23 respuestas en este tema

[PapaCharlie9]

If you don't want to be OP in Haven and face-roll the game with Tier 4 gear, here are my recommended honor-system rules for when to introduce which crafting tiers.

Basic rule of thumb: Don't touch the Golden Nug in Haven. Wait until Skyhold.

You can get by with the available Tier 1 and Tier 2 schematics without doing much scrounging.

If you feel the need to buff out your gear, use Tier 2 and 3 mats. Open the Western Approach and the Forbidden Oasis and farm mats there. Tip: The Silent Ruins can be farmed for an infinite supply of Tier 2 and 3 mats, if you have the Deft Hands perk and a lot of patience.

After Skyhold, go ahead and sync with the GN. Just limit yourself to Tier 2 schematics, until you prepare for Here Lies The Abyss. That quest can be a bit frustrating if you are under-leveled or under-geared, so splurge on a few Tier 3 items. Just don't go crazy and make Tier 3 everything. A weapon here and a suit of armor there makes all the difference.

Stick with Tier 3 until at least What Pride Had Wrought is completed, or, until you open JoH or Descent. Then you can go Tier 4.

[Melbella]

I decided to make mine level-based this game, as far as schematics go. Mats are whatever I have I can use. So, until level 7, use only Tier 1 schematics - basically what I could find or buy. If I got lucky with a T2 RNG, yay me. Once I reached level 7, then I synced up and was allowed to use T2 schematics, at level 14 - T3, and once I get to 21, then I can use whatever the heck I want.

 

Only playing on Hard this time (with Trials) not NM. If I go NM, then I definitely use whatever I want asap.

 

I also only tend to make stuff for my active crew. Everyone else gets leftovers.

[R0vena]

I usually don't touch GN before Skyhold, but I do always have one Tier 3 schematic for IYHSB - obtained from Valammar chest. I don't farm it, so I get only one. Everything else is mixture between 1 and 2 Tier.

 

ps that's for serious runs - NM + trials and such. Sometimes I want  just to run through quick for specific banter combos, in that case - Easy + Golden Nug as soon as possible and have sheer fun obliterating everything with the glance.))

[Bayonet Hipshot]

Personally I don't use the Golden Nug and I do not farm for Fade touched items. I simply use what I get. That's how I challenge myself.

 

I have been doing these sorts of self-imposed challenges since DAO. In DAO, what I would do is to not select a specialization until I have performed the quest to unlock it. So for example.I will not specialize as an Arcane Warrior until I have done the quest in the Brecilian forest.

[Gilli]

I do use the GN as soon as I can, BUT only so I can look good from the start. (Dalish armors are all Tier 3 )

 

I will use Tier 1 mats till I hit Skyhold and Tier 2 till I either have decided for a class spec, or at least done HLtA and/or WEWH.

[R0vena]

I will use Tier 1 mats till I hit Skyhold 

Wow, that's harsh.

I just recently started new PT on NM + all trials and I already (level 5)  got several Tier 2 schematics quite legitimately (no reloads, no farming). I admit, I use them happily.

[coldwetn0se]

I do self-imposed limitations, but I still sync the GN at Haven. I just don't allow myself to use anything above tier 2 schems, and tier 1 mats. My main reason for doing it in Haven, is just to get it out of the way....lots to sync up.

@Gilli - The Dalish Warrior schematic is actually tier 2, so that could be used prior to Skyhold, if you were limiting yourself during your Elf runs. (of course, if you are not playing a warrior, than you probably would have a hard time getting your hands on the Silverite needed to break the class restriction - before Skyhold, that is. *shrug*)

On my latest character, I have it on hard with trials. I let myself craft tier 3 schematics with tier 1 mats. Probably shouldn't have done that. It has made it easier than my normal + trial runs, with the self-imposed restrictions. Go figure.

[sjsharp2011]

If you don't want to be OP in Haven and face-roll the game with Tier 4 gear, here are my recommended honor-system rules for when to introduce which crafting tiers.

Basic rule of thumb: Don't touch the Golden Nug in Haven. Wait until Skyhold.

You can get by with the available Tier 1 and Tier 2 schematics without doing much scrounging.

If you feel the need to buff out your gear, use Tier 2 and 3 mats. Open the Western Approach and the Forbidden Oasis and farm mats there. Tip: The Silent Ruins can be farmed for an infinite supply of Tier 2 and 3 mats, if you have the Deft Hands perk and a lot of patience.

