What did you do today in DA? [Spoilers]

--I fired the game back up and finished the Hissing Wastes. I didn't use my mount once and I enjoy the nighttime setting.  I love the dwarf lore as well and I was very happy to see it in the main game.   I also enjoy hearing Varric's mixed feelings about the dwarves. A mix of pride, shame and hurt. I got all of the goodies and took out the Sandy Howler. Compared to the Highland Ravager, she's a piece of cake. That's it for the high dragons in southern Thedas.

--Did a major upgrade to Bianca. Took "her" from 146 dps to 215 dps. Varric does some killer damage now.

--THEY NERFED THE THICK LONGBOW GRIP! That is the tier 3 longbow grip that I was using on my first character. They nerfed the second leather slot by one. So I can "only" get a total of 96% crit. It's nothing to cry over, but I was not a happy rogue.

--On a RP level, Rowan is starting to question Solas a bit. In some banter, Solas remarks on how he's surprised that the dwarves never tried to unite or retake the Deep Roads. Varric talks about how there is plenty of dwarves on the surface living their own lives. That they don't miss the Stone. Solas sharply remarks that they are still missing what they've never known.

That gave my character pause. She prides herself on not being Dalish nor from the city. She identified with Solas, in the sense that she was a person and not defined by the shape of her ears. However, his comments to Varric made her start to question Solas' motives. She's in love and that blinded her to some extent. Rowan also wondered where Solas got off talking to Varric like that.

She was also puzzled by his horror at the thought of killing the Old Gods before they became an issue.  It makes sense to her, but is wondering why Solas is so upset.  He's starting to change. He's sounding more stubborn and single-minded than she had heard him be up to this point. She doesn't like this side of him.

--Did Vivienne's personal quest. I always go for the real wyvern heart. It's one of the few times in the game where Vivi seems like a real person and not someone climbing the ladder of power. Too bad that lasts only until you meet the Duke's family.

--I realized that I need to slow down a bit and do Abyss. That way I can save the Wardens before I run out of things to do other than Trespasser.  I've still got both DLC zones, Varric's main personal quest, Cole's quest (which takes all of about 30 minutes including the follow-up conversation,) and the Well left to go.  I should have enough time to get back to the WT as needed after Abyss.  I'm not looking forward to Solas losing his shit.

--I used my final piece of Guard +3 mats for Dorian. I know that Solas isn't going to be around for Trespasser, and I don't like Vivienne much. So Dorian is going to replace Solas. Well, after a respec once I beat Cory. Necromancy is such a joke in this game.

Guard is great because it's a lot like barrier. If you combine Guard and Barrier on a mage, they are damned near untouchable. It makes it worth your while to harvest any obsidian you see. Bare in mind that there are two types of Fade-Touched Obsidian. One of them adds a 10% chance of Chain Lightning on hit for 75% damage. So keep that in mind.

Dumb question; if you wait until after the main game to do the DLC, do you have Solas for JOH and Descent?

Today, Katriel and her companions stormed Suledin Keep....twice. One of the nasty surprises they found in the keep was that the Red Templars were using the red lyrium on giants. 



There were two giants.  After killing the first one, they had to return to camp to get resupplied before taking out the second one.  After killing the giants and many Red Templars, they finally come face to face with the Demon (AKA Choice Spirit), Imshael.



This bizarre demon was able to shapeshift into numerous demonic forms including Rage Demon and Pride Demon:



After finally defeating the Demon, they claim the Keep for the Inquisition.



Katriel then returned to Skyhold to turn over all the evidence collected to Cullen.  He, in turn, discovered that much of what the Red Templars doing was building an extraordinarily tough armor made of Red Lyrium for Corypheus' general, Samson, so that he could act as Corypheus' "Vessel."  Cullen then went to work trying to locate Samson while Dagna the Arcanist got busy trying to find a way to defeat the armor.

While Cullen was pursuing his leads on Samson, Katriel and her companions returned to Crestwood to kill the dragon - a Northern Hunter - which was terrorizing the village.  After killing the dragon, they closed the last two rifts and left Crestwood free of demons and monsters.

The group also returned to the Hinterlands where Solas' research revealed an important rift that had to be sealed.  After sealing several remaining rifts, Katriel went with Dorian to Redcliffe where he had a tense meeting with his estranged father.

Finally, after receiving a report from Leliana about Venatori activities in the Hissing Wastes, located in Western Thedas, Katriel and her companions set out for the Hissing Wastes and found a desert filled with Dwarven ruins, extraordinary raw materails.....and many Venatori!

Well, this is what I had initially gotten done earlier. That was before I realized I screwed up nicely. Since the outcomes are going to be the same I'll share.

--Did the Siege of Adamant. I noticed while I was there that the music is something of a remix. It's a cross between a sad but epic version of "The Dawn Will Come," and "In Uthenera" (the theme for the HoF in DA:O.) It hit me right in the heart too.

