Dragons!

How battling fire lizards works in Dragon Age: Inquisition

1 Scripted, not dynamic

“They all have their own personalities and hunting grounds and lairs,” Laidlaw says. “Sometimes you have to uncover them and sometimes they are immediately apparent. [laughs] Sometimes you even have to lure them into the space.”

2 Into the lair

You’ll know when you find a dragon’s lair. “You kind of realise... because there are eggs around it and you hear its cry, and then it starts breathing fire,“Laidlaw explains.

3 Kill the baby dragons!

As a prelude to battle, dragons fly around looking scary. And there can be baby dragons. Baby dragons you have to kill. It’s a bit awkward since they don’t have wings, but they do want you dead.

4 Limb-from-limb

Each limb has an individual health bar, while the dragon itself has a main health bar. You can’t pull off massive damage until these parts are dealt with. Once one of the limbs is finished, the dragon’s animation opens up a weak spot.

5 The end

It’s after this that the major damage is done as the party works on the head, though dragons can still fly away during battle. The fight shown at E3 seemed longer than a typical Dragon Age encounter, and the dragon still wasn’t dead after a few minutes.