Dragon age 2 companion approval. Companions in Dragon Age: everything about everyone. Skills and spells

Gifts for companions affect the level of relationships. Each gift can either improve or worsen them. It all depends on the existing level of relationship at the time of the presentation of the gift. If the relationship is friendly, then the gift will have a beneficial effect on the companion and build trust. If they are bad, then the slider will move even more towards rivalry. In the event of a rivalry, the companions do not leave the squad. Friendship and rivalry give their advantages, which affect the indicators of unique abilities. It is better to have a developed relationship in one of the directions than just adhere to neutrality: in some cases, this has a beneficial effect on the gameplay and the development of the plot. Improving relationships sometimes leads to flirting, and later to. When the relationship reaches 100%, there will be no more change. Having made at least one gift to the companion, it will open achievement "Giver".

Gift for Aveline in Dragon Age 2:

• Lady Knight's Shield(chapter II) - Cloaca (day). Sir Varnell's hideout. The shield lies in a large box just before leaving the location (the task "Find and lose again").

Gift for Anders in Dragon Age 2:

• Amulet of the Tevinter Church(chapter II) - Cave corrals. Abandoned den. The green chest in the hall with the slave Orana (quest "The Gorky Pill").

Gift for Bethany in Dragon Age 2:

• Portrait of your mother

Gift for Varric in Dragon Age 2:

• Signet ring(chapter II) - Lower town. Trinket shop.

Gifts for Isabella in Dragon Age 2:

• Ship in a bottle(chapter II) - Smuggler's pit. A chest in front of the entrance to the Wilderness (mission "Explosive Service").
• Rivaine Talisman(chapter III) - Port (night). ... The urn storage is in a dead end from the northern entrance to the location.

Gift for Carver in Dragon Age 2:

• Tobrius Papers(Chapter I) - A chest in a small room in the center of the Amell estate cellar (task "Family Matters").

Gifts for Merril in Dragon Age 2:

• Galla carved from wood(chapter II) - Broken Mountain. Master Aylen's shop.
• Sylvan wood ring(chapter III) - Broken Mountain. Leader of thieves when you first visit the location. Or a pile of bones lying in the middle of the "Cave in the Mountain" location (task "Killing Crows").

Gift for Sebastian in Dragon Age 2:

• Starkhaven Bow(chapter II) - Upper town. Harimann's estate. The bow lies next to the "Underground passage" (task "Repentance").

Gifts for Fenris in Dragon Age 2:

• Book of Shartan "The Life of a Slave"(chapter II) - Elphinage (night). One of the bags in the yard around the tree.
• Sword of Mercy(chapter III) - Port (night). Secret meeting place. A chest on the first floor in the eastern part of the location ("Serve cold" task).

Carver

Carver Hawke is a warrior, brother of the protagonist. It is much more difficult to establish friendly relations with him than with a setra. Dies at the beginning of the game, if you select the class "Warrior" or the class "Rogue". He can also die during an expedition to the Deep Paths if Anders is not around.

If he is, then the Gray Wardens take Carver. If you leave him at home alone with his mother, then he will become a templar. He appears at the end of the game and helps Hawk.

Bethany

Bethany Hawke is a renegade magician, sister of the protagonist. It’s much easier to have a friendly relationship with her than with Carver. Dies at the beginning of the game, if you choose the class "Mage". She can also die during an expedition to the Deep Paths if Anders is not around. If he is, then Bethany is taken by the Gray Wardens. If you leave her at home alone with her mother, then she will be taken to the Circle of Magicians. He appears at the end of the game and helps Hawk.

Aveline

Aveline Wallen is the wife of the Templar Wesley, a warrior. Joins the player at the start of the game. After completing one of her personal quests, she marries the guard Donnik. If you take Aveline into the final battle, then Donnik will also help in the battle against Meredith.

Varric

Varric Tetras is a land gnome from the merchant caste. He is a robber, and also the only one who wields a crossbow. He even gave the crossbow a name, "Bianca". The game is narrated by Varrick. In his free time, he tells various tales about Hawk in the tavern.

Anders

Anders is a mage, spiritual healer, and a former Gray Guardian. He escaped from Gray Wardens after the guards allowed the templars to try to kill him. Dislikes the Circle of Mages. Anders also allowed the spirit of Justice to take over. But then he regretted it, because when Anders sees an unfair attitude towards magicians, then Justice turns into Revenge. Justice also manifests itself in the Shadow. Anders is engaged in healing in his spare time and by the end of the game starts a war between templars and magicians. Can be executed by the player.

Merrill

Merril is a Dalish elf, blood mage. Occurs during the execution of Flemeth's request. Then the player decides whether he will take Merril as his companion or not. Merril's high skill allows her to use dangerous artifacts, upon contact with which an ordinary mage would become possessed.

Isabel

Isabella is the captain of a pirate ship. Her quest can only be started after accepting Anders. Leaves the party before fighting the Qunari. It is confessed that it was because of the book she stole that the Qunari landed on the banks of Kirkwall. After completing her personal quest, regardless of the level of relations, she can return.

Fenris

Fenris is a fugitive slave, servant of a master from the Tevinter empire. Lyrium was implanted into his skin. Hates mages because he believes that if all mages are freed, Kirkwall will turn into a second Tevinter. Joins the player after the Free Cheese quest.

Sebastian Vel

Sebastian Vel - archer, prince. He wants to take revenge on the murderers of his family. It can be made available by downloading The Exiled Prince add-on.

genre: action / RPG
Release date in Russia: March 2011
Developer: BioWare
Publisher: Electronic Arts

Introduction

BioWare's Dragon Age game series boasted a highly successful debut. Warmly received by fans of role-playing games, this project caused only grieving over BioWare's departure from the Dungeons and Dragons license. However, politically, this can be explained very simply - Wizards of the Coast has a relationship with Atari, and BioWare is now working under the roof of a direct competitor - Electronic Arts Corporation.

But back to Dragon Age. As it became clear even during the preliminary screenings, the second part of the game was developed with an eye to game consoles. It is difficult to throw a stone at the desire to increase the sales market in BioWare, but the suspicions that all this will lead to certain compromises and simplifications - alas, were fully justified ...

The game has changed a lot, and most fans of the first part are sure that it is not for the better. However, we will talk about this at the very end of the article, summing up the results.

System requirements:

Operating system Windows 7 / Vista (SP2) / XP (SP3)
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz processor or better
1 GB RAM (1.5 GB for Windows 7 / Vista)
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB / NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS 256 MB or better
7 GB free hard disk space

About the adventures of the protagonist, a native of the Hawk family, because of the invasion of Mora and the hordes of the creatures of darkness who fled from their native lands with their surviving relatives, the dwarf Varrick begins his story, constantly making jokes in the direction of a serious-minded woman - a kind of medieval "investigator for especially important cases. "(representing the interests of the Church) ...

If you import a save game from Dragon Age 1 (including the Awakening add-on or DLCs), then the Dragon Age II storyline will contain references to earlier events. If you do not have a saved game, then you will be offered three alternative templates with descriptions of previous events.

In the process of plotting, you customize the appearance of the protagonist, choose his class, distribute the first points according to the basic characteristics. Well, now it's time to take a closer look at the Dragon Age II role-playing system ...

Character stats and skills

In Dragon Age II, the role-playing system is based on the basic characteristics of the character and his set of skills (activated actions and conditions, as well as permanent skills). Information on resistance to physical influences and elements (fire, electricity, etc.) is allocated to a separate category.

Basic characteristics of the character

Strength. The rate of a successful attack and the amount of damage inflicted by the warrior depend on the strength. It also affects the stamina parameter: it helps to stay on your feet and not be thrown back during some enemy actions, and also does not catch fire when attacking with fire (taking additional damage).

Dexterity (Agility). Dexterity determines the rate of a successful attack and the amount of damage done by the thief. Dexterity also affects the likelihood of a critical hit on the enemy.

Magic The rate of a successful attack and the amount of damage done by the magician depend on magic. It also affects the indicator of protection against magical attacks (absorption of part of the damage, reduction of the duration of the imposed spell).

Cunning. The thief's ability to open locks and neutralize traps depends on his ingenuity (upon reaching 10 points, the thief will be able to deal with the simplest locks or traps, 20 - standard, 30 - skillful, 40 - very difficult). Also, the parameter of protection (the chance to evade an attack) and the amount of damage during a critical strike are tied to ingenuity.

Willpower The mana reserve of mages or stamina of warriors / thieves depends on willpower.

Constitution. Increases the character's health.

With each level up, you are given the opportunity to additionally distribute three points according to basic characteristics. In addition, there are special items in the game (books, tinctures), with the help of which you can permanently increase the basic characteristics by one or two points. And, of course, some enchanted items (if you are wearing them) also increase these indicators.

Derivatives such as damage, attack, defense depend on the basic characteristics. The amount of armor depends on the armor and items you are wearing (which, however, can also affect both damage and attack with protection).

Damage The quantitative size of the damage inflicted by the character's basic weapon (bow, crossbow, ax, hammer, mace, dagger, sword, magic staff). Also, here is the indicator DPS (damage per second) - the quantitative damage done per second of time.

Attack. Attack indicator, next to which the probability of a successful strike on the enemy is indicated (the basis is taken by the "ordinary" enemy, which comes across in massive quantities). If you hover the cursor over this indicator, then additional details will be displayed: the probability of a successful strike on an "advanced" enemy and on an "elite" (boss).

Defense. The indicator of protection, next to which the probability of successful evasion from an enemy attack is indicated (again, the "ordinary" enemy is taken as the basis). If you hover the cursor over this indicator, then you will find out the probability of successful evasion from the attack of the "advanced" enemy and the "elite" (boss).

