Dragon Age 2 - Information Round Up @ RPGamer

skavenhorde

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RPGamer has made a summary of all the information that has been released about Dragon Age II. It's actually quite extensive. They've hit upon just about every topic ranging from the plot and setting to retail information. They've tried to avoid too many spoilers. Here is a snippet:
#Classes and Combat System:
# The combat system will be quite a bit like that in Origins, with changes to areas that needed improvement. One major improvement often cited by the developers is that all party members will leap directly into combat when given orders, rather than shuffling into position before executing attacks.
# The PC and console versions will have the same basic combat engine, but the interface and UI will be changed to be most appropriate to the respective platform.
# On the tactics system: The team is working on improving the default tactics for characters, in order to assist players who don't want to use the system. For players who do, they will be adding additional tactics slots and conditions.
# In the PC version, there will be a tactical camera during battles that can be detached from the main character and used to examine the battlefield while issuing orders. Players will not be able to zoom out as far on the battlefield as they could in Origins, however.
# There will now be cross-class combos. Mages could create spell combos in Origins, and now all classes have attacks and abilities that work together in combat. An example given is that a warrior can sunder armor, and a rogue can use that weakness to sink a blade into the opponent for extra damage.
# (PC Version) Rumors that the player must click on enemies for every attack are untrue. Characters will auto-attack if the player right-clicks on the enemy.
# The developers aim to make the classes more distinct from each other in Dragon Age II, with a special emphasis on warriors and rogues. For example, warriors now focus on melee AoE damage, and thus two-handed swords will deal damage to an arc of enemies. Dual-wielding weapons, on the other hand, is now exclusive to rogues.
# Talent trees will now be branching paths instead of linear progressions like they were in Origins. Players can choose to spend talent points to improve previously learned talents as well as to progress further down in the tree.
# On talent trees: "Currently each class will have around 6 talent trees (including weapon styles) as well as specialization trees. Each tree can have around 10 talent points spent in it, including both abilities and their upgrades. Each ability can have level, attribute and investment requirements to attain. Investment is stuff like 'you must have spent 3 points elsewhere in this tree before you can get this'. You must also have the prerequisite abilities before you get something, so you can't just cherrypick the last ability in the tree. You must have the requirements leading up to it." - Peter Thomas, Systems Designe.
More information.
 
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Nice summary.

This is what bothers me most :

Players will not be able to zoom out as far on the battlefield as they could in Origins, however.

My reason is simply that I just *needed* it too often - especially with lots of enemies or/and with *huge* foes (like the Ogres).
 
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Will have to see how much of a difference there is to the old tactical view. Hopefully there will be a mod to make it work like the old one, if it's too close to the action.
 
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Why,Why,Why ?????? Why is Bioware simplifying an already simplified game . Did they just throw in the towel on RPGs? SOMEONE PLEASE explaine this to me....
 
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It probably has something to do with them improving the graphics. Sounds worrying, but hopefully it isn't too bad. I wouldn't call this simplifying, just might make getting a better view at the battlefield harder. Remains to be seen how much harder.
 
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Well, hopefully the cross skill combos and skill tree branching will allow for more character specialization choices (assuming you don't get so many skill points to spend that you just get almost everything ala The Witcher).
 
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How do you do magic combos in Dragon Age 1 ?

Mages could create spell combos in Origins
 
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Ooooh, that's the fun part! You cast one spell, and then cast another at the same location - example - blizzard and tempest (or whatever it was called) creates a storm of the century. My favorite was the double glyph combo that creates a large area of paralysis. The spells can come from different spellcasters or not.
 
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Wow ! I didn't know that ! And I don't even remember the handbook saying anything about it ... It doesn't say a lot at all, sadly ...
 
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I think there's a section in the codex for spell combos, they show up as you discover them.

Edit: Also my handbook mentions spell combinations, page 30 at least in the CE handbook.
 
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I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't in the manual. They seemed to be supposed to be accidentally discovered, since you get achievements for them when you first create them.
 
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Okay, you are right. The handbook talks in a tiny paragraph of 10 possible combinations, some early to find, others less.

Since I usually only use 1 mage within my party (only 4 members is a bit small - like in Drakensang 2 - often cited point of criticism), it's natural that I never found out combinations.
 
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I was a mage and became aware of the combinations very quickly. I think they game explained it in the origins story and there were most definitely codex entries made every time you found a new combination. I actively hunted down those suckers :)
 
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What I never quite understood was that Elves didn't automaticall magic abilities, too. In TDE, they weave magic naturally.

Therefore, I became quite frustrated - meanwhile I thought that *all* Elves were magic - that my rogue character didn't have *any* possibility to perform spells.

Seems I either misunderstood something or got caught in an illusion.
 
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Elves are not magical by default in the Dragon Age setting.
 
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