Dragon Age 2

[waddie]

He only heals a couple of times, so focus on staying out of harm's way and attrition. Hit and run repeatedly; skills like Evade, Backstab and whichever one it is that teleports you across the battlefield are useful, but it's mostly timing and patience. Took 10-15 minutes on Normal.

Oh, and make sure you have plenty of stamina potions, because your usual way of regenerating it is to hit things a lot.

[Kayin Amoh]

I can't tell if the criticisms are just 'it could have been so much better' or if they're 'wow, they actively ruined dragon age and stole my hard earned cash'

That first one, sort of bleeding into the second one.

It's a cash in with very little innovation or ambition behind it It's not actively terrible, but should have been so much more.

Still waiting for the patch that allows me to finish the game. Been stuck at approximately 40% movement speed for weeks now.

[Ferine]

Another thing...

A problem with RPGs is that there can be so much to do, pacing issues sometimes arise, which I think is where this quest went a bit wrong. I believe that evil mage guy was brought up in another, earlier quest? I'd pumped a lot of game hours after that into other various plot lines, such is the nature of the RPG, and had almost forgotten about him, so Hawke's mother's death felt like it came out of nowhere. It was all too sudden. I found it hard to take seriously, a real "So what?" kind of moment, which I'm sure Bioware didn't intend.

The connection with Hawke's mother sort of peters out over the course of the game as well. She never does much apart from stand around in the house, wittering about nothing.

If you speak to her she does foreshadow things a bit: there's a few references to her having met a suitor and such.

I think it would have been more effective if there was something you could have done, which there isn't as far as I know. If you'd had dinner with her murderer or something like that at least it would feel like more of a betrayal.

[Harsin]

I was reading that Bioware is absolutely bleeding cash and resources on The Old Republic (most expensive EA game ever) and wonder how much that contributed to DAII's shortcomings? If it did then I fear for Mass Effect 3.

[waddie]

Different BioWare really. EA call all their RPG studios BioWare now.

I really don't think you can fault them for lack of ambition. It's the biggest departure from their usual formula pretty much ever. I'd say its flaws have more to do with the engine and schedule.

[Monkeyboy]

So then..Arishok :/

I'm playing as a Rogue and he is kicking my ass in the duel. I keep running around, taking a tiny bit off his health - rinse and repeat and then he seems to heal every so often. I sat for over 30 minutes running around like fucking Benny Hill and barely took a third of his health. I had to go out and so needed to switch my xbox off. Pissing me off no end as other than sit for maybe an hour and a half, and hope the fucker doesn't do that shitty pole attack thing

any tips please? Cheers

Or you could...

Just refuse his challenge. Makes it easier.

[JPR]

So then..Arishok :/

I'm playing as a Rogue and he is kicking my ass in the duel. I keep running around, taking a tiny bit off his health - rinse and repeat and then he seems to heal every so often. I sat for over 30 minutes running around like fucking Benny Hill and barely took a third of his health. I had to go out and so needed to switch my xbox off. Pissing me off no end as other than sit for maybe an hour and a half, and hope the fucker doesn't do that shitty pole attack thing

any tips please? Cheers

What difficulty level are you on, in the end I said sod it and put it on casual. My tactic was backstab/assassinate then run until timers are ready again and repeat. Really not a very fun fight as rogue, especially as think it was due to my low strength if he got a hit in it was 100% stun and the next few hits would usually kill me.

[SteveH]

I find doing that harder to be honest (this comment is aimed at Fox McCloud)

JPR: knocked it down to casual. But - and it is my own fault - I've been balancing out points along the way in my attributes as I wasn't find the game that hard. But now I'm a bit screwed as I need much better weapons than I have I'm guessing.

I've no idea how waddie did it in 10-15 mins as my damage dealing is barely touching him.

I am going to go back to an earlier save and see if I can find any random battles to boost my stats, as I hadn't finished the tomes quest. Otherwise I'll be so pissed off that the game will get shelved.

[JPR]

If you have the black emporium you can get a potion to respec from there.

[RareBirds]

So then..Arishok :/

I'm playing as a Rogue and he is kicking my ass in the duel. I keep running around, taking a tiny bit off his health - rinse and repeat and then he seems to heal every so often. I sat for over 30 minutes running around like fucking Benny Hill and barely took a third of his health. I had to go out and so needed to switch my xbox off. Pissing me off no end as other than sit for maybe an hour and a half, and hope the fucker doesn't do that shitty pole attack thing

any tips please? Cheers

I had this as a group fight rather than a duel? Fought to the room, killed the 4 mobs that he sent to prove something or other, said Isabella had the relic (she'd cocked off with it after I said she had to give it back), he said I was responsible for the actions of my followers then I had to kill the entire room. Was a slightly tricky fight as he has those mages with the big lightening attacks at the back behind all the melee but on my second go I went and targetted them whilst the rest of my group worked through the various melee groups and then the 4 of us quickly killed the Arishok.

