History DragonAgeInquisition / TropesLToQ

* OnlyOneFindsItFun: In the "Tresspasser" DLC, Josephine invites the Inquisitor to join her for an evening of Orlesian opera. Should they accept, the scene which follows makes it clear that Josephine is enjoying herself, but the Inquisitor, not so much.

** Certain masterwork materials confer the "On kill: targets explode for X% of weapon damage" perk, with higher-quality materials dealing more damage. Very handy for dealing with ZergRush{{es}}, especially because the detonation can trigger chain reactions on other weakened enemies nearby.

* LudicrousGibs: Give Dorian the Virulent Walking Bomb upgrade and this will happen a ''lot''.

* Seen during one conversation with Leliana; you can either observe that the soldiers and agents are giving their lives for a worthy cause, or comment that they are not tools and should not be regarded as such. [[spoiler:This conversation is one of the two which factors into whether or not Leliana can be "softened."]]

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Played for laughs during Varric's party banter with The Iron Bull. When Varric asks if Bull knows the Qunari Arishok, Bull sarcastically asks if Varric knows a Dwarf he met once, giving an incredibly vague description that applies to pretty much all Dwarves. Varric blithely responds that odds are he knows only knows him but is owed money by him.

* OnlyOneFindsItFun: In the "Tresspasser" DLC, Josephine invites the Inquisitor to join her for an evening of Antivan opera. Should they accept, the scene which follows makes it clear that Josephine is enjoying herself, but the Inquisitor, not so much.

* LamePunReaction: Cassandra to Varric, when you meet Scout Harding in the Hinterlands.
-->'''Varric:''' Harding, huh? Ever been to Kirkwall's Hightown?\\

'''Cassandra:''' ''(disgusted noise)''

--> ''(Seeing a giant owl statue in the Emerald Graves)'' ''OWL'' you doing? ''(Dorian groans)''

* LethalJokeItem: [[spoiler:The EasterEgg item "Ardent Blossom." It's a crown of white flowers... which adds a pretty hefty (for a helm) 41 armor and also negates 25% of a foe's armor on-strike.]]

-->'''Cassandra:''' ''(smiles knowingly in the crowd)''

--> '''Varric''': [[SeriousBusiness She once killed a man over a semicolon.]]

* PurpleIsPowerful: The walls of purple fire that block off certain optional areas in the ''Trespasser'' DLC are more or less the only fires in the whole game to consistently deal damage - so much damage, in fact, that merely touching the stuff results in a OneHitKill regardless of fire resistance.

* PartyInMyPocket: Party members disappear when the Inquisitor is mounted and reappear when the Inquisitor dismounts.

** When the Nightmare is taunting you in the fade, it [[IShallTauntYou lets slip]] that [[spoiler:it is the medium through which Corypheus commands his demon army. The Justinia-impersonating spirit then flips that around by sweetly remarking, "So if we banish you, we defeat the demon army? Thank you for that information." Nightmare realizes his folly with an angry grunt afterwards.]]

'''Blackwall''': Heh, I'd never make a terrible joke like that.

** Reaver (Iron Bull): Rampage. The user attacks faster, causes more damage per hit, and absorbs enemy health for ten seconds. Additional focus increases the effect.

** Artificer (Varric): Hail of Arrows. Any archery ability is used twice at once for a set amount of time. Additional focus increases the duration.

** Tempest (Sera): Thousand Cuts. A target and any other enemies surrounding it are attacked many times. Each hit strikes for three hundred percent of a normal attack. Additional focus increases the number of hits. Made especially ridiculous because the Tempest specialization also includes the ability Flask of Fire, which lets the character use all abilities without cost or cooldown and that applies to focus abilities as well. This means the only drawback of focus abilities, that focus takes a long time to charge, is completely negated and the abilities can be used whenever Flask of Fire is off cooldown, which is once every 30 seconds.

* QuicksandBox: The game is more open than previous Creator/BioWare titles, a fact which plays on the expectations of players familiar with [=BioWare=]'s standard game design. This results in players spending far too long in the first open area, the Hinterlands. It also doesn't help that one of the missions, which looks like it should be the final one based on the initially established conflict, actually kicks off the story proper. You can easily put 30 to 40 hours in before this point. Several game journalism outlets eventually ran articles urging players to leave the Hinterlands.

