Re: How can one improve weapons and equipment in Dragon age inquisition?

I feel ya on the mountains and chasms. lol

You're definitely missing a lot though.

Lots of stuff has level and class restrictions but that is clearly labeled.

Mages use light armor. Rogues use medium. Warriors use heavy.

Some armor is restricted to only the Inquisitor.

Use the Inspect function before crafting to make sure you can use it on the character you want.

I spend a ton of time crafting. I'm level 11 right now and already doing over 30,000 damage per second with the combined team. Dragons are a one hit kill if planned right. lol

If you can stream a game on Twitch or something,I will give you some really sound advice and even play the game in sync with you to keep up on where you are and what you need....on Easy of course. Easier to stay ahead of you that way. hahaha

Now...my heavy hitting team is from importing several play throughs and using the * out of the Golden Nug...an item you are going to want to research,find and use.

Tell me what class you are,what DLCs you have(if any)and what locations you have unlocked.

I will help you find the stuff you need to get OPAF.

Thank you for the reply. You are clearly much more informed about gaming than I am despite my having played a lot of RPG games for decades. I am playing as a human mage, deluxe version of game with no DLCs, level 20 at the moment and was aware that equipment is restricted to various classes. I have unlocked lots of areas - have almost 150 of power, but there are more to unlock. Often, I am unable to finish an area because some items are utterly impossible to reach. However, despite dozens of schematics and uncounted hundreds of looted items, I have not managed to craft a piece -- say a grip -- and have it fit ANY item I have in inventory, I confess that I need aid in staying awake while crafting -- I think it is the most boring and unpleasant game feature. Reminds me of some old games in which one had to collect ingredients and brew up potions and such. Not entertaining.

You are obviously also more familiar with things such as Twitch (never heard of it) and I have yet to find anything called "* out of the Golden Nug..." and am not an expert at initial slang -- such as OPAF _(??!) Therefore despite your kind efforts I am probably way out of your league. It seems I can keep slashing, burning and killing (never managed even to slightly injure a dragon) or I can assign the game to the trash-heap of foolish purchases.

Thanks for your input.

A.

Ah...the upgrades...

That was a tough one for me to learn as well. Maybe on my second full game.

When you highlight a grip to craft,it tells you at the bottom of the list what specific weapon it will fit.

Say you craft a two handed grip of some sort...it only fits two handed warrior weapons. Some weapons and armor have no upgrade slots and nothing can be attached to them.

Also,when you're choosing materials to make the item,look at the attributes of the materials. Some add to your strength and different resistances.

OPAF is Over Powered As F___... haha

Spending power points should start in the Secrets category. You need a total of 5 in that section to unlock Deft Hands. This lets you pick locks with your rogues. Very important to get the best loot.

Nothing is unreachable but many things are extremely frustrating to reach.

A tip on climbing a hill...follow the grass or darker terrain for traction and jump a lot!.

If you see one of your party is ahead of you on that hill...switch to that character to instantly gain that ground.

Fast travel often. If you are on the wrong side of a mountain but have a camp on that side of the mountain,fast travel to that camp. This works for warp speeding across a region too.

Mages are my least favorite class to play. Pretty weak unless you spend a ton of time perfecting them.

Do the War Table mission...Specializations for the Inquisitor.....Choose the Knight Enchanter school for your mage. The very first ability unlocked in this tree is a good one.

You'll find the instructors at Skyhold,by the barn,after the mission is complete.

They'll ask you to craft an item first. It is tough to find the parts. Use Youtube videos to find the parts.

Twitch is an online streaming site where you can play your game live on the internet for others to watch.

It has a chat box and some use software like Teamspeak and Discord to talk to each other live with a mic.

I just lost a long reply to your kind message and cannot find any way to recover it. I am too tired to redo the whole long thing, I will just say that most of the suggestions are things I have discovered on my own -- but bottom line is they don't do for me what they seem to do for you. Obviously I am doing things wrong, starting with choosing the wrong class of main character. I doubt that I can stand 400 more hours of the same boring missions with a different main character to see if things would turn our differently. I seriously doubt it. But thanks again for your time end effort in trying to help.

