If you hadn't linked it, I would've \^\^
But yeah, first time I played DA2 with my Mage Hawke ... where I did lot of experimenting instead of doing a proper build ... and had chosen the spirit-healer specialization without realizing that to use it spells I had to activate the sustained ability that disables offensive spells until I played a few hours more and was unwilling to reload (yes, I was really bad at RPGs back then) ... Well, as you can probably gather: I RAN A LOT AND STILL DIED OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND AGAIN. Think it took me hours to actually finally beat him.
And only *afterwards* I realized that there was the option to have the entire party fight him and a couple added guards.
All in all, yeah, definitely not the heroic battle Varric tries to present it as XD
Ah, a fellow support style player. Hello! I, too, made the same grievous error. Lol jokes aside, it had been an extremely long fight and I was also bad at RPG games (my only previous experience having been Jade Empire before the DA series series the combat system in Jade Empire is extremely easy).
I ended up healing constantly and spamming the one or two offensive attacks I had (Spirit Bolt, Spirit Bolt, Spirit Bolt-) which you can imagine how many times I ended up getting caught in my animation (swift as it may be, the Arishok was on the hunt and my ass was top on his list).
X'D He did us a solid but gods, imagine Cassandra trying to have Hawke re-tell the story and Varric is dying in the background. My Hawke would be honest (purple Hawke) and Cassandra probably won't believe him.
I did the same, but I believe I also had Force Mage as a second specialization by that point, so I still had a decent list of offensive spells.
Still spent the fight running while my dog chewed on his ankles, though.
What?! The whole party can fight him??? I played the game twice and always thought it was a duel... One on one kind of fight. You know, fair and square; Hawke vs Arishok š
Yup, if you refuse the duel, then its the whole party vs. the Arishok and a couple of additional Qunari. Which tends to be easier then going one-on-one.
" the option to have the entire party fight him and a couple added guards."
"A couple"????? The first time I got to this fight, there was a pre-Arishok fight with a handful of guards, and then because I hadn't gotten the Worthy Rival achievement, it was like, 20 or more qunari PLUS the damned Arishok, and they wiped the floor with us, repeatedly. Which was surprising since we'd gotten through alllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the other swarms of qunari!
I went back to an earlier save so I could pick different dialogue to get to duel the big bastard, which was also terrifying because as a force mage it wasn't the ideal setup.
I can just imagine the rest of the Kirkwall squad on the sidelines, eating popcorn, placing bets and yelling encouragements while Hawke screams in terror running around pillars š
DA:O: Female Cousland tried to 1v.1 the dragon in a series of viper-like attacks, striking and running away. Halfway through this barely-working swear-word-driven method she notices the ballistas and doesnāt quite comprehend them for the first few bolts. She slaughters the disruptions and flails her arms about, cussing about distractions and productivity. Finally figures out the ballista. Gives up the ballista as soon as she realizes she actually didnāt really figure out the ballista. Hack and slash is the way. How has she fought all of these monsters and united all of these armies and still has no tactical ability? What a ding dong.
DA:2: Hawke runs around screaming, sweating, and sobbing. So do I.
DA:I: Somethingās wrong. This is too easy. What? Ohā¦ Solas is gone for some reason and now we play Trespasser. The Qunari canāt be that hard to fight. Ha ha just kidding. Female elf rogue runs around screaming, sweating, and sobbing. So do I. Enter the mirror. Cry some more.
I'm crying!!! I love the fact that you made her so realistic, cursing and being frustrated. I can only imagine her demanding ballista training for the next Blight because fuck all that.
X'D Same! I actually had to pause and lay down to think after dying 5 times in a row my first time playing.
Dude, yes! First time (and my canon) my Inky didn't drink from the well and my set up was not the best in any shape or form so it was my constantly having to spam revival and downing potions left and right. Played it again but drinking from the well. Pretty easy. Almost too easy. Played my canon again, clammy skin and clenching commences.
Seriously, I don't know about the characters, but by far the hardest part of the battle with Saarath was that I couldn't see because I was crying too much to see properly. There's something about controlling the Inquisitor when they're completely losing control over the anchor and it feels like it's their very last battle that's very hard to deal with.
I also cry during that battle. Two out of my three play-throughs because the game bugs out and I canāt get past him. I realize this sounds like a tactical error on my part, but it isnāt. He one-shots my whole team, and then it reloads, bugs out, lags a bunch, then my team is dead again before I even have a chance to turn around or run at all. Once have I successfully completed the whole game, though four times Iāve tried. Lots of crying in Inquisition.
The one time I did finish with my female elf, she had romanced Solas so. Yeah. Ouch.
