1664 réponses à ce sujet

[Elhanan]

No banter bug here; must have a blessed system. And it sure ain't boring....

[Regan_Cousland]

Typical DA:I side quest (without the traveling and combat, this quest is 5 seconds long with no variation):

 

*snip video*

 

Typical pre-ME3 BioWare sidequest (they didn't record the traveling and combat parts):

 

*snip video*

 

/depressed

 

Yep, totally depressing. And, ironically, SWTOR is the MMO, and DA:I is the singleplayer game! Looks to be the other way around from these clips.

 

And it's doubly depressing because DA:I looks so beautiful, and thus feels like such a colossal waste of potential.

I don't think anyone who bought Inquisition -- even those who enjoy it -- could have guessed beforehand that the world would be so completely devoid of traditional BioWare-like story content. 

[Eelectrica]

Typical DA:I side quest (without the traveling and combat, this quest is 5 seconds long with no variation):

 

 

Typical pre-ME3 BioWare sidequest (they didn't record the traveling and combat parts):

 

 

/depressed

All they have to do to make say Mamas quest ring instantly better is give a few options after finding the damned thing.

Option 1 - Good guys inquistor gives the ring back and gets a couple of points of power for his/her trouble.

Option 2 - Not so good guy inquisitor sells the ring, gets some gold and loses power points.

Option 3 - Pragmatic inquisitor keeps the ring because it has some unique magic properties and he/she is better off keeping than giving it back.

 

Even Borderlands 2 and TPS has better and more interesting sidequests. Not so many RPG options, but not as dry and dull as plant flags, gain power.

[Regan_Cousland]

All they have to do to make say Mamas quest ring instantly better is give a few options after finding the damned thing.

Option 1 - Good guys inquistor gives the ring back and gets a couple of points of power for his/her trouble.

Option 2 - Not so good guy inquisitor sells the ring, gets some gold and loses power points.

Option 3 - Pragmatic inquisitor keeps the ring because it has some unique magic properties and he/she is better off keeping than giving it back.

 

Even Borderlands 2 and TPS has better and more interesting sidequests. Not so many RPG options, but not as dry and dull as plant flags, gain power.

 

I know, right! Gosh. I think we should make Electrica creative director for DA4. lol

Or, y'know ... anyone else who knows what BioWare games should be like. Which is most people in this forum. 

[Regan_Cousland]

No banter bug here; must have a blessed system. And it sure ain't boring....

 

I honestly don't think I've got the banter bug, either. There's just ... not very much banter in the game.

Naturally, you've experienced more banter than most, Elanhan, because you've spent such a long time playing the game, and you seem to change the composition of your party quite frequently (which, for some illogical reason, seems to impact how much banter one receives).

 

Plus, you enjoy the side quests so much that you probably don't notice or care when it's silent for long periods.

[Elhanan]

I honestly don't think I've got the banter bug, either. There's just ... not very much banter in the game.

Naturally, you've experienced more banter than most, Elanhan, because you've spent such a long time playing the game, and you seem to change the composition of your party quite frequently (which, for some illogical reason, seems to impact how much banter one receives).
 
Plus, you enjoy the side quests so much that you probably don't notice or care when it's silent for long periods.

Assumption again. Used the same party for the first campaign for most post-Skyhold gameplay, and only switched to Cole in the second when locked doors may have been involved. Yet, was still able to hear Cole/ Cassandra and Col/ Solas interactions in that short amount of time.

But you are correct about enjoying the areas and side-quests enough because it is peaceful. But then, I have the banter, and do not require deeper attachments to the game.

[Regan_Cousland]

All they have to do to make say Mamas quest ring instantly better is give a few options after finding the damned thing.

 

Option 1 - Good guy inquistor gives the ring back and gets a couple of points of power for his/her trouble.

Option 2 - Not so good guy inquisitor sells the ring, gets some gold and loses power points.

Option 3 - Pragmatic inquisitor keeps the ring because it has some unique magic properties and he/she is better off keeping than giving it back.

 

Even Borderlands 2 and TPS has better and more interesting sidequests. Not so many RPG options, but not as dry and dull as plant flags, gain power.

