Serenes Forest's Teehee Thread

[Venger_06]

26 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Wait, what? And the Archdemon? Sequel stuff? Or is there something you're not telling me?

After finishing the Landsmeet you get the Fereldan army. Then you fight the Archdemon.

27 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

What? What'd I do wrong now? It was right there! I was allowed in no problem! It's been rather difficult, but I've not had any overwhelming problems with it. If the game wanted me to leave that for last, it could've said so!

Quote

Although the game itself allows you to visit Denerim and Orzammar immediately after leaving Lothering, you're not meant to do so until much later in the game. Unfortunately BioWare does not make this clear at all. Going to these higher-level areas too soon is a contributing factor to some players reporting that the game is "too difficult" for them even on Normal mode. BioWare meant for the Bounty Hunters outside Orzammar as you approach it for the first time to be a "gating encounter" to scare you away if you're still too low level for the intended challenge level of Orzammar. Likewise for the Ser Landry encounter (the duel in the back alley) in Denerim. Both encounters will be doable, if not downright easy, if you come to these areas well after level 10 as intended by BioWare. However, lower-level players may find these locations rewarding in both experience and higher-tier items.

The preferred order to visit each area is as follows, based solely on the lower and upper limits of BioWare's hard-coded challenge scaling for each area. It is of course perfectly legitimate to follow a different order for roleplay reasons or because you want to add a specific companion or items to your party sooner. However, you might find that some areas are too difficult if you visit them too soon, and conversely some areas might be too easy if you visit them too late. For example, Redcliffe Village/Castle has an upper limit of level 10–11 for normal enemies and below, level 12 for lieutenants, and level 14 for bosses.

See Challenge Scaling in Dragon Age: Origins for details.

1. Ostagar and Korcari Wilds
2. Lothering
3. Circle Tower
4. Redcliffe Village and Redcliffe Castle
5. Brecilian Forest
6. Haven
7. Denerim and Orzammar in either order you prefer
8. Landsmeet and the rest of the game

The Circle Tower is best done first for two reasons: You reap the early-game benefits of acquiring permanent stat boosts from essences and fonts found throughout the Fade during the Lost in Dreams quest; and you can recruit the dedicated party healer there and at a certain point in the Redcliffe Castle later on, you can get the mages' help with the quest.

Although many players and the Prima Strategy Guide lump the Arl of Redcliffe quest arc and The Urn of Sacred Ashes quest arc together as if they were two halves of the same major quest arc, this is not the case. Arl of Redcliffe takes place in Redcliffe Village and Redcliffe Castle, which are designed for players at level 6+. The Urn of Sacred Ashes takes place in Haven and is designed for players at level 8+. So the intended order, based on challenge scaling, is to go to Redcliffe for the Arl of Redcliffe quest arc at level 6+, then Brecilian Forest for the Nature of the Beast quest arc at level 7+, and then to Haven for The Urn of Sacred Ashes at level 8+.

 

[Saint Rubenio]

30 minutes ago, Ghost_06_ said:

After finishing the Landsmeet you get the Fereldan army. Then you fight the Archdemon.

Cool.

30 minutes ago, Ghost_06_ said:

Quote

Although the game itself allows you to visit Denerim and Orzammar immediately after leaving Lothering, you're not meant to do so until much later in the game. Unfortunately BioWare does not make this clear at all. Going to these higher-level areas too soon is a contributing factor to some players reporting that the game is "too difficult" for them even on Normal mode. BioWare meant for the Bounty Hunters outside Orzammar as you approach it for the first time to be a "gating encounter" to scare you away if you're still too low level for the intended challenge level of Orzammar. Likewise for the Ser Landry encounter (the duel in the back alley) in Denerim. Both encounters will be doable, if not downright easy, if you come to these areas well after level 10 as intended by BioWare. However, lower-level players may find these locations rewarding in both experience and higher-tier items.

I mean, Denerim was pretty obviously not somewhere you're meant to go, though I love that they let you. No such signs for Orzammar, however. Level 12 I think was when I arrived and it was fair. Not easy, there were a few situations where I sweat bullets, but it was doable in a way that didn't feel like I was overstepping my bounds.

I must say, both Ser Landry and the bounty hunters are pretty shit as far as gatekeepers go. I beat Ser Landry right after Lothering by running circles around him, and the bounty hunters were really easy.

