614 réponses à ce sujet

[JeffZero]

Whoops, phone was so excited it posted that twice.

[Ozzy]

I luckily managed max out F/R for all my companions during my first run. I'm shamed to admit I did reload on an occasion (or four) though to get a desired result. D:

 

I agree that it's pretty restrictive though but it's pretty cool to see the alternate relationships you can have with your companions. The rivalry path is often the better one though. The only guy I couldn't manage to rival effectively was Varric. He's just too damn cool. 

[caradoc2000]

Because you only get him in act 2, Sebastian is probably the most difficult one to max in F/R. For others you miss their QB quests if you don't get them by act 2.

[JeffZero]

Oh yeah, I definitely agree it's a great concept and a lot of the time it has worked.

Funnily enough Sebastian is sitting at like 95% friendship. His arrow is so close to max I could blow on it and I think it'd do the trick. Now watch me fail to bring it any further, hehe.

Update in a couple of hours. I fell asleep midway through Legacy last night and I want to finish it instead of reviewing half a DLC. I did several other things before it too though so I've got a lot to cover again!

[Lulupab]

Because you only get him in act 2, Sebastian is probably the most difficult one to max in F/R. For others you miss their QB quests if you don't get them by act 2.

His rivalry is VERY EASY to max. There are three quests that each grant over 30 rivalry to Sebastian but yes his friendship is hard to max.

 

Oh yeah, I definitely agree it's a great concept and a lot of the time it has worked.

Funnily enough Sebastian is sitting at like 95% friendship. His arrow is so close to max I could blow on it and I think it'd do the trick. Now watch me fail to bring it any further, hehe.

Update in a couple of hours. I fell asleep midway through Legacy last night and I want to finish it instead of reviewing half a DLC. I did several other things before it too though so I've got a lot to cover again!

 
Hmm, I hope this does not come as spoiler but I think you should have expected it anyway as he is a DLC character. Sebastian's approval is the only one that has no impact on the game whatsoever and whether he is F or R he will make the same decisions/reactions. Only some of his dialogues change. So don't bother maxing it unless you really want to. Sadly he is the only character who is like this.
 
Waiting to see how you played Legacy

[JeffZero]

Nah, not a spoiler. I did kinda figure as such! Anyway, Varric, Anders and Isabela are all maxed as well. Fenris just needs a couple more points. Ditto Aveline. Only Merrill's probably screwed, but I got a bunch more last night.

Gotta go finish Legacy now so I don't just start updating by accident!

[caradoc2000]

His rivalry is VERY EASY to max. There are three quests that each grant over 30 rivalry to Sebastian

I've rivalred Seb once but only with some serious metagaming, if I need an archer I'll take Varric (not Sebastian), if I need a mage I'll take Merrill (not Anders).

[Ozzy]

I found it easy to make Seb a rival. I was deliberately blunt on a few occasions, mainly when he came off as sanctimonious lol. 

[Lulupab]

I've rivalred Seb once but only with some serious metagaming, if I need an archer I'll take Varric (not Sebastian), if I need a mage I'll take Merrill (not Anders).

So when you say you take merril instead of Anders are you a mage yourself? What about difficulty?

 

One of the greatest challenges of DA2 is finishing the game and all DLC without taking Anders and not being a mage yourself. There was a thread for it back in DA2 days. I did it but I cried. Because you must prepare to hit the reload button a lot

[wright1978]

I found it easy to make Seb a rival. I was deliberately blunt on a few occasions, mainly when he came off as sanctimonious lol. 

 

Yeah i found it easy to rival him as my Hawke's generally want him to take back his home.

[caradoc2000]

So when you say you take merril instead of Anders are you a mage yourself?

If I am not a mage myself, I'll take Merrill when I need one.

 

What about difficulty?

I generally play my games on normal. I tend to do a couple of Insanity/Nightmare runs for the achievements. I did one nightmare pt for DA2 as a mage, the main reason for that being:
 

One of the greatest challenges of DA2 is finishing the game and all DLC without taking Anders and not being a mage yourself.

