colonelkillabee
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Post by colonelkillabee on Sept 19, 2016 22:25:15 GMT
Oh wait, guess he can't really give his response to seeing beards for the first time or he'd give himself away. Though I could have sworn Solas said he lived somewhere where humans were not around for the beginning part of his life, and the Inquisition actually bought that. I think all he ever said was he grew up in a small village to the north and that he hadn't met many humans. But I could be wrong. Although, I think those mosaics with June shows June with a beard so maybe elves could grow beards if they wanted to. And if not, he'd probably seen beards on people in memories in the Fade. You mean while he was sleeping? I forgot he was dreaming in the fade that whole time. Lol but then, it is the fade. Would be funny if he thought it was just some horrid abomination and then he wakes up and saw humans, then even worse, the dwarves lol. Anyway that's enough out of me and beards, I'm obsessed with beards. Going off to finally play the last level of the descent now. edit: I lol too much, sorry today's a lulzy day.
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Post by ladyiolanthe on Sept 20, 2016 0:21:40 GMT
colonelkillabee, I'm pretty sure I heard the Blackwall and Solas banter about beards in my playthrough, but that was about a year ago so I may be mistaken.
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Post by ladyiolanthe on Sept 20, 2016 0:28:17 GMT
*snip* ( I've seen fan art of Solas with Mythal's vallaslin, but haven't encountered any lore to suggest why.) *snip* Fan artists base that on one of Cole's cryptic comments in Trespasser: "He did not want a body. But she asked him to come. He left a scar when he burned her off his face." Since a lot of Cole's Trespasser comments seem to be about Solas, the assumption is that "he" is Solas, "she" is Mythal, and what he burned off his face was Mythal's vallaslin, and that's why he has a little scar on his forehead. I think a burn scar would leave a bit more of a mark, personally, but who knows when magic is involved. Support for "he" being Solas and "she" being Mythal in this case is largely based on all the Fen'Harel statues in close proximity to Mythal statues that we see throughout the ruins we travel through in Trespasser.
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NightSymphony
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Post by NightSymphony on Sept 20, 2016 0:35:27 GMT
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Post by ladyiolanthe on Sept 20, 2016 0:36:50 GMT
Tin foil hats time! When I saw this confession on Dragon Age confessions it twigged something I've sort of been wondering about for a while... What if the Chantry only t hinks the Rivaini Seers are possessed, because they have no other way of understanding what's going on? What if, in fact, the Rivaini Seers are more closely in touch with their spirits than most people, to the point of being conscious of them? I wonder what Solas would have to say about that? Loosely related, what if the Avvar mages allow a spirit to possess them temporarily to teach them, as we learned in JoH, but it's an older spirit teaching the younger spirit of the person who is a mage to draw on the Fade to use magic? Similar to the whispers from the dark that the first Tevinter mages heard, except the spirit is actually present, not whispering in dreams, and is much more benign. And finally, what if actual abominations are one spirit/demon fighting with the spirit that is supposed to be in the person? Maybe each physical body can only contain one spirit, except for the short term, as in the Avvar mage apprentices. Wynne and her healing spirit did all right, but Anders and his Justice spirit did not. Maybe because Wynne actually was dead (a lyrium ghost like some Lelianas, or like the spirit/Divine's ghost we meet in the Fade?) and so her original spirit had already left for the Fade, but Anders' spirit might still have been present when he accepted Justice, leading to conflict. Solas does say, after all "Spirits wish to join the living, and a demon is that wish gone wrong." Remove tin foil hats.
