Dragon Age II Spoilers Thread

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#21

As I understand it, the options are:

If Bethany survives and you leave her behind when you go to the Deep Roads she is taken by/joins the Circle
If Carver survives and you leave him behind when you go to the Deep Roads then he runs off to join the Templars

If you take them with you to the Deep Roads and Anders is not in your party then they die of the Blight

If you take them with you to the Deep Roads and Anders is with you he makes them a Grey Warden and they leave

Haven’t tried all of these myself.

ETA: My understanding is that if you are a mage then Carver survives the opening; otherwise it is Bethany who survives.

#22

You’re correct. I’ve turned both into Wardens, had Bethany get taken to the Circle by Templars, and had Bethany die in the Deep Roads because I didn’t take Anders along. On my current game I’m going to let Carver die in the Deep Roads so I can see Isabela’s lines when she is the one abducted in Act 3. I haven’t wanted to make Carver a Templar but I’ve heard that if he does join the Templars he has some pretty awesome dialogue and actions during Act 3.

Carver only survives the prologue if you are playing a mage. Honestly the game has a different feel to it playing as a mage, even your first conversation with Flemeth is different. It makes a nice change for someone who has already beaten the game as one of the classes and for replay, it won’t be the same dialogue if you switch every time if you switch between the classes frequently.

#23

Just finished my first playthrough. That was intense. I’ll have to go through it again several more times, just to see where the differences are.

Does anyone know what happens if you don’t help Anders with his little surprise at the end. I’m sure something similar must happen. Also how does the endgame go if you side with the Templars.

I wasn’t able to get a romance initiated. Isabella left and never returned and I had no luck with Merril. She seems to hate every gift. Can romance be done with a Rival?

Anyway, I’m going to give it a couple of weeks before I start another playthrough. I don’t have to worry too much about spoilers now, so I can get collect a few achievements.

BTW, is it just me or did Flemeth survive DA1 by basically making a Horcrux.

#24

are you doing a lot of things Merrill doesn’t like? you essentially have to coddle her and not criticize her for doing blood magic and go along with what she does

or at least thats how I did it

with Isabella maybe it has to do with how high your friendship is with her? because on my second playthrough I just finished the part with the Arishock and even though she took off with the book she ended up coming back right as was talking to the Arishock (ended up challenging him to one on one combat…as a mage…had to do lots of running and firing :stuck_out_tongue: )

and yeah it seems like thats exactly what Flemeth did lol

has anyone been able to get a different outcome with the mother and blood mage? the second time I spared Du Pris and in my quest journal it said one of the options was to go talk to him but I couldn’t find him anywhere, he wasn’t at his estate and there were no other markers? so sadly I had to sit there and watch my characters mum become…that thing again :frowning:

#25

There is no way to get that quest to end differently. I’m on my 4th game and she’s died every single time. Once she’s taken by Quentin she’s done for.

#26

Whether you help Anders or not it still happens. If you side with the Templars you become the Viscount after the final battle but other wise it’s pretty much the same, just changes how you fight the end battles, either you storm the Circle or you defend it.

You can romance both Isabela and Merrill you just have to stick with gaining either friendship or rivalry. I’m not sure if Isabela will come back if you go the rivalry route as I’ve never done it but I do know she will if your friendship is high enough. I’ve had my fHawke’s romance both Isabela and Merrill but I prefer Isabela simply because she cracks me up far more frequently than Merrill does. You just have to pick either rivalry or friendship with your chosen LI and stick to it as much as possible, choose the heart icon dialogues whenever possible, find their gifts, and visit Hawke’s estate at night during Act 2 as much as possible otherwise the romance won’t activate since it officially starts when they show up at the estate.

#27

I’ve had my Lady Hawke romance both Merrill and Fenris. Guess she has a thing for pointy ears. And I killed Anders as soon as the game gave me a chance. The guy got on my nerves (I saved his life in Dragon Age: Awakenings and he repays me by running away from the Wardens? Way to get on my good side, asshole.) Plus I consider him to have been possessed by a demon the whole game anyway.

I was friends with Isabella and she came back with the book but I never completely trusted her. (She turned on me in the fade too; she likes big boats… hah.) She did comment on Hawke choosing Fenris over her though.

As for the end, I wound up siding with the Mages against the Templars. Not because I thought the Templars were completely in the wrong but because I thought the local Templars (under Meredith) had gone too far in the direction of paranoia. Meridith was seeing blood mages under everywhere and was basically willing to sacrifice the entire city of Kirkwall to get them.

