6397 réponses à ce sujet

[Kage]

It seems clear by now that companions will only have 1 focus ability. I hope we can choose which one it is, from at least 2 of them.

If I want to give Varric DW daggers, I would like to have a useful focus skill and not be penalized for it. It seems kind of "false" that I can give Varric daggers otherwise, if he would not have a focus skill then. Heck, it would feel that Varric has 1 less skill tree.

 

Also, focus abilities have NOTHING to do at all with the trees they are in. It is like they dont belong at all, just thrown there because there was no other place to put them.

[Adhin]

Yeah, Varric's definitely feels out of place for that specific specialization. And if you wanna make a dagger Varric your basically saying he doesn't get a focus skill which is a little crazy. Though I'm sure some people don't even want to have focus skills on there 8 hotkeys to begin with, so that may not bug some people. Personally I want each persons focus skill. I don't want those focus bars going to waste.

 

With the Knight Enchanters description (a least Inquisitor's version) Resurgence makes sense in there. Curious if Haste is even available to the Inquisitor now, and what the 9 focus skills are spread out for the quizzy and subsequently what the potentially 9 other focus skills are for the companions.

[Kage]

I really think they did not know where to put the focus skills, and now that they have decided to put them in the specialization tree's, we are limited to 1 per character.

(Except Inquisitor plot specials)

 

However, I do not like them being so rigid. Focus abilities are a must, unless you want to feel like you are completely wasting a resource. And the bad part of that is they are forcing us half of the skill points for companions.

"If you dont want to waste focus on Varric, go Bianca skill tree"

"If you dont want to waste focus, spend several points in artificier"

So basically, can you please just level up Varric for me and stop making me feel like I have a choice?

 

I dont want to feel like this, and I dont like to feel like wasting a resource, so that is why I REALLY HOPE WE CAN CHOOSE FOCUS AT LEAST!

[PillarBiter]

The inquisitor will be able to choose 2 focuses, I think (the rift thing and it's specialty).

 

Personally, I like each character having their own focus (I called this a while back). Although I do feel kind of weird about focuses like varric's... That said, varric should not use daggers, he should use bianca. You're a monster for making him use anything else!

[Siripho]

I may have this very wrong as a) I'm an idiot, I have not seen it discussed yet and c) I'm an idiot, but in the latest feed doesn't the inquisitor have two focus powers mapped? They look like resurgence and the rift mage one but I am unable to check now.

If (and it's a big if) so, does this mean we learn them separately from specialisation and can perhaps learn multiple focus powers?

[Eudaemonium]

I may have this very wrong as a) I'm an idiot, I have not seen it discussed yet and c) I'm an idiot, but in the latest feed doesn't the inquisitor have two focus powers mapped? They look like resurgence and the rift mage one but I am unable to check now.

If (and it's a big if) so, does this mean we learn them separately from specialisation and can perhaps learn multiple focus powers?

 

Yeah, he does. He has Resurgence and Mark of the Rift (a/the unique Inquisitor one). I suspect it'll work like this: You get 1 Focus based on your Spec (which may or may not be the same as the ones the companions get, this is still rather unknown), and then you get Mark of the Rift and possibly others through following the plot. I currently suspect that Haste might actually be either a unique Inquisitor 'glowy-hand power' or possibly the Inquisitor's Rift mage Focus. If you watch the E3 demo, for example (Part I, 9:22) it shows the Quizzy's skill trees and they definitely have the Rift one. That said they also have other icons that are no longer in use (one might be Necromancer, so the Quiz might be a hacked build).

[Medhia_Nox]

@Kage:  You freely admit that your compulsion alone makes it necessary for you to have the Focus abilities. 

 

I do not "need" them - even if I took them.  

 

So I have a choice, and your lack of choice has not be designed by Bioware, but by yourself.  

 

So I prefer to allow me to make Varric a dagger rogue if I wish - while you will feel compelled to make him us Bianca for a Focus power.  Everybody wins.  

