375 réponses à ce sujet

[Peter Thomas]

ZerbanDaGreat1 wrote...

I'm sorry if this has already been asked, but anyway; is the Hawke we saw in the trailer an actual ingame class with real abilities, whether it was a close-combat mage or a warrior who somehow had blood magic, or was it just a demonstration of the kind of abilities offered in DA2?

From my recollection of the trailer, he fought hand to hand, sent a wave of flame at a target, shot a bolt of lightning at a target, activated blood magic and ripped a target apart. Each of those is a Mage attack, ability or deathblow as currently designed.

[Peter Thomas]

Systemlord Baal wrote...

1. So, I've seen different animations when a Sword&Shield Warrior is in a more offensive or defensive stance (shield raised). Can we expect the same from other stances? I don't know, but I'd expect there to be more stances for the different classes and skill types. Stance is just to give an idea of what I mean...raising the shield is a sustained ability, I think.

There are quite a few sustained abilities in the game. How many alter your animations is too specific a question and is an animation direction issue.

2. Will there be more spells that take longer to build up?

Different abilities have cast animation of different lengths. All have the effect take place right near the beginning, but those with the longer animations have the character still casting while the spell takes effect. There isn't really an initial buildup before the spell happens anymore, though some may take a longer time to cast.

3. Does the spell build-up time increase with upgrading that spell? Or decrease if that's the upgrade's effect?

In general, cast animations are the same if the spell is upgraded or not. Increasing cast time would be a penalty associated with a particular upgrade.

4. Do you plan on having more or different spell combinations?

We have the cross class combo system, which includes many abilities from each class. This is a different system from the spell combos in DAO.

5. With the goal to make the classes more distinct, that of course also has an effect on the companions. Will it be possible to customise them in a way to complement your own class, no matter what the class may be?

Yes, there are enough variety of abilities available to each class that two different character of the same class and weapon style could have a very different role in battle based on what you picked for them.

6. How much of an impact on gameplay (strength?) will the beard have, considering that not every player can have one? ;-)

By merely speaking the name of the beard aloud, you increase its power...

[Peter Thomas]

nightcobra8928 wrote...

what are your favorite warrior talents that you can disclose as of now?

Unfortunately I can't talke about my two favorites right now. Of the ones in the demo, I like the Charge ability, though I'm not sure that was the demo name for it.

[Peter Thomas]

Mercuron wrote...

Hi Peter, thanks for taking some time to answer all these questions. I have a couple I was wondering about:

- Charging melee attacks: If you target an enemy in front of you who you can reach with ranged attacks or spells, but is cut off from melee attacks because they are on a ledge that you have to walk around to get up on ... will attacks or abilities that have you jumping or rushing quickly to melee range of an enemy, path around to them, go in a straight line to them regardless of what's in the way, or fail to activate?

A character should only be able to move straight towards an enemy if he can actually reach them. If there is a tiny gap or ledge preventing it, it should path around to find a way melee attacks can reach the target. If it behaves otherwise, it's probably an engine bug.

- Missile attacks/spell projectiles: If a ranged attack projectile strikes an obstacle or wall after being fired, will they pass through to hit their target, or will it be 'blocked' as in Origins? If so, will spells that fire a projectile be subject to this as well?

This hasn't be finalized yet.

- Overwhelm attacks: If a character or creature is caught in an 'overpowering' attack (like Overwhelm, the Ogre's Grab attack, etc), will they require assistance from an ally in order to break free early, or are there ways they can escape these attacks on their own?  Just curious in the event we are ever controlling a single character and have to face enemies with such abilities.

Breaking the animation loop will require another character intervening. Overwhelm type attacks would only be used in certain specific cases by specific creatures. We're also investigating having overwhelm attacks not fire if there is only a single party member alive.

- Locations with a minimum/maximum creature level: Will there be any way to discern the level ranges of locations when and if we are presented with options on where to go next? Or is it something the player needs to feel out by fighting the creatures located there?

This is kind of a GUI question and kind of a story question. We don't have a current system for displaying relative difficulty. Balancing will tell us if we need one.

