To some players, completing a game on the hardest difficulty is just another achievement under the belt; for others (such as myself) playing a game on the hardest difficulty is a way of celebrating all that the game has to offer. Regardless of what sort of player you are, there are few things more satisfying than finishing a game on the hardest difficulty and seeing that achievement (or trophy, for you PSNers) pop up on the screen. Dragon Age: Inquisition is no exception. And whether you're a newcomer to the series or a seasoned veteran looking for a challenge, nightmare difficulty is not for the faint of heart or unprepared.
And for those of you who dislike having to sacrifice role-playing and narrative finesse for gameplay, fear not! There is no need to pigeonhole yourself into a certain class build or specific party compositions (which means you won't miss out on the awesome party banter that Inquisition has to offer). It is important to keep in mind that there is no wrong way to play this game as it is so play style dependent. Rather, the best way to succeed in completing your nightmare run is to simply find the best and most efficient way to play according to your personal play style. That being said, here are 6 basic tips and tricks to help you overcome nightmare!
1. Plan Ahead
It may seem fairly obvious, but I really cannot stress enough how much easier planning ahead makes the game. In fact, I will go as far as to recommend that unless you're really looking to challenge yourself, it's best to have completed at least one playthrough before starting your nightmare run. For newcomers to the series, what this does is to allow you to become more accustomed to the game mechanics as it can be cumbersome to become used to controlling four characters at once. It also allows you to enjoy the story at your own pace, and most importantly: it gives you the experience you need to pace yourself on subsequent playthroughs (an especially important skill for the completionists out there, who may find that the game will start to feel stale if you don't pace yourself properly).
Dragon Age: Inquisition is a huge game, and one of the worst things you can do in a game like this is rush through and miss things. On nightmare, rushing can be especially punishing as you are more likely to make mistakes. Having a prior playthrough under your belt gives you an idea of what to expect in terms of enemies, as well as giving you an idea of what order you should do the quests and areas in, and what level you should attempt them at. It also gives you some time to think about your approach: are you going to try and get through nightmare by over-leveling? By rushing towards specific gear or powers, or by investing in certain perks early on? In some cases, it might be a one-or-the-other type situation. Now, I'm not saying that you should plan out your entire nightmare run ahead of time, but having a little bit of foresight definitely gives you a much-needed edge.
Dragon Age: Inquisition is a huge game, and one of the worst things you can do in a game like this is rush through and miss things. On nightmare, rushing can be especially punishing as you are more likely to make mistakes. Having a prior playthrough under your belt gives you an idea of what to expect in terms of enemies, as well as giving you an idea of what order you should do the quests and areas in, and what level you should attempt them at. It also gives you some time to think about your approach: are you going to try and get through nightmare by over-leveling? By rushing towards specific gear or powers, or by investing in certain perks early on? In some cases, it might be a one-or-the-other type situation. Now, I'm not saying that you should plan out your entire nightmare run ahead of time, but having a little bit of foresight definitely gives you a much-needed edge.
2. Suit Up!
Crafting is an incredibly useful tool, made available to you almost right at the beginning of the game. It isn't as important in the early game because you'll generally be able to find some decent equipment just lying around, but crafting becomes essential as you get farther in. You will always be able to craft better weapons and armour than you can find, assuming you have the schematics and materials for it, especially in conjunction with the masterwork bonuses you can acquire later on in the game. For instance, my dual-wielding rogue is decked out in armour that grants 3 guard every time she's hit, and has an aoe dagger that heals for 25% of the last damage she's taken over 10 seconds.
And if you're the kind of player who needs to pick up every little piece of loot that you come across, then you'll find that you'll end up with more crafting material than you'll ever need. And even if you're not that kind of player (and how can you sleep at night, knowing that you just left loot lying on the ground?), later on in the game you'll be able to order your advisors to fetch crafting material for you. As for the schematics, well...
And if you're the kind of player who needs to pick up every little piece of loot that you come across, then you'll find that you'll end up with more crafting material than you'll ever need. And even if you're not that kind of player (and how can you sleep at night, knowing that you just left loot lying on the ground?), later on in the game you'll be able to order your advisors to fetch crafting material for you. As for the schematics, well...
3. Save Your Money
It's actually fairly difficult to become broke in Dragon Age: Inquisition, considering you can send your advisors out to make some quick cash (Josephine is the best at this), or that you have to purge your inventory fairly often due to the extremely limited space. Regardless, you should really save your money. Early game, this is important as sometimes you just won't get lucky in what kind of gear or upgrades you'll pick up, and so sometimes you'll just have to suck it up and do some shopping. Late game, having money is imperative once you're able to unlock an area called the Hissing Wastes, as the lone merchant there has the best armour and upgrade schematics in the entire game. As you can imagine, the prices of these schematics are ridiculously high, but they are absolutely worth it. If you're going to rush for anything in this game, rush for these.
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