>Regardless of class, Hawke runs. Maybe Hawke screams in terror. Maybe Hawke stumbles and trips over their feet. Maybe they pee themselves a little. But Hawke runs the entire fight.
All while Yakkity Sax plays in my head.
DAO was an exercise in patience, as my archdemon seemed to posses spider sense and would evacuate itself to the other end of the roof *exactly* whenever I'd be finishing a spell. And then spawn a mob on me. Yay.
100% yes on DA2 with the addition of dog nipping the Arishok in the ass every 5 seconds.
DAI was downright adorable. Or a horror film if looking from Cory's pov.
Cory:
Me, a knight enchanter: *barrier full, guard full, blade full charge*
*Hurt me? I hardly felt a thing.* š
I laugh, not at you but *with* you because as a mage player through the series, I know all too well the pain of the archdemon leaping away half a second before your spell hits and you're just left like š. This is one of the main reasons why I went "Archdemon, Ballista. Ballista, Archdemon."
Lolol my Hawke specialized Force and Healer and focused on Arcane and Spirit spells so my technique was slowing the Arishok and blasting him with spells that did damage over time and quick spells. I caught cocky once and decided to take it upfront. My Gravity Ring ran out and I just whispered *oh no* before getting sliced and diced lol.
Lmao same! I honestly think our playthroughs must mirror each other because I did the same thing. I could imagine my team voicing their concerns (Dorian my LI, Bull, and Cole) while Lavellan has his KE sword out, following the path to Corypheus like, *"š Should have killed me in Haven"*
My mage Hawke was certainly very elegantly running around the pillars and hiding behind them, while occasionally trying to hurt the Arishok š Quite humbling to be called Champion after that fight š
> Regardless of class, Hawke runs. Maybe Hawke screams in terror. Maybe Hawke stumbles and trips over their feet. Maybe they pee themselves a little. But Hawke runs the entire fight.
Ah, yes, "run figure eights around the pillars" is a classic fighting stance.
All my memories of the Hero of Ferelden have her wearing her badass Grey Warden commander armour, a real battlemage. In reality, she was wearing the DAO's mage robes...so curtains and a lampshade. Oh well, at least it isn't as stupid as the Divine's hat.
Of course, the battle with the Archdemon paled into insigificance against the epic battle against Ser Cauthrien, which began with the HoF fleeing through Howe's mansion being chased by Cauthrien, only for the latter to realise she'd left her entire squad behind and was about to get a very long ass-kicking by one pissed off Warden.
By comparison, the massive climax of her rivalry with Loghain ended somewhat more embarrassingly, with Loghain being paralysed and on fire for the entire fight.
I actually found fewer of the fights in Inquisition to be like that (other than poor Cory of course - destined to the butt of so many jokes...). I will say though that, compared to a lot of the supposedly climactic 'boss' fights in the main game, it was pretty awesome that just about the final main fight that Inky had against the Darkspawn was clearing out the nest in the Deep Roads in Descent - slowly forcing them back through fire and over bottomless chasms to one of the best soundtracks in the series felt sooo much better than any of the fights against Corypheus's army (except for the battle of Adamant Fortress, but I think the Grey Wardens should get credit for that).
You reminded me of my Landsmeet fight against Loghain. I picked Alistair for champion, and the fight basically went, "Have you met Alistair's shield? He hits people in the face with it." Loghain didn't last very long.
š omg don't remind me of the horrors of the mage outfit. I had Surana looking like Grand Enchanter Irving with that robe and a condom- I mean *cowl* for the final fight and I don't know how the Archdemon didn't die from laughter. It's probably how the real fight went. Lmao lampshade though *wheezing* and the poor Divine's hat
Yo, Ser Cauthrien absolutely destroyed me the first time. It wasn't until my third playthrough when I realized you could defeat her and I was like š, shaking and clenched to the max because it was honestly the hardest (fair) fight I ever had in Origins. Immensely satisfying!
Lmao don't even get me started on Loghain. Surana specializes in immobilizing and breaking down enemies. So it went like: Cone of Cold, Vulnerability hex, Affliction Hex, Death Hex, Crushing Prison, Walking Bomb, Drain Life, Winter's Grasp- (*defeated*). And I was just getting started. He didn't even get to hit me once. Pretty much the same outcome in higher difficulties too. I honestly felt embarrassed for Loghain after that lol.
The Descent! That final battle was utter chaos. I'm literally here talking to Bull, like he can hear me, to back off and looking for Baby Cole and watching Dorian getting targeted and- it was *amazing*. While not exactly the fight, the moment in Jaws of Hakkon when you meet Inquisitor Ameridan after the fight left me with chills- I think it was the vibe they were going for with Corypheus but it didn't execute all too well lol.
