|
Caleb Frazier
United States
Glendale
Arizona
-
Alright, after finally picking this game up again and making it past 3 minutes I've decided to chronicle my play through. I'll try and keep it updated as frequently as I play, but the entries might be a day or so late.
I chose to just pick up on my original character, a Female Rogue City Elf.
I wasn't too happy with the character creation and felt that I was "too" limited. This may be because the character creations I've been accustomed to have generally been very exhaustive (Age of Conan, Aion, APB), and I also feel that the characters, especially the elves, have abnormally long arms and large hands.
I'll make no attempt at covering up spoilers so read at your own risk. This first entry will most likely be the longest as it is a backlog and I have some catching up to do.
The Wedding
Apparently my girl is getting married today and I'm told to go meet up with my groom, whom I've never met. I talk to various townspeople and find out that a) My mother is dead, b) I like to fight, c) My father is wealthy and arranged for a nice looking groom, d) My cousin is also getting married. I also meet one woman who was a real biatch towards me, apparently because I'm getting a "dream come true groom" whereas she got stuck with a slob of some sorts. I hope she has an unfortunate end at some point.
I also find out that City Elves are 2nd class citizens and live in hovels, which reminds me of Braveheart, even more so during the wedding.
At some point the son of the Arl (the ruler of the city I'm in) comes down to the Alienage (where the Elves are segregated to). I'm really not clear what his motive is, though he seems to be wanting a elven girl form some quick action. I get involved and try to convince him to leave but then my cousin (the girl one, Shiana?) sneaks up behind him and cracks him over the head with a bottle. His guards talk some shit about how we're all gonna get it but then drag their drunken knocked out lord back to his home. I expect I'll see him again...
I find my groom and try to be polite while talking to him. I already feel like he's going to die or that the wedding is going to be stopped in some way, so I might as well make him feel at ease for the time being. It makes me laugh when he says he was super nervous until he met me since my character has very boney cheeks and looks stunned the whole time.
Then another human shows up and being the "leader", apparently it's my job to go to him and tell him to bugger off since his kind is not welcome here, especially since the wedding is about to start.
His name is Duncan. I try to be cautious while talking to him since I do not know his motives, to which he seems pleased. It is quickly revealed that the Elder and Duncan know each other semi-well, and that Duncan is a Gray Warden.
Gray Wardens are a group of warriors that protect the world from the Blight (which is essentially a demonic army) and hold know allegiances to any single King or Guild, as their wars are against the unnatural, and their allegiance is to the all of the "good" races of the world.
I am told to go away again, though this time by Duncan, and attend my wedding, of which I don't really care to go to.
The wedding starts and in comes the Arl's Son again, right on queue to crash the wedding. He's apparently pissed off and takes off with all the women of the wedding party (approximately 5 girls, including myself) so that he and his men can have some "fun". I am the only one to get knocked out during this process, go figure.
Captured
I awake in a room with 4 other girls. My cousin, Shiana, is not with us (I only noticed because she was a redhead...) There's one girl kneeling down constantly chanting a prayer, while the others are more or less scared and talking about how we're gonna die and blah blah. We are apparently inside the Arl's castle, or his son's estate, and are "waiting" for our turn with the Arl's son. Woo 
Some guards come in and talk some trash, and the one girl that was praying stands up and says something like "No no no no", to which the main guard takes his sword out and kills her. VERY UNEXPECTED. The other girls are now taken away in a herd, while I get the privilege of having TWO guards escort me. However, it is not to be as my cousin (Soris?) whose bride-to-be was also captured has shown up to "save" me.
He slides me "his" sword and we start fighting the guards. Apparently, even though I picked the sword up in the cinematic, I don't actually have it equipped, and so it's not until the battle is almost done that I actually realize that I should equip it.
Battle: done, Guards: Dead, Blood on my wedding clothes: lots
Soris tells me that Duncan gave him his sword, though he himself can not interfere. So Soris and I head out to save the other girls. I give him a crossbow and leave the sword with myself.
