Combat should NOT be a jack-of-all-trades.

I have to disagree with you on the DA2 combat. For me, it has been the best so far of any DA game to date. I think they improved it and the tactics system from DAO.

I agree with you though that trying to please both crowds usually ends up not pleasing many. I can live with either though as long as the core game play (story, characters, and dialog) are DAO or DA2 style. If it's anything like DAI or god forbid, MEA, I won't be buying it.

Going back to replay all of them, I still enjoy DAO's combat the most. It has a "slower" pace but I actually find the combat encounters resolve faster because DA2 had the annoying respawns and DAI many enemies are hit sponges. The abilities are also the most numerous and diverse for each class.

I don't know, those Hinterlands bears...

Still think that Inquisition had the best combat in the series. DA4 should keep it and simply add DA2's Tactics menu and more skills/spells IMO.

I would have liked DA2's combat if it actually had some weight to it. It was fast-paced, but I felt as if I was hitting enemies with a feather... Perhaps it depends on what class you played (I was a warrior), but it reminded me of really generic hack and slash games with not a lot of depth. I enjoy Dynasty Warriors combat over DA2. At least that series adds in a large variety of combos and attacks that you can do. Now, if DA2's combat was polished and felt more satisfying (perhaps even throw in some finishing moves like DAO had), I wouldn't mind seeing it return.

I definitely don't want a return of the wonky, sluggish gameplay we received from DAI. I liked MEA's combat, but I'm not even sure why you'd be concerned of that being implemented into Dragon Age. It's a shooter RPG, not an action/strategy RPG.

Agree to disagree. It was a boring button mash for me. It didn't feel as if I was actually hitting enemies with my sword either. I'd prefer the action-oriented approach it was going for, but BioWare would have to revamp it and polish it a lot for that system to be fun.

Agreed. DAO had the most depth and variety.

I'm glad you liked it. I hope BioWare chunks it out a window and sets it on fire...

Perhaps you just have much lower standards than I do when it comes to games. BioWare has never exactly been top tier when it comes to combat in games. Their combat has always been serviceable. Ironically enough, I think their best attempt at combat for the longest time was Jade Empire. Andromeda also has a really good combat system, but that game is divisive for many.

When you have to compare Dragon Age to a game that released in 1992, there's a serious problem with that... TES may not have the most in-depth combat, but at least it's interactive enough where I can block, do a variety of swings depending on the direction, and even adds finisher moves on top. Dragon Age combat has gone from real time strategy, to a mindless hack and slash, to a awkward mix of both with neither being great. BioWare can do much better, and I hope they do with DA4.

DAI's combat, at best, resembles a very mediocre MMORPG. If I wanted that kind of combat, I'd just play SWTOR, which BioWare did a much better job with regarding combat.

Skyrim could definitely learn a thing or two from other games, such as Dark Messiah, Mirror's Edge, and now Kingdom Come: Deliverance, in terms of doing interactive first person combat. But, there's more to Skyrim than just blocking and hitting... Stuns. Directional attacks. Heavy attacks. Shouts. Finishers. There's a lot of variety in what is a very easy system to understand and learn, and most of those features were not in Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Oblivion. DAI combat is just... bland and limited. It doesn't do anything particularly well and is just all around average.

Have to agree here.

True. DAO did have that annoying character comment every-time you attacked. BUT....not every attack you made against them connected. Enemies dodged, had debuffs and had a variety of interesting attacks and could easily compensate whatever damage your party dealt. You had to think (most of the time) in order how to defeat a pack of darkspawn or even a boss.

When playing DAO, I recall, my party never just ran straight into battle, I had to think as to how I wanted to do this fight. I'd pass out buffs and run the tank in first. I'd keep an eye on my party's health and toss out damage and debuffs.

DA2 combat was better. Though I did feel it come off as kind of arcade style.

In DAI, all you did was drop a barrier and let the party run in. The most "thinking" you did was to move a tank over to an archer or maybe a mage. Then all you and your party did was bombard them with damage until they died. Unlike the previous two games, guzzling down lyrium/stamina potions was not need for two reasons: One, the fights never lasted that long and two there was a ridculious amount of auto-powers that renewed your stamina/lyrium.

So, what sets the other two games apart from DAI?

Well, I've said this before and I'll say it again: healing spells.

When you completely remove healing spells and change it to an excessive amount of auto/activate buffs, it makes combat less intense. The enemies are less interesting and are basically bopping you over the head with an inflatable hammer; while they just soak up the damage until they die.

When I notice a mage, cleric or druid has the opportunity to cast such healing spells, I know combat is going to be a challenge. Those spells would not be present if it was not. When you remove said spells the challenge in combat is nonexistent.

"Well, you can make enemies be more challenging in the options screen."

Ugh. I should not need to switch on an option to make combat more interesting. That should be in the game by default. Furthermore, since Bioware added in an option for the enemies to be interesting long after the game came out, it should be obvious combat is not good.

I want my combat to be a challenge.

I want to be able to think before just rushing in.

I don't want enemies just to stand there and soak up every hit and then just die.

And I most certainly want my damn tactics set-up menu back so combat does not feel like babysitting.

Bioware should take the good with DAO combat bits and mix it with the good combat bits of DA2 . 

This whole MP/MMO style of combat should not be apart of a single player game -especially one with the RPG style.  RPG single player games (even ones with companions) should work together to defeat the enemy and/or enemies using your mind. Not this whole, party mob rushes in and just beats enemies with a rolling pin until they can take no more. What is this? Tom and Jerry combat!?!

Most of us here are adults and I doubt anyone of us appreciates having are hand held when it comes to combat. Whats next for DA4? Bioware going to wipe my character's ass?!?

(shakes head).

I have played every class in the game. I haven't tried all the sub classes though. From what it is, I cycle through techniques while the other recharges. I found the archer the worst to play with, i'm literally cycling through the same moves from a distance. I don't find it engaging, again, others might find it adequate. I loved DAI regardless, however, the combat got boring once you used the abilities enough. There wasn't enough variation or unpredictability. 

I find it hard to say anything that DAI did better than DA2 when it came to combat, a lot of the changes did nothing but make the combat significantly worse. I've gone from playing DAO and DA2 on Nightmare to spamming killallhostiles in DAI.

That seriously made me laugh out loud.

I had this thought of:

DAO: Challenge

DA2: A little hokey but still a challenge.

DAI: What the fuck is this crap?!?

What I expect in DA4's combat:

- Less numbers, like it had in Origins, and more akin to D&D. Not MMO-style like in DA2 and Inquisition. Specially when it comes to loot. I don't like that every new armor is better. I prefer something like Origins and Dark Souls, where every armor has it's own ups and downs. Less random loot, I guess.

- For it to be slower, but not to the point of Dragon Age Origins. I want to feel the weight of the characters, unlike DA2 and Inquisition, that felt too fast. Origins felt too slow.

- More tactical. Less random mooks, and more designed battles. I don't want to have to keep fighting some random dudes all around the map, but that each battle feels unique. Or at least most of them.

- I want Morrigan's shapeshifter specialization back! But done right this time, as it was a bit broken in DAO. It could be really fun if done right.

What if they make DA4 the tactics game they were hinting at last year? That would turn off alot of gamers out there . . .