A.

Thank you for your suggestions. It is obvious that I come across as more of a fool than I hope I am -- those are things I figured out 400 hours ago. To add insult to injury, the recent upgrade to Origin 10 and the frequent loss of connection to the Origin servers have wreaked havoc with my game with lost missions, the need to repeat things already done, etc. I am reaching a point where keeping up this frustrating and confusing game becomes less and less reasonable. Based on the first two installments of the series -- which made sense and worked -- I made the wrong assumption that this installment would be similar. Wrong again!

But I appreciate your willingness to help.

A.

Second reply to DarkAmaranth1, For some reason your brief and unfortunately not even close to addressing my issues post has somehow gotten a green checkmark as the "solution." I did not mark it as such and with apologies, it solves nothing. Clearly I am as lost in this forum as I am in the game! A Hero can hardly relate to a newbie's issues. I do not know how to remove the mysteriously appeared checkmark.

Notwithstanding all of that, I still appreciate the effort you made to help. Unfortunately the post contained nothing I did not already know, and to quote Faust "Da steh ich nun, ich armer Tor! Und bin so Klug als wie zuvor."

A.

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@Sotetkriss wrote:

Second reply to DarkAmaranth1, For some reason your brief and unfortunately not even close to addressing my issues post has somehow gotten a green checkmark as the "solution." I did not mark it as such and with apologies, it solves nothing. Clearly I am as lost in this forum as I am in the game! A Hero can hardly relate to a newbie's issues. I do not know how to remove the mysteriously appeared checkmark.

Notwithstanding all of that, I still appreciate the effort you made to help. Unfortunately the post contained nothing I did not already know, and to quote Faust "Da steh ich nun, ich armer Tor! Und bin so Klug als wie zuvor."

A.

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That is an issue I complain about a LOT here. Heros exchanging XP and marking solutions with total disregard to whether the post was helpful in any way or just padding their post count.

I'm not saying anyone in this thread does this a lot and I do have specific people in mind...and I'm flirting with a ban by saying so.lol...

But yeah...that is annoying and the OP gets ignored without solutions many times because someone clicks a solution just to give a buddy some stupid XP points.

The fact that ANYONE but the OP can mark a problem solved boggles the mind.

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@Sotetkriss wrote:

I just lost a long reply to your kind message and cannot find any way to recover it. I am too tired to redo the whole long thing, I will just say that most of the suggestions are things I have discovered on my own -- but bottom line is they don't do for me what they seem to do for you. Obviously I am doing things wrong, starting with choosing the wrong class of main character. I doubt that I can stand 400 more hours of the same boring missions with a different main character to see if things would turn our differently. I seriously doubt it. But thanks again for your time end effort in trying to help.

A.

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There's no "wrong" class. Only ones preferred by gamers.

As for my team being as powerful as they are...it's due to the Golden Nug.

The Nug becomes available at Haven and Skyhold AFTER one completion of the game.

What it does is give you schematics to everything you had in the previous game...from the very start of the new game.

I'm able to craft extremely powerful weapons and armor before I ever leave Haven for my first mission.

This means by level 5,my weapons and armor are as powerful as my level 27 character from the previous game...the character in the armor and yielding the weapon is still level 5 squishy but still ten times as strong as your first game at the same point in time.

I use weapons from DLCs that are grossly over powered for the base game.

And no...your posts do not come across as foolish in any way.

This is an incredibly frustrating game to learn which is why it is so fantastic when you start to "get it".

Got it. I started some other characters but have yet to finish the game completely -- hence my lack of knowledge of the Golden Nug. As for DLCs I guess I am too cheap to get them. Seems like a tactic by EA to get you for more  coin!

By the way: Is there a way to remove the bogus checkmark and XP? I tried but failed.

Thanks,

A.

I would be stupid not to mention this...Fade touched Silverite.