Most of the battles aren't too bad, though a few times I had to run away while my cousin shot at the guy and pull his aggro, then I'd run in and stun the enemy, hit him a few times, then run away again. Exploring the estate is fairly uneventful. Find a room, fight the guards, fight the dogs, repeat. I find a door (or was it a chest?) that I can't unlock as it requires a key. I assume I'll find it later and press on (I never get a key or open the door/chest up).
As a side note, I find my groom in a room and he is quickly dispatched by a knight. I don't find it too surprising and I actually almost forgot about it. When this happens I'm not sure, but he does die.
I finally stumble my way into where our captor is hanging out, with Shiana laying on the floor. While it is not clear yet what all happened, I'm kinda pissed off for him endangering a redhead...
After a brief "discussion" with the Arl's son, we fight...to the death. I, of course, win and proceed to rescue all of the girls, at which point I'm taken back to the Alienage, soaked in blood.
Conscription
No sooner than we arrive in the Alienage than more Guards show up demanding to speak with the Elder. They say that the keep is soaked in blood and want to know who is responsible (they assume it's an elf, good thing they don't see me right next to them soaked in blood...)
Being the dutiful person I am, I step forward and claim full responsibility. The guards seem shocked but accept it anyway and begin to haul me away.
My captivity is not to be however, as Duncan steps forward and claims the power of Conscription, and thus I am now a member of the Gray Wardens. The Guard is none to pleased but accepts anyway, on the condition that we are out of the town by days end.
I quickly say my goodbyes and even discover that Shiana was apparently raped, though she wants to keep that a secret. On my way out I get lost and stumble upon some elfroot, which I pick and then get the hell out of Dodge.
Impressions thus far
The game has improved from my initial 3 minute play. It reminds me a lot of KotOR, though I'm not sure I enjoy the battle system all that much yet. The Gray Wardens remind me of the Nights Watch from A Game of Thrones, which I like.
There isn't anything so far that has really peaked my interest yet, though I'll continue to play as the game isn't terrible. Hopefully once I get some more skill points I'll start to feel like an actual badass.
-
Caleb Frazier
United States
Glendale
Arizona
-
Initiation Preparation
I arrive with Duncan at a fortress where a small army is prepared to fight the Blight. The King is here along with this father-in-law Loghain, The Circle of Magi, and the Gray Wardens (or at least a grouping of them).
I'm given the chance to explore the encampment for while, which I spend most of my time looking for pockets to pick and random loot laying around. I also end up pissing off a clergy woman when I ask her about the Maker allowing the Blight and war. She refuses to talk to me anymore.
I almost attempt to get an audience with Loghain but decide that I something bad might happen if my persuasion isn't high enough. I regret not doing so now, I'm not normally so cautious with strangers in games. I meet up with a fellow gray recruit and then later meet up with the Warden Alastair, who is busy annoying the Circle of Magi with a request (from who I do not recall).
Finally I find merchant and offload a bunch of crap, and then purchase some studded leather. I lose the bonus I had for "matching armour" but not sure why (everything is studded leather). I also pick up a quest to pick a flower in the "wilderness" to try and help save a dog. The dog, you see, got some Blight blood in him and might transform soon enough. This doesn't make any sense to me as I would assume ALL of the dogs that survive the battle would have blight blood in them, yet they're not all sick.
Again, nothing really sticks in my mind about this visit and so I head over to Duncan to start the joining process. However, I need to go and gather some items in the wilderness before the joining can actually be performed, so out I go with two other recruits and Alastair.
The wilderness is nice, it's the first chance I feel that I actually get to explore. My mission here is to pick up a vial of Blight blood for each of us recruits as well as locate some treaties with the Gray Wardens that were left long ago.
I notice rather quickly that two of my party are not gaining any XP, so I assume that they are going to be killed off. Believing this I try not to care about them or waste goods on them.
