Just started playing this. Any newb tips?

I started as a mage and have played through Haven. I think I need to go to the Hinterlands next. I'm enjoying the exploration and crafting so far, but I find the combat mildly tedious. I generally hate the party-banter stuff so will play solo as much as I can and try to keep all the companions neutral. Anybody know of any good mods that either A) Allows you to create companions or B) kills all the lovey-dovey crap and/or gets rid of approval?

I don't know if either one of those is possible, but I can tell you that Knight-Enchanter is probably the strongest class specialization in the game for soloing. It's a bit tedious to solo, but far from impossible once you get a talent that creates barrier based on the damage you do (in the KE skill tree).

Also, crafting is incredibly powerful, especially later on. A high quality staff with +Guard on hit makes you almost immune to damage when coupled with Fade Cloak, Spirit Blade and the barrier building skill. Oh yes, and if you go that route, be sure to grab Energy Barrage to quickly build Spirit Blade stacks, Guard and Barrier, as it counts as staff hits.

The only direct method I know of to control Banter is the Cheat Engine table..not sure if it can outright disable it though..you'd have to check yourself. Other option is to choose people that don't have any of your disliked banter types.

Mage combat is going to be tedious until you hit Skyhold to get your other trees and master crafting. Just like most any other game..you start out weak and boring then ramp up.

Playing solo would be why you find combat tedious..I'd imagine. Not sure why you hate the party banter..it's part of the story which is really the only great thing about DA:I everything else is repetitive or can be found elsewhere…

There was some talk that the KE class got nerfed some. When did you last play this build?

Originally Posted by HordeQ
Playing solo would be why you find combat tedious..I'd imagine. Not sure why you hate the party banter..it's part of the story which is really the only great thing about DA:I everything else is repetitive or can be found elsewhere…

I'm playing with the party, but I enjoyed wandering Haven alone. I've played some of the Hinterlands w/o the party after clearing most of the Templar/Mage groupings. The banter hasn't been as bad as it was in the first game. I'm still running with the original group and haven't met anyone else that can be a companion.

I did a test run of the next main quest location after the Hinterlands and there doesn't seem to be any combat there, so I'm going to play it for real tonight. I'm hoping to find better craft stuff, but I'm only level 4.

I wonder if DAI can be modded to remove all the shitty MMO like quests and only leave the main quest and interesting side quest?

I started DAI at release but gave up since all the tediums got to me.

Originally Posted by crpgnut
There was some talk that the KE class got nerfed some. When did you last play this build?

It was nerfed and it is still the most OP build in the game (they just changed how the sword work really). If you want survival (aka how to solo a dragon) sword&shield warrior isn't that bad either, but doesn't hit as hard as the KE.

Thanks, guys. I'll keep playing around with it. Sounds like KE is a no-brainer though.

KE are overpowered, so to keep the combat interesting I didn't build one.

Originally Posted by crpgnut
Just started playing this. Any newb tips?

1. While on main quest areas, set difficulty to the hardest possible
2. While in Hinterlands freeroaming and doing chores, set difficulty to supereasy and if possible 1shoting brears
3. DO NOT LEAVE HINTERLANDS before clearing it first (except the dragon, he's a bit hard to kill early).
4. Regardless of gender you play, IMO in your first run you should romance Iron Bull. Yea, basically a cowhorned creature that caused the game being banned in India. Because, to them it's not a game but god knows what, whatever it is, it's bannable, such as the politics. So show your teeth. Balls. Guts. Middlefinger. Anything. Just protest!

Crafting is actually pretty bleh in the first third of the game. The new weapons/armor pour in so fast it's not worth taking the time, IMHO.

If a side mission is boring to you then simply DON'T DO IT. There's *plenty* of content in here to level up with, especially if you got the GotY edition.

One important gameplay mechanic: once you step into a zone, the zone locks to your level. Some zones have sub-zones that I believe have an independent level setting.

Originally Posted by Zloth
One important gameplay mechanic: once you step into a zone, the zone locks to your level. Some zones have sub-zones that I believe have an independent level setting.

That's not quite accurate, zones have level range and some creatures are level locked in them. For example, the Hinterland is level 4 to 8, but there is a Rift and the Dragon who are higher than that (level 10 and 12 I believe).

Also, Trespasser added an option to make the game level-scale everything.

