Valmy's ADHD Dragon Age playthrough

[Valmy]

Also, remember that not all dragons are created equal.
And if you have enough shards, you can re-visit the oasis to get some more bonus

I think I only have five. Need to get 12 to open another door.

[viper37]

Also, remember that not all dragons are created equal.
And if you have enough shards, you can re-visit the oasis to get some more bonus

I think I only have five. Need to get 12 to open another door.

don't worry too much about it.  Keep exploring, eventually you'll find some.  So long as you collect them all before the final mission, you'll be allright.  It just makes it easier for dragon fights, but so long as you have your resistance potion, micro-manage your party, use the right people, they'll drop like flies.  Very big flies.

[viper37]

Is the thing above the village the Priestess and the Logging stand? Because I got those. If it is even abover the village than that I guess I need to check it out.

yeah, that was it.  Was she recruitable as an agent?  I can never remember.


Also, once you take care of the dragon, facing it, to your right, if you haven't explored that whole area before draining the water, there's a grotto in the general vicinity with some minor loot.

[Valmy]

How do companions focus abilities work? Do they use them on their own? Do they use the same focus bar? And why do I have three focus bars and not four?

I must have missed all these things in the little focus tutorial they had after Haven got buried.

yeah, that was it.  Was she recruitable as an agent?  I can never remember.

Don't think so. But I will take Cassandra to talk to her next time I am out that way.

[viper37]

How do companions focus abilities work? Do they use them on their own? Do they use the same focus bar? And why do I have three focus bars and not four?

I must have missed all these things in the little focus tutorial they had after Haven got buried.

Your companions will never use focus ability on their own.  In fact, I'm not really sure they even use most of their abilities on their own, I always micro-manage that.
Focus happens as they fight.  They generate focus while fighting (doing damage).  Each character has its own focus bar: the party earns the focus, the individual member spends it.

In addition to that, certain items may help you gain additionnal focus for a character, say 10% faster gain.

I don't know the exact math, but let's assume it's 1 focus point for 1 damage point.  Each or your character does 10 damage in a round, you gain 40 focus point that round.  If Sera use her ability (it's 100pts, I think, but we'll assume it's 10 focus point for the sake of demonstration), then you have 30 focus left to be used by your other party members but Sera will be at 0 focus and you will need to gain another 10 focus before she can use hers.

Focus abilities have 3 tiers, each more powerful and/or longer than the other.  It's the yellowish ability in your tree. 

Then you use it for fun. 
Sera moves to a target and strike it until it is dead or she runs out of focus, then she changes target if there's still focus left.
Varric will split itself in three.
Dorian will slow down time for a little while, very useful in big fights, you can strike the ennemy multiple times before they can hit you once.
Vivienne will revive&heal the entire party.  Useful in dealing with dragons...
I can't remember the others.

[Valmy]

Ah ok I think I got it.

[Valmy]

Wow everything is incredibly awesome and smooth on my new R7 Video Card. How I tolerated the slideshow I have been playing all this time I will never know 

[viper37]

Wow everything is incredibly awesome and smooth on my new R7 Video Card. How I tolerated the slideshow I have been playing all this time I will never know 

You'd say the same if you upgraded to a R9 in a few months

[Valmy]

The only thing more fun than rolling around trying to not be one shot by a pride demon is rolling around trying not to be one shot by a pride demon while an archdemon is breathing fire on you.

[Scipio]

On higher difficulties, you will need two mages. One of them will always be Vivienne, due to Spirit Blade and her revive ability. I like Solas and Dorian equally, but all mages have to be spamming barrier like a mug. It is the most effective effect in the fucking game. Two mages when you are a rogue fucks with the Varric is always in my party theory which I adopted in DA2. But Varric has to be sacrificed to the greater good of living through encounters.

[Valmy]

On higher difficulties, you will need two mages. One of them will always be Vivienne, due to Spirit Blade and her revive ability. I like Solas and Dorian equally, but all mages have to be spamming barrier like a mug. It is the most effective effect in the fucking game. Two mages when you are a rogue fucks with the Varric is always in my party theory which I adopted in DA2. But Varric has to be sacrificed to the greater good of living through encounters.

Boy you are not kidding. I am not sure about 'need' but barrier is disproportionately vital. Eh I have usually done Main+Tank+Mage+DPS non-mage all through this playthrough. We will see if I actually need to do that. The nice thing is dying is only temporary until we can get you back up again to fight some more.