Armor An indicator of armor, next to which is indicated the proportion of physical damage absorbed by your armor after an enemy attack (and again, we are talking about an "ordinary" enemy). If you hover over this indicator, additional details will be displayed: the proportion of physical damage absorbed by the armor after the attack of the "advanced" enemy and the "elite" (boss).

Resistance

A separate item is the indicators of character resistance:

Fire resistance.
Cold resistance.
Resistance to electricity.
Resistance to the force of nature.
Resistance to Spiritual Magic.
The indicator of absorption of part of the damage from an enemy attack (any - magical or physical).
The indicator of the absorption of part of the damage from any magical attack, as well as the reduction of the time of magical effect on the character.
Persistence. The higher this indicator, the more chances the hero has to stay on his feet and not be thrown back during some enemy actions, as well as avoid additional damage due to fire after a fire attack.

Increasing resistance to elements and magical attacks is very important (and at a high level of difficulty it is critically necessary). Manipulate basic characteristics, enchanted items (including runes), pump the corresponding skills - otherwise, the next fight with the boss can upset you very much.

Skills and spells

In Dragon Age II, only three character classes are implemented: Warrior, Mage and Rogue. Actually, at the very beginning of the game, you are presented with a choice of six options (taking into account the gender of the character):

Naturally, at the start of the game, each class receives its initial bonuses, as well as hard-coded sets of skills / spells that it can learn. On the one hand, this to a certain extent kills the intrigue (remember with what interest you were reading a new found scroll with a spell in some classic D&D game), on the other hand, it allows you to plan the development of the hero in advance. Although, of course, the practical application of a new skill in the first battle may disappoint you, and you will have to go to the Black Emporium for a special potion that allows you to redistribute points according to the basic characteristics and skills of the character ...

Skills are classified into three types:

Activated actions (marked with a diamond). Unique attacks, spells, special effects. They can only be used periodically, since they have a certain recovery time.

Activated states (marked with a hexagon). When activated, they block part of the mana or stamina reserve, but at the same time give a certain bonus (to defense, attack, resistance, etc.) or additional specific opportunities.

Permanent skill (indicated by a circle). A static bonus that improves characteristics, skills, or expands the capabilities of the character.

Within the framework of this material, it makes no sense to meticulously list all the capabilities of the classes, plus the individual development branches of each of your companions. Therefore, I will just introduce you to the implementation of skills on the example of one of the "special" branches of the warrior's skills.

The fact is that at the 7th and 14th level of character development you will be given the opportunity to open the so-called. specializations - additional skill sets. In my case, the protagonist had a choice of three additional sets - Reaver, Berserker and Templar.

This is how the general "tree" of skills of the protagonist, who has chosen the warrior class, looks like:

And here is a separate "branch" of the Templar:

Let's go through the skills and improvements presented here (I apologize in advance for using the original English names):

Templar (specialization). When choosing the Templar specialization, you automatically (even before the distribution of points by skills) receive a 10% bonus to damage done to mages and creatures from the Otherworld (Fade).

Cleanse (triggered action). The ability to "cleanse" the territory and your companions from the effects of hostile magic. The Lasting Cleanse upgrade allows you to additionally block the spells of your opponents for ten seconds. Improving Cleansing wave increases the diameter of the area of ​​effect of this skill from six to ten meters.

Holy Smite (activated action). Divine Strike that deals Spirit damage to enemies. Upgrading Righteous Smite results in double damage from such an attack to mages and creatures from the Otherworld. The Staggering Smite upgrade allows you to stun "ordinary" enemies with a 50% chance.

Righteous Strike (permanent skill). The warrior has the opportunity for 4 seconds to block the possibility of spells and activated actions by the enemy during a normal blow in hand-to-hand combat, with a probability of 10% (in the case of an "ordinary" enemy).

Silence (activated action). The ability to block the ability of spells and activated actions by the enemy for 20 seconds. Improving Lingering Silence reduces the cooldown of the skill (until the next activation) by 10 seconds.

Annulment (permanent skill). + 50% to the general rate of absorption of damage from any magical attack, as well as a decrease in the time of magical influence on the character.

Some permanent bonuses appear in the arsenal of characters after the relationship with the main character reaches a critical point (Friendship or Rivalry).

Of the general recommendations regarding character development, I personally would single out two: first, be sure to pump the skills involved in transferring the enemy into a state of daze, fragility and disorientation, as well as skills that profitably use such a weakening of the enemy (see below the section "Combinations of actions in battle"). Secondly, pump skills and conditions that improve the protection of your character from various types of attacks and elements. Boss fights last a long time (especially at high difficulty levels), and even in the case of high damage rates, the need to somehow survive on the battlefield has not been canceled.

Tactics

Each character has a certain number of tactical slots, which increases as the level rises. You can use these slots to create rules according to which the hero will behave in battle (provided, of course, as long as you do not directly interfere with his actions).

Basically, at Easy to Normal difficulty, using tactics is very stress-relieving for the player (especially if you're playing Dragon Age II on a game console rather than a PC). As for the high levels of difficulty, I am sure that difficult battles will force you to manually control the actions of the team. After all, it is impossible to foresee all situations, and the emerging vulnerabilities of the enemy (stun, fragility, disorientation) can be "pierced" by various attacks and spells. So my subjective opinion: the use of tactics is just a nice additional feature, which is in demand, first of all, at low difficulty levels.

Armor, weapons, inventory

The character's "doll" looks like this:

As you can see, you have slots for a pair of rings and a belt, the rest is reserved for weapons and armor. Weapons can be two-handed (sword, hammer, ax, staff, bow, crossbow) or one-handed. One-handed weapons naturally do less damage. The thief uses a pair of daggers, and the defensive warrior uses a sword and shield.

There are certain unique sets of armor in the game (main armor plus helmet, gloves, boots), which give an additional bonus for wearing a full set.

As for your companions, manipulation with them is limited (as conceived by the developers, this gives them a lot of individuality and independence). You will not be able to replace their armor (and Varrik is also a weapon), but you have the opportunity to improve it by finding or buying special add-ons.

Some add-ons provide a slot for inserting a rune into the armor of your comrade. The effect of the runes in the armor of companions is automatically enhanced as the character levels up.

Keeping an eye on the relevance of a warrior's armor is critical. After all, armor absorbs some of the physical damage inflicted, and after several increases in the character's level (and the level of development of enemies tied to it), good armor in the recent past turns into a "cardboard box", so you will have to constantly look for new armor that improves your armor.
In your inventory, all items are divided into tabs - weapons, armor, accessories (rings, belts, amulets), items used (potions, poisons, grenades), other things (runes), and garbage. Garbage is any impersonal nonsense ("worn pants", "an opal shard", etc.) that you, without hesitation, "wholesale" sell at the nearest merchant.

In order to make it easier for you to navigate the rubble of the goods you have obtained, the developers have designated each item in the sections of weapons, armor and accessories with a special rating (maximum - five stars). This will help you quickly get rid of the "junk" at the nearest dealer.

Combinations of actions in battle

If you choose the difficulty level Hard or Nightmare, then the use of combinations of actions by the members of your group in battle is a must, otherwise any more or less serious battle will take you a lot of time and nerves.

Certain attacks or actions by your characters can put enemies into the following vulnerable states:

Stagger Can be triggered by warrior attacks such as Shield Bash (with the Pummel upgrade); Pommel (with the Pommel Blow upgrade); Tremor (upgraded by Aftershock) Cleave (upgraded by Claymore) Devour (with the Voracious upgrade); and also Sunder.

Brittle. Can be summoned by mage spells such as Winter's Grasp (with the Winter's Blast upgrade); Cone of Cold (with Deep Freeze enhancement); Petrify (with the Desiccate upgrade), as well as the Elemental Mastery skill.

Disorient. Can be triggered by attacks and thief actions such as Pinning Shot (with Disorienting Shot enhancement); Fatiguing Fog (with Overpowering Fog enhancement) Confusion (with Chaos enhancement); as well as the Disorienting Criticals skill.

Please note that for different levels of enemies, there may be a different probability of successfully introducing a target into each of the indicated states. At the same time, some actions with a certain "pumping" guarantee 100% success - however, if the enemy (in most cases, we are talking, of course, about bosses) does not have special immunity. All specific numbers you can find in the description of skills / spells (Abilities) in the game itself.

A badge above their head indicates that an enemy is overwhelmed, disoriented, or fragile. Immediately activate one of the actions of another member of your group, who can take advantage of this enemy state. In general, this will lead to serious damage, and the rapid destruction of the enemy at high difficulty levels is the main key to success.

Here is a list of actions that exploit the vulnerable state (daze / fragility / disorientation) of enemies:

Using the Stagger Condition:

Mage: Chain (with the Chain Reaction upgrade); Crushing Prison (with Paralyzing Prison upgrade); Hemorrhage (with the Paralyzing Hemorrhage upgrade); Fist of the Maker (with Maker's Hammer enhancement).

Thief: Explosive Strike (with the Merciless Strike upgrade); Vendetta (with Blood Feud upgrade) Kickback (with Backlash), Lacerate (with Maim).


Using the Brittle state:

Warrior: Mighty Blow (with Shattering Blow enhancement); Scythe (with the Reaper upgrade); Cleave (enhanced by Claymore).

Thief: Bursting Arrow (with Shattering Arrow enhancement); Archer's Lance (with the Punishing Lance enhancement); Assassinate (with the Annihilate enhancement).


Using the Disorient state:

Warrior: Scatter (with Disperse upgrade); Assault (with Battery upgrade) Devour (with Insatiable enhancement).