Starting off I find a corpse in the water with a note. This starts a side-quest to find this mans father, who is supposedly already in the wilds. I find him later (or was it another note?), also deceased, and find that he too wrote a note to his son, leaving some equipment behind. I follow the landmarks described in the note, loot the chest, and get nothing useful in it. Awesome.
I find another body (this one might actually be the father) and a note, again. The note says that he has buried a box and would like it delivered to his widow. Being the kind and honest person I am, I retrieve the box (under the fire pit). I do not open it, though I am constantly tempted to.
Continuing on I come across some ashes and yet another note. The note says that perhaps sprinkling the ashes at a certain location will summon a spirit and grant one wish. Woo! a wish! I search for the location, sprinkle the ash, and the spirit shows up...and attacks me. The spirit kills one of the members but then is defeated, and again nothing useful is gained. Moving on...
I finally find where the documents are supposed to be, but they are not there. A woman appears and informs me of this, as well as that she has been tracking my progress the entire time. She claims, or does not claim otherwise, that she is a witch of the wilds, which scares the other recruits. She takes me to her "mother" who is a crazy old hag (or so she'd have you believe) and has been "protecting" the treaties for quite a while.
Alastair is a bit confused that a witch of the wild would protect such a thing. See, Alastair was almost a Templar, which is in charge of hunting down rogue magic users, and in fact has little to no trust of them. The fact that one of these is protecting Gray Warden treaties surprises him. "Mother" simply says that the Gray Warden's are very important especially at a time such as this when the Blight is making a comeback. She gladly hands over the documents and has us escorted out of the wilds.
The Joining
Returning to the encampment I first turn in the quest to save the dog, and then go talk to Duncan. I regret this because I have an almost full inventory and am low on healing supplies.
The Joining is the ceremony that all Gray Wardens go through before they are officially Gray Wardens. It is a simple ceremony consisting of simply drinking a vial of Blight Blood. If you survive you gain the ability to sense the Blight (and possibly other powers?), if you fail to survive...well...you die.
The first recruit drinks the blood, spasms, and then dies. Seeing this the 2nd recruit panics and refuses to drink. Duncan slays this man, saying "sorry" while doing so. I assume this is because the ceremony is "secret", and once you learn of it there is no turning back. I gladly drink the blood, spasm, and pass out. A vision appears of a black dragon, seemingly angry, and then quickly disperses.
I awake a Gray Warden.
The Battle
Again I have the chance to go to a merchant, but step the wrong way and end up starting the battle *sigh*
Loghain has a plan that is sure to work, and it involves myself and Alstair to head up into a tower, alone, and light a beacon. When the beacon is lit Loghain will charge down and take the blight out in their flanks. The tower should be an easy task as Loghain and his men had been preparing it and investigating some lower tunnels for quite some time.
The tower is in fact invested with Blight by the time I show up. I pick up a mage and a tower guard and we head inside to light the beacon.
It is a pretty standard "dungeon" of sorts. Enter a room, fight the baddies. Very straightforward. I reach top of the tower and enter a fight with an Ogre Blight, and he is very large. The battle ends soon enough and the tower is lit.
Seeing the tower lit Loghain sounds the retreat, leaving the King, Duncan, and all of the other soldiers to die a miserable death. Near the same time the top of the tower is swarmed by blight and I'm shot with 3 arrows, I pass out again.
The Adventure Begins
I awake to find myself in "Mothers" cabin with Morghain (the girl I met earlier in the Wilds) checking in on me. Apparently Mother had rescue myself and Alastair from the tower, brought us home, and healed us.
Talking with Mother we (Alastair and I) discover that she claims to be an old witch, whom Alastair knows about. She is THE "Witch of the Wilds" and suggest that we use the treaties to gather up support and unite the land against the blight. She also gives us Morghain and says that us taking her is "payment" for rescuing us.
