Dragon Age: Inquistion

Edit history:

DashingSplash: 2014-12-04 04:55:59 am

2014-12-04 04:42:32 am

Thanks for the step-by-step on the item dupe. Works every time~ (:

Oh, that's a really nice find. So, once we get to Crestwood we will not have to worry about power again. I did actually find a way to clip into the keep, and you only need to fight the boss of the keep: http://www.twitch.tv/dashingsplash/c/5615805 (When I tried to clip doors, I tried with Flask of Lightning after I had respecced Sera) A bit faster than destroying the front door and confront everyone. But, it would have been awesome to just get to claim the keep at once. I did notice that the door leading to the dam is available after going over with Sera on the ledge, but I couldn't clip through the door. Perhaps we can skip claiming the keep if we can clip through those doors? I also tried to replicate the slingshot you did with Solas, but couldn't. Perhaps, some sort of setup is required, but the spot you used is on a spot that allows you to walk directly to the tavern of the dam. Also, why the door to the boss/keep flag didn't open the first time I did it was because I forgot to kill an enemy that fell down.

Which difficulty were you playing on? We will go with easy, right? That should probably make it a bit easier on that part. I still think keeping Sera is a good decision though, as the Tempest glitch is still rather powerful. So perhaps Vivienne, Sera, and Cassandra (as Templar seems OP aswell) is a good trio? Or, perhaps Iron Bull is a better choice instead of Cassandra?

Ogam, is it possible for you to do a video of claiming the Emprise du Lion Keep using the clipping through doors? Would be really useful to see it.

Thanks for the step-by-step on the item dupe. Works every time~ (:

Oh, that's a really nice find. So, once we get to Crestwood we will not have to worry about power again. I did actually find a way to clip into the keep, and you only need to fight the boss of the keep: http://www.twitch.tv/dashingsplash/c/5615805 (When I tried to clip doors, I tried with Flask of Lightning after I had respecced Sera) A bit faster than destroying the front door and confront everyone. But, it would have been awesome to just get to claim the keep at once. I did notice that the door leading to the dam is available after going over with Sera on the ledge, but I couldn't clip through the door. Perhaps we can skip claiming the keep if we can clip through those doors? I also tried to replicate the slingshot you did with Solas, but couldn't. Perhaps, some sort of setup is required, but the spot you used is on a spot that allows you to walk directly to the tavern of the dam. Also, why the door to the boss/keep flag didn't open the first time I did it was because I forgot to kill an enemy that fell down.

Which difficulty were you playing on? We will go with easy, right? That should probably make it a bit easier on that part. I still think keeping Sera is a good decision though, as the Tempest glitch is still rather powerful. So perhaps Vivienne, Sera, and Cassandra (as Templar seems OP aswell) is a good trio? Or, perhaps Iron Bull is a better choice instead of Cassandra?

Ogam, is it possible for you to do a video of claiming the Emprise du Lion Keep using the clipping through doors? Would be really useful to see it.

letterswords

2014-12-04 05:53:21 am

twitch.tv/letterswords

If we can replicate what I did we never need to even claim the keep. The tavern door is open without claiming the keep, its just the door you're supposed to take to get down to the dam that is locked. And yes I have been playing on easy (At least i'm pretty sure i am)

DashingSplash

2014-12-04 12:27:10 pm

I managed to get to the dam without claiming the keep. I'll see if I can record a video and post it here. It didn't require any slingshotting, but required some of the "teleportation" that I showed outside of Haven.

DashingSplash

2014-12-04 12:47:22 pm

You'll have to excuse those many attempts in the beginning, but it also gives you a look into how to not do it. Do as I showed at around 1:40 (face the same way etc.): http://www.twitch.tv/dashingsplash/c/5617738

Sorry for the framerate drops once again. Do you have any tips on how to make it not drop in framerate like that? Just play around with the OBS settings?

letterswords

2014-12-04 03:33:51 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

You probably are streaming at a higher quality than either your internet or PC can handle (if PC, its probably that your PC can't handle streaming at high quality and running the game at the same time). Probably want to change the resolution and lower bitrate. Looks good though if you can get there without the slingshot. Definitely potentially useful.

DashingSplash

2014-12-04 03:43:28 pm

Hmmm, I've 10 Mb/s up and down. And, I stream at a bitrate of 1800 (480p?). Perhaps I should lower the resolution. Will try a few things out! Thanks for the help~ :3

Yea, and hopefully there are other areas in which we can use a similar approach to skip areas! Cheesy

letterswords

2014-12-04 10:26:30 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

Sounds like it's probably a computer related problem, DA:I likes to eat up a lot of CPU. I'd suggest turning down the graphical settings and stuff in DA:I (I have to stream it on pretty much the medium default settings, but I lowered a couple settings a bit too, but I can play on the high default settings approximately when I am not streaming).