--Varric, Cass and Solas were all the poor bastards that ended up falling into the Fade with Rowan. The Nightmare is probably one of my favorite bosses in the game. He talks a lot of smack, has a kick ass voice and (when fought at level) is a challenging boss fight. I enjoy that segment.

--I left Stroud behind in the Fade. I do have a DA:I session planned for down the road that will involve my bitchy Hawke. Pro-Templar, Pro-Aggression, Anti-Anders in every way. The kicker? This will be a new world state, where Alistair will be a Grey Warden. Why? Because that's the only way I won't feel guilty about ditching one of my Hawkes in the Fade.  The Wardens joined the Inquisition.

--Watched the cutscene with Morrigan. That's another sequence I've always liked. It was another case where the lore expanded without Cory needing to be involved. It helps he was a motivator, but that is a call back to the first DA:O. Particularly the Dalish Warden.

--Rowan beheaded the Tevinter idiot with her own blade, and sent Ser Ruth to the mines.  You know, I always have wondered how a non-warrior wields that thing so well.  It's funniest to me as a elven mage, but I digress.

--Got to the rooftop chat with Sera. I always did like that and it explained a lot about the character. Sera is slowly growing on me. She's definitely Rowan's kid sister. I find it sweet.

--Did Blackwall's quest. I kept him in the Inquisition as a freed man. I enjoy that quest a lot. For one, the character reveal/development is awesome. The voice acting on all of the major players (the IQ, Cullen and Blackwall) are excellent and so spot on. I've changed the color of his armor to match everyone else's. Also upgraded his weapons and his arm/leg slots. He's going with me to the Deep Roads. Why? Because it amuses me and I need a bit of a break from Cass.

--Did Cole's sidequest as well. I made him more human, which I still prefer. I remember the only time I kept him as as spirit. It was on my very first character, my dwarf. It unnerved me so much that I vowed never to do it again. I can make up the lost affection with Solas anyhow.

--Edit:  I forgot to mention that I also had knocked out Varric's quest.  I still wish that I could have had the option to talk back to Bianca.  Even better, have her as judgement.  Rowan judged a guy for throwing goats at walls; her own party member for his crimes.  I think Bianca got off scot-free because I think she's a Writer's Pet.  I had several rants about her on the old BSN right after I'd played that sequence for the first time.

So, you guys might be asking why I said that this was what I had done, but screwed up?

The Wardens died because I wasn't paying close enough attention. I sent Cullen out on the Find the Source of the Darkspawn WT mission. Apparently this will weaken the Wardens so even if you pick the right choices afterwards, the Wardens are wiped out.

I fucking hate that quest chain. I apologize, but wow. I try to avoid cussing much in this thread, but man....

I groaned and went back to my save I'd made right after I got back to Skyhold. Here's exactly what you need to do to not kill off the remaining Wardens after Adamant. Presuming you let them into the Inquistion of course:

Find the Source of the Darkspawn: Leliana
Pursue Marquise Bouffon: Leliana
Defeat Marquise Bouffon: Josie or Leliana
Destroy the Darkspawn Outbreak: Cullen, always.

If you screw up any of those quests, kiss the Wardens goodbye.

olnorton

Wow! You have a very lovely elven Warden there. Very nicely done. It makes me miss some of the hairstyles from DA:O and DA:2.

So, it may be my phone trying to save me data even though I'm totally connected to my work's WIFI.

But all of you guy's imgur pics are just links to me. are they supposed to be just links? I way prefer the embedded pictures under spoilers. If my vote matters. Bit again. Maybe it's my phone.

Yesterday, I tried to fire up a Daz3D to start working on a figure that would look like Zevran. I heavily underestimated the learning curve. I felt a bit defeated, but now I'm recalling how awful I was at video games when I first started trying to control movement and camera at the same time. Of I learn the program now, my DA fan graphic novel I have planned with eventually be quite swift. It's just initially, I have to learn, And make all my Dragon Age "Barbie dolls" a tad from scratch. Because the hair and clothes of Thedas is not "ken and Victoria at the beach".

I think it is probably your phone.
I am posting as I always have, and when I view them in Internet Explorer 11, I see a 640x360 pixel image that I can click on twice to see full size.
The top image of jdbuzz's post I see as 662x755, but clicking on it just closes it down.
I have been putting quite a lot of images under one spoiler tag lately though, so maybe it's a memory thing.
Could you see deadlydwarf's screenshot where he only has a single image?
I should probably cut down on the number of screen shots.

You have been placed in a queue, but your vote matters to us.

Your PC emerged from a catastrophic blast and from the Fade with an extraordinary power and a poor memory for what really happened.  Many who know something about what happened at the Temple will think it all a miracle and your PC really can't definitively deny it.  Put yourself in their shoes...

My PCs generally just say I don't know.  My current Dalish PC simply reminds people she's not even an Andrastian.

This is from imgur, does it show up on your phone?

Kay. Olnorton imgur pix showed up. But deadly dwarf's doesn't.

Weird.

Correct. The top picture is just a link.

I use flickr and copy/paste direct photo links here.