Dragon Age II (SPOILERS!)

[Geek King]

So I beat it over the weekend, and thought I'd see how some other folks did.

Spoilers ahoy! Lots of them. You've been warned.
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Preview safety.

I ran a female rogue specializing in bow. This made for a very...active...fight with the Qunari leader at the end of the second act. I spent more time running than shooting. I generally went with the good path, but did have several forrays into the land of snarky, and supported the mages in most things.

Was it just me or did they have a real thing for mercy killing loved ones in this game? I ran into at least four. It was almost a meme. I think Bethany pissed me off the most, but that may have been because I built her into a magical powerhouse by the time the plot killed her off.

On Fenris: I felt for this guy, I really did, but it was so damn hard to keep him friendly when you agree with most of the mage's arguements. I finally just started cutting him out of the party when I even suspected a plotline involving mages. A real shame too, as I liked his story. I wish they gave you a real chance to prove to him that not all mages were monsters. And speaking of...

All Mages are monsters: Thanks Bioware. Really. I spend all this time taking the mage's side because they do seem like they're being mistreated, and then you have 99% of them, including the First Enchanter for crying out loud, getting possesed. Look, I understand many of those mages were feeling cornered when they decided to kiss deamon ass, but give me at least a few that have self control and morality. Oh, and Bioware? You can go sit on a tent peg for that Anders thing. Seriously. Fuck. You. Even if you finally showed what happens to mages that get possesed by "good" spirits.

So, in the end, I defeated my foes and walked away victorious. The end was pretty cool. I didn't take control of the city, but I did apparently cause all of the Circles in multiple kingdoms to free themselves, and the Templars, for the most part, disbanded. From hints I ran accross in-game, I'll guess the next DA will be in Orlais or the Tivinter Imperium. Hopefully we'll get to choose different racial backgrounds again, as I found the different background stories really affected how I went about certain situations based on the character I used that run through.

So what about the rest of you? Any particular moments that struck you for good or ill?

[Rosakala]

Ah DAII. I took 3 days off just so I could play the game. I adored the game, and I was able to keep Bethany (fem rouge here too!) from dying and recruited her back into the fold at the end. Keep Anders with you when you go to the Deep Roads if you haven't before.

I was actually able to get Fenris to full 100% friendship and he was barely in the party ever. I romanced Anders though, and that being said, Goddammit Anders! *huffs* I was kinda slack jawed over the kaboom and despite romancing him almost killed him for the stunt he pulled. Couldn't do it though. Lost Isabella in the second act, this time around I'm keeping her in my party more so I can actually gain a friendship so she doesn't flee.

I was utterly disappointed Anders voice actor changed, couldn't they have changed Cullen's instead? Every time I talked to him it was like "Why hello thar Anders! That's who you ought to sound like!"

[VicSilver]

Agreed on all fronts.

Esp the Anders thing. I romanced the crap out of him (I'll be honest, I fell for his snark back in Awakenings; even though my Origins character romanced Alistair and was his Queen, I couldn't help but flirt with Anders when I got the chance), and loved his char in spite of the much different personality and voice.

Then...BOOM....I wanted to kill him. I should've killed him. I was so upset that he lied that *I* felt betrayed. (Kudos to Bioware here...seriously, I've never had a set of games before where I felt every decision and emotion as a player). In the end, though, I let him live to make it up to me and everyone else.

I didn't lose Isabella, but I did lose Sebastian for not killing Anders, and Fenris for siding with the mages. On my second play through I'm going to work on getting a higher friendship score with Fenris so that he fights for the mages with me. Having to kill him was sucky.

[Seshat]

Playthrough 1: stabbyrogue Hawke. Female. Romanced Fenris. Kept all party members. (Well, Carver died, and Bethany got taken to the Circle for Act II)

Playthrough 2: Mage Hawke. Female. Romancing Anders. Lost Isabella. Carver's off with the Grey Wardens. I'm just starting Act III.

[Nurian]

I also played a female Rogue of Stabbity-doom. I did a very fast run, though. I didn't pick up Fenris or Isabella. I didn't bring Bethany to the Deep Roads, but she still gets taken away (templars find her. She goes to the Circle.)!

I never played Awakening, but I knew Anders was from a previous game. I killed him for killing the ONLY SANE OFFICIAL!

I wound up romancing Merrill. She reminded me of Lelianna.

I had a quest bug on me: Who Needs Rescuing? The quest never showed up on the map and when I went to the Wounded Coast, nothing was there for it.

Next run? Mage. Definitely.

[Geek King]

I had a quest bug on me: Who Needs Rescuing? The quest never showed up on the map and when I went to the Wounded Coast, nothing was there for it.

I hit that bug in the PC version as well. I did find a confused looking Bandit Leader standing around by himself, non-aggro, non-responsive. Maybe he was wondering what happened as well?

I saw there was a big patch on the way for the PC version, so hopefully that takes care of things.

Favorite party combination: Varric, Isabella, and Avaline. The conversations get seriously funny, and Isabella is apparently facinated by Varric's chest hair.

EDIT: Oh, and for scary damage with a bow using the Assassin skillset, try the Marker skill-->Pinpoint shots-->Assasinate. Huge single-shot damage, and kills almost every boss except the really biggies within seconds. You get the big first hit with your assassinate shot, then your party has some time to inflict lots of damage before the marker wears off.

[Nurian]

My absolute favorite dialogue so far:

# Isabela: Come to me, and I'll take you to places you've never been.

# Varric: Isabela...are you talking to Bianca?

# Isabela: I think she deserves to feel a woman's touch on her trigger, don't you?

# Varric: Bianca responds to my touch. She'd never give it up for you.

# Isabela: That's what they always say, and I always prove them wrong.

# Varric: Stop it. You're confusing her. And me.


Mages are....well....DAMN! I killed 5 darkspawn in one shot from Cone of Cold. And the dragons don't stand a chance. Now if I an just keep my team mates from dying...