[JeffZero]

If I ever decide I want all the trophies for these games I'll try to get back together with that achievement-loving ex of mine who filled out the ME2 list.

Legacy complete! Man, I wanna just skip ahead to talking about it but all that other stuff before it was cool too so I'll contain myself. Starting the write-ups now!

[JeffZero]

This first part is going to be tricky, because with Legacy so fresh in my mind recalling the quests and their order which preceded my initiation of it last night has become particularly trying. Like I said, I enjoyed it all, and I'll try to reflect that in this first post (going to separate Legacy from it with another) but man, Legacy was good.

 

I want to say the first thing I did last night was investigate that Antivan murderer fellow I was hoping was Zevran. The Dalish here were unusually funny. "You... you... shemlen." Sarcastic Garrett had a good time of it making fun of their bigotry. I was a bit disappointed Marethari didn't have a new conversation for Act 3, but I haven't actually unlocked Merrill's last companion quest yet so there's still time. I was, however, quite satisfied with several other elves who had only given clickable dialogue in the past actually ponying up and appearing in interactive format.

 

Of course, it turned out it was indeed Zevran, who had the ingenious plan of sneaking past and hiding behind a varterral. But I want to start something of a forced trend here so let me pretend I didn't know it was him for a moment:

 

OMG IT'S ZEVRAN!

 

I'm glad I brought Isabela with me. They're exchange was precious. And I got to ask her what she thought of him. She'd had better, for the record. That's... not what I meant, but I really ought to have seen it coming. (Which in itself is prime material for either of them to transform into something dirtier than intended. The cycle continues.) Garrett took him at his word that Nuncio would be a bother if he wasn't dealt with posthaste, so we went and we dealt with him and Zevran wanted to sex everyone up. Turned him down but let him go have fun with Isabela. Open pseudo-relationship is open and also pseudo. Gotta love it.

 

Back in Hightown, the one and only Delilah Howe had a problem: her brother, a veteran Grey Warden of some repute, had gone missing in the Deep Roads on his mission to retrace Hawke's expedition. I didn't have Anders with me at the time, unfortunately, but I shuffled him into my deck before I headed back down there. This, too, I knew was inevitable, but nevertheless I must:

 

OMG IT'S NATHANIAL!

 

Man, he looks badass too. It's been... six years since he was conscripted? Well, looking good, buddy. We dispatched a bunch of darkspawn, spoke with an old familiar dwarf also of Awakening repute, couldn't find more survivors and got out of Dodge after a tense ambush. But it was really cool hearing about the Architect and watching a Grey Warden I myself as a player had brought into the fold having to smoke-and-mirrors some of Garrett's inquiries. Lends a fun dynamic to the Warden gig seeing them from a position like this. Aedan spent much of his journey not knowing if he and Alistair were doing it "right", but they knew many of the darker secrets and were trusted with all the knowledge they obtained because it's what they had become. Garrett is in the shadows.

 

At this point I was really itching to pull the trigger on Legacy, but I wanted to do all these other things that were springing up too. I figured I'd do three more and then go for it and that's exactly what I did, starting with Who Needs Rescuing? Another year, another sprawl across the scenic Wounded Coast. Someone ought to heal the poor thing already, but that's a discussion for another day. This girl was besieged by bandits but Feynriel saved her. And now she was convinced she should go dream of him again, her love, her everything. Talk about 2001-era teen angst stories. She probably ran off and listened to Evanescence too -- not even Fallen, but the original EP, mind you. "Everything went to hell after Origin," she likely tells herself. Which is often stated here on the BSN as well, come to think of it. But I'm happy for Feyn... I... think. Clearly he's got some serious talent for contemporary Arthurian mimicry. 

 

Ah what the hey, Sebastian's final quest was available and people here had hinted it takes an intriguing turn in Act 3. Went ahead and initiated it. I wondered at the time if some ghost from Starkhaven past would arrive to haunt him, tease him, kickstart or resolve him. I certainly had not anticipated a herald from Val Royeaux. You're right, guys and gals. This did take an intriguing turn. Suddenly it was the potential for an Exalted March to deal with the Kirkwall problem and Sebastian weaved his way into this chapter of the plot rather nicely. We were to meet with some "Sister Nightingale", who at the time gave me thoughts of a comic book superhero whose cloak was Chantry-themed and whose superheroic slogans all Maker-related and who probably had her own line of action figures and everything. Go figure, I was technically right.