* NewGamePlus: ''Trespasser'' released with a free patch that included "the Golden Nug" statue, which becomes accessible once you've completed the main story. Using it will save all of your schematics, recipes, herb seeds, and Skyhold decor, allowing you to access them all by using the Golden Nug in another playthrough, even if you're midway through the game.

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: Quite a few side quests are named after literature:
** [[Literature/SnowWhite "Bring Me the Heart of Snow White"]] is Vivienne's personal quest.
** [[Literature/MobyDick "Call Me Ishmael"]] is the name of a quest offered by Ser Michel in Emprise du Lion, which involves tracking down the titular demon.

** [[Literature/MobyDick "Call Me Imshael"]] is the name of a quest offered by Ser Michel in Emprise du Lion, which involves tracking down the titular demon.
** [[Literature/LordOfTheRings "They Shall Not Pass"]] is another quest in Emprise du Lion, which involves rebuilding a landmark bridge.

** Magical green veilfire exists primarily to reveal hidden glyphs and solve puzzles, but since you're able to carry around a torch of it, it's also very convenient for illuminating the way around dark caves and ruins.

* MurderInc: The House of Repose in Orlais is an exceedingly polite and honour-invested version of this trope, upholding a contract signed over a hundred years ago because not following through might tarnish their reputation, even though all the original parties involved are long since dead from natural causes. They are even willing to explain the details of the unusual circumstances to the victim-to-be as a gesture of courtesy (out of embarrassment according to their representative). And they have no objection to Josephine attempting to revoke the contract; they make no move to stop her from doing so, only acting according to the contract itself, and if she succeeds, they immediately cease and desist.
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: A temporary example late in Act 1. Depending on whether you go after the mages or Templars, you will not be able to have Cole or Dorian in your party, respectively, until after the attack on Haven.

** Another example occurs when Iron Bull complains about the taste of the concoctions the healer of his mercenary company makes. Said healer reminds him that they are poultices and therefore not meant to be ingested (which is what your party members did with them in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins''.)
** Yet another involving Iron Bull takes place after his personal quest, if you sacrificed the Qunari Dreadnaught; Saar-qamek returns from ''Videogame/DragonAgeII,'' but this time in liquid form on the blade of a Ben-Hassrath agent sent after Bull.

* NaughtyNuns: Right outside of the Haven Chantry at the start of the game, there's a Lay Sister that swoons over [[{{Hunk}} the Iron Bull]] after he joins the camp. During one conversation between herself and another sister, she comments that the reason she's walking funny today is because she went to his tent the night before to "thank" him for all his work for the Inquisition. Then he thanked her all night long. Like we said, she is a ''Lay'' Sister.
* NayTheist: Subverted; while the Inquisition is not a part of the Chantry and can have some anti-Chantry policies, it is still a fundamentally Andrastian organization, in spite of the fact that the Inquisitor themself ''can'' be a non-believer.

* NewGamePlus: ''Trespasser'' released with a free patch that included "the Golden Nug" statue, which was accessible once you've completed the main story. Using it will save all of your schematics, recipes, herb seeds, and Skyhold decor, allowing you to access them all by using the Golden Nug in another playthrough, even if you're midway through the game.

* NoKillLikeOverkill: Varric has a chain of war table missions to track down whoever's ripping off his famous "Hard in Hightown" novels. Said ripoffs are apparently so hilariously bad that when Leliana's agents finally catch the perp with another manuscript in progress, they mention in their report that they burned it, doused it in acid and then threw it into the sea. This happens after the previous mission already made Skyhold's code breaker department want to ritually burn the volume they were to peruse for hidden messages.

** If your court approval drops to 0 during the Winter Palace mission, you will be forcefully evicted from the ball, and within a few in-story hours, [[spoiler:Empress Celene will be assassinated, Duke Gaspard gets accused of high treason, Orlais descends into chaos, and the Elder One basically wins]].

* NoPartyLikeADonnerParty: A codex in the Western Approach details an expedition that met this fate. After being trapped in the Blighted desert for three months, the remaining members of the Dorel party ended up eating the dead and drinking their blood.
* NoSell: The Champion warrior specialization "Walking Fortress" ability and the Knight-Enchanter's "Fade Cloak" ability. Walking Fortress lasts longer, while Fade Cloak recharges more quickly and allows you to bypass whoever's opposing you by walking through them. Their augmenting skills diverge them even further, with Walking Fortress generating [[StoneWall guard]] for every blow sustained under its effect (helping with tanking after the NoSell effect wears off), and Fade Cloak gaining the power to TeleFrag for massive spirit damage if it wears off while you're inside someone.