DashingSplash

2014-12-05 02:02:58 pm

The problem was that I didn't downscale from 1080 to 720 (the downscaling and encoding 720 is easier on the CPU than encoding 1080). As a non-partner I can't get better than 720 anyway, and there ain't that much difference. It can also look better at 720 with 60 fps than 1080 30 fps. I do have an i7-2600K @ 3.4 GHz, so I don't think my CPU should be the problem considering that I have the game on low (except for mesh quality at high (because of the glossy hair), shadow at medium, and terrain at medium); then again, my CPU is a couple of years old. Perhaps I can lower the mesh quality to medium without it resulting in glossy hair.

Anyway, might try to see if I can do any routing this weekend, and perhaps find some neat skips.

letterswords

2014-12-06 06:16:04 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

So grinding some levels/getting some really good equipment (possibly both) is almost assuredly going to be necessary. Also, I think master focus is almost assuredly going to be essential as focus abilities seem like they are going to be really important for boss fights (this shouldn't be that much of an issue, we can get infinite influence/power). Bosses completely wreck you when you are underleveled, and although my party makeup isn't ideal, I still think it if it was possible to do all the bosses underleveled and undergeared, you would kill them so slowly that getting some sort of leg-up is probably necessary. I know I previously talked about going to Emprise du Lion's keep to grab the schematics, and that is looking better and better. Emprise du Lion is accessible before doing even the warden or orlesian civil war storylines, so it would be theoretically possible to grab the tier 3 schematics as early as level 8 or so, assuming we do find a clip into the end of the keep. We could also pretty easily grab some tier 3 resources too there, which would also help for potential gear crafting. Also, still need to find out which of the Warden/Orlais Civil War quests is faster to do first. The Warden one seemed mostly easy except for a few Pride Demons (very difficult) and the boss at the end of the quest (which was completely unreasonable to kill). Haven't tested the Orlais one at level 8 yet.

ogam

2014-12-07 01:19:10 am

Went through Lion's keep earlier, you don't get to the very end right away but you just do a couple of (optional) clips with sera along with stealth to avoid all the fights. As long as you don't initiate Ismael quest, you won't need to fight him and deal with an additional clip.

As for the warden battlements you can skip all pride demon fights, skipping the last pride demon fight will cause the dragon to not spawn and be quicker to run through before reaching the fade.

In the fade at the first memory collection (after killing wraiths that drops orbs) as long as you clip through the green barrier you will cause majority of the sequential monsters to not spawn including the second memory collection. I didn't test skipping the last barrier where you have to wait for it to be destroyed though.

Having T3 weapons with vivienne made Nightmare and the ballroom mission mostly painless. Farming power even through item duping is still pretty tedious.

The T3 recipes are 2H weapons so bow/greataxe/staves so might be good to roll a mage? All stone materials you gain on the way is T3 also so the damage will be either Fire or Electric for staves.

I'll have highlights up later.

Went through Lion's keep earlier, you don't get to the very end right away but you just do a couple of (optional) clips with sera along with stealth to avoid all the fights. As long as you don't initiate Ismael quest, you won't need to fight him and deal with an additional clip.

As for the warden battlements you can skip all pride demon fights, skipping the last pride demon fight will cause the dragon to not spawn and be quicker to run through before reaching the fade.

In the fade at the first memory collection (after killing wraiths that drops orbs) as long as you clip through the green barrier you will cause majority of the sequential monsters to not spawn including the second memory collection. I didn't test skipping the last barrier where you have to wait for it to be destroyed though.

Having T3 weapons with vivienne made Nightmare and the ballroom mission mostly painless. Farming power even through item duping is still pretty tedious.

The T3 recipes are 2H weapons so bow/greataxe/staves so might be good to roll a mage? All stone materials you gain on the way is T3 also so the damage will be either Fire or Electric for staves.

I'll have highlights up later.

DashingSplash

2014-12-07 11:05:53 am

Ogam, I watched a bit of your stream, and got to the part where you did the item dupe. The thing you have to do is put an item in the valuables, highlight the item, press sell all with your mouse cursor and directly after press space (to sell). If it works, the item should have disappeared from the sell valuables tab, but you should have a box asking how many you want to sell. If the item didn't disappear, then you can press cancel and retry; it isn't as tedious that way.

Wow! I saw your Keep skip with Sera aswell! öAö How exactly did you do that? When I try to replicate that, Sera disappears for the duration of the Flask of Lightning and then comes back at the same spot. She's basically teleporting between two different locations, and not as it is shown on your screen when you did it. As I've understood it, one should spam flask of lightning so it activates twice? Then switch to another partymember and push Sera. Doesn't work whether I spam Flask of Lightning or not. Have you been able to replicate that one?

