Pelt, meat, liver - they are all RNG drops.
Oh yeah... you do need to place the skills in the character slots
also remember to read on the mutagen. If you have a Sign skill (blue) and use a Blue mutagen, you get a bonus.
I'm guessing the mutagens are a lot more plentiful than the last game right? I was sheepish about using them till like, the end of chapter 3, basically.
Enemies drop more mutagens and you can create more powerful ones with those you find
I don't know, I haven't seen or played any game from 1985. I can only speak from the games I have played and they are ME & DA series, and now TW3. And right now I can honestly say within my experience that TW3 offered much more than DAI.
For the record, I'm still a big bioware fan. I loooveee the whole ME series and DAO pretty much introduced me to the wonderful world of rpg.
Realmzmaster is nostalgic for certain mechanics some of the old RPG's had. Games of that era pretty much had to rely on their mechanics, because the graphics sucked Mastodont posterior, animations were virtually absent, and plot and story were usually something you found in books, not cRPG's (that was a slow, gradual development). The mechanics usually lacked any noticeable graphical impact, by the way - perhaps a few visual effects, but not much to speak about. Your avatar certainly wasn't running, jumping, evading, pirouetting, slashing, cutting and stabbing around his or her opponents in a 3D environment, that's for sure.
I can't really comment on whether Alternate Reality in its time worked that well in terms of mechanics - it was, among cRPG players of that era (a rather particular subset of gamers at that time, at least in my country), reasonably well regarded I think. I tried it, disliked it, but the theme music was rather catchy - typical 80's videogame music, I can still remember it fairly well...
It was a great time for bitty tunes, an awful time if you wanted a graphically and narratively immersive cRPG...
Edit: Suffice to say, I'd much rather have 'The Wolven Storm' and the soundtrack of Percival Schuttenbach, of course. We've come a long way...
Realmzmaster is nostalgic for certain mechanics some of the old RPG's had. Games of that era pretty much had to rely on their mechanics, because the graphics sucked Mastodont posterior, animations were virtually absent, and plot and story were usually something you found in books, not cRPG's (that was a slow, gradual development). The mechanics usually lacked any noticeable graphical impact, by the way - perhaps a few visual effects, but not much to speak about. Your avatar certainly wasn't running, jumping, evading, pirouetting, slashing, cutting and stabbing around his or her opponents in a 3D environment, that's for sure.
I can't really comment on whether Alternate Reality in its time worked that well in terms of mechanics - it was, among cRPG players of that era (a rather particular subset of gamers at that time, at least in my country), reasonably well regarded I think. I tried it, disliked it, but the theme music was rather catchy - typical 80's videogame music, I can still remember it fairly well...
It was a great time for bitty tunes, an awful time if you wanted a graphically and narratively immersive cRPG...
You do know that for the time those graphics were state of the art. In fact the Atari 8-bit machine which Alternate Reality started on allowed for 256 colors on screen. The sound chips in both the Atari and C64 ( Pokey and SID respectively) were ahead of their times.
The problem I have with newer games is that instead of improving on those mechanics with the additions you state developers simply abandon them which for some gamers began the dumbing down of crpgs.
That's very informative. I haven't tried combining the mutagens. I will try that for sure!
Well at least the above shows you have played the game and clearly know what you're talking about, and why you prefer DAI. Unlike some who comes with guns blazing, white knighting armed with pretty much...bullcrap, with no way of comparison except what other people are saying
Well, each game has its strengths and weaknesses. If they were the same game with different quests, they would get boring. That's not to say that one team of developers can't learn some things from the other. Sure they can.
You do know that for the time those graphics were state of the art. In fact the Atari 8-bit machine which Alternate Reality started on allowed for 256 colors on screen. The sound chips in both the Atari and C64 ( Pokey and SID respectively) were ahead of their times.
The problem I have with newer games is that instead of improving on those mechanics with the additions you state developers simply abandon them which for some gamers began the dumbing down of crpgs.
You're right. I was there. I started programming an Atari 400, and later got an 800. BASIC and 6502 Assembler. (Pokey, ANTIC, 4-channel square-wave sounds. 48K RAM and 88K floppies. Memories flooding back.) The system was much better suited to arcade-style games than to involved RPGs. But of course, some tried their hand at it anyway.
Let me tell you: I don't miss the bad old days. Not one bit. When playing Adventure on the 2600 VCS, I dreamed of what became Skyrim and Dragon Age: Inquisition. Well, they're here. I don't want to go back to duck-dragon sprites and square avatars. 
It took bioware 3 games before they could do bloody bow strings, you expect them to do different weapons with different range, speed, animations and combat feel. Hell they cant even get proper swords right in proportions and weight, thats why all their two handers are slow and animated as one is swinging a 20 pound club when a good two handed is at best 6 pounds but generally weighs between 3.5-6 pounds.