[df0]

Arishok solo

I dueled him on my two-handed weapon wielding warrior. It took me a few tries but in the end I killed him using a cheap tactic. This will not guarantee a victory but it saved me a lot of incoming damage.

First things first, have patience. Spending all your Stamina and losing most of your health within the first 20 seconds is suicide. If you carry extra gear like rings and necklaces equip the ones that give extra Stamina (regen) and HP. Boosted damage output will not work well in this fight, it is all about survivability. Know the Arishok will heal using potions. I can not remember the exact number but if I remember correctly it is 4 or very close to. During my fights he used potions when he was at 50% HP, so if he has taken 4 and you have him at 40% you can assume he has ran out. Arishok can be kited. If you have low HP and a potion on cooldown, run around. He will follow you around, just make sure to avoid his Charge.

Now for the fight. I stayed close to him and 'danced' around him. His attacks can easily be dodged by dancing around him. Get a few attacks in, notice his attack animation, move around him to dodge attack, get a few attacks in. Note: he will impale you once in a while, make sure you have enough HP on you to handle that damagee. And that is more or less it. Potions are you best friend, have loads (and loads) of Stamina and HP ones and if you have them stuff like bombs and poisons work. Keep your HP above 35% so be in the safe zone.

Take your time. Once he has ran out of potions it is nothing more than keeping your head cool and dealing chip damage. The last lasted about 15 minutes for me on Normal.

[waddie]

I had this as a group fight rather than a duel? Fought to the room, killed the 4 mobs that he sent to prove something or other, said Isabella had the relic (she'd cocked off with it after I said she had to give it back), he said I was responsible for the actions of my followers then I had to kill the entire room. Was a slightly tricky fight as he has those mages with the big lightening attacks at the back behind all the melee but on my second go I went and targetted them whilst the rest of my group worked through the various melee groups and then the 4 of us quickly killed the Arishok.

If your friendship with Isabela is high enough and you say the right things, her conscience gets the better of her and she turns up in the throne room with the book. The Arishok then says the Qunari will leave taking the book, but honour demands the thief go with them to Par Vollen to face punishment. At which point you can either turn her over, ending the confrontation peacefully but losing Isabela, or fight a duel to the death.

[SqueakyG]

That first one, sort of bleeding into the second one.

It's a cash in with very little innovation or ambition behind it It's not actively terrible, but should have been so much more.

Still waiting for the patch that allows me to finish the game. Been stuck at approximately 40% movement speed for weeks now.

I think when I start playing, I will pretend it is a stopgap game called "Dragon Age: Something In Between Origins and Two," so that I'm not too disappointed.

Since I still haven't started, I might just wait another fortnight to see if the big patch comes out for Xbox 360. Then I won't have to worry about achieving friendship with any of my companions, or worry about Merrill's personal quest getting bugged.

[SteveH]

Thanks for the tips everyone - especially df0's detailed reply

[StephenM]

Oh yeah - that's my other question, now I've started.

Pre-patch, what do I need to not do? Should I keep certain people out of my party?

And what's the deal with Merrill's quest? Shame, so far she's the best thing about the game.

[waddie]

Isabela and Sebastian are the glitched characters. It's fine to use them however much you like until their Friendship ability unlocks on their unique skill tree. After that, if they are automatically removed from your party (because you returned to your home, or as part of/at the end of certain quests), rather than remove the bonus from the calculated attribute, it's removed from the base rate, becoming a permanent penalty. So Isabela gives you +5% attack speed, every automatic removal will give you another -5% to your attack speed. This doesn't happen if you remove them from the party manually at a "gather your party" screen, so you can continue to use them, just carefully.

I'm not sure anyone's identified the exact cause of Merrill's various bugs.

[smoothe]

You need to avoid making friends with Isabella or, if you do, make sure you don't get her kicked out of your party automatically too often. Each time she's automatically removed from your group (not counting when you go to a party switch point and take her out) you get a permanent -5% to move and attack speed. It's a terrible bug and there's really no excuse for it getting past testing!

With Merill, for a lot of people her act III quest is bugged and the game gives you the finishing cutscene for it before you've started it! For me it reset once I passed a certain point in the MQ and I could complete it normally but some people didn't get that. It was incredibly annoying because I also really liked Merill.

[Talk Show Host]

Different BioWare really. EA call all their RPG studios BioWare now.

I really don't think you can fault them for lack of ambition. It's the biggest departure from their usual formula pretty much ever. I'd say its flaws have more to do with the engine and schedule.

Ι think it's because Old Republic is claiming every resource available that they decided to produce a DA in such a short time.

They needed money so a cash-in of DA2 was the most obvious solution. I don't believe they ever intended to make a good game out of it.

I'm curious what they are going to do when Old Republic never reaches the subscribers they hope for.

Different BioWare really. EA call all their RPG studios BioWare now.

I really don't think you can fault them for lack of ambition. It's the biggest departure from their usual formula pretty much ever. I'd say its flaws have more to do with the engine and schedule.

How is it a departure? It uses the same mechanics as every BioWare game -they just made them faster-. It's the focus of the story that is different.

