Heya.
Just came back to play DA:I + all DLCs from scratch and saw the new trial challenges. I started Nightmare mode + Friendly fire + ALL trials. Most of them seem ok but daaamn. Put some dirt on it is to play through the entire game without healing potions, how do you play around that?
Any tips, tricks and advice to playing through the entire game with 0 healing potions?
Say a prayer to Andraste.
My strategy would be, assuming I could get past that pride demon at the beginning without wanting to punch a baby, to establish camps as quickly as possible so as to enable fast travel and rest.
Oh, also I thought of something else. Make sure to synch your schematics. You can make tier three armor even if you are using tier 1 or 2 metals. Open up the oasis to get paragon's luster. That should help a little bit.
Heya.
Just came back to play DA:I + all DLCs from scratch and saw the new trial challenges. I started Nightmare mode + Friendly fire + ALL trials. Most of them seem ok but daaamn. Put some dirt on it is to play through the entire game without healing potions, how do you play around that?
Any tips, tricks and advice to playing through the entire game with 0 healing potions?
Sorry, I don't mean to pick on you, but your question is like several others of the "All Trials On" type and I have to ask. I just don't get it. Why turn on a Trial, any Trial, without already having a game plan for how you are going to deal with it? Is it the Special Shipments incentives? The achievements?
I'm not saying you have done this, but I know that some players have turned on all Trials and then complained bitterly that the DLC/game is soooo stupid because their usual button mashing with grossly OP gear doesn't work anymore and they have to reload several times. It's the game's fault that they are not having fun!?
Maybe I'm just weird, but for me, the "fun" part is planning out a strategy for how to deal with a particular challenge and then trying it out. If it doesn't work, try a different strategy. Discovering the optimal strategy is the reward.
Sorry, I don't mean to pick on you, but your question is like several others of the "All Trials On" type and I have to ask. I just don't get it. Why turn on a Trial, any Trial, without already having a game plan for how you are going to deal with it? Is it the Special Shipments incentives? The achievements?
I'm not saying you have done this, but I know that some players have turned on all Trials and then complained bitterly that the DLC/game is soooo stupid because their usual button mashing with grossly OP gear doesn't work anymore and they have to reload several times. It's the game's fault that they are not having fun!?
Maybe I'm just weird, but for me, the "fun" part is planning out a strategy for how to deal with a particular challenge and then trying it out. If it doesn't work, try a different strategy. Discovering the optimal strategy is the reward.
I get what you are saying but I'm what a doctor would call a worst case scenario OCD completionist. I need the achievement and my ego won't let me take the difficulty below NM 
I havent been on the forums for awhile, sorry if this has already been asked a lot. I'm considering 2 x barrier mage and poison self healing archer atm.
Say a prayer to Andraste.
My strategy would be, assuming I could get past that pride demon at the beginning without wanting to punch a baby, to establish camps as quickly as possible so as to enable fast travel and rest.
Just killed the pride demon. Stealth disrupting rifts ftw! I fear for my future however 
1. Kill stuff fast
I would say priority number one is good DPS. I've played all three classes up to level 5 with all challenges turned on and I found rogue (archer) easiest, and fighter hardest. In the early game even with Tier 3 crafted weapons and armor my fighter-led party had a hard time killing elite Wraiths and Mages fast enough to avoid taking massive damage. With rogue archer I could generally cripple the biggest threat before the fight even started, if not kill it outright.
2. Prevent damage
Cassandra can get Horn of Valor with the guard upgrade soon after reaching Haven if you use a respec amulet on her. Do it. I tried it after reading about it on this forum and it's a real game changer. I also recommend having two mages in the party ASAP, both with Barrier. It's doable without but much easier with.
3. Alternate methods of healing
Using tier 3 schematics I was able to craft a staff with 24% heal-on-kill soon after reaching Haven. This is overkill. More reasonable is picking up a (cheap) Ring of Life Drain from one of the merchants in Val Royeaux. There are also a couple of exploits that you can use to heal outside of combat but I think you'll have more fun if you can get by without them.
Asking for advice with absolutely all optional difficulty settings cranked to max just seems silly. If you need help with it, it might not be for you.
