DA2: A Revision

I know I said earlier that I was playing the game on Hard because it seemed like more fun, but thanks to a game breaking bug I switched back to Normal. To save my friends who might be playing some pain and lost hours - be very careful if you get Isabela's friend meter up to the point where you get her "Thumbs up" bonus! If she is taken out of the party for some reason (like you entering your house), make sure to check your passive abilities. If the "Thumbs up" bonus is still there, your game is bugged. Every time you reload from that save (or any later save based on that one), the game will take that 5% attack speed away from Hawke's stats because Isabela isn't present. Permanently. I noticed this because I had to do a lot of reloading to get past some fights - and then there's the "Hey! I didn't want those friend/rival points! Better go back." situations. Eventually my dual weapon rogue was moving slower than an arthritic sloth and I had to go back to a previous save where I had just gotten Isabela's bonus. Seriously, when your tank with the gigantic hammer is moving faster than you... something is not right. Anyway, Bioware's working on a patch, but in the meantime since I've already tripped the bug I have to be really careful where I save and I can't afford to be dying and reloading. Sigh.

By the way, if you've already triggered the bug, just reload a save where Hawke's attack speed is pretty much normal and ALWAYS make sure to save the game outside during the day somewhere in Kirkwall (hightown, lowtown, docks, etc.) WITH Isabela in your party. From what I've gathered on the Intertubes, that should keep your stats from getting any worse. Don't reload autosaves, either. I love you, Bioware, but that's just annoying.