Dragon Age 2 Incoming. - Part 1

[X Knight]

can't wait to learn more about the DLC.

wonder if it will be a regular kind of DLC or a full blown expansion like Awakening.......

would be great if they added some new specs.

oh, and I hope that Bioware, in designing future DLC and even DA3, takes into account not just what fans want but also what competitor games are doing.

I've been watching the E3 videos of Skyrim. Seeing the PC being able to equip a sword in one hand while firing spells in the other hand just made me even more mad that we couldn't create a proper Battle Mage character in DA2. Heck, in DAO, at least we had Arcane Warrior.

Another upcoming RPG I'm keeping my eyes on is Reckoning. From what I've read, it looks like there won't be strict class restrictions in that game either and you'll be able to shape your character how YOU want.

In the DA universe, and especially in DA2, there is no reason why mages can't learn to use swords or weapons other than staves.

 

[El Bastardo]

Just because other games have it doesn't mean BioWare needs to do it, or should want to do it.

The DA team pretty much went out of their way to prevent the stereotypical "battle-mage" from showing up in DAO. The only way you could pull it off was with the Arcane Warrior, like you mentioned, and even then you were only a glorified auto-attack super-tank. Some of that was game mechanics, yes, but lore-wise, I'm pretty sure the stereotypical "battle-mage" is out.

Arcane Warrior was out for DA2 largely due to it being based on the ancient elves, and thus it makes sense that Hawke wouldn't necessarily have access to the knowledge and training. They could have. Maybe they couldn't make it work the way they wanted to with the system, or maybe they didn't want to.

DA2 Mages can easily be just as hardy, though.

So yes, there is a reason why, in the DA universe and in DA2, mages can't learn to use swords or weapons other than staves: game design, and lore, and that's how the team has designed it thus far. Just like in D&D, unless you take Fighter-or-equivalent class levels - in which case you don't grow stronger in magical training that level - or you waste training points - Feats, or whatever they might be called now - to learn proficiency with those kinds of weapons, at which point you're still dealing with poor accuracy. Prestige classes eventually allow the sub-par to become capable, but it's still nothing awe-inspiring.

Also, because DA2 and Skyrim/Oblivion/Morrowind/Fallout 3 are different games, and BioWare has never - and given their track-record and the way the company has defined the Western RPG genre, probably never will - create a game like that.

 

[Drz]

Mages we're still a blast to play in DA2, Force Mage + Blood Mage combonation is really fun, and their autoattack move and other animations wer'e also pretty badass. Anyhow some more information on the DLC, it's called Dragon Age 2: Legacy and i'll repost the images we've received:

Mike Laidlaw: Are those griffins?

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/315/index/7697770&lf=8

If this is a roundabout way of asking if Legacy is an item pack, it most certainly is not. It's not as big as Shadows of Undrentide, but it's DLC, not an expansion pack.

But it certainly is story driven. Some...interesting revelations in there, and we've gone to lengths to be sure you can engage with it at any point in DA II after you reach Kirkwall, including from the post-game save (which, like DA, takes place "just before" the events of the end game).

 

[El Bastardo]

Sounds sweet.

 

[Drz]

How long was Shadows of Undrentide? How long are the ME2 DLC packs usually? Anyhow Xbox live servers got updated and we now know the achievements, i'll put this in a spoiler tag just incase:

Spoiler

So we'll see the new Genlocks, Legacy refers to Hawke's family and whatelse there is inb Vimmark and so on, sounds good to me! Maybe more lore on the red lyrium and other stuff too please?

 

[iamlegend]

How long was Shadows of Undrentide? How long are the ME2 DLC packs usually? Anyhow Xbox live servers got updated and we now know the achievements, i'll put this in a spoiler tag just incase:

Spoiler

So we'll see the new Genlocks, Legacy refers to Hawke's family and whatelse there is inb Vimmark and so on, sounds good to me! Maybe more lore on the red lyrium and other stuff too please?

ME2 DLC's have usually been in the couple hour range.

 

[iamlegend]

Wait! Somewhere to go outside of town besides the Dalish camp and generic caves??!? Whatever will we do? t:

It seems like it has some potential, to be sure. I'm going to assume it's more tied to some of the series subplots more than the Kirkwall escapades, though I suppose we'll see...

 

[El Bastardo]

With the mention of darkspawn in one of the achievements, I was hoping it might have something to do with the Grey Warden business.

But if you can accomplish the DLC at any point, the timeline won't fit.

Hm, considering you can accomplish it at any point, I wonder if some content will change based on which Act it is.

 

[iamlegend]

With the mention of darkspawn in one of the achievements, I was hoping it might have something to do with the Grey Warden business.

But if you can accomplish the DLC at any point, the timeline won't fit.

Hm, considering you can accomplish it at any point, I wonder if some content will change based on which Act it is.

Hmm... This may be right. The quote says that they've "gone to lengths" to ensure that it can be played at any point after arriving at Kirkwall, which would certainly suggest that there was tinkering to fit the timeline and it's more than just tying a random throwaway story into the plot.