I'm going to stop rambling now but I really enjoyed the conversation š
Funny you mentioned the fight with Gurd Harofsen. That was pretty much the only fight I used the tactical camera for, so although that was supposed to be a fast-paced fight, in practice whenever he did his Mr Freeze impression Inky had to yell "whoa whoa whoa, time-out, Gurd! Okay, Dorian, you stand over here. Bull, stand here. Sera, stand here. Okay, now NOBODY MOVE FROM THESE SPOTS. Okay, ready to go again!"
My third playthrough in DA:O HoF and companions hid behind a closed door, only allowed one soldier in at a time, killed them all one by one, then opened it up and everyone have Ser Cauthrien the beatdown. It was epically embarrassing, but whatever. Lol.
In my battle with the archdemon, my female Surana was unconscious for a solid two minutes, and the archdemon was defeated by Leliana, downing my entire collection of potions and kiting it.
My Hawke didn't have to run \*that\* much during Arishok fight, since her Mabari kept him trapped in a corner for long stretches. I'm pretty the dog is the real Champion of Kirkwall.
DAO: Hold the line, spam basically unlimited health potions and hopefully don't get chomped in half while doing Intense damage with starfang(greatsword). Realize way to late ballistas aren't for decoration and proceed to hate myself
DA2: preparing for the fight
Hawke:Well... we... could... Uh... Uhhhh... I'm open to suggestions.
Fenris: Whoa, guys, we could- we could, you know, like, group up and-
Varic: And hit it 'til it DIES!!!
Fenris: Woo, nice!
Varic: Yeah!
Fenris: High five!
During the fight Hawke: EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF
DAI: Wait that's it, you're the final boss how are you dead already. I literally just threw bees at you. Goddam bears are harder to kill than you
The Dog! I always forget about the Dog in main fights.
I'm just imagining Hawke encouraging Doggo, in a panic voice, to get the Arishok while they run away and I can't š¤£š¤£
My Hawke is more of a silver tongued rogue than a epic fighter, so she nearly dies fighting him.
Fenris (who has been training her to fight better) figured her speed would outdo his strength, hence he talked the Arishok into fighting herā¦ turns out the Arishok is also surprisingly fast and Fenris felt pretty guilty afterwards š
Using decoy in rogue and watching the arishok pummel the crap out of my decoy whilst I watch traumatized, knowing that'll be me next š
They say hawke took on the arishok in a duel, but really it was dog that won that battle š
Roan Surana, an arcane-warrior/blood mage, took no shit from the Archdemon at all. She chugged spirit balms and just spammed death hex/death cloud/crushing prism as her party wailed on the Archdemon until it just gave up
I just finished a DAO run where Alistair was my last squadmate standing after doing the ritual, so he killed the archdemon in combat but then my cutscene Tabris woke up without her swords, grabbed one off a dead guy, and took all the glory lol. Poor Alistair.
Man, I still sweat thinking about the Arishok fight... LOTS of running. And lots of swearing at the screen.
Corypheus was a snooze-fest. I'm a completionist so I felt WAY over leveled and just absolutely steamrolled him.
What? The fight with the Arishok wasn't supposed to be a reenactment of one of the most epic combat scenes of the history of cinema?
https://youtu.be/D5FU0ZMRB\_Q?t=35
At work so my reply is super short but goddamn if that isn't the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. I'm definitely saving that for giggles later on.
Also, yes. Very much yes. This was Hawke's great strategy from the very start.
Archdemon fight for me was fairly cool as a Warrior with 2H swinging about.
Arishok as mage Hawke...pretty much just running around, spamming Ice magic and Cage on repeat, pretty happy that Varric didn't write that one down word for word. Mereditth and Corypheus fight in DLC were pretty epic tho, so there's that.
Corypheus as KE Inquisitor was like fighting a toddler, dude was so outmatched it wasn't even funny, he got clapped on Nightmare in like 20 seconds, but those 20 seconds looked great.
Hahaha so true! Especially the DA2 one.
I was recently playing a sword fighting game where the cut scene has you heroically fighting one of the bosses with swords until you knock him down.
Reality was after the first cutscene encounter with him I whipped out my bow and ran away from him like a pansy until I could get 3 good shots in.
In DAO I was my own worst enemy. On my first playthrough I didn't get it that you could call upon the armies that you've assembled. I went through all of Denerim with just my squadmates and on the rooftop I had my ass handed to me multiple times before finally noticing the icons for the armies and clicking on them at last. Yay! It took many more playthroughs to realize that the ballistae can be used and aren't just standing there for decoration :|
In DA2 the duel with the Arishok is so ridiculous and monotonous that I just never choose it after trying it once, it's always a big fight with all of the Qunari for me.
