Healing has not disappeared (lorewise). Just because the PC can't use blood magic doesn't mean that it has disappeared from the world either.
Ye maybe that is the easiest answer and you're probably right. So the Inquisition is just unlucky in that of all the mages they recruit not one of them ever studied healing effects, interesting question becomes, will we possibly meet enemy mages who actually use healing spells?
if the pattern holds, they will be fairly common.
If you really think about it, right now even with the limitation of potions, it is just artificial. You have unlimited potions in reality by going to the camp. As I have said hundreds of times it is just the added 'nuisance' layer of having to run back and forth.
You've made up your mind on this, so all I can say is that it's far too late to change, so we're going to have to live or die with whether or not it's successful. It's not going to change and based on the encounter design it's not going to change with a patch either.
If you're absolutely not sure if you'll enjoy the game, wait and see what others are saying at release and use it to inform your opinion. If you still aren't convinced, pick a price point that you feel is worth the risk, and pick up the game when the price drops below then, to ensure you don't find yourself picking up a game that you ultimately don't enjoy and feel you've wasted money on.
I plan on recording a Lets Play of my game (very like doing Dalish Elf) so you'll definitely be able to get a visual feel for the combat difficulty on normal, as I plan on playing on normal.
Cheers.
Ye maybe that is the easiest answer and you're probably right. So the Inquisition is just unlucky in that of all the mages they recruit not one of them ever studied healing effects, interesting question becomes, will we possibly meet enemy mages who actually use healing spells?
Note that lorewise, healing actually isn't really an in combat ability. It's a gameplay exception played and combat encounters were designed around the potential inclusion of having healing spells.
You've made up your mind on this, so all I can say is that it's far too late to change, so we're going to have to live or die with whether or not it's successful. It's not going to change and based on the encounter design it's not going to change with a patch either.
If you're absolutely not sure if you'll enjoy the game, wait and see what others are saying at release and use it to inform your opinion.
Bioware has always made heavily storydriven RPGs, if some guy decides not to buy the game because of a subsystem of the combat mechanics (potions in this case) - then lets be perfectly honest here, he didnt give the game a chance to begin with.
Sure. I'd use that mod myself if I ever actually looked at the compass. I just thought it was silly to say that the compass "defeats exploration."
And as TheRevanchist points out below, you can remove the compass but not the map, since the radiant system would break without it. Well, I guess you can remove the map and then have no clue where someone just asked you to go, but....
On a similar/related point, I've often wondered why everyone seems to give the player a full map/compass/fast travel/'go here' compass right off the bat. Such things are major convenience factors, to be sure... but they're conveniance factors. Why not make players earn them?
You could do it as an extension of the level up system, or a quest/investment system in its own right.
If you tied it to level ups, imagine if there was a skill tree for 'Cartography.' Similar in shape to the DA2 skill trees, with different travel-related convenience factors stacked behind it. Tier 1 gets you a world map HUD- but no tracker for player, no markers, no caves, and not even a guarantee that the map is oriented consistently with North being up. Tier 2 is using a compass- now the map will always be oriented north-up, the player's direction of travel is shown. Tier 3 is plotting- if you find information where something is supposed to be, it will be marked on the map. And so on. These progression points can have their own upgrade pieces. Upgrade 1A could be Charting- whereas before the player only had a HUD for the world map, with caves being unmapped, now caves will be drawn as they are explored. Upgrade 2A could be Terrain Association- now the map will show major topographic features (hills, valleys, rivers, forests, etc.) rather than being a blank-faced map. Upgrade 3A could be self-placement- now you can track yourself on the map HUD, as opposed to having to infer where you are by terrain association. Etc. etc. etc.
This would work best in a system in which multiple skill investment points are given at once. It would be a RPG trade off between useful convenience factors (which, at the end of the day, aren't necessary) and pure combat ability investment. Think how the Fallout perk system has very useful, but utterly unnecessary, perks for non-combat playstyles. Throw in additional viability for map-related skills (upto and including being able to sell your created maps of caves and dungeons for rewards) and you could make a Map skill tree a desirable investment.
Alternatively, you could make a map HUD and travel a convenience system developed by quest rewards and deliberate action. Maps are now items of varying quality- they cover various regions, with varying degrees of detail, depending on how you get them. You can buy them, you can find them, or you can make them if you have the resources to do so. You might even be able to sell them, especially maps you yourself create of long unmapped dungeons and forgotten places, with additional value the more detail the maps hold. A compass is a rare and expensive item (with limitations in high-magnetic/magical areas). To place an destination on a map, you must have a map and receive the information telling you where to go. No omniscient map-tool that knows where every long-lost artifact is.