Originally Posted by crpgnut
There was some talk that the KE class got nerfed some. When did you last play this build?

Right now. I'm about 75% through DAI at the moment, having just replayed DAO and DA2. I'm having a blast. I'm actually running a bit of an odd build now, because I got tired of resistances being an issue. My active skills at the moment:

Knight-Enchanter:
- Resurgence
- Spirit Blade
- Fade Cloak (+Decloaking Blast)

Spirit:
- Barrier
- Dispel

Winter:
- Winter's Grasp (+ Winter's Ruin, requires Trespasser DLC)

Inferno:
- Fire Mine (+ Searing Glyph)

Storm:
- Energy Barrage (+ Energy Bombardment)

It's a bit unusual, but it's working quite well, and there's really not a great deal I can't handle.

I found myself leveling way too fast, so I restarted and turned the slow-leveling trial on from the start. I've been using a frost staff and winter's grasp +Winter's Ruin as my main damage. I'll also throw an immolate on my frozen targets. I've got barrier and dispel too. I'll work up to fire mine as that seems to be the best damage spell in the game. I play fodder battles on normal and then play the tougher battles on hard and that seems fairly fun.

There is a lot of respawning in the game and it doesn't seem that you can turn it off or even slow it down. Once I get the horse again, I'll just ride past most of the respawn crap.

I find the templar/mage questline to be extremely boring, so I'm just ignoring the whiny companions and taking my time in the Hinterlands. If I'm level 20 when I choose sides, that's fine with me. I love the hoarding aspects and like playing with the gear.

I guess I have to forward the questline at level 10, so that I can get Skyhold and the advanced classes. After that, I'll probably try to finish every single quest that isn't the main quest I'd love to slow level gains down another 2/3 or so as there seems to be a ton of low-mid level content. If anyone knows of a way to do this, let me know.\

Aha! http://www.nexusmods.com/dragonagein…ion/mods/307/?

You'll out-level content, but not to the extent you think. I've cleared 8 out of 10 areas in my current run, and I'm level 20, with no level slowing whatsoever. The first 10 levels are fast, and then it slows to a crawl, which I actually find a bit annoying. 4-5 hours per level is a bit much.

Originally Posted by crpgnut
I found myself leveling way too fast, so I restarted and turned the slow-leveling trial on from the start.
…
There is a lot of respawning in the game and it doesn't seem that you can turn it off or even slow it down.

Fast leveling is not the game's problem.
That other thing is.

Not sure if I've already told you (did post before though).
Main story areas, turn the game difficulty on hard.
Filler areas that are Hinterlands 1, 2, 3, 4… etc just drawn differently, turn difficulty on easiest possible so you walk over boring filler.
At least till (and if) someone makes norespawn mod.

Joxer, I've been basically doing as you suggested. Instead of setting the level lower, I just found a cheat that gives you a bunch of great gear in the tutorial. I use that gear when not following the main quest and swap out with level appropriate gear for the main quest.

Following Maylander's Mage-Build suggestions, I'm not having any trouble with the mobs in the main quests. I'm just past the area where you pick up the gay mage, Bakdorian I'm gonna get his disapproval as high as I can so he bails. I tend to go with the grey warden, Cassandra, Varric, and Vivien most of the time. I rotate the others in sometimes. I've not met Cole yet, is he a dual-wield guy? Is he Templar path only? The other two thieves are bow-zos.

Cole is a doubledagger thief which means outside of a few main quests - useless. Just like other thieves.
You'll meet him regardless of the path.

For Dorian I'm not sure how to get his disapproval maxed. Maybe you can do something during meeting with his father but other than that… Not sure. Unless you'll lead him everywhere so he can react on your actions which would be silly since when it comes to mages Vivienne is overpowered.
In fact I'm not sure how to get anyone angry enough to leave or refuse to be around. Most of my choices were not liked by Solas and he was still there till the end.

About the gear "trick", yes, absolutely. Walk over irrelevant annoying trashmobs and play properly those juicy parts that aren't filler.

How is Vivienne any different than anyone else? Her stats seem about the same as Solas, and Dorkian…Does it happen later? I out-damage the other mages by a mile, but I've got the best mage gear of the group, naturally

DPS?
You don't need to kill something superfast. You need "invulnerable" people.

And she's bloody KE.