It has been awhile since my last update and at last information is spilling out. Beware of spoilers below and if you notice any errors or omissions, please let me know!
Shortly after my latest news update more information dropped about the war table. Cameron Lee offered one new piece of information:
There are over 300 missions and operations available on the war table, and they can change depending on your previous choices and actions in the game. There's a range of types: scouting missions to establish the first camp in a new area you'd like to explore, building missions to raise structures in the areas you've being exploring, recruitment missions to bring expertise into the inquisition, treaties, resource-gathering, political assassinations, and many, many more.
So that gives us the range of mission on offer (300 is huge). Cameron Lee also confirmed that when our Inquisitor dispenses justice execution is an option.
Joe Juba had an interview follow-up for Game Informer and around the 9 minute mark of the video we see our first live action shots of Skyhold (his specific comments just recap what he said in the interview I talked about in my previous post).
Information on all class specializations are out now via the official website and here's the overview of each:
Mage
Knight Enchanter: These rare mages received special dispensation from the Chantry to serve in battle. They summon blades from the Fade and are experts in protection and defense.
Necromancer: These mages specialize in binding spirits that are drawn to death. They can put the fear of death into enemies, bring spirits to fight on their behalf, and even cause devastating explosions when their enemies die.
Rift Mage: These mages draw upon the force of the Fade, either pulling matter from the Fade to attack or twisting the Veil itself into a weapon to stagger or crush their enemies.
Warrior
Champion: These powerful defenders protect their allies from harm, standing strong against devastating blows with expert training and fierce determination. Enemies can't kill them—and usually can't survive them.
Reaver: As the battle gets bloodier, these vicious and deadly warriors get even more brutal. Hurting them just makes them mad, a mistake most enemies don't live to repeat.
Templar: These unrelenting warriors specialise in fighting mages and demons. No enemy's magic can withstand them, and they inspire and protect their allies with their righteous power.
Rogue
Artificer: These specialists control the battlefield with deadly traps. Neither they nor their explosive mines are ever where the enemy expects them to be.
Assassin: Any rogue can kill a target, but assassins make death into an art form. They specialise in quick, deadly kills that let them slide back into the shadows undetected, or indirect kills that eliminate targets while the assassin is safely away.
Tempest: These unpredictable experts specialise in using alchemical mixtures that wreathe them in frost or flame. Fast, chaotic, and possibly mad, they wade into the fight and dare enemies to face the storm.
Speaking of things from the official website, the Qunari racial benefit has changed from +50 health to +10% melee defense. I saw this rumoured a week or two ago, but it's now official.
Going back to Lee, he reaffirmed to PlayStation Life that the AI in the game will be more intelligent than in previous installments.
There is no definitive word yet on the game's resolution, although the team is working to maximize the potential of each platform.
EGX hosted a Developer Session on Twitch that included Neil Thompson from BioWare (around 11:30 of the video; his appearance lasts until around 46:00) that included some new shots of the game. Poor Neil could have used a snare drum for his jokes (his audience was not laughing, alas), but provides an interesting walkthrough with the art direction for DAI. Below are some of most interesting shots [the Youtube version is now up]:
This shot of the Fade includes what looks like a chair and a desk behind a huge container--I have no idea what it represents, but something pseudo-domestic (if that's possible there).
Here's an updated shot of the Fade rift (presumably at Haven).
I think this is Cassandra, Varric, Solas, and our Inquisitor heading towards the breach shown above.
Varric standing somewhere with a Dwarven statue in the foreground.
A Dalish entrance to...somewhere.
Solas, Cole, Blackwall, and our Inquisitor atop a high keep...it could be the ruin of Skyhold, but it's hard to say.
A nice shot from an Orlesian ball.
Here's a look at some of the colour-cues within the game.
This isn't a new shot, other than it's clarity, as this image was part of the 2012 survey leak, but I wanted to point out the few differences between companion concepts then to now: 1) Dorian's staff has changed, 2) Iron Bull no longer uses a sword, 3) Sera's hair is shorter, and 4) Vivienne's ethnicity has changed.
The winners of Take Your Place had a video posted of them doing their work with shots of their characters.
A Reddit poll looking at player preferences in DAI had similar results as the BSN one from not long ago. Humans were the most popular race (44%; Elves were 30%, Qunari 22%, and Dwarves 4%), and Mage is the most popular class (50%; Rogue and Warrior had 25% each). Additional questions that were not included in the BSN poll were styles of Warrior (two-handed beat sword and shield 57% to 43%, while dual-dagger beat bow-using Rogues 65% to 35%), along with the following:
Favoured Companions (divided by class)
Warrior: Cassandra (34%), Iron Bull (33%), Blackwall (17%), and no selection (17%)
Rogue: Varric (47%), Sera (23%), Cole (16%), and no selection (14%)
Mage: Dorian (36%), Solas/Vivienne (20% each), and no selection (23%)
I think this fit quite well with the exposure of the referenced characters (both the amount and what's been learned of them within that).
Romances
No selection (25%), Cassandra (22%), Josephine (11%), Sera (10%), Cullen/Dorian (8%), Iron Bull (7%), Blackwall/Solas/no one (3%).
This is also not surprising, although Josephine's relatively high number is interesting since we know virtually nothing about her.
The poll also asked which system people would choose and PC was the overwhelming favourite (65%), with PS4 a distant second (16%).
AvtrSpirit takes a look at the pros and cons of DA2 and explores how well DAI will tread the line of appealing to fans of both installments. I agree with a lot of what's said (although the sentiment about missing traps puzzles me quite a bit, and for the most part I much preferred the pacing of the second game as opposed to DAO), particularly that the companions in DA2 were much better realised.
The first DA lore video from ShoddyCast is up since their Patreon push back in July; it's a prologue and set-up to their upcoming videos and is up to their usual standards.
Youtuber Against the Grain talked about why he's excited about DAI after having muted responses to DAO and DA2 (the main draw for him is the open world-concept and the amount of gameplay on offer).
This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)
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