 

I just read this again and realized that Electrica has hit upon a much more interesting way to incorporate Power Points into the game than Inquisition currently boasts.

 

Power Points represent the Inquisition's influence and reputation -- an extremely valuable "resource" for any burgeoning political-and-military super power.

 

The problem in Inquisition is that Power is too easily accumulated and serves no interesting purpose beyond unlocking new maps and story quests.

 

But what if, as Electrica suggests, it were possible to sacrifice Power for other rewards or spend Power on a wider variety of things?

Firstly -- get rid of "Influence". It's superfluous.

 

Suddenly, Power becomes an interesting part of the world's economy, to be stored, spent, sacrificed or squandered at the (role)player's discretion.

 

To refer back to Electrica's example:

 

Quest Option 1: Good-guy Inquisitor returns a valuable ring to its rightful owner and receives +2 Power Points, as the owner of said ring spreads word of the Inquisition's strength and generosity far and wide! (These Power Points can then be spent to unlock the next mission, discover a new location, or to acquire a Perk.)

 

Quest Option 2: Not-so-good Inquisitor sells the ring, gets some gold to spend on equipment or (meaningful) Skyhold upgrades, but sacrifices the Power which could have been used in other useful ways.

 

Quest Option 3: Pragmatic Inquisitor keeps the ring because it has unique magical properties, sacrificing gold and Power in return for a useful, "Unique" item.

 

That's a tough RPG choice and (in addition to a brief, cinematic conversation with a memorable NPC) adds interest to an otherwise bland fetch quest. 

[Eelectrica]

I honestly don't think I've got the banter bug, either. There's just ... not very much banter in the game.

Naturally, you've experienced more banter than most, Elanhan, because you've spent such a long time playing the game, and you seem to change the composition of your party quite frequently (which, for some illogical reason, seems to impact how much banter one receives).

 

Plus, you enjoy the side quests so much that you probably don't notice or care when it's silent for long periods.

I'm holding out hope for the DLC. At least Mike Laidlaw has acknowledged that the Sidequests don't have a whole lot to them.

What I don't get is how this slipped by a guy like David Gaider who was there for BG2 and DA:O which had heaps of dialogue options. My hope/guess is that a lot of this was place holder content which became permanent as the deadline came ever closer and they simply ran out of time to dress it up a little.

 

I'll look forward to Fan reviews of the DLC since the XBoxers are getting it first.

[Spooky81]

Between larger worlds and side quests that are there primarily as a means of building up power points, i'd settle for the previous BioWare design of areas not as large as DAI's zones with a balanced ratio of exploration, clearing mobs and story content.  While I would love DAI's large, open ended zones to be like the ones in SW:TOR with tons of exploration and deep story content, there's no way the dev team would have the time and resources to devote to a project of that scale(estimated 200+ million dollar budget for SW:TOR).

[Regan_Cousland]

Not to get off topic, but next to the MMO problems, the combat is the other major flaw in the game.

The other day I was fighting the Envy demon, on NIghtmare, and there was just no way to defend against its attacks.

It drops into the ground, pops up right next your characters, and then emits three pulses of energy before you can blink, knocking chunks of life off your friends. (Good luck if there are any dual-wielding rogues in your party, lol).

The only way to counter this is to have good armour or by using a regenerative potion or somethin'. (Potions and tonics are clearly now so integral to inquisition's combat system to conceal the fact that strategy doesn't work that well. Unless you'd consider bringing along two mages and spamming barrier to be a "strategy".)

The kind of attack the Envy demon uses wouldn't be so bad if there were healing magic or programmable tactics to tell your party when to become more defensive or when to exploit enemy weaknesses -- but there's none of that, as we know.

 

P.S. Yes, I know you can attempt to run your character's away from some of the Envy demon's AoE attacks using the tactical camera, but even that's been made more tedious since DA2, in which you could quick-select your whole group and order them all to move to a point in a second.

.P.P.S. Everything else about the game, from the characters to the scenery to the lore, etc., is great, but so much of Dragon Age's previous narrative and tactical depth has been removed, and it's sad to see.

[Elhanan]

Not to get off topic, but next to the MMO problems, the combat is the other major flaw in the game.

