Dragon Slaying Guilt

(Spoilers regarding Dragon Age:  Inquisition ahead--read at your own risk)

Poor dragon.  Now I'm going to slay you.

Ah, dragons--the traditional fantasy foes.  I have to say that the dragons in the Dragon Age series are very formidable foes.  When you encounter a dragon, you better be ready to bring your "A" game.  In Origins I would always opt to slay the high dragon who cultists were worshipping as Andraste reborn.  I would always face off against Flemeth, the famed witch of the wilds, in her dragon form.  I dreaded the one dragon fight in Dragon Age II because it was a tough fight.  In the newest incarnation of dragon slaying, Dragon Age:  Inquisition, I have continued my quest for total dragon genocide.

I've now slain exactly two dragons in my travels through Thedas.  Talk about epic battles!  Dragon slaying has somewhat changed in Inquisition.  The first dragon I slew was the Fereldan Frostback in the Hinterlands.  The basics of dragonslaying haven't really changed--don't stand your ranged characters in front of the dragon unless you want them to get roasted by it's firebreath, have your melee characters attack from the side rather than the back to avoid getting kicked, and be prepared to pause and move your party quickly--but there are some interesting and challenging changes.  The dragons in Inquisition are much more agile and will frequently charge or turn around very quickly.  They will move a lot during the encounter so movement of your party has become even more difficult.  I bet you're thinking "that's easy to avoid, just take three ranged party members."  The new, improved dragons also have an ability like a wing buffet that sucks all your ranged characters into melee range and does heavy damage.  As a result, much of the healing that takes place is a desperate attempt to keep your ranged characters alive.  One new feature allows you to target the legs of the dragon.  Doing so allows you to temporarily cripple it allowing you to unload while it is down.  Even though I managed to cripple the Frostback, the next dragon I fought was much tougher to take down.  In order to confront the Abyssal High Dragon in the Western Approach you must complete a fairly long quest chain involving an Orlesian "dragonologist" and his research.  Upon completing this quest chain you are able to finally fight the dragon.  Unlike the Frostback, this dragon is much jumpier and moves all over the place.  The firebreathing and wing buffeting attacks are still in place, but this dragon will periodically armor itself making it even more difficult to take down.

If you're looking for party members to accompany you on your dragon slaying quests, you should definitely take Iron Bull.  He is extremely excited to fight a dragon and even remarks on it if you see the dragon fly overhead.  Upon successfully downing a dragon with Iron Bull in the party you can meet with him in the tavern in Skyhold and share a celebratory drink...or three.  This event is hilarious and he shares many pearls of Qunari wisdom about dragons...and his weird obsession with red-heads.  It's one of those extremely memorable moments that BioWare is great at peppering throughout their games.

I always feel a little guilty when slaying the dragons.  They're supposed to be extremely rare, but your goal is to kill them all?  It seems a little weird.  During my drinkfest with Iron Bull my character was finally given the option to remark on how sad it was to kill them.  I'm sure I'll get over it....and kill some more dragons.