Just killed the pride demon. Stealth disrupting rifts ftw! I fear for my future however
Last time I played on NM I basically ran around in circles around the stone outcropping trying to disrupt that rift as much as I could while trying to revive my companions. From afar I realized this tactic was hilarious and not "sexy badass hero" but it got the job done.
1. Kill stuff fast
I would say priority number one is good DPS. I've played all three classes up to level 5 with all challenges turned on and I found rogue (archer) easiest, and fighter hardest. In the early game even with Tier 3 crafted weapons and armor my fighter-led party had a hard time killing elite Wraiths and Mages fast enough to avoid taking massive damage. With rogue archer I could generally cripple the biggest threat before the fight even started, if not kill it outright.
2. Prevent damage
Cassandra can get Horn of Valor with the guard upgrade soon after reaching Haven if you use a respec amulet on her. Do it. I tried it after reading about it on this forum and it's a real game changer. I also recommend having two mages in the party ASAP, both with Barrier. It's doable without but much easier with.
3. Alternate methods of healing
Using tier 3 schematics I was able to craft a staff with 24% heal-on-kill soon after reaching Haven. This is overkill. More reasonable is picking up a (cheap) Ring of Life Drain from one of the merchants in Val Royeaux. There are also a couple of exploits that you can use to heal outside of combat but I think you'll have more fun if you can get by without them.
I see this double mage comp a lot lately, but unless your MC is a mage having 2 mages with barrier won't just cause them to overlap their barrier unless you micromanage them? This has always been the case for me I use double mage for the extra dispel though.
Heal on kill effect and upgraded regen pot. The first 2 upgrades for regen pot only require elfroot and royal elfroot so you can get them almost instantly for no cost. Buying potion belts and putting them on everyone lets you carry 6 at a time, then switch to a different belt after you use the first one (until you go to refill your pots again).
You might also try the toxic cloud upgrade that gives you stacks of elusive. I haven't had time to really try that one out yet but it seems very cheap.
Just killed the pride demon. Stealth disrupting rifts ftw! I fear for my future however
The game gets easier as you progress...
1. exploit the tactical camera as much as you can until you get so irritated by the experience
2. golden nug to carry over schematics
3. poison cloud elusive upgrade is awesome if you have enough skill points
4. rely on barrier until you get some kind of health regen skill/gear
5. forget about that 2% heal on kill ring... sync with golden nug and use Encore schematics for that 2% heal on hit proc
6. you can respec your characters now so invest your skill points in what ever you need and then respec after you reach skyhold
7. make use of those new skill toggle upgrades. some of them is OP as hell (e.g. war horn, fire array, winters grasp, etc)
If you still can't manage all the trials, try turn the xp / potion trials off until you reach skyhold.
The game gets tedious even on NM with all trials on when you reach end-game stage, so don't worry about your future and just focus on getting through the hard/boring but at the start. It would be awesome though if you could sync your unique accessories and masterworks as well.
Heya.
Just came back to play DA:I + all DLCs from scratch and saw the new trial challenges. I started Nightmare mode + Friendly fire + ALL trials. Most of them seem ok but daaamn. Put some dirt on it is to play through the entire game without healing potions, how do you play around that?
Any tips, tricks and advice to playing through the entire game with 0 healing potions?
I strongly recommended not to play the game on Nightmare with "Half XP" and "Put Some Dirt on it." By the time I arrived at the Hissing Wastes, I had enough and turned them off. The swearing was waking my neighbors up. 
If your going for the achievement for, "Rub some Dirt on it" It does not need to be on through the whole game play. I turned that trial on right before I engaged the dragon (on casual of course). Once it was dead, I turned it off. And yes, yes I did get the achievement.
What helped me immensely was adding materials to schematics that have heal on kill. This works great amazing if you have a lot of material for it. This will help your party heal themselves especially running through groups of enemies and of course alternating barriers with 2 mages.
Alright, here's what you do.
If going Warrior:
Roll as two-handed Warrior.
You can avoid the majority of mobs in the Prologue Area by skirting the map. Do it. You don't get XP from them so there's no point in doing it.
Take the Charge Option.
When you face off against the Pride Demon, disable Cass' taunt. Let him pound on the Soldiers, you do more damage disrupting the Rift than actually attacking him, so have your team focus on the adds, not the Boss.