[Valmy]

So we start our story with one of the Inquisition's greatest achievements.



Peace has been maintained between the Imperium and Nevarra. Lothar achieves this like Mr. Burns directing the power plant softball team. 'You Strawberry, hit a homerun!' 'Brilliant strategy sir!'

So yes he told Josie to do that. In order to pay her back Lothar bravely goes to Val Royeaux to deliver the letter from Ellerly to the Countesse Dionne that Cullen got for her. Phew this quest sure is a lot of work.



'Thanks it was all me'

After a little shopping in Val Royeaux Lothar sets off after the missing Seekers at Caer Oswin.



'Why is there something particular odd and exciting about Caer Oswin?'

Actually the opposite. The Bann who rules these lands is a pious and uncontroversial dude and nothing interesting ever happens at his castle. Well that all changed. A dangerous 'world-is-going-end' cult has moved in. The 'Order of the Fiery Promise'. I guess the world shall burn indeed.



'A cult that has gone on for centuries without mass suiciding?'

Man one would think a few generations in a dangerous cult would mellow a bit. I mean just look at the Mormons. They fight through the castle slaying lots of cultists without any sign of the Bann. Eventually Cassandra finds a letter from Calpernia instructing the cult to take care of the Seekers because they are resistant to Red Lyrium. Well isn't that interesting? So eventually they come across the dying Seeker, Daniel Cassandra's former apprentice. They put a demon inside of him and it is eating him up from the inside. Damn that is one crazy cult. Then he drops the bomb. Lord Seeker Lucius is not a victim of all this, he is the instigator. He has been killing the Seekers working with the cult and was behind the Envy Demon at Therinfal.



'And they say you cannot be at two places at once'

One has to admire the Lord Seeker's multi-tasking and inventive management techniques to attempt to destroy the Templars and the Seekers at the same time. Shortly the find the man himself and man after dealing with his obnoxious demon doppleganger earlier it is hard not to want to slap him.



'And the only way to do this was work with demons, cults, and crazy wannabe gods.'

So the Seekers were the last Inquisition and created a flawed world they had conspired to maintain and for this Lucius nobly decided to murder them all and work to destroy the world so it could be rebuilt anew. To prove it Lucius hand's Cassandra the Seeker's Big Book of Secrets. Um considering he was the person in charge of the Seekers I think he had a few other levers to influence policy besides conspiring in the murder of millions but hey it is easy to criticize when you are not in the other guy's shoes.



'Well this dynamic boss fight really made the whole quest feel epic'

Really? A normal mob one half of our level? Great boss design there Bio. I actually had to check my settings and make sure I had not turned it to 'Casual' by mistake. Nope. I mean after all the destruction this dude had wrought I was ready to gut him and it demanded a dramatic confrontation. Instead I think I had more trouble with a few of the nugs.

Back at Skyhold Cassandra reads the book Lucius gave her to discover he was not entirely wrong about the Seekers becoming corrupt and grasping for power. She also discovers about the Rite of Tranquility and how it is used to give the Seekers their powers (they all undergo it then get touched by a spirit and this gives them their super powers) and how it was used as a humane way to deal with totally crazy mages. Instead...



'Yeah if you had shown up in Act 1 in DA2 you would have saved Urien alot of trouble'

Cassandra wonders if the Seekers should even be rebuilt. Lothar encourages her to rebuild them in a new and improved version. He is quite the supportive Inquisitor. Really that was what the Spanish Inquisition needed: an Inquisitor telling people that they can do it and follow their dreams.

Meanwhile the House of Repose almost murders Josephine but Leliana has been all paranoid and takes care of it.



'Josephine's plan of handling this without bloodshed fails messily. Point Leliana.'

Well too late to stop her long and convoluted plan though.



'The nice thing about being Inquisitor is you get invited to all the parties'

Soon we will be all about Orlesian parties. So stay tuned for that.



'+3 against Greeks'

Now I carefully go over everybody's gear and craft some. I actually make a HUGE mistake here in the design of one of Lothar's daggers which makes my life hell for a while. More on that later.

THE SECOND WESTERN APPROACH CAMPAIGN

The group moves into the western part of the Western Approach. So I think I mentioned cargo being destined for some researcher amongst the wrecked wagons before. Well if I didn't Lothar and company find said researcher.



'Enjoying the murderous wildlife and thuggish bandits, professor?'

