21 réponses à ce sujet

[Airnick15]

I am planning on playing as an AW/BM Mage , and had a few questions. Would a party of Morrigan, Alistair and Lelliana be good? What specs? Also, recommended builds/gear/stat points for my main character?

[Elhanan]

You may wish to consider Morrigan as a SH, Alistair as Champion, and Lil as a Duelist beyond their usual designs.

For a BM, a little extra CON is sometimes seen as recommended (ie; 20), and I like 2:1 Magic/ Will at Lvl Up. Also a little extra DEX maybe, but that is for extra defense depending on choices of armor.

As for armor, my top pick is Evons & Wade's Superior heavy mail combo. I also am enjoying Reaper robes, but seem to need the extra DEX for those.

For weapons, consider Maric's arms. or the AW specialty blade and Fade Wall.

[Maverick827]

A properly made AW/BM can easily solo Nightmare, so the rest of your party doesn't really matter.

I typically play a pure mage until I can get Shimmering Shield and the proper gear, though. I'm trying an Arcane Warrior at level 7 right now, and the stats just aren't there.

If you plan on the PC, I would invest in the respec mod; that way you can move around stats to your liking. Closer to the end, you really won't need the points in Willpower that you might earlier.

Both your mage as well as Morrigan should grab Haste; if you turn on Haste, and then Morrigan does, everyone but Morrigan will have double Haste, which is nice.

[Airnick15]

BOOMP

[Airnick15]

Would S/S or 2h be preferrable for Alistair? Also, daggers or bow for Lel?

[Elhanan]

I keep Alistair as S&S for durability, as well as not having to watch him so closely. And I always go with a longbow for Lil so she can claim her ex-mentor's as a prize.

[Airnick15]

Anyone else?

[Elhanan]

Forumites tend to post less on the weekends; time to be doing other activities such as playing said game. Give it a while....

[Airnick15]

Also, I see Magic is obviously the biggest stat, but should some go into con or willpower, at least early on?

[Elhanan]

I agree that Willpower aids my builds, but not CON not so much. If you mean to buff early, then Respec, that seems reasonable if you keep it at 20 or less. Just remember that Magic is your spellpower source, I believe.

Even though my current BM changed to SH, I saw something today that gave me a smile. With a base Magic of 70, Ser Cauthrian was bouncing off a Glyph of Repulsion just like her lessers. I do not know if Spell Might helped or not, but watching that juggernaut trampoline around the room was quite sweet. Sadly, to do so lowered my DEX back down a lot, and she could still lay quite a smackdown if I gave her the chance.

[JHByrne]

I just completed the game as Mage-Arcane Warrior-Blood Mage. I know what I'm talking about for the following recommendations.



1) Having fought my way through numerous missions, I think that the Arcane Mage as stand-in for a warrior is a mistake. What? How can this be? Doesn't just everyone think that AW is like, totally super-awesome, dude?!?



Well, if you care about what other players think, sure. The fact is, Mage spells do WAY more damage than a warrior can dish out.

Consider: take an AW with a sword (pick whichever you like) and shield (whichever you like... Duncan's, FadeWall, etc). That character can dish out damage, sure. A powerful AW can do about 60 points of damage per hit. Well, so what? A powerful mage can dish out over 600-700, at range.

So... what you want for damage potential is... a MAGE.



However, many of the Mage's best spells bring down a lot of heat on that mage. Perhaps the best all around crowd damager is Virulent Walking Bomb. Trouble is, when you cast it, it gets a lot of baddies coming down on you. It's not so bad, because by the time they reach you, they likely die... but, in dying, they EXPLODE. If you're just dressed in robes, you die too.



So, having played as AW, the best reason to go Arcane Warrior is, you guessed it, 'armored spell caster'. Swords just cannot compare. Even with a staff, and no spell casting, you can still do as much damage as a good archer, and your shots have longer range and don't miss.

The only reason to ever pull out your sword as an Arcane Warrior is... you're bored with Death-by-Spell, and want to try and mix it up a little with the Dragon/Ogre, etc.



Now, consider the Blood Mage aspect: If I had it to do over again, I would NOT go Blood Mage. Why not? Well, BM has 4 'spells'. The first sucks your life to power spells, the second sucks a companions life to power spells, the 3d does area effect damage and stops the enemy cold while they stand there twitching... the last has a good chance to turn one enemy into a temporary ally, or do spirit damage instead.

I do NOT like flirting with death. I've seen arrows do 150+ points of damage, a good blade do 100+, a powerful spell-caster deal over 200 damage on a hit. So, reducing my own health below 50% is a BAD idea.

Same reason for not wanting to reduce a companion's health. Some players say 'well, just suck off a Ranger's wolf/bear, etc'. My answer is, a bear or wolf, properly used, is worth more alive than dead or badly wounded. It is certainly worth MORE than the spell which you generated on its corpse.

