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[Naitaka]

For the part of the demo I got to play, I didn't have access to Specialization, so sadly those would be omitted here.
Also, if a list of all the base talents appear abit overwhelming to you, you can go here for discussion on cross class combo and ability synergy to help you plan your characters.

(Many thanks to Adhin for providing the webspace to host the images.)

WARRIOR
(character is at level 1)

WEAPON AND SHIELD


1. Shield Defense
Requires: Level 3
Requires: Shield
The warrior assumes a defensive stance, reducing damage taken from the front. However, the warrior inflects less damage against enemies and sacrifices the ability to make closing attacks.
Damage: -25%
Damage resistance +25% vs. frontal attacks
Reserved: 15% of stamina
Cooldown: 5s
Type: Sustained mode

2. Shield Wall
Requires: Level 8
Requires: Shield Defense
Points required in Weapon and Shield: 4
Shield Defense now reduces the damage from all attacks, rather than just the front. Additionally, the warrior's shiield deflects some regular strikes, shrugging off most of the damage.
Damage resistance: +50% vs. rear attacks
Effect: 20% chance that normal hits against the warrior become glancing blows
Type: Upgrade

3. Perception
Requires: Level 4
Requires: Shield Defense
Requires: Shield
The warrior maintains constant awreness of the battlefield. So long as the warrior has a shield equipped, enemies receive no bonus for attacking from behind.
Effect: Immune to flanking
Type: Passive ability

4. Safeguard
Requires: Level 7
Requires: Scatter
Requires: Perception
Points required in Weapon and Shield: 4
Requires: Shield
While a shield is equipped, the warrior shrugs off the extra damage from critical hits.
Effect: Immune to critical hits
Type: Passive ability

5. Scatter
Requires: Level 6
Requires: Shield Bash
Requires: Shield Defense
Points required in Weapon and Shield: 2
Requires: Shield
The warrior clears a forward arc, throwing enemies back.
Physical damage: 24
Physical force: 4x
Cost: 30 stamina
Cooldown: 25s
Type: Activated ability

6. Disperse
Requires: Level 10
Requires: Scatter
Scatter now forces back even large creatures, and is particularly punishing against enemies whose defenses a rogue has lowered.
Physical damage: +12
Physical damage: 300% vs DISORIENTED targets
Physical force: +2x
Type: Upgrade

7. Shield Bash
Requires: Level 2
Requires Shield
The warrior's shield arcs out, striking foes like a battering ram.
Physical damage: 10
Physical force: 12x
Cost: 10 stamina
Cooldown: 15s
Type: Activated ability

8. Pummel
Requires: Level 6
Requires: Shield Bash
Shield Bash can be used more frequently, and enemies slammed by the warrior's shield are STAGGERED.
STAGGER chance: 100%
Cooldown: -5s
Type: Upgrade

9. Assault
Requires: Level 5
Requires: Shield Bash
Requires: Shield
The warrior spins into a vicious assault that inflicts significant damage and often throws enemies back.
Physical damage: 10 (x3 hits)
Physical force: 2x (x3 hits)
Cost: 20 stamina
Cooldown: 20s
Type: Activated ability

10. Battery
Requires: Level 9
Requires: Assault
Points required in Weapon and Shield: 3
Assault can now be used more frequently. Is is also much more effective, particularly against enemies a rogue has left in a vulnerable state.
Physical damage: +5 (x3 hits)
Physical damage: 400% vs. DISORIENTED targets on final hit
Cooldown: -5s
Type: Upgrade

TWO-HANDED

1. Mighty Blow
Requires: level 2
The warrior leaps into the air, crashing down on foes with tremendous force.
Physical damage: 24
Physical force: 2x
Cost: 20 stamina
Cooldown:20s
Type: Activated ability

2. Shattering Blow
Requires: Level 8
Requires: Mighty Blow
Points required in Two-Handed: 2
Mighty Blow now crushes enemies who a mage has made BRITTLE.
Physical damage: 300% vs. BRITTLE targets
Physical force: 200% vs. BRITTLE targets
Cooldown: -5s
Type: Upgrade