Well nobody will call him an ivory tower intellectual. Or maybe they will he seems totally uninterested or seems to hardly notice any of the dangers. The Venatori and their thugs are hoping he will show them how to catch the Abyssal High Dragon. The wildlife just...eh...not sure.



'Yeah you want to tell me why that is? Nobody seems really interested despite naming this entire historical era after it'

He wants Lothar and company to find that cargo but they already did. So instead he sends them on stuff to help him lure the Abyssal High Dragon. Yeah that will end well. To the south of him they find a field of ruins and Venatori thugs. South of that is the end of a trail of Chantry stones they had been following. Behind a magically sealed cave they find some kind of Chantry lab where somebody was trying to cure the Tranquility of somebody named Pharamond. It seemed like I had heard that name before connected with the whole Tranquility business but I reviewed my notes and found nothing.



'And this required a secret lab in the middle of the desert?'

To the north of this they create an Inquisition Camp and find a Venatori fortress. Lothar decides on a super subtle frontal assault against an entire fortress with just four people. What? It worked before.



'Ok just jiggle the lock a bit and...oh screw it. Iron Bull rip the hinges off.'

They break in and the slaughter begins Sir Lancelot at a wedding style.



'How do you serve in death exactly? This will be relevent information shortly'

Eventually they find the mage running the fortress. He was pretty rough but it ended badly for him.



'Surprise!'

And the fortress is ours.



'This will be the Inquisition recruiting poster with the caption 'Join the Inquisition and Live the Adventure'

Man we made giant metal insignias of the Inquisition military to stick on the walls (that giant fist holding the spike thing)? No wonder there is no money for Lothar beyond what he can loot. After a couple weeks of work a garrison gets settled in and begins operations.



'What does our taking this keep have anything to do with Darkspawn?'

It will require Cullen and company to find the Darkspawn source. I don't know where the Darkspawn are coming from but I do know one thing: they will all be Hurlocks. Because they always are. Just to the east of the fortress is a huge field of poisonous sulphur pits. It seems we need to build a bridge over them to continue. Another job for the military. They do find the stuff Frederic the dragon prof wanted. He asks Lothar to find a rare Tevinter manuscript on dragons supposed to be located in some ruins to the north. Well I did notice those before and thought it was another castle but it turned out to be a bizarre Tevinter palace. The Venatori are also inside trying to find Tevinter relics. Should be fun.

The whole place has a fade rift in it frozen in suspended animation centuries ago, Tevinters and demons are everywhere frozen right where they were in battle.



'Any particular reason we can not just kill them all even when they are stuck in time?'

Anyway the Tevinters had a whole team working on this whole 'getting access to the fade physically so we could take the Golden City' thing. They were trying to open a rift and opened one...that had demons pouring out of it. So they had a little failsafe that stopped time should something go wrong. I guess until somebody showed up with a make on his hand who could close the rift. Well isn't it their lucky day?



'Only FOOLS think anything could go wrong opening up fade rifts'

Anyway so they fight through the Venatori and loot the place before they find all the keystone widgets and the dragon book that open the INNER SANCTUM.



'Hey that looks just like the doors in the temple in the Forbidden Oasis...deep lore implications or lazy artists? You decide!'

There was a magical staff 'Tempest' that was powering the thing, and I guess the Venatori were after, and taking it started time again. Dorian got the staff. We also found an amulet of power in there for him. It was actually kind of a letdown I expected all hell to break loose but it was not a big deal to fight back to the rift and close it. Pity none of the ancient Tevinter mages lived to be talked to. Talking to ancient people inexplicably still alive after all this time is what Bioware games are all about



'Just a few centuries late. Sorry guys.'

They take the dragon book to Frederic. He is kind of a two bit scholar because he cannot read every millennia old script out there.



'Durand could have read it'

Well that is it for the Western Approach for the time being. Back to Skyhold. First time to decide what to put in the Courtyard.



Seeing all those wounded people just lying in the grass seems un-sanitary so Lothar built the infirmary. The garden actually seemed to do something but this one just seems cosmetic...which is weird since it is harder to get.

Time to get the people who get all the stuff done to work on the Western Approach problems.









No problem. Back to Western Approach.

THE THIRD WESTERN APPROACH CAMPAIGN

Frederic was happy to get his translated book.