After Skyhold, go ahead and sync with the GN. Just limit yourself to Tier 2 schematics, until you prepare for Here Lies The Abyss. That quest can be a bit frustrating if you are under-leveled or under-geared, so splurge on a few Tier 3 items. Just don't go crazy and make Tier 3 everything. A weapon here and a suit of armor there makes all the difference.

Stick with Tier 3 until at least What Pride Had Wrought is completed, or, until you open JoH or Descent. Then you can go Tier 4.

 

 

Yeah this tensd to be what I do as well. Although I tend to base it around what level I am rather than what mission I'm on as such. Up until about level 5/6 I tend to stick with Tier 1. I then switch to Tier 2 till around lvl10-11 or until I start fighting the dragons. Sometimes I'l wait until I complete the Here lies the Abyss/Wicked Eyes Wicked hearts missions but generally betwen then and What Pride had wrought at the latest I'll switch to Tier 3 and  I stay with that until I'm ready to begin the DLC's and switch to Tier 4. 

 

Right now though with my Lara I'm trying a different challenge of not using the Nug at all and just using what I can buy or find in my playthrough. Been an interesting challenge as I've not been able to upgrade at the most ideal times so far as I've not found the schematics I've needed to do so. I am enjoying the challenge though and I am making progress so it's not been all bad. But the real test will come when I get to the DLC's though I think as I've not done that part of the game yet. I have done the main part of the game without the new game plus stuff so I'm not too worried there whereas I've not tried to beat the DLC's before without it whereas this time I'm going to try to.

[SharpWalkers]

I will exploit that damn nug every which way  I can, as soon as I can. I have a pretty heavy dislike for this game's combat without having OP equipment - preferably I'm a couple levels over the recommended, as well, but that often requires playing through the asinine side content, so pass. I wanna swoop through the combat so I can continue with the story(/ies)

So I am quite gratefull for the glorious Golden Nug, since at least now I can progress all my world states a bit quicker before a hopefully much better DA4, in the future.

[Gilli]

Wow, that's harsh.

I just recently started new PT on NM + all trials and I already (level 5)  got several Tier 2 schematics quite legitimately (no reloads, no farming). I admit, I use them happily.

 

Well, mostly. I don't really go farming for mats till I'm at Skyhold, so I just use what I have and that's at this point mostly Ram Leather and Iron. Maybe some Drakestone and Canine Leather from the Mabari in the Hinterlands.

I only did one NM run so far (for the Inquisitor Achievement) and prefer playing on Hard with Even Ground, Walk Softly, Grizzly End and Take It Slow.

 

I never farmed schematics and got everything (well everything I have, not everything in the game) just from finding stuff + syncing. I think the only Tier 3 Helmet I'm missing is the Superior Venatori Helmet, which you only can get from the dog merchant in the Hissing Wastes.

 

At least that's what I did in my current PT. Reminds me, this was the first time I didn't go to the Forbidden Oasis till I had all Shards and got all element resistances at once, instead of evenly spread over the time of the PT.

 

I do self-imposed limitations, but I still sync the GN at Haven. I just don't allow myself to use anything above tier 2 schems, and tier 1 mats. My main reason for doing it in Haven, is just to get it out of the way....lots to sync up.

@Gilli - The Dalish Warrior schematic is actually tier 2, so that could be used prior to Skyhold, if you were limiting yourself during your Elf runs. (of course, if you are not playing a warrior, than you probably would have a hard time getting your hands on the Silverite needed to break the class restriction - before Skyhold, that is. *shrug*)

On my latest character, I have it on hard with trials. I let myself craft tier 3 schematics with tier 1 mats. Probably shouldn't have done that. It has made it easier than my normal + trial runs, with the self-imposed restrictions. Go figure.

 

Yeah, remembered that after I had written my post I actually wanted to put my Elf rogue into the Dalish mage armor (fem version looks sooo good) but as you say, I couldn't do that till I could find Dales Loden Wool. Not wanting to wait ages for that to happen, I put her in the Warden Scout Armor (Tier 2) which also looked good. (I don't really like the fem version of the Dalish Scout Armor, which is why I didn't use that one on her)

 

Used the Warden Scout Armor even after I finally had reached Skyhold.

Spoiler

Kiri capturing Caer Bronach.

 

When I finally had enough Dales Loden Wool. (which was halfway through the Western Approach)

Spoiler

 

Edit: Looking at Kiri's level I remember that I went to the BE to BUY Dales Loden Wool, because I was putting off going to Emprise du Lion.