[Peter Thomas]

Amioran wrote...

Other questions more rogue related:

1) You said that there is no more backstabbing but critical chance get a bonus by flanking. However is this bonus dependent on position? Namely there's a difference between flanking and really being _behind_ an enemy for critical chance? Or flanking and "backstabbing" is the same thing?

Flanking is when the attacker is in the 180 degree arc behind the target. Being in that arc gives you a critical chance bonus, and specific other abilities may have some additional effect.

2) There will be enemies immune to critical hits? In the case those exists and the rogue encounters one he will still be able to do good damage? I.e. there are also rogue abilities that are not _dependent_ on criticals (for what concerns dw talents specifically).

There is a critical immunity property, but I can't comment on what (if any) creatures have it. Rogues are good at criticals, but it's not the only thing they can do. They have many attacks that do a lot of damage to a single target (crit or not) and many abilities that do various effects other than damage.

3) Since dual-wield weapons are "style" related (in the sense that you can equip one or the other based on the tree you know), the dual-wield option will have only daggers or they can also have "normal" size swords (or other types of weapons)? And in case "normal" size weapons are present there are penalties on using them?

Dual Weapon characters can only use dual weapon style weapons, whatever the size or shape of those weapons. They cannot use weapon and shield style weapons unless they already know that style.

4) Stealth still reduces movement speed as in DAO?

I can't comment on specific ability implementations.

[Peter Thomas]

Illborne wrote...

Seeing how the ability to equip all weapon types is no longer universal between the classes, will there be unique types of weapons? For example, an axe for mages that doesn’t share the same class-restriction that every other “regular” axe do?

The item list has not been finalized yet.

[Peter Thomas]

Ibaru88 wrote...

You lie! YOU LIIEEEE! .... errr... I mean... Really? It's plot related? Thought this would have been more closer to a game mechanic than anything plot related... meh, anyway...

It's story related because each instance of that would have to be put in by hand into dialogue files, with appropriate reactions and consequences.

But if that mess above is undecipherable, then could you perhaps tell me how the default attacks are handled on the PC in regards to how much attention we need to pay to them. Is it *right click* *combat ensues* or are we going to be treated to a more *one clicky, two clicky, three clicky, gore* sort of combat system?

Whether you're autoattacking (on console or PC), or pressing a button on console, your basic attacks are handled in the same way. If your following attack is within a short time frame of the initial one, it goes to the next step of the "combo" and plays a different animation, all leading up to the combo finishing attack. Auto attacks are within this time frame which is why they combo together in a sequence.

[Peter Thomas]

AngryFrozenWater wrote...

In the old system, the camera could get stuck because of some kind of ceiling or other obstacle. You could be trapped in zoom in or out. Does the new camera system solve that?

The exact functioning of the camera is an engine thing. What you're describing sounds more like a level art bug.

[Peter Thomas]

Flopsi wrote...

Are there any control changes for the consoles?

This is partly a UI question, but it has the same general functionality as DAO. A to attack. X, Y, B for abilities. Cycling through party members. Pausing for radial menu.

Does the radial menu returns?

Pause and play functionality is important, so yes it does. Balance and gameplay issues may lead to it being tweaked.

What is the level cap?

The XP cap hasn't been finalized yet.

[Peter Thomas]

Lestatman wrote...

Hi will there be free roaming from area to area or is it like DA:O where you click the area you want to go and the fights happen randomly?

Are you asking if it's an open world game? No, it behaves like DAO did.

[Peter Thomas]

Shining Ghost wrote...

Are there any large scale choreographed action sequences driven by both cutscenes and real time gameplay?

Missed them in DA:O and would love to have them.

This is a story/plot related question.

[Peter Thomas]

Vaeliorin wrote...

In other words, whether or not warrior AoEs cause friendly fire damage hasn't been determined yet?  They didn't in DA.  Since even the 2-handed warriors basic attacks hit an area, it seems like having a 2-handed warrior plus another melee character would require some serious micromanagement that could get slightly annoying (essentially having to run the non-2-hander warrior in and out of combat every time the 2-hander attacked/used an ability, assuming you were gathering enemies together for best effect from AoEs.)

