25 réponses à ce sujet

[Rolenka]

Like I imagine a lot of us have, I've been trained by other games to do all the secondary content as soon as it is unlocked. The designers pace it for you, maintaining a steady drip of things to do.

 

In DAI, boom, right away in the Hinterlands, you are faced with more content than the designer intends for you to do yet. That's odd, sure. But having completed the Hinterlands, I sort of get the impression it didn't end there.

 

I don't want to reach a point that I know the game is approaching its climactic end and I still have five Hinterlands' worth of content to do. I also don't want to plow through all of it and have only main plot things to do for the last 3/4 of the game, though that would be preferable.

 

I guess that's what they call "open world," but I call it the designers not taking responsibility for pacing. But to each his own.

 

What I've done so far is clear the Hinterlands and almost all of the Storm Coast. In the main plot, I'm on In Your Heart Shall Burn. I suspect I am doing too much secondary content, but I'd like to ask to be sure. Thanks.

[Krypplingz]

I don't think the developer intended for you to complete all the areas. Just the ones that sound interesting to you/ fit your inquisitor. The game is simply offering you multiple ways to gather power, influence and loot. It also helps with shaping the inquisitor, does he/she care about the war? resources? ancient artifacts?. Do you like the green meadows, the wet shore or the sandy desert?. 

If you are tired of side questing, move over to the main quest. Don't burn out trying to complete every minor quest that passes your way. If you do all the side quests, you'll be way over leveled and unless you are playing on nightmare, the suggested levels are a decent indicator when to move on. 

My suggestion is: Do NOT complete all the side quests. Only do those that sound interesting/in theme with your inquisitor. 

[Lilithor]

Do it all so that the game reveals how awful it is.

But to pretend that it is not the worst game ever here are some tips:
Mother Giselle -> Val Royeaux -> Kill mages and templars -> Get Dennet -> Mages/Templar -> GET TO SKYHOLD -> Get your specialization (In fact perhaps you shouldn't but the game only starts for me once I get the specialization so I do it by level 9~10)
Do everything in Ferelden + Western Approach
Here Lies The Abyss
Exalted Plains and Emerald Graves
Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts
Emprise du Lion
Hissing Wastes
Finish the game

It is tiring and massive, disappointing but at least this way you are less overleveled, specially if you follow people recomendation of skipping a lot of side content
If you skip 80% of the side quests game almost manages to seem bearable, with lots of vodka that is

[happy_daiz]

OP, you're further along in the MQ than I am, and I've got both the Hinterlands and Storm Coast cleared (as much as I can do, anyway). I haven't even picked a side yet.

 

My reasons for doing all the side content are mostly for XP and influence, at this point. I suspect later on, I'll pick and choose what I want to do.

 

BUT, there's a but. My biggest problem is that despite my first run being my official "completionist" run, they all are ending up that way. Each one I've done has been over 100 hours, because I can't stand to see markers on my map. I can't let it go. I can't not pick up shards, because I like the elemental resistance bonuses. I can't not pick up every material, or visit every cave or campsite I know about. 

 

I also have a tendency to exhaust all dialogue, as soon as it becomes available. So I end up with many hours of no LI conversations, no friendship conversations, etc. I'm kinda ridiculous. 

[Heidirs]

My first game, I was determined to complete every area as soon as I unlocked it. That got a little tiring.

 

My second playthrough, I only did in the Hinterlands what I felt was needed to help the farmers - get blankets, ram meat, the potion for that one guys' wife. Talk to the horse master. I did whatever quests I happened to run into on the way. Waiting till the side quest with collecting so many elven artifacts has you come back to close a rift and finished everything.

 

The South Coast, I got Iron Bull, and went down the shoreline. Came back after getting Blackwall and got all the Warden stuff. Came back after lvl 16 (when the one area unlocks) and finished everything.

 

I think I did crestwood all at once. Focused on helping the people there, then the Warden, then everything else.

 

Honestly, I'm a bit of a completionist when it comes to Dragon Age. If you want to complete everything, my advice is to break it up with companion quests and main plot quests. If you don't want to complete everything, then just do what interests you.

[Elista]

Lol, believe me, you are not alone
I wish I will succeed in avoiding most of the side quests in this game on my next PT.

[Lilithor]

OP, you're further along in the MQ than I am, and I've got both the Hinterlands and Storm Coast cleared (as much as I can do, anyway). I haven't even picked a side yet.