We head out and make our way for some small village which we'll use to gather information. On the way we encounter a dog, who warns us of an impending Blight attack (because apparently neither of us Wardens could sense them...). After the battle the dog joins us, as apparently he has imprinted onto me since he "knows" that it was I that helped save him.
Lorhain: The small village with a name I can't remember
We arrive at this village and are stopped by some highwaymen. They demand we pay them some silver to pass, but I convince them that they should pay us instead. Then I run them out. Maybe I should have just killed them...
The main information I gather while in town is a) Who's in charge, b) The Gray Warden's are being blamed for the death of the King by Loghain, to which a bounty has been placed, c) This town if full of refugees fleeing the Blight.
There are four things I did while here:
1) Convince a merchant to lower his wares for the commoners. This makes Morghain dislike me a little. I was going to try and get a romantic situation with her but that changes later.
2) Meet up with a redheaded almost-chantry (cleric) girl who helps to take out some of Loghain's men that tried to kills us. This is now my "love" interest, sorry Morghain.
3) Rescue a Quarthan(sp?) from captivity. It is claimed that he killed a family, though it can be assumed that he did not actually do it. He seems to want honor more than freedom.
4) Discover that one of the Lords I am to contact is gravely ill. There are knights out looking for a mystical cure, though the knights that tend to find the trail of it end up dead. I discovered one of the knights near where I met the highwaymen.
Impressions
There still isn't enough to grab my attention and make me WANT to keep playing. I don't feel like I'm leveling up enough or that I have any real control over my team. The gambit/tactic slots are just set to default currently, and everyone has melee. Hopefully there will be more of a cause to change these two things.
I'm a sucker for redheads and so even though two rogues is not the best thing, I'll probably continue to have two. Perhaps I'll change the other into an archer...
There doesn't seem to be much room for exploration or discovery so far, nor does there seem to be any sweet chest items. At least with the latter I expect it to improve in the later portions of the game. The game seems quite linear now and will probably continue to be so.
-
Andrew Schoonmaker
United States
Long Beach
California
This overtext intentionally left blank.
-
gogoapoxy wrote: There doesn't seem to be much room for exploration or discovery so far, nor does there seem to be any sweet chest items. At least with the latter I expect it to improve in the later portions of the game. The game seems quite linear now and will probably continue to be so.
I am only very slightly farther than you, and the game has been on the back burner for me for a while. Nevertheless, you are almost to the first point where you get some control over where you go. My vague understanding is that there is maybe a "most convenient" order to visit the destinations in, but that there isn't any strict restriction on them.
-
Adrian George
United States
San Antonio
Texas
-
NeonElephant wrote:
I am only very slightly farther than you, and the game has been on the back burner for me for a while. Nevertheless, you are almost to the first point where you get some control over where you go. My vague understanding is that there is maybe a "most convenient" order to visit the destinations in, but that there isn't any strict restriction on them.
It's generally accepted that you want to do the Tower of the Magi first, because you don't want the game mis-autospending points on Wynne, who is a total house.
-
-
gogoapoxy wrote: I'm a sucker for redheads and so even though two rogues is not the best thing, I'll probably continue to have two. Perhaps I'll change the other into an archer...
Leliana can be a hell of an archer and having two rogues isn't bad at all: rogue specializations can lead to two completely different playstyles, both melee and one ranged, so you shouldn't worry about that as long as you level them up with that in mind.
-
Caleb Frazier
United States
Glendale
Arizona
-
Wardens Keep
I've finally been granted the ability to travel to almost any location via the map, which is nice I suppose. I met up with a guy in my camp that wants to regain his family honour, and I happily oblige (Quests = xp/money right?)
So I talk to my team a bit and end up losing roughly 26 points with Morrigan and a net gain of about 4 with Sten. Lelianna I gain about 30 points with after giving her most of the gifts I had as well as having some pleasant conversations with her. Salvator (my dog) is happy as can be and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
I head out to Soldier's Peak to see what I evidence I can find.