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Post by Elessara on Sept 20, 2016 1:05:55 GMT
Tin foil hats time! When I saw this confession on Dragon Age confessions it twigged something I've sort of been wondering about for a while... What if the Chantry only t hinks the Rivaini Seers are possessed, because they have no other way of understanding what's going on? What if, in fact, the Rivaini Seers are more closely in touch with their spirits than most people, to the point of being conscious of them? I wonder what Solas would have to say about that? Loosely related, what if the Avvar mages allow a spirit to possess them temporarily to teach them, as we learned in JoH, but it's an older spirit teaching the younger spirit of the person who is a mage to draw on the Fade to use magic? Similar to the whispers from the dark that the first Tevinter mages heard, except the spirit is actually present, not whispering in dreams, and is much more benign. And finally, what if actual abominations are one spirit/demon fighting with the spirit that is supposed to be in the person? Maybe each physical body can only contain one spirit, except for the short term, as in the Avvar mage apprentices. Wynne and her healing spirit did all right, but Anders and his Justice spirit did not. Maybe because Wynne actually was dead (a lyrium ghost like some Lelianas, or like the spirit/Divine's ghost we meet in the Fade?) and so her original spirit had already left for the Fade, but Anders' spirit might still have been present when he accepted Justice, leading to conflict. Solas does say, after all "Spirits wish to join the living, and a demon is that wish gone wrong." Remove tin foil hats. Re: Wynne/Faith and Anders/Justice .... I think part of the problem there was the nature of the spirits themselves. Wynne's spirit never actively tried to take control or direct Wynne. Justice however is much more proactive and needs to be involved simply by its very nature. This does not work out so well in the physical realm because, as much as we might like it to be, justice is not black and white. It can be much more complex than that. But Justice the spirit is very rigidly defined. As a concept, the idea of Justice is a great one. In practice it's ... complicated and a spirit seems to have difficulties with complexities like that. However, IF your theory is correct then it would seem that simply the act of assuming mortal form (and not simply possessing a physical body) fundamentally changes spirits. I say this because Solas will draw a contrast between when a spirit dies and when a mortal dies and I don't think he has any reason to deceive us on this point. Also, evidenced by Cole. He does become different if he becomes more human than if he becomes more spirit.
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Post by ladyiolanthe on Sept 20, 2016 1:23:57 GMT
Re: Wynne/Faith and Anders/Justice .... I think part of the problem there was the nature of the spirits themselves. Wynne's spirit never actively tried to take control or direct Wynne. Justice however is much more proactive and needs to be involved simply by its very nature. This does not work out so well in the physical realm because, as much as we might like it to be, justice is not black and white. It can be much more complex than that. But Justice the spirit is very rigidly defined. As a concept, the idea of Justice is a great one. In practice it's ... complicated and a spirit seems to have difficulties with complexities like that. However, IF your theory is correct then it would seem that simply the act of assuming mortal form (and not simply possessing a physical body) fundamentally changes spirits. I say this because Solas will draw a contrast between when a spirit dies and when a mortal dies and I don't think he has any reason to deceive us on this point. Also, evidenced by Cole. He does become different if he becomes more human than if he becomes more spirit. You may be right about the Wynne/Faith and Anders/Justice thing - I suppose time will tell! As for your second paragraph - agreed. I think the spirit assuming a physical form absolutely changes the spirit. And if Solas was once a spirit, he is absolutely changed. That might be part of his problem, possibly? He is/was a Pride/Wisdom/possibly Freedom spirit but taking on the physical form added to his complexity, which, as you say, seems to be a tricky thing for spirits to deal with. That being said, pride demons/spirits are reputed to be the ones most like humans. So he might have a leg up there. At one point on the old thread I did muse about how it might be possible that spirits (or a portion of them, anyway) increase in complexity the older they get. When Solas' friend Wisdom dies, he tells you how her wisp might eventually become something else, though it won't be the Wisdom he knew. Solas also does tell a Cole who we've chosen to become more human-like that he has chosen a difficult path - does he mean one of becoming more and more complex? I sort of wondered if Koslun was describing (knowingly or unknowingly, I cannot say) spirits taking on a physical form when he was inspired to write Canto 1 of The Body Canto: Existence is a choice.There is no chaos in the world, only complexity.Knowledge of the complex is wisdom.From wisdom of the world comes wisdom of the self.Mastery of the self is mastery of the world. Loss of the self is the source of suffering.Suffering is a choice, and we can refuse it.It is in our own power to create the world, or destroy it.I know that I don't have enough to draw any real conclusions about any of this, but that's why I put on a tinfoil hat when bringing it up. I definitely wouldn't consider it a "theory" since theories are generally supported by a large body of evidence. Most fan "theories" are really not theories.