Mage: Spirit Bolt (with Spirit Strike upgrade); Walking Bomb (with Corrosive Walking Bomb and / or Virulent Walking Bomb upgrade); Stonefist (with Golem's Fist enhancement).

Do not forget that some of the skills are inherent not only to a certain class, but also to a certain playable character. Therefore, do not be surprised if a particular member of your team has them.

Here is an example of a mage successfully using the state of daze (with the help of lightning: the Chain spell with the Chain Reaction upgrade).

More than three and a half thousand damage points speak for themselves. In this particular case, a successful lightning strike took away from the enemy only about 5-7% of the total health, so you can well imagine how tenacious your enemies will be at high difficulty levels (white numbers - damage from normal attacks in hand-to-hand combat) ...

Creation of runes, potions, poisons and grenades

The game has the ability to create your own items. In the first part of Dragon Age, in order to successfully create runes and potions, you had to look for recipes, pump the corresponding skills and find the right ingredients (mainly from merchants). In Dragon Age II, you have to buy or find recipe scrolls, and then find sources of certain ingredients (lyrium, mountain copper, elven root, ambrosia, felandaris, etc.) in the game universe. Carefully studying the game level, you find in a secluded corner a source of some "silverite", getting 200 experience points for this and expanding the possibilities of creating runes, potions, poisons and grenades. Further, following the recipe found (or purchased from the merchant), you "order" the desired item on a special table in your home (by paying an additional amount of money).

It is clear that if you have not discovered the source of any ingredient from the list indicated in the recipe, then you will not be able to create the desired item, even if you have instructions for making it.

Created potions (restoring health and mana, improving defense and attack, etc.), as well as grenades, poisons (which can be used to lubricate weapons to inflict additional damage) appear in your inventory. As for the created runes, they should be inserted into armor or weapons thanks to the skills of your old friend, the dwarf Sandal.

Unfortunately, unlike in the first part of Dragon Age, it is no longer possible to remove runes inserted into weapons or armor. If you want to insert another rune into the slot, the previous one will be automatically destroyed.

You will have to create runes and potions without fail. After all, one of the most powerful runes adds several points at once to each basic characteristic of the character. The "stone armor" potion reduces all damage (physical or magical) inflicted on your characters by 10%. A flask with "mystical support" brings a character who has fallen on the battlefield back to life. Such advantages significantly improve the survivability of your battle group and ignoring them is more expensive for yourself.

Dragon Age II universe and gameplay

The first thing that catches your eye is a noticeably more beautiful implementation of graphics. The picture on the screen has really improved compared to the first part of the game.

But the game universe of Dragon Age II itself is very, very limited. One big city with districts ...

Plus a small number of additional places in the vicinity.

In order to somehow brighten up the lack of a large number of different locations, the developers have invented a "night mode" - you walk through the same area, but almost deserted. At dusk, a gang of some bandits may be waiting for you (their systematic destruction will lead to the appearance of another secondary quest with the destruction of the leader).

Despite the occasional beautiful landscapes ...

... The level design raises a lot of criticism. And the main complaint is the frequent use of the same "blanks" when creating locations. Pirate lairs, dungeons, city houses - in most of the quests are identical and so monotonous that they give the impression of a second-rate game, and in no way resemble the calling card of the legendary BioWare studio. In addition, most levels are small in size, and in open spaces you will always have the feeling that you are running along narrowly defined corridors: the beauties on the sides are just scenery that cannot be approached.

In various parts of the city there are traders and specialists in the manufacture of potions, poisons, runes. After you complete the key quest (you complete side and secondary tasks at will), the current game act ends. In the next act, the merchants' arsenal changes, as well as certain cosmetic changes occur in the game locations.

In this regard, it will be useful to run through the previously studied places again - and check the merchants' supplies, and rummage around the boxes / chests / barrels, and find new quests.

As in any self-respecting role-playing game, the cornerstone gameplay in Dragon Age II, getting and completing quests is all about. Quests are divided into main, secondary, side, and those concerning your companions. Main quests, as well as quests related to companions, move the development of the plot forward. Secondary and side quests are fun, new items (armor and weapons), cash rewards, extra experience points, etc. That being said, don't assume that the side quest in Dragon Age II is an easy walk. Sometimes they have to fight with very serious enemies ...

The storytelling and dialogue, along with noticeably improved graphics are the main strong point Dragon Age II. As for the new dialogue system, the developers decided to inform us in advance about the potential consequences of choosing each of the phrases, providing them with special icons - a sprig of myrtle (diplomatic version), a theatrical mask (sarcastic or humorous version), a hammer with an anvil (hard straightforward version, close to rudeness), diamond (confident firm answer). There is also an icon with coins - this means that the main character will ask for money (or vice versa, offer money). An icon with a head silhouette on a green background is a proposal to intervene in a conversation with a companion who will express his opinion or make an important decision for you. Sometimes you see an icon with a heart, which means Hawk will try to flirt. Broken heart icon - the main character will make it clear about the impossibility (or termination) of a romantic relationship.

Separately, it is worth noting the innovation concerning your companions (you are sent on a mission by a team of 4 people).

Now all your comrades live in certain places, and not gathered under one roof. From time to time you will have to visit them - mainly within the framework of individual storyline quests, allocated to a special group.

Relationship with companions is an important component storyline... As before, you will be able to romance certain members or members of your team.

Depending on the line of behavior you choose (certain development of dialogues and making important decisions), your companions can change their attitude towards you depending on their own beliefs. So, for example, the elven warrior Fenris hates magicians, and the captain of the guard, Avelin, loves discipline, order and observance of the law. Accordingly, based on these beliefs, they can change their attitude towards you in response to any action or point of view expressed. When you reach a critical point (absolute friendship, or irreconcilable rivalry) in your relationship with a companion, further change in this indicator becomes impossible.

In the second part of Dragon Age, a significant bias was made in favor of increasing the frequency of battles. If you calculate exactly how many enemies of various caliber you will "chop into cabbage" in total, the figure, I am sure, will exceed a thousand.

In this case, of course, you will come across not only any small fry: the number of boss enemies in the game has also increased noticeably, so you will not be able to relax.

The battles have become much more dynamic (I would even say - too dynamic). Therefore, take care of pumping the defensive skills of your "brigade" so as not to be distracted every second by micro-management during the battle (absorption of healing potions, withdrawal from the battle of half-dead characters, etc.).

In general, the second main complaint about Dragon Age II (the first, as you remember, a hacky approach to the design of locations) is the implementation of a "wave" of enemy attacks. You cannot sneak into a room, carefully peep into it as a thief, count the number of enemies and plan the coming battle. Having cut out 5-6 people with whom eye contact was initially established, you will be surprised (and then irritated) to continue to fight with new waves of enemy warriors, spiders, etc., which literally "fall out of the ceiling. "on the battlefield. As one famous character from a popular YouTube video used to say, "This is sad."

Another terrible limitation for fans of the first part of the game: using bows and fighting with weapons in each hand are now only possible for the thief class. If you are a warrior, be kind, choose between a sword with a shield and a two-handed weapon. The beloved opportunity to have in your arsenal the familiar pair of ranged weapons / melee weapons (with the ability to quickly switch) has disappeared.

Another important point: in the game, the "friendly fire" mode is implemented only at the maximum difficulty level - Nightmare. Remember how you had to carefully "aim" with a fireball into a crowd of adversaries, so as not to hurt your own comrades? Now, at all difficulty levels up to Hard inclusive, this is not: unleash fire and electric storms, "cones of ice" right into the midst of enemies - all this will miraculously pass your companions. In principle, the already very dynamic battle with crowds of enemies falling out when the friendly fire mode is implemented will turn into complete chaos, and therefore the developers' decision is, in general, understandable to me. Here the initial mistake was in the implementation of arcade mass carnage, noticeably departing from the canons of the classic RPG genre.

In a separate paragraph, I would like to tell you about such a wonderful thing as a homing spit with dragon fire, which I had to face towards the end of the game. To be honest, at first I was just dumbfounded. Escaping with my thief from the approaching fireball, I suddenly noticed how he began to describe an arc (just like a homing air-to-air missile in some aviation simulator!), And accurately imprinted my character, who ran a dozen meters from the calculated place the fall of the flame! At first I thought that this was some kind of mistake, but further battle with the high-tech "dragon of the fifth generation" showed that the vile reptile really knows how to launch homing fire charges ...
Update of the article from 04.06.2011: In the released patch version 1.03, this behavior of fireballs emitted by dragons has been corrected.

Conclusion

Dragon Age II is a classic representative of the action / RPG genre, with all the advantages of BioWare's ability to present the story beautifully, and with all the disadvantages of choosing game consoles as a priority platform.

The graphics that have taken a step forward, characteristic characters, voice acting, dialogues, beautiful screensavers - all this rivets to the screen and forces fans of the first part of Dragon Age to agree to a number of not very pleasant compromises. Among which, first of all, it is worth highlighting the same type of location designs (in the best traditions of sleeping areas built up with absolutely identical houses) and the implementation of battles in the style of a bloodbath, with new units of enemies "falling from the ceiling".

To the credit of the developers, they acknowledge the criticism and promise to improve in the future. BioWare Lead Designer Mike Laidlaw, in particular, said that the fan community's grievances were scrutinized and helped shape future plans for Dragon Age games. "I agree that some aspects of Dragon Age II not only can be improved, but must definitely be improved in the future. We learned a lot from what worked well, but even more from what we did not succeed."

And I will note from myself that if in Dragon Age III we return the concept of the very first part of the game with prettier graphics and evolutionary changes (with a consistently high quality storyline presentation), fans of the series will be delighted. But I am tormented by vague doubts - it is unlikely that BioWare will refuse to release a version of Dragon Age III for game consoles ... One hope is to release a separate version for PC, but will the legendary studio be tempted to save resources and again release a single project on all platforms ? Hopefully for the best ...