There is no ambition in DA2. They just decided to go that way because they had no time to make a proper game.

[CandyBob]

Ι think it's because Old Republic is claiming every resource available that they decided to produce a DA in such a short time.

They needed money so a cash-in of DA2 was the most obvious solution. I don't believe they ever intended to make a good game out of it.

I'm curious what they are going to do when Old Republic never reaches the subscribers they hope for.

How is it a departure? It uses the same mechanics as every BioWare game -they just made them faster-. It's the focus of the story that is different.

There is no ambition in DA2. They just decided to go that way because they had no time to make a proper game.

I think thats a bit harsh. While I agree with a lot of what you have written and that piece/review further up pretty much sums things up, I think in some area's, like the some of the companion quests for example, it's at least at their previous standards.

I personally think the combat also is an improvement. I suppose you could argue that it feels more arcadey but certainly on the PC anyway, it's still as tactical as it was. The increased fluency and speed doesn't harm it at all.

Overall though it's not a worthy successor to the first game.

[Talk Show Host]

I think thats a bit harsh. While I agree with a lot of what you have written and that piece/review further up pretty much sums things up, I think in some area's, like the some of the companion quests for example, it's at least at their previous standards.

I personally think the combat also is an improvement. I suppose you could argue that it feels more arcadey but certainly on the PC anyway, it's still as tactical as it was. The increased fluency and speed doesn't harm it at all.

Overall though it's not a worthy successor to the first game.

I think using the word "ambition" in regards to any area of DA2 is way out of place.

[NecroMorrius]

Presumably their ambition was to make a Dragon Age sequel really really quickly.

[Talk Show Host]

Presumably their ambition was to make a Dragon Age sequel really really quickly.

You got me there.

[Retroguy]

Is anyone else finding the awarding of friendship/rivalry points a bit random?

Night Terrors in Act 2 spoilers:

I'm at the end with just my mage and Anders, the elven mage says he'd rather have me kill him in the fade and be made tranquil than go on a rampage. I make sure it's what he wants, and kill him, then back in Kirkwall at the end of the quest, Anders even says something to the distraught mother like 'It was his choice, it's what he wanted etc etc'. Then, cue +10 rivalry points with Anders. WTF??

Sure I've had other conversations/outcomes that have ended in rivalry points that make me thing 'what did I say to make that happen??'.

It's hard enough to even work out what companions to take on a quest who might be sympathetic to any moral choices/plights. In Act 1 there's a quest where

it makes out that you'll be aiding mages against a strict templar training regime, so I take anders and dump fenris, then the first fight in that area is you defending a templar against a mage gone abomination.

This also makes it very difficult tactically to form an appropriate party. I've stopped taking anything but a perfectly balanced magic/might/rogue party to each mission as you just can't tell what you'll be dealing with until you're there. I suppose I could go back and change the party mid way through some missions, but that kind of defeats the point. It would be nice occassionally to know you're up against a load of mages, and have fun forming the perfect group to counter that.

Perhaps the friendship/rivalry thing is meant to be more of a random added bonus thing anyway, but just find it a bit weird that you have the choice of taking different companions with their own morals/motivations when you can't often tell from quest descriptions who to take, or when the various plus or minus points are awarded.

[RareBirds]

Is anyone else finding the awarding of friendship/rivalry points a bit random?

I certainly found this with Merrill - it was very late on that I finally got her to 'friend' status or whatever it is, which was odd as she had been living with me for about 3 years or something. Things that seemingly had nothing to do with her would gain me rivalry points whilst that other cock (Anders) was merrilly stating that we were best friends forever in spite of the fact that (no matter what that blue bar may have said) I hated him.

[Harsin]

Merril is an odd duck full stop.

Come out of the cave and say you'll take responsibility for her and lose friendship points. Violently slaughter her entire clan and she likes you more. Go back to her house, either way, and all she has to say is she's embarrassed because hasn't tidied up for a decade.

[JPR]

DA2 now comes with added PC Mass Effect 2 during April. If you go here and add the code you have for the Black Emporium (all formats), you'll get a code to put into the EA download manager for your copy of Mass Effect 2.

[Spacehost]

DA2 now comes with added PC Mass Effect 2 during April. If you go here and add the code you have for the Black Emporium (all formats), you'll get a code to put into the EA download manager for your copy of Mass Effect 2.

Free Mass Effect 2?!

Generous bastards.

[Ferine]

Excellent, now I don't need an excuse to buy ME2 for a third time. I see EA's download manager has come on leaps and bounds since I last tried to use it, too.

[JoeK]

Just thought I'd mention that it doesn't seem to matter when you bought DA2. I just got an email through today for the free game

Cool beans. Sure, I've played it to death on the 360, but it's never a bad thing to see how it fares on a PC!

Surprisingly nice thing to do!

[StephenM]

I probably won't do it anyway because if I've made bad skill choices I should live with the punishment, but is black emporium the only way to redistribute points? Seems a bit harsh.