Welcome back! This is the seventh episode of my HARDCORE 100% playthrough with added commentary! In this episode we will visit the elves and go back to Lothering, hopefully without violating the challenge! Enjoy! :) If you like my videos, you can support the channel here: www.buymeacoffee.com/akisherceg Thank you! :) HARDCORE 100%(short version, long version is in the pinned comment of the first episode): Permadeath for all party member, no pause, no quick save - only manual save in Ostagar or Party Camp, no switch off of the main character during combat, no healing potions, no exploits, no dlc rewards and no resistance, defense or armor buffing consumables.
Hey bro, love your channel and this series and the builds, but I am starting a new game on a higher diffuculty that I'm not used to, should I become a sheild tank warrior, or become a arcane-spirit warrior mage?
@@Umed1 Depends on what experience you are after. Both of those can tank just fine, but Arcane Warrior is the superior in terms of durability. The warrior is the best in terms of aggro management. If it's your first time on higher difficulty, I recommend that you go after the warrior, since its easier to get it right. Pump your STR and place a few points on CONS. Equip Cailan's Armor and get all Weapon and Shield abilities. Pick the Champion and the Berserker specs. That's pretty much it. make sure your team heals you properly. Manage the aggro with Taunt and Disengage. Watch for your mages and rogues. Pretty simple.
These uploads make my day :))). Also, I'm doing inquisition after a long time, a bit reluctant on playing anything other than human though because of the ability point you get. Do you think the extra ability as human is that important?
It certainly makes early game easier! :) I love the extra ability. I find it much more useful than the other race specific traits. Especially if your build requires a lot of skill points.
Bloody Plains is the toughest encounter early by far. Can't see the traps, Emissary w/ curse of mortality with no way to dispel it. I fear that one very early.
Hey I am just interested I have been watching you for a while now and have been playing a lot of dragon age alongside your videos and and how do you always manage to create such great builds. Like idk if I just don’t have enough experience but I always find following your guides to provide the smoothest combat experience. Love your channel btw
@@gustavoquintero2044 I guess it just comes to me based on what I see and what I know about the game mechanics. :) Once you know how the game works, you can do a lot of interesting things.
@@AKisHercegthanks to your videos I am a pro at inquisition lol I think that’s pretty easy but I wish you would make more videos on da2 being that I’m currently playing it rn. Out of all the games it’s been the only one who’s nightmare is difficult for me tbh, (it’s also my 2nd playthru, gave up on the 1st) friendly fire is a nightmare with a lot of abilities and it feels like enemies are a lot tankier and dangerous in da2.
@@gustavoquintero2044 There are a lot of things you can learn from my Trilogy Builds when it comes to DA2. Tactics, spells, FF etc. I also posted a Reaver-Zerker recently if you are interested. I will create at least one more build video for my Blood Mage/Spirit Healer build in the future. What class are you playing as? Here are a few tips for DA2: You should build your party around your Hawke, more than you would build your team around your Warden or your Inquisitor in DAO or DAI. Warriors deal ff with their skills, so be careful. If you have a 2h warrior in the team, make sure no one else gets in their way. Lightning attacks have no FF, so feel free to use them without any worries. Combos are your best friends in DA2. They are very important. Merril can detonate stagger(many warrior abilities cause stagger) with Chain Lightning without causing FF. For Merrill pump constitution and magic. Forget WP. Just let her activate blood magic constantly. Blood Magic has no FF. If you are not a healer, use Anders as a designated Healer. Pump only his WP after you have enough magic to unlock all support spells. Support spells don't improve with Magic, and he can't use offensive spells anyway if his healing aura is active. Aveline is the best tank in the series. Get Immovable for her and she will have a very hard time going down, even early on.
@@AKisHercegawesome I’ve been learning using that bloodzerker build you uploaded first time really using w&s lol I really like 2hand but late act elemental damage threw me off. Been difficult defeated rock wraith but was struggle lol maybe I will report back once I defeat arishok
Not sure I get what you are saying. I plan to do the dlcs within the Dragon Age Origins Storyline(Return to Ostagar, Stone Prisoner, Warden's Keep). I don't plan to do Awakening, since the challenge is very easy there with a fully developed Dex-Ranger. Plus I already completed the challenge there with my War Mage.