Check the availability of the game in the stores of the "F-Center" company

Evaluations

Graphics: 80%
Sound: 90%
Game process: 70%

General impression: 80%

"I will catch up - I will kill!"

In the bright hall of the town hall, puffing and slipping around the turns, a formidable horned humanoid runs between the columns. He swings a huge sword, catching up with the puny archer, who dodges, trying to get as far from the point as possible.

“Well, where does that go? - the fleeing archer thinks gloomily. “I, the famous Garrett Hawk, are the hero of the whole city in five minutes, and I’m running from some stupid Qunari. And why didn't I go to war? "

“Garrett shouldn't have agreed to a duel,” the team, standing at a distance, laments to itself. "Now I would calmly stand under our cover and beat the horned creature with a bow."

“If I catch up, I will kill,” the Qunari thinks, makes a dash and again gets a fiery arrow in the face. - I will not catch up - at least I will warm myself.

At the beginning of last year, an amazing event took place: for the first time in seven years of the existence of the LCI magazine, the game received the highest possible rating. This game was. It earned a magazine rating of 100% quite deservedly, being an almost flawless role-playing game and a real breakthrough in the genre. Doing the second part of the role-playing series, BioWare decided to take the risk. The developers have greatly changed the role-playing and combat systems, interface, dialogues and plot canons.

The strange young dwarf is still creepy. A good guy, but it hurts unearthly.

And here is a cameo - an elf we know. Over the years, his habits have not changed at all.

The basis of the gameplay remains the same: the hero visits different locations, recruits a team, talks to the people and fights with ... bad people. But in the little things, a lot has changed. The names we know are heard only from time to time, in idle conversations (only a couple of times the characters we know appear in rare cameos). The action takes place not in Ferelden, but in a completely different country. The plot unfolds already without any participation of the evil archdemons. And the wildest thing is that this time no one is saving the world and the place of action - one single city.

Weird? Weird. Let's see what BioWare has done as a result of daring experiments with Dragon age 2.

What is the wise dwarf sitting for?

It all starts with the Templar Prison, where a new prisoner is brought. However, contrary to the canons of the genre, it turns out to be not the main character, but a dubious-looking dwarf with an impudent physiognomy. During the interrogation, the gnome, having broken for the sake of appearance, begins to tell a story. Here it is just about the hero, who really can be of only one race - human (alas, we are now unable to choose the origin of the hero and his race).

Doubtful appearance is still a mild epithet in relation to this gnomish physiognomy.

“You are the Chosen One. And I just went out for a walk. "

The plot of the plot is strangely crumpled. According to the canons, it is supposed to show the life of the character before the forces of evil come. But here the approach is different: as soon as we choose the name, gender, class and appearance of the character, we see the hero running away with his family across the mountains and valleys from the creatures of Darkness. One can only guess how he came to such a life, but there is no time, and only from the dialogues we learn that the woman next to him is his mother, and the other woman (or man) is his sister (or brother).

A skipping run across the post-Ostagar Ferelden ends with a meeting with a colorful sorceress who bluntly calls our hero the Chosen One. According to the logic of things, the sorceress, and even with such bold statements, should be an important character, and not at all a banal episodic "grand piano". And the gloomy town of Kirkwall, where the Hawks who escaped from Ferelden are beaten by waves, should turn out to be small transshipment point on a journey to save the world.

But it is in this city and its environs that the hero Garrett Hawk will spend the next ten years. He will no longer meet with infernal evil. There is no need to save the world this time. All Hawke has to do now is to understand the complex relationships of mages, templars, authorities, refugees, elves, dwarves, slavers, bandits, smugglers, demons, warlike horned humanoids ... and, of course, it would be nice to delve into the problems companions too.

Hello-Andraste

The main thing in such cases is to give the defender a firm grip on the monster and not let him go to the magicians.

Of course, in order to resolve political crises, you need to communicate a lot. And here there is another unpleasant surprise waiting for those who want to chat: the brilliant dialogue system, which everyone liked in Dragon Age: Origins, no longer exists. Instead of a list of expanded answers - a choice in style Mass effect: a summary and a symbol for the general mood. There is no need to choose words - you still cannot guess how the hero will formulate “humorous”, “persistent”, “decisive”, “aggressive” or “peaceful” answers. The awkward situation with the quest for the extermination of rats and an explanation to the guests, described in the review for Origins, is now impossible in principle. All plot-dialogue forks are easily predictable, so the only trouble that threatens for an incorrect answer is the disapproval of our companion.

The dialogue system from Mass Effect is a dubious choice for Dragon Age 2. Fortunately, this is the last of the notable flaws in the game. Yes, and it is considered a disadvantage only against the background of the original, and in conversations with partners you quickly forget about it. The same companions of the hero are crafted masterfully, in the best traditions of BioWare. A friendly dwarf with a crossbow (the same one from the introduction), an obsessed magician who is better not to anger, a cynical conqueror of the seas, a conscientious warrior, an eternally embarrassed elf-magician ...

Previously, spiders sometimes turn
swallowed into beautiful women. Now they are just spiders.

At first it seems, however, that the elf is somehow too reminiscent of Tali, and in the "sea wolf" one can see Jack. But the feeling of déjà vu vanishes as soon as you get to know the team better. Companions present many surprises. At key points in the plot, they make decisions based on their relationship to the protagonist. It also happens that a character with whom he went to the caves for spiders a hundred times and whom you know as flaky, suddenly interferes in events, for better or for worse. If you drive the "friendship" indicator into negative, you should not expect the character to help Hawk in the final battles. Garrett's associates also have their own desires, interests and carefully guarded secrets.

The attitude of companions to each other, according to tradition, is revealed in the conversations that they start in nature, behind our hero's back. These "conversations in the ranks" are never repeated. Sometimes they are funny, sometimes informative - in any case, it is very interesting to warm your ears next to your comrades-in-arms, especially if you take a pirate with you: with immodest questions, she is able to drive into the paint all the other fighting friends and Garrett himself.

The most indecent scene in the game is a conversation with an elf in a closed swimsuit.

Personal relationships in Dragon Age 2 are both good and bad. On the one hand, it is easy to look after companions here. Key phrases in dialogues are marked with a heart icon, and rare gifts, for the most part, are not bought, but are caught in the loot - while the game itself makes a hint, they say, if you would show a ring to someone, and a shield to someone. And the choice is rich - both for supporters of serious relationships and for lovers of non-binding relationships in the style of “Shepard vs. Jack". Political correctness has reached new heights: in the team, for example, there are at least two males who are willing to accept the courtship of Hawke the man (and do not ask how I found out).

On the other hand, Dragon Age 2 is simply obscenely decent when it comes down to it... Don't expect explicit scenes. Against the background of the amorous pleasures of Dragon Age: Origins and even more so Mass Effect, the local novels are, to put it mildly, chaste. This is strange when you consider that the age ratings of the games are the same.

We robots

And when the magician runs out of mana, he intercepts more comfortably
staff and ...

But love comes and goes, and bandits and all kinds of evil spirits lie in wait around every corner, so the choice of three companions for long trips (that is, to the nearest mountain) is primarily determined by the necessary abilities.

The combat system of Dragon Age 2 has been redesigned almost to the ground and has become even more similar to those used in typical online games... Experience, levels, three points of characteristics - all this is familiar to us. But the specialization within each of the three classes (warrior, mage, robber) is determined by skill points, which are given to characters by piece at each level. These are practically the same talents - they are spent on skills of three types - active, passive and included.

Active ones are spells and actions, be it fireballs, healing, stunning, going into invisibility and everything else. Passive skills - "features" that strengthen the character in some area once and for all. With the included skills, it is more interesting - these are a kind of "auras" that give a boost to the hero or the entire squad (for example, magic resistance or increased damage), but at the same time take away part of the mana / energy strip from the hero. Sometimes a hero can turn on two or three different auras at once, but at the same time he will have a scanty bit of mana, so, willy-nilly, you have to choose priorities.

The protection of the entire squad is one of the supporting "auras" of the magician.

It is better to specialize a hero from the very beginning. A "tank" in the team is necessary, and with its development there will be no questions: there are so many skills in the game that increase defense and attract monsters that there may not even be enough talents for everything. With magicians there are more options - there are many schools of magic, you can choose anyone to your taste. In addition, it is relatively easy to create a spellcaster-healer hybrid out of magicians. From a rogue, you can make an arrow with a control bias, or a typical Azerothian rogue with invisibility, instant jumps behind the monster's back and accumulation / discharge of energy of dagger strikes.

The battles in Dragon Age 2 have become faster and more energetic, so the unhurried distribution of orders in the pause mode is now a little out of place. Of course, you can do this, but the dynamics of the battle is lost. And here the improved system of "programming" of the characters' behavior will come in handy.

It is most reliable when the team sticks together. The warrior ran forward, but the ranged classes left behind are a friend
a friend will be backed up.

In Origins, the ability to put in the hero algorithms like "strong enemy - use a strong skill, health dropped - we are healed" turned out to be an excellent innovation. Bots are the scourge of online worlds, but in Ferelden, the algorithmic behavior of partners was very useful. The only thing that really annoyed me was the initial restrictions on the number of teams. Fortunately, BioWare realized that tying as many commands as possible to a character's skills was wild. In Dragon Age 2, these restrictions were removed, and companions of the character (although not all and not always) are also programmed automatically, with each newfound skill, which saves you a lot of fuss.