'Ok we wil get right on that'

Yeah not going after the dragon yet. Wait wasn't there something they were supposed to do in the Western Approach? Why did they there again? Oh right the Grey Warden thing. So off to the fortress on the edge of the cliff...oh there is a giant crevice on the western edge of the zone. Loghain and Urien are waiting just outside.



'Urien's Amell timing continues'

Inside some Venatori is convincing the Warden's their motto means getting sacrificed for blood magic.



'In retrospect maybe sacrifice was the wrong image here'

Lothar barges in and demands the Wardens see reason.



'You can trust me I am a random dude trespassing on your fortress'

But the Venatori, one Lord Livius Erimond of Vyrantium, already controls all the wardens using his mighty blood magics.



'Side effects include nausea, drowsiness, and enslavement to ancient evils'

Lothar gives him one chance to save his life.



'Let it be recorded in the record that bad guy rejected opportunity to recant'

Instead the Erimond tries to do some hocus pocus Corypheus taught him to screw with Lothar's anchor and it ends up blowing up and closing the rift they were gathered around. Erimond runs away and asks the demons and Grey Wardens to kill Lothar. And that ended badly for them.



'Classic Amell understatement'

Man it is cool to adventure with Urien. I wish he was a permanent party member. Anyway Blackwall and Loghain think we shouldn't be too hard on the Wardens for being tricked by Corypheus into using blood magic. Urien, who is perhaps understandably now super anti-blood magic, has little sympathy.



'Like 'wah the Templars are oppressing me so I have to turn into a force of eldritch evil''

Anyway Loghain thinks he knows where Erimond ran off to.



'So the ancient fortress of evil that Cole was freaked out by? I guess we should not be surprised'

Well so Loghain and Urien go off to scout the Adamant Fortress. In the meantime Lothar and the gang scout over the newly built bridge over the sulphur pits and discover a CAVE OF EVIL.



'Evil Buddha, my old buddy from Sundermount.'

Beyond the CAVE OF EVIL (ok probably just a shrine to Dumat) they find another locked gate. Oh and here is the first screenshot with my new rig. Everything is turned up to ultra (instead of medium) now but the flat screen I am using is square instead of rectangular.



'Man the old Gods really do not want me getting to the Northeastern part of The Western Approach'

So be blown away by my ultra and square shaped new screenshots.

They cannot go that way any further. So they double back to the keep Lothar took earlier. There they find another bridge to where the Darkspawn are coming from. Lots of ghouls and Hurlocks (I knew it!) are around. Eventually they find the entrance to the ruins they are emerging from.



'Coracavus sounds kind of evil-y'

Well needless to say the Venatori dug and opened a path into the Deep Roads. Now I just want to say that these little 'Hurlocks pour up from underground' things are a little silly. First of all they are never very deep underground and secondly the Darkspawn are not kept in the Deep Roads because they are sealed beneath, they are kept down there by their unceasing desire to find an Archdemon. If they want to come out they come out, as evidenced by the Blights.



'Our new darkspawn blocking grate is great!'

Also the boards in Valammar and the grate here seem kind of weak compared to the giant dwarf sealing mechanism from Awakenings. I don't know maybe Corypheus is calling them surfacewards somehow. But in this case the Venatori seem to have done it by accident. They are digging in here for great power that will make them gods somehow.



'Gods are we'

How? No idea. Maybe they thought the Still Ruins meant there was great powah here. Anyway the Venatori had a very special way of digging through this old prison.



'Venatori digging device SMASH puny elf and dwarf'

So they manage to take down this giant.  Oh and it is an old Tevinter prison and it kind of looks like another old Tevinter prison.



'Urien totally kicked your Kirkwall cousins' ass'

The Venatori have retreated to an ancient fortress to the east called the Echoback fortress. The Inquisition sets up a camp in Coracavus and then Lothar goes after them. They find it and beat up the leader of the Venatori inside.



'What can I say? I just like judging people'

Later they find an apostate Cassandra wants nabbed.



'Ah yeah that just never gets old'

And find all the shards in the Western Approach.



Well that is it for the Approach...for now. Back to Skyhold. Time for great justice in Adamant.

Lothar gets back to discover Urien and Loghain already beat him back. Varric and Urien are chatting outside the war room.



'This current quest makes Varric homesick'

The Inquisition's master strategists take the scouting information from Urien and Loghain and piece together their plan.



'Doors were pretty much just colored paper back then'

Time to assemble the army and march on Adament. En avant! On les aura!