You could gain functionality for various map skills by visiting scholar-trainers, or get unique abilities as rewards from quests. You might not have an omniscient map, but perhaps you could pay an Oracle who could mark your quest objective on an appropriate map for a fee. A regular compass may be rendered null and void in certain areas (including metalic dungeons), but a magical compass might have no such limitations. A Potion of Guidance, a Blessing from a God of Seekers, these might give temporary 'go in this direction' or 'arrow above the objective' perks... or you could go on an epic quest of enlightenment to gain the skill permanently.
Map functions are convenient, no doubt, but much of the time they are superfluous. Why not make them part of the game, rather than take them for granted?
Bioware has always made heavily storydriven RPGs, if some guy decides not to buy the game because of a subsystem of the combat mechanics (potions in this case) - then lets be perfectly honest here, he didnt give the game a chance to begin with.
this is correct. I'm not going be too happy with combat but I still plan on trying to preorder for the story.
In a way, this is the best (albeit unintentional) marketing a game could ever receive, right here. The game you guys are making is so cool that you're not absolutely sick of it even after launchI plan on recording a Lets Play of my game (very like doing Dalish Elf) so you'll definitely be able to get a visual feel for the combat difficulty on normal, as I plan on playing on normal.
I know you've said you don't always dig deep into actually playing the game itself in your role, but I imagine you've seen your fair share of the game engine over the past 4 years even so.I agree that this kind of thing is fantastic. One of my favourite parts of the design of Dark Souls 1 is how you're extremely limited in what you can do as you start out. The further you play, the more options you have to make Lordran a more traversable place where you can instantly find whatever it is you're seeking; easing exploration even in as-of-yet unexplored areas if you want to.On a similar/related point, I've often wondered why everyone seems to give the player a full map/compass/fast travel/'go here' compass right off the bat. Such things are major convenience factors, to be sure... but they're conveniance factors. Why not make players earn them?
this is correct. I'm not going be too happy with combat but I still plan on trying to preorder for the story.
I would not say this is entirely correct. I use to believe I could deal with any shitty combat mechanic in a game, if the story was worth it. I no longer believe that for myself as I found out the hard way. Morrowind is the perfect example of this for me. I ABSOLUTELY cannot STAND Morrowinds combat system, I refuse to play that game because of it, no matter how f***ing fantastic that games plot is. Which it is.
I would not say this is entirely correct. I use to believe I could deal with any shitty combat mechanic in a game, if the story was worth it. I no longer believe that for myself as I found out the hard way. Morrowind is the perfect example of this for me. I ABSOLUTELY cannot STAND Morrowinds combat system, I refuse to play that game because of it, no matter how f***ing fantastic that games plot is. Which it is.
your choice though I'm fairly sure as long as you not a total noob playing on easy should limit the annoyance to bearable levels. but 100% plays are probably out of the question.
and what happened to calling easy, easy.why did it get changed to casual? it seems a rather odd choice to me
let us all remember that until we get our hands on DA:I, theres no way of being 100% sure how the combat is gonna work for us, if in doubt best to wait for release day and read/watch for wide spectrum of reviews
your choice though I'm fairly sure as long as you not a total noob playing on easy should limit the annoyance to bearable levels. but 100% plays are probably out of the question.
and what happened to calling easy, easy.why did it get changed to casual? it seems a rather odd choice to me
Because it goes back to that whole "Hardcore" vs "Casual" Fiction that the Industry will not drop.
Because it feels less humiliating to select, I would imagine. You're not saying you want an easy ride, you're merely stating you're not interested in a hardcore experience. That's a good thing, in my eyes. I say that even though I am not planning on playing on the casual setting and will aim for the possible Nightmare achievement eventually.and what happened to calling easy, easy.why did it get changed to casual? it seems a rather odd choice to me
Because it goes back to that whole "Hardcore" vs "Casual" Fiction that the Industry will not drop.
really I thought it was the players that keep that up.... then again the industry would follow if the players do...
Because it feels less humiliating to select, I would imagine. You're not saying you want an easy ride, you're merely stating you're not interested in a hardcore experience. That's a good thing, in my eyes. I say that even though I am not planning on playing on the casual setting and will aim for the possible Nightmare achievement eventually.
I'll take your word for that as I have no shame... and am too tired to think any more.
Because it goes back to that whole "Hardcore" vs "Casual" Fiction that the Industry will not drop.
I think it's actually that, perhaps counter intuitively, people have a greater aversion to setting the difficulty to Easy over Casual. Casual conveys a different type of experience, while Easy conveys a "you're not very good at the game" message.
I think it's actually that, perhaps counter intuitively, people have a greater aversion to setting the difficulty to Easy over Casual. Casual conveys a different type of experience, while Easy conveys a "you're not very good at the game" message.
I suppose if someones self confidence is so easily wounded by the description of a difficulty setting then sure. But if thats the case they have bigger problems imo.
I don't know about others, but I plan to take up the challenge to get through a major quest without taking any damage, excepting only the chapter boss fight, if any. Nerfed healing? Is of little relevance with good positioning and movement and damage reduction abilities. Add traps and bombs, and I'm pretty sure you'll be able to do it on hard, too.
