Dragon Age Inquisition and DLC...?

You can play Descent and Jaws of Hakkon whenever you want, technically, but the enemies are really nasty in both areas, so it is recommended to wait until at least level 12 or so. That said, you can always enter either area, test out your skills, and if the fights are too tough, just come back later.

I think the Jaws story fits better after Corypheus is defeated because it just doesn't feel that dire (even compared to Descent), but party banter will assume Corypheus has not been defeated.

Trespasser must be played at the absolute end of the game, when you have nothing else you'd like to do with that Inquisitor. Once you start Trespasser, you will lose access to all other areas of the map and will be unable to go back to finish any other quests (unless you go back later to load an older save, of course).

That's hard to say without knowing what else you've played and enjoyed. From your original post, it looks like you haven't finished Origins and haven't played DA2 at all. If you intend to jump straight into DAI, I strongly recommend at least familiarizing yourself with the events of both prior games, as well as some of the returning characters.

(Don't let bad press over DA2 put you off trying that game, by the way. Sure, some people hate it, and it has its downsides because its development was rushed, but plenty of people enjoy the game, its characters, and its protagonist. DA2 is actually my favorite Dragon Age game, and the story of DAI was originally intended to be a continuation of Hawke's story, so the events of DA2 help to explain the worldstate of DAI.)

As for DAO's DLC, I had only the Awakening expansion pack the first time I played (which must be played after the main game), and only Shale (Stone Prisoner) the second time, and the game still made perfect sense without all the others. Don't worry too much about when to play those DLC. That's probably why the answers you got were all over the place.

Would it be safe to assume that you joined these boards because you've been playing Andromeda? Or is that just a coincidence? If you have been, I could make some comparisons between the games that might help you decide. I think they're actually quite similar, though I like DAI a whole lot better.


I've logged 474 hours in DAI according to Origin, and that is across three playthroughs, so it's safe to say that I enjoy the game and think it's worth playing A word of caution, though: one of the first areas of the game that you will visit is called The Hinterlands. This is a sprawling region full of quest markers and low-level mobs that will absolutely suck the enjoyment out of the game if you stay there...at least, if you're anything like me. I was already invested in the world of Thedas by that point, but I had to force myself to play those early hours of Inquisition because I thought I had to finish up everything in the Hinterlands before moving on. Don't do that. Gain enough power to open up another area of the map, and then go explore elsewhere if you find yourself getting bogged down. Don't worry overly much about unlocking areas in the "wrong" order. The game will mostly prevent that from happening.

There are fetch quests and collection quests galore, so only complete the ones you find interesting...unless you're a completionist, I guess.

You will be limited to 8 powers/abilities during combat, one of which will likely be taken up by the Inquisitor-only power later in the game, so you won't have the two (or three?) full "quick bars" of Neverwinter Nights, nor the multitude of options of DAO and DA2. Party tactics have been dumbed down compared to DAO and DA2, but they at least still exist. You can pause combat to issue orders, or even take control of your party members during combat or while you roam the countryside. You cannot change weapons while in combat.

The main story is actually fairly short, with the rest of the game being taken up by side quests, companion quests, and fetch quests. Some of the side quests are pretty interesting and vital for gameplay or story, while others are skippable. 

There's a lot more I could say, but I'm not sure what specifically you'd find helpful. So...let me know if any of that helped, I guess

yeah you pretty much summed it up nicely there.