3. Killer Blow
Requires: Level 6
Requires: Mighty Blow
Mighty Blow becomes considerably more punishing.
Physical damage: +12
Type: Upgrade

4. Scythe
Requires: Level 5
Requires: Mighty Blow
Points required in Two-Handed: 2
The warrior charges through enemy lines, felling combatants in the way.
Physical damage: 18
Physical force: 2x
Cost: 30 stamina
Cooldown: 20s
Type: Activated ability

5. Reaper
Requires: Level 9
Requires: Scythe
Scythe inflicts a great deal more pain, particularly against enemies a mage has made BRITTLE.
Physical damage: +9
Physical damage: 200% vs. BRITTLE targets
Physical force: +1x
Physical force: 200% vs BRITTLE targets
Type: Upgrade

6. Giant's Reach
Requires: Level 3
Points required in Two-Handed: 1
The warrior's two-handed attack rip through the air with such power that each generates a shockwave past the point of impact, effectively extending the weapon's reach. The affects basic attacks, Whirlwind, Mighty BLow, and Scythe.
Size: +1m for two-handed attacks
Type: Passive ability

7. Whirlwind
Requires: Level 7
Requires: Mighty Blow
Requires: Giant's Reach
Points required in Two-Handed: 3
The warrior cuts through foes, hitting all targets within melee range with a single sweeping arc.
Physical damage: 18
Physical force: 2x
Size: 6m
Cost: 30 stamina
Cooldown: 30s
Type: Activated ability

8. Tornado
Requires: Level 13
Requires: Whirlwind
Points required in Two-Handed: 6
Whirlwind now lands a critical hit with nearly every swing.
Critical chance: 100%
Type: Upgrade

9. Cyclone
Requires: level 11
Requires: Whirlwind
Whirlwind becomes murderously effective and can be used more frequently
Physical damage: +6
Cooldown: -5s
Type: Upgrade

10. Sunder
Requires: Level 4
Points required in Two-Handed: 1
The warrior's strikes carry such weight that critical hits gain a chance to STAGGER the victim.
Critical chance: +10%
STAGGER chance: 50% vs. normal enemies on a critical hit
Type: Passive ability

Vanguard


1. Control
Requires: Level 3
The warrior fights with discipline, not anger, making every swing count. (This mode cannot be used at the same time as Might.)
Attack: +10%
Reserved: 15% of stamina
Cooldown: 5s
Type: Sustained mode

2. Command
Requires: Level 7
Requires: Control
Points required in Vanguard: 2
Control results in even more focused attacks. which increases the warrior's chance to land a critical hit.
Critical  chance: +10%
Type: Upgrade

3. Destroyer
Requires: Level 7
Requires: Control
Points required in Vanguard: 3
The warrior is now an elite combatant, so experienced in battle that enemies suffer more pain when fighting the warrior than they would when fighting anyone else.
Enemy damage resistance: 90% vs. warrior's basic attacks
Enemy damage resistance: 50% vs. warrior's critical hits
Type: Passive ability

4. Cleave
Requires: Level 6
Requires: Control
Requires: Might
Points required in Vanguard: 2
For a short time, the warrior's damage output increases tremendously.
Damage: +100%
Duration: 10s
Cost: 20stamina
Cooldown: 20s
Type: Activated ability

5. Claymore
Requires: Level 10
Requires: Cleave
Points required in Vanguard: 4
The warrior now retains the damge bonus from Cleave for longer and leaves some opponents off-balance, ready for further exploitation by a mage or rogue.
STAGGER chance: 40% vs. normal enemies
Stun chance: 100% vs. BRITTLE targets
Duration: +5s
Type: Upgrade

6. Massacre
Requires: Level 12
Requires: Cleave
Points required in Vanguard: 4
The warrior culls the weak. In most cases, when an enemy falls below a certain health threshold, the next hit is fatal.
Effect: Deathblow vs. normal enemeis below 20% health
Effect: Deathblow vs. lieutenants below 10% health
Type: Passive ability

