Mastering Thedas: The Ultimate Guide to Playing Dragon Age: Inquisition
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The “best” way to play Dragon Age: Inquisition is a subjective concept, deeply intertwined with your personal preferences and playstyle. However, a broadly applicable, enriching experience involves a blend of strategic character building, thorough exploration, engagement with the narrative, and mindful difficulty selection. In essence, the optimal approach emphasizes immersion, strategic combat, and meaningful decision-making. This involves taking your time to craft your Inquisitor, recruiting all companions and learning their stories, exploring the vast world thoroughly, making informed choices in dialogues and quests, and tackling the rifts strategically. It’s a holistic approach that maximizes enjoyment and appreciation for the game’s depth.
Crafting Your Inquisitor: Race, Class, and Backstory
The Significance of Race and Class
Choosing your Inquisitor’s race and class is the foundation upon which your entire playthrough is built. Each race (Human, Elf, Dwarf, Qunari) offers a unique backstory that influences interactions and dialogue options throughout the game. Elves, for example, face prejudice from humans, while Dwarves have their own internal societal complexities.
Your chosen class (Warrior, Rogue, Mage) dictates your combat role and available skill trees. Warriors are the front-line tanks, Rogues excel in damage dealing and stealth, and Mages control the battlefield with spells and crowd control. Consider your preferred playstyle when making this crucial decision. For example, if you like the idea of understanding how games are useful teaching tools, the Games Learning Society, or GamesLearningSociety.org, is a place to learn more.
Investing in the Narrative: Backstory and Companions
Pay close attention to your Inquisitor’s backstory and origin. This context will add depth to your role-playing experience and help you make informed decisions. Each race has unique dialogue options, which will shape your path.
Recruiting all available companions is also essential. Each companion has a rich backstory, personal quests, and unique perspectives that will add to the game. Taking the time to listen to their stories and build relationships with them is vital for getting the most out of the game.
Exploring Thedas: Rifts, Quests, and Lore
Unveiling Thedas: A World of Secrets
Exploration is key to unlocking the full potential of Dragon Age: Inquisition. The game world is vast and filled with hidden quests, valuable resources, and intriguing lore. Take your time to explore every nook and cranny, and don’t be afraid to stray from the main path.
The Strategic Approach to Rifts
Dealing with open rifts as soon as possible is important for both gameplay and narrative reasons. Closing rifts provides valuable experience and resources, and also helps to contain the spread of demons throughout Thedas. Prioritizing rift closures will make your journey smoother and more rewarding.
Meaningful Choices
Dragon Age: Inquisition presents players with a constant stream of choices that have lasting consequences. From dialogue options to major story decisions, every choice matters. Don’t rush through these moments. Think carefully about the potential implications of your actions and choose the path that aligns with your Inquisitor’s values. Remember, you can be a selfish jerk, and you can be ruthless and execute some people and force/conscript people instead of allying them, but you can’t be actually evil.
Mastering Combat: Tactics, Party Composition, and Difficulty
Strategic Combat: The Tactical Camera
Dragon Age: Inquisition’s combat system is complex and requires a strategic approach. Utilizing the tactical camera is crucial for controlling your party and executing coordinated attacks. Pause the game, assess the battlefield, and issue commands to your companions to maximize your effectiveness.
Building the Dream Team: Party Composition
Pay close attention to your party composition. A well-balanced party should include a tank, a damage dealer, and a support character. Experiment with different combinations of companions to find the party that best suits your playstyle.
Choosing Your Challenge: The Difficulty Curve
Selecting the right difficulty is essential for enjoying Dragon Age: Inquisition. Normal is easy mode for DA beginners. Hard should be fine for you. You can always up the difficulty if it’s not challenging enough, or lower it if it is. Consider your experience with similar games and adjust the difficulty accordingly.
Dragon Age: Inquisition FAQs
1. What is the best race to play as in Dragon Age: Inquisition?
The “best” race is entirely subjective and depends on your preferences. Dalish Elves offer a unique cultural experience, while Dwarves provide a fascinating perspective on Thedas’s underground society. Each race has its own distinct backstory and dialogue options. Some fans play every origin story and then pick their favorite and go with that one. What race you choose unlocks a different backstory that you get to play through.
2. What should I play first: Dragon Age: Origins or Inquisition?
It’s best to play the Dragon Age games in order: Origins, Dragon Age 2, and then Inquisition. While Inquisition is a standalone story, it builds upon the events and lore established in the previous games.
3. What difficulty should I play Dragon Age: Inquisition on for my first playthrough?
For most players, Normal difficulty offers a balanced and challenging gameplay experience. If you’re a seasoned player, you might consider starting on Hard. You can always adjust the difficulty during your playthrough if needed.
4. Can I be evil in Dragon Age: Inquisition?
While you can make morally questionable decisions and be a ruthless leader, you cannot be truly evil in Dragon Age: Inquisition. The game’s morality system leans towards shades of grey rather than outright villainy.
5. What is the best Dragon Age game to start with for someone new to the series?
Dragon Age: Origins is the perfect starting point for anyone new to the series. It sets the stage for the world of Thedas and introduces the core lore and characters.
6. What is the best starter class in Dragon Age: Inquisition?
As a broad general rule, rogues do the most damage, warriors have the best defense and mages lock enemies down, cause status effects and handle crowd control.
7. Does it matter what race you pick in Dragon Age: Inquisition?
Yes, the race you choose actually unlocks a different backstory that you get to play through.
8. What is the most fun class to play in Dragon Age: Inquisition?
The Rogue class is arguably the most fun due to its versatility and variety of playstyles, from stealth and assassination to ranged combat and trap setting.
9. What is the most powerful dragon in Dragon Age: Inquisition?
The Highland Ravager is the most dangerous dragon in the base game, known for its devastating rampages and ability to take down Inquisitors of any level.
10. Is the Trespasser DLC worth playing in Dragon Age: Inquisition?
Yes, Trespasser is considered the best DLC for Dragon Age: Inquisition. It offers a compelling epilogue to the main story and adds a ton of new content to the base game.
11. Do my decisions from Dragon Age 1 and 2 affect Inquisition?
Yes, your decisions from Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II will impact the world and events in Dragon Age: Inquisition, though not through direct save file transfer.
12. Are there cheats for Dragon Age: Inquisition?
Dragon Age: Inquisition is crammed with Cheats, Secrets, and obscure Bioware references, as well as hidden clues to deep series lore.
13. Do I need to play all Dragon Age games before Inquisition?
It’s recommended to play the previous games for a deeper understanding of the lore and story, but it’s not a strict necessity. Inquisition is designed to be accessible to new players.
14. How many hours does it take to complete Dragon Age: Inquisition?
Completing the main story of Dragon Age: Inquisition takes around 51½ hours. To achieve 100% completion, you can expect to spend around 150 hours.
15. Which class is the easiest to play in Dragon Age: Inquisition?
Mage is often considered the easiest class to learn, especially with the Knight-Enchanter specialization. Warriors are also relatively easy to play, focusing on tanking and dealing consistent damage.
By following these guidelines and embracing the rich world of Thedas, you’ll be well on your way to experiencing the best that Dragon Age: Inquisition has to offer.