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Post by Elessara on Sept 20, 2016 1:57:29 GMT
Re: Wynne/Faith and Anders/Justice .... I think part of the problem there was the nature of the spirits themselves. Wynne's spirit never actively tried to take control or direct Wynne. Justice however is much more proactive and needs to be involved simply by its very nature. This does not work out so well in the physical realm because, as much as we might like it to be, justice is not black and white. It can be much more complex than that. But Justice the spirit is very rigidly defined. As a concept, the idea of Justice is a great one. In practice it's ... complicated and a spirit seems to have difficulties with complexities like that. However, IF your theory is correct then it would seem that simply the act of assuming mortal form (and not simply possessing a physical body) fundamentally changes spirits. I say this because Solas will draw a contrast between when a spirit dies and when a mortal dies and I don't think he has any reason to deceive us on this point. Also, evidenced by Cole. He does become different if he becomes more human than if he becomes more spirit. You may be right about the Wynne/Faith and Anders/Justice thing - I suppose time will tell! <snip> I know that I don't have enough to draw any real conclusions about any of this, but that's why I put on a tinfoil hat when bringing it up. I definitely wouldn't consider it a "theory" since theories are generally supported by a large body of evidence. Most fan "theories" are really not theories. Actually, these are three possible definitions of "theory": a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural and subject to experimentation contemplation or speculation guess or conjecture So, theory is as good a word as any
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Post by ladyiolanthe on Sept 20, 2016 2:00:14 GMT
You may be right about the Wynne/Faith and Anders/Justice thing - I suppose time will tell! <snip> I know that I don't have enough to draw any real conclusions about any of this, but that's why I put on a tinfoil hat when bringing it up. I definitely wouldn't consider it a "theory" since theories are generally supported by a large body of evidence. Most fan "theories" are really not theories. Actually, these are three possible definitions of "theory": a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural and subject to experimentation contemplation or speculation guess or conjecture So, theory is as good a word as any D'oh... my science background is getting in the way.
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Post by Element Zero on Sept 20, 2016 2:29:10 GMT
*snip* ( I've seen fan art of Solas with Mythal's vallaslin, but haven't encountered any lore to suggest why.) *snip* Fan artists base that on one of Cole's cryptic comments in Trespasser: "He did not want a body. But she asked him to come. He left a scar when he burned her off his face." Since a lot of Cole's Trespasser comments seem to be about Solas, the assumption is that "he" is Solas, "she" is Mythal, and what he burned off his face was Mythal's vallaslin, and that's why he has a little scar on his forehead. I think a burn scar would leave a bit more of a mark, personally, but who knows when magic is involved. Support for "he" being Solas and "she" being Mythal in this case is largely based on all the Fen'Harel statues in close proximity to Mythal statues that we see throughout the ruins we travel through in Trespasser. I remember this comment by Cole, now. I did think of Solas and Mythal when I heard it, but I'm not ready to jump to conclusions about her having "given Solas a body", yet. The implications would be huge. It's one possibility, certainly, but not at the top of my personal list. I love Cole. He's a font of cryptic lore. Eventually, everything he's said will make sense.
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Post by ellawyn on Sept 20, 2016 2:34:07 GMT
I do think there's some merit to the idea that spirits have a connection with mortals in some way, and that abominations are that connection taken to an extreme. Mages probably have some sort of spirit self, since they dream of the Fade, where only spirits live. Maybe the Chantry splits hairs by saying that's the mage's "soul" that goes to the Fade when they sleep, but I imagine if you asked someone like Solas or Cole, they'd tell you that a soul and a spirit are the same thing, just one has a body (And the complexity that goes with it) and the other doesn't. I'm not sure what else could explain why mages dream of the Fade, besides the idea that they already have some presence there. I do second the "Justice/Anders went wrong because Justice was screwed up, not because they were two spirits in one body" thing, though. The problem with demons, I think is that they want to come to the mortal world and take a body like Cole, but that's impossible for them to do, so instead they hijack one. Since they don't want to share the body but instead want full control, things go wrong. Spirits like Faith, in contrast, are just dropping by. They don't really care about being part of the mortal world as much as they care about witnessing it, and helping those who support their purpose. Which is why Faith/Wynne turned out okay.