** Leliana has one involving a ball of twine, a measuring stick, and a handkerchief. She doesn't volunteer more information, but Josephine tells you that if you ever see her approaching with those objects in hand, ''run''.

** At one point, it is possible that the Inquisitor is required to pass judgment on a corpse. There is apparently precedent.

* OccamsRazor: ''Completely'' ignored by everyone who believes in the stories that Andraste herself rescued the Herald from the Fade. Absolutely ''no one'' suggests that it could have been someone else that was present at the Conclave. [[spoiler:And sure enough, it turns out to be Divine Justinia, literally ''the last person they were seen with''. Even the people present at the Temple, who see and hear the vision of Her Holiness talking to the future Herald, don't even posit that this was the option with the least amount of assumptions.]]

** Varric and his personal quest are the only time dwarves are involved in the game, other than a few war map missions and references to the lyrium trade. They also feature in ''The Descent'' DLC, which has some revelations about their past and a few temporary party members.
** Darkspawn also play a fairly minor role, even compared to ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''. You could finish the main storyline without killing a single one of them [[spoiler: except Corypheus, of course]]. The low number of darkspawn encounters is also a plot point since it's a hint that [[spoiler:Corypheus's dragon isn't really an Archdemon.]]
** The Desire and Hunger demons apparently decided to sit this invasion out. This one really jumps out since Desire was always the type willing to directly make deals in previous entries, and thus TheFace for Demons as a faction.

* PairTheSpares: If both are unromanced, and are in the party together often enough to trigger the requisite dialogue, [[spoiler:the Iron Bull and Dorian]] will begin a relationship. There is also an indication that [[spoiler:Josephine and Blackwall]] share a mutual attraction if neither is romanced, though this doesn't go much of anywhere [[spoiler:after the truth about Blackwall becomes known]]. An un-romanced [[spoiler: Sera]] will also hook up with [[spoiler: Dagna]] after the main quest, and according to the last DLC's ending they're still together. Finally, in the ''Trespasser'' DLC, it's possible for [[spoiler: Maryden (the bard) to hook up with Krem, ZITHER!, or Cole (depending on how "Demands of the Qun" and "Subjected to His Will" were resolved)]] and for the Inquisitor, if they didn't romance anyone else, to start dating Harding.

** Inverted with Iron Bull, who at one point performs a Qunari practice of overcoming fear by having other people hit him with a stick.

** As in the previous games, your choices may "close some doors forever". Unfortunately, while plot-related cases of "Lost Forever" are clearly designated by the game, some quest-related ones are not. In particular, the Creator/BioWare forums are filled with angry comments about several Requisition side-quests in the Hinterlands, which depend on items which can only be randomly dropped by the mages and Templars which roam the area... Except that, if you've finished a certain couple of main story quests (both of which you're likely to receive many, many hours before you ever get those Requisitions, since they only appear ''after'' one that requires a resource from a high-level area), the mages and Templars won't respawn again. Already finished off all the mobs? Your choices are to either restart the game or reload a save from before then, potentially losing dozens of game hours. Given that the fans of [=BioWare=] games tend to be completionists by nature, this didn't sit well with them. Requisition quests from the zones are effectively infinite, but that's not readily apparent.
** Most of the companions cannot be recruited after a certain point. For example, if you [[spoiler:go to Adamant]] without having recruited Blackwall, he disappears. In fact, with the exceptions of Cassandra, Varric and Solas, every companion is optional and can be lost forever if their recruitment missions aren't completed in time or certain dialogue choices are made (thankfully the latter are clearly labeled in each case).

* ProgressivelyPrettier: Courtesy of the new ''Frostbite 3'' engine and some subtle [[ArtEvolution redesigning]]: the world of Thedas and the people inhabiting it look absolutely stunning - minus the occasional {{Gonk}}. Varric, Cassandra, and Cullen manage to look better than ''[=DAII=]'' without sacrificing the effect the [[WarIsHell three year war]] [[GoodScarsEvilScars had on them]]. Morrigan, Leliana, Alistair, Anora, and even Loghain (if he survived) look better than they did in''[=Origins=]'', even though it's been ten years since the Fifth Blight ended.

