Dragon Age II: Mark of the Assassin DLC Previews

We have rounded up a couple more previews for the latest upcoming DLC for the much-discussed Dragon Age II, Mark of the Assassin, and while they both seem very much focused on the fact that Felicia Day voices its pivotal character, they both offer some new information for us to glean.

GamePro:

Once the hunt was underway, the assembled BioWare representatives made a point of emphasizing how large the hunting area was everytime I took a wrong term, which was often. The original Dragon Age II, of course, was heavily criticized for its cookie cutter dungeons, which made the action seem somewhat more repetitive. For its part, the outdoor area in Orlais didn’t seem like anything special, but it was indeed bigger.

After controlling Hawke for a bit, I jumped over to Tallis and tried out some of her skills. Not surprisingly, Tallis is a powerful assassin; and her character-specific skill treet dovetails nicely with the regular assassin tree. Skills include “Drop Dead,” which seems to dovetail nicely with the existing skill “Mark of Death” in the way that it markedly increases damage against foes.

With guidance from the BioWare reps, my party soon found the Wyvern that was the subject of the Orlesian hunt, and dispatched it in short order. Don’t get to confident thought–I was playing on casual for the purposes of the demo. I expect that the Wyvern’s teeth and claws won’t be nearly so feeble on normal settings.

Despite the victory, Tallis ended up disliking my generic Hawke. That may be because I brutally ordered the Orlesians to execute the man who set my party up. I guess she’s an assassin with a heart of gold.

Official Xbox Magazine:

To kick things off, Tallis’ plan is to crash a banquet Prosper is holding at the Chateau Haine, for which Hawke has an invitation. First, though, they decide to go on a hunt to kill a Wyvern. The winner of the hunt will be the guest of honor at the Duke’s shindig, which will help them slip inside his palace to root out the jewel. In our demo, as Day briefly went hands-on playing as Tallis, she gave Hawke some other good reasons to follow her.

(If nothing else, you get fine wine and fancy company,) Tallis says to Hawke. (But, I hope you want more than that.)

(Hellllooo flirty,) Day responded.

The gang eventually finds itself in a tree-lined forest fighting a cluster of dragons and new strange troll-like enemies called Ghastlings. Around this time, Tallis has to do a (nug call) to lure a large Wyvern dragon out of hiding. Day defended her Wyvern-calling noise recorded for the game, which kind of sounded like a chipmunk spiraling into insanity. (Was that.good?,) Hawke quips after one demonstration. Soon the Wyvern emerges, and if you’re successful (which our demo dude was not), you slay and celebrate.