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Post by Elessara on Sept 20, 2016 2:36:18 GMT
Fan artists base that on one of Cole's cryptic comments in Trespasser: "He did not want a body. But she asked him to come. He left a scar when he burned her off his face." Since a lot of Cole's Trespasser comments seem to be about Solas, the assumption is that "he" is Solas, "she" is Mythal, and what he burned off his face was Mythal's vallaslin, and that's why he has a little scar on his forehead. I think a burn scar would leave a bit more of a mark, personally, but who knows when magic is involved. Support for "he" being Solas and "she" being Mythal in this case is largely based on all the Fen'Harel statues in close proximity to Mythal statues that we see throughout the ruins we travel through in Trespasser. I remember this comment by Cole, now. I did think of Solas and Mythal when I heard it, but I'm not ready to jump to conclusions about her having "given Solas a body", yet. The implications would be huge. It's one possibility, certainly, but not at the top of my personal list. I love Cole. He's a font of cryptic lore. Eventually, everything he's said will make sense. To me, Cole's comment wasn't that Mythal gave Solas a body but rather that Mythal wanted Solas to assume physical form, presumably to aid her; he didn't want a physical form but she asked him to so he did. If that's who Cole is talking about. But yeah, Cole says a lot of interesting things.
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Post by Elessara on Sept 20, 2016 2:38:38 GMT
I do think there's some merit to the idea that spirits have a connection with mortals in some way, and that abominations are that connection taken to an extreme. Mages probably have some sort of spirit self, since they dream of the Fade, where only spirits live. Maybe the Chantry splits hairs by saying that's the mage's "soul" that goes to the Fade when they sleep, but I imagine if you asked someone like Solas or Cole, they'd tell you that a soul and a spirit are the same thing, just one has a body (And the complexity that goes with it) and the other doesn't. I'm not sure what else could explain why mages dream of the Fade, besides the idea that they already have some presence there. The way I understood it was that *everyone* went to the Fade in their dreams, mage or not? It's just only mages could be aware of it and even then only Dreamers have full consciousness and control when they dreamed. Or did I misunderstand the lore?
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Post by Element Zero on Sept 20, 2016 3:00:35 GMT
I remember this comment by Cole, now. I did think of Solas and Mythal when I heard it, but I'm not ready to jump to conclusions about her having "given Solas a body", yet. The implications would be huge. It's one possibility, certainly, but not at the top of my personal list. I love Cole. He's a font of cryptic lore. Eventually, everything he's said will make sense. To me, Cole's comment wasn't that Mythal gave Solas a body but rather that Mythal wanted Solas to assume physical form, presumably to aid her; he didn't want a physical form but she asked him to so he did. If that's who Cole is talking about. But yeah, Cole says a lot of interesting things. I'm not ready to jump on the "elves were bodiless spirits" bandwagon just yet; nor to believe that Solas was ever anything more than an elf. It's certainly possible, but there just isn't any solid evidence. There isn't a lot of solid evidence for most theories, at this point. I suspect that the next game will answer many questions regarding that era.
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Post by midnight tea on Sept 20, 2016 3:10:05 GMT
I do think there's some merit to the idea that spirits have a connection with mortals in some way, and that abominations are that connection taken to an extreme. Mages probably have some sort of spirit self, since they dream of the Fade, where only spirits live. Maybe the Chantry splits hairs by saying that's the mage's "soul" that goes to the Fade when they sleep, but I imagine if you asked someone like Solas or Cole, they'd tell you that a soul and a spirit are the same thing, just one has a body (And the complexity that goes with it) and the other doesn't. I'm not sure what else could explain why mages dream of the Fade, besides the idea that they already have some presence there. The way I understood it was that *everyone* went to the Fade in their dreams, mage or not? It's just only mages could be aware of it and even then only Dreamers have full consciousness and control when they dreamed. Or did I misunderstand the lore? No, that's about it, from my understanding. The difference between mages/dreamers is ability to consciously roam the Fade. Although, according to Solas, anybody who can dream has the potential to be able to interact with spirits in the Fade, so I assume it's also matter of training.