 

=====

 

Just now getting into this conversation - but in the Livestream last night they said all the NPC powers were going to be usable with both weapon styles.  

How do we know Focus powers?  What did I miss?

[LexXxich]

These Inquisition perks, man. Some of them are so universally useful that they might become pretty much mandatory. Like one that gives +50% health potion capacity. Or ones that give +1 potion slot each. Or one that gives +10% to all defences to your whole party. These all are obvious tangible benefits to whole party. And they compete with "+10% of stuff gain from harvesting" and "bonus XP from codex entries (not retroactive)".

[Eudaemonium]

It might just be me, but comparing the Forces and Secrets perks, it seemed like Forces gave far more tangible benefits (extra potion capacity, higher level Focus, for example), whereas a lot of the Secrets perks outside the codex and enemy knowledge ones seemed just to make things easier (reveal landmarks on maps, wider search range).

[WillieStyle]

Why are we assuming extra potion capacity will be more valuable than bonus XP? How valuable was the 5th Medigel Capacity upgrade in ME3? In every single RPG I've ever played, by my second play through, either I or the community had so mastered the game that perks that increase healing potion capacity or party defenses were kinda mediocre. Neither my Kensai/Mage in BG2, nor my Consular/Knight in KoToR would have even noticed if you'd reduced their potion capacity by X percent.

I'd much rather have acess to extra conversations or get my cool active abilities sooner than make a game I've already mastered marginally easier.

[Eudaemonium]

The bonus XP will definitely be useful, I was referring more to the other perks, specifically the ones that give you a wider scanning range and reveal additional landmarks, also arguably the ones that give you collections of herbs and 10% extra herbs from gathering. These are obviously good for time-saving, but they don't seem like they'll give you anything unique (unless some of the rarer herbs are *exceptionally* rare). The scanning and landmark ones seem more for ease of use, for example. It isn't like the landmarks aren't there if you don't get the perk, for example.

 

That said, the Forces mount perks seem pretty weak too.

[Icy Magebane]

Yeah, Varric's definitely feels out of place for that specific specialization. And if you wanna make a dagger Varric your basically saying he doesn't get a focus skill which is a little crazy. Though I'm sure some people don't even want to have focus skills on there 8 hotkeys to begin with, so that may not bug some people. Personally I want each persons focus skill. I don't want those focus bars going to waste.

 

With the Knight Enchanters description (a least Inquisitor's version) Resurgence makes sense in there. Curious if Haste is even available to the Inquisitor now, and what the 9 focus skills are spread out for the quizzy and subsequently what the potentially 9 other focus skills are for the companions.

Yeah, I kind of dislike them giving Varric a Focus power that's tied to Bianca, since my original plan was to have him using daggers.  Focus abilities are so powerful that this seems like a really bad idea, so I had to switch him back to archery... Even if the non-mage party members have unique Focus abilities, I hope they aren't all this weapon-specific.  I have Cole using a bow and Sera using daggers... if their Focus powers are tied to the opposite weapons, I thing I might scream.  Or, just not use Focus at all on most of my characters just for the sake of balance... It sounds like this could get pretty annoying for people who weren't planning on going with the weapon styles showcased in concept art and demos.

 

The inquisitor will be able to choose 2 focuses, I think (the rift thing and it's specialty).

 

Personally, I like each character having their own focus (I called this a while back). Although I do feel kind of weird about focuses like varric's... That said, varric should not use daggers, he should use bianca. You're a monster for making him use anything else!

[WillieStyle]

Well look at it this way. Did you ever play ME3? If so, by your second or third play through, which would you rather have had: a skill that would have increased the scanning range of the Normandy's probe thingie; or an increased Medigel capacity?

[Eudaemonium]

Well look at it this way. Did you ever play ME3? If so, by your second or third play through, which would you rather have had: a skill that would have increased the scanning range of the Normandy's probe thingie; or an increased Medigel capacity?