 

My reasons for doing all the side content are mostly for XP and influence, at this point. I suspect later on, I'll pick and choose what I want to do.

 

BUT, there's a but. My biggest problem is that despite my first run being my official "completionist" run, they all are ending up that way. Each one I've done has been over 100 hours, because I can't stand to see markers on my map. I can't let it go. I can't not pick up shards, because I like the elemental resistance bonuses. I can't not pick up every material, or visit every cave or campsite I know about. 

 

I also have a tendency to exhaust all dialogue, as soon as it becomes available. So I end up with many hours of no LI conversations, no friendship conversations, etc. I'm kinda ridiculous. 

I see no other way to play RPG, I'm like that in all RPGs I've played. Most of my friends do that too. I don't even know how can someone not do that.

[keesio74]

I'm usually the ultimate completionist. I don't move off a map until everything is done and explored. 

 

But I've learned to let it go for this game... mostly because I am strapped for time these days.

 

But even with that said, I have so far sunk over 100 hours into this first playthrough and I have not even finished Here Lies the Abyss or even started Wicked Eyes, Wicked Hearts. And I am level 17 now. So much content in this game.

 

I just focus on the bigger optional quests and for the little dinky ones (find my druffalo) I only do if it is very easy to do so (it is along the way of where I need to go anyway). I will NOT go out of my way to do it. And I am ignoring the shards... can't be bothered anymore despite knowing there are some nice rewards for doing it.

[Heidirs]

But even with that said, I have so far sunk over 100 hours into this first playthrough and I have not even finished Here Lies the Abyss or even started Wicked Eyes, Wicked Hearts. And I am level 17 now. So much content in this game.

 

This boggles my mind. My first playthrough was 119 hours and I completed all the maps...

[nightscrawl]

I try to mostly complete multiple areas before going on a major plot mission. In my most recent play I discovered that only minimal effort (i.e. questing) was required to get enough power to go to Val Royeaux and then to do either the mage or templar mission. I like doing these as quickly as possible because the story presents this with a sense of urgency ("We need the mages/templars to close the Breach!") After you do this it's mentioned that your new allies need time to prepare, so that gives you the opportunity to go do other stuff. Here is where I start pacing myself and at this point I clear the available zones of major quests before doing the next plot mission.

 

Regarding Hinterlands specifically, I do spread out chunks of its content over the game, but this is the ONLY zone I do this with. None of the other zones have nearly as much content so it is easier to finish everything before moving on.

 

The following list is level based AND plot based.

 

1 Hinterlands

------ Address the Chantry in Val Royeaux & In Hushed Whispers (mages) OR In Champions of the Just (templars)

2 Storm Coast

3 Fallow Mire

------ In Your Heart Shall Burn (Haven attacked)

[This next part is a bit unorthodox since the game obviously wants us to do Crestwood at this point. I delay talking to Hawke at all to avoid the urgency and go elsewhere.]

4 Exalted Plains

5 Forbidden Oasis (This is to take the most advantage of the ele resistances at a lower level.)

6 Crestwood

7 Western Approach

------ Here Lies the Abyss (Adamant mission)

8 Emerald Graves

------ Wicked Eyes & Wicked Hearts (Winter Palace mission)

9 Emprise du Lion

--- 9a Do the Red Water war table scouting and clear out the area on the Storm Coast

------ What Pride Had Wrought (Arbor Wilds mission)

10 Hissing Wastes

------ Doom Upon All the World (Final mission)

[Sarielle]

@Nightscrawl: I actually do something really similar, but you're actually giving away some plot points. I know this is in the spoiler section but ... it's OP's first playthrough!

[Heyokah]

As has been stated many other times on these forums - I simply wish that the content leveled up with me or outleveled me when/where appropriate.  This would encourage me to attempt a completionist run.

 

But Op just make sure you are within the recommended level range of the story quests and you are fine.  Regrettably at least 1/3 of the zones available are not required at all.

[Icy Magebane]

I had a similar experience OP, but I didn't even visit Val Royeaux until most of the Hinterlands and all of Fallow Mire had been completed...so I got to know Solas, Cassandra, and Varric a lot better than I probably needed to... xD  I continued with this method of completely clearing each area that I entered before moving on for the majority of the game, but I don't recommend it.  While this was an interesting experience, I think that in the long run it hurt my enjoyment of the game since my party became ridiculously overpowered and thus the enemies stopped giving exp long before I got to the final portions of the main quest (even the endgame enemies gave little to no exp...).  If that kind of thing matters to you, it might be best to focus more on the main quest... finish what you've got going on right now, but otherwise don't speak to anyone who even looks like they might want to give you a side quest.  I believe that you can do most of these optional quests in the post-game, so you could always save that stuff for later...