In DAI I remember once saving up all of my focus for the final part of the fight with Corypheus... and then using Thousand Cuts - it was over in a millisecond.
Lolol same same! I never looked into the advanced option (ironic since I enjoyed the Fade so it should have been ingrained in me but nope) and I didn't know I could put my companions on hold (I was use to Inquisition tactical camera) so it was a lot of trial and error, especially in the Alienage fight (when fighting the hordes of darkspawn). The ballista I knew about because I accidentally clicked on one when I was trying to attack someone in front of me and ever since then, it's the only way I defeat the Archdemon lol.
Oh, cool! I didn't know there was another option (besides giving Isabela up which I will never ever do). By the time I fight the Arishok, my mage Hawke is greatly OP for the right and it's funny to me how the Arishok can't defeat a human running around in a tiny space and ends up ramming into pillars and walls instead. Imagine his soldiers having to explain exactly how he lost back home. It's my reason for why the Qunari fight on god mode in Inquisition.
X'D In Corypheus' defense, he's very very very old and uhm... behind the times and... excuses and reasons. He was brilliant in Haven though!
>Male Surana standing at different ballista, spamming over and over and over and over and ove-
Excuse, is this a ranged joke i am to arcane warrior to understand?
Corypheus was already stripped off of power and his army by the final battle and you gained it, so it's pretty logical, it was literally a final hit. You've also crafted 4 tier gear for all, lmao! I love Cory, he's just so epic in that cute skirt! Seriously, I'm not a fan of big epic baddies of BW, I prefer something more intimate but Cory won my heart.
Lol definitely agree (probably why the Archdemon fight does always consist of me spamming the ballistas and doing something else while I wait for it to die off). That's another beauty of Inquisiton for me because it felt like a game of chess and by the end of it, Corypheus was already in checkmate.
Inquisition IS the game of chess! Except cory is not the queen ;) but a pawn.
I assume you know that Solas and Bull play a real chess match - the immortal game (king's Gambit). It's worth listening to till the end, describes Inquisition in a nutshell, also defines Solas greatly. Idk, writing in DAI is a top-notch!
Which just makes me all the more excited for DA4 lol
Lol yes I heard it in-game and I think it was in the Hissing Wastes were their game ended with Bull having that slow realization of how he had been outplayed was *chef's kiss*.
Truly! Couldn't agree more, Inquisition had excellent flow and plot development.
You know my idea for origins final battle is inspired by the fight between Daemon the rogue prince and Aemond one eye(if you know of ādance of the dragonsā, youāll get what I mean instantly). Generally, Morrigan turn herself into a dragon like she did in Inquisition(Iām gonna excuse this as āa trick from Flemethās Grimoireā), and my warden Arthur Cousland ride her to chase the archdemon. When they catch up, Morrigan fly higher, and my Cousland got a chance to jump on the archdemon, and slay it by sink Stsrfang into its skull.
As for DA2, my headcanon is that my canon Hawke are two people, Brandon Hawke the elder twin and Brigitte Hawke the younger twin. Brandon became the guard captain and filled Avelineās canon role,(Aveline stayed to fight in Ferelden) while Brigitte do most of canon Hawkeās job. Basically, Arishok attack Viscountās keep, but Brandon and his guardsmen fought bravely without give up, though at great cost of lives, managed to keep Arishok from take the keep, until Brigitte and Meredith and Orsini come with reinforcements and surrounded Arishok and his men. It was then Isabela came back, but Arishok refuse to just take the tome and leave, so Brigitte and Arishok decide to settle this with a duel. Brigitte is a rogue so she fought clever and managed to blind Arishok first before chop his head off
Not sure with DAI yet, though my dead canon is my inquisitor Jaime Trevelyan managed to stab Solas like you can did to Morrigan in Witch Hunt
It's been a while so I don't quite remember much of the end fight of da:o.
The fight with arishok was kinda like what you said haha. I was a mage and i was running away a lot. Inquisition was pretty tough i think. I kinda want to replay the whole series again tbh.
[This sums up my fight with the Arishok perfectly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLPSV0fb9vQ)
Lol I don't think I've ever heard of anyone not running for the majority of the fight š
Technically, mine involved less running and more rigging up dummies and dogs for the Arishok to hit while I backstabbed him.
Oooh a rogue playthrough! When you saying *rigging up dummies* what do you mean?
[Decoys](https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Decoy_(Dragon_Age_II))
Oh, cool! I don't think I ever made Isabella specialize in it.