Reaching the Peak I notice two things: 1) It's snowing. 2) there's long dead corpses on the ground. I assume that these are more recent corpses, however with it snowing (probably constantly), I doubt I should actually see any corpses...
Not long after entering the area the skeletons rise up and start fighting. This took me by surprise and I felt silly for not expecting it. They were defeated and I now knew what to expect for the rest of the trip.
I eventually see a bunch of lightning emanating from the corner of a room, which also has several circles that have an ethereal glow on them. I expect a boss fight and prepare. Yep! A boss fight. While two of my characters work on the boss I take Leilanna with me and we take care of all the bone archers. Boss defeated without injury, hooray!
The next room takes me to Sophia, who is the Great-(Great?)-Grandmother of the man who sent me here, and she also happens to be possessed. I like the sound of her voice, not because it's pleasant to hear, but that there's the clearly audible voice as well as a subtle demonic echo. A nice touch I think.
She convinces me that she can seal the rift in the Veil (the lightning room) if I destroy whatever it is that binds her to this castle. So off I go in search of whatever it is. I expect an artifact of sorts.
I had to do this next part several..several times. After 3 attempts of sealing the rift I completed it, and spent the next hour or so talking to my team. Then I died and had to restart back to this point.
Upon restarting I tried every variant of the conversations and ensuing battles I could to try and find the best "route" to victory, and decided that it was best to kill the Mage in his room so that when I help Sophia seal the rift, I have full life. It worked, mostly.
I also considered that maybe if I let one of them live, then they would join my team and be a badass. However, I once again realized that I was playing a DLC and that was probably not likely. So I killed them both. Given the choice, I'd take Sophia.
NeonElephant wrote: gogoapoxy wrote: There doesn't seem to be much room for exploration or discovery so far, nor does there seem to be any sweet chest items. At least with the latter I expect it to improve in the later portions of the game. The game seems quite linear now and will probably continue to be so. I am only very slightly farther than you, and the game has been on the back burner for me for a while. Nevertheless, you are almost to the first point where you get some control over where you go. My vague understanding is that there is maybe a "most convenient" order to visit the destinations in, but that there isn't any strict restriction on them.
I've now got the the point where I'm able to move around the map so we'll see how that goes. The point about discovery for me was being able to find secret chests and/or areas within an actual explorable area. I suppose that Zelda and Metroid have spoiled me from a young age.
For example, I was in the DLC Warden's Keep area. Here there is the opportunity to add in lots of secret passage ways and secret treasure chests, yet the entire thing consists of about 10 rooms, none of them secretive. The only "secret" I found was getting a single treasure chest to appear after speaking the Warden's Oath to the painting. Disappointing.
I was also hoping that I could get the Keep to build up Suikoden style, but realizing that it IS a DLC, that probably won't happen.
Knowing that I was going to go into some side events while traveling (from my previous progression and death), I headed towards Denerim and as expected entered a battle with some assassins. I died once and then succeeded the second time, but only just. I let the assassin live only because I felt that Leiliana would approve (she didn't care apparently).
I am currently in Denerim and my only reason for coming here was to take care of Marguarie? (Leiliana's former trainer/master bard). I fought her and promptly died thanks to the mages that accompany her.
As I was attempting to go to the docks from the main sector, I encounted roughly 15 guards which attacked me. If I am to believe what the main guard says, it is because I was picking some pockets. I was easily defeated and so perhaps I will not pick any pockets this next time and see if I am still attacked. If I am, I will probably retreat and go elsewhere as I am not nearly ready to have such a large battle.
My impressions continue to be somewhat "meh". I spend 50% of my time now trying to get my team to like me via conversations, 10% progressing in the story and about 40% redoing battles that I fail in. I don't feel strong enough for most battles, nor do I have enough healing poultices to survive most battles. This is quite aggravating I must admit.