There are much more options for conditions and actions when they occur. In addition, “behavioral patterns” have appeared - that is, the hero can make several “programs” for all occasions. The choice of the program can also be entrusted to the hero - the transition from template to template can be easily made conditional, so that the hero can independently decide which algorithm and when to use! Much can be forgiven for the enhanced autonomous intelligence of the teammates, which removes a lot of the hassle of micromanaging the player.

"Bringing together and AOE"

Even a fragile sorceress can send a bad knight on a long flight with a magic kick.

The only problem with the heroes left to their own discretion is that magicians still sometimes strive to run away from the warrior and die there gloriously. There is, of course, a button "for everyone to stand" in the game, but the button "stay behind the" tank ", a miracle in rags!" Is really missing. However, if you do not take the "dagger" type of robbers into the team, you can pin the heroes to one place without any unnecessary reflection and bring enemies to them in batches. At the same time, this is how the problem with deadly traps is solved, into which even robbers fall with enviable constancy.

Placing heroes in the right places in advance is useful, but it doesn't always help, especially in tight spaces (and BioWare's game locations have always looked like narrow guts). It is better to put the magician not behind the warrior, but next to him, so that he can remove the "aggression" in time if the monster appears right in front of the magician.

The first phase of the battle. The warrior is programmed not to swear if mages inadvertently foil aggression.

Yes, it happens. It used to be that monsters and bandits were at least a little shy and revived in the style of "we came from around the corner." Now they can suddenly hatch out of the void right before our eyes. The undead and demons still somehow pretend that they are digging out of the ground, and the spiders - that they are coming down from somewhere above, but sometimes the bandits are even too lazy to make the move “like, I jumped off the roof”. From time to time you find that another wave of enemies suddenly jumped out right from under the feet of the magicians. So the enemies must be kept close, and the magicians - even closer.

The division into ordinary enemies, bosses and superbosses in the game remained and even worsened. In battles with especially harmful dragons or elementals, "battle phases" are clearly visible. Anyone who is familiar with World of Warcraft at least noddingly will immediately realize that if a dragon took off without warning and sat on a cliff, you have to wait for fiery spits and a crowd of little dragons. If in the cave the evil elemental suddenly stopped and began to conjure, it is better not to guess why the stalactite columns enter the interior of the cave.

A premonition about "but should we drop behind the column"
we were not deceived.

Some might say that borrowing from online is bad. Not at all if it means convenience for the player! And playing Dragon Age 2 is really convenient, and precisely due to the fact that many good ideas in the series are taken from popular virtual worlds... For example, the “out of combat” concept, which removes the need to heal between battles. Or the absence of "friendly fire", without which you can now easily flood enemies with napalm. The shooters are helped by the hunting tactics "ran off and fired", with the help of which Garrett still managed to defeat the harmful Qunari from the introduction to the article. And the system of runes, which are embedded in the “slots” on clothes, is very much reminiscent of the jewelry from World of Warcraft.

And there are many such examples. Junk loot (mostly moth-poured scarves) are sold to traders with a single button. The teammates do not change clothes throughout the game - its parameters increase with their growth in level (less hassle with a wardrobe, although in a sense this is a minus). When choosing a weapon or an element of a suit in a duffel bag (of course, in general), the object is immediately visually compared with what the hero is wearing. And everywhere - tips, tracking quests, reminders of what the hero is doing, and a detailed alignment of the character's combat statistics. This is bad? It's comfortable!

How do they get along side by side

Elves here are cute, but slightly decadent. The inbreeding stamp is already visible on the faces.

The world in Dragon Age 2 is still its own - gloomy, far from the typical "high fantasy" and somewhat similar to the universe of "The Witcher" by Sapkowski. That Ferelden, that Free Mark - everywhere the same wars, banditry, poverty, refugees, oppressed elves and the difficult relationship of magicians with the authorities.

The town of Kirkwall, where the Hawke family has entered, is also not a very pleasant place. With formidable towers over narrow streets, it is not without reason that it resembles one huge prison. In ancient times, Kirkwall was the capital of slave owners - not only its architecture reminds of those times, but also eerie "sobbing" monuments and bas-reliefs. Above all Kirkwall rises the bulk of the Casemates, a vast prison that was found useful application- there the templars keep the local Circle of Magicians locked up. Knights are vigilant about each owner of a magical gift. They have reasons for this: according to the laws of this world, magic attracts the other world, and the saying "there is an inner demon in everyone" is very often justified when it comes to sorcery. So in order to avoid trouble, the templars do not let a single magician out of the Circle. The most unreliable are erased by the barbaric procedure of "pacification".

It is clear that city sorcerers, seeing this alignment, try not to catch the eye of the templars. Nobody wants to be locked up. Some even go underground, where they turn a blind eye to engaging in the most dangerous blood magic. The more worries the knights have.

Qunari fighters are easiest to recognize not even by their horns, but by their always sour expressions.

The whole of Kirkwall is a complex ball of interests and intrigue. Templars protect common people from demons. Magicians resist persecution. The Andraste Church is trying to reconcile one with the other. The viceroy suffers from the unlucky son. The city guards are knocking off their feet, catching smugglers and slavers. The dwarves are gathering an expedition to suspicious dungeons. In the mountains near the city there is an elven camp, and in the port it is not clear why they decided to winter the warlike horned humanoids of the Qunari - all with the face of Bruce Willis and with specific ideas of honor.

Garrett Hawke will resolve conflicts, unravel conspiracies, admonish the dull and bring scoundrels to the surface. For a local adventure in Dragon Age 2, there are enough dilemmas and difficult questions. It's one thing when an army of darkness is approaching the world. Another is when evil is hidden in people themselves. And often Hawk will have to make a choice when both sides are right about something and both are very wrong about something, when the law is contrary to morality, when the sizes of two evils are very difficult to compare ... and then the satellites are included in the conversation and also something- then they want. There are no easy ways. This means that everything is as it should be in a good role-playing game.

Yes, Dragon Age 2 just fell short of the bar set by the first part. The beginning of the game is stupid, dialogues are cut, and instead of saving the world, the hero is almost always engaged in urban problems. But someone has to do it. There is only one archdemon, and there are many who want to get involved in politics - and they are capable of doing no less troubles. Swar in one Kirkwall alone can echo across the continent. And they will respond, laying the foundation for new times and new stories, and the templars, in search of such a hero that everyone needs, will interrogate his former companion, a dwarf with a dubious appearance, for a long time and to no avail.

And whether they will find Hawke or not - we will find out in the next Dragon Age.

Fascination
Graphics
Convenience
Balance
Variety of tactics

Management

The best view of this fight is with an arrow on the string of a faithful bow.

For the first playthrough of the game, I traditionally chose the Rogue class and made a shooter out of it. There are several reasons for this. First, there is only one shooter among the satellites. Secondly, hunters always best view on the battlefield. Thirdly, this work - do not hit the lying one: know yourself have fallen on the closest enemies, cover your own and from time to time cover the area with a rain of arrows.

The shooter can, at the very least, fight off the monster, and in especially advanced cases - go into invisibility, if, of course, he takes this ability. By being close to the magicians, he can easily protect them. Moving ahead of the entire team, the shooter, as a rogue, can be the first to detect and disarm traps. They cannot be underestimated - towards the end of the game, falling into a trap can become fatal.

Finally, playing as a Rogue, you can unlock all the chests you meet in a row without hesitation.

Creation of a detachment

We have a defender in our team - only one, but excellent! Without it, going into battle is like death! More precisely, without her, because the role of the "tank" is the female warrior Aveline.

There will be no difficulties with the treatment of the team either. One or two promising magician-healers will also be found among the comrades-in-arms. You cannot make a doctor only from the elf Merrill. The best way to cope with the role of a healer and a combat resurrector is the magician Anders, although some may find it uncomfortable to constantly keep him behind (a demon took refuge in Anders).

Which "killer" characters are preferable? I tend to favor the ranged specs - namely Archer Varric or Arcanist Merrill. Not that the robber Isabella and the warriors Carver and Fenris were anything bad ... It's just that when the main group stands in one place and does not run away anywhere, there is more order in the battle. Holding together, ranged characters support each other. If the enemy accidentally walks past the "tank" and tries to gnaw three tightly standing heroes, he will get three times more splash. In addition, keeping the entire team in one place is useful for implementing the "team up and hit the area" tactic. Now that there is no "friendly fire" in the game, you can make flamethrowers and napalm bombs from mages and shooters without any problems.

For your information: If you want, you can turn on "friendly fire" - for this you need to set the maximum difficulty level.

Characteristics and parameters

Kirkwall's architecture is unambiguous
but does not add opti-
mystery. Maybe that's why the locals throw themselves at people?

The character has six characteristics in the game.

Force. It is necessary for soldiers, and only for them. Increases weapon damage and the likelihood of hitting the enemy - that is, accuracy, which is here called the strange term "Attack".

Agility. It is necessary for robbers, and only for them. Increases the power of strikes, accuracy ("Attack") and the probability of a critical strike among robbers.

Magic. Necessary for magicians, and only for them. Increases damage and accuracy from spells and from normal "shooting" with a staff. High parameters of magic also protect against hostile magic, reducing the duration and damage.

Cunning. Needed by rogues, although theoretically increases defense (the ability to dodge attacks) and critical strike damage for all classes. In addition, cunning determines the robbers' ability to disarm traps and open locks. At the beginning of the game, you can get by with 20 points, by the middle you will need at least 30. The most difficult locks and traps will require 40 units of cunning.

Strength of will. It is necessary for all classes, as it increases the supply of mana or energy (the same mana, but for robbers and warriors). The more mana a character has, the longer he will be able to deliver damage, heal partners, and stop monsters. If there is no mana, you will either have to drink an expensive potion (you can drink it again only after a certain “recharge” time), or hit enemies with an attack by default.