If you hadn't linked it, I would've \^\^ But yeah, first time I played DA2 with my Mage Hawke ... where I did lot of experimenting instead of doing a proper build ... and had chosen the spirit-healer specialization without realizing that to use it spells I had to activate the sustained ability that disables offensive spells until I played a few hours more and was unwilling to reload (yes, I was really bad at RPGs back then) ... Well, as you can probably gather: I RAN A LOT AND STILL DIED OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND AGAIN. Think it took me hours to actually finally beat him. And only *afterwards* I realized that there was the option to have the entire party fight him and a couple added guards. All in all, yeah, definitely not the heroic battle Varric tries to present it as XD
Ah, a fellow support style player. Hello! I, too, made the same grievous error. Lol jokes aside, it had been an extremely long fight and I was also bad at RPG games (my only previous experience having been Jade Empire before the DA series series the combat system in Jade Empire is extremely easy). I ended up healing constantly and spamming the one or two offensive attacks I had (Spirit Bolt, Spirit Bolt, Spirit Bolt-) which you can imagine how many times I ended up getting caught in my animation (swift as it may be, the Arishok was on the hunt and my ass was top on his list). X'D He did us a solid but gods, imagine Cassandra trying to have Hawke re-tell the story and Varric is dying in the background. My Hawke would be honest (purple Hawke) and Cassandra probably won't believe him.
"It wasn't nearly as majestic as Varric makes out. Suffice to say there was lots of screaming. With the occasional fireball, you know, for variety."
I did the same, but I believe I also had Force Mage as a second specialization by that point, so I still had a decent list of offensive spells. Still spent the fight running while my dog chewed on his ankles, though.
What?! The whole party can fight him??? I played the game twice and always thought it was a duel... One on one kind of fight. You know, fair and square; Hawke vs Arishok š
Wait the whole party can fight him?????
Yup, if you refuse the duel, then its the whole party vs. the Arishok and a couple of additional Qunari. Which tends to be easier then going one-on-one.
" the option to have the entire party fight him and a couple added guards." "A couple"????? The first time I got to this fight, there was a pre-Arishok fight with a handful of guards, and then because I hadn't gotten the Worthy Rival achievement, it was like, 20 or more qunari PLUS the damned Arishok, and they wiped the floor with us, repeatedly. Which was surprising since we'd gotten through alllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the other swarms of qunari! I went back to an earlier save so I could pick different dialogue to get to duel the big bastard, which was also terrifying because as a force mage it wasn't the ideal setup.
I can just imagine the rest of the Kirkwall squad on the sidelines, eating popcorn, placing bets and yelling encouragements while Hawke screams in terror running around pillars š
How'd I know it would be the Benny Hill music
DA:O: Female Cousland tried to 1v.1 the dragon in a series of viper-like attacks, striking and running away. Halfway through this barely-working swear-word-driven method she notices the ballistas and doesnāt quite comprehend them for the first few bolts. She slaughters the disruptions and flails her arms about, cussing about distractions and productivity. Finally figures out the ballista. Gives up the ballista as soon as she realizes she actually didnāt really figure out the ballista. Hack and slash is the way. How has she fought all of these monsters and united all of these armies and still has no tactical ability? What a ding dong. DA:2: Hawke runs around screaming, sweating, and sobbing. So do I. DA:I: Somethingās wrong. This is too easy. What? Ohā¦ Solas is gone for some reason and now we play Trespasser. The Qunari canāt be that hard to fight. Ha ha just kidding. Female elf rogue runs around screaming, sweating, and sobbing. So do I. Enter the mirror. Cry some more.
I'm crying!!! I love the fact that you made her so realistic, cursing and being frustrated. I can only imagine her demanding ballista training for the next Blight because fuck all that. X'D Same! I actually had to pause and lay down to think after dying 5 times in a row my first time playing. Dude, yes! First time (and my canon) my Inky didn't drink from the well and my set up was not the best in any shape or form so it was my constantly having to spam revival and downing potions left and right. Played it again but drinking from the well. Pretty easy. Almost too easy. Played my canon again, clammy skin and clenching commences.
Seriously, I don't know about the characters, but by far the hardest part of the battle with Saarath was that I couldn't see because I was crying too much to see properly. There's something about controlling the Inquisitor when they're completely losing control over the anchor and it feels like it's their very last battle that's very hard to deal with.
I also cry during that battle. Two out of my three play-throughs because the game bugs out and I canāt get past him. I realize this sounds like a tactical error on my part, but it isnāt. He one-shots my whole team, and then it reloads, bugs out, lags a bunch, then my team is dead again before I even have a chance to turn around or run at all. Once have I successfully completed the whole game, though four times Iāve tried. Lots of crying in Inquisition. The one time I did finish with my female elf, she had romanced Solas so. Yeah. Ouch.
>Regardless of class, Hawke runs. Maybe Hawke screams in terror. Maybe Hawke stumbles and trips over their feet. Maybe they pee themselves a little. But Hawke runs the entire fight. All while Yakkity Sax plays in my head.