 

OMG FOR REAL THIS TIME, IT'S LELIANA!

 

Oh my goodness oh my gracious oh me oh my oh my gobrino. Be still my heart. Be still. Leliana, it's you, it's you, it's really you, oh my god you're working that close to the Divine now, oh my god you referenced your relationship with Aedan in a sentence, oh my god they're still together, yes yes yes yes yes yes yes, my head explode, I'm so happy to see you, I mean Garrett isn't but I am, I mean he knows of your tales (but not your Song, aha, badumtish) but I am elated, who cares about Kirkwall it's you it's really you I ... oh fine, I do care about Kirkwall. In any case Garrett certainly does. Get Elthina out of here? Somehow I doubt she's going to budge, but I'll do anything for you Leliana, <3333333333. 

 

Hey Elthina, you need to get out of here, the most amazing woman in Thedas wants you gone in case the going gets rough in the coming years. You won't do it? Ahh, yeah, figured as much. Hey Sebastian, talk some sense into her. Nope, not happening. Hey Sebastian, by the way, are you ever going to retake Starkhaven? What? Elthina won't accept your vows? Poor bloke. Well I think you should stay here and protect her because that's the least I can do for my beloved Leliana Elthina is cool.

 

Goddammit that was awesome. Leliana for every character ever in Dragon Age: Inquisition please.

 

One more dalliance before Legacy. Hubert was steaming about that whole horse torture thing. I can just picture it, even though I don't want to, but I bet Hideo Kojima has and wants to integrate it into Metal Gear Solid V. But I digress. The mines were aflame. The workers ravaged, torn apart. Well this didn't bode well. I turned a corner, stepped down into a...

 

OMG IT'S A HIGH DRAGON!

 

I remember you from the first game too! This is just one big cheery reunion saga, isn't it? Well seven hells, this was a long fight. Minor Legacy write-up spoilers though: my memory is kind of hazy on how hard because I know damn well at this point it was nothing compared to a certain DLC encounter. Eh... heh. Well it took a while and the damn thing kept flying up to a perch and it gave me Archdemon flashbacks and I kept hoping I could call a bunch of elves to shoot it down but Bianca worked well enough. Dwarven overtime, baby. And actual dragons -- not just dragonlings, but dragons -- kept showing up but we cleaved through them like relative butter and after a time the High Dragon bellowed in fury and was silenced forever. And I got Wade Solivitus to make something spiffy out of its loot, and I got a bunch of gold and some other cool stuff and I told Hubert it was all finished and he was his usual stupid self but whatever, we killed a High Dragon, we're like a better-dressed version of the original party.

 

Garrett stirred that night, thinking about how awesome he was, but an epic journey loomed...

[JeffZero]

Think I'm going to take a different approach to tackling this monster of a DLC. More of the route I frequented when doing my Origins posts and have only occasionally followed here. I'll discuss specific storyline developments as they feel relevant but I want to focus on various spiffy stuff both plot-related and gameplay-related.

 

The environments! I love-love-love that they were all new. I mean I knew going in they probably would be but wow. What a change that can make. That's not really the most important aspect though. What's best about these environments was how big they felt. The Carta hideout was brimming with personality and the tower itself was like a better version of a lot of what Origins and Awakening threw at me. It was lively, it felt like it held great and terrible purpose, it was a fun ride. I'm not usually one for long dungeon slogs but there was enough forward momentum here, cutscenes placed in more locations than I had anticipated, and that really, really helped. I constantly felt like I was accomplishing something. Every corner held dialogue or at least nifty treasure. Excellent pacing considering how this could have gone down. (I'm reminded of the hundred floors near the end of Final Fantasy XII.)