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Post by Elessara on Sept 20, 2016 3:16:50 GMT
To me, Cole's comment wasn't that Mythal gave Solas a body but rather that Mythal wanted Solas to assume physical form, presumably to aid her; he didn't want a physical form but she asked him to so he did. If that's who Cole is talking about. But yeah, Cole says a lot of interesting things. I'm not ready to jump on the "elves were bodiless spirits" bandwagon just yet; nor to believe that Solas was ever anything more than an elf. It's certainly possible, but there just isn't any solid evidence. There isn't a lot of solid evidence for most theories, at this point. I suspect that the next game will answer many questions regarding that era. Yeah that's why I try to use the words "if", "maybe", "possibly" etc. We just don't know enough to make any definitive statements although the evidence for "elves were spirits who created physical bodies for themselves" goes beyond just what Cole says, mostly from passages picked up in the Vir Dirthara. But again, no actual proof so whilst I am leaning in that direction I'm not fully committed to that theory. I swear, when BioWare is done with the Dragon Age series I very much want a lore book that's written from an OUT of game perspective. The two World of Thedas books are interesting but, from what I understand, are also written from an in game point of view.
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Post by Amburu on Sept 20, 2016 3:25:41 GMT
[...] pride demons/spirits are reputed to be the ones most like humans. [...] Existence is a choice.There is no chaos in the world, only complexity.Knowledge of the complex is wisdom.From wisdom of the world comes wisdom of the self.Mastery of the self is mastery of the world. Loss of the self is the source of suffering.Suffering is a choice, and we can refuse it.It is in our own power to create the world, or destroy it.this post hurts me in so many ways Someone was asking earlier about how we spec'd our Solases. Well, he walked to us carrying a frost staff, so I assumed it was his favourite branch, also as it's our first mage (AND I SORT OF DRAG HIM EVERYWHERE I GO AHEM) he gets all the spirit skills. I can't help thinking now that he actually masters everything and just grabbed the first random staff lying on the floor right before the explosion lol Now it's just so appropriate for him to be spirit-rift mage aaahhh I give fire to Dorian and the last one to vivi
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Post by Element Zero on Sept 20, 2016 4:02:38 GMT
[...] pride demons/spirits are reputed to be the ones most like humans. [...] Existence is a choice.There is no chaos in the world, only complexity.Knowledge of the complex is wisdom.From wisdom of the world comes wisdom of the self.Mastery of the self is mastery of the world. Loss of the self is the source of suffering.Suffering is a choice, and we can refuse it.It is in our own power to create the world, or destroy it.this post hurts me in so many ways Someone was asking earlier about how we spec'd our Solases. Well, he walked to us carrying a frost staff, so I assumed it was his favourite branch, also as it's our first mage (AND I SORT OF DRAG HIM EVERYWHERE I GO AHEM) he gets all the spirit skills. I can't help thinking now that he actually masters everything and just grabbed the first random staff lying on the floor right before the explosion lol Now it's just so appropriate for him to be spirit-rift mage aaahhh I give fire to Dorian and the last one to vivi I never got around to answering that question. I'm pretty pragmatic in terms of equipment. Since Solas is my primary mage, he gets the highest DPS/damage staff. I prefer something other than electricity damage, due to the bug, but most of the best high-level staves are electrical. I could craft him something else, naturally, but I don't always craft all of my party members gear. Dorian generally gets my next highest DPS staff, and then Vivienne, as I use them in that order of frequency. I build Solas in a pretty specific way each time. From the Spirit Tree he gets Barrier (sometimes upgrade), Peaceful Aura, and Dispel (sometimes upgrade). Rejuvenating Barrier and Life Ward are added at high levels, as would be those possible upgrades listed above. From the Storm Tree he gets Energy Barrage and eventually (maybe) Conductive Current. At high levels, I might toss Static Charge on top. From the Winter Tree he gets his defensive skills: Fade Step (upgraded), Ice Mine (upgraded) and Ice Armor. (If I wanted offense instead of defense, I'd go Inferno Tree with the Immolate -> Fire Mine path.) From the Rift Mage Tree comes the fun. He gets the full tree, with upgrades, minus Firestorm. What makes me appreciate Solas the most, from a gameplay perspective, is that he provides great support and offense with minimal tinkering and meddling on my part. No other mage does anything close. They're all powerful, but he requires no babysitting, and no pre-programming. I really miss him after he's gone. The team takes on a more fragile, almost glass-cannon like feel, with less margin for error, without his timely barriers and amazing combos in play.