@@Chopchop-b1l It's because: Shale is hard to get with this challenge, so I won't get her for quite a while(during the Kitty fight, a Desire Demon casts Cursed Dance which lowers resistances and disables healing, plus 3 rage demons spam Fire Ball and Flame Blast on you - this is a pretty tough fight). So we would get her around level 11-12 maybe? Which means that her attributes will be all over the place, so she will be significantly less effective than Alistair in terms of tanking. Sten, although he starts with okay stats, he has a lot of talents already invested into the Two-Handed tree. By the time I could turn him into a proper tank based on talents, I would be around level 15-16. Alistair has the highest chance of surviving simply because he starts with great abilities for tanking, and we also get him very early so we can just pump his health like crazy. He also gets bonus health based on his disposition towards you. With 90+ approval he gets Massive Constitution which adds another 35 health, which is pretty massive. Sten or Shale can never have as much health as he can.
@@AKisHerceg maybe another strat you can do is 3 rangers and the dog and have animals tank from afar and you liliona and zeferen can use bows i know i messed up the names
This may seem like a silly question but I swear you get hit way less than I do with a pretty similar character, are you doing something to boost your defence that I just didn't notice?
How similar? I placed almost all of my stats on Dex this far so I have a very high defense. I wear the Dalish armor set which gives an overall +10 defense. I also wear the Key to the City which gives another +2 and +1 from the ring that I got from the Keeper. So +13 from equipment.
@@AKisHerceg Oh sorry not on my main, I should have been more clear. On Alistair, I had almost identical items as those you got earlier on and I feel like he gets hit all of the time and goes down very fast. I'm in Lothering with the Steel plate armour dropped by the bandit leader and have the defensive stance second tier buff you get in the shield tree. He struggles to fight anything 1v1 without dying, should I be pumping some dex?
@@justinbader3885 So you are using Shield Defense with the Shield Balance passive? Until you get Shield Wall, that is exactly how you should to it. My Alistair gets hit constantly, but he has enough health to stay alive. Especially now that Morrigan can heal him back. I don't plan to boost his defense above what he needs to unlock his shield passives. But even that I will do much later. Right now it's CONS and STR. How did you distribute his attributes this far? Also what are you fighting against? Around Lothering Alistair is not beefy enough to tank Elites, so you need to help him by letting the team disable the elite. Maybe the reason why you see that he gets hit less often, is because of how I set the rest of the team up to defend him.
@AKisHerceg you must be right, I appreciate all the advice! I have been pumping str and con but focusing str and didn't set my AI to protect him which I will give a go. I also assumed he could face tank elites early on so I'll look into making sure to CC them while we murder the mobs. It's awesome having you to chat to about this stuff, your knowledge base must be huge.
That refugee encounter is always scary for those new to Nightmare. How hard do you think the 100% hardcore challenge would be without all specializations unlocked? I've been thinking of trying this challenge for myself, but since I had to reinstall the game completely, I lost all progress, including all specializations.
@@AKisHerceg So it would make more sense for my to unlock them first then go with the Hardcore challenge, which works since there is a playthrough that I wanted to do so I will simply use that.
Welcome back! This is the seventh episode of my HARDCORE 100% playthrough with added commentary! In this episode we will visit the elves and go back to Lothering, hopefully without violating the challenge! Enjoy! :)
If you like my videos, you can support the channel here: www.buymeacoffee.com/akisherceg Thank you! :)
HARDCORE 100%(short version, long version is in the pinned comment of the first episode): Permadeath for all party member, no pause, no quick save - only manual save in Ostagar or Party Camp, no switch off of the main character during combat, no healing potions, no exploits, no dlc rewards and no resistance, defense or armor buffing consumables.
Hey bro, love your channel and this series and the builds, but I am starting a new game on a higher diffuculty that I'm not used to, should I become a sheild tank warrior, or become a arcane-spirit warrior mage?