 

My party really got to shine! I'm well aware this probably would have been so much richer with a surviving sibling tagging along. And yeah, Merrill didn't have much to offer, but when she did, it was good. (For the best example, I went ahead and put those four sacrifices to Dumat down and she was all, "...fascinating!" and I'm really underselling it because there was a nice pause and she took it all in and reminded me of my anthropology major and why I went for it. And Varric ran into Bianca's maker -- that's huge! -- and then there was that whole bit with some dwarven legacy of his own. I find it fascinating how much he tries to get away from all that considering it's storytelling in the making. It just happens to involve him directly and that's unsettling. I love that guy. Anders was flipping out over hearing Corypheus' voice the whole time and I even had to fight to dispel Vengeance near the end. He got a big chunk here considering how talkative he was about how similar to Awakening much of this felt. And how the Architect and Corypheus shared certain obvious parallels.

 

Man, so there were talking darkspawn back in the day, eh? Craziness. The Architect was not alone, just terribly mistimed. 

 

Powering up Hawke's Key was great fun. And of course the whole Malcolm's Will quest was fantastic development for Garrett in terrific form. It didn't force definition on my character but it gave him a whopper of a "companion" quest. Malcolm's involvement in this place's history added so much depth to the Hawke lineage that I don't think I would have realized I yearned for this first file around but I think for sure I would have started considering it on subsequent playthroughs. He was such an enigma but now some light has been shone on him and that's just daaahling.

 

But I know y'all probably want to know who I sided with, so I'll tell ya.

 

Metagaming at the time led me to believe Corypheus may have been a valuable potential ally against the Blights, just as Janeka suggested. (Although to be sure her demeanor had me thinking she was rather much corrupted from the first, but then... look at Larius...) But this hearkens back to the beauty of not playing a Grey Warden, just as I mentioned in the previous post. Garrett only has hearsay at his disposal to use against these matters. They're not what he knows, they're not his focus, his modus operandi. Thankfully he has Anders with him in the tower, but even Anders is entirely disquieted by the concept, despite having been there with Aedan when he made his deal with the Architect. And I can see why. Especially given Corypheus has been held here for thousands of years -- thousands of years -- and has conquered the minds of so many, used and abused them to his dark purpose. And on an even further meta note, I finally finished The Calling (the second novel) recently so I know more about the Architect's past than Aedan ever did. And that was pretty damn screwy too.

 

But there's no metagaming in my vidyagaming. Garrett's got Anders telling him this is probably bad news and Janeka damn near salivating and Larius shaking his head. Varric thinks it's worth a shot and Merrill... well I mean she's Merrill... but no. Not happening. Garrett sided with Larius, sending Janeka off in a rage, her stylish Warden entourage visibly conflicted but (tiny quibble in a sea of groovy, but) unfortunately perpetually silent. 

 

The race was on. Guardians were slain, Devil May Cry Effect let Hawke's Key become even more powerful, and we eventually fought Janeka near Corypheus' lair. Gotta hand it to the art team again, this place was pretty. Garrett learned Larius' nefarious methodology when facing down a defiant Malcolm, putting a permanently sour note on that dynamic, but it didn't change the fact that he believed Larius was correct. We took her down and her Silent Brothers too and I had each party member deactivate a single pillar like a total weirdo and then...

 

OMG IT'S NIGHTMARE FUEL!

 

What? There was nightmare fuel in the first game too! Mother, anyone?

 

Well I'm selling Corypheus short, really. He's not as genuinely repulsive as she was, but he exudes badassery despite his form. Which is incredible design. And he was confused. And spoke funnily. And was way out of his element. Anders talked about how he always believed the story of the first darkspawn was myth. And you know, so did I. I figured it was a very Chantry-centric version of the tale at best. Which it obviously still is, but this fellow really wasn't doing those Tevinter Magisters any favors, talking about how much they coveted the Golden City and such. And he wanted Dumat to have his back, which is funny because dead dead dead. So incredibly dead. And then he decided he was going through us and I bet you fight him regardless of the path you choose so I'm curious how this goes down if you wanted to harness his... wait, I answered my own question. Like hell this guy would have allowed that. Which brings me to my next point.

 

Oh my god this was easily the hardest fight in both games.