[nightscrawl]

It's quite nice to see this mentality. I found it to be quite irritating that one of the main complaints with the DA2 item packs, or even the various bonus items was, "They're too OP at early levels." Well you don't HAVE to use them! >.>

Very early on, I gave myself ALL of the schematics and 200 of all crafting materials through Cheat Engine. However, I don't do this because I want to be OP, I do it for appearance only. For myself, I craft a T2 armor (with upgrades), the T2 version of the dragon sword and sword grip (my favorite model), and a shield (my favorite model). However, I purposely attempt to limit myself to T1 materials so it's not too ridiculous. I keep all followers in their starting gear until Skyhold, after which I craft them T2 things. The only OP thing I do is to craft a T2 staff (a model I like) with T3 materials for Dorian to use during In Hushed Whispers; but again, this is still mainly for appearance, as I want that staff to viable for as long as possible before replacing it.

[Melbella]

It's quite nice to see this mentality. I found it to be quite irritating that one of the main complaints with the DA2 item packs, or even the various bonus items was, "They're too OP at early levels." Well you don't HAVE to use them! >.>

LOL...stop making me control myself, game!  When I play mage in DA2, I usually use Malcolm's Honor from the get go, but last time I waited until heading to the Deep Roads. I figured that was a good time to pull out the bfg's, so to speak. I hate, when playing Legacy, that the game always replaces your current weapon with Hawke's Key every time you upgrade it.

[PhroXenGold]

My personal limitation is to unlock everything with the nug straight away but restrict what I'm using based on my levels - lvl 1-7, tier 1 schematics and materials, lvl 8-15, tier 2, level 16-23 tier 3 and only start using tier 4 stuff at level 24. Seems to give a reasonably balanced progression.

[Brother Juniper]

My personal limitation is to unlock everything with the nug straight away but restrict what I'm using based on my levels - lvl 1-7, tier 1 schematics and materials, lvl 8-15, tier 2, level 16-23 tier 3 and only start using tier 4 stuff at level 24. Seems to give a reasonably balanced progression.

 

^ This gets it just right. Keeps the game interesting and you don't have to waste as much time farming.

[Mike3207]

How do you farm for schematics?

 

Not saying I will, but wanting to know how to do that if I ever want to.

[nightscrawl]

Go to some chests -- there is a grouping of two or three chests after the Hinterlands dragon.

Do a save, quick save or hard save (menu > save game).

Open the chest. There will usually be 2+ items; some gold, perhaps a junk item, a weapon or armor piece, or a schematic. Take the thing you want but LEAVE EVERYTHING ELSE. (Or just take everything except one item, whichever you prefer.)

Save again.

Load the save.

The game will think that the chest is not empty, and so repopulate the items inside.

Repeat as necessary.

If there is nothing you want inside, just reload the previous save.

 

If there is only ONE item, think long and hard if you want to take the item. Once the chest is empty, you can't farm it anymore.

 

I'm sure other people can suggest other chest locations. That Hinterlands spot is nice because there are two (or three?) you can go back and forth between in a single reload, increasing your chances to get something.

 

This is called "save scumming."

 

Or, alternatively, if you're on PC you can just populate your Golden Nug using a save file found on the Nexus.

[PapaCharlie9]

Go to some chests -- there is a grouping of two or three chests after the Hinterlands dragon.
Do a save, quick save or hard save (menu > save game).
Open the chest. There will usually be 2+ items; some gold, perhaps a junk item, a weapon or armor piece, or a schematic. Take the thing you want but LEAVE EVERYTHING ELSE. (Or just take everything except one item, whichever you prefer.)
Save again.
Load the save.
The game will think that the chest is not empty, and so repopulate the items inside.
Repeat as necessary.
If there is nothing you want inside, just reload the previous save.
 
If there is only ONE item, think long and hard if you want to take the item. Once the chest is empty, you can't farm it anymore.
 
I'm sure other people can suggest other chest locations. That Hinterlands spot is nice because there are two (or three?) you can go back and forth between in a single reload, increasing your chances to get something.
 
This is called "save scumming."

Great instructions! A long time ago I had planned to do a tutorial video on save-scumming, but never got around to it.

To be crystal clear for Mike3207's sake, "loot-1" save scumming works because a chest that is not completely empty can be re-rolled by a save/reload. "Re-rolled" is a hold-over from tabletop RPGs, where you would roll dice to determine the random contents of a treasure chest.

However, note that there are some chests, some of the best in fact, that cannot be re-rolled just by reloading a save. You have to exit the area. This is true of one of the best schematics farms, the Cradle of Sulevin. You have to leave the map and return to it to reset the chests. One of the other best farms, Valeska's Watch, does not require a zone exit, so I prefer Valeska's over Sulevin, even though Valeska's only has two Tier 3 chests. Sulevin has several more than that, though I'm not sure how many.

