BioWare announces Dragon Age 2. ETR March 2011 - Page 13 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Komskies · 03-14-2011, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

You can respec any character in the game (even your own) with a "Maker's Sigh" potion from the Black Emporium. All attribute and ability assignments completely wiped clean.

Don't like a particular tank? Take one of your other warriors and rebuild them from scratch into a tank!

Excellent news. I've been using Anders as my healer / support character, but I have probably 6-7 wasted ability points.

Where is the Black Emporium?

MickMcGeough · 03-14-2011, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Komskies

Excellent news. I've been using Anders as my healer / support character, but I have probably 6-7 wasted ability points.

Where is the Black Emporium?

It's extra content to download. Came with the preorder but you might not have had to preorder for it.

Log into your social.bioware.com account, then on the left go to profile->registered game content. It should be listed there if you've got it.

Hmm might have to redeem the code first. Did you buy online?

Komskies · 03-14-2011, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

It's extra content to download. Came with the preorder but you might not have had to preorder for it.

Log into your social.bioware.com account, then on the left go to profile->registered game content. It should be listed there if you've got it.

Hmm might have to redeem the code first. Did you buy online?

I got the Signature Edition, so I know that the Black Emporium was included with that. I registered the content on the Bioware website. But what is the Black Emporium? Is it a shop in Kirkwall or something? I'm just not clear on how to access this content.

WhiteTiger · 03-14-2011, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Komskies

I got the Signature Edition, so I know that the Black Emporium was included with that. I registered the content on the Bioware website. But what is the Black Emporium? Is it a shop in Kirkwall or something? I'm just not clear on how to access this content.

You have to download it first, or it won't be there. Once you've downloaded it, you will get a letter in the ingame mail saying that you've been invited to the BE. Once you have that letter, the BE appears as an accessible area you can go directly to slightly to the left of Darktown.

Just registering your product won't give you the BE, you do have to actually download and install it.

Hemi-Cuda · 03-14-2011, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanIn80

You can respec any character in the game (even your own) with a "Maker's Sigh" potion from the Black Emporium. All attribute and ability assignments completely wiped clean.

Don't like a particular tank? Take one of your other warriors and rebuild them from scratch into a tank!

except that you can't change their class. Aveline will always be a sword/shield (which is the best for a tank), Fenris will always be a two-hander, etc. kinda disappointed in that since Anders is your only real healer in the game and i don't want to drag him along with me for every character i make in the game. i'd rather respec Merrill to do the job but she doesn't even have access to the healing tree

FanIn80 · 03-14-2011, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

except that you can't change their class. Aveline will always be a sword/shield (which is the best for a tank), Fenris will always be a two-hander, etc. kinda disappointed in that since Anders is your only real healer in the game and i don't want to drag him along with me for every character i make in the game. i'd rather respec Merrill to do the job but she doesn't even have access to the healing tree

Isn't the class just "Warrior" though?

If you respec Aveline and put all her points into 2H styles and other damage-based trees, then give her a 2H weapon and switch her tactics to "Scrapper" (or customize them)... doesn't that change her roll from tank to dps?

Edit: Oh wait a minute... I get what you're saying now. Some characters don't have access to other trees. I can't remember if Avaline has access to the 2H tree or not...

Komskies · 03-14-2011, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

You have to download it first, or it won't be there. Once you've downloaded it, you will get a letter in the ingame mail saying that you've been invited to the BE. Once you have that letter, the BE appears as an accessible area you can go directly to slightly to the left of Darktown.

Just registering your product won't give you the BE, you do have to actually download and install it.

Ahh good to know. So I'm SOL for this playthrough. I assume I'll have to download and install it off of the community site though, as I don't see it as being available DLC through the in-game menu.

No matter though, as I always play through these games at least a couple of times. I'm a Rogue archer right now, but I did want to try a dual wield rogue.

WhiteTiger · 03-14-2011, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Komskies

Ahh good to know. So I'm SOL for this playthrough. I assume I'll have to download and install it off of the community site though, as I don't see it as being available DLC through the in-game menu.

No, you aren't SOL. I didn't download and install it until I was halfway through Act 1. You can download and activate the BE at any time. It didn't show up on the available download area for me, either, but going to their site and picking it up worked just fine. I'd recommend doing it quickly. The stuff the guy sells is neat, and you get the Warhound as a bonus party member, too.

HeartsOfFire · 03-14-2011, 03:21 PM

NM. Not gonna drop that.