I see the need for the Templars; we run into enough blood mages and get enough lore about the Magisters of the Terventier Imperium to see why the mages need an overwatch. Sort of how events over the past year in the Gulf of Mexico and Japan show why we need an overwatch over the oil and nuclear industries. But Meredith had taken that to the extremes and beyond.

How much of that was her and how much was the artifact, I don’t know.

I see a couple of themes in DA:2. The first, as I have said before, is a variation of “Power Corrupts”. Meredith was corrupted by her power with the Templars. Mages are corrupted by demons when they try to access the power of blood magic. The Chantry person (forgot her name, the one stirring up the people against the Quanari) was corrupted by the power of the Chantry. And so on.

The other theme seems to be that you have to take sides. At multiple points in the game you have to make the choice to support one side or another in a disagreement. Not taking sides leads to failure. The clearest example here is the Viscount; he kept trying to be neutral in the struggles between the Chantry and the Quanari or between the Templars and the Mages and lost his head for it.

In the DA2 world it seems that as far as anyone is concerned you are either with them or against them. There is no middle ground.

#28

I always, always kill Anders no matter who I side with. I’ve yet to be able to RP a Hawke that can forgive an act of terrorism like that. I have however been able to RP a Hawke who can side with the Templars (that Hawke was really upset with mages because of Leandra) but most of my Hawke’s can’t over come the fact that his/her father and sister were/are mages enough to side with the Templars.

I see Kirkwall as a powder keg just waiting for the spark to set off the explosion, kind of like the assassination of the Archduke and WW1. Tensions have been building between mages and Templars for centuries all across Thedas and they finally reach a head in Kirkwall because you have a crazy Knight-Commander who takes things too far, no Viscount to get in Meredith’s way, a First Enchanter who can’t see what’s happening among the Circle right in front of him and a rogue mage with multiple personalities who thinks a terrorist act is the way to solve the problem.

#29

Even with the same characters, I don’t think the Lake Calenhad Circle (from DAO) would have been quite as explosive as it already is (I’m only up to Leliana’s cameo).

I don’t get who thought it was a bright idea to make a slaver prison fortress into a Circle. Sure, when you get down to it, any Circle facility is a prison to some extent, but with the negative connotations the Gallows already has, it’s like the Templars were trying to generate sympathy for the mages.

#30

Yeah, I think Meredith has to take most of the blame. If you accuse every Mage you come across as being a blood mage then as soon as they get away from the Circle more than a few of them will go “Well, they’re going to accuse me of being a blood mage anyway, I may as well become one for the additional power!”

#31

Valid point but not quite what I meant.

The Lake Calenhad Circle Tower felt more like a school, so you could buy that it was just as much to protect them from people as to protect people from them.
I haven’t been in the Gallows Circle yet, but I tend to doubt they made all that many changes from when it was a prison. That would make it clear that the primary focus is to keep the mages shut away from people.

If you make them feel like prisoners, they’re more likely to want to escape than if you at least try to make them feel like people.

Oh, and before DA2, I thought the Circle Tower was the only Circle of Mages, and other places were just enclaves, not that it was one of however many equal Circles.

#32

I agree that Meredith is to blame for the escalation of the conflict in Kirkwall through out the years of Hawke’s story. However, I think the prevailing attitude of the people of Thedas towards mages (thanks to the Tevinter Imperium and the belief of how the Blights started) is to blame for their over all treatment. Mages weren’t treated all that nicely in Ferelden either during the Blight, look at Alistair and the other companions reactions to meeting Morrigan for the first time. The widespread fear and misconception of not only mages but also blood magic is the reason why Meredith isn’t the only one who feels that way about mages, she was just the most vocal since she was the Knight-Commander and held very public arguments with the First Enchanter.

#33

I think the Circle at Lake Calenhad was the exception more than the rule, most likely because of Ferelden’s distance from the Tevinter Imperium and what appeared to be a good working relationship between Irving and Greagoir but even then many mages wanted out. Anders was one of them, so was Jowan.

I’d wager that the closer you get to both the Tevinter Imperium and the Divine’s seat of power the less friendly the Circle’s are. Remember the Circle was started because of the Tevinter Imperium and the belief that mages brought about the first Blight and the creation of the Darkspawn.

