What are the best Specializations for Velanna? I know she starts with keeper but I'm trying to choose another two for her.
Best Specializations for Velanna?
Débuté par
ZaroktheImmortal
, mars 29 2010 10:52
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#2
Posté 29 mars 2010 - 02:14
lazuli
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Due to the easy re-spec system in DA:A, you can make her whatever you want. You don't need to keep her as a Keeper (...).
I recommend 1 point in Spirit Healer and 3 in Blood Mage. Alternatively, swap out the Blood Mage for Battlemage. Battlemage and Keeper both work well on the front lines, after all.
I recommend 1 point in Spirit Healer and 3 in Blood Mage. Alternatively, swap out the Blood Mage for Battlemage. Battlemage and Keeper both work well on the front lines, after all.
#3
Posté 29 mars 2010 - 03:53
keesio74
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Battlemage and Keeper work great together. With "One With Nature", you want foes to come close and get caught in your area. Then you can unleash Nature's Vengence and then flip on Elemental Chaos to clean up whoever is left.
#4
Posté 29 mars 2010 - 04:14
Bartlebyfinch
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It depends on what you want her to do. Personally, I don't like damage/cc mages in my party unless they are player-controlled. It leads to too much friendly fire damage and too much time being frozen by my own mage's cone of cold. If I'm playing the mage... great! If not, however, I like to use my mage as a healer/buffbot for a melee group. Still, it's different strokes for different folks. Here are my recommendations:
Keeper: I like this ability for two reasons. First, it goes with Velanna's "theme." You see her using the "root magic" in the cutscenes, so it's just a nice fit. The other reason I like this ability is the level 4 power (Wrath of Nature). This is an AoE damage power with a stun effect that only works on enemies. It's really sort of a poor man's Blood Wound. While not as powerful as Blood Wound, using it doesn't require you to turn on Blood Magic, so it's easier to use on autofire with tactics. This is a good ability even if you're using Velanna as a healer.
Spirit Healer: Self explanatory. If you want her to heal, TAKE IT. If not, don't. Truthfully, though, even if you don't want her to be a healer, if you can't decide on a third specialization, this is a good all-around choice, and the level 1 ability (group heal) is so amazingly good that it might be worth picking up for emergencies.
Blood Mage: This is an insanely powerful offensive school. I'm not very impressed with Blood Control (the level 4 power), but Blood Wound is, imo, the single most powerful offensive spell in the game. It only works on critters with blood (no undead, spirits, or golems), but it's an AoE Crushing Prison that ignores friendly targets. Blood Wound is THE reason that you become a blood mage. The biggest drawback to this school is that you have to have Blood Magic activated to cast any of the spells. This isn't a big deal for a PC mage, but for an NPC, it's a bit of a pain. Unless you're going to be manually taking command of Velanna a lot, this is a difficult spell line to use effectively. I suppose you could just have her keep Blood Magic turned on at all times, but I really don't like for NPC's to run on auto-mode using their health as mana.
Battlemage: Great line if you want her to be an offensive caster. Most of the abilites (all of them?) don't have friendly fire effects, so you can use them with impunity. If you're using her as a healer, Stoic (the level 3 ability) is still amazing. It converts damage that you take into mana, and pretty much insures that your healer/buffbot will never need to use another lyrium potion (if you've spent her points properly).
Arcane Warror: Not a real mage specialization. It's great, but... come on. You take this one if you want to play your mage as a tank. This probably isn't that great of a choice for an NPC mage (though, to be honest, I haven't ever tried it).
Shapeshifter: Trash. This should never be used by anyone unless you're doing a "fun" playthrough. Running a three-mage group with everyone in bear form is kinda neat, and you can use a ranger with a summoned bear pet for your third member... or dog (for an all-four-legged) party. Still, in terms of actual usefulness, Shapeshifter is the cream of the crap.
Keeper: I like this ability for two reasons. First, it goes with Velanna's "theme." You see her using the "root magic" in the cutscenes, so it's just a nice fit. The other reason I like this ability is the level 4 power (Wrath of Nature). This is an AoE damage power with a stun effect that only works on enemies. It's really sort of a poor man's Blood Wound. While not as powerful as Blood Wound, using it doesn't require you to turn on Blood Magic, so it's easier to use on autofire with tactics. This is a good ability even if you're using Velanna as a healer.
Spirit Healer: Self explanatory. If you want her to heal, TAKE IT. If not, don't. Truthfully, though, even if you don't want her to be a healer, if you can't decide on a third specialization, this is a good all-around choice, and the level 1 ability (group heal) is so amazingly good that it might be worth picking up for emergencies.
