Dorian Pavus Thread "He's More Handsome Than A Cockroach"

Aug 22, 2016 12:56:13 GMT gervaise21 said:

The thing is about the Dorian dialogue is that it suggests he was in some little cocoon, not interacting with anyone else in Skyhold. It made sense to me that he would have known about what Abelas said concerning Arlathan because people talk, particularly when they've had a few drinks, and Dorian is known to like hanging out down the tavern. This is why it came as something of a surprise. I mean Sera seems to know what went on even if you didn't take her with you, which I never did, unless there is a variant there I don't know about. So may be if you aren't friendly with Dorian, he isn't so welcome elsewhere in Skyhold and so he is a bit isolated. I think he only gets together with Iron Bull if you are friendly with them both and have them in your party sufficiently for them to hook up. So Dorian's experience is very different if not on good terms with the Inquisitor.

It just seems weird that DG would have gone to all the trouble of writing a different dialogue for Dorian if it wasn't relevant in some way. That's why I wonder now if it is connected with whether you are a friend or not. That is recorded in the Keep. A non-friend does not get the crystal, gets a different letter saying why he is back at the Conclave (no intimation of being a nobody pariah in that one), presumably there is no farewell party and Dorian is in the dark about Tevinter not being involved in the downfall of the elven empire.

It is difficult to state precisely what is different because of course I always get on well with Dorian, either as a romance or a friend, which is why I have to rely on You Tube to see the differences. Initially I wasn't that worried about discovering what the differences are but then discovering how different the dialogue is with Solas if he doesn't approve of you, I was curious to see if Dorian was the same. Initially that was only in Trespasser but then I started looking back at DAI as well. So it could be that the variant is just for that particular story and will not carry over but then again, as I say, it is recorded in the Keep whether you were friends or not, so just possibly it will impact in some way in how Dorian is presented in the next game.

Hmm, now I wonder if the dialogue difference you mention is affected by whether he went to the temple in the main party or not, or simply by friendship status? What happens if you have high approval with him but don't (for whatever reason?) take him to the temple?

Actually I've played Hushed Whispers as often as I've played Champions of the Just, probably more. I know they were researching Blight sickness but I didn't recall Alexius saying that he actually transplanted tissue.   I thought that was the Venatori, possibly trying to make good on their promise to find a cure for Felix because Alexius was becoming unco-operative and inclined to shut himself away.   I have now checked this.   Alexius isn't involved in the experiments, it is the Venatori.   I doubt that Alexius would allow them anywhere near Felix until he is sure their "cure" works.   They have been deliberately infecting people with the Blight and then using tissue from the resistant ones to see if they can slows the onset in the others.   This is not the same magic as Dorian and Alexius used.   In fact it seems wholly mundane and not magical at all.

The majority of Alexius' efforts seemed to be in trying to make his time magic work both for Felix's sake and because he is fearful of what Cory is going to do to them.   That was the deal with Corypheus, that Alexius would turn back time to before the explosion, so Cory could avoid losing the anchor.   Naturally if Alexius could have turned time back to before the Breach, then no doubt he would have turned it all the way back to before Felix was infected. 

I was referring to what Dorian says in his letter to his father. Initially they "found a way to prolong Felix's life long past what someone with such an illness would normally hope to expect". So Dorian and Alexius on their own apparently were able to do this, without the need for tissue transplants. I presume that is why Alexius thought Corypheus/the Venatori were telling the truth when they said they could come up with a cure. Dorian specifically says that they "have given the poor boy years, when not long ago he would only have had months." I thought that perhaps using that as a basis, Dorian could come up with something more because that had to be powerful magic they used. Even in game he says that Alexius was using magic to keep Felix alive and I just wondered what magic?

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure the comment about Weisshaupt was made in my game before we went to Adamant and Varric was not in the party at the time.   The comment wasn't addressed to anyone in particular, something just seemed to cause him to make it.    We were in the Exalted Plains at the time and I always go there before Adamant.   As for Varric, once we reach Skyhold, I tended to use Cole rather than the other two rogues because of wanting to hear his conversations, plus my Dorian romance is an archer so the other two are superfluous.   However, on my mage Inquisitor runs, I would occasionally swap him out for Sera so I could get her conversations as well.    The only time I really used Varric was for his specific quest with Bianca.