30 minutes ago, Ghost_06_ said:

Quote

The preferred order to visit each area is as follows, based solely on the lower and upper limits of BioWare's hard-coded challenge scaling for each area. It is of course perfectly legitimate to follow a different order for roleplay reasons or because you want to add a specific companion or items to your party sooner. However, you might find that some areas are too difficult if you visit them too soon, and conversely some areas might be too easy if you visit them too late. For example, Redcliffe Village/Castle has an upper limit of level 10–11 for normal enemies and below, level 12 for lieutenants, and level 14 for bosses.

See Challenge Scaling in Dragon Age: Origins for details.

1. Ostagar and Korcari Wilds
2. Lothering
3. Circle Tower
4. Redcliffe Village and Redcliffe Castle
5. Brecilian Forest
6. Haven
7. Denerim and Orzammar in either order you prefer
8. Landsmeet and the rest of the game

Ahahahahah... I like how I was doing okay (barring my short visit to Denerim at the very start for the lols) until I just skipped over the forest. Well, at least that's going to be an easy area when I get 'round to it...

This setup is a bit counterintuitive, though, due to the way the locations are organized on the map and random encounters discouraging careless travel. The forest is secluded way off to the left on the way to Denerim, which is obviously not the place you should be going at the start if you've been paying any attention to the story, whereas Orzammar is cluttered with the tower, Redcliffe and (as revealed later) Haven in the western side of the map. The game keeps pushing you to go to Redcliffe early and it is the closest location to Lothering, so the map being like that seems to encourage you to go to the tower and Orzammar afterwards. Or, well, at least that's how it felt to me.

Also, they really wanted you to go to the forest in between Redcliffe and Haven? Haven is like the second part of the Redcliffe quest, it doesn't feel right to interrupt it like that. I know the quoted text does bring up this weirdness, but... well, it doesn't make it any less weird. They may be separate quests technically, but they feel like one and the same, and Haven being so close to Redcliffe doesn't help. A blind player's most likely going straight there after Redcliffe, not stop to think "yeah, that was fun, retaking the castle and all. Oki dokie, I hope the Arl doesn't kick the bucket while I go off to hike through some forest!"

30 minutes ago, Ghost_06_ said:

 

Quote

The Circle Tower is best done first for two reasons: You reap the early-game benefits of acquiring permanent stat boosts from essences and fonts found throughout the Fade during the Lost in Dreams quest; and you can recruit the dedicated party healer there and at a certain point in the Redcliffe Castle later on, you can get the mages' help with the quest.

Good thing I accidentally landed up there by trying to find Sten's sword, then. I was going straight to Redcliffe before that happened... Mostly because the game kept screaming at me to go there first and foremost. Thanks for nothing, Alistair.

[Acacia Sgt]

Okay, time to delve into the Museum of History and find that poster that Caleb and Hamlin want.

[Codename Shrimp]

Jo what did i miss

Edited September 28, 2021 by Shrimperor

[Lightchao42]

Replaying Samus Returns in preparation for Dread, I forgot how long and complicated the Diggernaut battle is. Truly an early hint that the Chozo are trying to kill us.

15 hours ago, Benice said:

@lightcosmo, @Lightchao42 (I think) and @Armagon (Also I think), are the KH 1.5 + 2.5/ 2.8 bundles worth getting? We're playing some KH music in Orchestra this year, and it kinda slaps, so I was wondering if it was a franchise worth getting into? I've only seen a bit of the Re:Mind DLC, and it sorta looks like my kind of thing.

If you want my opinion, you can get into a new RPG series after you finish Xenoblade 2. It has all the music you need!

That aside, Kingdom Hearts is a series of action RPGs if that appeals to you, and The Story So Far bundle has around five games and isn't very expensive so I imagine it's worth looking into. The only KH game I've played is Dream Drop Distance though, which is included in that collection.

...Wait, you're playing Kingdom Hearts music in school? Though my class did sing a song from Civilization IV in chorus, so I guess it isn't too weird albeit, Baba Yetu is the only video game song to win a Grammy, so that probably explains it.

[Acacia Sgt]

Alright, got the stuff that I need. In addition to the poster of the memorial there's also Lincoln related memorabilia to collect. Including his custom Henry Rifle (just called Lincoln's Repeater in-game) and iconic Hat. Combined with the Pre-War Businesswear outfit and the right beard option at character customization (which can be changed in-game if not chosen at first), one can pretty much cosplay as Abraham Lincoln himself. Well, if playing with a male Lone Wanderer. Which I'm not. I've already killed the slavers at the memorial, so no reenactment of this anyway: lol

Of the whole lot of the items, I think the one that grabs my attention the most is Lincoln's Voice, based on a myth that there existed an actual recording of his voice from all the way back to 1863. Thing is, this recording was made with a phonautograph, which can record, but not play it out. The game decided to turn that myth into reality by having the phonautograph with the recording exist. But well, with the state of the world, Lincoln's voice remains still out of reach. Oh well.