Note that while I'm not exactly incompetent, I'm a story player at heart. DAO Nightmare and ME1 Insanity weren't for me. But I'm confident I'll be up to the challenge, as far as I can be with no hands-on experience of DAI.
What I find most amusing about all this angst about healing and difficulty is, once the community has mastered the meta-game and discovered over-powered specs, the forums will be filled with people complaining that the game is too easy.
It's not necessarily about keeping the players' mental state up. But if a player selects Normal and isn't ready for it, they may find themselves frustrated. This frustration leads to the risk of them playing the game less than they otherwise would, which means less entertainment for them, less positive word-of-mouth and less time for the game to stay in the gamer's memory (= less DLC sales).I suppose if someones self confidence is so easily wounded by the description of a difficulty setting then sure. But if thats the case they have bigger problems imo.
Most people seem to forget the enemies have fixed levels. That means the further you progress the more enemies become less of a threat to you and the more you can explore freely
Ye maybe that is the easiest answer and you're probably right. So the Inquisition is just unlucky in that of all the mages they recruit not one of them ever studied healing effects, interesting question becomes, will we possibly meet enemy mages who actually use healing spells?
As many others have already said healing spells are not gonen from the game, there are still spells that can heal.
As for enemy mages I have no idea but I hope not. I hate it when enemies heal themselves.
Your post is really great, Patrick. You've given a huge amount of detail which does make me feel a bit better about this.
The thing is, though, I just love playing healers. In the BG and NWN games, I always played clerics, because I love being able to look after my party. Tending their wounds so that they never get knocked out is a way to show that I "care" about what happens to them. In situations where there are NPCs fighting alongside us, or even peasants being attacked by enemies, I'd always try to keep them alive via healing too! I saw it as an element of roleplaying a kind character.
Since there wasn't a cleric class in Dragon Age, and the role of mages in Thedas didn't quite appeal to me initially, I played a rogue in DA:O and DA2 (because my second love is stealth, especially using it to avoid unnecessary killing). However, as soon as it became possible to have a healing mage in the party, I always brought one with me, and thus got to play one by proxy. Slowly, their appeal grew on me, until I realised that this class was really a better fit for me than rogue and decided for sure that my Inquisitor was going to be a mage healer. Dragon Age mage healing literally won me over. And now it's been taken away. I think it's natural to be a bit upset.
I understand that I can still play a mage Inquisitor and use some of the abilities that you outlined in order to protect my party. I just won't know, until I try, how this is actually going to feel, compared to healing, which I know that I enjoy. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, but my enthusiasm is a bit dampened for now. I hope that makes sense.
(By the way, I know this is nothing to do with the topic, but if you're reading this, I really loved Masked Empire. It wasn't just a good Dragon Age novel - it was a good fantasy novel.)
As you say, you will most likely be able to do all this now as well. But now, instead of patching up the people you care about after they've already been wounded, you will simply place your powers in between them and harm. Your magic will ensure your companion is never hurt to begin with, or at least minimise just how deep that dagger is plunged into them.In the BG and NWN games, I always played clerics, because I love being able to look after my party. Tending their wounds so that they never get knocked out is a way to show that I "care" about what happens to them. In situations where there are NPCs fighting alongside us, or even peasants being attacked by enemies, I'd always try to keep them alive via healing too! I saw it as an element of roleplaying a kind character.
(...)
I understand that I can still play a mage and use some the abilities that you outlined in order to protect my party. I just won't know, until I try, how this is actually going to feel, compared to healing, which I know that I enjoy. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, but my enthusiasm is a bit dampened for now. I hope that makes sense.
I am still quite unhappy with the removal of healing spells. I loved the Spirit Healer spec.
As you say, you will most likely be able to do all this now as well. But now, instead of patching up the people you care about after they've already been wounded, you will simply place your powers in between them and harm. Your magic will ensure your companion is never hurt to begin with, or at least minimise just how deep that dagger is plunged into them.
I hope you will feel that is enough. It sounded pretty cool to me when I wrote out this post, haha. Suddenly I started feeling more interested in playing a support-oriented mage on my first playthrough... (I tend to feel DAO healers are very much like "life bar batteries," and somehow that never sat well with me)
Well, it was already possible to use Dragon Age magic to mitigate damage, to a certain degree. The telekinetic Force Field spell could help one to preserve a character's life. Admittedly it prevented them from doing anything else... But it was a great spell for protecting a character, and had a dual use as crowd control for enemies too! Anyway, I guess I'm saying that we already had this ability, in a way... it's just that mages now have fewer other abilities, such as healing. And playing a lightning bolt- and fireball-hurling mage just doesn't appeal to me at all. It's fun as a companion, but I can't really put myself in the shoes of a protagonist who does this. So I hope it'll be fun to play a support-style mage who's all about mitigation, buffing, crowd-control, etc. Time will tell!
Retour en haut