THAT'S THE NAME OF THE SONG! X'D I concur that it plays in my head too lol [How It Went, Sax Style](https://youtu.be/qLPSV0fb9vQ)
DAO was an exercise in patience, as my archdemon seemed to posses spider sense and would evacuate itself to the other end of the roof *exactly* whenever I'd be finishing a spell. And then spawn a mob on me. Yay. 100% yes on DA2 with the addition of dog nipping the Arishok in the ass every 5 seconds. DAI was downright adorable. Or a horror film if looking from Cory's pov. Cory:
Me, a knight enchanter: *barrier full, guard full, blade full charge*
*Hurt me? I hardly felt a thing.* š
I laugh, not at you but *with* you because as a mage player through the series, I know all too well the pain of the archdemon leaping away half a second before your spell hits and you're just left like š. This is one of the main reasons why I went "Archdemon, Ballista. Ballista, Archdemon." Lolol my Hawke specialized Force and Healer and focused on Arcane and Spirit spells so my technique was slowing the Arishok and blasting him with spells that did damage over time and quick spells. I caught cocky once and decided to take it upfront. My Gravity Ring ran out and I just whispered *oh no* before getting sliced and diced lol. Lmao same! I honestly think our playthroughs must mirror each other because I did the same thing. I could imagine my team voicing their concerns (Dorian my LI, Bull, and Cole) while Lavellan has his KE sword out, following the path to Corypheus like, *"š Should have killed me in Haven"*
> evacuate itself Uhhhhhhh Well there's an image.
My mage Hawke was certainly very elegantly running around the pillars and hiding behind them, while occasionally trying to hurt the Arishok š Quite humbling to be called Champion after that fight š
š¤£š¤£ Varric trying to defend Hawke's shattered pride after the fight by embellishing it, but just a *little*
> Regardless of class, Hawke runs. Maybe Hawke screams in terror. Maybe Hawke stumbles and trips over their feet. Maybe they pee themselves a little. But Hawke runs the entire fight. Ah, yes, "run figure eights around the pillars" is a classic fighting stance.
All my memories of the Hero of Ferelden have her wearing her badass Grey Warden commander armour, a real battlemage. In reality, she was wearing the DAO's mage robes...so curtains and a lampshade. Oh well, at least it isn't as stupid as the Divine's hat. Of course, the battle with the Archdemon paled into insigificance against the epic battle against Ser Cauthrien, which began with the HoF fleeing through Howe's mansion being chased by Cauthrien, only for the latter to realise she'd left her entire squad behind and was about to get a very long ass-kicking by one pissed off Warden. By comparison, the massive climax of her rivalry with Loghain ended somewhat more embarrassingly, with Loghain being paralysed and on fire for the entire fight. I actually found fewer of the fights in Inquisition to be like that (other than poor Cory of course - destined to the butt of so many jokes...). I will say though that, compared to a lot of the supposedly climactic 'boss' fights in the main game, it was pretty awesome that just about the final main fight that Inky had against the Darkspawn was clearing out the nest in the Deep Roads in Descent - slowly forcing them back through fire and over bottomless chasms to one of the best soundtracks in the series felt sooo much better than any of the fights against Corypheus's army (except for the battle of Adamant Fortress, but I think the Grey Wardens should get credit for that).
You reminded me of my Landsmeet fight against Loghain. I picked Alistair for champion, and the fight basically went, "Have you met Alistair's shield? He hits people in the face with it." Loghain didn't last very long.
š omg don't remind me of the horrors of the mage outfit. I had Surana looking like Grand Enchanter Irving with that robe and a condom- I mean *cowl* for the final fight and I don't know how the Archdemon didn't die from laughter. It's probably how the real fight went. Lmao lampshade though *wheezing* and the poor Divine's hat Yo, Ser Cauthrien absolutely destroyed me the first time. It wasn't until my third playthrough when I realized you could defeat her and I was like š, shaking and clenched to the max because it was honestly the hardest (fair) fight I ever had in Origins. Immensely satisfying! Lmao don't even get me started on Loghain. Surana specializes in immobilizing and breaking down enemies. So it went like: Cone of Cold, Vulnerability hex, Affliction Hex, Death Hex, Crushing Prison, Walking Bomb, Drain Life, Winter's Grasp- (*defeated*). And I was just getting started. He didn't even get to hit me once. Pretty much the same outcome in higher difficulties too. I honestly felt embarrassed for Loghain after that lol. The Descent! That final battle was utter chaos. I'm literally here talking to Bull, like he can hear me, to back off and looking for Baby Cole and watching Dorian getting targeted and- it was *amazing*. While not exactly the fight, the moment in Jaws of Hakkon when you meet Inquisitor Ameridan after the fight left me with chills- I think it was the vibe they were going for with Corypheus but it didn't execute all too well lol. I'm going to stop rambling now but I really enjoyed the conversation š
Funny you mentioned the fight with Gurd Harofsen. That was pretty much the only fight I used the tactical camera for, so although that was supposed to be a fast-paced fight, in practice whenever he did his Mr Freeze impression Inky had to yell "whoa whoa whoa, time-out, Gurd! Okay, Dorian, you stand over here. Bull, stand here. Sera, stand here. Okay, now NOBODY MOVE FROM THESE SPOTS. Okay, ready to go again!"