Hmm, perhaps Vivienne, Cassandra, Sera, and Mage would be ideal? I was thinking of Iron Bull instead of Cassandra (due to T3 2H schematics), but I think we will need a really tanky character (for bosses), but at the same time have high damage; a Templar seems to fulfill that. Now, I just saw the T3 staffs you got for Vivienne, and Dorian; which, I must say put out a decent amount of damage on the level 16 rift. You were at level 9 there right? Must be plenty more if one does get the cleansing rune against templars etc. Energy Barrage will be amazing on mages with those weapons. öAö

I also found a route that's rather easy to claim Suldein Keep, but not a good route from entering Emprise du Lion (Sahrnia camp) up to where the clip starts: http://www.twitch.tv/dashingsplash/c/5636138 Would be nice to not have to claim Highgrove Camp, Drakon's Rise Camp, and Tower Camp. Perhaps, some skip to get to Suldein Keep without fighting at all?

Ogam, I watched a bit of your stream, and got to the part where you did the item dupe. The thing you have to do is put an item in the valuables, highlight the item, press sell all with your mouse cursor and directly after press space (to sell). If it works, the item should have disappeared from the sell valuables tab, but you should have a box asking how many you want to sell. If the item didn't disappear, then you can press cancel and retry; it isn't as tedious that way.

Wow! I saw your Keep skip with Sera aswell! öAö How exactly did you do that? When I try to replicate that, Sera disappears for the duration of the Flask of Lightning and then comes back at the same spot. She's basically teleporting between two different locations, and not as it is shown on your screen when you did it. As I've understood it, one should spam flask of lightning so it activates twice? Then switch to another partymember and push Sera. Doesn't work whether I spam Flask of Lightning or not. Have you been able to replicate that one?

Hmm, perhaps Vivienne, Cassandra, Sera, and Mage would be ideal? I was thinking of Iron Bull instead of Cassandra (due to T3 2H schematics), but I think we will need a really tanky character (for bosses), but at the same time have high damage; a Templar seems to fulfill that. Now, I just saw the T3 staffs you got for Vivienne, and Dorian; which, I must say put out a decent amount of damage on the level 16 rift. You were at level 9 there right? Must be plenty more if one does get the cleansing rune against templars etc. Energy Barrage will be amazing on mages with those weapons. öAö

I also found a route that's rather easy to claim Suldein Keep, but not a good route from entering Emprise du Lion (Sahrnia camp) up to where the clip starts: http://www.twitch.tv/dashingsplash/c/5636138 Would be nice to not have to claim Highgrove Camp, Drakon's Rise Camp, and Tower Camp. Perhaps, some skip to get to Suldein Keep without fighting at all?

DashingSplash

Edit history:

DashingSplash: 2014-12-07 12:14:43 pm

2014-12-07 12:13:30 pm

Took a look at what materials we would need for the T3 schematics purchased in Suldein Keep. And, we would actually only need to acquire 2 Dawnstones, 2 Highever Weaves, and 2 Druffalo Hides to get pretty decent weapons; however, if we would want them to be a bit better we would also have to acquire 2 Bear Hides, 2 Plush Fustian Velvets, and 2 Bronto Hides. All of these materials are materials we can dupe.

First Enchanter Staff (Dawnstone; Highever or Plush; Druffalo or Bear)
Split Staff Grip (Druffalo or Bear; Highever)
Battlemage Staff Blade (Highever or Plush; Highever)
Templar Longbow (Dawnstone; Highever or Plush; Druffalo or Bear)
Thick Longbow Grip (Druffalo or Bear)
Formation Shield (Dawnstone; Highever; Bronto, Druffalo, or Bear)

These schematics requires the following:

70 Dawnstone
50 Highever Weaves (30 Plush Fustian Velvets 20 Highever Weaves)
70 Druffalo Hides (66 Bear Hides 4 Bronto Hides)

Highever Weave will go on the shield as it gives 24% Electrical Resistance; which, will be good against possible Pride Demons.

Any ideas on how to improve this?

Took a look at what materials we would need for the T3 schematics purchased in Suldein Keep. And, we would actually only need to acquire 2 Dawnstones, 2 Highever Weaves, and 2 Druffalo Hides to get pretty decent weapons; however, if we would want them to be a bit better we would also have to acquire 2 Bear Hides, 2 Plush Fustian Velvets, and 2 Bronto Hides. All of these materials are materials we can dupe.

First Enchanter Staff (Dawnstone; Highever or Plush; Druffalo or Bear)
Split Staff Grip (Druffalo or Bear; Highever)
Battlemage Staff Blade (Highever or Plush; Highever)
Templar Longbow (Dawnstone; Highever or Plush; Druffalo or Bear)
Thick Longbow Grip (Druffalo or Bear)
Formation Shield (Dawnstone; Highever; Bronto, Druffalo, or Bear)

These schematics requires the following:

70 Dawnstone
50 Highever Weaves (30 Plush Fustian Velvets 20 Highever Weaves)
70 Druffalo Hides (66 Bear Hides 4 Bronto Hides)

Highever Weave will go on the shield as it gives 24% Electrical Resistance; which, will be good against possible Pride Demons.