 

Depends on difficulty! But fair point.

[Adhin]

@Icy Magebane :I would imagine that is a Varric only thing in so far as Varric 'is' Bianca and so on. I mean they're practically a married couple, deciding hes going to use daggers is practically taking a big ol' poopy dump on his character. Though It's something I'll end up doing in some play through for the sake of having him stab fewls. Either way, makes some sense to me why they would do that on his char.

 

The other characters though? None of them are that focused on a specific 'weapon'. Maybe they have a starter tendency toward a specific weapon style but not a 'weapon'. Bianca is unique, extremely unique. It's the only repeating crossbow of that kind in all of Thedas, and he knew the craftsman personally who built it (the only working one he managed to ever make, for that matter).

 

So yeah, it sucks, but at least with Varric it makes sense. Mages obviously wont be a problem, and I bet you Cassandra's focus will be Champion-esk even though she gets Templar (since she wasn't a templar up to this point). Betcha that's what the focus skills are for, show that persons individual personality outside of there generic specialization.

[DMaster2]

I know we only have 8 hotkeys for abilities, but can we activate/cast abilities from the ability/spell menu?

[Dunbartacus]

I know we only have 8 hotkeys for abilities, but can we activate/cast abilities from the ability/spell menu?

Nope

[ElementalFury106]

The only critique I would make is getting some in inferno and taking some out of either winter or spirit or a little of both. maybe take out wall of ice and put in one of the beginning fire spells and maybe an upgrade if you take out another in spirit.

How come? I've thoroughly looked through the Inferno tree and it seems the least tailored to my playstyle, so I opt'ed out of it. Also, from what we've seen, it looks substatially weaker than fire spells from previous titles. It's not to say that I won't create an inferno build with a companion or different Inquisitor playthrough, but not this one.

I did consider at least getting flash fire because of the panic/fear effect it has. You may have noticed my playstyle includes spells that always have a certain effect to them, not just straight up damage. The only spell I have that is pure damage related is energy barrage.

The reason I went for wall of Ice is ultimately, I want a wall spell. I am totally the kind of player who micromanages his party positions for maximum territorial effectiveness. Even though I prefer wall of fire since allies can pass through it (assuming non friendly fire) but it's quicker to get wall of ice in the winter tree than it is to get wall of fire in the inferno tree.

I would definitely consider knocking off mind blast and the following spirit barrier passive and getting something with more variety. Maybe flash fire as you suggested.

[DMaster2]

Great, so it's pointless to pick more than 7-8 actives. Terrible gameplay choice imho.

P.S.: Someone has to teach me how to quote because the quote button doesn't seem to work properly.

[Icy Magebane]

Great, so it's pointless to pick more than 7-8 actives. Terrible gameplay choice imho.

P.S.: Someone has to teach me how to quote because the quote button doesn't seem to work properly.

When you hit "quote," the post that you selected the option in should appear in the text box at the bottom of the screen...

 

Also, I don't think the restriction is really that bad... if you focus on obtaining passives in addition to those actives, you can come up with several decent builds per class.  Even if you choose to take a wider range of actives, it should be possible to swap out a few abilities here and there to suit the occasion... I didn't like this system at all when I heard about it, but I've changed my mind about that.  Most of the abilities have multiple functions anyway, like lightning + paralyze, fire + fear, etc. and most of the passives seem designed around the 8 ability limit...  After all, there aren't that many active abilities to begin with... I think 17 spells in total?  We won't have enough talent points to learn a ton of abilities in the first place.

[VilhoDog13]

That's the thing about this new style. A lot of people are expecting a lot of spells - but these new passives alter your spells considerably. It's a matter of quality over quantity.

I'm kind of excited for these new Mage spells/passives.

Also, how many points do we get total? I made a potential build - although it lacks some serious CC so I'm a tad worried about that..but the damage.