Regarding re-speccing of characters, I found it odd as well that your warriors were either Sword+Board or 2 hander from start to finish, regardless of re-spec.

Similarly with Varric. He has a unique skill tree called 'Bianca,' but it's the exact same tree as a regular archer. The idea is that Varric must have Bianca equipped in order to use his archery skillset. Not to mention all his other special skillsets revolved around her. Really pigeonholes her into the only weapon he can use.

Thankfully, it scales well with his level.

WhiteTiger · 03-14-2011, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeartsOfFire

Similarly with Varric. He has a unique skill tree called 'Bianca,' but it's the exact same tree as a regular archer. The idea is that Varric must have Bianca equipped in order to use his archery skillset. Not to mention all his other special skillsets revolved around her. Really pigeonholes her into the only weapon he can use.

Thankfully, it scales well with his level.

Not to mention, you CAN'T unequip Bianca. I tried the first time I found a really nice bow that had better dps/stats than it, and it simply wouldn't let me. He's pretty much stuck as your ArcherRogue.

Hemi-Cuda · 03-14-2011, 04:50 PM

HOF, were you saying that you didn't use Anders as a healer? i know he has a damage spec tree special to him, but honestly what's the point? he's the only one in your party that can actually be a healer unless you make your character a mage, and some of the fights in this game seem damn near impossible on normal difficulty without one

HeartsOfFire · 03-14-2011, 10:51 PM

Yeah, I had to use Anders as a healer

Spoiler!

, though I didn't rely on him too heavily. When he can only cast heal every 30 seconds, that's not something any party will want to rely heavily on.

llama64 · 03-15-2011, 03:31 PM

I'm finding the game very limiting in that you are REQUIRED to have Ander's in your party.

And Ander's pisses me off. Had I known, I would have played as a bloody mage just to get him out of my party.

Not happy about about this part. They wanted to make healing more of a choice tactically - but then designed fights that basically are DPS/Healing races. One step forward, two steps back.

Hemi-Cuda · 03-15-2011, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by llama64

I'm finding the game very limiting in that you are REQUIRED to have Ander's in your party.

And Ander's pisses me off. Had I known, I would have played as a bloody mage just to get him out of my party.

Not happy about about this part. They wanted to make healing more of a choice tactically - but then designed fights that basically are DPS/Healing races. One step forward, two steps back.

ya i don't know why they pussified Anders so much from Dragon Age Awakening, he was actually a pretty cool character in that one. plus the voice actor was much better

llama64 · 03-15-2011, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

ya i don't know why they pussified Anders so much from Dragon Age Awakening, he was actually a pretty cool character in that one. plus the voice actor was much better

I couldn't stand him in Awakening either. But yeah, in DA2 he's just a whiny little zealot - I happen to disagree with him philosophically. From what I've seen, Mages, given time, will resort to using whatever means to gain power and dominance over non-mages. But... when I make dialogue choices that reflect this, I lose reputation because he can't freaking deal with it.

Also, hehe "pussified Anders".

Wish Ser Pounce-A-Lot was a viable companion.

WhiteTiger · 03-15-2011, 06:42 PM

Playing through it again, I'm struck by how many of the Dalish Elven warriors look like Jake Sully from Avatar when he's in blue mode...

Hemi-Cuda · 03-15-2011, 10:16 PM

just killed a high dragon, that was an intense fight. Anders in full heal mode and i still went through a ton of potions. nice armor for the reward though

WhiteTiger · 03-15-2011, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

just killed a high dragon, that was an intense fight. Anders in full heal mode and i still went through a ton of potions. nice armor for the reward though

That's a great fight. I do like that they are taking fights in 'phases' instead of the 'tank n'spank' sort that were the sole area of DA:O

HeartsOfFire · 03-16-2011, 11:51 AM

I had a hell of a time with the High Dragon. And it would've been so much easier if I had rune's of fire warding.

In my second playthrough, I found the design for the rune in act 1, and was so mad for the sake of my first playthrough, but relieved for when I fight the high dragon in the future. Fight just got a whole lot easier.

Komskies · 03-16-2011, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeartsOfFire

I had a hell of a time with the High Dragon. And it would've been so much easier if I had rune's of fire warding.

In my second playthrough, I found the design for the rune in act 1, and was so mad for the sake of my first playthrough, but relieved for when I fight the high dragon in the future. Fight just got a whole lot easier.

Spoiler!