The group will be pretty much the same as other parts of this quest. Varric, because Urien feels lonely without him. Blackwall because he is supposedly a Grey Warden, and even if he probably isn't he sure seems devoted to them. Solas because he seems to really hate the Grey Wardens for some odd reason. Also he just seems the guy you want when a demon army is involved. Now I really thought long and hard about bringing Cole because he had been to Adamant before. I feel like I should have at least talked to him and seen what he had to say but I was so anxious to get to it, it slipped my mind.

Cullen leads the Inquisition's forces forwards.



Boom go the ancient walls!



Wait I thought this thing was a sitting duck to our mighty siege gear why are we scaling the walls anyway? And damn there are a shitload of Grey Wardens. Pity they could only muster three guys the last Blight.



I love how our ram is a giant insignia of our army. Like Kingdom of France using a giant fleur-de-lys as a battering ram. Ah heck they probably did that didn't they? Anyway soon they batter down the door and we are in. But demons are pouring through a rift to reinforce the Wardens so unless Lothar and company stop them eventually the Inquisition army will be overwhelmed. Still it seems weird to have the commanding general and the Inquisitor in the first wave.



'Well nobody will accuse us of using our men as cannon fodder'

Urien has not wimped out like Lothar and Cullen and only been one of the first dudes through the breached door. No he stormed the walls like a boss. So Lothar and company rush up to help him clear the walls.



'Urien is going to end up an old man in a sanitarium thinking everybody is a blood mage someday'

Of course Hawke can actually be a blood mage in DAII so I wonder if his acute blood mage phobia plays out differently in that case. They clear the walls and push on to the heart of the keep where Warden-Commander Clarel is hyping up the Grey Wardens for fierce resistance.



'Damn those ungrateful bastards! Always taking the Wardens for granted and...oh wait she is talking about us isn't she?'

They are about to complete a ritual allowing a giant demon to storm through the rift and obliterate them all. Lothar makes an appeal.



'Well...duh Lothar'

Not one of his best appeals since she thinks Erimond just wants to help her end the Blights. So Lothar asks for our favorite probably fake Warden to do a better job appealing to his supposed comrades.



'We are passionate but we do not persuade'

Convincing arguements are clearly not something they invaded this fortress equipt with. Fortunately Erimond comes to their rescue by just saying 'screw it I am sommoning an Archdemon' which really eases a tense standoff that could have gone either way.



'An Archdemon! If only we had a castle full of Grey Wardens...'

The Archdemon has decided it is not going to land and just drop fire on them from above. Meanwhile Erimond takes off with a really pissed off Warden-Commander on his tail. The demons and the brainwashed Warden mages attack led by a really badass Pride Demon. Now I had noticed Lothar was getting killed super easy for a while now. I knew he was squishy but for most of the Approach he had become really squishy and during this fight if the Pride Demon even sneezed he was going down. So Lothar had to run around avoiding Archdemon fire and occasionally using his long range assassin ability to attack from a distance. This really hurt our DPS and made this a crazy long and challenging fight.



'Um have fun guys I will just erm hang here'

With the Pride Demon down to about 1k Hp Lothar moved in for the killing blow...but the Pride Demon just killed him instantly. LOL.



'Varric FTW. Say hello to my little friend.'

So they rush after Clarel a little worse for the wear. The Wardens are all switching sides.



'While nice that huge dragon seems more pressing to comment on'

They make it through the Archdemon's harrasment and the demons to catch up with Clarel. She accuses Erimond of destroying the Wardens.



'Man do you really want to taunt a pissed off mage?'

Bad guys amiright? Not only does she pummel Erimond after that she zaps the Archdemon, collapsing the wall and sending it falling to its...well...nothing since it can fly as it turns out. But Lothar, Urien, Varric, Loghain, Blackwall, and Solas all go falling after it. Lothar opens a fade rift and they all fall through. Physically in the fade. Hey maybe they should all just march on the Black City and become gods? What could go wrong?



'Welcome to the fade. Please enjoy our complimentary ability score bonuses'



'Urien still supplying our British funny guy needs'

Just a quick whine that has been bugging me. I decided to make Urien a two handed warrior because all the promo materials for the DA2 I saw had him holding a two handed sword. So I figured that kind of default Hawke. So it grinds my gears to see them just assume he was sword and board now in DAI for no reason at all. Ok just had to get that off my chest.

This is the greatest moment in Solas' life though.



'Woah THIS IS AWESOME!'