Pick up all the Silverite you can and travel back and forth to Emprise as often as possible until you pick up Fade touched Silverite.

As soon as you have Fade touched Silverite in your crafting supplies,go craft some armor with it in the Masterwork slot.

This makes you over powered almost instantly.

It adds 5 points to your armor every time you hit a bad guy. So if you hit them more times than they hit you...you're almost invincible.

Also...using regular Silverite in the main slot on armor removes class restrictions. That's right! Heavy armor for your mages and rogues!

Once you get a super set of armor...go to your stronghold and exploit the duplication glitch in the storage chest.

Deposit that armor or weapon.

Now when you go to withdraw it...hit the deposit and withdraw button at the same time. It will now be in your inventory and STILL IN THE CHEST.

Repeat until you have enough of what you want for the whole team.

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@Sotetkriss wrote:

By the way: Is there a way to remove the bogus checkmark and XP? I tried but failed.

Thanks,

A.

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No.

Sadly...the heros here decide if your issue is solved or not...whether it helps you or not.

Drats!!!! The lady in question is no hero to me.

A.

Okay lets go with Staves since you play a human mage. Lets upgrade one for you. Find a staff that has empty Grip and Blade slots on it and use that for this.

Make sure you have a schematic for a staff grip and a staff blade. use the Weapons crafting machine and click on the little picture of a staff in that window. Find a  Staff Grip Schematic you have the materials to make, then find a Staff Blade you can make.

Notice how choosing different materials affects the stats of the item you are crafting.

Once you get them made, go over to the small bench and click on the UPGRADE Weapons side.

Find your staff in that window and click on it.

Now you see the slots for the grip and the blade.

Click each item there to choose the upgrade to apply.

Over at the right see how the stats of the upgrade piece get added to the staff.

Armor works the same, just use the armor crafting table to make armor upgrades and, the Weapons station to make runes, then follow the same method to apply them.

To upgrade companions just select them instead of you at the upgrade table, same as adding abilities when they level up.

Don't feel bad, a lot of RPG games don't have crafting. And actually I have only played 3 RPG in my life. The Dragon Age series, Rift and, The 4th Coming. Those games all do have crafting so, it's a familiar mechanic to me that I just need to figure out the details of for each game.

Level 20 is pretty good, 27 is the cap so, you're close. And yes there is plenty to discover in the game. I usually play a mage as well - Inferno with the Knight Enchanter specialization or, the Rift Mage specialization, depending on if I am doing a solo run for that game or, using a party. There are other guides online, Dragon Age Wikia is one of the better sites but, this one might help you too DAI Maps and Walkthroughs

Thanks again. There is a lot of been there done that in the post, but I will definitely try some I have not encountered before. Will sign off now, severe electrical storms in my area.

A.

To mckrackin5324

Appreciate the tip  regarding varieties of silverite. Have lots of it, having worked much in the Emprise. However, among scores of recipes for armor creation there is not a single one that comes close in armor rating to the "found" armor that my characters use. Perhaps with a silverite masterwork armor even of a lesser degree, I might still be better off. I'll try it . And along these lines I have all sorts of armor legs, arms and whatnot in inventory -- but none of them are visible or available to modify any armor with. Another cause of my frustration with the crafting process. I have managed to attach a few runes and minor items to some things, but nothing to brag about.

Interesting tidbit about the storage bin exploit, But I suspect that one is a console-only ability because with a keyboard and mouse simultaneous "pushing" of two nonexistent buttons is a bit of a problem. I do not own or plan to acquire a console, having used custom-built high end PCs for all of my computing -- games included. Another drawback of using a PC that benchmarks off the charts is that I have never been able to read any of the hints during scene changes -- they disappear in less than a second and I have not found a way of pausing things to read the "card clues.". May or may not be something where I might have learned something. The frustration of "having to play by the rules!"

A.

@Sotetkriss; Not sure what you're on about with the "frustration of having to play be the rules".  I craft and equip some amazing armour and weapons all the time, even at fairly low levels (once reaching Skyhold, obviously.) 