Its a pipe dream mate. Infact most american/canadian developers are guilty of this as none of them apply logic to how weapons work, their design and most importantly their weight and this seriously annoys me.
That's nobody's fault but bioware though. Look at dark souls, how many freaking unique weapons are in that game? Each with a one handed, two handed, and dual wield set of moves. If they can do that, i think bioware can manage a decent number of weapons.
Hell, they remove past content with every game, I'm sure they have plenty of time to make some. Use the tactics guy, assuming they haven't fired him yet after throwing out his entire contribution to dragon age.
So, I like it a lot. I'm playing with place of interest markers turned off, and as a result, doing a lot of aimless wandering (and I'm also broke after buying the Temerian armor set at the end of White Orchard). The atmosphere is killer, sometimes. Money seems in short supply, and I'm leveling insanely slowly - I'm only level 5, at the moment, and I've done the werewolf quest and the first part of the Nilfgaardian contact. I just met Keira and I'm spelunking with her at the moment, but I keep getting wrecked by a gargoyle.
Game is tough. The combat didn't click with me till yesterday, and I'm playing on Blood and Broken Bones.
Anyone have some build advice? Or maybe a tip on where and when I'm able to respec?
You can respec with potions some merchants sell, but they cost 1000 each... which seems like a lot to you now, but you'll make a lot hunting monsters and looting stuff over time. Magic is awesome when you're first starting out... igni level 2 is nuts, the alternate aard will knock down entire groups of enemies on all sides once it powers up, and axii can make enemies fight for you. Quen is a must have, and yrden has defintie uses... once you level that up enough it can slow enemies to a crawl.
Having a day and night cycle can be annoying especially if NPCs like merchants keep to a schedule of opening and closing. While it may be more realistic having to wait for the merchant to open it is annoying to have to use a wait command to speed up the flow of time or having to wait for a quest giver to show up in general.
I have no problem with weather if it has an actual affect on gameplay. Neither DA or Witcher series does that. If there has been a heavy downpour then walking on a mud road should show the character having difficulty walking or fighting on it.
if it is only there for atmospheric purposes I can do without it. But that is just my opinion for games in general. YMMV.
I will take the added realism of night and day cycles and weather any day of the week. Even if it's there for just atmosphere. I don't mind having to wait for merchants to open up for the day. I loved the fact that merchants closed up shop at the end of the day and went to the tavern for a drink in Skyrim.
I have no idea if the Templar that stole a dead mans ring after murdering him for digging were stupid, bandits or made a mistake because they were scared and in their haste made a huge mistake and regret it. You just go kill random NPC and boom, you are done. In the Witcher 3 you know why people did what they did and why you as the witcher are involved in this matter. In DAI a lot of quests it doesnt make sense for the Herald to be directly involved in, why is the Herald the one going around collecting mosaic pieces, or bottles of booze that have old characters names on them?
So 'yes' I would like DA to be more like the witcher in effort, but 'no' not a witcher clone.
The one I remember the most is the one where you find the note in a hut from a templar to his mage brother, saying that he is going to hunt him down for going rogue. I remember the first time I got that one and getting excited about the potential choice I was going to make. Was I going to side with the mage? The templar? Talk sense into them both? Kill them both? That quest had such potential. But when we get there we just find some dead bodies. *sighs*
No, I don't want DA to become a Witcher clone either. They are different games, but indeed there is so much goodness that DA can take from Witcher.
I'm guessing the mutagens are a lot more plentiful than the last game right? I was sheepish about using them till like, the end of chapter 3, basically.
Yes. There are generally 2 types of mutagens. Monster mutagen and colored mutagen.
Monster mutagens are like Werewolf mutagen etc. They have the same bonus as lesser colored mutagen They are use in the creation of decoction.
Colored mutagen are like lesser green, green, greater green mutagen. (You combined lower tier mutagen in alchemy menu to create the improved version)
Green and Blue mutagen are easy to come by. Red is rarer. However, they can be farmed and at the end you will have too many of them. Treat them like accessories. You can equip and remove them as you please.
So I guess this thread has become the place to discuss TW3? I came in here to say that I'm glad the 2 games are so different. TW3 is more fatiguing, and feels like pulling teeth oftentimes, to do what is so simple in DAI. Old-school chore-heavy RPG'ing (TW3), or streamlined management of minutiae (DAI). No, I don't want DA to be more like TW. Nope, not at all. Keep each in its own zone.
I can agree that TW3 is more tiring to play but only because of its enormous size. How is it chore heavy? It is pretty basic and streamlined to me.
