Dragon Age Inquisition: Snake was Right, y'all gonna Love this Game

[Solid Snake]

I like that Vivienne simultaneously represents the very worst ways that privilege can warp someone's perspective, while still kind of telling both you (as a player) and the Inquisitor that she'd actually probably be a decent person if you could just separate her from that privilege, in a slightly similar way to how Cullen was a decent person in the earlier DA titles before he got out of the Templars and how someone like me was a 'decent person' even when I spewed privileged conservative bullshit earlier in life.

Vivienne's almost certainly worse than Cullen (and I) in terms of her willingness to offend others -- bring her along with Blackwall or Varric and you'll want to berate her as she berates them, particularly if you played and enjoyed Dragon Age 2 -- but there's nice little moments of humanity from her, little moments where she surprises you by showing empathy towards others or makes a surprisingly level-headed argument where you almost see her perspective, kind of, sort of. Or at least you might see how a decent human being might believe said bullshit if they're born into said privilege and have no idea whatsoever what life is actually like for real people in the real world.

For me the ultimate red flag with Vivienne was realizing that those few moments where she does show surprising humanity and empathy are moments where she's addressing the Inquisitor privately -- and that's where I really am concerned for her, because I know she's an ambitious character with an agenda and I know the Inquisitor has been gifted with insane world-changing powers. So really, my fear with Vivienne is that the surprisingly 'non-typical bitch' character you described may actually become very typical by endgame if it's revealed that she's just playing a political role and crafting her answers like a politician to garner your favor or persuade you (the Inquisitor) to agree with her perspective. Unfortunately it is kind of easy to see that endgame with her (I'm not all too much further than you), where all her depth is stripped away and she just becomes the cliched Sinister Privileged Conservative Fuckwit Who Puts On a Mask to Deceive.

I kind of hope she retains that weird likability though, where she remains this character who you simultaneously really hate due to her awful opinions but who you admire for her wit and intelligence and her sense of humor and who you like just barely enough that you wish there was a way you could sway her to realize the error of her ways and accept the truth.

You know, kind of like how you all felt about Conservative Snake.
...Right?

[Krylo]

Originally Posted by pochercoaster

-I want to play with Iron Bull more but he just sucks too much in combat and that makes me sad.

Throw some points into vanguard to get him some guard building and he gets pretty good. Alternatively, once you get access to making masterwork gear, make him a weapon (or piece of armor) with +guard on damage dealing (which makes anyone into an unkillable murder machine--I made my first character, a rogue, basically unstoppable with that).

Or do both.

[Solid Snake]

Originally Posted by Krylo

Throw some points into vanguard to get him some guard building and he gets pretty good. Alternatively, once you get access to making masterwork gear, make him a weapon (or piece of armor) with +guard on damage dealing (which makes anyone into an unkillable murder machine--I made my first character, a rogue, basically unstoppable with that).

Or do both.

Even with those Vanguard points, I've struggled to keep Bull alive for long on Hard. I'll have to try that Masterwork idea, that sounds effective. But honestly, given I went pure offensive spells as a Mage, I usually have to go two Mages (all my other mages have near-full skill trees in defensive, with barriers and resurrect) and a 1H-Shield, and I usually prefer to complement that party with a Rogue.