So I am about 40 hours into the game and after closing the 30th rift, collecting the 100th shard, doing the 15th star puzzle, claiming the 35th landmark, and after doing the 45th menial fetch quest I am starting to get a little bored. Oh, and there are still entires zones I haven't visited yet? The same exact grind in every single area is starting to wear on me. Anyone else think the same? Is there anything cool I will be missing out on if I don't do this stuff?

Nah, you're fine. Just do the Inner Circle quests and leave it at that. And even with those, the ones that are more collection oriented in nature are just there to help build up approval, they usually don't lead to extra story. Just do them if people really hate you and you want to build up your relationship with them.

If you're starting to get bored, I would say just make sure that you do anything that your Inner Circle gives you. A lot of times, you'll be sent to places and you can do a few other things, like collecting shards or closing rifts, along the way. Also, you'll be getting approval from your buddies and these quests are the kind that can't be completed once you reach a certain point, so they should be done when you get them. Everything else is gravy, although there can be not so obvious benefits, such as acquiring an inquisition agent or a powerful weapon you may not otherwise find if you stop doing some side stuff.

Don't stay too long in one place. Move around, and if you're getting bored, just progress the story.

I enjoy the side content, for the most part, and even I get a little tired after devoting time to it exclusively. I finally just said I would make sure to get the Inner Circle stuff done and progress the plot, and I feel much more engaged overall. Plus, if you stay in one part too long, you can seriously over-level. I am 22 and I haven't even finished the game, I can pretty much kill dragons without micromanaging my party, and most purple weapons I find are under-leveled, unless they're from a dragon's body or something.

So don't feel bad if you want to progress the story. Just make sure you do whatever your buddies tell you to do. These are usually the most interesting quests, or they will lead the the most interesting quests or character interactions.

If you are starting to get stretched thin just streamline the main quests. That's what I ended up doing as well.

Stop being a lunatic and play the story and companion missions that you're probably now over-levelled for.

@flasaltine: either skip it entirely or mix and match it with other stuff. You don't HAVE to do any of it.

Well if you skip all the side-content then you're looking at like a ten hour (if that) main quest, so it's up to you.

I mean, you still have to do some side content to make sure you have enough power to progress the story. Then again, I have two main missions left and 173 power, so it's not like you have to do anywhere close to everything. :)

Basically everything below Inner Circle is junk padding content. ie. 90% of the game.

Even the companion quests are often very barebones.

I would say if you're starting to get burnt out, do only the inner circle quests and the big area specific quests. By that I mean the quest that Harding briefs you on when first enter a region. Those tend to be the most interesting and engaging of the side quests.

There is a benefit to collecting all the shards but it isn't all that important if you aren't playing on hard or above, or if you aren't planning on going Dragon hunting in the post-game.

Closing rifts is among the fastest ways to increase influence and pick up inquisition perks. The perks range from somewhat useful to unnecessary (the most important ones are the lockpick and increased carry weight perks but you might want others to help you out if you are playing on hard or above).

Inner circle quests are necessary to progress relationships with companions. This is what Bioware are best at so if that's your thing, work on those.

Other stuff doesn't serve a great deal of purpose other than to flesh out the world. If you want to fully immerse and can handle the busywork then do them. Otherwise avoid.

I was in your exact situation but becouse i am who i am i continued to collect meaningless shards and bullshit notes on the ground that added an generic codex entry and another dot on the map to go to. 150 hour later i can safely say there is nothing of interest to gain by persuing that path. Unless you are an perfectionist that just cant ignore stuff however dull it may be (like me) the good part of DAI lies in the main quest and your partymembers missions. You can safely ignore the rest, its just a poor lacklusterimitation of Skyrim/mmo grinding.

+1

I think you can safely ignore entire zones.

The major problem with this game is definitely the ratio of Main to Side content. In Origins and DA2, the split was about 70/30 Main. In this game it's about 70/30 Side. I was hoping Inquisition would be like Origins but bigger, but I've found that there are almost no compelling side quests with actual stakes or consequences, and the big "region arc" for each zone has no impact on anything at all. Half of them don't even have a point except to take you on a tour across the pretty landscapes Bioware built. Closing every rift in the game doesn't do anything except grant you a trophy, for example.

I'm honestly not sure why the hell Inquisition turned out like this. It's not a bad game by any means, but it doesn't feel like Dragon Age anymore. It's like Dragon's Dogma via BioWare, but it lacks everything that makes a BioWare title stand out to begin with.

You should at least do some side quests, if only to level up your character. Think of them as JRPG level grinding. Without doing any side quests you will eventually hit a level barrier in the main story. Enjoy the different areas in the game, complete some a few side quests between main missions at a time, and you'll be better prepared. Also, craft weapons and armor.

After 60 hours I'm very happy to be done with this game. It's a good game but it's got way more dialogue than I can stand and a thousand repeatable quests. I never came across Vivienne. I had something like 24 power when I needed 40 to do the next story quest and I started doing some side quests and I got up to 40 very quickly....I even had some power left in me to uninstall the game.

Haha I just do that nonsense either by mistake or if it's right in front of me on my way to something interesting. Can't imagine actually putting in effort to do those meaningless things. It's not like earlier games when doing these kinds of things gave you some really cool weapons or story or something. (The demon doors in Fable 1, were fantastic, for example)

You should absolutely start skipping side stuff. Side quests can be enjoyable if you put on a podcast and just relax, but its all very skippable. The Inner Circle is the only side stuff you don't want to miss. And maybe kill the dragons. Those are pretty fun encounters.

@jadegl has the right advice. If you are getting burned out just stick to inner circle missions and do the extra stuff you see in route to those objectives. You may also want to search out the zones "main" missions which tend to be interesting and give good rewards. Like in Emprise Du Lion the main mission of the zone (which is actually totally optional and you never have to do) is fighting your way through the red templars and eventually retaking the keep for the inquisition.

Sounds like I'm one of the few that like doing the side stuff just for the sake of playing the game. I'm also taking my time with it, I've only had one long marathon session so far, so maybe my tiny play sessions make that stuff not as boring.