It took me until my third-or-fourth playthough to understand the crafting system, (which I think is incredibly over complicated as far as the actual *process* is concerned) which allow players to significantly improve their gear in a fairly consistent manner.

The keys are:

a.  Gathering the right supplies (lots of exploring of the regions helps), and;

b.  Acquiring the necessary schematics (using the Golden Nug after multiple playthroughs, or visiting the Black Emporium with lots of gold, helps.)

For example, even at the single-digit level I routinely equip my team with 200+ armour and 100+ dps staves.

And this without any cheats or mods to make it easier.

[EDIT:  Full Disclosure; I use the "Quicker Looting" mod to so I don't have to wait through the bend-down-and-count-to-five  animation sequence every time I gather supplies.]

To: Dark Amaranth

Apologize for the storm interruption when I was planning to make a more complete reply.

Although to a lofty  expert I may seem to be utterly ignorant, I do have a long enough history of RPG gaming to have learned the fundamentals. I even imagined (before encountering Inquisition) that I had a great deal more than the fundamentals. Hubris, no doubt. However, if you had read my original post, you might have seen my assertion that I have studied Wikis, Wikias, walkthroughs and videos. That should have hinted that I have spent lots of time on every single reference you recommend. The fact that I did not glean the information from them that may be hidden in them is my fault. I also know exactly how the creation and upgrading of equipment is done. The one thing that I have not and do not understand is that none of the "found" equipment my characters use, and ALL of which have better armor rating or weapon DPS than ANY of the schematics in the creation bench, ever appear in the upgrade machine. Possibly I have missed the point that what is found cannot be improved, and only things I have created are available for modification. Since anything I could create (I have scores and scores of schematics) would have a lower armor rating or weapon DPS than what I am already equipped with, it has not seemed reasonable to me to create a "worse" item than I already have. An outstanding example of frustration is this example: There is a Youtube video which purports to show how to crate the "best staff in the game." It required starting with Iron Bull's companion quest (successful) followed by several other war-table missions. After completing those there was the "payoff" mission that would deliver the needed schematic. Unfortunately, after all the time wasted, I opened the war table and discovered that the "payoff" mission does not exist. Hours wasted for nothing. This is the sort of thing that makes me wonder why I am wasting my time on a game whose design appears to be the frustration and infuriation of the player with a huge dose of boredom thrown in for good measure. And I actually paid money to  get this program! Foolish, for sure.

I am sure that you can see that everything in your post is something I know, have seen or have done. Which is why my dilemma is not advanced by your undoubtedly well-meant post. Accepted solution? By whom and by what psychotic criterion?

My lack of experience with forums means that this series of conversations has been an eye-opener and puzzler. I had no idea that instead of helping out a fellow gamer for the satisfaction of sharing experiences, the forum is a dog-eat-dog competition for glory and rank and bragging rights, all run by some shadowy clique who decide what is an accepted answer and award points. Personally, people like that I would not ask for advice about dishwashing detergent. To be fair, there does seem to be the occasional unselfish poster who seems to want to help and not for ulterior motives. I wonder if this is the sort of attitude that drives people who participate in "social media." I can't say since I have never even looked at one. And I am definitely getting the message that like Dorothy observed , the forums "are not Kansas any more." I should probably "call the whole thing off."

Thank you for taking the time and effort.

Tschüss,

A.

@Sotetkriss;   You have to ignore some of the responses your queries generate.  Like on social media, anyone and everyone is free to express an opinion and tone-of-voice or body language simply don't get expressed well.

Ich entschuldige mich, wenn Sie das Gefühl nicht willkommen gemacht wurden.

[EDIT:  And I play exclusively on the PC.  Don't own, or want, a console or a game controller.]

Dear Thandal,

I am suitably grateful for all attempts to help, and must admit I never expected to be a "Hero magnet." I have already noted elsewhere that I have yet to complete the game even once -- which is why I was looking for advice -- and therefore I do not have the advantages that apparently accrue from multiple playthroughs. I also have no DLCs and no desire for cheats or mods. As for the Black Emporium, that was on a previous installment of the series. One that actually made sense and bamboozled me into getting the third installment. Little did I know...