The other day I was fighting the Envy demon, on NIghtmare, and there was just no way to defend against its attacks.

It drops into the ground, pops up right next your characters, and then emits three pulses of energy before you can blink, knocking chunks of life off your friends. (Good luck if there are any dual-wielding rogues in your party, lol).

The only way to counter this is to have good armour or be using a regenerative potion or somethin'. (Potions and tonics are clearly now so integral to inquisition's combat system to conceal the fact that strategy doesn't work that well. Unless you'd consider bringing along two mages and spamming barrier to be a "strategy".)

The kind of attack the Envy demon uses wouldn't be so bad if there were healing magic or programmable tactics to tell your party when to become more defensive or when to exploit enemy weaknesses -- but there's none of that, as we know.

Fade Cloak seems to really mess up their day much like Terrors, and Fade Step may aid in relocation.

[Regan_Cousland]

Fade Cloak seems to really mess up their day much like Terrors, and Fade Step may aid in relocation.

 

I did manage to beat the boss, but in a very scrappy, hit-or-miss fashion that didn't give me the sense of reward I often experienced in previous games. (Made worse by the fact that the game crashed during the loading screen after I'd won, meaning I had to beat it in a scrappy fashion all over again just to proceed -- well, from the last checkpoint in the battle, anyway.) 

I haven't got Fade Cloak; Solas does have Fade Step, but he's not the one who kept getting caught in the blast radius. He was always at a safe distance anyway.

[Elhanan]

I did manage to beat the boss, but in a very scrappy, hit-or-miss fashion that didn't give me the sense of reward I often experienced in previous games.

I haven't got Fade Cloak; Solas does have Fade Step, but he's not the one who kept getting caught in the blast radius. He was always at a safe distance anyway.

Not certain if I have the correct enemy in mind, but based on the description, upgraded Dispel Magic might help. For Rogues, Evade and leaping Shot might be useful in rapid exits.

[Regan_Cousland]

Not certain if I have the correct enemy in mind, but based on the description, upgraded Dispel Magic might help. For Rogues, Evade and leaping Shot might be useful in rapid exits.

 

Yep, my rogue has the roll ability, but even that's only useful some of the time because the Envy demon's attacks are so fast. If I happen to be halfway through any other kind of ability when it strikes, I won't have time to roll away. 

Not sure if Dispel works. I haven't tried it, but I'm going to guess that my party will have been battered by the time Solas raises his arms to cast the spell. 

 

I really do want to like the game (hence why I keep pig-headedly playing it, lol), but some choices BioWare made are just terrible, and they're a direct result of chasing the Skyrim and action audiences instead of focusing on what they do best. 

[Elhanan]

Yep, my rogue has the roll ability, but even that's only useful some of the time because the Envy demon's attacks are so fast. If I happen to be halfway through any other kind of ability when it strikes, I won't have time to roll away. 

Not sure if Dispel works. I haven't tried it, but I'm going to guess that my party will have been battered by the time Solas raises his arms to cast the spell. 
 
I really do want to like the game (hence why I keep pig-headedly playing it, lol), but some choices BioWare made are just terrible, and they're a direct result of chasing the Skyrim and action audiences instead of focusing on what they do best.

So use pause and Tac-Cam. When the green circle appears under the Inq, Pause and then select which abilities and tactics you wish. Not going to blame Bioware for including options for others as long as I can still play the way I wish.

[Regan_Cousland]

So use pause and Tac-Cam. When the green circle appears under the Inq, Pause and then select which abilities and tactics you wish. 

 

The green circle doesn't always appear. Sometimes the Envy demon jumps right back out of the ground without warning. 

That kind of unpredictability would be great in an action game, but in a party-based strategy game with clunky controls and no regenerating health, it's just annoying. On Nightmare difficulty, anyway. I'm sure the fight is fine on Normal or Hard because you'll be able to button-bash your way past it like every other fight in the game. 

 

 

Not going to blame Bioware for including options for others as long as I can still play the way I wish.

 

Including options for others is fine as long as those options don't sabotage the game for the people who liked it the way it was.

Turning two-thirds of your game into a pretty-but-characterless MMO is a bit more than "including options for others".