* PurpleIsPowerful: The walls of purple fire that block off certain optional areas in the ''Trespasser'' DLC are more or less the only fires in the whole game to consistently deal damage. So much damage in fact that merely touching the stuff results in a OneHitKill regardless of fire resistance.

* AQuestGiverIsYou: As the Inquisitor, you can send rank-and-file agents of your organization on missions (presumably, the same agents and similar missions as seen in the CoopMultiplayer). This is in addition to PlayerParty members who also work for the Inquisition but instead fight alongside the Inquisitor in normal gameplay. Additionally, by speaking with Krem inside the Herald's Rest tavern and selecting the "How can we use you?" dialogue option, you can open up new missions on the war council table which the Bull's Chargers will undertake on your behalf. There's also the Sutherland quest chain, where your choices can enable a young farmhand to create his own adventuring company.

** Played straight with the in-game map areas. The Inquisitor and his/her companions do ''everything'' here, including raiding keeps and forts, saving villages, performing random petty deeds, and fighting dragons and demons. Sometimes this is unavoidable (Fade Rifts can ''only'' be closed by the Inquisitor), but sometimes it's downright silly (the Inquisitor could send a small company or group of agents to deliver flowers to a grave site or look for a lost pet -- there's no credible reason s/he would need to do it themselves). However, in some zones the player does need to call upon the Inquisition to repair a bridge or the like. You can also run into soldiers searching for useful materials in zones where you have enough camps set up, and they will often have a chest with a few goods for you ready.

** In the ''Trespasser'' DLC, [[spoiler: the Inquisition will either continue as a peacekeeping force, or be disbanded entirely. Retaining the Inquisition allows the Inquisitor to maintain massive resources for the upcoming battle against Solas, but at the cost of the organization being vulnerable to corruption and infiltration. Disbanding the Inquisition means that all its forces [[TheFellowshipHasEnded go their separate ways,]] and the Inquisitor loses almost all of his/her resources and connections, but a core group of TrueCompanions are still on task to stop Solas. In both cases, they are also recruiting new members for the upcoming fight.]]
* MovingTheGoalposts: Discussed between Mother Giselle and an Inquisitor that admits to a CrisisOfFaith after the discovery at Adamant Fortress. [[spoiler:Specifically, the Inquisitor says that everyone was wrong about Andraste being the one that gave them their mark and helped them escape the Fade. [[OccamsRazor Since it was Divine Justinia the whole time]], everything that makes him/her a ChosenOne is a lie. Giselle says that you were probably chosen ''indirectly'' and that the fact that Andraste saved you is MetaphoricallyTrue. You can then call her out for changing the definition of "Chosen" to sound like what everyone just ''wants'' to hear.]]

** If the Inquisitor is from a human noble family, in one optional conversation with Josephine, Josephine will ask the Inquisitor if the Inquisition could take advantage of his/her noble lineage to gain allies, and will ask about the Inquisitor's relationship with his/her parents. The Inquisitor can give multiple answers, from their parents trusting them, to not being in their good graces, etc. Human mages have an optional conversation with Vivienne where they can discuss what their life was like in the Circle prior to the mage rebellion.

* NayTheist: Subverted; while the Inquisition is not a part of the Chantry and can have some anti-Chantry policies, it is still a fundamentally Andrastian organization, in spite of the fact that the Inquisitor him/herself ''can'' be a non-believer.

* OccamsRazor: ''Completely'' ignored by everyone who believes in the stories that Andraste herself rescued the Herald from the Fade. Absolutely ''no one'' suggests that it could have been someone else that was present at the Conclave. [[spoiler:And sure enough, it turns out to be Divine Justinia, literally ''the last person s/he was seen with''. Even the people present at the Temple, who see and hear the vision of Her Holiness talking to the future Herald, don't even posit that this was the option with the least amount of assumptions.]]

* OnceMoreWithClarity: Near the start of the game we see part of Inquisitor's involvement in the events that set the plot in motion, where s/he sounds unsure and maybe a little clueless of... oh, in as many words, what's going on here. Later in the Fade, the scene plays proper where a ''furious'' Inquisitor storms in demanding answers.

** Dorian brings one up when asked about Tevinter. It involves flying cows over Minrathous.

*** If the Inquisitor is a Dwarf, the story begins with the Inquisitor being sent to collect protection money from an elderly seamstress, and ends with the seamstress ending up ''never'' having to pay protection money again, and the mere mention of her name apparently enraging the Inquisitor's boss.