It reminds me of FFXII, where no matter how much I grinded and equipped myself with the most powerful items I could find at that time, the bosses always came down to using quickenings the whole time as a normal assault just ended in death. These battles always feel like it comes down to barely surviving and lots of running around waiting for skills to recharge so I can deal some more damage.
So, any tips on getting goods or improving my survival ratio? Also regarding XP, it seems that only the character the make the kill gets the XP (i.e. xp shows up over only a single characters head), is this true?
My Team*
Me: Rogue lv.7
Leilianna: Rogue lv.8 (switching to archer, but she always switches back to melee...)
Alastair: Warrior lv.8
Moriggan: Mage lv.7
Salvator (dog): Lv.7
Sten ?: lv.7?
*These are approximate values as I do not have access to my home computer at this time.
-
-
gogoapoxy wrote: Leilianna: Rogue lv.8 (switching to archer, but she always switches back to melee...)
Check her tactics, most likely she has some sort of triggered ability that makes her switch to melee (dirty tactics maybe?).
-
Caleb Frazier
United States
Glendale
Arizona
-
Kodeir wrote: gogoapoxy wrote: Leilianna: Rogue lv.8 (switching to archer, but she always switches back to melee...) Check her tactics, most likely she has some sort of triggered ability that makes her switch to melee (dirty tactics maybe?).
Ugghh, tactics. I've been hoping I could avoid them  I love spending 30 minutes setting up the tactics just right, only to learn that they're completely jacked in my first battle 
I assume that the tactics go top to bottom yes? As in, they will do the first thing first, and if it doesn't apply then they go to the next one and so forth until they reach the bottom of the stack. Is that correct?
-
-
gogoapoxy wrote: Ugghh, tactics. I've been hoping I could avoid them I love spending 30 minutes setting up the tactics just right, only to learn that they're completely jacked in my first battle I assume that the tactics go top to bottom yes? As in, they will do the first thing first, and if it doesn't apply then they go to the next one and so forth until they reach the bottom of the stack. Is that correct?
Yes, it's correct. To make you feel better, you don't need to rely on tactics. I, for instance, only used them to autocast all the stances/continuous effects that I wanted by default and for healing spells/potions. And I didn't rely on them for healing, I simply made them trigger when a character had considerably low HP as some sort of life saver. It worked wonders for me as I could focus on a single character for more than two seconds without fearing that the rest of my team would get killed while saving their offensive skills for when it was really necessary.
-
Caleb Frazier
United States
Glendale
Arizona
-
The Pearl
Starting up again I headed off to the Pearl again (whorehouse located in Denravi?) and again, as expected, I ended up in a fight against a crap load of soldiers. Somehow I actually won this time though I didn't do anything different. Isn't there a saying about doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? Well, apparently it works in this game -_- Enemies defeated I continued my quest to the Pearl.
Arriving I picked up a couple codex entries and then met up with a duelist (forgot her name). She kicked the crap outta some guys and then decided she'd talk to me. In order for her to teach me to become a duelist I had to play a little game, which I accepted. This was a silly game where I'm pretty sure you couldn't win. I played twice, never attempting to "cheat" and lost both times. Leiliana then pulled me to the side to let me know that this girl was cheating, to which I replied "I know". We schemed a little scheme and I played again, this time I won, probably through some cheating I was unaware of (would've been sweet if it was an actual mini-game IMO).
I then became a duelist (and lost being a Bard apparently) and saved. I should note that I have gotten in the habit of saving every time I finish a lengthy conversation or win a battle. I've grown tired of repeating the same things, but I digress. I then talked to the Madame of this "fine" establisment and stayed a few nights. I actually just kept reloading after a night so that I didn't waste my money. I had a "female" companion, a female companion, a large hammer, and a husky dwarf in womens clothing. As I did not actually get anything from these I decided I would not actually waste my money on it, though if I were a game designer, I would give the player something after staying x amounts of nights at the Pearl.
Heading off I attempted to go back to the Market area so I could leave this place, knowing that there were plenty of soldiers looking about for me, and encountered another patrol. I was quickly dispatched yet again.