[Saint Rubenio]

Amazing what a difference a single enemy can do to a map's difficulty. Until I was able to have Faye Astra his ass with the infernal edge, that is. Those of you familiar with Berwick Saga can probably guess who I'm talking about. Elbert is so good in this map, though. He can just zip past the northern onslaught of horsemen thanks to Arrowbane, keeping them occupied so the rest of the army can safely focus on the Terminator, and nab Luveil without much trouble.

At any rate, that's it for chapter 10. Marcel gets his move point, Burroughs got Aim, Alvina got a good level to help her invalidate all the effort of training Ruby and Volo joined before the map. Which... actually means I've successfully recruited every single unit in the game for the first time ever. Usually I miss out on a guy or two, but this time I got everyone. An unintended side effect of the challenge. That's really nice.

30 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

Jo what did i miss

I made a whoopsie in Dragon Age again and I had Missival kill Thor. Not much beyond that, on my end.

[Sidereal Wraith]

15 hours ago, Acacia Sgt said:

KH's story in a nutshell:

 

[Acacia Sgt]

Hmm, since I'm at the Museum, I can go give the keys to Crowley at Underworld already. Killing Tenpenny only gives me additional caps, which I have plenty of already. After that... and here's the interesting thing. Crowley will actually move in-game towards the quest's final destination, Fort Constantine. At the opposite corner of the map. One can go to the fort and double-cross him, but I'd rather not. Specially since I can just... let the wasteland take care of him. Though he is hard to kill, since the game gives him some hidden perks to help with his durability. Let's see then...

[Acacia Sgt]

Well, deed was done, thanks to a reversed-pickpocketed plasma grenade. Got the Keys back, and I'll head to Fort Constantine in due time. For now, back to the Temple of the Union to report to Hamlin.

[Sooks]

4 hours ago, DodgeDusk said:

Completed Deltarune chapter 2 the other day. Toby Fox is some composing genius--music is fucking ear sex.

Was it good? I loved Undertale, but nothing really happened in Deltarune chapter 1 so I kinda forgot about it.

[Codename Shrimp]

41 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

I had Missival kill Thor.

...there's a story behind that isn't there

[Acacia Sgt]

Now, the last thing to finish the quest. Once reporting in, everyone at the Temple of the Union will make the trek to the Lincoln Memorial. Just like Crowley, they will personally make the journey in-game. So, in order to ensure their survival, I just fast-travel to the Mall and Wait. Once done, and since I already killed the slavers, the quest is done! As a last thing, I can offer to sell the Lincoln memorabilia to him. I keep the Hat and Repeater, but give them the rest. There's one last thing left to do in the east area of the map, so once I do that, I can finally make the trek west to Vault 112.

Edited September 28, 2021 by Acacia Sgt

[Codename Shrimp]

so, because i don't speak japanese and can't be bothered to translate the story and thus get to know the characters, i will let you guys choose Lord-kun's A-support Partner!

Here are the choices:

Lord-chan. She was quite good in the first half, but late story promotion (3 chapters after Lord-kun) set her back a bit. But she has paragon so she shouldn't have trouble catching up. From what little i understood the Story revolves around her since dark cult ™️  want her and revived the demon lord or something.

Thicc Healer. With her 16 Con she's so thick, she makes Boulder jealous! Also a demon killer since she only takes half damage from them, and deals effective damage, has Movement stars skill, and the ability to attack after staffing. Basically when rng plays well she can have 8 actions per turn (since my dancer has Movement stars as well).

Green Hair. She's your wrath thunder mage. Imagine Tinny, on a horse, with Vantage and Strong Riposte added on top of Wrath. She's slow tho with her 18 SPD (the +2 is from Speed Ring) and 9 Con

Palla, the Magical Adept, pursuit, Miracle, Perfect Evasion Flier. With her Mag i use more Magical Swords and Lances (thanks Thracia capture for making this possible), and usually send her in situations when i want to evade. Although i usually send her with her sisters since they all support each other, so i am not sure about letting her A-support lord-kun

Edited September 28, 2021 by Shrimperor

[Acacia Sgt]

Well, birds of a feather, pair the lords together. Then surprise, they were siblings all along!

Out of curiosity, can we get a picture of the main guy?