7. Might
Requires: Level 3
The warrior focuses on heavy swings that cleave through foes. (This mode cannot be used at the same time as Control.)
Damage: +10%
Reserved: 20% of stamina
Cooldown: 5s
Type: Sustained mode

8. Muscle
Requires: Level 7
Requires: Might
Points required in Vanguard: 2
While Might is active, the warrior's critical hits are more likely to be fatal.
Critical damage: +25%
Type: Upgrade

9. Assail
Requires: Level 5
Requires: Might
Points required in Vanguard: 3
For a short time, the warrior throws more weight into each swing, significantly inceasing the force of any attack, as well as boosting the damage output.
Damage: +10%
Physical force: 3x
Elemental force: 3x
Duration: 15s
Cost: 20 stamina
Cooldown: 30s
Type: Activated ability

10. Besiege
Requires: Level 9
Requires: Assail
Points required in Vanguard: 4
When the warrior is using Assail, every attack now slams into other foes near the intended target.
Physical damage: 6 per hit vs. all nearby enemies
Type: Upgrade

Defender


1. Stonewall
The warrior braces for impact, shrugging off damage for a brief moment and pushing back against any foe who
attacks.
Physical force: 2x vs. attacking enemies
Damage resistance: +50%
Duration: 5s
Cost: 20 stamina
Cooldown: 15s
Type: Activated ability

2. Bulwark
Requires: Level 3
Requires: Stonewall
Stonewall now protects the warrior further, increasing the resistance to damage and making the warrior temporarily immune to the effects of force. The warrior's strikes against attacking foe now inflict damage as well.
Damage resistance: +50%
Knockback resistance: 100%
Knockdown resistance: 100%
Cooldown: -5s
Type: Upgrade

3. Adamant
Requires: Level 8
Requires: Stonewall
Requires: Turn the Blade
Points required in Defender: 3
The warrior's deep knowledge of the defensive arts grants a permanent resilience against damage of all type.
Damage resistance: +5%
Type: Passive ability

4. Turn the Blade
Requires: Level 3
While many warriors choose to endure their foe's hits, some prefer to deflect the damage instead. (This mode
cannot be used at the same time as Elemental Aegis.)
Defense: +10%
Reserved: 20% of stamina
Cooldown: 5s
Type: Sustained mode

5. Raise the Guard
Requires: Level 9
Requires: Turn the Blade
Points required in Defender: 2
Further training in defensive tactics increase the effectiveness of Turn the Blade.
Defense: +5%
Type: Upgrade

6. Steady the Foot
Requires: Level 7
Requires: Turn the Blade
The warrior holds ground, becoming remarkably resilient against forceful attacks.
Fortitude: +20
Type: Upgrade

7. Resilience
Requires: Level 5
Requires: Turn the Blade
Requires: Elemental Aegis
Points required in Defender: 2
Warriors trained in resilience have learned not to flinch from wounds, making it almost impossible to break their attacks, push them backwards, or distract them with elemental effects like mild immolation. The warrior will only be interrupted by attacks that deal so much force as to knock the warrior completely down or that cause lengthy elemental effects.
Knockbackresistance: 100%
Type: Passive ability

8. Elemental Aegis
Requires: Level 3
The secret to warding off the elements is to rely on your armor, keeping it between you and the blast. The warrior has learned this lesson well, and can anticipate magical attacks. *This mode cannot be used at the same time as Turn the Blade.)
Fire resistance: +40%
Cold resistance: +40%
Electricity resistance: +40%
Nature resistance: +40%
Spirit resistance: +40%
Reserved: 15% of stamina
Cooldown: 5s
Type: Sustained mode

9. Elemental Shroud
Requires: Level 7
Requires: Elemental Aegis
Points required in Defender: 2
The warrior has grown increasingly adept at resisting elemental attacks.
Fire resistance: +20%
Cold resistance: +20%
Electricity resistance: +20%
Nature resistance: +20%
Spirit resistance: +20%
Type: Upgrade

10. Resolute
Requires: Level 8
Requires: Elemental Aegis
Points required in Defender: 4
The warrior has faced more mages in battle than most denizens of Thedas even see in a lifetime. This experience has built a mental fortitude that any templar would envy.
Magic resistance: +10%
Type: Passive ability