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Currently in D&D RPing hell and I love it! *v* <3
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquistion
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CapricornSun
Currently in D&D RPing hell and I love it! *v* <3
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Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquistion
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Post by CapricornSun on Sept 20, 2016 4:12:41 GMT
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Post by sugarquill on Sept 20, 2016 4:28:59 GMT
Hey friends! Just popping back in with a little WIP before I turn in for the night. Coffeeshop modern AU, crossing my fingers that it'll be a full painting w/background and a tiny bit of animation! I hope.
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colonelkillabee
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquistion
XBL Gamertag: Colonelkillabee
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Post by colonelkillabee on Sept 20, 2016 6:12:58 GMT
I do think there's some merit to the idea that spirits have a connection with mortals in some way, and that abominations are that connection taken to an extreme. Mages probably have some sort of spirit self, since they dream of the Fade, where only spirits live. Maybe the Chantry splits hairs by saying that's the mage's "soul" that goes to the Fade when they sleep, but I imagine if you asked someone like Solas or Cole, they'd tell you that a soul and a spirit are the same thing, just one has a body (And the complexity that goes with it) and the other doesn't. I'm not sure what else could explain why mages dream of the Fade, besides the idea that they already have some presence there. The way I understood it was that *everyone* went to the Fade in their dreams, mage or not? It's just only mages could be aware of it and even then only Dreamers have full consciousness and control when they dreamed. Or did I misunderstand the lore? No thats exactly right, minus Dwarves of course.
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colonelkillabee
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquistion
XBL Gamertag: Colonelkillabee
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Post by colonelkillabee on Sept 20, 2016 6:16:46 GMT
I'm not ready to jump on the "elves were bodiless spirits" bandwagon just yet; nor to believe that Solas was ever anything more than an elf. It's certainly possible, but there just isn't any solid evidence. There isn't a lot of solid evidence for most theories, at this point. I suspect that the next game will answer many questions regarding that era. Yeah that's why I try to use the words "if", "maybe", "possibly" etc. We just don't know enough to make any definitive statements although the evidence for "elves were spirits who created physical bodies for themselves" goes beyond just what Cole says, mostly from passages picked up in the Vir Dirthara. But again, no actual proof so whilst I am leaning in that direction I'm not fully committed to that theory. I swear, when BioWare is done with the Dragon Age series I very much want a lore book that's written from an OUT of game perspective. The two World of Thedas books are interesting but, from what I understand, are also written from an in game point of view. It seems imo that it's more than likely the opposite, meaning I think elves were more or less with a body, and the mages found a way to separate from their bodies and even change form entirely. Mythal for instance. Every elf originally was somewhere in the middle, in tuned to their spirits and magic. But this very much is a case of the egg or the chicken.