[Elhanan]

The green circle doesn't always appear. Sometimes the Envy demon jumps right back out of the ground without warning. 

That kind of unpredictability would be great in an action game, but in a party-based strategy game with clunky controls and no regenerating health, it's just annoying. On Nightmare difficulty, anyway. I'm sure the fight is fine on Normal or Hard because you'll be able to button-bash your way past it like every other fight in the game.  
 
Including options for others is fine as long as those options don't sabotage the game for the people who liked it the way it was.

Turning two-thirds of your game into a pretty-but-characterless MMO is a bit more than "including options for others".

I play on Nightmare with no Floating Text, though FF is a bit too unpredictable for me currently. And reloading, Fast Travel, and almost any mechanic may be annoying depending on the Player.

And while I prefer DAO as a game and story, I find DAI quite viable for gameplay even with my lesser RL abilities. And what some see as lacking character, others may see as possibilities; for exploration, for group dynamics, for post-campaign gameplay, etc.

[Jeffry]

DAO:A - potions did you use them?
KE - especially with the dragons. Which was your best party for dragons? I usually brought Cassandra, Vivienne and Cole or Sera.

 

Sorry for replying so late, was too tired yesterday

 

I don't like to use potions much in DAO, it can seriously break the game if you craft buttloads of them and you can do so with the unlimited resources sold in Dalish camp and DAO:A. With my party they were not even needed, because of Wynne. She could heal almost all day long and when she ran out of mana, there was always the Vessel of the Spirit (tip: casting Dispel or Cleanse Area on Wynne before the buff ends will stop it and it won't stun her, it will however also stops magic sustainable abilities like Haste).

 

I believe I have used like 2-3 mana potions in DAO (and probably like 2-3 health potions in the very early game, before recruiting Wynne) and zero in DAO:A. When you have a dual wielding "tank" with full plate armor and 100% dodge chance at the same time, you don't need potions that much Golems of Amgarrak is then something completely else, because the healer golem companion is just pathetic and if you're not playing one yourself, then the Harvester can be really difficult without potions (kudos to BW for creating a challenging boss). I also played in the way that no party member is allowed to be knocked unconscious, a little personal challenge of mine (in DA2 it required some reloads, in DAO way less, but in the early game against enemy mages I sometimes had to reload it, a well placed Fireball can seriously mess your party up ).

 

For the dragons in DAI - the party I described Cassandra tanking (and buffing the party with Horn of Valor and sometimes Blessed Blades), Inquisitor and Varric autoattacking and I was controlling Vivienne. The most important spells for her are Barrier, Fade Cloak, Fade Step, Fire Mine and ofc Spirit Blade (Chain Lightning can be also handy, but the fire spells casted with full barrier are better). If you take Clean Burn, Chaotic Focus and later Conductive Current passives, it is just disgusting how OP she is Also I recommend using an amulet for lowering cooldowns on her. She then can cast Barrier way sooner it wears off, can use Fade Cloak like every 5 secs (and you are invulnerable for 2 secs out of those 5) and Fire Mine less than every 16-20 secs (the biggest number I saw was an 15k crit). In the later game I went fully overkill (to be done with the game) with using upgraded aoe resist potions and guard on hit masterwork for every party member. Tip: using Flask of Lightning on a Tempest and then switching to another character turns the Tempest into a gatling gun (with a best in slot bow with Hidden Blades masterwork it is hilarious how quickly everything dies).

 

It is not the best party however, I will describe that one now, but it is so horrendously imbalanced, I seriously suggest don't fight the dragons like that, they are hands down the best and most enjoyable fights the game has to offer (you would be doing yourself disservise by instakilling them). But if you feel like trying it, do so, it is quite funny Cassandra for upgraded Horn of Valor, Blessed Blades and Taunt with Cutting Words passive + Cole for upgraded Mark of Doom + Sera or a Tempest archer Inquisitor + anybody (2nd Tempest is the "best"). You fully buff your Tempest with both Mighty Offense Tonic and every spell desribed (and 1 Thousand Cuts ring), you use all the other spells desribed on your target and you'll proceed to cast Thousand Cuts and then just sit back and watch what the hell was BW thinking. When I forgot to use the tonic, the last dragon in Emprise du Lion (lvl 24, same as my party) had like 10% HP left, so I detonated the Mark of Doom for casual 300k dmg. When I remembered to use the tonic, the dragon went down just by using Thousand Cuts. Another tip: using Flask of Fire and then immediately casting Thousand Cuts (or Mark of the Rift, you can do that one 3 times in a row) won't deplete your focus bar. I am still not sure if it is a glitch or just shocking balance oversight, but seriously, don't use it on dragons I used it on stupid hyenas / wolves respawns so the combat can end in 2 secs instead of 5.