Warmonger


1. Pommel Strike
Instead of leading with the fatal attack an enemy expects, the warrior strikes out with a weapon's blunt end to stun the opponent.
Stun chance: 100% vs. normal enemies
Duration: 5s
Cost: 10 stamina
Cooldown: 15s
Type: Activated ability

2. Pommel Blow
Requires: Level 3
PommelStrike now stuns enemies for longer and sends them reeling.
STAGGER chance: 100% vs. stunned targets
Duration: +3s
Cooldown: -5s
Type: Upgrade

3. Tremor
Requires: Level 5
Push a warrior and prepare to be pushed back. Nearby enemies are knocked back as the warrior slams a weapon into the ground.
Physical force: 8x
Size: 6m
Cost: 30 stamina
Cooldown:20s
Type: Activated ability

4. Quake
Requires: Level 11
Requires: Tremor
Points required in Warmonger: 3
The warrior can push back a larger crowd of enemies, and those thrown to the ground are now stunned.
Stun chance: 100% vs. knocked-down targets
Size 10m
Type: Upgrade

5. Aftershock
Requires: Level 9
Requires: Tremor
Tremor can be used more frequently and now has a chance to send enemies reeling.
STAGGER chance: 40% vs. normal enemies
Cooldown: -5s
Type: Upgrade

6. Taunt
Requires: Level 3
A mocking cry catches the attention of nearby foes, causing them to immediately abandon attacks on other allies to concentrate on the warrior instead.
Threat transfer: 100% from companions to warrior
Size: 10m
Cost: 30 stamina
Cooldown: 20s
Type: Activated ability

7. Bellow
Requires: Level 7
Requires: Taunt
Points required in Warmonger: 2
Taunt now effects enemies in a larger area, drawing them away from allies and to the warrior.
Size: 16m
Type: Upgrade

8. Bravery
Requires: Level 6
Requires: Taunt
The warrior's unwavering courage grants bonuses that increase proportionally to the number of enemies the warrior is engaging. (This mode cannot be used at the same time as Battle Synergy.)
Attack: +10% per naerby enemy, after the first
Critical chance: 3% per nearby enemy, after the first
Size: 10m
Reserved: 30% of stamina
Cooldown: 10s
Type: Sustained mode

9. Bravado
Requires: Level 9
Requires: Bravery
Bravery now draws more enemies toward the warrior, thus further increasing the mode's bonuses.
Threat generation: +50% per nearby enemy, after the first
Type: Upgrade

10. Bravura
Requires: Level 9
Requires: Bravery
Points required in Warmonger: 3
Every enemy who swarms the warrior while Bravery is active now increases the warrior's damage further.
Damage: +5% per nearby enemy, after the first
Type: Upgrade

Battlemaster


1. Rally
Requires: Level 4
The warrior rallies fellow combatants, briefly boosting other party members' mana or stamina regeneration rates and lending them the benefits of Might, Control, Turn the Blade, or Elemental Aegis if the warrior currently has one of those sustained modes active.
Effect: Might, Control, Turn the Blade or Elemental Aegis apply to companions if active
Mana/stamina regeneration rate: +200 for companions
Duration: 10s
Cost: 15 stamina
Cooldown: 30s
Type: Activated ability

2. Unite
Requires: Level 8
Requires: Rally
Point required in Battlemaster: 2
Other allies now gain the benefits of the upgrades to Might, Control, Turn the Blade, or Elemental Aegis if the warrior currently has one of those sustained modes active, and party members regenerate mana or stamina even more quickly.
Effect: Upgrades for Might, Control, Turn the Blade or Elemental Aegis apply to companions if active
Mana/stamina regeneration rate: +400 for companions
Type: Upgrade

3. Battle Synergy
Requires: Level 5
Requires: Rally
While this mode is active, the warrior and other party members within range fight as a cohesive unit that is deadlier than the sum of its parts. (This mode cannot be used at the same time as Bravery.)
Defense: +5% per companion, for all party members
Damage reduction: +3% per companion, for all party members
Size: 10m
Reserved: 30% of stamina
Cooldown: 10s
Type: Sustained mode