After reloading I discovered that I could just use my map and quickly escape that way, as opposed to wandering the streets and picking fights. So I did, and headed towards the Circle of the Magi area as I'm told that that is the best place to go first.
Tower of the Circle of the Magi
It was fairly uneventful actually getting to the tower, though I did enjoy Moriggan talking about how she was going to "eat" the guard after making love to him. Entering the tower I discovered that demons had crossed over and were taking control of the tower. The Templars (hunters and controllers of Magi), were about to destroy the entire tower and all in it. Since I NEEDED the Magi apparently, I gained permission to enter the tower and attempt a purge of all demons inside.
Early on I found Wynn, whom I apparently met earlier at the battle of Ostigar (good thing my character remembers because I sure didn't). I agreed to help and Moriggan disapproved by 3, which I believe to be an acceptable range.
I only died about 4 times going up the tower, which I was pleasantly surprised about, though I did save approximately 15 times. My inventory ended up being filled as well (90 slots), and that makes me sad. Aside from the normal fighting and reading the journey up was very "normal".
The Fade
At the top of the tower I came across a Sloth Demon who lured myself and my companions (Liliana, Moriggan, and Wynn) into a "sloth" like state and trapping our souls in the fade. I assume that it is my soul and not my body, and that my body is still in the real tower being prepared to be eaten.
The Fade is, so far, my favorite area of the game. It feels like it has some "puzzle" element to it as well as exploration and discovery. Not to mention that so far, I have only died twice and I am approximately 75% through it. The Golem form is phenomenal and destroys most enemies without problem. To be continued...
With the introduction of the Fade area, I've started to enjoy the game. Hopefully there are more areas akin to this instead of just deciding that death is an easy way to make the game last longer.
-
Caleb Frazier
United States
Glendale
Arizona
-
Fade Conclusion
Finally a completed the Fade, only dying once during the final confrontation with the Sloth Demon when he used some crazy blizzard skill. Second time around I killed him before he could use it (or kept interrupting him perhaps), and returned to the world of the living. I already began missing the ability to transform.
Circle of the Magi, Conclusion
I first backtracked a little to a room I saw prior to meeting the sloth that contained a Desire Demon. Entering I began a conversation with the Demon which just wanted me to leave. I, however, needed some experience and loot and thus I provoked the demon into a fight, and quickly destroyed both "her" and her victim.
I looted the room and then went into the next room which contained several templars and a mage. I find out here that when there are multiple enemies, the MAGE is probably the most dangerous foe. So after restarting (because I died), I took out the mage first, and then slaughtered the remaining templars.
Round I went killing all that I saw until I was ambushed by several rage and ash demons (a mere 2 rooms later  ). After a few attempts I finally won that battle and discovered that I was essentially at the final boss. I knew this because the Templar held prisoner outside the door told me so. As I needed the Mages to fight the darkspawn blight, I opted to NOT kill them all, plus how was I to get out if the First Enchanter was not with me?
Saving, I entered the final chamber and prepared for a fight about 30 seconds in to the fight the game crashed...
So, reloading I once again entered the chamber and prepared for a fight. I was actually surprised at how EASY this fight was, given the difficulty of getting up the tower, but also glad that it was over.
So Far...
I'm starting to like the game more, especially with the Fade segment. The downside to the fade was that my companions were supposed to "believe" that they were somewhere else, yet the terrain they were located at looked exactly like the Fade. It makes no sense that they (the developers) didn't reuse the art from whence these characters came.
Up next is my travels back through the tower and then on to meet the Dalish.
-
Caleb Frazier
United States
Glendale
Arizona
-
Magi Tower, Revisted
I used the super fast travel of a cutscene to get back to the entrance of the tower and talk with the Knight Guard of the Templars (leader of the pack) sided with the Magi, in that I believe all of the "evil" blood mages were slain. Though I knowingly let one blood mage go, so whether or not she made it out I know not.