Of course they are all trapped in the realm of that giant demon that was about to come through the rift and murder them all so that has to dampen Solas' sightseeing trip.



'Forward for ability score bonuses and glory!'

And then they run into Justinia V, her first appearance since Leliana's song. Huh did they use the same voice actress? *checks* Well it has nobody credited for her voice. But it does not look like the same actress worked on DAI that did her voice in DAO. Boooo.



'Well look at you all hanging out in the Fade'

Everybody flips out and wonders if she is really the Divine or some sort of demon. Well she doesn't really answer but she is being helpful so what can you do? She gives a little intro to the Fade speech.



'Well better it remember than me'

So basically this was a spirit that was helping people by taking on all their fears so they could function. Yet somehow it got corrupted and became evil. Something that freaks Cole out later. Anyway the demon has stolen all of Lothar's memories of what happened that day in the Temple of Sacred Ashes but he has it stored around in little motes of something that Lothar can suck out using the Anchor. Best not to think about it too much. Then his first recurring memory is something he was not even there to witness.

The Gray Wardens broke into the Temple of Sacred Ashes and captured the Divine.



'Any resemblance to real religious imagery, living or dead, is purely coincidental.'

So she is to be a sacrifice to activate Corypheus' elf orb that will give him the Anchor. Seems unnecessarily complicated to get such an important person for a blood sacrifice. Was there something about her that only her blood would work? Weird. But right when the sacrifice is happening Lothar hears the commotion from outside the door and bursts in. His memories occur in the third person it seems. Corypheus drops the orb and Lothar just scoops it up for some reason. This makes everything go boom.



'What the hell was I thinking?'

And that is that for memory number one. Even though this is basically what they saw in the Temple of Sacred Ashes way back in the prologue Lothar is still shaken by this.



'A divinely ordained accident!'

Anyway is being saved from Hell by the Pope really that much less miraculous than being saved by Jesus? Probably more so. Anyway Justinia V also reveals that the Nightmare demon is also responsible for echoing the calling allowing Corypheus to fuck with the Wardens.



'Loghain will glower at it in a very very grumpy way.'

Anyway so they move forward. The ability score bonuses here come from helping spirits with their fears (like finding a stuffed animal for a child fear spirit) or finding smashed Eluvians. Now I can see how maybe Urien might resonate a bit with the Eluvians, what with all that business with Merrill, but as far as I know Lothar knows nothing about them so I don't get that. But hey it adds to his stats so its ok.



'I grow fat on your ability score bonuses'

So each ability score ends up with a +2 bonus. Nice and balanced unlike that Cunning biased Fade in DAO. The Nightmare Demon starts using each companions fears to taunt them.



'In case you haven't picked up on it yet, Blackwall is not really a Grey Warden.'



'Even Varric knows everything is actually Anders' fault.'



'Ok that got a little personal there demon. Did Solas really deserve such a low blow?'



'Yeah I am sure Loghain has never heard that one before'



'Poor Urien. His career is pretty much just one futility after the next.'

Pity he doesn't seem to do Lothar. Or maybe he did and I didn't notice. The worst fears start attacking them, labelled things like 'Apostates, The Blight, Public Speaking, Clowns' and the like. They all look like spiders...to Lothar anyway.



'So they take the forms of your worst fears...Grallon sees adult heterosexual coupling attacking him.'

Then they find and claim the second memory, which is basically the intro to the game right after you pick your appearance. Lothar is crawling up the cliff with Justinia V reaching out to him. All those little fear spiders pursuing him.


'Hey weren't you glowing yellow before?'
She helps him up to the rift out and just before she gets through the demons nab her as Lothar runs through. At that point Justinia V reveals she is not the mortal Justinia V but some kind of spirit that has assumed her identity somehow...or is her soul or something.


'Now that is the glowy Divine I met before!'

So did the spirit form Divine actually save Lothar or was it the mortal one? Eh who knows. After this the party starts bickering about the Gray Warden's complicity in the murder of Justinia V. Urien is really damn tired of the Wardens after Anders and Legacy and all this mess and says the world would be better off without them. Solas, who freaking hates the Wardens, agrees and wants them gone. Blackwall and Loghain are all like 'hey the Wardens are great don't judge us on just a few mistakes. One of us is even a Warden.' Varric waffles.



'Yeah maybe we should survive giant demon before Loghain and Urien decide to fight to the death? Maybe?'