4. Fearless Synergy
Requires: Level 9
Requires: Battle Synergy
Points required in Battlemaster: 2
The warrior now taunts nearby enemies while Battle Synergy is active, drawing the foes' attention away from party members.
Threat transfer: +50% from companions to warrior
Type: Upgrade

5. Hero's Synergy
Requires: Level 11
Requires: Battle Synergy
Points required in Battlemaster: 2
The warrior now makes sacrifices on behalf of other party members, voluntarily suffering damage that the allies would otherwise have suffered themselves.
Damage transfer: +25% from companions to warrior
Type: Upgrade

6. Bolster
Requires: Level 3
Steeling for battle, the warrior takes a deep breath to regain some stamina.
Stamina regeneration: 5%
Type: Activated ability

7. Second Wind
Requires: Level 8
Requires: Bolster
Long years of training grant access to deep reserves of vigor, instantly restoring the warrior's stamina.
Stamina regeneration: 100%
Cooldown: 60s
Type: Activated ability

8. Last Push
Requires: Level 14
Requires: Second Wind
The warrior quickly recuperates from recent exertion.
Effect: Talents currently in cooldown become available more quickly
Type: Upgrade

9. Deep Breath
Requires: Level 12
Requires: Second Wind
Second Wind can be used more frequently.
Cooldown: -15s
Type: Upgrade

10. Deep Reserves
Requires: Level 6
Requires: Bolster
The warrior's extensive combat experience grants great fortitude in battle.
Mana/stamina regeneration rate: +10
Type: Passive ability

Modifié par Naitaka, 24 février 2011 - 10:47 .

[Peter Thomas]

Naitaka wrote...

I'm pretty sure it's stat dependent, this is all base on characters between level 1~3. I've seen someone else playing where he was running around Kirkwell around level 5, his skill damage numbers were much higher. I think we need a guide or access to the script if we want to figure out the formula for calculating skill damage.

Ability damage is based on a characters base damage, which is based on their weapon damage + primary attribute bonuses.

[Peter Thomas]

hhh89 wrote...

As other people said, when a skill requires two other skill, it means that we have to unlock both skill or only one? I think it's the former, but I'm not sure.

Both were tested. It was decided to go with an AND requirement rather than an OR one.

[Peter Thomas]

ViSeirA wrote...

Yeah, can't wait to see mage spell trees as well, but if someone from Bioware would take a peek at this thread I'd like a question answered, now that we have 60 talents for every class (apart from specializations), and we have an achievement for reaching level 20, how many talent points are we gonna have in a single playthrough? not taking into account story related points, that means we have 20 points to spend on 60 talents?

It depends on the amount of side content you do and other sources of points. In my Nightmare playthrough, I ended up having 4 chains (both weapon chains and 2 specs) heavily invested on my player character.

[Peter Thomas]

0rz0 wrote...

Hm, what's the difference between physical force and elemental force? Just a different resist?

Armor resists physical damage, elemental resistances resist elemental damage. Fortitude resists all type of force. The main difference is that there are different reactions to the elements. Physical force knocks you off your feet. Fire will make you dance around trying to put out the flames. Spirit almost pulls out your soul.

[Peter Thomas]

Alodar wrote...

X2-Elijah wrote...

Also, force field (50%) + its upgrade (+50%) means that it's again full immunity for 6 seconds, right?

50% growing by 50% is 75%



Alodar

No, the numbers add together. 100% resistance for 6s.

Keep in mind, though, that spirit damage will halve that.

[Peter Thomas]

X2-Elijah wrote...

Hmwait.. Horror + Despair means.. Any enemy stunned for 10 seconds, and takes 27 dmg per second (=270 at level 3 stats)?

SIGN ME UP!

Actually that's a typo. That damage is over the entire length of the stun.

[Peter Thomas]

m14567 wrote...

Mage looks awesome as well. Can you buy both upgrades to a talent? Or is it one or the other. For example, selecting both shattering & killing blow for might blow.