[nightscrawl]

I believe that you can do most of these optional quests in the post-game, so you could always save that stuff for later...

I found the post-game environment to be lackluster. The final cutscene seems very final, in addition to the companions not having normal dialog options. After seeing that I was glad I had finished everything before going on the final mission. I really had no desire to play in the post-game world. The only exception I will make is for specific post-game DLC. For any other story DLC I have previous saves I can go back to for doing those.

[Icy Magebane]

I found the post-game environment to be lackluster. The final cutscene seems very final, in addition to the companions not having normal dialog options. After seeing that I was glad I had finished everything before going on the final mission. I really had no desire to play in the post-game world. The only exception I will make is for specific post-game DLC. For any other story DLC I have previous saves I can go back to for doing those.

Hm... if that's the case, then I guess skipping the majority of side quests might be best.  All I know is that doing all of those quests made the game seem like it was far longer than it needed to be... winding up with 300+ Power that I couldn't do anything with just made it seem worse.  But, of course, whether or not being over leveled is a problem will depend on the individual player...

[happy_daiz]

Do you guys save the Hissing Wastes for near the end? That's one of the first places I go, after I get to Skyhold. I don't necessarily finish it, but I go and collect enough materials and schematics to make new gear. Then I come back later, when my level is better suited, and get even better materials.

[AxholeRose]

Play on Nightmare if you like to explore without getting overleveled.

 

My first save is on Normal.  I made a save after clearing most of Hinterlands and just before going to Val Royeaux the first time, I was already level 9.

 

On Nightmare, after finishing Hinterlands, Val Royeaux, Storm Coast, Fallow Mire, and just before choosing Mages/Templars, I was barely level 9. 

[Heidirs]

Honestly, the more I play, the more I'm learning what quests I like and which ones I don't mind letting go. I'm also considering playing on a harder level to make things a little more interesting.

[Bizantura]

The pacing was not a problem the second time araound due to metagaming.  But that means the first time around gave not the fullest experience it could have been and that is the downside cause you only play it once for the first time.  I understand that for many players replaying is not an option but the upside with Bioware is that there is a lot of subtleties in the game I capture during replays.

 

I don't agree that pacing is the sole responsability of Bioware's dev team.  I think it odd that little reviews gave the hint of not staying on one map but to diversify as fast as possible to all maps available.  But then again I think they give full reviews after playing 5% of the full game these days.  I do think Bioware can do better implementing pacing in a semi open world and hope they work on that the following game.

[Inprea]

I tend to want my character to be as powerful as possible before I do anything related to the main story which probably means I have the worst pacing possible in many peoples eyes. I must complete every quest possible before I'm willing to move on with the main storyline. This meant I had to do some thinking when trying to close hinterland fade rifts that spawn level 12 enemies. Fortunately thanks to respawning enemies I can grind out a level or two if it's proving too difficult.

 

I was actually quite happy with the amount of content and how it let me prepare for the main storyline. Not entirely. I'd prefer if it was more like Kingdoms of Amalur or Skyrim. I had explored and effectively cleared the entire map in both games before I felt like I was ready to begin the actual story.

 

Sort of. Okay now that my character is effectively invulnerable and can kill dragons with the back of her hand it may be time to start questing.

 

Now if only Inquisition didn't stop giving experience when you're 4 levels above the enemy. Then I could make myself a proper Inquisitor.

[Beregond5]

The first time around, I was trying to do all the sidequests, but I ended up getting so tired that I figured I would finish the main quests, then return to the sidequests. Except I couldn't bring myself to complete them and, well, the first playthrough ended rather incomplete in that aspect. This time I thought I had paced myself better, but, as of level 16,  I'm still at the Exalted Plains and I have yet to unlock half the areas in Orlais. XD

[Pukey Paul]

@Nightscrawl: I actually do something really similar, but you're actually giving away some plot points. I know this is in the spoiler section but ... it's OP's first playthrough!

Than the OP should have posted this in the non spoiler scuttlebutt section.

[SwobyJ]

If you're playing on Easy or maybe Normal, then just do what you want, when you want to do it.

If you're playing on Normal or maybe Hard, then this pacing that I'll list here might help.