When you get free, respec yourself and Cass.
Grab Mighty Strike and Chain. Give Cass Upgraded Payback Strike, and the SNS Block ability. Your job for now is to reel in ranged targets.
Get Sera, or Vivienne ASAP.
Respec Varric at level 4. Get Toxic Cloud and Lost in the Mists asap. Now you are tanky enough to do as you please.
As a Rogue
See my Rogue post in Matth's Pre-Skyhold builds.
As a Mage
Barrier, carry a Staff for at least two elements and scout ahead with Tactical View.
I'm on my seconds play through with All Trials on, and its enjoyably challenging!
Basically, you have to rely on other forms of healing (Regen and Healing Mist items DO NOT WORK PERIOD). Poisoned Weapons for Rogues, Good Guard maintaince for Warriors, Barrier uptime for Mages.
I see this double mage comp a lot lately, but unless your MC is a mage having 2 mages with barrier won't just cause them to overlap their barrier unless you micromanage them? This has always been the case for me I use double mage for the extra dispel though.
Yes, the AI does tend to double-cast barrier. A few things I've done to work around this:
I resumed my solo nightmare trials playthrough on my newbie warrior, and discovered by accident an exploit that may or may not be useful considering the nature of Rub Some Dirt on It during main quests.
I have an alternate armor with Sigil of the Revenant that I put on when I see an opportunity to heal while keeping my focus and guard (eg: easy enemy pack). This sigil gives -50% health and some heal on kill, so the heal on kill would heal me back to full. The exploit is, just switch back and forth between your regular armor and that armor; you will heal back to full.
Say you're at 10% of 500hp, or 50 hp remaining, put on the revenant armor, you will be at 50 hp out of 250 max, which is 20%. Put your regular armor back on, and you will be at 20% of 500hp, or 100hp. Put on the revenant armor, and you jump back up to 40% hp, or 100/250. Put your armor back, and you're at 200/500hp. Put revenant, you're at 80%. Put normal armor back, you're back up to 80%. Put the revenant, and you're at 100%. Put the normal armor, you're still at 100%.
So there you go, in case you get stuck in the middle of the Fade at low health and for some absurd reason you prefer to exploit a bug than to turn the trial off.
Make sure you take Cassandra's new secret active abililty Maker take you. Good for when you just can't be asked to fight anymore.
That's not an exploit. That's intended. Rub Some Dirt In It only reduces the healing from Potions, not gear and abilities.
So, switching gear isn't an exploit
I wouldn't even call what you're doing an exploit -- just a bug.
Switching gear to put on heal on kill isn't the exploit, the exploit is to intentionally switch gear back and forth repeatedly to heal your full party back to full between two fights.
Say you're at 10% of 500hp, or 50 hp remaining, put on the revenant armor, you will be at 50 hp out of 250 max, which is 20%. Put your regular armor back on, and you will be at 20% of 500hp, or 100hp. Put on the revenant armor, and you jump back up to 40% hp, or 100/250. Put your armor back, and you're at 200/500hp. Put revenant, you're at 80%. Put normal armor back, you're back up to 80%. Put the revenant, and you're at 100%. Put the normal armor, you're still at 100%.
Unfortunately I feel like I have to exploit the hell out of the game system at the moment to simply progress on this solo run. I definitely didn't feel like Pun Pun when taking on all those Champions at level 8 for the specialization. The hardest part was probably slaying the four poison-spitting level 12 gurguts guarding the final camp, and the last champion and his promoted archer adds in Exalted Plains.
I'm not too surprised that higher level enemies with walk softly/even ground have autoattacks that oneshot warriors through full armor, health and guard, I'm just annoyed and a bit salty that other classes don't have such hard counters due to their stealth, ranged attacks and barriers.
I ended up pretending that I was a ranged character and abusing the ridiculous damage on chromatic sword + earthshaking strike + whirlwind, dropping out of combat, and spamming sigil of the bear/sigil of the revenant to heal back both my health and stamina to full between engagements without having to reset their health, because my limited playtime was running out.
My name is Pun, Pun Pun, and now I am a level 8 Champion.
Definitely the hardest playthrough I've ever attempted.
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