The third BM spell, BloodWound, is alright... a decent area of effect damager. But... there are better ones out there, that DON'T rely on health to power. Besides, to 'turn on' the BloodMage power requires time... and then you have to shift out of bloodmage if you want to cast any other decent spell and not kill yourself in the process.

The last BM spell, BloodControl, is just... alright. Why bother making a puppet of an Ogre, when you can simply kill it and move on? My fights are fast... about 10-20 seconds tops. By the time I get around to playing puppet with an ogre, the fight is mostly over. Besides, the whole point of using a Mage is mass damage, not individual control over one enemy.



I personally recommend:



Mage, perhaps with Arcane Warrior for the armored mage aspect. If you need healing or more mana, just get Morrigan to whip up a batch of lyrium or health potions.



For spells, it is HIGHLY recommended that you carefully choose them. Do NOT go with flash... go with what is efficient. For this reason, I do NOT recommend any of the 'Fire' branch on the Primal magic tree.... there is too much chance of friendly fire.

Instead, I like Spirit and Entropy spells.



Walking Bomb, Virulent WB are both good. Electricity is good. Cold is good. Crushing Prison is very good.



Mana Clash is.... PRICELESS. It is a long range, ultimate mage killer. Perfect for sniping that pesky enemy mage who is on the far side of the battlefield lobbing fireballs at you.



For attributes, aim for high magic, good willpower (for a deeper mana pool... but, it does NOT need to be bottomless... remember, the fights will not, or should not last that long), and if you have an Arcane Warrior Mage, don't forget some points for Dex. After all, what's the point of being a sword swingin' mage, if you can't actually hit anything with your sword? Dex covers that for a mage.



I'd recommend 2/3 of all points go into Magic. More magic = more spellpower = more devastating 'one shot kills'.



A wisely played Mage Warden is practically unbeatable. The last aspect is, who makes the best companions?



You need a good tank/damage dealer. Pound for pound, it is probably Alistair, followed by Oghren.

Another excellent damager is Zevran. He actually lays out the most damage, but he is a soft target himself. Still, he is good enough that you can simply set him loose, and he'll be able to look after himself.

Leliana is alright. I prefer her as an Archer. She's quite good when she gets her full abilities, but she is a soft character. If she gets in a close up fight, she gets killed quick.



For other mages, there is Wynn and Morrigan. Wynn has no heavy damage potential. Her purpose is support and healing. If you learn how to keep her out of harm's way, she is extremely useful. She will never have a high 'body count', but that is NOT her purpose. Having her on your team allows you to go head to head with giants, like Ogres/Revenants/Dragons.



Morrigan is very good, IF you pick the right spells for her. This means, avoid spells that have too much friendly fire. The Entropy tree is excellent for her, with a bit of Cold damage thrown in. She can hold her own, and really chip in with paralyze/mass paralyze... without the danger of her flattening your party with a badly aimed fireball.

[Gradlein]

Maverick827 wrote...

A properly made AW/BM can easily solo Nightmare, so the rest of your party doesn't really matter.
I typically play a pure mage until I can get Shimmering Shield and the proper gear, though. I'm trying an Arcane Warrior at level 7 right now, and the stats just aren't there.
If you plan on the PC, I would invest in the respec mod; that way you can move around stats to your liking. Closer to the end, you really won't need the points in Willpower that you might earlier.
Both your mage as well as Morrigan should grab Haste; if you turn on Haste, and then Morrigan does, everyone but Morrigan will have double Haste, which is nice.

QFT. With Evon the Great's Mail(armor with Superior Dragonscale Armor Set), Spellweaver (Sword), Fade Wall (shield), Combat Magic, Shimmering Shield, and a few other sustainables, you can pretty much solo even Nightmare mode.

I left Str to minimum, Dex to around mid 30's, Willpower to around the low 20's (I don't cast much and rely on bonuses from gear for more willpower, mana, and mana regeneration), Cunning just enough for tier 4 Coercion, Constitution to low 20's, and Magic at maximum. I took Mana Clash to deal quickly with mages (and Gaxkang), but it's not necessary since mages do so little against shimmering shield anyway.

Edit: Someone also suggested using Virulent Walking Bomb, which is an awesome spell especially when soloing. What I do is have the enemies surround me (moving a bit closer to ranged attackers), cast it on the weakest opponent, kill him, then watch everything go boom. I actually deleted my AW/SH/Battle Mage because of the lack of challenge.

Modifié par Gradlein, 26 juillet 2010 - 07:24 .

[Airnick15]

gear recommendations?

[Elhanan]

For robes, Reaper robes in the Wonders of Thedas shop appear to be the best; maybe better than any robes listed for Awakenings, too.

For armor, my fave set is Evons & Wade's Superior heavy mail como. Also, Cailan's armor and arms are both great for AW, and fatigue friendly, too.

[Airnick15]

boomp

[Elhanan]

The Felon Coat appears to be a great light base for an AW. On paper, it seems better than any of the Robes, though Reaper robes may be better suited for BM.

