the frustration turned broke him into the same irrational force of destruction most abominations are. Geostomp fucked around with this message at 11:04 on May 23, 2020 |
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May 23, 2020 10:57
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Yeah, it takes a mage Inquisitor who allies with the mages and puts a softened Leliana upon the Sunburst Throne,to get mages the freedom and respect that Anders wanted for them but was unable to achieve.
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May 23, 2020 11:12
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Loghain I have bad news about those vacation plans you made.
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May 23, 2020 12:20
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Helith posted:Yeah, it takes a mage Inquisitor who allies with the mages and puts a softened Leliana upon the Sunburst Throne,to get mages the freedom and respect that Anders wanted for them but was unable to achieve.
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May 23, 2020 12:40
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Female warrior Hawke it is. Not sure about the weapon yet, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out
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May 23, 2020 16:11
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I say two handed if only because my fondest memories of DA2 usually involve turning crowds of goons into jelly and giblet tornadoes with Whirlwind. It is over the top which is probably the best way to take DA2.
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May 23, 2020 17:10
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Definitely second the two-handed suggestion for DA2, it's the only time I've enjoyed being a warrior in a game.
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May 23, 2020 17:30
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Skippy McPants posted:And the problem in DA 2 is that he's is still selfish and cowardly. Justice gave him the will to act, but he couldn't give him any good ideas. He nearly squanders the first chance Mages have in forever to wrench themselves away from The Circle because he's too impatient and conceited to come up with a better idea than, "start an impossible war and hope things get better?" He's a literal terrorist in every worst way. He doesn't attack the Templars themselves or any hard target he plants a bomb to wipe out the people who try their best to do nice things in a broken system because it's easier. Bioware really hosed themselves trying to make him sympathetic especially since if you do his quest he uses you as a unwitting distraction in his mass murder and then gets all weepy eyed like "I had no choice" like what the gently caress man you are a walking WMD how can you not just wipe out some Templar base instead? DA2 really poo poo the bed in a lot of ways, map re-use aside, but their dumbass "truth is in the middle" attempt at a story is narrative garbage as best and actively reinforcing the toxic mentality that both sides are valid in pro/anti genocide clash.
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May 23, 2020 18:43
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pentyne posted:He's a literal terrorist in every worst way. He doesn't attack the Templars themselves or any hard target he plants a bomb to wipe out the people who try their best to do nice things in a broken system because it's easier. Bioware really hosed themselves trying to make him sympathetic especially since if you do his quest he uses you as a unwitting distraction in his mass murder and then gets all weepy eyed like "I had no choice" like what the gently caress man you are a walking WMD how can you not just wipe out some Templar base instead? I mean, the Chantry hierarchy is probably the group most responsible for how terrible the world is
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May 23, 2020 18:49
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pentyne posted:He's a literal terrorist in every worst way. He doesn't attack the Templars themselves or any hard target he plants a bomb to wipe out the people who try their best to do nice things in a broken system because it's easier. Not to defend Anders (since it is just about as morally questionable either way), but I got the sense that he didn't do it because it was "easier" as much as he was specifically aiming to remove any possibility for détente between mages and templars. He thought that any peace would be a quiet death for any hope of the mages getting more freedom, so he blew up the Chantry along with the Grand Cleric, who was a lot more reasonable than Meredith and probably would've been able to preserve the status quo, to force a conflict where mages would have no choice but to fight.
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May 23, 2020 19:03
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Lord Cyrahzax posted:I mean, the Chantry hierarchy is probably the group most responsible for how terrible the world is  everyone who disagrees.
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May 23, 2020 19:10
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SubponticatePoster posted:A softened Leliana is probably the "best" result for the most people, but a hardened Leliana is great because she just starts
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May 23, 2020 20:13
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Lord Cyrahzax posted:I mean, the Chantry hierarchy is probably the group most responsible for how terrible the world is This is something so many people miss. Alistair tells you right from the beginning that Templars are just slaves to the Chantry which has a monopoly on Lyrium suply. They are literally a giant drug ring, keeping an army of addicts hooked and indoctrinated until inevitably that drug turns their brain into Swiss cheese and they're left to die slowly and used up. Mages and Templars are both just pawns to the Chantry. Inquisition drives this home even more with Samson and the Red Templars. They are fighting just like Calpernia was, for freedom from The Chantry. Generic American posted:Not to defend Anders (since it is just about as morally questionable either way), but I got the sense that he didn't do it because it was "easier" as much as he was specifically aiming to remove any possibility for détente between mages and templars. He thought that any peace would be a quiet death for any hope of the mages getting more freedom, so he blew up the Chantry along with the Grand Cleric, who was a lot more reasonable than Meredith and probably would've been able to preserve the status quo, to force a conflict where mages would have no choice but to fight. When Orsino loses his mind in the Mage run he says "why don't they just drown us as infants?!" The message is clear- they are gonna suffer and die anyway so why not just get it over with as soon as possible? The mages of the Kirkwall Circle will die, make no mistake about it. But as long s Elthina - who did nothing except tell the mages to go back to their cages like good little pets while she lightly scolds Meredith- lived, they all hoped that a better way could be found. One after another they are made Tranquil or killed or give themselves up to demons in total despair. They've already lost, the only question is if you wanna die the coward's route of watching your friends be picked off one by one or rise altogether and try to actually win. The tyrant's greatest weapon is the complicity and fear of their victims. NikkolasKing fucked around with this message at 06:36 on May 24, 2020 |
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May 24, 2020 06:33
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