[GUIDE] DAI DLCs, When to Play Jaws of Hakkon & The Descent

I tend to do the same as Heimdall. Whilst you could argue the Descent should be earlier in view of the fact that it is the Breach which unsettled the Titan, that could also be true of Corypheus re-opening the Breach at the end of the main game, particularly as that time round he was levitating entire mountains. As for Jaws of Hakkon there is no real connection at all with the main game, apart from it being the history of the former Inquisitor. It does fit far better in the time period between the end of the threat from Corypheus and the Exalted Council.

As for game mechanics, Corypheus is already ridiculously easy if you take him on after completing the majority of the content in the main game. Taking him on after playing the two DLCs would border on the absurd. Also there are some sections in Jaws of Hakkon, particularly some side-quests that are intended for a higher level player so might prove too challenging if you took them on too early.

Also, whilst it might make more sense to do the Descent before Jaws of Hakkon in terms of cause and effect - as I say you can argue the Breach at the end is what wakes the Titan - if you do them in the order in which they were released you do get a useful extra skill attached to the anchor in the Frostback Basin which comes in handy against the bolters of the Sha-Brytol. So I suppose that comes down to how challenging you want the fight against them to be.

Since Jaws of Hakkon has ties to Elvhen Lore, I recommend doing it sometime before the last battle at least once. I can see why it might not make sense RP wise, since there are more pressing matters.

I usually do Descent mid-game, about the time Red Water opens up (@ level 16). The fights are easier at levels 16-20 than if you wait until past level 20. Plus, I'm already at the Storm Coast. It's pretty easy to head-canon how devastating an interruption to the lyrium supply would be, regardless whether you recruited Templars or mages for the Breach, so making it a top priority isn't hard to justify.

JoH I almost always do after the main game since, as others have noted, it isn't really connected to the main story. The only exception is if I want to bring Solas with me. Recommended level for it is 20, and they really aren't kidding. The enemies start at level 20 so if you are underpowered, you'll get creamed. Descent enemies scale, so if you are lower level, so are they.

The OP in this case is written as a question, so I'll leave Mel's comment as an answer to that. 

In guides where the OP is a collection of knowledge then feel free to tag me with titbits you think should be included

Whenever you do them, definitely do JoH (or at least the beginning of JoH) before Descent. Without getting too spoilery, something you get early on will make some difficult Descent fights much easier.

If you have a rogue with permastealth (Skirmisher or Shot from the Shadows), I believe you can technically get to that point in JoH without any combat, so it’s possible to snag at quite a low level.

Narratively prefer them after Cory. But I hate that the romances break post Cory so due to that, I would play Descent during base game so I could come back for nooky as wanted. Suffer romance-less through JoH post Cory, then fly to Trespasser for a resumption of normal stuff.

It just occurred to me that I've only ever played the DLC as one character out of 5 because I really have to be loving the romance and the character to be spending that much extra time with them.

I like playing JOH after the main story with a Solas romance because of the lore, the statues that remind her of the place Solas took her to, and a certain line from Ameridan to her at the end.

I play Descent right after JOH and then head right into Trespasser.

Both of those dlcs kicked my ass and made me cry like a school girl about the 1st 4 times I tried them.

I tend to alternate between Descent and UJaws really lik edo a section of Jaws then follow it up with a section of Descent.