Since I had a quest to place some marks on "places of power", I decided to go back through the tower and see if I could find it (thinking that it simply was not there before). It is at this point that I also find out that pressing [TAB] will show all objects that have some form of interaction, and quickly find several things all around the first floor. Plenty of notes and codex entries, so much that I spend close to an hour just reading the lore and such.
There is a codex entry about performing a summoning ritual, which I follow. I expected to get a summon for my mages or something worthwhile, but instead simply get a few codex entries and some gear I'll never wear. Awesome...
The only other thing notable about this revisitation, is that I encounter a Revenant, which destroys me several times before I finally give up for another day. I figure I'll come back later to kill him as well as get some chests on the top floor that I was unable to pick. Revenants...suck.
Flem
Convinced I have done all I can do a the current time in the tower, I head off. I am not immediately clear on where I should go, so I head to a forest..away from the big cities (they scare me), but first a trip to camp to get rid of all these pesky injuries.
Arriving at camp I am met by Moriggan who relates to me a tale she read about in the Black Grimoire (I apparently have some timeline missing as I had previously gone to camp, given her the grimoire, and then done something else, and THEN returned to camp to be met by her). This tale tells the tale of how Flemeth (Moriggan's mother) is able to survive for so long, and that is to raise a daughter and then possess her body. Fantastic news for Morrigan...
I agree to slay Flemeth and grab the REAL grimoire from her house.
I head off to Flemeth's hut, talk to her, and then fight her. She transforms into a FRACKING DRAGON and destroys my team in seconds flat. So...I try again, and last approximately 60 seconds before dying. I then decided that either I go and level up a great deal, or just take the book and "let" her live. I take the book, what Moriggan doesn't know won't kill her...right?
Assassination
NOW I decide to head towards the woods, but on my way there I'm stopped by a woman who begs me to come with her where her cart was attacked. As I'm approaching I notice several traps and set to disarming them. Good thing too since by the time I reach the third trap a cutscene starts and reveals to me that it was an ambush. Feeling like Bonnie and Clyde I focus all my fire on the mage, and then on the primary assassin. All of the melee units are killed rather quickly, but so too is half my team. I hide behind a cart so that only I am only being shot at by half of the remaining assassin's.
I head up the path, disarming traps as I go, while Moriggan attacks from afar. These archers are quite pathetic and die within a few hits.
Once they are all dead I examine the body of the primary assassin and proceed to wake him up. He reveals to me that he is indeed an assassin, hired by Loghain. Now that he has failed he essentially has two choices, die (by me or die by his former assassin guild/clan), or join me and help me in my ventures. I accept him along, knowing that I'll probably never use him (a 3rd rogue is a bit too many).
The Dalish
Continuing on I finally reach the Forest and immediately encounter a Dalish guard/scouting party. I easily gain access to their leader and find out what their problem is (because EVERYONE has problems that need to be solved before they can help you). Turns out that this Dalish clan are having some Werewolf issues, in that they keep being attacked by them. My quest...to kill the source of the curse and bring the heart of Whitefang back to the Keeper.
I'll note here that at this point I have done two modifications to my game. The first being that I am able to have my dog Salvator in my party in addition to the other 3 companions. Since I have no real loyalty to the dog (he just came to me after all), I would never use him otherwise, and I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to have a pet in addition to 3 companions.
The second modification is changing my backpack space by x10, making it 1000. I see no reason why I should not be able to horde as much as I want especially when EVERYTHING except quest items count towards the total. Even after cleaning my inventory out of gifts, unused/outdated armor and weapons, and other items that will probably never be used, I still had 60% of my inventory filled up. After a brief dive into the Forest I was almost full, and thus I found a way to edit my storage space.
And...that's it for now. After the completion of the forest I'll pick this back up, but I will say that after meeting the werewolves...if I'm given the choice between joining with the were's or with the Dalish...I'd likely go with the were's.
-
|
|