[Archerwarden]

I just read this again and realized that Electrica has hit upon a much more interesting way to incorporate Power Points into the game than Inquisition currently boasts.
 
Power Points represent the Inquisition's influence and reputation -- an extremely valuable "resource" for any burgeoning political-and-military super power.
 
The problem in Inquisition is that Power is too easily accumulated and serves no interesting purpose beyond unlocking new maps and story quests.
 
But what if, as Electrica suggests, it were possible to sacrifice Power for other rewards or spend Power on a wider variety of things?

Firstly -- get rid of "Influence". It's superfluous.
 
Suddenly, Power becomes an interesting part of the world's economy, to be stored, spent, sacrificed or squandered at the (role)player's discretion.
 
To refer back to Electrica's example:
 
Quest Option 1: Good-guy Inquisitor returns a valuable ring to its rightful owner and receives +2 Power Points, as the owner of said ring spreads word of the Inquisition's strength and generosity far and wide! (These Power Points can then be spent to unlock the next mission, discover a new location, or to acquire a Perk.)
 
Quest Option 2: Not-so-good Inquisitor sells the ring, gets some gold to spend on equipment or (meaningful) Skyhold upgrades, but sacrifices the Power which could have been used in other useful ways.
 
Quest Option 3: Pragmatic Inquisitor keeps the ring because it has unique magical properties, sacrificing gold and Power in return for a useful, "Unique" item.
 
That's a tough RPG choice and (in addition to a brief, cinematic conversation with a memorable NPC) adds interest to an otherwise bland fetch quest.

This is good. Add a 4th option of No to decline the quest and then take some of those quests and add in different ways to complete the quest. Replay factor just went up.

[Archerwarden]

Try casting barrier and button mash. It works even better.

LOL. Agree.

Well yeah, Barrier, button mashing, kneel down click 'revive', enable, disable, preferred equal best tactics ever in a game!/sarc

Apparently, Self: surrounded by 2 enemies: mind blast/war cry(fill in blank) is too difficult to understand. Button mashing is suppose to be easier and more fun./sarc

Doesn't mean I like the way they did tactics, skills and talent. I'm trying to work with what they got here.

Looking for higher ground hitting leap shot to get there as an archer I think is what works with that skill so I'm going for it. It does work and I got to say it is fun.

Realistic? That flew out the window in DA2 with the disappearing back flip DW rogue.

[Archerwarden]

Sorry for replying so late, was too tired yesterday
 
I don't like to use potions much in DAO, it can seriously break the game if you craft buttloads of them and you can do so with the unlimited resources sold in Dalish camp and DAO:A. With my party they were not even needed, because of Wynne. She could heal almost all day long and when she ran out of mana, there was always the Vessel of the Spirit (tip: casting Dispel or Cleanse Area on Wynne before the buff ends will stop it and it won't stun her, it will however also stops magic sustainable abilities like Haste).
 
I believe I have used like 2-3 mana potions in DAO (and probably like 2-3 health potions in the very early game, before recruiting Wynne) and zero in DAO:A. When you have a dual wielding "tank" with full plate armor and 100% dodge chance at the same time, you don't need potions that much Golems of Amgarrak is then something completely else, because the healer golem companion is just pathetic and if you're not playing one yourself, then the Harvester can be really difficult without potions (kudos to BW for creating a challenging boss). I also played in the way that no party member is allowed to be knocked unconscious, a little personal challenge of mine (in DA2 it required some reloads, in DAO way less, but in the early game against enemy mages I sometimes had to reload it, a well placed Fireball can seriously mess your party up ).
 
