Dragon Age: Inquisition is such a massive game with a wide-open world for players to explore, a tailor-made story based on branching plotlines decided by the player, and seemingly endless side quests to keep you busy for hours.
Because of its branching story path, the game has plenty of replay value and players usually learn from the mistakes they make on their first playthrough to create a better Thedas and a better Inquisitor on the next run. There are a few mistakes that players often make on their first adventure as the Inquisitor; check out a list of the most common ones just below.
They Use A Default World State
One of the great things about Inquisition is that it draws on elements of the previous two titles in the Dragon Age series. For those who have played all the games, you’ll want your past decisions to echo throughout Thedas, creating some awesome cameos or references to your past lives.
You can ensure you customize Thedas your way by using an online tool called Dragon Age Keep to import all your past choices from previous titles or rebuild/change your choices however you want them. There are over 300 choices that can be made and then imported into Inquisition for a past uniquely tailored to you. This does require an EA account. Anyone who doesn’t utilize this automatically receives a default world state and this will make the game less personal to them.
They Don’t Understand The Importance Of The Race/Class they Choose
Players love customizing their own heroes and the better the character customization, the more personal each player can make their Inquisitor. The Inquisition character creator is quite in-depth and saw players recreating well-known characters from other franchises on release.
However, many players don’t realize that the race and class that they choose will have various consequences in the gameplay. Depending on the race chosen, players receive different racial bonuses:
- Human: Given one additional ability point. Dwarf: 25 percent damage resistance to Magical Attacks. Elf: 25 percent damage resistance to Ranged Attacks. Qunari: +10 percent Physical Resistance.
Additionally, based on your race and background, your conversational options will change as you will be able to bond with certain NPCs over shared heritage or beliefs, while others will have a racial stigma against you. For example, dwarves, elves, Qunari, and even humans if they are mages will immediately lose court favor during the “Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts” main quest. Additionally, race and class can dictate the armor you are able to equip; for instance, the Qunari have a special kind of headwear as opposed to the other armor that can be worn by the other races.
They Don’t Realize They Affect The Next Divine
Inquisition begins with the destruction of the Temple of Sacred Ashes and the death of Divine Justinia V as a result. During the main game’s closing scenes, you will see who became the next Divine, but many players don’t realize that they actually affect who the next Divine might be by the choices they make throughout the storyline.
There are three potential candidates: Leliana, Cassandra, or Vivienne. In fact, when it comes to Leliana, there are two possible outcomes for her path to Divine too. We have a complete guide on how to influence who becomes the next Divine right here.
They Miss Out On Certain Agents
Throughout the game, you will find and meet various characters that you can recruit to the Inquisition, gaining them as “agents” that work under Cullen, Leliana, or Josephine. This helps reduce the amount of time it takes each of your advisors to complete war table operations.
However, it’s all too easy to miss out on agents by not making the correct choice, failing to complete required sidequests, or not having the right party members with you. We have a complete guide on all agents right here.
They Only Keep One Save File
As with any RPG, it’s wise to keep a whole range of save files that encompass your playthrough and this is especially true of Inquisition. Many of the choices you make will have consequences, but they’re not always immediately obvious. Being able to reload a save file so that you can fix your poor decision can be a godsend.
They are numerous elements that you can accidentally lock yourself out of, such as gaining certain agents, achievements/trophies, or important story decisions. Being able to have a do-over is definitely handy.
They Don’t Realize They Can Romance Harding
Granted, it’s not a real romance like the other relationships that you can have and is more of a pseudo one instead, but there is definitely wiggle room to romance one of the more prominent side characters — Scout Harding. It’s tricky to do as you have to shut yourself off from other romances, pick particular options, and then eventually confess your feelings. However, we do have a guide right here on how to romance this fan favorite.
Rather frustratingly, your romance with Harding won’t seem as clear-cut until you play the Trespasser DLC, in which your relationship status is properly clarified.
They Always Keep Their Party Companions The Same
While it’s all too easy to pick your favorite companions and have them at your side throughout your entire playthrough, it’s wiser and more beneficial to mix them up on occasion. Having certain characters in your party during specific side quests or main quests can help you as they will open up dialogue choices unique to their race, background, or class.
For example, when trying to recruit the human mage Ellandra to join the Inquisition as an agent, this is only possible if your character is a human mage, or you have Vivienne in your party, as she is a human mage too. Knowing your NPC audience and playing to your strengths is a great help.
Additionally, mixing up your companions can also save you losing face with them. If you know you’re going to do something that will annoy a certain companion, don’t bring them along so you don’t lose approval with them. However, this only works with side quests and not main quests, as any major plot-related decision will always affect all companion approval ratings regardless of who is in your party.
They Don’t Use the Sit in Judgment Feature
Once you’ve unlocked Skyhold, sitting on the throne in the main hall will allow you to decide the fate of any characters the Inquisition has arrested. Many players forget about this feature or don’t use it at all, which is a shame as there are multiple characters you can sentence throughout your playthrough (some of which can be quite funny) and you can earn different things depending on your choices.
Sometimes you can gain new agents, other times you unlock new war table operations, as well as unlocking new thrones, and approval responses. We have a complete guide on Sit in Judgment right here.
