Any tips for a first time player for an enjoyable experience?

by thetragedyofman
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Any tips for a first time player for an enjoyable experience?

★★ Novice

Hi,

 

Wondering if anybody has some random tips while I wait for the download to play the game for the first time?

 

  • I read that there are a lot of grinding (MMORPG type) aspects to the game... are these avoidable or necessary to progress?
  • Is the highest difficult super hard or worth trying on the first playthrough?
  • Any companions that are seem more fun than others?

Thanks in advance!

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Re: Any tips for a first time player for an enjoyable experience?

[ Edited ]
★★★★★ Expert

@thetragedyofman;

 

Tips for a First Timer, huh?

 

1.  Get out of the Hinterlands and explore other areas early!  I am basically a completionist, so I tend to try to look into every nook and cranny before moving along.  This is definitely a mistake with Inquisition.  The world is huge and dynamic (meaning things that weren't there before will appear later.)  and the game gives you reason to revisit places anyway.  I probably spent 20 hours wandering those hills my first time, wondering when the "real" game was going to begin.  My problem was trying to do all the side-quests I was being offered (see point 2. below) when they didn't move the story along.

 

2.  Don't feel compelled to perform every side-quest (see point 1. above.)  There are a seemingly endless stream of them and while they do help earn the "Power" and/or "Influence" you'll need to open up more missions on the War Table, many of those are simply another side-quest.  Your Journal will keep track of what's essential for the plot (or relationships) and what's not.  Do as many or as few as you like.

 

3.  Do NOT play on a high difficulty setting your first time.  Several reasons for that.  One is that if you're not used to the game mechanics, battles will be almost impossible.  Second, the world is structured so that your party can encounter situations early on that it is in no way prepared to handle.  In those cases, running away really is the only option until you've leveled-up enough to take them on.  Too high a difficulty will just multiply the number of such encounters.

 

4.  Speaking of game mechanics and running away, the party members are severely limited in both the number of consumables (health, lyrium, grenades, etc.) they can carry, and the number of "abilities" they can keep at the ready (even if they actually have more in their "arsenal".)  The only time times those can be swapped is when in "base".  Many times, especially early in the game, you'll realize you brought the wrong set for this particular encounter.  No shame in returning to base and re-outfitting!

 

5.  Plan on spending between 100-200 hours to finish.  (More, if you do all the DLC.)  It's a BIG game, and it rewards taking the time to listen to the convos, look around as you travel, and generally lose yourself in Thedas for a while.  It's not a looter/shooter. (See Anthem for a disappointing counter example.)

 

6.  Play without any mods the first time through.  That way you'll have a much better idea of both which mods you might want to try, and the difference they actually make when you do.

 

7.  Presuming you like it after one go, plan on doing at least a few more.  (I have over a dozen complete runs through Trespasser.)  Changing your race/class/gender opens (and closes) several dialogue/relationship branches, and even a few plot ones!

 

8.  Have Fun!  If a battle seems to be unwinnable, re-load your last save and lower the difficulty until it's over.  No one is judging you... It's your game!  Angel

 

[EDIT:  Fixed typos.]

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Re: Any tips for a first time player for an enjoyable experience?

[ Edited ]
★★★★★ Expert

@thetragedyofman;

 

Tips for a First Timer, huh?

 

1.  Get out of the Hinterlands and explore other areas early!  I am basically a completionist, so I tend to try to look into every nook and cranny before moving along.  This is definitely a mistake with Inquisition.  The world is huge and dynamic (meaning things that weren't there before will appear later.)  and the game gives you reason to revisit places anyway.  I probably spent 20 hours wandering those hills my first time, wondering when the "real" game was going to begin.  My problem was trying to do all the side-quests I was being offered (see point 2. below) when they didn't move the story along.

 

2.  Don't feel compelled to perform every side-quest (see point 1. above.)  There are a seemingly endless stream of them and while they do help earn the "Power" and/or "Influence" you'll need to open up more missions on the War Table, many of those are simply another side-quest.  Your Journal will keep track of what's essential for the plot (or relationships) and what's not.  Do as many or as few as you like.

 

3.  Do NOT play on a high difficulty setting your first time.  Several reasons for that.  One is that if you're not used to the game mechanics, battles will be almost impossible.  Second, the world is structured so that your party can encounter situations early on that it is in no way prepared to handle.  In those cases, running away really is the only option until you've leveled-up enough to take them on.  Too high a difficulty will just multiply the number of such encounters.

 

4.  Speaking of game mechanics and running away, the party members are severely limited in both the number of consumables (health, lyrium, grenades, etc.) they can carry, and the number of "abilities" they can keep at the ready (even if they actually have more in their "arsenal".)  The only time times those can be swapped is when in "base".  Many times, especially early in the game, you'll realize you brought the wrong set for this particular encounter.  No shame in returning to base and re-outfitting!

