DA:I - tips and tricks

[nightla]

Oh wow, it's been a really long time since I last posted here. Not sure I'm back though - just needed a place to place some thoughts on Dragon Age: Inquisition nightmarish walkthrough.


So, as usual, I ran the game on Normal the first time and the next time - on Nightmare. It took some time till I decided to go through the 2nd walkthrough cause the game is huge. Worth saying that Nightmare difficulty feels absolutely fine once you've completed the intro and killed your first Pride Demon. You get used to it and it feels like Normal.

There are, however, several things, good-to-know even for your first wlakthrough. Here they are:

• unlike in the previous DA games, here you want to ALWAYS have at least 1 Warrior + 1 Rogue + 1 Mage in your party
• schematics and crafting materials don't take up place in your inventory
• there are 3 tiers of crafting materials and schematics in the game, tier 4 being dragon parts (materials) and schematics from add-ons (oddly enough, items made of t4 schematics seem to have same or almost same stats as the ones made of t3)
• metals/herbs/animals DO respawn, so there's no need to run like crazy trying to gather every single node
• Optimal Cutting Inquisition perk is a great help when gathering herbs
• if you want to hunt for a specific metal or herb, but cannot remember where to find it - go to the War Table and look at " resources" missions and see what Cullen and Leliana would try to find in each location; that will give you an idea where to find your lost metal/herb
• there is only one Essence of Perfection in the game; save it for t3+ "yellow" schematic with t4 mats
• Masterwork bonuses provide huge boost to survivability or damage, despite the seemingly low proc chance. My favorites are: Hidden Blades for damage, Guard on Hit and Heal Over Time for tanking
• Armor made of Silverite does not have class restrictions (yes a mage CAN wear a heavy armor made of Silverite)
• when it comes to Fade Rifts, a mage or templar can prevent demons from spawning if (s)he uses Dispel on the ground where demons are about to appear
• I've always found it easier and safer to focus on killing Fade Rift demons instead of trying to stun them with Rift disruption
• in any dragon fight, except when you're fighting an electrical dragon, the safest place where your party can be is under the dragon's belly
• Inquisition's research bonus XP perk is retroactive, other XP perks are not
• Forward Scouts Inquisition perk allows you to see Logging Stands and Quarries on the map
• if you have a Necromancer in your party, it might be wise to kill the toughest enemy first (usually you can do nice burst damage at the beginning of the fight, and your Necromancer will take this enemy under control) - imagine a Giant or Arcane Horror fighting at your side
• Assassin's Death Mark does more damage if triggered manually (before it expires); burst damage example: Poisoned Weapons > Death Mark > Mark of the Rift > Hidden Blades > trigger the Death Mark
• Rogue's Explosive Shot ability combined with Poisoned Weapons results in poison-fire AoE
• there are no party-healing abilities in the DA:I that do not require Focus; however, Tempest can be surprisingly great healers. Their Flaskmaster passive works with Healing Mist grenade, which does good AoE healing; even more to that - this passive allows them to carry an extra grenade (combine it with epic belt that allows to carry even more grenades and voila! here's your healer in your time of need)

And what is my class? Rogue, of course! Were there ever any doubts? :)



PS: good site to visit if you are trying to collect everything: http://game-maps.com/DAI/The-Hinterlands.asp
agents locations: http://www.ign.com/wikis/dragon-age-inquisition/Inquisition_Agent_locations