Spirit:
Barrier
Elegant Defense
Peaceful Aura

Winter:
Winter Grasp/??? (Whichever the other one is)
Winter Stillness

Storm:
Chain Lightning
Lightning Bolt
Exploding Bolt (upgraded LB)
Gathering Storm

Inferno:
Immolate
Flashpoint
Clean Burn
Pyro manced
Wall of Fire
Chaotic Focus
Fire Mine

[Icy Magebane]

@ VilhoDog13 - The level cap is 25-30, and we might get a couple extra points here and there... 1 for being human, and 1 if we pick a certain Inquisition perk... maybe a couple others elsewhere in the game.

[DMaster2]

When you hit "quote," the post that you selected the option in should appear in the text box at the bottom of the screen...

 

Also, I don't think the restriction is really that bad... if you focus on obtaining passives in addition to those actives, you can come up with several decent builds per class.  Even if you choose to take a wider range of actives, it should be possible to swap out a few abilities here and there to suit the occasion... I didn't like this system at all when I heard about it, but I've changed my mind about that.  Most of the abilities have multiple functions anyway, like lightning + paralyze, fire + fear, etc. and most of the passives seem designed around the 8 ability limit...  After all, there aren't that many active abilities to begin with... I think 17 spells in total?  We won't have enough talent points to learn a ton of abilities in the first place.

I think it's a ie problem, when i switched to firefox it quote just fine.

I can see what are you talking about, it's just that i already saw more or less 10 actives i would like to use as my mage, and that's not counting inquisitor tree (which should have 2-3 actives at least) and specializations (not going to pick KE for the first playthrough) and it really suck have to cut on them.

[Icy Magebane]

I think it's a ie problem, when i switched to firefox it quote just fine.

I can see what are you talking about, it's just that i already saw more or less 10 actives i would like to use as my mage, and that's not counting inquisitor tree (which should have 2-3 actives at least) and specializations (not going to pick KE for the first playthrough) and it really suck have to cut on them.

Yeah, I would also have preferred the old system where we could access all of our powers all the time, but it's just something we have to adapt to... :/  Maybe you can give the extra powers to party members so that at least they are available to you in some way?  Either that or use Stealth to scout ahead and then swap in the powers you need for particularly difficult encounters.  There are a few different ways to deal with this... it's just a matter of choosing which one you are most comfortable with.

[Adhin]

I can honestly say I don't have an issue taking 1-2 active skills I wont ever use to get access to passives I do want. That's kinda RPG's in a nut shell. Hey heres this thing you don't really want but you need it to get this thing you DO want. Did it all the time in DAO, sure I had access TO them in DAO, but I never used them. They where ultimately a waste of mana/stamina compared to the other stuff I was using. Had to take em though if I wanted what I actually use.

 

No real different here, except it'll be for passives mostly. Many of which are rather game changing. Really happy to find out Counter upgrade for 2H will actually add Guard. Upgraded 200% weapon dmg and +15% guard. Curious if guard % is based off your base max HP or something else. It's pretty darn confusing exactly 'how' guard works outside of acting like temp-HP. Is there like a total guard HP that the % use that's 'not' based off your HP? Or would increasing your base HP also effect guard which is what I hope. That would mean stacking Con has a double-purpose, making your HP larger 'and' your guard more effective.

 

Another thing I'll have to test out when I get the game, swapping out Focus skills. There is a chance I'll keep my specialization focus on and swap out to the Rift Mark in areas where I know I'll need it as I kinda feel it's a waste to have 2 focus skills mapped. That is to say I'd rather have 7 skills instead of 6 cause of focus stuff. Now if swapping my Specialization Focus for the Rift Focus wont re-set my focus bar to 0... as long as that stays where it is and doesn't go away I'll be happy as that's not to much of an issue to swap ahead of time for the rare, special occasion I want the Mark.