14 réponses à ce sujet

[Deep Cover]

A thought struck me the other day. 'In reality, swinging around greatswords taller than we are and thicker than our arms is wildly impractical. So why do Thedasians do it?'

Now, obviously, I'm not talking about why they do it from a design perspective (that's because BioWare designed it that way for gameplay reasons). I mean, what are the in-universe benefits to spending years learning to swing a sword that long and heavy? This opened the floodgates, and more and more ideas occurred to me.

In DA:O, the crossbows can fire very rapidly (especially with Rapid Aim). In reality, crossbows take about thirty seconds to reload (less if you're very practiced), which left regular bows with the advantage in rate of fire (and often range). However, a crossbow could be used with very little training, while a normal bow (longbows, in particular) took years to fully master. If crossbows can actually fire that fast in the DA universe, then what is the advantage of normal bows in Thedas? I can't see it being the Strength modifier, because draw weight is dependant on design (in fact, the modifier would be more likely to affect draw speed than draw weight).
Is this a case of gameplay and story segregation, with crossbows still retaining their real-world limitations? There is an ambient conversation between Varric and Solas about how Bianca the crossbow is unique for, among other things, her accuracy and rate of fire. Could this imply that the crossbows in DA:O weren't actually firing as fast as gameplay would indicate?

Throughout the series we have seen a disproportionately large number of soldiers carrying swords. Whatever common fantasy armies will tell you, swords were rarely given to soldiers because they cost an incredible amount of time and money to make and years of training to wield effectively in combat. There's a reason that so many cultures made swords heirlooms. Spears, maces or axes would be far, far more common (especially axes - most new recruits would already be familiar with using them). Yet in Denerim in DA:O, we find out that new recruits are improperly dressed if they don't have a sword, and one they use in combat no less. The Kirkwall Guard also exclusively used swords, not axes or maces. The Templars use swords as well, but as an order of knights they have the funds and years of training to make swords practical - and once someone is trained to use a sword, the weapon becomes extremely versatile. It makes sense for them, but not many others.
Is there a reason that Thedasians prefer swords to just about anything more cost-efficient?

Do you have any answers to these questions? Do you have any questions of your own along these lines? Do you have any rebuttals or thoughts to add?

[SofaJockey]

From a practicality point of view you are quite correct.

 

From a fantasy RPG lore perspective,

lots of swords and bows is probably in there along with carrying an arsenal of weapons invisibly in your pants

and maybe demons and dragons as well.

 

I think all those sword and bow soldiers are gonna need a montage...

 

[giveamanafish...]

1) The common soldiers do all have swords. Some of the better weapons I have outfitted my party members with are axes, hammers and the like. Interesting fact, the ancient Chinese did come up with a way to re-temper cast iron weapons so they reduce the brittleness -- I think transforming them into steel blades  -- while allowing them to mass produce swords or what have you (cast iron can be poured into form and can be made liquid with less tech than steel). Maybe they have this ability in Thedas., so that it's actually axes, hammers that are the more rare items.

 

2) It's a game. In the game you can mine 'metals' using what looks like a screw driver and create powerful weapons by taking materials to a work bench and pushing a few buttons....There's magic too.

[Farangbaa]

2) It's a game. In the game you can mine 'metals' using what looks like a screw driver and create powerful weapons by taking materials to a work bench and pushing a few buttons....There's magic too.

Technically, Dagna or that dude who's name's escaping me at the moment are doing the crafting. You pressing the buttons is giving them the materials.

Game wise

[DarkAmaranth1966]

Real world Earth you are correct but, The game is set in Thedas. Perhaps they developed differently and, swords were common, crossbows fired faster, with Bianca being even faster than the average crossbow.

 

In Thedas they also make armor out of silk, have magic and eat banana though in Medieval Earth those would have been rare or impossible, or not thought of at all.

[Pressedcat]

A couple of interesting videos:

 

The price of weapons... https://www.youtube....h?v=s9SvgWJNSd8

 

Training needed for sidearms... https://www.youtube....h?v=xgq1wiPKzzI

 

The real question should be where are all the pole arms?

[Thandal N'Lyman]

Well, since the official BioWare description invites us to: "Explore a vast fantasy world on the brink of catastrophe in Dragon Age™: Inquisition, a next-generation action RPG..."  I'm guessing the meaning of "fantasy", (as well as that of "RPG") escapes the OP. 