Any ideas on how to improve this?

letterswords

Edit history:

letterswords: 2014-12-07 01:18:33 pm

letterswords: 2014-12-07 01:18:07 pm

2014-12-07 01:12:42 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

We could kill some snofleurs in emprise du lion for the leather; they have super low health and drop quite a few leather each, but the stats they give aren't really good for mages (flanking damage bonus in offense slots, pure dexterity in utility), so maybe druffalo hide (Crit chance/dex) is better still. I think grabbing the fade-touched obsidian in redcliffe would be worth it as well if we are going to craft gear (and if we go with a vivienne tank). Would be very easy. Metal also like ogam said should be easy. I think the only tough tier 3 material would be cloth, as the best way to get that would be kill random (human) enemies in emprise du lion. I guess we'd only need to get one cloth drop though before we could just dupe the rest, and we probably have at least one unavoidable/hard to avoid fight on the way to the keep.

Another thing I was considering just skipping out on emprise du lion and grabbing the tier 2 schematics from the mage schematics perk (would also get us some armor schematics IIRC), but the difference between tier 2 and tier 3 might be big enough that emprise du lion would still be worthwhile.

As far as duping to make requisitions, im still not entirely sure that is the best way to get to level 6 influence, but is almost assuredly correct to abuse farris the representative after that point to get the rest of the power we need. However, it may work out that the 20-30 or so boring minutes of stuff we have to do to hit rank 6 influence this way is better than anything else we try.

As far as party makeup, i think you are close to what i was thinking. Iron bull however i wouldnt use solely because he is probably too far out of the way to get. Vivienne (under direct player control) may serve as a good enough tank and we could just take another damage dealer. So maybe Mage inquisitor, dorian/solas/cole, sera, and vivienne? We'd have to see if we'd have enough access to abilities (since we'd be pretty low level) to make vivienne a viable tank.

We could kill some snofleurs in emprise du lion for the leather; they have super low health and drop quite a few leather each, but the stats they give aren't really good for mages (flanking damage bonus in offense slots, pure dexterity in utility), so maybe druffalo hide (Crit chance/dex) is better still. I think grabbing the fade-touched obsidian in redcliffe would be worth it as well if we are going to craft gear (and if we go with a vivienne tank). Would be very easy. Metal also like ogam said should be easy. I think the only tough tier 3 material would be cloth, as the best way to get that would be kill random (human) enemies in emprise du lion. I guess we'd only need to get one cloth drop though before we could just dupe the rest, and we probably have at least one unavoidable/hard to avoid fight on the way to the keep.

Another thing I was considering just skipping out on emprise du lion and grabbing the tier 2 schematics from the mage schematics perk (would also get us some armor schematics IIRC), but the difference between tier 2 and tier 3 might be big enough that emprise du lion would still be worthwhile.

As far as duping to make requisitions, im still not entirely sure that is the best way to get to level 6 influence, but is almost assuredly correct to abuse farris the representative after that point to get the rest of the power we need. However, it may work out that the 20-30 or so boring minutes of stuff we have to do to hit rank 6 influence this way is better than anything else we try.

As far as party makeup, i think you are close to what i was thinking. Iron bull however i wouldnt use solely because he is probably too far out of the way to get. Vivienne (under direct player control) may serve as a good enough tank and we could just take another damage dealer. So maybe Mage inquisitor, dorian/solas/cole, sera, and vivienne? We'd have to see if we'd have enough access to abilities (since we'd be pretty low level) to make vivienne a viable tank.

letterswords

Edit history:

letterswords: 2014-12-07 02:20:53 pm

2014-12-07 02:19:40 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

So I found a clip that would make getting up to the keep a little faster, but you'd still have quite a long path to get there. http://www.twitch.tv/letterswords/c/5637243

I also confirmed the viability of an alternative strategy which unfortunately would be heavily RNG dependent but potentially faster than going through all the emprise du lion stuff, which is going to the still ruins in the western approach. Not far in to the still ruins are two side rooms which you need the lockpicking perk to open. Both rooms have a static chest (one has a dorian amulet of power and a couple other things, the other room has some high level crafting materials in its static chest), and two randomized chests, and the randomized chests have a pretty good chance of dropping schematics, which are tier 3 if they have them. So the theoretical strat would be quicksave before you unlock either door, open doors, search chests, quickload if you don't get what you want. If you can get a staff fast it could be quite a bit faster than going through the trouble of acquiring the keep, especially since we already have to basically pass directly by the still ruins when we are in the western approach for one of the warden quests. If you get the staff and something else as well, that would be ideal, but would probably require insane luck. You could also reroll the chests by leaving something in the chest and then exiting and reentering the ruins if you get a staff, for example, but also want to try to get something else as well.