Note that I don't object to micromanagement (I actually like it) but having to worry about my 2-handed warriors regular attacks hitting my tank seems to go a bit beyond the pale, in my opinion.

Currently all AoEs affect friendly creatures when friendly fire is on. This will be subject to balancing. If it's too much of a hassle, we might get rid of it for specific abilities or tone down the amount of damage.

[Peter Thomas]

AbounI wrote...

Does the friendly fire only concern the spells and mages talents, or is does it also concerns the warrior when he's hitting in AoE space if a I stand too close to him? (warrior are now dealing AoE damages, so logically, when friendly fire is on, it should mean that the warrior can deal friendly fire)

It would apply to all AoEs regardless of origin.

About the armors and their requirments:
We understand that armors requirements are based upon the primary attrubute of the concerned class.
It's easy to understand a warrior needs to be strong enough to wear a heavy armor.But for the rogues, is it based upon his dexterity? I want to be as clear as possible:
if a rogue is strong enough to wear a light armor, ok, that's right, but is he able to move and act as a ninja if he's not enough agile?So that would mean that the rogue requirement for the wear of allowed armors (light or/and medium) could be based upon his dexterity score as it is his primary attribute.

Final item stats and requirements have not been finalized yet. The intention is that armor geared towards a particular class has a stat requirement based on the primary attribute of that class.

[Peter Thomas]

FedericoV wrote...

First of all I want to say thanks to Mr. Peter Thomas. That's one of the best thread ever. I was not a great fan of DA:O's combat mechanic (I mean, I liked the general approach but I disliked the actual rule system). Most of the changes I've read about here go in the right direction (imho).

Just one question: many players pointed out that at the long run, mob fights in DA:O felt repetitive and boring (because the enemies felt allways like the same). Moreover, because of the scaling system it was possible to have late mob fights that felt "harder" than most bosses throughout the first chapters of the game (I mean: bandits in Denerim alleys...).

My question is: have you take that kind of criticism in consideration while re-designing the combat system? If the answer is yes, how do you plan to approach the issue and hopefully solve it? Only with enemy behaviour?

Enemy behaviour is one way, but the way enemies scale to the player has also been adjusted. A boss at any level should be very hard, harder than any of the normal fights in the game. This will be subject to balancing as we get farther along.

Varying behaviour and situations are ways we are trying to differentiate fights for the bulk of the game, as well as adding complications through resistances and other factors.

[Peter Thomas]

_Loc_N_lol_ wrote...

Which leads me to another question : how much would you say player feedback has shaped up the current direction of DA2, in terms of gameplay mechanics ? I'm specifically thinking of class feedback threads that were posted a few months ago by Victor.

class differences and abilities were actually discussed a fair amount of time ago, though implementation has had to wait on other things.

Comments and criticism are taken into account, but we also have to consider where we, as a company, want to take things in the future.

[Peter Thomas]

Tamcia wrote...

Thanks for previous answers, I have another question:

Fatigue system and stamina - any major changes here, like armor affects, abilities, skill usage of stamina - I was always limited by stamina and had to use potions to compensate. Abilities like second wind will be in the game, since that was a very useful one and a great addition to Awakenings.

Fatigue is no longer a system in the game. Varying abilities costs caused a lot of headaches. The replacement for fatigue was adjusting the reserved system. This was where having a sustained ability would reserve a certain amount of mana/stamina while it was active. The original intent of the fatigue system (in relation to sustained abilities) was to provide a cap on the number that a player could have at any given time. Enough abilities active would make you unable to cast anything else. Relying strictly on the reserved stamina amount worked initially, but became trivial as the player levelled up. 10 out of 400 stamina no longer seems an issue at epic levels. The solution we are working with for DA2 is adjusting the stamina reserve system to use a percentage instead of a fixed number. Activating Shield Defense (as a DAO example) could reserve 10% of your total stamina pool instead of the 35 it did in DAO. This provides a hard cap for the number and strength of abilities that a character can have active at once. To prevent abilities from becoming useless, the strength of their bonus also increases with character level or power.

