The Creative Director for Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mike Laidlaw has released new information and answered a litany of questions by fans on the recent showcase of the crafting system. In the last few weeks BioWare has been showing off the level of customization featured in the upcoming role-playing game.
According to Laidlaw one of the crucial goals in the implementation of the crafting system was to allow the player to have the ability to craft the armor and weapons that appealed most to them.
"To that end, we developed the concept of the schematic. A schematic determines the shape of the blade if you're crafting a sword or the shape of the core armor if you're crafting protective gear. Each schematic takes some combination of metals, leathers, and cloths, and the materials you choose to use determine the effectiveness of the gear, any bonuses built into it, and the visual appearance. A serpentstone blade, for instance, will be a dull greenish color, and onyx will be a shiny black."
Laidlaw has stated that the crafting system in large part is optional as looted equipment is plentiful in the world. Backpacks for loot and gathering materials are confirmed to be limited but the number of slots available to the player is upgradable. Players that create custom armor and weaponry will have the ability to add a name to the item. Laidlaw warns that constructing more powerful items using rare materials requires careful consideration as some resources are not infinite. Elemental runes that give weapons additional damage can be created and applied to custom weapons. Laidlaw has confirmed that staffs as an exclusive weapon to mages also have unique runes. Unfortunately for fans that may want a heavily armored mage or casually dressed warrior constructing clothing designed for another class exists in the game but those schematics are very hard to find.
As far as creating armor for your companions Laidlaw has stated that while the player is free to change the look of each party member not every piece of clothing will look the same on each character.
"The characters do have their own themes, though, so an Enchanter Mail (as referenced above) will look different on Dorian, Solas, Vivienne, and the Inquisitor. Many properties do carry over, though, especially colors, so predominantly red outfits will still be red across characters—they'll just be styled to better reflect their personalities. We figure that, with its army of smiths, the Inquisition can handle a few tweaks here and there. Of course, if you find more emblematic armor, like, say, Grey Warden mail, you can expect that to look like its namesake on whoever wears it."
This news release comes just a day after an infographic posted on the Dragon Age Twitter feed claimed that the upcoming sequel will offer "trillions of character possibilities". According to the post there are a total of 400 crafting recipes in Dragon Age: Inquisition. This includes 200 schematics specifically for customizable armor and weapons. The title features 30 mounts for players to ride throughout the open world. Skyhold, the customizable fortress that houses the player's organization, will offer the choice of 8 thrones, 14 heraldry themes and several other customization options.
Laidlaw has teased that this new batch of information answers some questions in regards to the crafting system but far more details will be released in the coming weeks. Dragon Age: Inquisition releases on November 18 of this year for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.