There are no exclusions. Nothing you buy will prevent you from buying something else.

[Peter Thomas]

ViSeirA wrote...

I certainly hope we get more but the level cap they talked about is what's supported in-game not the max level you can reach, in the achievements there's an achievement for levels 10 and 20... so I'm thinking 20 is the max we can reach in one playthrough... if we get 1 point per level like Origins we'll be so restricted, or maybe the higher you go the more points you get, like from level 15 and above you get 2 points each level and so on... I certainly hope Peter or someone can clear this for us.

1 talent point per level. The idea behind having a lot of options is that you can play in different ways to suit your playstyle, or have multiple characters of the same class who don't feel like the same thing. You can also try playing again with a different build if you want.

[Peter Thomas]

nightcobra8928 wrote...

now that the skills have been revealed, can we ask what's your favorite skills per class? 

Hm... not all have been revealed yet. And keep in mind these are based on my playstyle.

Warrior
    Taunt (critical to my playstyle)
    Bolster (incredibly useful)
    Assault (probably because of an old bug where the 2nd hit did 10x the damage of the others...)
    Reaver Passive 1 (because it's a passive now and awesome)
Rogue
    Archer's Lance (upgraded; insta-kill line attack ftw)
    Duelist Active 2 (very useful for characters who use both weapon styles)
    Assassin Active 3 (most valuable skill for my kind of character)
Mage
    Tempest (lightning spells don't do FF)
    Heal (healing is still important)
    Horror (non-resisted stun)
    Anders Active 2 (very good for emergencies if I can keep him alive long enough...)

[Peter Thomas]

hhh89 wrote...

Do we get more experience on harder level?

Difficulty doesn't affect XP. Finding hard, optional encounters will give you extra XP you wouldn't get otherwise, though.

[Peter Thomas]

-Skorpious- wrote...

Any left over points in other chains? I'm debating investing about 5 points in one of the chains, but would prefer if my original four were fully maxed first.

Outside of those 4 chains, I think the only others my main had were Blindside and Miasmic Flask (because you start with it). I was pretty focused on damage and didn't get upgrades I didn't think were worth the investment.

[Peter Thomas]

X2-Elijah wrote...

I don't see why there even should be more than one specialization..
Anyways, I see that you definitely can max out two trees, or have 3 trees full of non-upgraded abilities. That's not too bad at all.

@Peter Thomas - can we expect, sometime, a deeper update on the magic system and how it works? For example, your remarks on elemental power damage (like spirit clutching the soul, and fire making you pat out flames, etc, and the resistances, and spirit damage going through a 100% shield) are, well, a bit confusing, implying a deeper system than what has been seen so far.

The fire and spirit reactions are varying animations based on damage type. They last roughly as long as the physical reactions (knockdown). If the main damage type of the attack is not physical (or was not specified to have force), then the reaction will be appropriate to the type of damage done. There are exceptions like Fireball. Fireball does Fire damage, but will cause a Physical damage reaction (knocking targets away).

Spirit damage going through Barrier is because Barrier adds damage resistance, not Spirit resistance. Spirit damage (by its nature) halves generic damage and magic resistance (not Spirit resistance).

[Peter Thomas]

Zabaniya wrote...

-Blindside  --> okay apparently you start with this as well.

My wording was poor. You start with Miasmic Flask, not Blindside.

[Peter Thomas]

o_CLeVeR_o wrote...

quick question not sure if its been answered ( sorry if it has ) but are specialization points considered to be different from talent points, for example say you have a level 20 character ( that means 20 talent points ) would we have to sacrifice some talent points so we can unlock the specialization skills ( sorry if that was confusing, almost confused myself lol )

Spec points are different from talent points.

[Peter Thomas]

Tleining wrote...

@ Peter Thomas
quick question about archers: In Origins we had the Aim-Talent and Items with the Rapid-Aim Bonus. Will we have a Rapid-Precision-Bonus (sounds kinda weird, huh?) on items in DA2?

There is no aim delay on bows, only the speed of the attack animation. Anything that increases your attack speed will work equally well on swords, staves and bows.