@@Umed1 Depends on what experience you are after. Both of those can tank just fine, but Arcane Warrior is the superior in terms of durability. The warrior is the best in terms of aggro management.
If it's your first time on higher difficulty, I recommend that you go after the warrior, since its easier to get it right. Pump your STR and place a few points on CONS. Equip Cailan's Armor and get all Weapon and Shield abilities. Pick the Champion and the Berserker specs. That's pretty much it. make sure your team heals you properly. Manage the aggro with Taunt and Disengage. Watch for your mages and rogues. Pretty simple.
@@AKisHerceg thank you very much!
I just finished a back to back campaign few weeks ago and your videos are edging me to download the game again.
These uploads make my day :))). Also, I'm doing inquisition after a long time, a bit reluctant on playing anything other than human though because of the ability point you get. Do you think the extra ability as human is that important?
It certainly makes early game easier! :)
I love the extra ability. I find it much more useful than the other race specific traits. Especially if your build requires a lot of skill points.
Ah, the Lothering battle OST -- the best combat theme that got assigned to the one place you're designed to never revisit :(
Bloody Plains is the toughest encounter early by far. Can't see the traps, Emissary w/ curse of mortality with no way to dispel it. I fear that one very early.
1. You running any mods?
2. Pumped for veilguard?
Always loving the videos. Time for a DAO campaign again
1. No(other than the Visual Annoyance Remover - my game runs like nug droppings without it).
2. I'm interested, yes.
Thanks! :)
Have you ever tried doing tier lists? Like best specialization per class and best specialization combo? For both origins and awakening?
Nope. It's hard to do something like that since I love all of the specs and I can build anything from them. :)
@@AKisHerceg but surely you have some you like/find it easier to play with than others.
@@AzoiatheCobra Yeah, I do have my favorites. I might make a tier list video about it. :)
Hey I am just interested I have been watching you for a while now and have been playing a lot of dragon age alongside your videos and and how do you always manage to create such great builds. Like idk if I just don’t have enough experience but I always find following your guides to provide the smoothest combat experience. Love your channel btw
@@gustavoquintero2044 I guess it just comes to me based on what I see and what I know about the game mechanics. :) Once you know how the game works, you can do a lot of interesting things.
@@AKisHercegthanks to your videos I am a pro at inquisition lol I think that’s pretty easy but I wish you would make more videos on da2 being that I’m currently playing it rn. Out of all the games it’s been the only one who’s nightmare is difficult for me tbh, (it’s also my 2nd playthru, gave up on the 1st) friendly fire is a nightmare with a lot of abilities and it feels like enemies are a lot tankier and dangerous in da2.
@@gustavoquintero2044 There are a lot of things you can learn from my Trilogy Builds when it comes to DA2. Tactics, spells, FF etc. I also posted a Reaver-Zerker recently if you are interested. I will create at least one more build video for my Blood Mage/Spirit Healer build in the future.
What class are you playing as?
Here are a few tips for DA2:
You should build your party around your Hawke, more than you would build your team around your Warden or your Inquisitor in DAO or DAI.
Warriors deal ff with their skills, so be careful. If you have a 2h warrior in the team, make sure no one else gets in their way.
Lightning attacks have no FF, so feel free to use them without any worries.
Combos are your best friends in DA2. They are very important. Merril can detonate stagger(many warrior abilities cause stagger) with Chain Lightning without causing FF.
For Merrill pump constitution and magic. Forget WP. Just let her activate blood magic constantly.
Blood Magic has no FF.
If you are not a healer, use Anders as a designated Healer. Pump only his WP after you have enough magic to unlock all support spells. Support spells don't improve with Magic, and he can't use offensive spells anyway if his healing aura is active.
Aveline is the best tank in the series. Get Immovable for her and she will have a very hard time going down, even early on.