The last part of this is a gauntlet of demons and fear spiders following the now glowy spirit Divine. Including a whopping three pride demons! It was fun.



'Who has not dreamed of doing two pride demons at the same time?'



'Coincidentally spiders!'



'Well nobody will ever accuse Lothar of not being a Maker-fearing man.'

So with that the last barrier comes down and they can see the rift back home. Urien exclaims they are almost home. Varric is horrified



'I mean seriously WTF Urien? Have you learned nothing?'

Anyway the giant Nightmare Demon is waiting. Spirit Justinia V has a last message for Leliana before blowing herself up to cover their escape. I guess Cassandra doesn't need a message.



'What is up with religious people and suicide bombing?'

So that sets up a huge confrontation with an aspect of the Nightmare demon. The first truly awesome boss fight of DAI as this dude is not only a pretty big badass himself but can summon fear spiders and terror demons and damn I hate terror demons. Fuckers jump right on top of your ranged guys. I definitely spent more time on this fight than any fight since the Harvester in Golems of Amgarrak. At first this fight was just a total slaughter. I really had to look carefully at the tools at my disposal and figure out how to deploy them.



'His shields are down! LET HIM HAVE IT!'

The big thing I discovered is that I had really unintentionally gimped Lothar. I had completely had to change his tactics for awhile since even non-elite mobs were one shotting him. Well I figured it out. He had -200% resistance to all damage, so was taking triple damage from everything. This is because one of the 'buffs' from one of his masterwork daggers gave him +20% damage in exchange for this horrible side effect. I guess I thought it was a temporary proc that goes off from time to time when I got it, not that it was a permanent thing. Also I guess my brain simply did not register that Bioware would introduce a weapon buff this obviously horrible. Fortunately I had another generic shitty knife he could use.

The demon needed massive amounts of DPS and was vulnerable to spirit and electricity. Well of course I had none of that except for one spell from Solas. So he spammed that everychance I got. I froze or put to sleep all the annoying adds and just kept up the damage. They had no dispel or spell purge to take out his barrier so that was a pain.

The demon also just charges around and knocks out your ranged guys from time to time and has some scripted dispels and barrier restores. Basically this relied on everything working and luck being on my side.


'Where are your terror demons now huh?'

But I got him. Damn that felt good. After that Solas, Blackwall, and Varric all scurry for the rift while Loghain, Urien, and Lothar hang back for...no reason at all?



'So long suckers!'

And then the Nightmare demon swoops down to block our escape.



'Wait didn't Spirit Justinia V just sacrifice herself to destroy you?'

So Urien offers to cover their escape nobly so Loghain can rebuild the Wardens. Loghain refuses wanting to take responsibility for the Warden's sins. Sorry Loghain, Lorcan could only delay your heroic sacrifice so long.



'This is very intense and emotional, contrived, but intense and emotional.'

So Loghain goes off to die by plot contrivances and Urien and Lothar slip through the rift. Lothar than seals it behind them. RIP Loghain Mac Tir. Remember when I said way back in Awakenings that that was the last time we were likely to see him in this series? Well I was wrong. Unfortunately for him. At least he saved the world from a giant demon. Sure beats being beheaded by Alistair in DAO.
The Warden Mages have been freed and the demons have been vanquished.



'That would have made tons of sense Urien if she had in fact killed the demon.'

Wait what happened? How was the demon defeated? Because it looked fine just a few seconds ago. Did Loghain kill it? Did sealing the rift close it off from its feeding source? Somebody like Solas want to explain what just happened?

Lothar gives an inspirational speech to the Wardens regarding Loghain's heroic sacrifice.



Just like the Templars the Wardens are now bereft of all leadership and are unsure what to do. So Lothar brings them into the Inquisition.



'Just, you know, steer clear of that Corypheus guy.'

Solas and Cole are horrified. Wait Cole? Does he hate the Grey Wardens as well? Why? His previous dealings at the Adamant Fortress? He mentioned mages and Templars but no Wardens. Weird.
Urien bids farewell. Miraculously surviving yet another absurdly dangerous situation.



'I hope he does better than Larius' attempt to report to the Wardens.'

Well I hope you have a good trip Urien it was pretty awesome to adventure with you for a while even if you were specced wrong. Maybe Urien bought one of those respec potions from the Black Emporium because he was sick of having to rely on Aveline for tanking.

[Valmy]

Oh Viper I am going to be doing the Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts here soon. I know you asked me to mention it to you before I did it.