Forgive me for declaring that even if I were to finish the current playthrough (which is very much in doubt), the idea of doing another sounds to me like offering your other hand to someone who has just pulled off all your fingernails on the first one. Masochism. Not into it. I am suitably amazed at those of you who do it. Gluttons for punishment? Furthermore I have better things to do than waste my time -- again -- on a game I find exceedingly annoying. Still. I like to finish a game at least once. There have been a few I have discarded for sheer insults to my intelligence -- and this one may well join that elite group.

Also, even if things actually worked for me in this game, the enormous amount of boredom is mind-numbing. The endless plucking of spindle weed  and all the rest of the "farming." Strictly for the under 80 IQ set. I understand why you chose a mod which make that a wee bit less annoying.  And there is no better example of boredom than crafting. Basket-weaving seems exciting in comparison.

As for your first question kindly read my previous post again. "By the rules" refers to the storage crate cheat that I was told about. I do not cheat. I do not mod. I do not use a console.

Incidentally, as a Hero you might know what is wrong with this forum's word processing function. Spontaneous alteration of words into typos, run-on characters make it a challenge to create posts.

Thank you for your Heroic attempt to educate me. Although it did not work, never doubt that I appreciate the time and effort in writing your post. Not enough to mark it as the solution or to award  bragging points (which is the job of the "Dark Cabal anyway. I have commented on this to another Hero whose totally useless and unhelpful post was so marked and awarded. Not by me, of course), but I am commensurately grateful.

Sincerely,

A.

Es ist immer gemütlich einen Landsmann (oder ich vermute ein Deutsch-sprechender) zu treffen. Sie haben meinen Zitat von Goethe bemerkt. Prosit! Wen sie vielleicht  Französisch, Japanisch, Ungarisch, Italienisch, Russish, Vlaams, Afrikaans oder Kannada verwenden wünschen, stehe ich aut Ihre Verfügung.

Grüss Gott,

A.

I play on PC by the way.

I just use a controller for this game because it's not fast paced enough to sit at a desk for hours on end. lol

Even with mouse and keyboard,you should be able to hit two keys at a time at the storage chest. I'll try later to confirm.

This game's crafting is unlike any others I've played so just hang in there. When it finally clicks,you're instantly a DAI master.

Sotekris;

As I noted in my first reply, I didn't even bother with crafting until after my first few times through the game.  As you observed, crafting can be very confusing.  Because I don't play games like this to be frustrated (except by my own mistakes) I ignored that part and just used the items I found or purchased.

Something I've learned about DAI is that it's almost too big. The one piece of advice I wish I'd had before my first go at the game was: "Get OUT of the Hinterlands!"  I had no idea that there was no point in trying to "finish" a region as if it were a level in a dungeon, or that there would be plenty of opportunities to come back, or that there could be encounters that the Party was nowhere near ready to win until much later in the game.  Plus, I'm a "Completionist" and yet it's literally impossible to "complete" DAI because some of the requisition quests re-occur endlessly.

My take-away:  Do the side-quests and missions that interest you... and ignore the rest.  When in doubt simply check your Journal and if nothing else appeals, continue with the "Inquisitor's Path".  😎

[EDIT:  The Black Emporium is a free  DLC for DAI.  Read about it here.  (And yes, the Mirror of Transformation is still there.) Log-on to EA/Origins, right-click on the game title and choose "Show Game Details", then "Extra Content".  Scroll down and you'll find it!  🤓]

Yep.

I'm level 15 now with maxed out everything in my gear and I haven't even started the main quest yet.

Here lies the abyss and Wicked eyes wicked hearts are still glowing on the war table. lol

Excellent points! Thanks!

A.

Wicked Eyes would have driven me to drink -- except I am allergic to alcohol and hence a teetotaler.