@@AKisHercegawesome I’ve been learning using that bloodzerker build you uploaded first time really using w&s lol I really like 2hand but late act elemental damage threw me off. Been difficult defeated rock wraith but was struggle lol maybe I will report back once I defeat arishok
Love this series so far and 1 do you plan to do the DAO dlcs and if you make it do it with 2 then maybe 3 then who knows 4
Not sure I get what you are saying. I plan to do the dlcs within the Dragon Age Origins Storyline(Return to Ostagar, Stone Prisoner, Warden's Keep). I don't plan to do Awakening, since the challenge is very easy there with a fully developed Dex-Ranger. Plus I already completed the challenge there with my War Mage.
One more thing why don't you use shale or sten as a tank because you can't lose alestar at all until the landsmeat
@@Chopchop-b1l It's because:
Shale is hard to get with this challenge, so I won't get her for quite a while(during the Kitty fight, a Desire Demon casts Cursed Dance which lowers resistances and disables healing, plus 3 rage demons spam Fire Ball and Flame Blast on you - this is a pretty tough fight). So we would get her around level 11-12 maybe? Which means that her attributes will be all over the place, so she will be significantly less effective than Alistair in terms of tanking.
Sten, although he starts with okay stats, he has a lot of talents already invested into the Two-Handed tree. By the time I could turn him into a proper tank based on talents, I would be around level 15-16.
Alistair has the highest chance of surviving simply because he starts with great abilities for tanking, and we also get him very early so we can just pump his health like crazy. He also gets bonus health based on his disposition towards you. With 90+ approval he gets Massive Constitution which adds another 35 health, which is pretty massive.
Sten or Shale can never have as much health as he can.
@@AKisHerceg maybe another strat you can do is 3 rangers and the dog and have animals tank from afar and you liliona and zeferen can use bows i know i messed up the names
This may seem like a silly question but I swear you get hit way less than I do with a pretty similar character, are you doing something to boost your defence that I just didn't notice?
How similar? I placed almost all of my stats on Dex this far so I have a very high defense. I wear the Dalish armor set which gives an overall +10 defense. I also wear the Key to the City which gives another +2 and +1 from the ring that I got from the Keeper. So +13 from equipment.
@@AKisHerceg Oh sorry not on my main, I should have been more clear. On Alistair, I had almost identical items as those you got earlier on and I feel like he gets hit all of the time and goes down very fast. I'm in Lothering with the Steel plate armour dropped by the bandit leader and have the defensive stance second tier buff you get in the shield tree. He struggles to fight anything 1v1 without dying, should I be pumping some dex?
@@justinbader3885 So you are using Shield Defense with the Shield Balance passive?
Until you get Shield Wall, that is exactly how you should to it.
My Alistair gets hit constantly, but he has enough health to stay alive. Especially now that Morrigan can heal him back. I don't plan to boost his defense above what he needs to unlock his shield passives. But even that I will do much later. Right now it's CONS and STR.
How did you distribute his attributes this far?
Also what are you fighting against? Around Lothering Alistair is not beefy enough to tank Elites, so you need to help him by letting the team disable the elite.
Maybe the reason why you see that he gets hit less often, is because of how I set the rest of the team up to defend him.
@AKisHerceg you must be right, I appreciate all the advice! I have been pumping str and con but focusing str and didn't set my AI to protect him which I will give a go. I also assumed he could face tank elites early on so I'll look into making sure to CC them while we murder the mobs.
It's awesome having you to chat to about this stuff, your knowledge base must be huge.
That refugee encounter is always scary for those new to Nightmare.
How hard do you think the 100% hardcore challenge would be without all specializations unlocked? I've been thinking of trying this challenge for myself, but since I had to reinstall the game completely, I lost all progress, including all specializations.
It would be quite a bit harder, since you would have to spend your hard earned gold on unlocking them.
@@AKisHerceg So it would make more sense for my to unlock them first then go with the Hardcore challenge, which works since there is a playthrough that I wanted to do so I will simply use that.
@@Linkforlife199 Yup.
@@AKisHerceg Wish me luck though, this build involves hitting up the Brecilian Forest first.
@@Linkforlife199 Good luck! :)
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I m almost always going to bow rogue its like bad habit....