The loot-1 save scumming technique requires some additional, often agonizing, thought for two specific cases:

• When there is only one item in the chest and it is highly desirable
• When there are exactly three items: a highly desirable schematic, a highly desirable rare item, and a large pouch of gold.

For #1, you have to decide between "killing" the chest, meaning, emptying it so that it can never be re-rolled again, or not taking the item and just reloading a save without taking anything, in the hope that you'll get lucky and it will turn up again, without having to do (fill in huge number here) save scums before you see it again. If you have a lot of schematics you want, or even just two, killing the chest is usually the wrong choice. You never know when you might need to farm again. On the other hand, if the one schematic you really want, the one you have been farming for for hours, finally turns up, go ahead and kill the chest and dance a little jig.

For #2, you always grab the schematic, since those are the hardest to find, but then you have to decide, is the rare item worth more to you than the gold? Do you take the item and leave the gold, or leave the item and take the gold? You have to decide on the likelihood that the item will turn up again, which depends on how long you are willing to spend time save scumming. My usual rule of thumb is to take the item, because the RNG hates me and I never reroll the same item ever, no matter how many hours I save scum.

Corollary, in the 3 item chest case where the item is not rare or is not desirable, I always take the gold and leave the common item. The only purpose common items have to me is to sell for gold and the pouch is usually more gold than I can get by selling the item.

The reason the gold is important to me is because I often have to buy Great Bear skin from the Black Emporium -- I never have enough of that stuff. It's expensive, so to me, gold means better crafting, and better crafting is usually superior to any rare item you can get by save scumming.

[Mike3207]

 

The reason the gold is important to me is because I often have to buy Great Bear skin from the Black Emporium -- I never have enough of that stuff. It's expensive, so to me, gold means better crafting, and better crafting is usually superior to any rare item you can get by save scumming.

 

That brings up a good followup questions, what are some  other good ways to accumulate gold in the game. I've looked at wikia, but hard to tell what exploits to accumulate gold have been patched. I'd imagine as the loot levels it'd be less of a problem, but wondering how hard it is to get sufficient gold to afford the Black Emporium goods.

 

Or is crafting the best way?

[Melbella]

That brings up a good followup questions, what are some  other good ways to accumulate gold in the game. I've looked at wikia, but hard to tell what exploits to accumulate gold have been patched. I'd imagine as the loot levels it'd be less of a problem, but wondering how hard it is to get sufficient gold to afford the Black Emporium goods.
 
Or is crafting the best way?

Basically, sell everything, even crafting materials you don't use can pull in coin. It takes a while, but the gold will increase eventually. To increase what you get, take the perks in Josie's tree to get 10% and later 15% (total) more than normal for everything you sell.

 

If you have the Golden Nug, you can "cheat" without necessarily cheating. Buy however many schematics you can afford, sync with the Nug to upload them, reload to before you bought anything, buy different schematics, sync, rinse and repeat until you have everything uploaded. Eventually you will download all the schematics you just bought but still have all your gold. It can be tedious, but you only have to do it with one character.

That also works with the 3 schematic perks - save game, select the perk to get new schematics, sync to upload, reload game, re-sync to download.

 

As for selling crafted goods to get rich? Doesn't work since you only get like 3 gold for anything you make, no matter how OP it may be. Most crafted goods are same as or better quality than any of the fancy already-made goods you can buy. And materials are free if you don't mind chasing (or being chased by) bears and others critters.

[PapaCharlie9]

Basically, sell everything, even crafting materials you don't use can pull in coin. It takes a while, but the gold will increase eventually. To increase what you get, take the perks in Josie's tree to get 10% and later 15% (total) more than normal for everything you sell.
 
If you have the Golden Nug, you can "cheat" without necessarily cheating. Buy however many schematics you can afford, sync with the Nug to upload them, reload to before you bought anything, buy different schematics, sync, rinse and repeat until you have everything uploaded. Eventually you will download all the schematics you just bought but still have all your gold. It can be tedious, but you only have to do it with one character.

That also works with the 3 schematic perks - save game, select the perk to get new schematics, sync to upload, reload game, re-sync to download.
 
As for selling crafted goods to get rich? Doesn't work since you only get like 3 gold for anything you make, no matter how OP it may be. Most crafted goods are same as or better quality than any of the fancy already-made goods you can buy. And materials are free if you don't mind chasing (or being chased by) bears and others critters.

^Very much all that.