On the contrary, DAI is chore heavy to me. I have this urge to fully equiping all my companions with the best equipment (a mental scar left by games that suddenly require me to use companions to complete sections of game while they are virtually in starter gear). Which means I have to collect and farm materials for all of them, manage and plan their skills and inventory. Hence it becomes .... extremely chore heavy. Doing it for 1 character (depending on luck) can already be extremely chore heavy - imagine doing it for at least 3 other companion and imagine for all companion... you start to want to hit your face against a spike wall.
DAI should seriously get rid of farming.... the MMOish farming mechanics needs to die. It really does not sit well in a SP game.
Personally, I think it's worse in DAI, the UI in general is terrible. CDPR improved their inventory since launch in more than one patch I think, and it's miles better now, it improved a lot of things that were bugging me.
That is one of the biggest pluses for CDPR. Their game came out with bugs and glitches like any other game, as well as a few complaints. They have worked their butts off to fix these things and make changes like adding in storage and making the menus better. All this while still delivering on their promises of free DLC. They are an example that other developers need to start looking towards.
It annoys me more to have a static open world with NPCs always in the same place. But to each their own.
Absolutely agree. People have spoke in the past about Skyrim's worker bees. I've always said, I would much rather have worker bees than a bunch of people that jus stand around in the same place all day long.
Absolutely agree. People have spoke in the past about Skyrim's worker bees. I've always said, I would much rather have worker bees than a bunch of people that jus stand around in the same place all day long.
Having a day and night cycle can be annoying especially if NPCs like merchants keep to a schedule of opening and closing. While it may be more realistic having to wait for the merchant to open it is annoying to have to use a wait command to speed up the flow of time or having to wait for a quest giver to show up in general.
I have no problem with weather if it has an actual affect on gameplay. Neither DA or Witcher series does that. If there has been a heavy downpour then walking on a mud road should show the character having difficulty walking or fighting on it.
if it is only there for atmospheric purposes I can do without it. But that is just my opinion for games in general. YMMV.
Why not just make it 8 bit?
It annoys me more to have a static open world with NPCs always in the same place. But to each their own.
This. DAI doesn't have NPCs, it has cutouts. The witcher has a living world, DAI can't even show their faces in conversation most of the time.
I can agree that TW3 is more tiring to play but only because of its enormous size. How is it chore heavy? It is pretty basic and streamlined to me.
On the contrary, DAI is chore heavy to me. I have this urge to fully equiping all my companions with the best equipment (a mental scar left by games that suddenly require me to use companions to complete sections of game while they are virtually in starter gear). Which means I have to collect and farm materials for all of them, manage and plan their skills and inventory. Hence it becomes .... extremely chore heavy. Doing it for 1 character (depending on luck) can already be extremely chore heavy - imagine doing it for at least 3 other companion and imagine for all companion... you start to want to hit your face against a spike wall.
DAI should seriously get rid of farming.... the MMOish farming mechanics needs to die. It really does not sit well in a SP game.
Yeah, DAI to me, is a chore. The constant mining, the fact there's nothing to do on the maps, the go here and get this with little story or dialogue payoff. It's all impersonal and unfinished, like they gave up halfway through and tried to be an MMO.
It's not fun. TW3 doesn't feel like a chore, there's always surprises, something exciting to do, an interesting quest or an unexpected decision you have to think about... it's what origins felt like in it's day. DAI feels like a one-among-many action rpg in comparison, with no depth and all the best parts for dragon age removed from interesting side quests to tactics to attributes and character builds.
Should have been called Dragon Age: Lobotomized.
The one I remember the most is the one where you find the note in a hut from a templar to his mage brother, saying that he is going to hunt him down for going rogue. I remember the first time I got that one and getting excited about the potential choice I was going to make. Was I going to side with the mage? The templar? Talk sense into them both? Kill them both? That quest had such potential. But when we get there we just find some dead bodies. *sighs*
No, I don't want DA to become a Witcher clone either. They are different games, but indeed there is so much goodness that DA can take from Witcher.
That quest bummed me out too, it could have been a great dragon age moment... but as always, tell but don't show. The cardinal sin of inquisition.
You do know that for the time those graphics were state of the art. In fact the Atari 8-bit machine which Alternate Reality started on allowed for 256 colors on screen. The sound chips in both the Atari and C64 ( Pokey and SID respectively) were ahead of their times.
The problem I have with newer games is that instead of improving on those mechanics with the additions you state developers simply abandon them which for some gamers began the dumbing down of crpgs.
That is because, a lot of players feel that many of these mechanics are annoying. Like yourself, NPC going to sleep and closing their shop at night. You claim that it is annoying while acknowledging that it is more realistic. You then say that it is better to totally abandon said mechanics if it is just for atmosphere. You then say that you dont care for such mechanics if it is not implemented to the extend that it impacts a great many aspect of the game. See the contradiction?