For the dragons in DAI - the party I described Cassandra tanking (and buffing the party with Horn of Valor and sometimes Blessed Blades), Inquisitor and Varric autoattacking and I was controlling Vivienne. The most important spells for her are Barrier, Fade Cloak, Fade Step, Fire Mine and ofc Spirit Blade (Chain Lightning can be also handy, but the fire spells casted with full barrier are better). If you take Clean Burn, Chaotic Focus and later Conductive Current passives, it is just disgusting how OP she is Also I recommend using an amulet for lowering cooldowns on her. She then can cast Barrier way sooner it wears off, can use Fade Cloak like every 5 secs (and you are invulnerable for 2 secs out of those 5) and Fire Mine less than every 16-20 secs (the biggest number I saw was an 15k crit). In the later game I went fully overkill (to be done with the game) with using upgraded aoe resist potions and guard on hit masterwork for every party member. Tip: using Flask of Lightning on a Tempest and then switching to another character turns the Tempest into a gatling gun (with a best in slot bow with Hidden Blades masterwork it is hilarious how quickly everything dies).
 
It is not the best party however, I will describe that one now, but it is so horrendously imbalanced, I seriously suggest don't fight the dragons like that, they are hands down the best and most enjoyable fights the game has to offer (you would be doing yourself disservise by instakilling them). But if you feel like trying it, do so, it is quite funny Cassandra for upgraded Horn of Valor, Blessed Blades and Taunt with Cutting Words passive + Cole for upgraded Mark of Doom + Sera or a Tempest archer Inquisitor + anybody (2nd Tempest is the "best"). You fully buff your Tempest with both Mighty Offense Tonic and every spell desribed (and 1 Thousand Cuts ring), you use all the other spells desribed on your target and you'll proceed to cast Thousand Cuts and then just sit back and watch what the hell was BW thinking. When I forgot to use the tonic, the last dragon in Emprise du Lion (lvl 24, same as my party) had like 10% HP left, so I detonated the Mark of Doom for casual 300k dmg. When I remembered to use the tonic, the dragon went down just by using Thousand Cuts. Another tip: using Flask of Fire and then immediately casting Thousand Cuts (or Mark of the Rift, you can do that one 3 times in a row) won't deplete your focus bar. I am still not sure if it is a glitch or just shocking balance oversight, but seriously, don't use it on dragons I used it on stupid hyenas / wolves respawns so the combat can end in 2 secs instead of 5.

Thank you so much, do you mind if I take suggestions and try them out? Flask of fire and thousand cut/ mark of rift- going to try too. I'll look for the thousand cuts ring for archer.

Many thanks,Wow didn't put nearly as much thought as you did in DAI. This time will. Appreciate the time you took in posting

[Archerwarden]

Even Borderlands 2 and TPS has better and more interesting sidequests. Not so many RPG options, but not as dry and dull as plant flags, gain power.

I think because the developers of Borderlands 2 knew what their brand is and what they wanted out of their game. Everything if fun,fast, humorous and the quests seem to fit into the larger story so you don't feel bored or your grinding too much.

[Jeffry]

The other day I was fighting the Envy demon, on NIghtmare, and there was just no way to defend against its attacks.

 

That was the boss in the quest for recruiting templars (and the last demon boss in MP), right? You can do it the absolutely boring way and control your tank, taunt him on cooldowns and then stand there with activated Shield Wall on either his teleport or range attacks (depending on your guard at the time). Then alternate between button mashing for stamina regen and facing him with Shield Wall. The AI can't use the Shield Wall properly at all (why BW did you remove sustainables, AI could use those without problems) and it is costing you way too many potions and nerves. The botched Hold command, the unability to select more than one party member at the same time, no click to move in 3rd person view etc was an issue here probably more than in most other fights. Ofc barriers are your best friend here as well as in the whole game, but you already know that

 

 

Thank you so much, do you mind if I take suggestions and try them out? Flask of fire and thousand cut/ mark of rift- going to try too. I'll look for the thousand cuts ring for archer.