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colonelkillabee
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Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquistion
XBL Gamertag: Colonelkillabee
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colonelkillabee
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Post by colonelkillabee on Sept 20, 2016 6:23:15 GMT
this post hurts me in so many ways Someone was asking earlier about how we spec'd our Solases. Well, he walked to us carrying a frost staff, so I assumed it was his favourite branch, also as it's our first mage (AND I SORT OF DRAG HIM EVERYWHERE I GO AHEM) he gets all the spirit skills. I can't help thinking now that he actually masters everything and just grabbed the first random staff lying on the floor right before the explosion lol Now it's just so appropriate for him to be spirit-rift mage aaahhh I give fire to Dorian and the last one to vivi I never got around to answering that question. I'm pretty pragmatic in terms of equipment. Since Solas is my primary mage, he gets the highest DPS/damage staff. I prefer something other than electricity damage, due to the bug, but most of the best high-level staves are electrical. I could craft him something else, naturally, but I don't always craft all of my party members gear. Dorian generally gets my next highest DPS staff, and then Vivienne, as I use them in that order of frequency. I build Solas in a pretty specific way each time. From the Spirit Tree he gets Barrier (sometimes upgrade), Peaceful Aura, and Dispel (sometimes upgrade). Rejuvenating Barrier and Life Ward are added at high levels, as would be those possible upgrades listed above. From the Storm Tree he gets Energy Barrage and eventually (maybe) Conductive Current. At high levels, I might toss Static Charge on top. From the Winter Tree he gets his defensive skills: Fade Step (upgraded), Ice Mine (upgraded) and Ice Armor. (If I wanted offense instead of defense, I'd go Inferno Tree with the Immolate -> Fire Mine path.) From the Rift Mage Tree comes the fun. He gets the full tree, with upgrades, minus Firestorm. What makes me appreciate Solas the most, from a gameplay perspective, is that he provides great support and offense with minimal tinkering and meddling on my part. No other mage does anything close. They're all powerful, but he requires no babysitting, and no pre-programming. I really miss him after he's gone. The team takes on a more fragile, almost glass-cannon like feel, with less margin for error, without his timely barriers and amazing combos in play. I forgot about the spirit tree but personally that's because for me, no matter the mage, the spirit tree is a default must, just like a few skills from vanguard are a must for warriors. Solas definitely gets barrier, revival, and a few supporting perks in that tree. In the end I'm guessing that Solas is likely proficient in any branch of magic, as far as what is presented in this game. But for me I finally settled on fire, just to match his veil powers since to me, aside from stone fist, that tree synergizes with fire mine and so on beautifully. Especially because he can pop two out quickly and that kind of damage output is a godsend (literally) on nightmare with trials on. I tend to have my inquisitor attract aggro, and have Solas move behind them after laying on the heat while Conan (me) holds up a shield wall and that's a wrap for most crowds of enemies.
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CapricornSun
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Currently in D&D RPing hell and I love it! *v* <3
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquistion
PSN: CapricornSun83
Posts: 361 Likes: 2,563
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CapricornSun
Currently in D&D RPing hell and I love it! *v* <3
361
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Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquistion
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Post by CapricornSun on Sept 20, 2016 13:19:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2016 14:01:02 GMT
colonelkillabee , I'm pretty sure I heard the Blackwall and Solas banter about beards in my playthrough, but that was about a year ago so I may be mistaken. I heard that banter in my first playthrough when I was still on 360. I haven't heard it since then though. I've wondered if they removed it in a patch. I really want that banter to be canon. Elves can have sideburns. Sideburns are facial hair; therefore, elves should be able to grow beards. Maybe they just have to live a VERY long time for them to fill in. Yes, it was removed in a patch, because I heard it too. Several of the male elf complexions have visible stubble, so I think that it's kind of a case of them using a largely unaltered human base texture, and certain canon facts getting lost in the shuffle to get the game out the door. Same thing happened with Feynriel in DA2, where they gave his model slightly elven features, even though half-elves aren't a thing in Dragon Age, and in DA:I Mythal's avatar in the Well of Sorrows appeared to have a human model despite humans possibly not existing in Thedas when she was in power. It seems like there's often a disconnect between the graphics department and the writing team when it comes to certain details. But then they throw stuff in like the Tiniest Cave that is basically only noticeable because it's conspicuously ringed with lilies and pansies. Which still doesn't tell you what you're supposed to do with it, but eh.
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