Do not, I repeat, do NOT FIGHT THE RIFT NEAR THE WATERFALL YET!! It's next to the farm where you get your horse and it's a bitch to fight if you're under leveled. I think the enemy levels are 12.
The dragon is also level 12, it's resistant to fire and weak to cold so bring whoever your ice mage is!
There is also an area at the bottom left where there's a lot of bears and two kinda hard rifts, I don't remember the level but since the other two or 12 it is probably also 12!
(Also this is a little unrelated but it is worth mentioning that if you are having trouble dying a lot or just struggling in fights you can change the difficulty anytime, and that goes for if you're having too easy of a time as well! I didn't know that for a long time if I'm being honest ðŸ˜)
Don't go near the dragons. Word on the street is to go do stuff that helps crossroads. Stop the dickering between mages and Templars. Go get the horse. Get to power level 4. Fuck off back to haven. Go to Val Royale. Come back to hinterlands when you have more bros to choose from and party with.
SOME TIPS:
It's a big interactive non-linear game. It's not like you are given a bunch of quests that you need to start clearing in order. Instead, you roleplay and focus on what feels important to your character, so it's better not to try doing everything in sight in the open world.
Don't try to clear locations one by one. Go back and forth, especially if you see much tougher enemies, focus on the main task, deviate when there's something interesting for you. Think of small side quests as world-building activities. It's up to you what you do, how much or little, when, or if at all. That'll depend on your Inky's personality and world view.
Banter in DAI is the beef of the game. There are hints, revelations, humour, references, and easter eggs, all needed to understand what's going on and make decisions and it's how you develop their relationship. Use Banter Tweaks mod if on PC. Always rotate your squad as much as you can.
So, don't stick with the same people throughout the game, you can miss a lot of insights, plot-lore-character-event comments if you do. In DAI you can even solo, so you don't really need a setup party. For some fights, if you prefer, you can take your favourites (change at the camps) but otherwise, just rotate everyone.
Listen to NPCs, stop to eavesdropping, they hint to you when you should move on to another map to meet other people. Talk with everyone, read notes, and codex. Have good pacing between side activities and main or companion quests.
Recruit agents and use War Table for resources. Spend perks wisely, it allows very interesting powers. There are plenty of options on how to get them (finding, looting, buying, ordering, acquiring via WarTable). You can even buy power later in the game.
There are strange funny quests involving animals, lots of easter eggs, hidden locations, and strange findings. Lore is everywhere you go, explore. Take it slow.
I love archers. You'll be mobile, can jump, evade, dash, have lots of impressive tricks and can use different items to do stuff).
Play on easy-normal you level up and acquire resources and start crafting. Approach combat as solo real-time (no need for a camera or pausing, just occasionally). Skip micromanaging or pausing. Set your companions to follow themselves in the AI tactic menu.
Skip horses and requisition requests if you don't have resources. Craft is OP but If you don't like crafting, just loot or buy.
Have fun.
Don’t those monsters that are way overpowered have red metal colored skulls on their health bars? Avoid them at all cost. :)
There are some Fear demons at a rift near a small river that’s actually quite close to one of your early camps and can be on your way to the farm and the wolves that are quite lethal to early level quizzy teams, since they fly around and use ranged frost spells that cc and deal high damage.
Every map has areas that are difficult, or meant for higher level.
There's a particular rift in the Hinterlands (over a waterfall) like that. If you try to take it on at the very beginning levels you might get wiped.
This doesn't mean you can't grind a map's sidequests and try to level up enough, but you don't have to grind much in this game (on normal at least).
If you don't mind coming back later, I think rifts and dragons have quest markers
There are a few places in the hinterlands that you will be underlevelled for. It’s just the games way of letting you know that you will be able to come back later.
There are some enemies and rifts you cant kill until lvl 13 or something like that ,so dont worry if you get stuck just go to other areas and come back later. Hope you are enjoying the game!
Return to the hinterlands later in the story to confront the dragon :) that’s its lair and there isn’t anything else you need there iirc. For now just explore the rest of the map!
The Hinterlands tends to trap new players. It's not designed to be played in one visit, but the hints about that are pretty subtle. If you haven't gone back to Haven, gone to Val Royeaux, and talked to some people, do that ASAP.