Many thanks,Wow didn't put nearly as much thought as you did in DAI. This time will. Appreciate the time you took in posting

 

You're welcome And I don't mind you trying it, but it is in your interest to not instakill all the dragons in the world You won't find more enjoyable fights in the whole game (I mean, they are not 10 distinctive and complex fights, they mostly act in the same patterns, but they are still enjoyable, especially when compared to the boring rest). Btw if you haven't already killed all the (10) dragons required for the achievement, save the game before at least one of them (ideally all of them). It is very often bugged, in most cases only 1 dragon doesn't count (usually the Crestwood one for some reason), but it can be more. Killing the same dragon over and over again works towards that achievement, so then Thousand Cuts is kinda handy

 

Btw one more thing to remember about Flask of Fire + focus abilities. The focus is spent after the cast of the focus ability is finished, so you have to use Thousand Cuts immediately and if you hadn't used another flask before that one, you only have time for 3 casts of Mark of the Rift. Ofc using this glitch / balance oversight is not that much required to be able to cast Thousand Cuts often. The Tempest can fill its focus bar very quickly, since he does buttloads of dmg (Flask of Fire + 4x Leaping Shots or Flask of Lightning and switching to another char). Ofc I should mention you need those 2 perks for unlocking tier 3 focus abilities to be able to get the most out of your Tempest.

[Nefla]

Speaking of combat, maybe I just looked in the wrong skill tree or whatever but where were the glyphs of paralysis and repulsion and the traps laid by rogues? Seeing ice wall and fire wall in the pre-release footage had gotten me excited that there would be a ton of interesting ways to use your environment and that combat would be really tactical. Instead I found out that most of the terrain is open and flat and in the rare instance there are some stairs I can block with a wall so enemies can't get me, I can't shoot over the top of the wall to enemies on the other side even though I have a clear line of sight. I just end up attacking my own wall. There were fewer abilities than the previous games, and the key to winning all fights is to spam barrier and guard abilities. Plus there are no detailed tactics you can set and I dunno about you guys but my companion ai was pants-on-head retarded. When fighting the dragon in Crestwood there were all these little nooks and crannies perfect for putting your squishy mages and archers in where they can hit the dragon but it can't hurt them. One of them was on top of a raised platform with broken pieces of wall along it and my mage could shoot magic at the dragon from the gaps in the wall and instantly duck behind them for the wing flap and not get sucked in. Great right? So I was like "Varric should be up here too" but he wouldn't obey the orders to go there and when I manually moved him, the Inquisitor would run back down into melee range. When I switched back to the inquisitor, Varric ran back into melee range (neither of them had any short range abilities). The whole game I felt like I was fighting the ai rather than the enemies and combat was just dull and/or frustrating.

[Archerwarden]

You're welcome And I don't mind you trying it, but it is in your interest to not instakill all the dragons in the world You won't find more enjoyable fights in the whole game (I mean, they are not 10 distinctive and complex fights, they mostly act in the same patterns, but they are still enjoyable, especially when compared to the boring rest). Btw if you haven't already killed all the (10) dragons required for the achievement, save the game before at least one of them (ideally all of them). It is very often bugged, in most cases only 1 dragon doesn't count (usually the Crestwood one for some reason), but it can be more. Killing the same dragon over and over again works towards that achievement, so then Thousand Cuts is kinda handy
 
Btw one more thing to remember about Flask of Fire + focus abilities. The focus is spent after the cast of the focus ability is finished, so you have to use Thousand Cuts immediately and if you hadn't used another flask before that one, you only have time for 3 casts of Mark of the Rift. Ofc using this glitch / balance oversight is not that much required to be able to cast Thousand Cuts often. The Tempest can fill its focus bar very quickly, since he does buttloads of dmg (Flask of Fire + 4x Leaping Shots or Flask of Lightning and switching to another char). Ofc I should mention you need those 2 perks for unlocking tier 3 focus abilities to be able to get the most out of your Tempest.

Hey thanks again! 1st playthrough I was so disgusted and just wanted to get through the bloody game fast. I ignored companions and hacked & slashed my way through it. I did kill all the dragons but posted before how they all glitched and then had to go back and kill almost all again. Brought Cass, Viv and either Sera or Cole each time.
Now I want to try and use whats there more since the Companion AI is sort of working now.
You've helped me immensely.
Thank you again for kindly advising