Before the Golden Nug, I used to combine gold farming with schematic farming. All those rare items and gold pouches add up. I'd have the Perk for maximum inventory and fill out after about 15 minutes of save scumming. Fast travel to a local merchant, dump everything for gold, then go back and save scum some more.

After the Golden Nug, even though save scum gold farming is more efficient, it's just not worth the boredom factor. So instead, I farm Snoufleur pelts in the frozen Elfsblood River in Emprise du Lion. Once you are at the XP level where you get multiple pelts per kill, you can farm about 10 pelts a minute. After 20 minutes or so, you've got 200ish pelts, for 15 gold base price. Add the perks Melbella mentioned, and you're getting 18 gold per, or 3600 for 20 minutes of cruising around the Elfsblood slaughtering innocent ice pigs. The occasional wolf pack or Great Bear spices things up and keeps things from getting boring.

At this point a lot of smart-(a$$) people say, just use Cheat Engine! They have a point. Why spend hours bending the rules when you can spend 5 seconds just breaking them?

[Gilli]

Basically, sell everything, even crafting materials you don't use can pull in coin. It takes a while, but the gold will increase eventually. To increase what you get, take the perks in Josie's tree to get 10% and later 15% (total) more than normal for everything you sell.

 

If you have the Golden Nug, you can "cheat" without necessarily cheating. Buy however many schematics you can afford, sync with the Nug to upload them, reload to before you bought anything, buy different schematics, sync, rinse and repeat until you have everything uploaded. Eventually you will download all the schematics you just bought but still have all your gold. It can be tedious, but you only have to do it with one character.

That also works with the 3 schematic perks - save game, select the perk to get new schematics, sync to upload, reload game, re-sync to download.

 

As for selling crafted goods to get rich? Doesn't work since you only get like 3 gold for anything you make, no matter how OP it may be. Most crafted goods are same as or better quality than any of the fancy already-made goods you can buy. And materials are free if you don't mind chasing (or being chased by) bears and others critters.

 

 

^Very much all that.

Before the Golden Nug, I used to combine gold farming with schematic farming. All those rare items and gold pouches add up. I'd have the Perk for maximum inventory and fill out after about 15 minutes of save scumming. Fast travel to a local merchant, dump everything for gold, then go back and save scum some more.

After the Golden Nug, even though save scum gold farming is more efficient, it's just not worth the boredom factor. So instead, I farm Snoufleur pelts in the frozen Elfsblood River in Emprise du Lion. Once you are at the XP level where you get multiple pelts per kill, you can farm about 10 pelts a minute. After 20 minutes or so, you've got 200ish pelts, for 15 gold base price. Add the perks Melbella mentioned, and you're getting 18 gold per, or 3600 for 20 minutes of cruising around the Elfsblood slaughtering innocent ice pigs. The occasional wolf pack or Great Bear spices things up and keeps things from getting boring.

At this point a lot of smart-(a$$) people say, just use Cheat Engine! They have a point. Why spend hours bending the rules when you can spend 5 seconds just breaking them?

 

 

You two give such great advice, I feel a little weird that my first thought about "How to get gold fast" was:

 

Go to the Descent, Bastion of the Pure and farm Sha-Brytol. Those dwarves give over 100 Gold each, so killing 10 Dwarves = 1'000 Gold.

[Melbella]

At this point a lot of smart-(a$$) people say, just use Cheat Engine! They have a point. Why spend hours bending the rules when you can spend 5 seconds just breaking them?

If I'm going to cheat, I at least want to have to work for it. It's no fun otherwise.  

[nightscrawl]

At this point a lot of smart-(a$$) people say, just use Cheat Engine! They have a point. Why spend hours bending the rules when you can spend 5 seconds just breaking them?

Because of the way that the schematic hacks work with Cheat Engine, it took me over an hour to load myself up with everything. It wasn't a fun process. (No, I'm not comparing an hour's work to the dozens some players spent farming everything.) I have a save with that character that I just use repeatedly when I want to replay the game. I did try the chest farming method for quite a bit, but I lost patience. I just wanted to play the game and have fun with the gear, and most of all, not have to worry about farming anything. It greatly increased the enjoyment of the game for me.

 

However, this was before I made mods. For subsequent plays, I can just make merchant shop edits with all the schematics that cost nothing, eliminating the use of Cheat Engine altogether.

 

I don't want to use the Golden Nug because I like to explore and find all of the banners and whatnot.

[Bigdawg13]

It's been a while, but I pretty much limited myself to Tier 1 schematics until level 6.  Tier 2 schematics until level 13.  Tier 3 to 21.  Tier 4 21+.  And I only use tier 1 mats for tier 1 schematics, and so on.