Behavior
The Behavior menu at the top of the Tactics screen controls the character’s general approach to combat, like
when to attack, what distance to try to keep from enemies, when to give chase, and when to switch between
ranged and melee weapons. Essentially, behaviors are generic reactions, whereas tactics are specific
actions. Press while you have the Behavior menu selected to read a description of the current behavior.
Basic Tactics
As your characters learn new spells and talents, the preset tactics (like Supporter, Damager, or Healer)
automatically populate with combinations of conditions and actions. For example, the Healer preset might
appear empty for Bethany at first, but tactics fill in automatically when she learns the Heal spell. Select
a tactics preset that corresponds to the sorts of actions you want the character to take. The more similar
abilities that character learns, the more tactics fill in.
Custom Tactics
You can also create your own customs sets of tactics, either by modifying the presets or starting from
scratch with the preset marked CUSTOM.
Let’s say you want to add a new tactic that tells Bethany to cast Fireball whenever she sees several enemies
in a small area. First, switch to Bethany, then select a condition slot on the left side of the screen and
press . From the menu that appears, first select who you want the tactic to affect. For this condition,
we’re trying to scorch a number of enemies, so select ENEMY. Now another menu opens; select CLUSTERED,
then CLUSTERED WITH AT LEAST 2 ENEMIES. That’s your first condition: whenever three enemies are
near each other (one enemy plus two near it), the game sees that this condition is true and activates the
corresponding action.
Now you need to set up the action. Select the slot on the right side of the screen next to the condition you
just created and press . Select USE ABILITY and then FIREBALL.
That’s it! Tactics always evaluate from the top down, so urgent requirements like healing should usually
go at the top. Move a tactic up or down by selecting the number in front of it and pressing . Disable an
individual tactic by selecting the + symbol just after its number.
Tactics are particularly powerful when they help different party members support each other. For example,
if Bethany is in your party and knows a healing spell, tell her to monitor all of your party members
simultaneously and heal anyone in need. Since mages are weak in close combat, you can then direct a
warrior to always attack enemies who are targeting the mage (Enemy > Attacking Party Member >
Attacking Bethany).
As your characters level up, you gain more condition/action slots on the screen, permitting more complicated
battle plans.
ITEMS
There are hundreds of unique items in Dragon Age II, corresponding to five major groups—equippable items
like weapons, armor, or accessories, usable items like health potions, runes that can enchant weapons or
armor, crafting items like recipes or resources, and plot items like keys or gifts for Hawke’s companions.
INVENTORY
The inventory stores all of the usable and equippable items you purchase, find, or create through the crafting
system. (The recipes and resources required for crafting, however, are listed in the crafting screens, and plot
items do not appear in the inventory.)
To inspect an item, highlight it in the inventory and press . This displays the item’s various properties,
which are explained throughout this manual. If a character has another item of the same type equipped,
you will see a side-by-side comparison.
To equip or unequip an item, highlight it in the inventory and press . To use a usable item, press
several times to return to the game itself and pull to open the radial menu. From the radial menu, you can
use items directly or map them to the battle menu just like a spell or talent.
Stars
The inventory displays between one and five stars next to each weapon, piece of armor, or accessory. These
are an approximation of the item’s usefulness relative to the character’s level and class. Two stars indicate
basic equipment for that level. As characters increase in level, the number of stars next to a given item will
decrease, suggesting that it is becoming less appropriate and should be replaced.
Capacity
You can only carry so much equipment; once the inventory is full, you have to sell or destroy items before
you can pick up more. To increase the inventory capacity, purchase a backpack.
Junk
When you find an item in the inventory that you don’t think you’ll use, press to send it to the junk tab.
Some items that have no use, only value, are moved to the junk tab as soon as you pick them up. Junk items
still count toward your inventory capacity, but when you visit a store, you can sell them all with a single
button-press. When you’re looking at the junk tab, you can also destroy items to free up inventory space by
pressing .