Thus, what you are basically saying is - I like this mechanics so it should be preserved and expanded upon, why do developers abandon them? I dont care for this mechanics, why put it in?
I use to code and develop MUD when in college - a text base online game that basically allows us to code features that graphical games even today cannot match in terms of mechanics and features because of how easy it was for us to rely information to the players because everything is in text. We tried to make the MUD more realistic by adding dynamic behavior to NPCs and to more realistically show the impact of weather - example A mage cast blizzard - screw up weather - bad harvest - shop prices goes up. Dont eat and sleep, lose constitution and gain less HP when level up. Kill monsters for extended period of time causes fatigue and hence not learning anything (lower XP gain). Guess what? Only a small faction of players likes them and even them together with most of the other players feel that it is too complicated that the game is no longer enjoyable.
So the reason for not continuing certain game mechanics of old is:
1) They are cool only in concept but most players find them too annoying.
2) It is very expensive/hard to present them graphically.
3) The majority of players do not care for them or find them annoying.
A simple day/night cycle and dynamic weather system with no added mechanics attached provides players with at least atmosphere while not taking away anything from the game. NPC with daily schedule, yeah, some will find them annoying, others will like them. As long as the majority likes them and dont find it annoying, it is good to have. Have to eat and sleep and rest accordingly to level up properly? Well, most players find them too annoying while only few find them nice. Drop it.
You do know that for the time those graphics were state of the art. In fact the Atari 8-bit machine which Alternate Reality started on allowed for 256 colors on screen. The sound chips in both the Atari and C64 ( Pokey and SID respectively) were ahead of their times.
The problem I have with newer games is that instead of improving on those mechanics with the additions you state developers simply abandon them which for some gamers began the dumbing down of crpgs.
Divinity original sin does this with spells. Like if it is raining you cast an lightning bolt and it electrocutes your enemies plus friendly fire. I would like more games go back to those types of mechanics like that.
You're right. I was there. I started programming an Atari 400, and later got an 800. BASIC and 6502 Assembler. (Pokey, ANTIC, 4-channel square-wave sounds. 48K RAM and 88K floppies. Memories flooding back.) The system was much better suited to arcade-style games than to involved RPGs. But of course, some tried their hand at it anyway.
Let me tell you: I don't miss the bad old days. Not one bit. When playing Adventure on the 2600 VCS, I dreamed of what became Skyrim and Dragon Age: Inquisition. Well, they're here. I don't want to go back to duck-dragon sprites and square avatars.
I do not wish to go back to those graphics, but there are some mechanics that I would like to see make a come back.
Also I still own most of my early machines: Timex Sinclair ZX-81 and 2068. Commodore 64, and Atari 400, 800, 65XE along with my Atari 1040ST and Commodore Amiga.. Programming a string array in Atari Basic was fun. 6502 machine and assembly language was a challenge. Sorry, to me those were good times!
Anyone remember typing in the machine language word processor called Speedscript?
You do know that for the time those graphics were state of the art. In fact the Atari 8-bit machine which Alternate Reality started on allowed for 256 colors on screen. The sound chips in both the Atari and C64 ( Pokey and SID respectively) were ahead of their times.
The problem I have with newer games is that instead of improving on those mechanics with the additions you state developers simply abandon them which for some gamers began the dumbing down of crpgs.
I know that a lot of people don't give CDPR props for writing relationships, but as I do The Final Trial with Lambert, I can't but to think what a grand oversight that train of thought is.
They have a pretty complex relationship.
The banter between them during the mission is sometimes hilarious and sometimes sad, but always dynamic. At first you think they dislike each other, but the further you get-- you realize they're brothers and would die for one another.
Personally, I found the one on one time with him very rewarding. That, coupled with a few more excellent relationships(Geralt and Ciri, FTW), I would say CDPR can hold their own against any team of writers.
Background is the key here. Geralt and Lambert had a long history. They are brothers, they dont like each other but they will always be there for one another. Kinda like the rivalry between Hawke and his siblings. Similarly in ME3, Shepard can say whatever he wants to his squad without worrying about "approval" as they have been through hell and back together.
In DAI, the Inquisitor and the Inquisitions are not close. They are basically strangers in the beginning and it is only at the end of the game; those whom you didnt ****** off enough by telling them your honest opinion sees you as a friend. Not necessary a close one but at least a friend. Too bad by then the credits have started rolling.
That is one of the benefits of having the same protagonist for more than one game. But Bioware has made it clear that they will not do this for DA so basically every game we get to know new companions and as soon as you are friends or close enough - you move on.
Really wish Bioware could reconsider their stance of - oh this is the story of Thedas that we want to tell. You are only witnessing our story through his/her pov. meh 
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