14 replies to this topic

[Archmage Silver]

I'm starting a new Dwarf Noble Rogue, and I was wondering if it's worth it to switch to Nightmare Mode from Normal? The statistical differences between Normal and Nightmare seem to be rather... well, unimpressive, according to the Dragon Age Wiki.

Edited by Archmage Silver, 13 April 2010 - 01:23 PM.

[Jarno Mikkola]

Did you actually look what the damage threshold does? Hih hih. See, the normal dagger does pitiful damage when you take 16(instead of 7) damage points away from it... as with tear one and two weapons(daggers), you can do zero damage even with a critical hit.

Of course that's with strength 10, so there is no damage bonuses added to the calculations.

Edited by Jarno Mikkola, 14 April 2010 - 11:08 AM.

[Vicen]

I beat the game the first 3 times on normal with my Human Noble Warrior - Mage - Dwarf Commoner Rogue

I then beat it as Dalish Rogue archer on hard mode and will do so with the dwarf noble and then city elf. Hard really isnt too bad but Nightmare might be a wee bit of a jump from normal...Make sure you got the perfect party combo and good tactics heh...

[Qwinn]

I've had no problems playing my test run through on Nightmare. I wish it were harder, honestly... it's mainly only the boss fights providing any real challenge, and even then not so much (Broodmother on 1st try, for example). And I'm shortly due to get the "I'm Kind of a Big Deal" achievement based on this run too.

So, yeah, just go up to Nightmare. It's nothing to be scared of. The AI *does* improve a bit, at least.

Qwinn

Edited by Qwinn, 14 April 2010 - 01:24 AM.

[Archmage Silver]

Thanks for the opinions guys.

...you can do zero damage even with a critical hit.

That's interesting. Not as challenging(?) as IWD2 HoF mode or equivalent with a level 1 party, but still.

I've had no problems playing my test run through on Nightmare. I wish it were harder, honestly... it's mainly only the boss fights providing any real challenge, and even then not so much (Broodmother on 1st try, for example). And I'm shortly due to get the "I'm Kind of a Big Deal" achievement based on this run too.

So, yeah, just go up to Nightmare. It's nothing to be scared of. The AI *does* improve a bit, at least.

Qwinn

Yeah, I'll start my playthrough on Nightmare for sure, a challenge would be nice after the Awakening "I'm Invincible" complex. Speaking of invincible, I'm also aiming for that achievement you mentioned, although I've yet to get the previous one for completing Landsmeet without dying. I have the two previous ones in the Survival series though.

[Archmage Silver]

I've enjoyed the Nightmare mode so far (Enjoyed... nightmare? Never saw that coming). I've finished Lothering, but the increase in difficulty hasn't really bothered me since I got adjusted to it at the beginning.

I think the relative ease of playing has something to do with my powergaming habits from my MMO days as well - I tend to optimize and micro-manage everything. I even gave my Dwarf Noble Rogue a good bow as a secondary weapon to pull enemies from afar, after that it's just a matter of crowd controlling them and making sure I don't draw too much aggro.

All in all it's a very enjoyable mode, and I think the Nightmare in its name is the only thing keeping more people from switching over.

[WeeRLegion]

All in all it's a very enjoyable mode, and I think the Nightmare in its name is the only thing keeping more people from switching over.

That, or it might be just the need for a great deal of micromanagement, full utilization of abilities, and taking even relatively easy encounters somewhat seriously... Which for many casual players translates to getting their asses handed to them on a platter.

...
Then some of them log onto the official forums and go on an angry tirade about how they're supposed to be playing great HEROES, and how getting chewed up by a bunch of genlocks really doesn't fit in the picture, and finally they add in a little whining about the level scaling system and... Whee... x]

[Archmage Silver]

Possibly. I guess some people will never learn to like a challenge once in a while. Unless, of course, the normal mode is already a challenge for them.

[Archmage Silver]

Normal Mode after playing on Nightmare:

[Cal Jones]

I very rarely do a nightmare runthrough in any game. I'm just not interested in that sort of challenge - I play for the RPG aspects. I did finish ME on Insanity for the achievement, but had a level 50+ Shepard to play at the start of that run.
Most of my DA runthroughs were on easy, being honest. I found the Normal mode equivalent to most other game's hard. I did switch to Normal in my last two runs. The first time I had enough trouble that I ran out of injury kits during the Dead Trenches and couldn't kill the Broodmother. I had to run ALL the way back through the Dead Trenches, to Orzammar, and then to the Dalish camp to buy elfroots so I could make more kits. What a pain! Second time through on Normal was easier, as I was prepared for it, but you could say it was enough of a challenge for me.

[WeeRLegion]

I think the biggest difference between normal and hard/nightmare is the extent to which you have to use runes, poisons and herbalism.
Either that, or my game is bugged.
Nightmare seems to roll along with ridiculous ease as long as you keep the weapons of you active team well runed up (and preferrably also telekinetically charged), and carry a few grenades and poisons for the meaner encounters.

Well of course, you need to know what spells are good for anything if you want to make it, and it all works only as long as you know pretty much what's coming around the corner, but still... Excepting the boss fights, I've mostly been left wishing there would be some way to crank up the challenge a bit further. xP

Edited by WeeRLegion, 03 May 2010 - 12:21 AM.

[Kulyok]

You probably know, but it's possible to press "main map" from the Dead Trenches and go right to the Dalish camp. Same with all Denerim areas.(Then again, I always play on Easy to save the time).

[princesspurpleblob]

Just finished Awakening in nightmare mode... seriously, it's not hard at all. A bit disappointed. My PC was a mage and I usually travelled around with Anders, Nathaniel and Justice. Only for final 2 battles I took Oghren instead of Nathaniel. One thing that annoyed me to no end was that my PC's strange obsession/need to cast chain lightening every f*cking time when I'm controlling other NPCs.

[Qwinn]

You should be able to disable that obsession with chain lightning in the tactics screen, no?

And yes, I highly recommend doing so, btw... Chain Lightning is bugged in that, unlike every other primal spell, it is *not* modified by the caster's spellpower, so it becomes pretty weak relative to all the others by mid-Origins.

That'll be fixed in my next Fixpack release, btw... *hopefully* within the next few days.

Edited by Qwinn, 15 May 2010 - 10:18 AM.

[Archmage Silver]

And yes, I highly recommend doing so, btw... Chain Lightning is bugged in that, unlike every other primal spell, it is *not* modified by the caster's spellpower, so it becomes pretty weak relative to all the others by mid-Origins.

That'll be fixed in my next Fixpack release, btw... *hopefully* within the next few days.

I always wondered about that... thanks for the info.