2011

Overview

The sequel to BioWare's critically acclaimed dark-fantasy RPG game of the year, Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age II tells the story of Hawke, a refugee of Lothering and Champion of Kirkwall. The game features a redesigned art style, a voiced main character, and a dialogue wheel similar to the one featured in the Mass Effect series. The combat has been redesigned for the console versions, while keeping the same pause and play gameplay on the PC.

Varric, recounting Hawke's tale to Cassandra.

Setting

DA2 takes place in the Free Marshes of Thedas, with much of plot focused on the city of Kirkwall. The story spans an entire decade and follows Hawke's rise to power. The beginning coincides with Origins as Hawke is forced to flee his home Ferelden and escape the blight. He is not a grey warden, but a mere refugee who goes on to become the Champion of Kirkwall.

The story is told in flashbacks through the viewpoint of the dwarf Varric, one of Hawk'e companions, who is being interrogated by Cassandra.

Technical Updates

Revised visuals - still featuring copious amounts of blood

Dragon Age II has many key technical updates:

A new distinctive graphical style

Improved & flexible gameplay that allows the game to be played both as an action or turn-based RPG.

A more fluent storytelling experience

Visual & Gameplay Changes

While still running on the Eclipse Engine, Dragon Age II's graphics were developed using just the bare essentials of the engine. The objective was a more dark and distinctive art style, while still retaining the general look seen in Origins & Awakening. BioWare wanted the game to have its own graphical identity, and had called the graphics in past titles in the franchise "generic".
The gameplay has been streamlined to play to the strengths of the controller. Origins saw a stark difference between the console and PC versions of the game. On the console, enemies were somewhat weaker and arrived in waves; whereas on the PC, they were far stronger and appeared all at once. BioWare is aiming for both versions of Dragon Age II to be functionally the same.

PC v/s Console Differences

Redesigned UI for PC

There are only three differences between the PC and console versions:

User Interface: Like previous games, UI implementation will be different. The action bar will be returning for the PC version, while the console version will use a combat wheel.
Overhead Camera: There will be the option of a slightly more overhead camera in the PC version while the console is locked into an over the shoulder view, and most significantly
Auto-Attack: Auto-attack is on as the default in the PC version while it is off on the console version. After you assign the character you are controlling an action in the PC version, it will continue to automatically attack its target while waiting for the next order. On the console version, you need to constantly press a button for the character to continue its attack. For example, if you have the rogue you are controlling attack an enemy with her bow, on the PC she will continue that attack until given another order, on the console she will attack once and do nothing else until the next command is issued. This also means you must move the character you are controlling to follow enemies that move away.

Updated Animations

Combat movement and animations have also been redone. In Origins, when directing a character to attack the enemy, they would shuffle into place and eventually begin attacking. In DA2 when a character is ordered to attack they would fluently run at the enemy and instantly being attacking. It is much more gory than its predecessor, allowing players to chop an enemy in half, even groups with move likeWhirlwind. The number of finishing moves in the game have been greatly expanded, now letting spellcasters get in on the action. For example: a mage blowing an Ogre into chunks with a poison spell.
Gameplay

Character Creation

Class selection screen

Unique character origins do not make a reappearance. Elves and Dwarves are not playable races this time around, instead the player is locked into being human. Players are still allowed to customize the appearance of of their character and choose whether they're male or female.

There are still only three classes in the game of which the player can choose from:

Warrior - Melee combatants, proficient with heavy armor, 2-handed weapons and shields. They can be used in both defensive or offensive manner. Depending on the weapon in hand, they can crowd control or deal area of effect damage.
Rogue - Offensive melee class with access to duel-wielding, archery and heavy damage-dealing combos. They excel are at taking down individual targets. Rogues are also the only class that can pick locks or disarm traps.
Mage - Magic users, who can deal spell damage or heal party members. They are also capable of crowd control and area of effect damage.

Bioware has decided to simplify the classes to a certain extent, while emphasizing class differences. The number of mage spells available has been reduced from around 80 to about 50. The warrior no longer has access to archery and dual wielding talents. Another change is that all three classes now have one main attribute that determines combat prowess: strength for warriors, dexterity for rogues, and magic for mages. This differs from Origins where more than one attribute often was used to make battle calculations.

Weapon Restrictions

Class-based weapon restrictions is one of the biggest changes to the combat system. Mages can only use staves, rogues can only use bows and daggers and warriors can only use 2-handed weapons, medium 1-handed weapons and shields. This is a departure from Origins where even if the character did not have the talents in a particular weapon they could equip it. In addition, warriors no longer have the ability to dual wield or to use missile weapons of any kind. This was done to stress the different roles each class has in combat.

Character Progression

Revamped Skill Tree

Gaining experience and level in Dragon Age II is very similar to Origins where after so many experience points you gain a level and then have ability points to distribute.

The biggest change is in the talent tree layout. Instead of forcing players down a linear path like Origins, the tree now branches off from base skills into a web-like shape. It allows players to pick-and-choose skills they desire without wasting points on unwanted pre-requisites. In addition to learning new skills, players can also invest points to enhance existing spells with more damage, greater area of effect, lowered cooldown times, etc.