Endurance. Needed first of all by the tank. Secondly - to classes that are in close contact with the enemy (warriors with two-handed hands and robbers with daggers). Mages and shooters should not forget about endurance either, because even the best defender will not save a dragon from an incoming spit or from a monster that appears right in front of a puny magician.

Other parameters of the character are partly determined by characteristics (for example, protection), partly - by equipment (armor), enhancements or learned passive skills.

Damage. The amount of health removed from the "conditional enemy in a vacuum" during a normal attack with a melee weapon, a shot from a bow, crossbow or from a staff. It is influenced by the level of the weapon and the characteristic - strength or dexterity, depending on the class. Actual damage is calculated taking into account the enemy's armor and magic resistance.

Attack. The probability that a hit or shot will reach the target. Depending on the class, the "attack" is influenced by the values ​​of strength, dexterity or magic. In addition, the probability of hitting a strong enemy or "boss" is much lower than that of an ordinary enemy.

Protection. The likelihood of dodging an enemy attack. Protection is not a military parameter, but a robber one, since it depends on cunning. Warriors need little protection, they have their own ways to stay alive, taking on powerful blows.

Armor. Reduces incoming physical damage (and only physical!). The higher the class of the monster, the less the effect of absorbing blows. Armor is a typical military stat. And not only because there is a lot of armor on heavy armor and shields, but also because a high level of armor, as in the first part of Dragon Age, determines a high level of threat. That is, the monsters did not leave masochistic habits even here - seeing a rag magician and a warrior clad in armor in front of them, they will pounce on the warrior.

Damage resistance. Subtracted from any incoming attack, both physical and magical. Usually found on items or in specific "tank" skill trees. It cannot be developed to a high level, but this is not necessary, because in addition to it, a lot of damage is subtracted from the damage.

Resistant to magic. It is deducted from magic attacks. It turns out the same armor, but already acting against incoming magic damage. Resistance to magic, in addition, reduces the duration of enemy spells on the hero.

Persistence. Helps the character resist physical and magical effects that can incapacitate him (stun or knock him down) or inflict a negative effect (such as setting fire).

Resistant to the elements there are five types: resistance to fire, cold, electricity, forces of nature and magic of the spirit. It is usually found on things. There is a benefit from it, because it is generally quite difficult to develop resistance to magic, and things with protection against certain types of magic come across often. For example, if the perspective is a fight with dragons, it is better to equip the team (or at least the defender) with at least a couple of things with fire resistance.

The intricacies of using magic should be discussed separately.

Using magic

Frozen, poor thing.

How not to pose against the background of such a trophy?

There are five types of magic in the game: fiery, icy, electric, natural and spirit magic... These are all damage types. The effects of curse, slow, or stun damage do not give, so they do not technically have a type. Each magic staff has its own type of damage (from the staff, I remind you, the magician can shoot like from magic wands in World of Warcraft - no mana is spent).

Enemies in the game often have both vulnerability to some types of magic and resistance and even immunity. Therefore, it is worth remembering that:

Dragons vulnerable to cold (they wanted to spit on fire magic from a high ledge - and spit, with the same fire).

Spiders vulnerable to electricity.

Darkspawn(they are rare here, but nevertheless) are vulnerable to the magic of spirit and nature.

Demon Shadows(on the contrary, they are found around every turn) do not like electricity and the magic of nature.

Demons of Desire(they come across less often than we would like) are also afraid of electricity and the magic of nature.

Demons of wrath, hot and dangerous, should be cooled if possible.

Blood mages tend to hate spirit magic.

Stone golems vulnerable to cold and electricity.

Qunari fighters the magic of cold and the magic of nature are very impressive.

In addition, mages can cast spells that inflict physical damage... Armor is already saving from spells of this type of enemies, so it is slightly less effective against templars than against magicians.

What kind of spells it makes sense to give out to each mage in the team, we will tell you a little further, in the section on companions.

Interclass interaction

Interclass Interaction is a new concept in the series that makes combat a lot easier when applied correctly. Its meaning is that some characters, with the help of specific skills, impose negative effects on enemies, which enhance the effectiveness of specific skills of other characters.

Another mad magician, the third in a week. Probably, they are specially grown here somewhere "

Synergy of classes: the mage freezes, the shooter breaks.

Simply put, the magician casts an improved frost spell on enemies, and they become fragile for a while, and the warrior uses a skill that acts with a vengeance on fragile enemies. Or, on the contrary, the warrior hits the enemy with a shield and leads to a state of daze, and the magician casts a spell that hits with a vengeance or stuns the stunned enemies. Rogue skills impose a disorientation effect, for which there are also spells and warrior skills.

So the fight can be greatly facilitated by developing the characters taking into account their interactions. This is especially useful at the end of the game, when obscene thick-skinned enemies begin to come across.

The good news is that interclass interaction is very easily hammered into character behavior algorithms. To force, for example, an arrow on the “Enemy fragile” condition to apply the “Use explosive arrow” action, you do not need to understand the commands for a long time.

Companions

In this section, we will talk about companions, their role in the team, and how to find an approach to them.

Carver

Class: warrior

Templar ideas are not always successful. Sometimes even the statues object.

Dossier: The younger brother of Garrett (or Marian) Hawke. Initially set up to compete with a brother or sister. Loves it when Hawk in dialogue asks his advice. As a warrior, he decisively opposes magicians and supports the endeavors of the templars. Accordingly, the easiest way to make friends with him is if you defiantly take the side of the templars with him.

Role: ordinary warrior, one piece. Carver, unlike most companions, does not have a unique skill tree - only five standard ones. You can make your brother both a fighter with a two-handed weapon and a defender, but finding a suitable role for him is difficult. In the role of "tank" he will play worse than Aveline. In the role of the Damage Fighter, Fenris will outrun him. It turns out that Carver is a kind of "compensation" for the flimsy of the main character-magician.

It is interesting: the appearance of Carver and Bethany changes depending on the chosen appearance and skin color of the protagonist or heroine. Brothers and sisters should be like each other!

Bethany

Class: magician

Dossier: Garrett's younger sister or Marian Hawke, a renegade magician. Fears of falling into the Circle of Magicians, diligently hides his gift and avoids communication with templars. Kind and simple-minded. Childishly happy when Garrett asks her advice in a conversation. He really does not like manifestations of cruelty. The easiest way to make friends with her is by showing a good attitude towards magicians and prejudice towards templars.

Role: Bethany is worth her brother - she's a standard mage with five common class skill trees, but she doesn't have her own. From it you can fashion something to your liking - for example, a magician-healer hybrid. But she conjures worse than Merril, and heals worse than Anders.

For your information: Carver and Bethany will be the hero's companions in the introductory part of the game (escape from Ferelden), but only one of them will go further with the hero. Who exactly - it depends on the class of the protagonist. If Garrett is a magician, Carver will stay with him. If Garrett is a warrior or a robber, Bethany will remain.

Aveline

Class: warrior

Dossier: a harsh warrior, a resident of Lothering. Nailed to the Hawk family when escaping from Ferelden. Once in Kirkwall, she decided to use her abilities in the city guard. Direct and honest. He does not know how to cheat and play around, which is why he often suffers.

As a guard, Aveline tries to abide by the laws, but will not strongly object if Hawke slightly breaks the letter of the law for the sake of justice (for example, to save justice from the hassle of a particularly incorrigible villain). But it is not recommended to break the law to the left and to the right in her presence. Especially Aveline does not like extortion. She likes the demonstrative modesty in the style of "what are you, not worth gratitude - this dragon would have died anyway."

Role: of course, the "tank"! And what another! If you take her with you in this role, then from the very first levels start investing points in the strengthening skills of the "Protector", "Arms and Shield" branches. Improved mockery and bravery will come in handy from the Warmonger branch. Aveline's own unique branch is called The Protector, and there is a lot of tasty stuff in it. Actually, in order to take all the available "tank" skills, Aveline simply does not have enough skill points. Something will have to be sacrificed - it is possible that it is the "Defender" branch.

Taking resistance to magic and to stun or knock down is highly desirable. These are great passive skills. In general, if in doubt, give preference to passive skills.

Varric

Another underground jabberwock welcomes guests to its cozy cave.

Class: robber

Dossier: a red-headed gnome with a dubious appearance and a hefty chain around his neck. Contrary to the first impression, he is peaceful, easygoing and simple-minded. Likes to joke and laugh at a good joke. He is calm about both magicians and templars. Will not mind if the main character wants to enrich himself at the expense of his neighbor. In general, it is very difficult to quarrel with Varric, so by the end of the game the hero will probably have a good relationship with him.

Role: by profession Varric is a shooter with good abilities to control. He will always support in battle with his personal weapon - a hefty crossbow, nicknamed Bianca. And he is the only companion who does not need a weapon selection. In addition, it is very easy for a gnome to choose skills - develop the Bianca rifle branch and the personal Warrik Sharpshooter branch. Everything else is exclusively to your taste.

Anders

Class: magician

Anders is a complex character: possessed by a demon, a little rowdy, and besides, he is staring at Hawk.

Dossier: renegade magician. An obvious client of the Templars, as he is possessed by a demon and from time to time loses control over himself. Hates templars for personal reasons. He hides from them, but does it badly, because out of the kindness of his soul he decided to become an underground doctor on a voluntary basis for the poorest inhabitants of Kirkwall.

Treating magicians in general well, Anders does not like blood magicians and demons very much. You should not try to negotiate with those and others with him. But if you sympathize with the magicians, Anders melts.

Some of Anders' personal passions are very specific.