 

I can't believe I didn't die once. My companions kept falling to the flames and I was barely ahead of them on multiple occasions. It turned into the most beautiful version of that Arishok-chased-Hawke picture I could have possibly envisioned, except this time the Arishok was an enormous line of flame and a growing arsenal of accompanying elements and Hawke was like on fire and stuff. And there was much running. And much rejoicing that I had a few Mythral's Favors in my inventory. And I can't tell you how much time I spent basically looking for Anders' corpse while running the craziest gauntlet I've seen in a long time so I could revive him so he could turn on Panacea and have everyone's backs for maybe thirty seconds and then die again so I could go find him again Christ on a stick there was so much finding corpses in this battle and if Garrett Hawke didn't have 480 HP and Devour this would not have worked because several times I barely saw health in that health bar.

 

This. Was. A. Fight.

 

And it was glorious. Corypheus was glorious. So much struggle. So much spectacle. I was practically shaking by the end. I have no interest -- I repeat, no interest -- in facing this guy on Nightmare. Normal was good enough. Stunned, I was. Positively stunned by how fun and bareknuckle this battle quickly became.

 

But I won.

 

And Garrett cut brutally short his newfound reign and Larius was freed and then that last scene. Man. I bet Leandra has that chat with Garrett for real if she's alive but I'm so glad I waited until Act 3 because I think the fact that he was imagining it was so much more emotionally poignant for me. When she appeared like that I definitely teared up. So good.

 

Legacy, so good.

[caradoc2000]

Did you find the hidden boss in Legacy?

[JeffZero]

Haha, probably not. Was it behind some blue and red barriers? Because there was something there I never did figure out.

[caradoc2000]

No, he is much earlier, out there in the arena-like structure in the open. But you can only unlock him inside the hideout, which means you have to backtrack. IMO, he is more difficult than Corypheus.

[JeffZero]

Wow, they really went all out with challenge in this DLC then. That's insane.

[caradoc2000]

He is referred to in the Amgeforn codex entries you find. He is easily missed as you don't get a quest for him.

 

Edit: For added fun, you should try Legacy in act 1, when you don't yet have access to the Mythal's Favor resurrection bombs.

[Helios969]

Just wrapped that up myself...didn't know about hidden boss, but Corypheus was tough enough so forget it.  The only one to survive the initial onslaught of rotating flames was Bethany, but she was up to the task - act3 lvl 42 circle mage.  Really tough commanding everyone in that dlc.  Kind of funny that B takes ol' toad face down but sis gets the deathblow cutscene.

[LostInReverie19]

It's so interesting what bosses people find challenging. I find the High Dragon incredibly challenging, but Corypheus is a breeze! Once you get the mechanics for Corypheus down, I feel like he's quite easy. However, that stupid dragon with her fireballs...Ugh. Haha. 

 

Oh, and you will change your mind about Corypheus being the hardest fight in both games...that title rightfully belongs to the Legacy hidden boss. Man, is that a mother of a fight! 

[JeffZero]

Aye, I can think of many games with fights I consider easy against the consensus otherwise and vice versa. It is rather odd and amusing!

Level 42 Bethany? Good lord! That is... rather high indeed!

Mark of the Assassin tonight, booting her up now. Thoughts tomorrow.

(And my save has been copied, so let's hope if something wicked does this way come I have indeed copied it correctly and such...)

[Rainbow Wyvern]

I find, quite literally, all boss fights challenging. Even on normal. My brain can't seem to grasp simple tactics. 

I mean, I had to restart the Architect six times before I eventually sided with him because I couldn't win.

[Helios969]

Jeffzero:  uh, cough, console cheat.  Basically start off game at lvl 20 since me and my peeps are supposed to cut a swath of carnage through the opposition.  Play for the story anyway.

 

You're gonna love MotA.  That's a dlc that's full of fun environments and colorful characters.

[CuriousArtemis]

Jeffzero:  uh, cough, console cheat.  Basically start off game at lvl 20 since me and my peeps are supposed to cut a swath of carnage through the opposition.  Play for the story anyway.

 

Been there. It's amusing how quickly you can carve through the game when you set all attributes at 100