I think if the Circle was actually a school and not a place to instill fear of the Fade and Demons on mages at the risk of being made Tranquil there would be a lot less conflict. If they got rid of the Rite of Tranquility I think mages who are outside of or trying to escape the Circle would be less likely to resort to summoning demons through blood magic, except for the crazy ones like Quinten.

#34

I honestly can’t see my Mage in my 2nd playthrough taking the Templar’s side…seriously that just doesn’t seem right

I suppose taking the Templar side will have to wait for my Rogue playthrough! where I intend to be more of an ass…this is my problem I like being nice/good too much, I know in DA2 theres no white or black choice but I still tend to be nice overall and haven’t had a rivalry yet with any of my companions, they all love me!

I’m really digging DA2, most addictive game I’ve played in so long,I’m 3/4ths way into my 2nd run and its still just as fun as it was at first

I’ve only done 2 Mass Effect 2 playthroughs (though I plan to do one more before ME3) but the last game I was this nuts about was Mass Effect 1 where I did 7…DA2 might give it a run for its money!

has anyone heard any rumors of some DLC? or an expansion? right now I’d settle just for some DLC for some additional side quests for the heck of it (PLEASE TAKE MY MONEY EA amiright?)

edit: oh and I’m just throwing this out there as a prediction, DA3 will take place in Orlais, or at least the most important events in the game will

#35

I have a hard time siding with the Templars. I’ve done it twice for the achievement/trophy since I have the game on both consoles but it was really hard to do. I used my warriors and RP’d it as my Hawke being so angry at mages because of Leandra’s death. The other two times I’ve sided with the mages.

I’m currently on my 5th playthrough and really can’t stop playing this game. I must say that the archer rogue is a beast damage wise. This game is so addictive, I’m already nearing the number of playthroughs I had in ME2 and DA:O. I think I might have go back and play DA:O again to see how a few cameos work out with different choices.

I haven’t heard any rumors yet about DLC yet but I’m anxiously waiting for any news on DLC. I want more of this game.

I do agree that Orlais is probably going to feature prominently in DA3 and I’d even wager Leliana (I do love the way she looks now in the new style, much closer to the Sacred Ashes trailer) and Cassandra will have a big part in it too. DA2 is supposed to shake the foundations of society in Thedas, a holy war seems a good way to do it.

#36

Just finished the game on my 1st runthrough and I can’t help but wonder about something. Given Liliana’s comment at the end, do you think it’s possible we’ll have a face-to-face between the warden from origins and Hawke? Or could she have been referring to another warden? I doubt it, but still. Think of the possibilities!

#37

see thats what I’m hoping for and thought originally

but the more I think on it I’m thinking she was referring to Anders since he was a Warden

but omg that would be friggin epic if I could team up my DA1 character with my DA2 character

one more thing

am I the only one who every time the Arishok says ‘The Qun’ can’t help but think…

#38

I don’t think we’ll ever get that kind of cameo because the Warden would have to speak. If you are playing from a save imported where your Warden survived the Archdemon and went to Amaranthine, Leliana is referring to your Warden. If you are playing a save where your Warden did not survive the Archdemon everyone seems to be of the mind that she is either talking about the Warden-Commander that comes in from Orlais to run the Grey Wardens in Ferelden or that it’s a bug and there should be different dialogue from her there.

I do think a Hawke, Warden meet up would be awesome, especially since it would have extra meaning if you are playing a Hawke with an imported Mage origin Warden. Which is why I’m currently replaying DA:O with a Mage origin Warden on the off chance we do get to see something like this in a future game.

#39

Well, I just finished, and I want my squad in the next game to be the Hero of Ferelden, the Champion of Kirkwall, General Leliana (she seemed to be in charge of the group at the end), and Sandal (he frakking oneshotted a Pride Demon to set up shop right before the end this time).

I wonder if the idol is similar to the indoctrination of the Reapers, and whatever created it controls the archdemons too.

I can’t believe that Anders blew up the frakking Chantry. I liked him up until the end there (and naturally had just upgraded his equipment before I had to kill him). Oh, and even though I killed him, it said he was still with the Champion after everyone else split up.

Oh, and between that and Orsino going nuts at the end there (and being connected to the guy that killed Mom), the only mage I really liked at the end was Bethany (and at least I got her back at the end so I had some healing).

#40

Second time he’s done this. Remember the end of DA:O? :stuck_out_tongue: