Schmooples' Den! The DA News Discussion Thread

ok rad, awesome, woohoo yey etc. Anthem's released! hey biower now lets talk about Dragon Age 4 pls 
 

If you're in any sort of half-competent raiding/endgame guild, the usual source of complaints will be PUGs, regardless of role I'm usually too chill to badmouth poor randos and enjoy helping people beat the content when I'm in a generous mood, but there are times when I just nope myself out of the experience ...

And yes... tanks will usually blame the healer, lol. Everybody will usually blame the healer.

Ugh, all that fondant though.

Well, unless Mythal was in league with him after he rebelled, in fact those statues aren't of the Dread Wolf because he only got that name after he actively started to oppose the Evanuris. It is one of the things that I want cleared up; why was he depicted as a wolf when he was still part of the ruling elite or at least bodyguard to one of them? So it makes sense that the wolf in the statue does look as though it is on-guard but not actively threatening anyone. The same is true of his image when depicted in mosaics alongside other Evanuris. To me it seems as though he was always known as a wolf but after his rebellion he became the DREAD wolf.

There are a couple of reasons this could be the case. The Dalish had a tradition of real wolf guardians for their Emerald Knights, whilst Solas tells us that the original arcane warriors were bodyguards for the nobility. So it is possible that these bodyguards were known as wolves and this is why there are so many wolf statues around Thedas which are in fact generic symbolic representations of the arcane warriors and not specific to Fen-Harel at all. This would explain why he is depicted as a wolf when guarding Mythal. Then the later Dalish recalled the ancient tradition of wolf guardians without realising they were not actual wolves.

The other possibility concerns the servant of Dirthamen who committed treason by daring to fly in the shape of the gods. Mythal refused to show him clemency and gave him to Elgar'nan for judgement. If this servant was in fact Solas, that would account for him having the name "Pride" and then perhaps his punishment was to be forced to take the form of a wolf and serve Mythal. This would then account for why he is always shown as a wolf when guarding her.  In this situation the numerous wolf statues would be to remind the other elves what happens to you if you try to imitate the gods.   Then her death released him from his sentence and allowed him to take elven form once more.

What do we really know? It could have been whilst serving her that he realised that she did genuinely care for her people. Just because he was in wolf form doesn't mean he didn't have an elven intelligence. He could even have been capable of speech. A person can form a very strong relationship with an ordinary dog/wolf but he clearly wasn't one so the relationship would have been more complex. Mythal may well have appreciated that whilst initially forced to serve, ultimately he was genuinely loyal to her and the only person she could absolutely trust. The fact is we actually know very little about their relationship and the scene in the epilogue to DAI and the revelations in Trespasser do not contradict the essence of my theory.

The fact is there is a paradox in there being so many wolf statues clearly on display if this was only after he became an enemy of the Evanuris, which he states was after her death. Then he should not have been depicted as a wolf alongside Mythal at a time when she was clearly alive. Why was his statue placed on guard outside her Temple? Why is there a huge wolf statue overlooking the Exalted Plains? This could only have been constructed before his rebellion.

My experience with PUGs is 50/50. Half the time group is really chill and either chit-chat with each other between mob packs or keep silent even while wiping. The other half... as DPS main I tend to stand on the side of the healer, since it's tanks and/or dps that ignore mechanics (most of the time dots they didn't notice... or fire).

Unless I see that I did more healing as a rogue than healer. And it happened

More like (Hawke voice): Who's a cute puppy?"

Ah soloing dungeon bosses when the rest of the team is dead. Happened to me a few times People who claim you're doing something bad when they're clearly additional mechanics and you're THE ONE that actually does them. And of course they don't dare admit they're the one wrong no matter what. Met those as well. Always a pleasure

Tank better than DPS... Happens as well I find it funny if it happens because of DPS, I facepalm when it happens because game mechanics are broken *Legion Guardian Druid flashbacks* And tanking as DPS is always amusing, at least for me. Good occasion to learn some additional mechanics and survival tactics! I don't even mind bad tanks/heals/DPS in PUGs. I signed for it myself and I shouldn't be mad because it was my turn to get short end of the stick. I feel especially bad for people who want to try new role and get immediately shushed because they're bad. They have to learn somehow and most don't even give that chance.

It wouldn't have been that bad, but I was on my Tank and his DPS is... underwhelming. 
I have to say, that Trial was actually not that badly coordinated. I was the one who was new to the mechanics and just very single-minded about getting the spears. (you have to activate all of them, or the whole group wipes )

John Epler @eplerjc
If we're all going to be living in a bad 90s movie, why can't it be one where someone says 'there's no rule that a dog can't be Narrative Director' and I'm replaced by an adorable golden retriever.