Blood Mage: This is an insanely powerful offensive school. I'm not very impressed with Blood Control (the level 4 power), but Blood Wound is, imo, the single most powerful offensive spell in the game. It only works on critters with blood (no undead, spirits, or golems), but it's an AoE Crushing Prison that ignores friendly targets. Blood Wound is THE reason that you become a blood mage. The biggest drawback to this school is that you have to have Blood Magic activated to cast any of the spells. This isn't a big deal for a PC mage, but for an NPC, it's a bit of a pain. Unless you're going to be manually taking command of Velanna a lot, this is a difficult spell line to use effectively. I suppose you could just have her keep Blood Magic turned on at all times, but I really don't like for NPC's to run on auto-mode using their health as mana.
Battlemage: Great line if you want her to be an offensive caster. Most of the abilites (all of them?) don't have friendly fire effects, so you can use them with impunity. If you're using her as a healer, Stoic (the level 3 ability) is still amazing. It converts damage that you take into mana, and pretty much insures that your healer/buffbot will never need to use another lyrium potion (if you've spent her points properly).
Arcane Warror: Not a real mage specialization. It's great, but... come on. You take this one if you want to play your mage as a tank. This probably isn't that great of a choice for an NPC mage (though, to be honest, I haven't ever tried it).
Shapeshifter: Trash. This should never be used by anyone unless you're doing a "fun" playthrough. Running a three-mage group with everyone in bear form is kinda neat, and you can use a ranger with a summoned bear pet for your third member... or dog (for an all-four-legged) party. Still, in terms of actual usefulness, Shapeshifter is the cream of the crap.
#5
Posté 29 mars 2010 - 10:04
Alikain
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bartlebyfinch! if you are going to keep the keeper ability just because it fit the theme, then i could say the same about Arcane Warrior since it ancient elves mage who trained their magical art to augment their martial prowess. if i recall Keepers are also responsible for knowing the clan's ancient lore.
#6
Posté 29 mars 2010 - 11:00
Bartlebyfinch
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Good point. It is a fit from a thematic PoV. It just isn't quite as blatant as Keeper since we didn't actually see her do any of the AW stuff before recruiting her. Personally, I use her as a healer, so I took Spirit Healer, Keeper, and Battlemage (just for Stoic). If one wanted to stay true to the Dalish thing though, it wouldn't be a biggie to drop Battlemage for Arcane Warrior.
Modifié par Bartlebyfinch, 29 mars 2010 - 11:02 .
#7
Posté 29 mars 2010 - 11:17
TBastian
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"Trash". So... did you get from reading other people's posts, or did you just try it for a few moments of "fun" and then considered it irredeemable immediately after?
For the record, the Keeper's health regen passive works normally even with Blood Magic on so Blood Mage is a natural choice. Any of the remaining specs should work well as a third spec.
That "poor man's Blood Wound" can do around 2.3 to 3 times the damage of Blood Wound.
For the record, the Keeper's health regen passive works normally even with Blood Magic on so Blood Mage is a natural choice. Any of the remaining specs should work well as a third spec.
That "poor man's Blood Wound" can do around 2.3 to 3 times the damage of Blood Wound.
Modifié par TBastian, 29 mars 2010 - 11:27 .
#8
Posté 29 mars 2010 - 11:44
nuculerman
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Bartlebyfinch wrote...
Arcane Warror: Not a real mage specialization. It's great, but... come on. You take this one if you want to play your mage as a tank. This probably isn't that great of a choice for an NPC mage (though, to be honest, I haven't ever tried it).
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well that's nonsensical. AW is easily the best choice for a spec for your non-pc mage. Combat magic is also a passive ability that lets you wear armor. So if nothing else, give your mage combat magic and wade's or cailan's armor and watch their survivability go up by a factor of 4 without at a 7% or so additional fatigue cost. If you really want to plan ahead, get Wade's medium armor and your mage will actually have a deeper mana pool then she would with robes.
Plus setting tactics for an AW is a complete joke. When mana <10%, activate combat magic, switch to melee. Now you basically never have to worry about your mage again.
Personally I think battlemage/bloodmage goes best with keeper but I agree that it's just a pain if it's not the PC mage taking those specs. For Velanna I'd take Keeper/AW/SH or Keeper/Battlemage/SH. AW if you never want to worry about tracking enemeies to make sure elites aren't going after her, and battlemage if you think you could use the AoE DPS. But really all you need for her tactics are auto healing and the following:
If surrounded by four or more enemies, nature's grasp (and every other keeper spell), activate draining aura, activate elemental chaos.
If being attacked by melee, (the AoE battlemage freeze ability)
She'll take care of any white or yellow enemy dumb enough to get near her that way. Even on nightmare, the two keeper spells alone are usually enough to wipe out entire white mobs from full health.