So I found a clip that would make getting up to the keep a little faster, but you'd still have quite a long path to get there.  http://www.twitch.tv/letterswords/c/5637243

I also confirmed the viability of an alternative strategy which unfortunately would be heavily RNG dependent but potentially faster than going through all the emprise du lion stuff, which is going to the still ruins in the western approach. Not far in to the still ruins are two side rooms which you need the lockpicking perk to open. Both rooms have a static chest (one has a dorian amulet of power and a couple other things, the other room has some high level crafting materials in its static chest), and two randomized chests, and the randomized chests have a pretty good chance of dropping schematics, which are tier 3 if they have them. So the theoretical strat would be quicksave before you unlock either door, open doors, search chests, quickload if you don't get what you want. If you can get a staff fast it could be quite a bit faster than going through the trouble of acquiring the keep, especially since we already have to basically pass directly by the still ruins when we are in the western approach for one of the warden quests. If you get the staff and something else as well, that would be ideal, but would probably require insane luck. You could also reroll the chests by leaving something in the chest and then exiting and reentering the ruins if you get a staff, for example, but also want to try to get something else as well.

DashingSplash

2014-12-07 04:22:18 pm

Managed to get up to the keep without fighting using your newfound skip! : D Only 4 minutes to claim it it seems! We are getting faster and faster~ http://www.twitch.tv/dashingsplash/c/5638127

The reward for the treasure map in The Hinterlands at the camp for the quest 'Templars in the West' gives Ironbark; which, gives a 20% chance for critical crafting: increased stats. Ironbark is also dupable, but other fade-touched crafting materials may be better, and just as easily accessible. It is unfortunate now that we have found a way to claim the keep without killing any enemies, since we will need cloth. Or, perhaps there is a merchant someplace with good cloth (Highever Weave or Plush Fustian Velvet) to sell? Yes, we only need one item to dupe...My bad. Read somewhere that you needed atleast two, but I never tried it until now: seems you only need one item to dupe! So, one of each material!

I'm not sure skipping Emprise du Lion now would be viable as we can claim it in under 5 minutes. There is the power required, but I hardly think that would take many minutes.

I played around a little using the T3 weapons, and it is really easy at that point to take down level 16 rifts. We will just have to grab the correct skills and party members. If we manage to have Vivienne as a tank, I think picking Solas would be the best choice out of Dorian, Solas, and Cole -- as Solas will provide plenty of "Weakening" on enemies (decreasing their damage); which, should prove useful against bosses, and higher level enemies in general. Plus, Solas will bring plenty of AoE. Putting Energy Barrage on all three mages, and along with T3 weapons should have plenty of burst damage! Though, there seems to be an Amulet of Power for Cole at the top most floor in the Skyhold Tavern; which can be acquired several times if one leaves an item in the chest and reload Skyhold (Make the Assassin class deal ridiculous amount of damage?).

Hmm, perhaps all three of us can take a look at that one. Sounds like a potential route to take, as long as it doesn't become too RNG dependant!

Managed to get up to the keep without fighting using your newfound skip! : D Only 4 minutes to claim it it seems! We are getting faster and faster~ http://www.twitch.tv/dashingsplash/c/5638127

The reward for the treasure map in The Hinterlands at the camp for the quest 'Templars in the West' gives Ironbark; which, gives a 20% chance for critical crafting: increased stats. Ironbark is also dupable, but other fade-touched crafting materials may be better, and just as easily accessible. It is unfortunate now that we have found a way to claim the keep without killing any enemies, since we will need cloth. Or, perhaps there is a merchant someplace with good cloth (Highever Weave or Plush Fustian Velvet) to sell? Yes, we only need one item to dupe...My bad. Read somewhere that you needed atleast two, but I never tried it until now: seems you only need one item to dupe! So, one of each material!

I'm not sure skipping Emprise du Lion now would be viable as we can claim it in under 5 minutes. There is the power required, but I hardly think that would take many minutes.

I played around a little using the T3 weapons, and it is really easy at that point to take down level 16 rifts. We will just have to grab the correct skills and party members. If we manage to have Vivienne as a tank, I think picking Solas would be the best choice out of Dorian, Solas, and Cole -- as Solas will provide plenty of "Weakening" on enemies (decreasing their damage); which, should prove useful against bosses, and higher level enemies in general. Plus, Solas will bring plenty of AoE. Putting Energy Barrage on all three mages, and along with T3 weapons should have plenty of burst damage! Though, there seems to be an Amulet of Power for Cole at the top most floor in the Skyhold Tavern; which can be acquired several times if one leaves an item in the chest and reload Skyhold (Make the Assassin class deal ridiculous amount of damage?).

Hmm, perhaps all three of us can take a look at that one. Sounds like a potential route to take, as long as it doesn't become too RNG dependant!

letterswords

Edit history:

letterswords: 2014-12-07 05:00:48 pm

2014-12-07 04:59:05 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

The place I was talking about (still ruins) still might be worth going to. With perfect RNG it would definitely still be faster than the keep (you could be in and out in like 1-2 minutes or so), but even if you do the emprise du lion keep for schematics the ruins could be worth it for the static chests useful resources:
First one: Amulet of Power (Dorian), Tevinter banner (useless), spirit rune (pretty good if we are gonna be a mage)
Second one: 10x infused vyrantium samite (tier 3 cloth), 10 phoenix scales (tier 2 leather), 10 everite (tier 3 metal) 3x heartwood (tier 3 masterwork 40% crit craft).