If you're playing on Hard or maybe Nightmare, then some pacing will definitely help.

If you're playing on Nightmare, even if things aren't as super hard as other DA games can be, a structure and completionism helps a LOT.

 

This is super super general, but it can at least give you a better view of how things may work. Of course, zones have multiple level ranges, and you may have to come back when in the middle of the game, or post-end/late into it.

 

1. Intro

-Get into Hinterlands and Storm Coast

2. Mage/Templar

-Get into Fallow Mire and Forbidden Oasis

3. Haven Attack

-Get into Crestwood and Western Approach

4. Wardens or Orlais quest (though the implication seems to want Wardens)

-Get into Exalted Plains and Emerald Graves

5. Wardens or Orlais quest (though the implication seems to want Orlais)

-Get into Emprise Du Lion and Hissing Wastes

6. Arbor Wilds

-Clear whatever you need to, especially Inner Circle quests

7. Ending

-Clear whatever you want to, especially stuff like (remaining) dragons

8. WAIT FOR POST END DLCCCCC

 

Personally, I've completed up to #4. Lately I've been catching up. Currently, I'm done:

-most of Hinterlands (save for the dragon area, but take this as a given from here on)

-Storm Coast

-Fallow Mire

-almost Forbidden Oasis

-Crestwood

 

and I'm moving into Western Approach. I may complete Exalted Plains and Emerald Graves before moving on too, giving me a sense of completion of the map before reaching near the end. So I'm basically about 1/3-1/2 done the game, depending on how much you value sidequests.

 

The listed order for zones is also how they go level-wise too. Don't go into Emprise Du Lion before level 15-16.

 

SUPER generally and in my own words:

Lv 1-5 -- intro, maybe explore a bit

Lv 5-10 -- beginner, explore around some zones

Lv 10-15 -- experienced, explore around many zones

Lv 15-20 -- master, explore all of the zones and all they offer

Lv 20-25 -- grandmaster, explore everywhere easily, take down all the dragons

Lv 25+ -- Sorta possible but the game doesn't really support it. At least not yet (DLC).

 

Same goes for crafted pieces. Tier 1 is like intro/beginner, so it becomes outdated fairly quickly unless you're going slow (especially on Nightmare). Tier 2 is like experienced and maybe master, so its useful but after a certain point becomes useless as well. Tier 3 is like master/grandmaster and its what you want for the ending and beyond. There are Tier 4 materials for things but no recipes (yet).

 

So the game is divided into 3-4 'sections', even with its 'open world' design. You may want to 'complete' a section before moving on with the main story. Hinterlands is obviously going to be more important for the Mage/Templar story, and Western Approach is obviously going to be more important for the Warden story, etc.

 

 

This is all going with the assumption that you do eventually want to do ALL content, but just don't want to get annoyed or burned out or confused.

 

Hinterlands has the most content and feels the biggest, so you won't have nearly as much trouble with several of the others. Fallow Mire was super fast, done within a few hours, entirely.

 

By being completionist, you WILL overlevel. On easier difficulties, this can kinda suck, since you're finishing combat super fast. On Nightmare or maybe Hard, this can be a boon, letting you enjoy the pace of battle instead of "OH DAMN OH DAMN" and hitting giant HP/Armor sponges for several minutes.

 

 

Warden quest is more of a 'NOW the Inquisition is SERIOUS' thing, while Orlais quest is more of a 'Ahahaha, now the Inquisition can have some FUN!', so pace/choice the order of them accordingly. Mage Path has things more dire, while Templar path has things more bizarre, though both have elements of the other. You may want to wait to do Arbor Wilds until you're at least nearly complete with stuff, or you can just push through it, since the Final Boss is one big "POINT OF NO RETURN. WE ARE SERIOUS." sign so there's no issue with screwing up.

 

Do a run through of talking to companions after every big zone questing trip, or at least a main storyline quest. Check War Table whenever possible.

[ninemil]

I was at 120 hours before meeting Hawke on the ramparts, and as much as everyone else will tell you to skip the side quests, I absolutely recommend doing everything you can find, as soon as you can find it.

 

Why? Because the sidequests are infinitely more interesting and less disappointing, than the so-called main story chain. If you skip them, you're essentially passing up on the only rewarding content in the title, and by the time you come back to them having finished final story encounter, you won't have the heart left to continue.

Soak up everything you can before that final fight, because you'll hate that you even bought the title by the time you're done with it.