Role: the perfect healer. His personal branch "Revenge" is beautiful, it needs to be taken almost entirely. But it hardly makes sense to delve into the general healing branch "Creation". Take a heal, an aura, an improved heal - and round off with it. You can spend the remaining points on the "hybridization" of Anders, making him also a killer magician of your own taste. Personally, I like the "Elements" branch - there is meaningful damage and frosty fragility everywhere to help partners. But there are some interesting things in "Sorcery" too: the improved "Mind Blast" and the always fashionable "Crushing Dungeon".

Merrill

Having visited the elven ghetto for the first time, Merril will be shocked by the lifestyle of his fellow tribesmen.

Class: magician

Dossier: Dalish elf. Left the tribesmen to join Hawke's team. Hobby - exploring dangerous areas of magic. She is very curious, loses her will at the sight of ancient artifacts. He does not disdain blood magic and communication with demons, which sometimes shocks Hawk and his companions. Shy, easily embarrassed. She tries to hide her feelings towards Hawke, which, however, she does not succeed well.

Merrill is a magician and will not like being treated badly by other magicians. Making friends with her is more difficult than with other members of the squad. Treat her gently, in no way criticize her actions or condemn her unusual and risky experiments.

Role: a killer magician of the highest class. Its branch "Dalish Outcast" is dubious in places, but the merits of the "Wrath of Elven" aura are undeniable. If you do not go further along the branch, you can make a magician out of Merril according to your own taste - even fiery-ice, even crushing-stone, even entropic.

Isabel

Class: robber

Dossier: a pirate captain without a ship, a kind of female Jack Sparrow. One of the most prominent (in every sense) characters in the game. He hunts for money and does not hide it. For some unknown reason, he avoids visiting some locations in the port. Sexually liberated. She is inclined to discuss topics that would make even experienced employees of the Kirkwall brothel blush. It definitely makes sense to take her out for a walk with the other girls of the team just to listen to their conversations.

Isabella knows how to say no to any annoying admirer.

Isabella is familiar with Zevran, the elf entertainer from the first part of the game. Having picked up a quest next to the brothel to find a dangerous hired killer, be sure to take Isabella with you.

Honor, valor, chivalry - these concepts are not very familiar to Isabella. She loves money most of all. Impudent extortion for any reason - good way earn the respect of the pirate captain. Isabella's cherished dream is to acquire a new ship and set sail with a crowd of muscular sailors.

Role: a robber with a pair of daggers and an excellent "Brawler" branch, in which there are simply no weak skills. But the problem of applying Isabella's skills still remains. Rangers in melee do good damage on one target, but bosses in the game are much less common than crowds of bandits or demons. In normal battles, Isabella is no longer so useful. In addition, the branches of melee robbers are not very well algorithmic, since they use combinations, discharge combinations and fast movements. The algorithm fits well, except that the auxiliary branch of control and weakening "Wrecking", but ... is it worth it?

Fenris

Class: warrior

Dossier: former slave of a cruel magician. Underwent inhuman lyrium skin treatment. Unable to withstand the cruelty and humiliation, he fled from the owner and, pursued by his henchmen, tries to hide in Kirkwall.

Fenris suffers from amnesia and does not remember anything from his previous life. Magical processing helped him to become an outstanding warrior, but the experience of slavery made him a hater of magicians. In the conflict between sorcerers and templars, Fenris will side with the latter.

As an elf, Fenris has a fairly broad outlook on some aspects of personal relationships.

Role: two-handed fighter: the "Two-handed weapon" branch is required, "Vanguard" and "Warmonger" to taste. Fenris's own branch, Tevinter Fugitive, has some interesting passive skills, but it's a little awkward - improved defense and increased damage with bitten health don't mix well.

All in all, best warrior Is a magician.

“Someone called for help? So there's work for Hawke's team again! "

Now you know what's what in Dragon Age 2. But only you can choose with whom to be friends, and whom to leave as rivals, on which side to stand in the game, and with whom to fight irreconcilably. And remember that in this game there is no Dark Lord, which means there are no definite answers. Each magician and templar, elf and companion has their own truth. So do as your heart tells you.

Walkthrough - Act II: Quests of the Companions
In the second act, you will begin to find gifts that you can give to your companions. Each gift, when found, starts a mini-quest and the journal indicates who exactly it should be given. Unlike the gifts in the first YES, the gifts of this game shift the attitude of the follower towards the already existing side of Friendship or Rivalry. That is, if your companion is in Friendship with the GG, the gift will bring Friendship points, and if Rivalry - then, accordingly, Rivalries, even if you choose absolutely the same answer options in the dialogues. The replicas of colleagues in this case will differ depending on their attitude to the GG.

Fenris

Speak to Fenris

Talk to Fenris at his mansion. You will receive an increase in Friendship points if you offer him help, and Rivalry points if you agree that these are not your problems.

Questioning Beliefs

Talk to Fenris. He will tell you about how he managed to escape from Danarius. This quest only appears if you have reached 50 points of Friendship or Rivalry with Fenris.

The Book of Shartan (gift)

When you visit Elphinage after sunset, in one of the bags along the northernmost street, you will find the book "The Life of a Slave", written by the elf Shartan, an associate of Andraste. Give it to Fenris.

Fenris's Night Terrors

This quest appears only if you took Fenris with you to the Shadow (Feynriel's quest) and he betrayed you to the Demon of Pride. Talk to him and listen to his apology. You will earn Friendship or Rivalry points, depending on whether you are sympathetic to what happened or if you complain.

The Bitter Pill

This quest appears after you advance a little along the storyline (I always have it after "Explosive Service"), if you go outside Kirkwall with Fenris in your group. On the way to your destination, you will be ambushed by Tevinter slavers who have been sent to return Fenris to its former master.
After a short conversation, the battle will begin. Although you can choose to answer “we can agree” (which, for obvious reasons, will give you Rivalry points with Fenris), you will not be able to avoid the battle. After the battle, one of the attackers will reveal to you the location of Hadrianna - the lady who, apparently, is currently leading the search for Fenris.

Go to the new location that has opened on the world map. The approaches to the cave of the slavers are covered by several squads, including mages. Be careful.

In the cave itself, you will find many traps - and traps that cannot be turned off - they are activated every time you step on them. Fortunately, they can be easily spotted from the tiles in a color different from the rest of the floor. In some narrow passages, it may be easier for you to take the lead of the characters and gently propel them forward one by one to avoid damage.

After clearing part of the caves from the detachments of slave owners, magicians, evil spirits and other cute creatures, you will meet a young elf slave Orana. If you are kind to her, you will earn Friendship points with Fenris. Fenris, Varric and Aveline will give you Friendship points if you offer a girl a service with you, specifying that this is not slavery and you will pay her to work.

Having finally reached Hadrianna, you will have to fight endless waves of slavers and Shadows, which she will call for her help. It is best to concentrate all firepower on her as soon as her protective barrier disappears, in order to inflict maximum possible damage on her in a short time - otherwise she will not only be re-covered by the barrier, but will also teleport around the room, making it difficult for your nearby warriors to access it battle.
After the battle, Hadrianna will automatically speak to Fenris. After the conversation, Fenris will temporarily leave your group.
To get it back, go to your estate. There Fenris will talk to you and this will complete this quest. If you have already completed the Doubt quest and flirted with Fenris earlier, then this conversation will also be a turning point in your relationship.

If you do not immediately go to Hadrianna, but perform other tasks, then the Tevinter will attack you (with Fenris in the group) - in this case, Fenris will give you Rivalry Points and deliver an ultimatum - go to Hadrianna's hideout immediately. If you refuse, he will leave alone and you will not see him again.

Note - in one of the chests in the slavers' dungeon, in the room where you met the elf, there is a gift for Anders - the Tevinter Church Amulet.

Aveline

Calling on the Captain

Speak with Aveline at the Viceroy's Palace.

Doubts that Linger

This quest only appears if you took Aveline with you to the Shadow (Feinriel's quest) and she betrayed you to the Demon of Desire. Talk to her about what happened and depending on your reaction, you can earn Friendship or Rivalry points.

Questioning Beliefs

Speak with Aveline at the Viceroy's Palace about the deteriorating situation in Kirkwall. This quest only appears if you have reached 50 points of Friendship or Rivalry with Aveline.

The Long Road

Speak with Aveline at the Viceroy's Palace. She will ask you to do a sheer trifle. Remember the guard Donnik from the first part of the game? He recovered and is back in the ranks. So, we need to take him a gift from Aveline, and then tell her about his reaction.
Give the gift to Donnik, who is in the next room, and return to Avelin with a report.
She will ask you to do one more trifling thing: hang up the watch schedule of the guards on the board and find out the guard's reaction to his appointment.
We go to the board in the hall, post a notice, listen to the guards' perplexity about this and report to Avelin.
Aveline is at a loss what to do now - and your comrades-in-arms are happy to comment on what is happening (their conversations during this quest are perhaps the best part of it, Isabela is especially trying).
During the conversation, the captain will ask you to arrange a meeting for her with Donnik in the Hanging Man in the evening.
We go to Donnik and call him to the "Hanging Man", then we go there ourselves. We watch the video, what comes of it all, and speak with Aveline.

In the course of the conversation, we agree that we will arrange for her and Donnik a calm patrol on the Torn Shore so that she can talk to him without hindrance.

We go to the Ragged Shore and follow the quest arrow.
We have to sequentially kill three groups of enemies about three "lighthouses", then light the "lighthouses" and watch how things are going at Avelin. Be careful - in addition to enemies, there are numerous traps on the roads to the "lighthouses".
Save before lighting the third fire. Subsequently, after a short scene of your conversation with Donnik and Aveline, you will have the opportunity to both help Aveline get what she wants, and vice versa.
After the conversation, we go to the city - there, in the Governor's Fortress, upset Avelin will be waiting for you. During the conversation, Donnik appears, and they continue their conversation without you, behind a closed door.
If you decide to help them, you will receive Friendship points with Aveline - and Donnik can come to your aid in the final battle of the game.