Edited September 28, 2021 by Acacia Sgt

[Codename Shrimp]

3 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Out of curiosity, can we get a picture of the main guy?

[Saint Rubenio]

So far I think my least favorite thing about Dragon Age Origins is the injury system. Whenever someone falls in battle, they get back up as soon as the fight ends, but they sustain an injury. Injuries go from pretty inconsequential (cunning penalties on Morrigan who uses cunning for nothing) to absolutely awful (attack speed penalty on Oghren who's already slow as it is). The counterplay? Use an injury kit, and if you've run out, walk all the way back to camp. Which is easier said than done.

What I'm trying to say is, my folks are way too injured and moving forward is turning into kind of a struggle. So I'm going to have to walk back to the beggining of the Dead Trenches, travel back to Orzammar and then walk to the entrance of Orzammar so I can go to the world map and rest at the camp. Oof. Oh well, I suppose while I'm there, I might as well use the opportunity to travel to Denirim and buy a spirit healer manual for Morrigan, since she's almost at level 14.

22 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

...there's a story behind that isn't there

The thunder god, felled with his own element by some guy who can't even aim most of the time. That's got to be humilliating.

...If you're wondering, he was able to get through Thor's 36-something thunder defense thanks to the power of crits. I softened him up with a couple Pallas Leia charges, then used a save till he scored a crit. It took a little while, but it was worth it for the right to say that I killed Thor with thunder.

1 minute ago, Shrimperor said:

Hello Leif 3

[Acacia Sgt]

Okay, doesn't look like it's going to that kind of surprise, hahaha.

Hm? What's with that C support. The one bromance he can have? XD lol Hamu... Ham?

[Spara]

1 hour ago, Saint Rubenio said:

At any rate, that's it for chapter 10. Marcel gets his move point, Burroughs got Aim, Alvina got a good level to help her invalidate all the effort of training Ruby and Volo joined before the map. Which... actually means I've successfully recruited every single unit in the game for the first time ever. Usually I miss out on a guy or two, but this time I got everyone. An unintended side effect of the challenge. That's really nice.

Really? Damn. 

Also, I haven't mentioned it here, but I've seen a person in a discord server I'm in play Berwick for the first time, and her Christine...

I don't think words alone can do her justice.

Spoiler

 

3 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

He looks so goofy. I like it, though.

[Codename Shrimp]

1 minute ago, Saint Rubenio said:

used a save till he scored a crit

How many tries did that take you xD

1 minute ago, Saint Rubenio said:

but it was worth it for the right to say that I killed Thor with thunder.

Priorities xD

2 minutes ago, Saint Rubenio said:

Hello Leif 3

My thought as well lol

Especially with the Thracia vibes the game has been giving me more and more since mid game. 

2 minutes ago, Acacia Sgt said:

Okay, doesn't look like it's going to that kind of surprise, hahaha.

Hm? What's with that C support. The one bromance he can have? XD lol Hamu... Ham?

A thief i only really deploy when i need him for key stuff. Or when force deployed

[Codename Shrimp]

1 minute ago, Spara said:

I don't think words alone can do her justice

wth

how

11 Def on Christine???

14 Str???

[Spara]

1 minute ago, Shrimperor said:

wth

how

11 Def on Christine???

14 Str???

Max brackets, boosters.

And enough bow skill to have a reasonably low Pascanion backfire rate.

[Acacia Sgt]

3 minutes ago, Shrimperor said:

My thought as well lol

Especially with the Thracia vibes the game has been giving me more and more since mid game. 

A thief i only really deploy when i need him for key stuff. Or when force deployed

So the Lifis to his Leif? Hehe

[Codename Shrimp]

I usually think Nasu is an idiot, but this one time, this once

BASED

[Acacia Sgt]

Head of State also has an evil path, since you can side with the slavers at the memorial and kill the escapee slaves at the Temple of the Union. You can also give the Lincoln memorabilia to Leeroy Walker as he wants to destroy anything related to Lincoln to demoralize the slaves and prevent them from having a rallying icon. Well, didn't went that path. I also like the outcome of the good path better, since Hamlin and his crew will turn the memorial into a safe haven for other escapee slaves.  A few tents get pitched in, and the headless statue of Lincoln is restored (the head ended up at the Temple of the Union at some point in the past, hence why they were using it as a temporary base) with its head reattached, and dialogue states how they begun to trade with both Underworld and Rivet City, thus starting a trade network of sorts. Really makes the wasteland finally step into the post post-apocalypse, like how California did in the previous Fallout games.