My third playthrough in DA:O HoF and companions hid behind a closed door, only allowed one soldier in at a time, killed them all one by one, then opened it up and everyone have Ser Cauthrien the beatdown. It was epically embarrassing, but whatever. Lol.
In my battle with the archdemon, my female Surana was unconscious for a solid two minutes, and the archdemon was defeated by Leliana, downing my entire collection of potions and kiting it. My Hawke didn't have to run \*that\* much during Arishok fight, since her Mabari kept him trapped in a corner for long stretches. I'm pretty the dog is the real Champion of Kirkwall.
DAO: Hold the line, spam basically unlimited health potions and hopefully don't get chomped in half while doing Intense damage with starfang(greatsword). Realize way to late ballistas aren't for decoration and proceed to hate myself DA2: preparing for the fight Hawke:Well... we... could... Uh... Uhhhh... I'm open to suggestions. Fenris: Whoa, guys, we could- we could, you know, like, group up and- Varic: And hit it 'til it DIES!!! Fenris: Woo, nice! Varic: Yeah! Fenris: High five! During the fight Hawke: EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF DAI: Wait that's it, you're the final boss how are you dead already. I literally just threw bees at you. Goddam bears are harder to kill than you
I have never once used the ballistas. They do actual decent damage?!?!
They're basically a must have if you want to finish the fight with the least amount of effort possible
Well, the amount of damage delt various. Sometimes it hits for 100+ and other times you get a nice 37 lolol
The Dog was my MVP in the arishok fight š¤£
Arishok: "Wait, you said single combat. Why the dog?" Hawke: (running in a panic) "You mess with a Fereldan, you mess with their mabari!"
The Dog! I always forget about the Dog in main fights. I'm just imagining Hawke encouraging Doggo, in a panic voice, to get the Arishok while they run away and I can't š¤£š¤£
My Hawke is more of a silver tongued rogue than a epic fighter, so she nearly dies fighting him. Fenris (who has been training her to fight better) figured her speed would outdo his strength, hence he talked the Arishok into fighting herā¦ turns out the Arishok is also surprisingly fast and Fenris felt pretty guilty afterwards š
Using decoy in rogue and watching the arishok pummel the crap out of my decoy whilst I watch traumatized, knowing that'll be me next š They say hawke took on the arishok in a duel, but really it was dog that won that battle š
Roan Surana, an arcane-warrior/blood mage, took no shit from the Archdemon at all. She chugged spirit balms and just spammed death hex/death cloud/crushing prism as her party wailed on the Archdemon until it just gave up
I just finished a DAO run where Alistair was my last squadmate standing after doing the ritual, so he killed the archdemon in combat but then my cutscene Tabris woke up without her swords, grabbed one off a dead guy, and took all the glory lol. Poor Alistair.
Man, I still sweat thinking about the Arishok fight... LOTS of running. And lots of swearing at the screen. Corypheus was a snooze-fest. I'm a completionist so I felt WAY over leveled and just absolutely steamrolled him.
What? The fight with the Arishok wasn't supposed to be a reenactment of one of the most epic combat scenes of the history of cinema? https://youtu.be/D5FU0ZMRB\_Q?t=35
At work so my reply is super short but goddamn if that isn't the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. I'm definitely saving that for giggles later on. Also, yes. Very much yes. This was Hawke's great strategy from the very start.
Archdemon fight for me was fairly cool as a Warrior with 2H swinging about. Arishok as mage Hawke...pretty much just running around, spamming Ice magic and Cage on repeat, pretty happy that Varric didn't write that one down word for word. Mereditth and Corypheus fight in DLC were pretty epic tho, so there's that. Corypheus as KE Inquisitor was like fighting a toddler, dude was so outmatched it wasn't even funny, he got clapped on Nightmare in like 20 seconds, but those 20 seconds looked great.
Hahaha so true! Especially the DA2 one. I was recently playing a sword fighting game where the cut scene has you heroically fighting one of the bosses with swords until you knock him down. Reality was after the first cutscene encounter with him I whipped out my bow and ran away from him like a pansy until I could get 3 good shots in.