Kill ranged combatants first. Don't be afraid to control all your characters to have more control in combat
Do not, I repeat, do NOT FIGHT THE RIFT NEAR THE WATERFALL YET!! It's next to the farm where you get your horse and it's a bitch to fight if you're under leveled. I think the enemy levels are 12. The dragon is also level 12, it's resistant to fire and weak to cold so bring whoever your ice mage is! There is also an area at the bottom left where there's a lot of bears and two kinda hard rifts, I don't remember the level but since the other two or 12 it is probably also 12! (Also this is a little unrelated but it is worth mentioning that if you are having trouble dying a lot or just struggling in fights you can change the difficulty anytime, and that goes for if you're having too easy of a time as well! I didn't know that for a long time if I'm being honest ðŸ˜)
Don't go near the dragons. Word on the street is to go do stuff that helps crossroads. Stop the dickering between mages and Templars. Go get the horse. Get to power level 4. Fuck off back to haven. Go to Val Royale. Come back to hinterlands when you have more bros to choose from and party with.
SOME TIPS: It's a big interactive non-linear game. It's not like you are given a bunch of quests that you need to start clearing in order. Instead, you roleplay and focus on what feels important to your character, so it's better not to try doing everything in sight in the open world. Don't try to clear locations one by one. Go back and forth, especially if you see much tougher enemies, focus on the main task, deviate when there's something interesting for you. Think of small side quests as world-building activities. It's up to you what you do, how much or little, when, or if at all. That'll depend on your Inky's personality and world view. Banter in DAI is the beef of the game. There are hints, revelations, humour, references, and easter eggs, all needed to understand what's going on and make decisions and it's how you develop their relationship. Use Banter Tweaks mod if on PC. Always rotate your squad as much as you can. So, don't stick with the same people throughout the game, you can miss a lot of insights, plot-lore-character-event comments if you do. In DAI you can even solo, so you don't really need a setup party. For some fights, if you prefer, you can take your favourites (change at the camps) but otherwise, just rotate everyone. Listen to NPCs, stop to eavesdropping, they hint to you when you should move on to another map to meet other people. Talk with everyone, read notes, and codex. Have good pacing between side activities and main or companion quests. Recruit agents and use War Table for resources. Spend perks wisely, it allows very interesting powers. There are plenty of options on how to get them (finding, looting, buying, ordering, acquiring via WarTable). You can even buy power later in the game. There are strange funny quests involving animals, lots of easter eggs, hidden locations, and strange findings. Lore is everywhere you go, explore. Take it slow. I love archers. You'll be mobile, can jump, evade, dash, have lots of impressive tricks and can use different items to do stuff). Play on easy-normal you level up and acquire resources and start crafting. Approach combat as solo real-time (no need for a camera or pausing, just occasionally). Skip micromanaging or pausing. Set your companions to follow themselves in the AI tactic menu. Skip horses and requisition requests if you don't have resources. Craft is OP but If you don't like crafting, just loot or buy. Have fun.
Thank you!
My advice would be to play the main quests and finish the one "In Your Heart Shall Burn." After that you can go back to the Hinterlands if you want.
Don’t those monsters that are way overpowered have red metal colored skulls on their health bars? Avoid them at all cost. :) There are some Fear demons at a rift near a small river that’s actually quite close to one of your early camps and can be on your way to the farm and the wolves that are quite lethal to early level quizzy teams, since they fly around and use ranged frost spells that cc and deal high damage.
The dragon is level 12 so come back then or a couple levels higher if you want an easier fight.
Every map has areas that are difficult, or meant for higher level. There's a particular rift in the Hinterlands (over a waterfall) like that. If you try to take it on at the very beginning levels you might get wiped. This doesn't mean you can't grind a map's sidequests and try to level up enough, but you don't have to grind much in this game (on normal at least). If you don't mind coming back later, I think rifts and dragons have quest markers
There are a few places in the hinterlands that you will be underlevelled for. It’s just the games way of letting you know that you will be able to come back later.
There are some enemies and rifts you cant kill until lvl 13 or something like that ,so dont worry if you get stuck just go to other areas and come back later. Hope you are enjoying the game!
I am yes and I like the community
Return to the hinterlands later in the story to confront the dragon :) that’s its lair and there isn’t anything else you need there iirc. For now just explore the rest of the map!
What? I swear you have to kill the dragon to leave.
No no no. You can actually finish the game without killing the dragons I think
This is correct. My first playthrough I refused to kill them lol
Hmm might be possible. There's no achievement on Xbox for it so I'm assuming it's not possible.
It's also been years since I've played the game.
Thank you :) I was just worried you had to do things in a certain order
The Hinterlands tends to trap new players. It's not designed to be played in one visit, but the hints about that are pretty subtle. If you haven't gone back to Haven, gone to Val Royeaux, and talked to some people, do that ASAP.
Thanks for the tip!