Dragon Age Inquisition Guide Beginner Tips & Tricks

Define the Roles in Your Party

Dragon Age Inquisition Tips & Tricks

One of Dragon Age Inquisition’s trailers said players would have to unleash the full power of their parties in order to succeed in the game. While this may be a relative statement, there is definitely more fun in using all the resources a well balanced party can offer. In the first stages of Dragon Age: Inquisition party options are pretty scarce and that’s when getting the most out of each character is vital. That’s why this beginner tip is some important.

Since you are “stuck” with Cassandra, Solas and Varric, the best way to get things done is to understand what exactly are their true roles and how you can exploit that to your advantage.

This also means you should avoid using the automatic level-up feature and select personally which skills each of your characters should have.

Even though it’s pretty obvious to experienced players, it’s worth mentioning Cassandra is a tank, Varric is focused on damage and Solas is, at least initially, a buffer. All your skill choices will be most effective when enhancing these roles which are really useful in the first missions of the game.

The rest is up to your own character. Repeating roles can be a waste at this time and might even become a disadvantage; you can respec your character later on, when you have more companion options available.

The most effective way to achieve victory is to make a damage-focused character. While Cassandra entertains enemies with the help of Solas’ buffs, a rogue or warrior can team-up with Varric to eliminate enemies as quick as possible.

To make this work, a warrior must have a high-damage spec. If using a rogue, get skills that add to critical damage and threat reduction and try to focus on characters attacking your companions so the bonuses are activated.

Finally, if you are using a mage, AoE spells are exceptionally good since Cassandra will often be surrounded by enemies.

Set Up Your Setup

Dragon Age Inquisition Tips & Tricks

The Dragon Age series has always had a pretty interesting way of setting up AI personality. This can be very useful under lots of circumstances and Dragon Age Inquisition simplified many of these options.

Don’t be afraid to mess with these features and try to set appropriate actions for specific events. Your companions should be ready to face different situations and act in varied ways depending on the amount and type of enemies they are facing.

Moreover, you can even set them to attack enemies who are attacking a specific party member and even and save health potions when things get hairy.

There’s one other thing players often forget: take some time to check your party’s gear before going to dangerous zones.

Dragon Age games have no loot shortage and weapons and armors can get outdated pretty fast. Make sure you have the best items equipped so you can make the most of every incursion into the unknown lands.

Use the Tactics Mode as Often as Possible

Dragon Age Inquisition Tips & Tricks

It doesn’t matter how easy and arcade-like real time combat may seem, the full-featured Dragon Age series combat has always been on the strategic side.

In Dragon Age Inquisition, using the tactics combat mode early will help you on the really tough battles in the later stages, in which you have to make the most with everything your party has under its sleeves.

Additionally, Dragon Age Inquisition’s tactical mode is very different from the paused modes in the previous titles and may require some adaptation time. This means that using it in the easier fights can be a great idea.

First of all, be sure that you don’t forget the obvious stuff, like keeping your ranged/low health characters away from the mess, trying to focus attacks on one enemy at a time and checking what triggers combat bonuses on your fighters.

On the more innovative side, the new tactic mode offers information about the enemies. This is absolutely indispensable data since it can help you optimize your attacks, especially when elemental weaknesses and strengths are involved.

There’s also some degree of importance on terrain: some skills get bonuses depending on where your character is standing. Moreover, since there are no healing spells and potions are somewhat limited in Dragon Age Inquisition, using traps and spells to dominate the battlefield is a lot more important than in the previous Dragon Age titles.

Pay attention to how rocks, walls and other geographical features can help you achieve victory by protecting your party or limiting your enemies’ movements.

Explore Everything

Dragon Age Inquisition Tips & Tricks

As usual in the Dragon Age series, there’s loot everywhere and it all can be useful. In addition to the obvious weapons and armor pieces, Dragon Age Inquisition puts a great emphasis on crafting materials and requisition quests.

From the very moment your inventory becomes available, items can be found all along the maps: from searchable corpses to hidden caves as well as natural resources such as wild herbs and minerals in rocks.

Exploring is worth the while everywhere and the wider the area the greater the rewards.

Additionally, exploring will also trigger side quests and even allow you to find new Inquisition recruits, reclaim important sites or find useful information. These things will add to your power and influence points.

Dragon Age Inquisition has huge maps filled with quests and activities which make exploration rich and delightfully rewarding.

Make Sure You Check All Dialog Options

Dragon Age Inquisition Tips & Tricks

Don’t ever avoid speaking to NPCs. Dragon Age Inquisition is part of a lore-filled series and there’s a lot to find out from the people you find during your travels.

Whether it’s a side quest, zone-specific information or special items/resources, you should make sure you’ve tried all the dialog options when interacting with NPCs. Don’t settle for a short conversation and try talking to NPCs again until everything has been said.

This should also be taken into account when talking to your companions. The relationships with those who follow the inquisitor are very important (as happens in most Bioware games) and offer rewards ranging from special quests to romantic relationships.

Additionally, you may even get special items or skills based on a close friendship or love (as cheesy as it may sound).