[Mr_Raider]

By the end of the game, all my AW's, caster, tank or melee, end up in Wade's superior heavy armor + evon's mail. The combo of mana regen, defense and dodge just can't be beat.

[papercut888]

I'm doing this right now. My AW is only level 10 or so, but it is fun. My party- AW main in Cailan's loot, 2h Alistair with Nug Crusher and Knight Commander's Plate, Shale as melee/range/aoe/cc/future support, Morrigan for heals/cc/dps/haste. I can't wait to get Shale buffed, Stone Aura seems to be a perfect match for a AW.



This setup has 4 people who can cc/aoe and three that can do it from range. Burned through the back alley justice house at level 10. No cheats, but I did use respec mod (a lifesaver).

[NyackDarkSoul]

Dont know about anyone else but I prefer:
Wynne
Leliana
Morrigan

All ranged damage with AW/BM as tank.  Now you need to land 1-2 hits and blood wound to generate the intitial aggro.  Then set all the range to fire (staff/arrows) mix in with arcane bolt and critical shot.

That's pretty much easy mode game over.  Only difficult one is Prophets I think since they have a load of magical resist, but the tank can take the damage and 2 healers (yeah I make them both healers lol) can keep you up indefinitely.

Also Leliana has the song that increases mana regen for all the other 3 characters.

P.S. Mind blast / feign death works treats.

I think this tactic requires the respec mod since I typically remove Morrigans crappy specialisation in favour of SH.

[ussnorway]

papercut888 wrote...

I'm doing this right now. My AW is only level 10 or so, but it is fun. My party- AW main in Cailan's loot, 2h Alistair with Nug Crusher and Knight Commander's Plate, Shale as melee/range/aoe/cc/future support, Morrigan for heals/cc/dps/haste. I can't wait to get Shale buffed, Stone Aura seems to be a perfect match for a AW.

This setup has 4 people who can cc/aoe and three that can do it from range. Burned through the back alley justice house at level 10. No cheats, but I did use respec mod (a lifesaver).

it's your game but you are also missing out on a lot of free loot/ exp. I'd drop Alistair or Shale and take one rogue.

[papercut888]

ussnorway wrote...

papercut888 wrote...

I'm doing this right now. My AW is only level 10 or so, but it is fun. My party- AW main in Cailan's loot, 2h Alistair with Nug Crusher and Knight Commander's Plate, Shale as melee/range/aoe/cc/future support, Morrigan for heals/cc/dps/haste. I can't wait to get Shale buffed, Stone Aura seems to be a perfect match for a AW.

This setup has 4 people who can cc/aoe and three that can do it from range. Burned through the back alley justice house at level 10. No cheats, but I did use respec mod (a lifesaver).

it's your game but you are also missing out on a lot of free loot/ exp. I'd drop Alistair or Shale and take one rogue.

I had a rogue on my last mostly complete run through, they are nice but the loot aint all that, especially when ya got runscript zz_money! 

[DKJaigen]

JHByrne

Poor advice mate. you advice using bomb but against fire tree because it can inflict friendly fire. yet with bomb you have far less control of the damage then fire damage. on a side note fireball is the most efficient damage spell in the game.

also 600-700 damage? certainly but that's from spell clash or a combo spell that nearly always get resisted and have long cool downs.

Al right lets answer the OP's answers. The AW come in 3 varieties . tank , armorerd caster or melee.

The armored caster works indeed great with evons great mail and drake armor as it gives enormous amount of protection without a lot of fatigue. core spells are fireball , cone of cold and prison. The damage output against goups of enemies is fairly high but low against single targets. rest of the gear should consist of % extra damage gear. key stats are willpower and magic in 1:2 ratio

Tank. requires a bit more thought. Cailans armor is great . it provides a large amount of armor with more armor and 20% dodge chance. as is cailans arms as it provides a rather massive mana generation that can keep up the powerful shimmering shield ability. you should use livegiver and andruils blessing. key stats are magic and willpower(you need anything else)

key talents are fireball , blood wound , miasma and prison. miasma greatly weakens your enemy and provides aoe threat. bloodwound is the best skill to maintain agro. dont forget to use hale runes

The melee AW does of all the mages in the game the most single target damage in the game.
it consist of dual wielding daggers and doing a lot of damage white damage as well as taking advantage of the weapon enchants. dont expect you will be a unstoppable war machine at level 7 . Aw star doing decent melee attacks when they reach level 13-14 until then you remain an armored caster.

as somebody said Aw hit like a truck because of their high magic scores. but they cant hit squat unless you build them properly. get at least 30 dex and use edge + shanker(unless you have no problem hitting, then you use rose thorn). key talents are miasma ,speed and bloodmagic. sustained abilities of the melee AW will already increase the fatigue penalty. bloodmagic will offset this by a fairly large amount . use sash of forbidden secret ands livegiver to compensate and make zevran or leliana a ranger  just in case. use warden commander armor early on and switch to cailans armor later when you have a larger mana pool.

Modifié par DKJaigen, 27 août 2010 - 05:17 .