Dragon Age III: Inquisition Message Board  

There are some mild content and systems spoilers within. The ones blacked out are only a little more significant; I'm simply marking them out of courtesy.

I may think of more tips later.

1) Every class and specialization is viable. Pick what you like, as long as you always bring a mage and rogue. If you're concerned about survivability, Knight Enchanter (Mage) and Champion (Warrior) are super durable. Specializations are unlocked about 1/4 thru the game, thru a war room operation. Be careful of a bug that lets you choose the wrong advisor for your class. The correct assignments are Josephine for mages, Leliana for rogues, Cullen for warriors.

2) This game is long. There's so much content. Pace yourself. It's cool to leave the Hinterlands once other areas pop up. It's one of the largest areas, and there is a dragon (location) Spoiler:.

3) Weapon schematics in general have a random chance to be in loot chests. Tier 2 armor schematics are unlocked thru quests from the Dalish encampment in SW Exalted Plains, takes maybe 4-5 quests, may also need to chip in some crafting mats. Tier 3 armor schematics are from a vendor in central Hissing Wastes, in the Canyon. Some Tier 3 weapon schematics are unlocked from the keep in W Emprise du Lion. More Tier 3 weapon schematics are available thru the long dwarven tombs quest in Hissing Wastes.

4) Masterwork crafting allows you to use a fade-touched (or other special) crafting material to provide nice bonuses to the weapon/armor. It also overrides the appearance of all matching material types for that item. For instance, Fade-Touched Obsidian makes all the metal parts look Obsidian, whether you use Iron or Dragon Bone for the main metal parts. And yes, I think Fade-Touched Obsidian is the most powerful mastercraft material - it generates 3 guard per hit, greatly increasing rogue/mage survivability. Your mileage may vary.

*edit - looks like there's Fade-Touched Silverite which provides 5 guard per hit. Supposedly there's a 10 guard material, but I haven't found it.

5) Masterwork crafting and Runecrafting unlock through the story. You won't use either for a while, so don't sweat those slots. After the first act, you'll get a war room operation to invite a Runecrafter. Talk with her in the crafting area and she'll tell you what you need. Runes are purchased from a few different vendors, the first of which is in Val Royeaux.

6) Masterwork materials seem to have a low random chance of dropping from regular gathering, or from dropping from mobs. Far as I'm aware, there's only masterwork metal and cloth, no herbs.

7) Some rune patterns can be purchased, or come from chests/war room operations. Most you'll find out in the world, in caves or dungeons or ruins. If you see a Veilfire sconce, chances are a rune pattern is nearby. You'll find them on the walls and they'll make a clear tone if you get near one with a Veilfire torch.

8) Mobs scale to your level, but with a limited threshold. Eventually they'll cap out.

9) Horses are a bit faster than moving on foot, but I don't use them much. Not being able to use the Search key sucks. There's always something to pick up.

10) The war room operation times are based on your system clock. If you'd like to cheat ahead, set your advisors to some operations, then advance your system clock a day. Boom, instant rewards.

11) Pay attention to the war room operation demands/results, and don't be afraid to experiment. Just because an advisor has a shorter completion time doesn't mean they'll bring the best results. Some missions may get locked out (or open up) based on your choices.

12) Once you start being able to customize your base, the Decor option will open up after 2 major story missions. Don't sweat that it's locked out for a while.

13) Every companion and advisor has story quests. Most of them will come straight from the companion. Some will unlock way late in the game, while others can unlock earlier. Check in on them regularly to see if they have anything for you, especially after main campaign missions. Many of them have hard choices. Dorian's seems to be the buggiest. If you're interested at all in his story, be sure to check in with him a lot soon after you start being able to customize your base. Specifically, (1/4 of the way thru the main campaign) Spoiler:.

14) Don't level up your Inquisition level too much. Normal play is fine, it'll be hard to max it out through that. Bumping it 1 level thru CoSMOS then using the trainer for perk points is safe. Bumping it too high can cause a bug where the level up sound will play every time you leave a menu or map. I found it annoying. It may be possible to fix, might be able to edit the raw amount of Inquisition XP thru CoSMOS.

15) There is at least 1 main story mission where having a rogue for lockpick is useful. Late game - Spoiler:


[Edited by isk, 11/29/2014 10:38:58 PM]

Very useful info right there, thank you.
Gonna make use of them on a second playthrough!

Thank you !

Thats good to know for a new start

Thanks for the heads up

Thanks a lot for the feedback.
I'll definitely take this into concideration.
Very good info to have from the beginning.
I haven't gotten to play the game yet myself, but that will come tonight i think.
Too many games coming out these days.
Can't keep up.

Points 4 and 10 are excellent. I've played the game once, but even so I didn't know these. I need to experiment with that fade touched stuff, because dragonbone orange is so fricken silly looking, getting a obsidian look would actually make crafting worthwhile!

I appreciate this, thank you.

Edited #4 to include that Fade-Touched Silverite is A Thing, and generates 5 guard per hit.