If there isn't a better way to easily get those resources, might be worth it. However, if we are already sacrificing time for consistency in emprise du lion, maybe it would be less trouble to just grab a little bit of all the types of tier 3 resources while we are there. Also, I agree that Solas seems to likely be the best choice out of those 3 on paper. Respeccing him further into rift mage early could be really useful too since rift mage has some really good abilities.

Also, for the clip i showed i seemed to get it every time if I clicked to tell my person to move there before zooming back in. Not sure if that was doing anything significant or not but might be worth testing for you. Nice job with the second clip to get all the way up though, I was looking for something like that but couldn't quite figure it out.

The place I was talking about (still ruins) still might be worth going to. With perfect RNG it would definitely still be faster than the keep (you could be in and out in like 1-2 minutes or so), but even if you do the emprise du lion keep for schematics the ruins could be worth it for the static chests useful resources:
First one: Amulet of Power (Dorian), Tevinter banner (useless), spirit rune (pretty good if we are gonna be a mage)
Second one: 10x infused vyrantium samite (tier 3 cloth), 10 phoenix scales (tier 2 leather), 10 everite (tier 3 metal) 3x heartwood (tier 3 masterwork 40% crit craft).

If there isn't a better way to easily get those resources, might be worth it. However, if we are already sacrificing time for consistency in emprise du lion, maybe it would be less trouble to just grab a little bit of all the types of tier 3 resources while we are there. Also, I agree that Solas seems to likely be the best choice out of those 3 on paper. Respeccing him further into rift mage early could be really useful too since rift mage has some really good abilities.

Also, for the clip i showed i seemed to get it every time if I clicked to tell my person to move there before zooming back in. Not sure if that was doing anything significant or not but might be worth testing for you. Nice job with the second clip to get all the way up though, I was looking for something like that but couldn't quite figure it out.

DashingSplash

2014-12-07 05:34:10 pm

I'll certainly check that place out. I did find that you can get Plush Fustian Velvet from the Gather Cloth Operation available after saving the Empress. I believe the cloth you get is random, but one could always save and reload if one doesn't get what one want. Then there is the matter of acquiring the Highever Weave aswell, as we would still need Highever Weave. Oh my, those are some really good loot, and certainly something we might even need due to the difference in levels.

Perhaps, some good operation, or inquisition perk will give us the material we need before we go to Emprise du Lion. Maybe we should look into it?

Yea, it seems to work when I copied your strategy! (: Will have to keep that method in mind when I try other skips, as there will certainly be more skips to consider further on.

DashingSplash

2014-12-07 05:48:18 pm

I checked the place out, and it is easy to get in. But, I can't see it replace Emprise du Lion. Perhaps, more testing is necessary; alas, now I need sleep!

ogam

Edit history:

ogam: 2014-12-07 07:04:01 pm

2014-12-07 07:00:43 pm

Yeah I liked that skip from mountains to red lerium area, used it yesterday also.

here's the highlighted stuff
Suledin Keep http://www.twitch.tv/mrogam/c/5639095
Adamant Fortress http://www.twitch.tv/mrogam/c/5639105
Fade http://www.twitch.tv/mrogam/c/5639115

and this long set of staircases http://www.twitch.tv/mrogam/c/5639079

I toyed with doing the the fight skip at the ball room dance to skip the rift fight but the time it takes to clip through 2 doors is probably about the same as doing it normally.

Also the armor schematic after finishing that mission can be worn by anyone and has pretty high stats for cloth, if you ever need armor..

As for the lighthouse with the locked door you might be able to use sera to clip through it, but since the structure mesh is round it might be annoying to get right.
I use 2 lightning just so Sera moves and pathfinds faster so you would have easier clips compared to just using 1, this also leads to her being flung into the sky or into the ground usually at start.

Yeah I liked that skip from mountains to red lerium area, used it yesterday also.

here's the highlighted stuff 
Suledin Keep http://www.twitch.tv/mrogam/c/5639095
Adamant Fortress http://www.twitch.tv/mrogam/c/5639105
Fade http://www.twitch.tv/mrogam/c/5639115

and this long set of staircases http://www.twitch.tv/mrogam/c/5639079

I toyed with doing the the fight skip at the ball room dance to skip the rift fight but the time it takes to clip through 2 doors is probably about the same as doing it normally.

Also the armor schematic after finishing that mission can be worn by anyone and has pretty high stats for cloth, if you ever need armor..

As for the lighthouse with the locked door you might be able to use sera to clip through it, but since the structure mesh is round it might be annoying to get right.
I use 2 lightning just so Sera moves and pathfinds faster so you would have easier clips compared to just using 1, this also leads to her being flung into the sky or into the ground usually at start.

letterswords

2014-12-07 08:22:39 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

just an fyi: first patch for DA:I is coming out on the 9th, so might want to make sure you back up the game/ turn off updates/ set origin to offline mode until we know if anything useful got patched out.