 

5.  Plan on spending between 100-200 hours to finish.  (More, if you do all the DLC.)  It's a BIG game, and it rewards taking the time to listen to the convos, look around as you travel, and generally lose yourself in Thedas for a while.  It's not a looter/shooter. (See Anthem for a disappointing counter example.)

 

6.  Play without any mods the first time through.  That way you'll have a much better idea of both which mods you might want to try, and the difference they actually make when you do.

 

7.  Presuming you like it after one go, plan on doing at least a few more.  (I have over a dozen complete runs through Trespasser.)  Changing your race/class/gender opens (and closes) several dialogue/relationship branches, and even a few plot ones!

 

8.  Have Fun!  If a battle seems to be unwinnable, re-load your last save and lower the difficulty until it's over.  No one is judging you... It's your game!  Angel

 

[EDIT:  Fixed typos.]

Message 2 of 8 (1,555 Views)

Re: Any tips for a first time player for an enjoyable experience?

[ Edited ]
★★ Novice

Thank you so much Thandal!

Message 3 of 8 (1,544 Views)

Re: Any tips for a first time player for an enjoyable experience?

Hero

@thetragedyofman There's one tip that I would give to a first timer that I wish I had read before I started playing:

 

Whatever you do, don't watch the game's post-credits scene! Cover your eyes and ears for a minute, then play the Trespasser DLC. After the Trespasser DLC, go ahead and watch the post-credits scene on YouTube.



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Message 4 of 8 (1,510 Views)

Re: Any tips for a first time player for an enjoyable experience?

★★ Novice
Thanks Fred!

And thanks again Thandal!

This game is magical, I just want to explore every inch and listen to every voice actor and read every codex. First time in a LONG time that I can truly say I feel like I stepped into another world as far as games goes.
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Re: Any tips for a first time player for an enjoyable experience?

[ Edited ]
★★★★★ Expert

@thetragedyofman;  So glad you're enjoying the wonderful (dare I say, "magical") world of Dragon Age: Inquistion.  I take it that you haven't played DA:O or DA2.  If that's true, you're in for a real treat with DA:O, and a different experience with DA2.

 

DA:O is the foundation of the entire series and, if you aren't too put-off by the (today) clumsy mechanics and less than up-to-date graphics, it has the best writing, best characters/voice actors, and best storyline of the the series.  With the six (ok... seven,  DLC, but one is "The DLC Which Must Not Be Named") it extends the original to almost as long a game as DA:I.

 

DA2, on the other hand, suffered an unrecoverable reputation hit from being named "DA2".  It was NOT a "sequel", in the usual sense.  I think it would have gotten a lot less flak had it been named, Dragon Age: Champion of Kirkwall, or something like that to indicate it was in the same world, but not the same storyline.  It was rushed, true.  But the plot is interesting, many of the characters (both returning and new) are great, the "framed narrative" structure was different and took some getting used to, but now I like it.  And I've never understood why its "map re-use" (of which there's a lot) got such a thrashing by the community when a game like ME1 was far worse, but no one complained!

 

The one thing I still really dislike about DA2 (and I'm in the middle of Act II in yet another playthrough right now) is the "kiting" of the second and third (it's always three) waves of enemy mobs.

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Re: Any tips for a first time player for an enjoyable experience?

Hero

@ThandalNLyman wrote:

DA:O is the foundation of the entire series and, if you aren't too put-off by the (today) clumsy mechanics and less than up-to-date graphics, it has the best writing, best characters/voice actors, and best storyline of the the series.


I agree that the writing is best on Origins (the politics are very well thought out).

 

I think the voice acting is solid all around. In my opinion, some of the actors who were in multiple Dragon Age games got better as the series progressed. For instance Jonny "Greg Ellis" Rees (who played Cullen in all three games and Anders in Awakening) was in my opinion best in Inquisition. Same for Alix Wilton Regan (Ser Cauthrien and the English Inquisitor). I think the main cast in all three games is excellent. I still can't get over how much different Jon Curry sounds as Zevran vs. the American Inquisitor. That guy has range.

 

I also love that they got Tim Curry for Dragon Age Origins. When I first heard Rendon Howe speak, I said "yup, he's gonna be a bad guy."


@ThandalNLyman wrote:

And I've never understood why its "map re-use" (of which there's a lot) got such a thrashing by the community when a game like ME1 was far worse, but no one complained!


I think people did complain about Mass Effect 1's reused maps (I'm one of them), but it was less of an issue because that was limited to optional content. Dragon Age 2's recycled areas are part of the main story progression.



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Message 7 of 8 (1,460 Views)

Re: Any tips for a first time player for an enjoyable experience?

★★ Novice

Looking forward to playing the rest of the series too but DA:I is going to be my mistress for a long time!

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