The subject of stamina regeneration is another issue. We want each class to feel different in how it regains stamina/mana. This system has not been finalized. Currently, Warriors regain stamina through specific ability usage, Rogues through attacks, and Mages through passive regeneration. This is the base method for each class. There are still mana and stamina potions, and giving specific regeneration abilities or equipment to characters can increase their rates and capabilities.

The gameplay feel is the Warriors press a button repeatedly to regain stamina, then can unleash their abilities. Rogues attack constantly, punctuating it with abilities. Mages need to be a bit more tactical and conserve energy for the best time to strike as their mana is constantly replenished.

This is the way the system currently works, but will be subject to balancing and testing.

[Peter Thomas]

Lavitage wrote...

So has the concept of the armor stat been nixed altogether, meaning that defending against physical attacks all comes down to making enemies miss or glance? Or is armor still in, just as a division-based reduction instead of a subtraction-based one?

The Armor stat is still present, and influences how much Physical damage done to the character is reduced. The effect is a percentage, so a low Armor score could only absorb 10% of all Physical damage done to you, but a high armor score could absorb 80%. The effectiveness of your Armor score depreciates as you go up in levels, so you will need to find better equipment later to maintain the same level of effectiveness.

[Peter Thomas]

Lightspawn wrote...

Shape-shifter Spec. It was the weakest spec in game however as the the name suggests it can be the COOLEST SPEC EVER!
r u guys working on that? i mean with Morrigan gone is it even available? this is so important to me who always play mages... finished DAO 2 times with an elven and a human mage... i always wished that i could use shapeshifting in a way... but it was really....
Well all im saying is any plans for shapeshifter spec redesign? (or perhaps u guys have already done that! wow!)

I can't talk about specializations right now.

[Peter Thomas]

lunarknightmage wrote...

Peter, again, thank you very much for answering all of our questions!!

1. I'm glad to hear that lightning damage will also stun.  Will that effect, and the other elemental damages/effects, also apply to weapons that do elemental damage ( either innate or added through runes )?

Like, if I hit an enemy with a staff or sword that does lightning damage, would that also stun the enemy?

This hasn't been finalized yet, but it will probably be only the primary damage type of the weapon/ability that has the chance of a secondary effect.

2. I know that you can't comment on the exact specializations yet, but are the plans to make the spec talent trees "deeper" than in Origins?

In Origins, each spec only gave you 4 additional talents/abilities, along with any stat bonus you got when choosing the spec.

Will the specs in DA2 offer more talents in their trees than the 4 per spec in Origins?

Or has that not been determined yet?

I can't talk about specialization specifics, but each specialization should have a tree of about the same size as the 6 default trees for each class.

[Peter Thomas]

Hayes1987 wrote...

Could you elaborate on this "unresistability" feature? I'm not sure I understand your meaning.

The current plan is that flat damage and magic resistance (not spirit resistance) is only half as effective against it.

[Peter Thomas]

distinguetraces wrote...

Peter Thomas wrote...
The elemental damage types remain, but specific secondary effects are slightly different [...] Cold is speed reduction.

Both attack and movement speed?

Yes.

Earth is about impact strength.

What does this mean?

Every attack that hits you has a certain amount of force behind it, depending on how much damage it does. Abilities based on earth count that damage as higher for determing if enemies get knocked around by it. For example (not real numbers), a hurlock hit for 30 damage by an earth ability might react as if he got hit by 50 damage from a normal sword.

Spirit is about unresistability.

Complete unresistability?

As I explained in a previous answer, the idea is that flat damage and magic resistance (not spirit resistance) is less effective against this type.

[Peter Thomas]

Wulfram wrote...

What role will healing potions and other consumables play, and will they be as easily available as they were in Origins?

We really want to tone down the amount of potion use in DA2 and are currently balancing ways to do that. Shared potion cooldowns, longer cooldown, restricted numbers and availabilities, passive regeneration, etc. We are investigating a number of ways.

[Peter Thomas]

Jacks Smirking Revenge wrote...