* MomentKiller: Several romances include people walking in on private moments. Cullen even manages to resurrect one moment after it gets stabbed.

** The Inquisitor has the option to tell a story about themselves during Varric's Wicked Grace game, and since we only hear the beginning and the end of the story, it becomes this trope. The story will be different depending on the Inquisitor's background. Every version somehow involves a rabbit and Josephine declares it so scandalous that the Inquisition would be ruined if it became public knowledge.

* PairTheSpares: If both are unromanced, [[spoiler:the Iron Bull and Dorian]] will begin a relationship. There is also an indication that [[spoiler:Josephine and Blackwall]] share a mutual attraction if neither is romanced, though this doesn't go much of anywhere [[spoiler:after the truth about Blackwall becomes known]]. An un-romanced [[spoiler: Sera]] will also hook up with [[spoiler: Dagna]] after the main quest, and according to the last DLC's ending they're still together. Finally, in the ''Trespasser'' DLC, it's possible for [[spoiler: Maryden (the bard) to hook up with Krem, ZITHER!, or Cole (depending on how "Demands of the Qun" and "Subjected to His Will" were resolved)]] and for the Inquisitor, if they didn't romance anyone else, to start dating Harding.

** As in the previous games, your choices may "close some doors forever". Unfortunately, while plot-related cases of "Lost Forever" are clearly designated by the game, some quest-related ones are not. In particular, the Creator/BioWare forums are filled with angry comments about several Requisition side-quests in the Hinterlands, which depend on items which can only be randomly dropped by the mages and Templars which roam the area... Except that, if you've finished a certain couple of main story quests (both of which you're likely to receive many, many hours before you ever get those Requisitions, since they only appear ''after'' one that requires a resource from a high-level area), the mages and Templars won't respawn again. Already finished off all the mobs? Your choices are to either restart the game or reload a save from before then, potentially losing dozens of game hours. Given that the fans of [=BioWare=] games tend to be completionists by nature, this didn't go well by them. Requisition quests from the zones are effectively infinite, but that's not readily apparent.

* PowerupMount: You can now ride mounts to get around areas faster, and can amass an entire stable's worth of them. Many of these are different breeds of horses, but there are also other, more fantastical mounts, including dracolisks, nuggalopes, and the truly bizarre Bog Unicorn. [[note]]A "unicorn" whose "horn" is actually a sword jammed through its undead horsey head.[[/note]]

** Leliana has one involving a ball of twine, a measuring stick, and a handkerchief. She doesn't volunteer more information.

** The Inquisitor has the option to tell a story about themselves during Varric's Wicked Grace game, and since we only hear the beginning and the end of the story, it becomes this trope. The story will be different depending on the Inquisitor's background. Every version somehow involved a rabbit and Josephine declares it so scandalous that the Inquisition would be ruined if it became public knowledge.

** Darkspawn also play a fairly minor role, even compared to ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''. You could finish the main storyline without killing a single one of them [[spoiler: except Corypheus, of course]]. The low number of darkspawn encounters is also a plot point since it's a hint that [[spoiler:Corypheus' dragon isn't really an Archdemon.]]

** Most of the companions cannot be recruited after a certain point. For example, if you [[spoiler:go to Adamant]] without having recruited Blackwall, he disappears. In fact, everyone but Cassandra, Varric and Solas is optional and can be lost forever if their recruitment missions aren't completed in time or certain dialogue choices are made (thankfully the latter are clearly labeled in each case).

* PlayerParty: As in the previous titles, you can switch control to any member of your current party at will. This is even used for a small EasterEgg in ''Jaws of Hakkon.'' [[note]]With Varric in the party, visit the friendly Avvar village and go to the shop belonging to Trader Helsdim. Switch the active party member to Varric and interact with Helsdim to have him {{squee}} about meeting the famous author.[[/note]]

** "Trespasser" takes place two years after the main game ends, and all your companions can rejoin you [[spoiler:save for Solas, whom you confront at the end.]]

* QuicksandBox: The game is more open than previous Creator/BioWare titles which plays on the expectations of players familiar with [=BioWare=]'s standard game design. This results in players spending far too long in the first open area, the Hinterlands. It also doesn't help that one of the missions, which looks like it should be the final one based on the initially established conflict, actually kicks off the story proper. You can easily put 30 to 40 hours in before this point. Several game journalism outlets eventually ran articles urging players to leave the Hinterlands.