 

[Drz]

Maybe the story takes place in all Acts? Like if you've completed the game the DLC just begins with Act 1 then jumps to 2 and then 3? El Bastardo makes a good point about the Grey Wardens because we know Stroud was in the Primeval Thaig, Alistair/Stroud can be met in Act 2 with Bethany/Carver when the Qunari invasion begins and they seem to have some important tasks, then in Act 3 we can meet Nathaniel with Bethany/Carver again in the Primeval thaig, now Laidlaw hinted stuff about griffins, and one of the pictures shows a tower and we now know theres an achievement regarding sidequests to that tower which is a prison.

The Conductor looks like the Architecht, am i the only one getting that vibe? More sentient Darkspawn? Thats also the interesting thing in Act 3 with Nathaniel that he implies the Grey Wardens are now allied with sentient Darkspawn, thats a really cool twist to the Grey Warden order and something i wouldn't mind getting expanded.

 

[El Bastardo]

Speaking of Nathaniel, did that quest actually get fixed?

And Nathaniel only says that if the Architect lives at the end of Awakening. Dead Architect, no allying with sentient Darkspawn.

There's one quest that got cut from the game, apparently, called "Among the Shadows." You can snoop out a lot of the content via the console, and while you can warp to the levels and view some of the NPCs (who all look like generic nude male models since they never got made), you can't get much interaction since it was never scripted. You do get quest updates, though, if you play with setting flags.

Basically comes down to people missing from the Undercity, and when you finally track down the culprit it's a Disciple. That's about as far as I could dig, as there's no information on the resolution of the quest. I think the flags were based on Anders and the Architect.

It sounded pretty interesting, but alas.

 

[Drz]

Dragon Age Legacy comes July 26th!
Cost:

• Playstation 3 - $9.99
• PC/MAC - 800 BioWare Points
• Xbox 360 - 800 Microsoft Points

Description

Targeted by a vicious criminal cartel that are hunting "the blood of the Hawke," you must put an end to their relentless attacks. Leave Kirkwall, and journey to an ancient Grey Warden prison in order to find the source of the aggression and uncover the harsh truth about the Hawke lineage. Playable from any point in the DAII campaign, face all new darkspawn, forge a powerful new weapon and come face to face with an ancient horror.

Features:

• Uncover the harsh truth about the Hawke lineage
• Adventure through several new locations including a prison constructed by the Grey Wardens
• Obtain a powerful class-specific weapon to which you can apply upgrades of your choice

We can see the new Genlocks that are much more Dwarven looking, or well monster Dwarves who've grown in size, we now know the story is indeed about Hawke's father and the legacy of the Hawkes in general, we know it's connected to the Grey Wardens and we meet the Conductor who is looks like the Architect. The Gamespot live demo showed a boss fight and they are trying to make the boss fights more than just tank and spank with one example of a boss making duplicates of himself and whatnot.

I'm excited. =)

 

[X Knight]

oooohhhh.......that sounds exciting!!

 

[socool]

I WOULD be excited was it not for the fact I traded my copy of DA2 back last month for a whopping 37 dollars.

I don't regret it one bit.

 

[X Knight]

well, my copy has been sitting on my shelf collecting dust. for some reason, I just had a hard time getting started with it.

now, I'm more inclined to actually play through it.

I am interested in the "unique weapon" each class is supposed to get ( or build it seems ) in the DLC.........

 

[Drz]

I am interested in the "unique weapon" each class is supposed to get ( or build it seems ) in the DLC.........

In the gamespot demo the Rogue Hawke had a dagger and when he defeated one of the mini bosses he had the option of adding either more crit, more crit damage, speed reduction or a stun chance on the weapon. Thats what the custom build weapon thing meant.

 

[X Knight]

In the gamespot demo the Rogue Hawke had a dagger and when he defeated one of the mini bosses he had the option of adding either more crit, more crit damage, speed reduction or a stun chance on the weapon. Thats what the custom build weapon thing meant.

thanks.

is the gamespot demo online?

 

[Drz]

Gamespot DA2 Legacy stage demo

Dragon Age 2 Legacy trailer is up!

[YT]rd09FkBPqX4[/YT]

 

[X Knight]

I am cautiously optimistic about this new DLC. I want to see how long the gameplay will be..........as well as what the new weapons will look like.

 

[El Bastardo]

I'm late to the party, but I'm going to be all over this DLC.

Yay more Dragon Age II!

 

[iamlegend]

Seems like it could be fun - I prefer the Darkspawn storyline to the Mages v. Templars/Chantry storyline as it is, so that's always a plus.

The trailer certainly implies it's a kind of straight forward "Character A's family trapped this super baddie, and, as such, it needs Character A to set it free" type deal that we see in fantasy stories from time to time. We'll see how they spin it.

Random design note: am I the only one that didn't like the changes they made to the Darkspawn (Hurlocks in particular) in DAII? Maybe it's because they couldn't help but remind me of this guy...

 

[El Bastardo]

I didn't really care. The main points of the Darkspawn were still there, except I don't think we ever saw any Genlocks.

I liked, or at least had no problem with, all the art style changes.

 

[El Bastardo]

Blast you, double post.

 

[Benstamania]

Yeah, I'm a big fan of the art style in DAII.

 

[iamlegend]

Yeah, I'm a big fan of the art style in DAII.

Oh same here. I was very happy with all of the updates and changes - spare the one involving the Hurlocks, really. That one just really bugged me. Ah well.