Save Importing

Dragon Age II allows players to import their saved games from Origins and its expansion pack, Awakening. Even though the Warden isn't the main character of the game, BioWare has said that they want the player's decisions to matter, constantly shaping Thedas with them. Choices the player made in the past, such as who was made King of Orzammar, will have an effect on Dragon Age II, showing the player the consequences of their decisions.
The ability of cross-platform save importing, from the PC over to the Xbox 360 or the Playsation 3, and vice versa, is something BioWare is hoping for, but Microsoft and Sony must agree to it before it's permitted.

Crafting & Inventory

The crafting system has been streamlined to avoid inventory clutter. Rather than carrying hundreds of components in their backpack, players can now simply discover the source to an ingredient to make it readily available at all crafting vendors. The challenge has been shifted from juggling inventory space to discovering raw materials.
Class Updates

Mages

Mages have changed the least. They are stuck with staffs as their only weapons but staffs can now do melée damage. This also means that mages will get special finishing animations. Another big change is damage from talents for all classes happens immediately and then the animation starts. Even if knocked down while casting, spells will go off. The number of spells available for mages have been reduced.

Warriors

Warriors no longer have access to any bows and that means no access to missile weapons of any kind. Warriors, instead of being able to hang back and fire arrows or bolts at enemies before engaging in battle, will rush into melee. A new thing they can do to enemies is to knock them back in order to stop them rushing to hit spellcasters sitting in the back. Depending on relative size, strength, and damage done, a warrior can knock a foe down with a normal attack. 2-Handed attacks, instead of having the ability to up damage penetration or cause massive one shot damage, will focus on AoE attacks. These attacks are subject to friendly fire rules but currently friendly fire for players only exists on nightmare difficulty.

Rogues

Rogue Attributes & Stats

Rogues are individual DPS dealers. They can do that either through the use of bows or dual wielding daggers. Archery has been reworked though specific talent changes that have yet to be revealed. What is known is that arrows no longer exist and that arrow type and damage type is entirely dependent upon the bow equipped. Bows at this time can also have runes added to them.

Dual wielding has been changed to be restricted to only daggers. In addition the rogues talents for dual wielding seemed to have been changed to focus on only hitting individuals instead of any group attacks. Backstabbing has been removed and in its place Rogues get bonuses for critical hits which may have additional bonuses depending upon character facing. This looks to be a change to make it easier for console players who will not have to worry about keeping rogues behind enemies.

Character Interaction

Dialogue Wheel

Dialogue wheel

The listed responses have been replaced with a dialogue wheel, similar to the Mass Effect series albeit with an important addition. An icon at the center of the wheel will indicate the intent of the player's lines like flirty, violent, sarcastic, etc.

Friends & Rivals System

The approval scale from Origins has been replaced with a friends & rivals system. The approval/disapproval ratings have been turned into friendship/rivalry ratings. Unlike the old system, rivalry doesn't not necessarily translate into animosity between Hawke and the companion. They simply see the world from different point of views.

Certain combat & romantic options are only available through a high rivalry rating, incentivizing disagreement just as much as agreement with your party members. The zenith of the rivalry scale can result in a state of mutual understanding or the member leaving the party altogether.

Gifts

The gift system has also been modified to accompany the new rating system. Companions react differently to Hawke's gift depending on their friend/rival score. Friends might approve a gift and react with gratitude. While rivals might perceive a gift as an insult and be pushed further down the rivalry scale. The total number of gift available has been reduced accordingly.

Major Characters

Hawke

Hawke - Protagonist

Hawke is a former human resident of Lothering. He/she escaped the blight's attack and went on to become the Champion of Kirkwall. Players don't get any choice of origins this time.

Companions

Character	Description
Bethany	Bethany Hawke - Hawke's younger sister and a mage. Due to their close relationship, her appearance can be tweaked to match Hawke. Race: Human Class: Mage
Aveline	Aveline Vallen - A warrior who helps Hawke and Bethany escape Lothering during the blight's assault. She is married to Wesley, who used to be Hawke's neighbor. Race: Human Class: Warrior, uses shield & sword.
Carver	Carver Hawke - Hawke's younger brother. Race: Human Class: Warrior
Varric	Varric - A dwarf companion of royal descent. His family is a member of the Dwarven Merchant guild and he is part of it's spy network. He recounts Hawke's story toCassandra. Race: Dwarf Class: Rogue, specializes in bows. He uses a signature bow called Bianca.
Fenris	Fenris - A former slave to a Tevintar magister, who was transformed by lyrium. He is an amnesiac, trying to escape his former master. Race: Elf Class: Warrior, specializing in 2-handed weapons.
Isabela	Isabela - A pirate captain, who taught duelist specialization to the Warden in Origins. She is a companion and a possible romantic interest. Race: Human Class: Duelist Rogue

Zombie Fields

Dragon Age: Origins

Overview

Setting