We are going to be partying Orlesian style! Twice even.

[viper37]

Phew this quest sure is a lot of work.

Leliana is always right. You will listen to Leliana. You will not ignore Leliana's recommendations. Leliana God. And if this ever happens again
[shouts]
Leliana will personally rip your lungs out!

Really? A normal mob one half of our level? Great boss design there Bio. I actually had to check my settings and make sure I had not turned it to 'Casual' by mistake. Nope. I mean after all the destruction this dude had wrought I was ready to gut him and it demanded a dramatic confrontation. Instead I think I had more trouble with a few of the nugs.

huge disapointment this whole story line and the fight.  The 1st time, I thought I over-leveled to do it, but the 2nd time was just as easy

'Josephine's plan of handling this without bloodshed fails messily. Point Leliana.'
Well too late to stop her long and convoluted plan though.

The 1st time, I did it Josi's style. Long and hard way to do a quest.
The 2nd time, I chose Leliana's option.  I was expecting some mission, some fights, some twits, some setbacks... but no.  Leliana is a very efficient girl.  One blade in the right shoulders and all problems are solved.
Death solves all problems - no man, no problem.

Soon we will be all about Orlesian parties. So stay tuned for that.

This one is hard to achieve to get the right result...

'+3 against Greeks'

lol

Behind a magically sealed cave they find some kind of Chantry lab where somebody was trying to cure the Tranquility of somebody named Pharamond. It seemed like I had heard that name before connected with the whole Tranquility business but I reviewed my notes and found nothing.

novel stuff, not game related. Dragon Age: Asunder.

'And this required a secret lab in the middle of the desert?'

Since it's used as a punishment... yes.

To the north of this they create an Inquisition Camp and find a Venatori fortress. Lothar decides on a super subtle frontal assault against an entire fortress with just four people. What? It worked before.

'Ok just jiggle the lock a bit and...oh screw it. Iron Bull rip the hinges off.'
They break in and the slaughter begins Sir Lancelot at a wedding style.

Hey, funny.  I used the back entrance and surprised them

Seeing all those wounded people just lying in the grass seems un-sanitary so Lothar built the infirmary. The garden actually seemed to do something but this one just seems cosmetic...which is weird since it is harder to get.

all upgrades are cosmetic.  But if you chose to build a Chantry at some point, instead of a garden, I think, it gives you some gold every now and then.

'Let it be recorded in the record that bad guy rejected opportunity to recant'

It's like those cop shows "Police!  Freeze!" and invariably, the bad guy twitches and he's shot 100 times by 4 different cops surrounding him.  I always wonder why they bother

Now I just want to say that these little 'Hurlocks pour up from underground' things are a little silly. First of all they are never very deep underground and secondly the Darkspawn are not kept in the Deep Roads because they are sealed beneath, they are kept down there by their unceasing desire to find an Archdemon. If they want to come out they come out, as evidenced by the Blights.

Actually...
They are usually, outside of blight times, kept underground by the Dwarves. They sealed the deep roads to protect themselves, so the Darkspawn have to dig through rocks to get to us from wherever they are.  Outside of a blight, it takes time, because they have no aim.  They just wanter around searching for the old gods, occasionnaly coming accross a dwarf regular patrol or dead legion guys or dying Grey Wardens.

[viper37]

Oh Viper I am going to be doing the Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts here soon. I know you asked me to mention it to you before I did it.

We are going to be partying Orlesian style! Twice even.

Yeah, basically, there's 4 possible endings.
No names or plot device given:
[spoiler]
1 ruler, 1 exiled, 1 dead.
1 ruler, 2 dead.
2 rulers, 1 dead.
1 ruler, 1 puppet master, 1 dead.[/spoiler]

If you want what's best for Orlais, only 2 of them count.

If you chose the best option for Orlais, you miss out some great loot (worth a lot of money), but you get, imho, the best dialogue options.

The thing is, you get these little statuettes to open doors, and you never have enough of them to open all possible doors.

There is a detailed guide, filled with spoilers I could give you, but basically, you need to talk to everyone and "play the game" to get the best possible ending.

The rest is spoilerish but I don't give too many details, just a straight guideline:
[spoiler]
do not open the first door you can with the statues.  Then open all the remaining ones until the very last ones, wich you will likely not have enough pieces to open[/spoiler]
the rest you can figure it out

It does not change much in the game, it mostly changes the epilogue (unfortunately).