DashingSplash

2014-12-08 03:15:37 pm

Been playing a bit today; mainly, to catch up on the game as I haven't beaten it yet. But, I feel like I'm getting closer. öAö Finished the Fade that one enters in Adamant Fortress. Quite the nice skips in there Mr. Ogam~ I've also been romancing Sera! She's awesome, so I vote for a Sera Romance %. xD

I would have to agree on the ball. The fighting there is really easy, and goes really quick, so skipping those would be pointless; especially, with how "unpredictable" Flask of Lightning clips can be. The only thing I think would be worth it, is to try and skip other stuff than fighting during the ball. Also, what would be the best decisions to make in regards to speed, and end-game?

I've it backed up, the updates turned off (does it disable mandatory game updates aswell?), and I think I'll go offline before launching the game until we get word on what's been fixed; can never be too careful.

letterswords

2014-12-08 04:34:10 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

I still need to get through the game again to figure out end-game type stuff. Since you haven't actually beat it yet, I guess all I'll say is that there is pretty much only one or two decisions that may make a difference near the end, and another (related) thing might depend on what save import you use. I went with a different import for the playthrough I've been doing all the routing stuff on so whenever I get around to hitting endgame I guess I'll figure it out.

But yeah, offline mode seems like a good idea. Probably worth waiting a few days too after even if patch notes seem fine because they still might patch stuff and not list it in notes.

DashingSplash

Edit history:

DashingSplash: 2014-12-09 03:41:52 pm

2014-12-09 02:25:45 pm

Been reading the patch notes, and I found some points that could be useful in a run:

Fixed issue where orders to interact with trebuchets made in tactical mode were un-interruptable (is this to be interpreted as if enemies can't interrupt the action, or the player can't?) <--- Will have to test and see I suppose
Fixed exploit that would allow users to take no damage
Fixed exploit that would allow bypassing ability cool-downs in certain circumstances (is that in regards to Tempest focus ability only?)

However, I have no idea how to do the 2nd and 3rd one, and google hasn't helped much. All I seem to find is videos and guides on stuff we already know. I did look around on: http://forum.bioware.com/forum/385-feedback-suggestions/ but plenty I haven't read yet.

So, I've looked at the Tempest class a bit. I know you tried it out Letterswords, but you never used poison on your weapon, right? Might also be used in conjunction with Hidden Blades and Cole's Mark of Death ("You mark your enemy, and every hit adds part of its power to the mark's damage. Trigger your mark when you are ready, and watch your enemy fall from injuries that were never even noticed. You can manually trigger the mark early for bonus damage"), right? Would be great for bosses later on in the game.

Been reading the patch notes, and I found some points that could be useful in a run:

Fixed issue where orders to interact with trebuchets made in tactical mode were un-interruptable (is this to be interpreted as if enemies can't interrupt the action, or the player can't?) <--- Will have to test and see I suppose
Fixed exploit that would allow users to take no damage
Fixed exploit that would allow bypassing ability cool-downs in certain circumstances (is that in regards to Tempest focus ability only?)

However, I have no idea how to do the 2nd and 3rd one, and google hasn't helped much. All I seem to find is videos and guides on stuff we already know. I did look around on: http://forum.bioware.com/forum/385-feedback-suggestions/ but plenty I haven't read yet.

So, I've looked at the Tempest class a bit. I know you tried it out Letterswords, but you never used poison on your weapon, right? Might also be used in conjunction with Hidden Blades and Cole's Mark of Death ("You mark your enemy, and every hit adds part of its power to the mark's damage. Trigger your mark when you are ready, and watch your enemy fall from injuries that were never even noticed. You can manually trigger the mark early for bonus damage"), right? Would be great for bosses later on in the game.

letterswords

2014-12-09 07:18:59 pm

twitch.tv/letterswords

mark of death + tempest is definitely a thing. I think we probably want sera, mage inquisitor, vivienne and cole. I tested out the emprise du lion stuff today and made a bunch of gear too. Definitely trivialized the difficulty of the warden quest and the orlais civil war quest in terms of combat. The tempest flask of fire+ thousand cuts combo definitely made a lot of fights really easy once i had good gear (and master focus), and adding mark of death to that should only add to it. In terms of gear crafting, I went with 2 staffs (+grips and blades) and 4 daggers (plus grips). I didn't have any way to make runes, although if we could get a schematic along the way i guess that might be worth making too. I also had fade touched obsidian (+3 guard on hit) which I duped so every weapon i made had one, and that seems like it should help survivability quite a bit. Knight-Enchanter definitely was viable as a tank at a low level once i had a good staff (since barrier generation is all about damage dealt). I'm pretty sure we can skip out on crafting armor since the weapons seemed to make me OP enough.