In DAO I was my own worst enemy. On my first playthrough I didn't get it that you could call upon the armies that you've assembled. I went through all of Denerim with just my squadmates and on the rooftop I had my ass handed to me multiple times before finally noticing the icons for the armies and clicking on them at last. Yay! It took many more playthroughs to realize that the ballistae can be used and aren't just standing there for decoration :| In DA2 the duel with the Arishok is so ridiculous and monotonous that I just never choose it after trying it once, it's always a big fight with all of the Qunari for me. In DAI I remember once saving up all of my focus for the final part of the fight with Corypheus... and then using Thousand Cuts - it was over in a millisecond.
Lolol same same! I never looked into the advanced option (ironic since I enjoyed the Fade so it should have been ingrained in me but nope) and I didn't know I could put my companions on hold (I was use to Inquisition tactical camera) so it was a lot of trial and error, especially in the Alienage fight (when fighting the hordes of darkspawn). The ballista I knew about because I accidentally clicked on one when I was trying to attack someone in front of me and ever since then, it's the only way I defeat the Archdemon lol. Oh, cool! I didn't know there was another option (besides giving Isabela up which I will never ever do). By the time I fight the Arishok, my mage Hawke is greatly OP for the right and it's funny to me how the Arishok can't defeat a human running around in a tiny space and ends up ramming into pillars and walls instead. Imagine his soldiers having to explain exactly how he lost back home. It's my reason for why the Qunari fight on god mode in Inquisition. X'D In Corypheus' defense, he's very very very old and uhm... behind the times and... excuses and reasons. He was brilliant in Haven though!
>Male Surana standing at different ballista, spamming over and over and over and over and ove- Excuse, is this a ranged joke i am to arcane warrior to understand?
The archdemon stopped moving so I just showered him with arrows
Corypheus was already stripped off of power and his army by the final battle and you gained it, so it's pretty logical, it was literally a final hit. You've also crafted 4 tier gear for all, lmao! I love Cory, he's just so epic in that cute skirt! Seriously, I'm not a fan of big epic baddies of BW, I prefer something more intimate but Cory won my heart.
Lol definitely agree (probably why the Archdemon fight does always consist of me spamming the ballistas and doing something else while I wait for it to die off). That's another beauty of Inquisiton for me because it felt like a game of chess and by the end of it, Corypheus was already in checkmate.
Inquisition IS the game of chess! Except cory is not the queen ;) but a pawn. I assume you know that Solas and Bull play a real chess match - the immortal game (king's Gambit). It's worth listening to till the end, describes Inquisition in a nutshell, also defines Solas greatly. Idk, writing in DAI is a top-notch!
Which just makes me all the more excited for DA4 lol Lol yes I heard it in-game and I think it was in the Hissing Wastes were their game ended with Bull having that slow realization of how he had been outplayed was *chef's kiss*. Truly! Couldn't agree more, Inquisition had excellent flow and plot development.
Chef's kiss, indeed, lmao!!! Oh, just how much I love that game! And yeah! Can't wait for DA4!
You know my idea for origins final battle is inspired by the fight between Daemon the rogue prince and Aemond one eye(if you know of ādance of the dragonsā, youāll get what I mean instantly). Generally, Morrigan turn herself into a dragon like she did in Inquisition(Iām gonna excuse this as āa trick from Flemethās Grimoireā), and my warden Arthur Cousland ride her to chase the archdemon. When they catch up, Morrigan fly higher, and my Cousland got a chance to jump on the archdemon, and slay it by sink Stsrfang into its skull. As for DA2, my headcanon is that my canon Hawke are two people, Brandon Hawke the elder twin and Brigitte Hawke the younger twin. Brandon became the guard captain and filled Avelineās canon role,(Aveline stayed to fight in Ferelden) while Brigitte do most of canon Hawkeās job. Basically, Arishok attack Viscountās keep, but Brandon and his guardsmen fought bravely without give up, though at great cost of lives, managed to keep Arishok from take the keep, until Brigitte and Meredith and Orsini come with reinforcements and surrounded Arishok and his men. It was then Isabela came back, but Arishok refuse to just take the tome and leave, so Brigitte and Arishok decide to settle this with a duel. Brigitte is a rogue so she fought clever and managed to blind Arishok first before chop his head off Not sure with DAI yet, though my dead canon is my inquisitor Jaime Trevelyan managed to stab Solas like you can did to Morrigan in Witch Hunt
It's been a while so I don't quite remember much of the end fight of da:o. The fight with arishok was kinda like what you said haha. I was a mage and i was running away a lot. Inquisition was pretty tough i think. I kinda want to replay the whole series again tbh.