[giveamanafish...]

Well, since the official BioWare description invites us to: "Explore a vast fantasy world on the brink of catastrophe in Dragon Age™: Inquisition, a next-generation action RPG..."  I'm guessing the meaning of "fantasy", (as well as that of "RPG") escapes the OP. 

It's not so bad. Unlike some criticisms you see on this forum, the OP is  making good points reasonably and is not saying that any of these issues make this "THE WORST GAME IN THE WORLD! AND BIOWARE AND EA STAFF SHOULD BE HUNG and BURNED AT THE STAKE and FED POISON!". The people who write these games have to think about these issues to try to make the games more realistic/more immersive or at least logical within the in game universe.

 

 I'm actually curious about the crossbow versus longbow issue. Bianca seems to fire very slowly in DAI but I haven't run a bow wieldling rogue so as to compare to Varric's fire rate.

[Jawzzus]

Technically, Dagna or that dude who's name's escaping me at the moment are doing the crafting. You pressing the buttons is giving them the materials.

Game wise

 

That's true, they both even say just bring me the materials and I'll make what you want.  Who do the requisitions I wonder though?  Does Ser Morris have to fill every single thing by himself?

[Big I]

That's true, they both even say just bring me the materials and I'll make what you want.  Who do the requisitions I wonder though?  Does Ser Morris have to fill every single thing by himself?

 

The building Cassandra sleeps in (next to where she practices) is an armory, where weapons are made and stored. You can hear Inquisition soldiers evaluating it's potential as such when you first get to Skyhold.

[FoxEcho90]

Here is a question, what is most practical when fighting dragons? Team setup and weapon wise... Just wanting peoples thoughts for insight.

[SofaJockey]

Here is a question, what is most practical when fighting dragons? Team setup and weapon wise... Just wanting peoples thoughts for insight.

 

Before that, kit your team with elemental damage resistance potions of the appropriate kind,

so that you don't get cooked, frozen or electrocuted before your strategy can play out.

[Teophne]

Interesting fact, the ancient Chinese did come up with a way to re-temper cast iron weapons so they reduce the brittleness -- I think transforming them into steel blades  -- while allowing them to mass produce swords or what have you (cast iron can be poured into form and can be made liquid with less tech than steel). Maybe they have this ability in Thedas., so that it's actually axes, hammers that are the more rare items.
 

Bioware kinda addressed this in their older game, Baldur 's Gate, in which the area around the main city suffered from iron shortage. The main bad guys were poisoning the iron ore to make it brittle.
The weapons brought from elsewhere as well as non-metal weapons for obvious reasons) didn't suffer from this. These imported weapons were Katana, Wakizashi and Ninja-to, coincidentally names familiar from eastern samurai legends and stuff.

[In Exile]

Here is a question, what is most practical when fighting dragons? Team setup and weapon wise... Just wanting peoples thoughts for insight.

Honestly, Knight Enchanter. Or Champion. There are other ways and kits to work around them but either class can solo a dragon. An artificer had the easiest time with thousand cuts but I believe they fixed the combat bug that made that true.

[NextGenCowboy]

Tempest has Thousand Cuts. Artificer gets Hail of Arrows.

 

In theory, Artificer's Hail of Arrow + High Crit Rate + Looked Like it Hurt + Leaping Shot in an enclosed space. In practice that doesn't work out so well, because the game glitches out. It's still a viable setup, but you need to use auto-attacks/Archer's Lances/Full Draws in between.

 

In reality, an Assassin and good team damage (preferably mixed with a Shadow Striking DW Tempest, or Artificer), or a solidly built tanking class (Vanguard SnS with Templar Spec, or Champion), or a Knight Enchanter all have the easiest time with dragons. If you actually make it to the point when tanking becomes irrelevant, then the pure offensive classes obviously kill dragons the fastest. I think Reaver solo is around 30 seconds, Assassin is in the mid-20's, and Artificer is at 14 seconds (though that was via Varric, and not Inquis). Theoretically, one could possibly knock a couple seconds off the Artificer time assuming a properly crafted bow. I'm waiting to see a sub 10 second dragon fight with an Artificer. Personally I haven't come close, but I'm sure someone may get there.