Talk to Aveline again and find out what they agreed with Donnik. This conversation will end this quest.

The Captain's Condolences

Talk to Aveline after completing All That Remains. You will receive Rivalry points if you blame her for what happened or if you don’t listen to her story.

Shield of Knight Herself (gift)

Present to Aveline the shield, which you can find in Varnell's Hideout in the "Find and Lose Again" quest. If you persuade her to accept it as a gift from a friend, then it will turn into a real shield (and very good one), which only Aveline can use. In other cases, you can use it too.

Anders

Visit Anders

Talk to Anders at his asylum.

The Tevinter Chantry Amulet (gift)

During Fenris's quest "The Bitter Pill" you will find an amulet of the Tevinter church in a chest in the room where you met the elf Orana. Present it to Anders.

Dissent

In the second act of the game, we receive news from Andres that he wants to talk to us. We go to him in the Hospital.
Anders is very worried about what recent times pacified magicians were added to the city, and those who had already gone through the Torture were pacified, which is not allowed according to church laws.
And so, through an underground network of mages who disagreed with Meredith's rule, Andres learned that, it turns out, there was a whole plan to pacify the mages of Kirkwall. The author of this plan is Templar Alric, who pacified Karl, Andres' friend, whom you can remember from the first act.
Andres will ask us to get this plan.
And for this we just need to get into the Casemates along the secret passage from the Cloaca.

We agree and go to the tunnel, choose two more satellites and go on a mission. Andres will be your obligatory companion in this quest.

There are many lyrium smugglers waiting for us in the tunnel, half of whom can go into stealth and then attack from behind. The further you advance, the more "leaders" you will meet among the enemies. Therefore, excessive caution will not hurt you. Poisonous spiders are also found there.
We kill everyone who comes across to us along the way, and as we move forward we take from one of the enemies we killed the Flawless Pants. This "cute" detail will open you up to a little quest.

We reach almost the end of the dungeon, we are saved. We take a few steps forward and observe a very interesting scene with the participation of the templar Alric and the young magessa.
We are getting involved in the battle. Hope you have enough healing potions with you? The fight will not be easy, Alric himself and his henchmen are quite strong guys. Some go to stealth and beat out of it. Alric himself uses quite a lot of the warrior-templar skills, so I would recommend killing him at the beginning, and only then deal with the rest. You can also run back with the whole group - then only a few templars and - sometimes - Alric himself will chase after you, and the subsequent waves of reinforcements will calmly wait in the same place until you return to them.
As soon as the last templar was killed, quickly press on F5. This will give you the opportunity to replay the dialogue if you are not satisfied with the result.

The fight is over, and you automatically begin a conversation with the young magician and Vengeance.
There are two options for ending this quest.
1. If you do not care what will happen to the magessa who ran away to say goodbye to her parents, you can support Justice that yes, everyone deserves to die and not stop.
Then he manages to kill the girl, after which he retreats and Andres comes to his senses, sees the work of his own hands and leaves.
2. If you care, choose the answer marked with an asterisk "Don't touch her!" Andres comes to his senses, takes a breath and leaves.

And we, left with two companions, search Alric and find in him the very Plan of pacification of the Kirkwall mages.
It must be admitted that this plan has not been approved by the High Priestess and has not yet been approved by Meredith.
It turns out that Alric carried out his plan without their consent with a group of his associates, and since he no longer exists, the magicians, so far, are not in danger.

We are heading forward, to the close exit from the caves and on the way we search one small nook. There, in an ordinary box, there is an improvement for Andres' armor - "Essence of Spirit" - increases resistance to magic.

We leave the caves, talk with the Magessa we saved. It depends only on you whether she returns to the Circle or leaves Kirkwall, fearing the persecution of the templars.

We return to Andres in the Hospital. After talking with him, the quest will be completed.
In this conversation, you will have the opportunity to drive Andres out of your team, they say, let him deal with his Justice.
There will be an opportunity to cheer up and support the magician, saying that we will help him cope.
And, for those who have an affair with him, there will be an opportunity to reach love remarks.

Questioning Beliefs

Talk to Anders. For those who have an affair with him, I highly recommend sticking it out - this is a turning point in your relationship with him. This quest only appears if you have reached 50 points of Friendship or Rivalry with Anders.

Merrill

Consoling Words

Speak with Merril at her home in Elvenage.

Mirror Image

In her shack (Elphinage), Merril will show you a broken eluvian mirror, which she has long dreamed of assembling and repairing. To do this, she needs tools that only the Dalish have. Walk with Merril to the Shattered Mountain camp and speak with Maretari. In return for a special carving knife, the Keeper will ask you to do a favor: kill the warterral in the cave near the camp and find traces of the hunters sent there earlier. At the entrance to the cave, several revived corpses will crawl out of the ground - kill them and go inside.
In the first chamber of the cave, poisonous spiders will attack you. There is also the body of one of the dead hunters of the clan - search it and take the amulet. The second hunter will lie in the lateral dead-end branch of the cave.
Return to the main cave and head down the stairs. Spiders will attack you again. The third killed hunter lies behind the stairs, on the platform above the hole. Take his amulet.
A little further you will meet an elf named Paul, who will not want to accept help from you because of Merril's presence, and will run away. Follow him deep into the cave, where a warterral will attack the boy, to which several spiders will join a little later. Be careful: the warterral spits poisonous saliva (as soon as it spits, immediately get out of the formed puddle, otherwise you will be constantly damaged) and causes rocks to fall from the ceiling of the cave. Keep an eye on him - as soon as he starts bouncing in place - it means that he is going to cause a landslide (which can immediately send your most frail companions to the next world) and you better change your position. Fortunately, it takes a while for the warteral to complete this move, so if you're careful you can avoid damage.

After defeating him, pick up the treasures of the warterral and do not forget to take his heart (for the task of the herbalist Solivitus). Do not relax - on the way back in the cave you will be attacked by several living dead, and just before leaving the cave there will be a rather impressive group of undead, led by Frost Horror.
After getting out of the cave, return to the camp and talk to Maretari. You can give the tools to Merril (get Rivalry points from Fenris and Anders - and Friendship points from Merril) or keep them with you (in this case, Merril will give Rivalry points).

Back from Sundermount

Talk to Merril about what happened in the warterall's lair.

Wooden Halla

This figurine can be purchased from Master Aylen in the Dalish camp. Present it to Merrill.

Apologies Merrill / Merrill, An Apology

This quest only appears if Merril has betrayed you to the demon of pride in the Shadow. Talk to her about what happened.

Varric

Plans for the Future

Talk to Varrick at The Hangman.

Family Matter

So, in the second act of the game, Varric will notify us that his agents have finally tracked down Bartrand. According to reports, Varric's brother now lives in one of the estates of the Upper City and the dwarf asks to accompany him to visit his brother.
We agree and go to deal with this greedy shorty.
We approach the mansion in the Upper Town and see that it seems to have been abandoned for a long time. Well, let's examine him better.

We go in and ... we watch a video in the style of an American western with Varrick in the lead role, after which we take control of our crossbowman and clear the house of all the guards alone.
However, here Cassandra intervenes in the narrative process, which explains what is happening ...

So, this time you find yourself in the mansion with the whole team. You will be attacked in almost every room by dozens of crazy guards with their commanders. Be careful - in the 5th room there are several traps, and in the 7th room at the entrance you will be given a slowing gas (this trap can be neutralized if you notice it in time), and at the same time a whole army of guards will appear. In the hall with the central staircase, neutralize another trap and take the blow of the whole avalanche of crazy guards who run down the stairs to you. After you deal with them, the surviving servant of Bartrand will come out to you and tell you about the madness that gripped his master. Then the servant will run away, and as soon as you open the door to the central room (the upper landing of the stairs), a new stream of maddened guards, led by Bartrand himself, will rush into the hall - this time, they will attack you from the lower floor. Brother Varric is good at using twin blades and can deal massive damage with a backstab.
After the fight, listen to Bartrand's insane speech and decide what to do with him. If Andres is present in your group, he will be able to help the gnome for a short time and rid him of the influence of the idol - then Bartrand will again gain the ability to speak coherently for a while.
If Andres is not there, then there will be no intelligible dialogue. Advise Varric on how you think Bartrand should be dealt with (a peaceful outcome will bring you Friendship points with Varric), and this dialogue will complete this quest.

A Story Being Told

Talk to Bartrand at The Hangman about his descriptions of your adventures.

The Tethras Signet Ring (gift)

At the Trinket Shop in Lower City, buy a Signet Ring and give it to Varric.

Isabela

Isabela's Ongoing Search

Talk to Isabela at The Hangman. She will tell you that she is very close to revealing the location of the relic, which she told you about in the first act. If you express your willingness to help find her, you will receive Friendship points with Isabela.

A Ship for Isabela (gift)

Give Isabela the Bottled Boat, which you can find in the Smuggler's Pit during story quest Explosive Service.

Questioning Beliefs

Talk to Isabella at the Hangman. This quest only appears if you reach 50 Friendship or Rivalry points with Isabella.

Isabela's Apology

This quest appears only if you took Isabela with you to the Shadow on Faenriel's quest and she gave you the Demon of Desire. Hear her apology. Depending on your answers, you will receive Friendship or Rivalry points (as well as an additional opportunity to flirt with Isabela).

Attention: Isabela's quest "To Catch a Thief" is a story-driven quest and will be described in the finale of the second act.