They Don’t Manage To Save All The People In Haven
Though this is only an optional side quest that doesn’t really impact the story, this is often a sticking point with players as they want to save everyone to prove they are the hero the game expects them to be. During the “In Your Heart Shall Burn” main quest, a side quest called “Evacuate Haven” will appear, asking the player to save seven Haven townspeople in total.
If the player does not help them quickly enough then they will die and will no longer appear in the game. As stated before, this doesn’t really impact the game as even the merchants you save will no longer be merchants in Skyhold, having been replaced. However, saving them will reward you with 128 XP and 80 Influence for each person saved, and that’s quite a decent reason to help them.
They Don’t Take Advantage Of Nemesis Quests
Near the beginning of the game, players must decide whether to align themselves with either the mages or the templars, and whichever they choose results in the other becoming their enemy. For example, siding with the templars will result in the Inquisition clashing with the Venatori mages led by Calpernia, and siding with the mages will result in the Inquisition having to fight with the Red Templars led by Samson.
You’ll have to fight the forces of your enemy throughout the game, but during the main quest “What Pride Had Wrought”, you’ll have to take on their leader at the Temple of Mythal. A lot of players run into this headfirst and don’t utilize the Nemesis side quests that can make the final battle with Calpernia/Samson a lot easier.
Completing Cullen’s side quest “Before the Dawn” will help you to uncover a secret to Samson’s armor that will make him a lot easier to destroy. On the other hand, Leliana’s side quest “Under Her Skin” will allow you to dig up some dirt on Calpernia and you can avoid battling her entirely.
They Don’t Unlock Specializations
Though most RPG fans are more than willing to delve into every nook and cranny of any game they play, there are a fair few players who will happily follow through on main story quests and not really stray from the beaten path. However, in Inquisition, this largely means that players will be doing themselves a disservice as they will miss out on certain side quests or content that could help them.
For example, a lot of players miss out on getting a specialization for their Inquisitor as they either don’t start the war table operation to get this in motion or fail to complete any of the subsequent quests to complete it.
Upon reaching Skyhold, the “Specializations for the Inquisitor” operation will be available and it costs no power and takes no time at all to complete. After doing this, three trainers will arrive in Skyhold, each of which will offer a different specialization for the class you have chosen so you can make your Inquisitor even more powerful. Each specialization requires the player to complete a quest, and though you can pursue all three quests, players can only choose one specialization to apply to their character and it cannot be changed later.
You can find guides on all specializations here:
- Guide To Mage Specializations Guide To Rogue Specializations Guide to Warrior Specializations
They Miss Out On The “On Burning Wings” Accolade
The unlock percentage of the “On Burning Wings” trophy/achievement makes it clear that there are many players who miss out on this particular accolade. It is earned by players fulfilling the following requirement: Recruit a powerful ally to even the score.
This comes down to a particular story choice during “What Pride Had Wrought”, players must decide whether the Inquisitor drinks from the Well of Sorrows or Morrigan drinks instead. Choosing Morrigan avoids a fight with a dragon, but you can’t get this particular accolade. To ensure you unlock this trophy/achievement, you must choose the Inquisitor as the person to drink.
They Think Lootable and Schematic Weapons Are the Same
To be fair, this can be a little confusing, so it’s easily understandable why players would make this mistake. Essentially, the game has loot weapons that you can find in chests or the bodies of your enemies, but then you can also craft weapons of the exact same name as those you find, but the crafted versions are actually better.
Of course, the degree to which they are better depends on the crafting materials used for each schematic, but essentially, you should be aiming to craft your best gear rather than rely on loot drops.
They Get Locked Out Of Content By Going Too Fast
As with a lot of RPGs, once you hit a certain milestone in the game’s story, a lot of content will cease to be available to players. This happens more than once throughout the game, so players should be sure to complete all side quests and war operations that they want to finish before moving onto the next main story quest.
As the plot doesn’t necessarily have a set path, as some quests can be taken simultaneously alongside others and players can explore the area in a different sequence than others, they can often find themselves getting locked out of certain content.
While some side quests and war table operations might not be your biggest concern, certain agents and companions can be entirely missed. For example, Blackwall cannot be recruited after the Inquisitor has met with Hawke and the Grey Warden in the Western Approach.
They Don’t Get The Best Result From “Wicked Eyes And Wicked Hearts”
“Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts” is arguably the most difficult main story quest, not because it contains a very difficult battle, but because there is a myriad of outcomes from this quest. The result of this is dependent on how much evidence the player has managed to gather throughout the quest, all of which is under a timer of sorts as they must return to the ballroom at certain intervals.
Additionally, as well as uncovering clues, they must also aim to keep their court approval high, which is especially difficult as you constantly lose approval while you are in restricted areas looking for clues. You need to have an approval rating of 85+ in order to be able to choose the “I’ll talk with Florianne” option near the end of the quest, which will help lead to the best outcome depending on other evidence found and dialogue options chosen by the player.
They Don’t Play the Trespasser DLC
Inquisition has a few DLC packs, but none are more important than Trespasser. Though there is often some degree of dislike for having to pay out for more story content, Trespasser is well-worth it and continues the main story of Inquisition, with Solas returning (in a much fancier outfit) to hint at his plans for the future and set up for the sequel.
Trespasser is a must for those who plan to play Dragon Age 4, as the sequel will follow on from the DLC and you will be missing some important information otherwise. If there is any DLC you decide to buy — make sure it’s this one.