First off thanks for answering these questions. I'm a big gameplay min/maxer guy, and this is one of my areas of concern for this game . So thank you very much!

Now onto to the questions!

#1: Since there will no longer be any fatigue. Will there be a a limit on sustained abilities, or is it just a matter of how much stamina/magic you have? Like for example an Arcane Warrior uses like five or six sustained abilities putting them near 100% fatigue and hindering their mana pool, but once you had gotten some good pieces of gear. You could run those sustains and have maybe 80-150 mana in reserve, but the fatigue would hinder that to the use of maybe one or two spells. Without fatigue couldn't a class in theory have six or seven sustatins running leaving them with about 20-40% of their mana/stamina pool. Which is more than enough to chain abilities and spells thanks to spells such as Deathblow, Feast of the Fallen, Dark Sustence, Blood Magic, Spellboom, Mass Rejuvenation, etc. I guess a more pinpoint question would be: Are there any consequences to having a lot of sustained abilities running other than a smaller mana pool since fatigue/cost increase of spells is removed?

I had mentioned in a previous answer that the amount of mana/stamina reserved by an ability will be a percentage of your total pool. This will limit the number of sustained abilities, since you can only have up to 100% (if you don't want to be able to do anything else).

#2: You have mentioned staff deathblows do they only occur off of Staff hits(melee hit/staff projectile) only, or do they happen after a spell as well. For example I cast Shock(and I have a staff equipped) at a group of darkspawn and kill one will that trigger a deathblow? Like the one you mentioned early of the player shooting flames out of the staff, but of course for Shock it would be electricity. Or did you mean that the deathblows will only trigger for the projectile/melee swing of the staves not the spells themselves. Basically do I have to "auto attack" with my staff to get deathblow animations, or will they also trigger off of spells like; Cone of Cold, Flame Blast, Shock, Winter's Grasp, etc?

Deathblows can trigger off of basic attacks, and also off of abilities. The exact scope of the deathblow system and the number of them have not been finalized yet.

#3: I was reading through the answers topic, and when you mentioned the statistics I noticed none of them said "increase damage". Was that just understood, or will we be getting our offensive boost through spells, gear and sustained abilities we aquire as we level up and get stronger? I assume cunning no longer will increase armor penetration since it is for now the defensive attribute. Do magic, strength, and dex stilll increase damage passivly, or do they have only a more specialized purpose like you indicated; magic=resistance to magic, strength=higher impact/resistance to impact, dex=critical chance?

They increase damage passively for the class for which they are the primary attribute. Magic, for example, increases magic resistance for all classes. If you are a Mage, it will also increase your base damage which, in turn, increases the damage of all your abilities.

#4. Will pro/cons of using certain weapons still be present. For example 1h axes having a higher modifer than a longsword, but the longsword had better base damage. Or mauls/maces having higher armor penetration.

The exact stats of specific item has not been finalized yet.

[Peter Thomas]

Bryy_Miller wrote...

Can you tell us what the default decisions for the prior games are?

This is a story/plot related question.

[Peter Thomas]

andar91 wrote...

Everytime I think I'm out of questions I think of more.

I realize you can't talk about specific abilities, but this is a question about the elemental damage spells such as fireball, inferno, and the other ones that we don't know about yet. Will there be significant differences between the different elements to encourage us to pick specific ones or are they all basically different ways of inflicting damage? I guess this kind off links back to my question about damage types.

In DAO all the different elemental damage spells felt similar. They had similar shapes, did pretty much the same thing, but had a different color. We've tried to differentiate the elemental spells more. Each one requires that a Mage using that element play slightly differently. Fire has the potential to do the most damage and affects the largest area, though it is a bit random. Cold affects the smallest area and needs to be closer range, but can slow or stop people. Earth has the highest impact and... er... I can't talk more without revealing specifics. Electricity affects areas (though smaller than Fire) does only average damage, but its effects happen rapidly and it ignores friendly fire. Spirit... is a bit of a special case that I can't talk about now.


Your two-handed question had been answer previously. Basically it comes down to balancing.

Modifié par Peter Thomas, 12 septembre 2010 - 01:14 .