Also I did see the same thing in the patch notes and tried it on my (unpatched) version of the game and it didn't seem like I couldn't get interrupted, and furthermore, when I did get interrupted while clicking the trebuchet in tactical mode I was no longer able to start moving it again (clicking the wheel did nothing). The tempest combo is definitely not patched from what I've heard so I'm not sure what that bypassing ability cooldowns is about, and I know nothing about the other exploit (no damage) they claimed to fix.

mark of death + tempest is definitely a thing. I think we probably want sera, mage inquisitor, vivienne and cole. I tested out the emprise du lion stuff today and made a bunch of gear too. Definitely trivialized the difficulty of the warden quest and the orlais civil war quest in terms of combat. The tempest flask of fire+ thousand cuts combo definitely made a lot of fights really easy once i had good gear (and master focus), and adding mark of death to that should only add to it. In terms of gear crafting, I went with 2 staffs (+grips and blades) and 4 daggers (plus grips). I didn't have any way to make runes, although if we could get a schematic along the way i guess that might be worth making too. I also had fade touched obsidian (+3 guard on hit) which I duped so every weapon i made had one, and that seems like it should help survivability quite a bit. Knight-Enchanter definitely was viable as a tank at a low level once i had a good staff (since barrier generation is all about damage dealt). I'm pretty sure we can skip out on crafting armor since the weapons seemed to make me OP enough.

Also I did see the same thing in the patch notes and tried it on my (unpatched) version of the game and it didn't seem like I couldn't get interrupted, and furthermore, when I did get interrupted while clicking the trebuchet in tactical mode I was no longer able to start moving it again (clicking the wheel did nothing). The tempest combo is definitely not patched from what I've heard so I'm not sure what that bypassing ability cooldowns is about, and I know nothing about the other exploit (no damage) they claimed to fix.

DashingSplash

Edit history:

DashingSplash: 2014-12-10 06:51:36 am

2014-12-10 06:50:53 am

That sounds like a good party. What I think we should do though, is to have the Hidden Blades on Sera's and Cole's weapons instead of the +3 Guard on Hit. Leave that to Vivienne and the Inquisitor perhaps? We would have to acquire Fade-Touched Ring Velvet; which, is dropped at Exalted Plains at the Citadelle du Corbeau by Corpse according to one website (too big a detour though). Will have to check that out. I also read that the same Fade-Touched Ring Velvet doesn't stack if one has two daggers with the same enchant on, so save-scumming the camp just north of Tower Camp for Fade-Touched Plush Fustian Velvet, and Fade-Touched Ring Velvet be something? Would be nice with a spot that guarantees it though. ö-ö Assassin skill tree has an ability called Hidden Blades, and I think that that one could be crazy in conjunction with Hidden Blades on his daggers. Same with Sera. Will be a lot of hits on bosses, and along with Mark of Death...Well, the bosses will die so quickly. öAö Energy Barrage on Vivienne and Inquisitor aswell to help?

Also, I can clip through doors with Flask of Lightning, with almost a 100% success rate at first try; there is a simple method to it. (Should I make a video, or do you two already get almost 100% success rate at first try?) So, the perk for opening certain doors ain't needed, and we would only need the Master Focus perk which requires 6 Inquisition Points to unlock in the Forces tree (even though Farris makes Inquisition Points moot).

I'm really disappointed that they didn't release the patch in two parts: one for SP; and one for MP. As I can't run the game unless I am in Offline Mode. But, nothing I can do about that stuff.... /:

Perhaps, we would have to consult people on the internet regarding the no damage exploit etc.?

That sounds like a good party. What I think we should do though, is to have the Hidden Blades on Sera's and Cole's weapons instead of the +3 Guard on Hit. Leave that to Vivienne and the Inquisitor perhaps? We would have to acquire Fade-Touched Ring Velvet; which, is dropped at Exalted Plains at the Citadelle du Corbeau by Corpse according to one website (too big a detour though). Will have to check that out. I also read that the same Fade-Touched Ring Velvet doesn't stack if one has two daggers with the same enchant on, so save-scumming the camp just north of Tower Camp for Fade-Touched Plush Fustian Velvet, and Fade-Touched Ring Velvet be something? Would be nice with a spot that guarantees it though. ö-ö Assassin skill tree has an ability called Hidden Blades, and I think that that one could be crazy in conjunction with Hidden Blades on his daggers. Same with Sera. Will be a lot of hits on bosses, and along with Mark of Death...Well, the bosses will die so quickly. öAö Energy Barrage on Vivienne and Inquisitor aswell to help?

Also, I can clip through doors with Flask of Lightning, with almost a 100% success rate at first try; there is a simple method to it. (Should I make a video, or do you two already get almost 100% success rate at first try?) So, the perk for opening certain doors ain't needed, and we would only need the Master Focus perk which requires 6 Inquisition Points to unlock in the Forces tree (even though Farris makes Inquisition Points moot).

I'm really disappointed that they didn't release the patch in two parts: one for SP; and one for MP. As I can't run the game unless I am in Offline Mode. But, nothing I can do about that stuff.... /:

Perhaps, we would have to consult people on the internet regarding the no damage exploit etc.?