[Peter Thomas]

SammyJB17 wrote...

Eclipse_9990 wrote...

SammyJB17 wrote...

While you are helping us Mr. Thomas, has a level cap been decided?

Level cap is 50. 

I thought I heard that all of the content had enough XP to get to level fifty, but I don't think it is actually fifty. Mr. Thomas?

The level table goes up to 50. There isn't enough experience in the game to get there without cheating or finding a bug. I don't know if the expected level cap has been released, but can probably be inferred from things I've said.

[Peter Thomas]

axa89 wrote...

@Peter Thomas
Great job on those descriptions! Much clearer than dao.
One thing I've noticed is that Winter's Grasp description doesn't mention the debuffs duration, is it a typo or what?

Certain abilities have things like that. It was an editting decision.

[Peter Thomas]

Angrimsaur wrote...

Thanks a lot! Your contributions to this thread were actually much more interesting to me than the majority of information we got on DA2 for the last few weeks.  While you are here, would you mind answering a few questions regarding talents and nightmare mode?


I thought I read somewhere only one dev was able to actually beat the game on nightmare. Is that true?

Also, is there friendly fire on nightmare and - if yes - does it apply to mage spells only?

As I plan to go for nightmare on my first playthrough I am interested in your lineup for the nightmare run. I suppose a balanced setup with one mage, one warrior, one rogue + any other character is a good idea for nightmare !?

More than one person here beat it on Nightmare, though I'm not sure on which build of the game.

Friendly fire is on Nightmare and applies to all abilities. This is for damage and effects, not targeting.

My party was:
FemHawke - Dual Weapon/Archer; Duelist/Assassin
Aveline
Merril/Varric - Merril for general areas, Varric for tough bosses or areas
Anders

[Peter Thomas]

Moonstryder wrote...

 @ the Bio Guy

The blood mage's spell that rips apart enemies (like the one in the video) have you messed around with that? Does it do physical damage or a 1 hit KO if they don't pass a resistance check?

Some abilities can do a deathblow (either a special animation, or just an instant kill). The script calculates if the spell would do enough damage to kill them (before it's actually cast) and does the deathblow instead. I can't comment on what deathblows made it in the final game or their nature.

[Peter Thomas]

Alodar wrote...

So on nightmare mind blast would effect your own party as well?

Correct.

[Peter Thomas]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

So Stonefist can no longer shatter things? That's weird. Are there any combos at all that can be done by a single class, or is it all there just to encourage cross-class cooperation (whereas in DAO they worked no matter which class had the relevant ability)?

Cross-class combos are there to encourage different classes to play off each other.

[Peter Thomas]

DSerpa wrote...

But lightning spells don't cause friendly fire damage?

Chain Lightning and Tempest don't target friendlies.

[Peter Thomas]

Sylvius the Mad wrote...

Wait, but we know that our enemies are always subject to friendly fire.  So if they cast Mind Blast, they'll always hit their allies if they're close together.

That's very strange.

Enemies and party members don't have the same ability set. If an enemy did have something like Mind Blast, then yes, it would affect his allies too. That kind of ability would probably only be given to someone strong enough that he didn't care about the small fry around him anyway.

[Peter Thomas]

Angrimsaur wrote...

Thank you! It is great to finally get an general idea of how combat mechanics work in DA2! 

Just to be sure - "all abilities" would mean it also applies to abilities like Scythe, Whirlwind or Assail (with Besiege)?

Suddenly, it seems hard to imagine a 2h warrior in a nightmare setup, since a lot of their damaging abilities seem to have arc based area damage and I can see "gap closer" area damage like Scythe just being really hard to control in terms of friendly fire.

I would be hard to control without taking it into account beforehand. Pull other characters back before using it, or divide the enemies into separate groups. There are ways to adapt, but a similar problem is faced by Mages with a lot of their abilities.

One thing I didn't choose when I used 2handers on Nightmare was Giant's Reach, because I kept my party pretty close together. This meant I couldn't get Whirlwind, but he wasn't the focus of enemy attention anyway.