21 réponses à ce sujet

[Darkshore]

Hey there, I thought about making my Mage an Arcane Warrior but I actually seem to really like outsmarting my enemies and using spells like walking bomb to my advantage on the battlefield. Is it a legitimate way to play to not choose a class specilization? (except maybe blood mage when I unlock it.) Just wanting to know if I could play the game this way without being gimped on hard mode.

[termokanden]

It's legitimate enough but there's no point. You get 2 (plus one in Awakening) points that you can't use for anything else. If you choose a specialization, you get a passive bonus. If you don't, no passive bonus. In short, you're missing out on points for no reason by not specializing. It won't make a huge impact though.



If you definitely do not want any of the skills from any specializations, pick the one with the best passive bonus.



For a "pure" caster, I would suggest Blood Mage and Spirit Healer. They are both very good. In my opinion, particularly after a few unpleasant surprises in Golems of Amgarrak, I would probably mix in Arcane Warrior, if nothing else then to survive when things get ugly.

[Lumikki]

I did take spirit healer, but haven't taken any spells yet. As I play good side, blood mage isn't option. In my opinion hole speciliation is pretty much useless. There is enough spells allready in main mage class to choose.

[termokanden]

Nah they're not useless. Some of the best abilities in the game are from them. Group Heal, best spell in my opinion. Even if you don't want to play a healer, can't go wrong with this one.



Blood Mage has Blood Wound, which is also one of the best spells.But yeah, then you are a Blood Mage.



The only specialization I don't see the point in is Shapeshifter. Maybe it improved since I last tried it. Hopefully in fact.

[ussnorway]

Spirit healer - Arcane warrior is my fav (group) mage...

IMO, The two "Power of Blood" talents from Warden's Keep make taking Blood Mage redundant.

p.s.

"Blood Magic" is illegal not evil... Wynne is a blood mage... Yes, she is a prat but she is not evil!

[BramAlam12345]

How is Wynne a Blood Mage? She is an Abomination, but unless I missed something, not a Blood Mage.

[termokanden]

Wynne obviously isn't a blood mage. Blood mages deal with demons of the Fade, whereas spirit healers deal with benevolent spirits of the Fade.

However, amusingly, you can still make Wynne a blood mage no matter how much she hates them. She doesn't comment on it either.

IMO, The two "Power of Blood" talents from Warden's Keep make taking Blood Mage redundant.

Hardly. The power of Blood Mage doesn't come from the ability to use health instead of mana. That part is rather useless as you can always just drink a Lesser Lyrium Potion. That said, you CAN combine Blood Mage with a Heal (switch back and forth) to gain limitless mana - and yes this is idiotic.

It's about two spells instead, Blood Wound and Blood Control. Blood Wound is on of the most unfair powers in the game. It is an aoe stun that does heavy damage but without a friendly fire component. Blood Control is also rather powerful but not as much as Blood Wound.

IMO, you take Blood Mage to get Blood Wound and Blood Control, nothing else.

Modifié par termokanden, 21 août 2010 - 07:59 .

[Nalthur]

Darkshore wrote...

Hey there, I thought about making my Mage an Arcane Warrior but I actually seem to really like outsmarting my enemies and using spells like walking bomb to my advantage on the battlefield. Is it a legitimate way to play to not choose a class specilization? (except maybe blood mage when I unlock it.) Just wanting to know if I could play the game this way without being gimped on hard mode.

Being an Arcane Warrior doesn't mean you have to wear armor and use a sword. I played through with a male elven AW/Blood Mage and I only used the Shimmering Shield talent to make him more durable on the battlefield. With Shimmering Shield, Arcane Shield and Reaper's Vestments, I rarely was in real danger from melee attacks, I tried to stay out of melee though. Focusing mostly on Primal and other offensive spells, I played it as a  classic Battlemage and found it probably the most powerful type of character you can make in the game. Of course you could just go with Rock Armor and Arcane Shield to improve your durability and you will be very powerful anyway as you boost your Spellpower and improve your equipment. I would choose a couple of specializations just for the passive bonuses though.

[Elhanan]

It's all about the hats. As an AW you are not stuck at wearing all those cowls that look like large stuffed poultry sitting atop your Warden's head....

[Last Darkness]

Ummm yeah dont take specs.....that simple. You are hurting yourself though since the specs do add small bonuses to stats and some have spells you cant get any other way (Like Revival so you can get dead party members back)



I dont understand why theres this automatic assumption where Arcane Warriors can not be played as anything but a pure melee class.

[Karma Crimzin]

I played an AW Hybrid as in i was the sorta off tank as shale was the main tank, but thanks to blood magic i was able to throw in some spells here and there (Blood Wound whenever i could). I never wore any of that massive armor because i didn't need it much since shale was the one taking the bigger hits. Once i got to awakening i chose the battle mage specialization and never looked back I was now the main tank yet highest dps in the group and never really felt like i was in any real danger at all. This was on a Hard play through didn't get the chance to try out nightmare until GoA which really tested out my mage's abilities thanks to the Golems.

[Karma Crimzin]

Last Darkness wrote...

Ummm yeah dont take specs.....that simple. You are hurting yourself though since the specs do add small bonuses to stats and some have spells you cant get any other way (Like Revival so you can get dead party members back)

I dont understand why theres this automatic assumption where Arcane Warriors can not be played as anything but a pure melee class.

Ya i see what you mean about the assumption on AW but it however people feel like playing which i guess pure melee. Sometimes it gets boring though because your now an auto attack bot most of the time thats when i get bored and swap out to my staff and just hang out in the back for a while just for fun :happy: 

[termokanden]

Elhanan wrote...

It's all about the hats. As an AW you are not stuck at wearing all those cowls that look like large stuffed poultry sitting atop your Warden's head....

Agreed. Mage hats look plain weird.

[Last Darkness]

Karma Crimzin wrote...

Last Darkness wrote...

Ummm yeah dont take specs.....that simple. You are hurting yourself though since the specs do add small bonuses to stats and some have spells you cant get any other way (Like Revival so you can get dead party members back)

I dont understand why theres this automatic assumption where Arcane Warriors can not be played as anything but a pure melee class.

Ya i see what you mean about the assumption on AW but it however people feel like playing which i guess pure melee. Sometimes it gets boring though because your now an auto attack bot most of the time thats when i get bored and swap out to my staff and just hang out in the back for a while just for fun :happy: 

The irony is the can make a better tank in mage cloth gear then in massive armor too. Theres plenty of gear that gives huge +Def and +Dodge for casters add that with maxed resistances from AW and bam you have a beast.

[ussnorway]

BramAlam12345 wrote...

How is Wynne a Blood Mage? She is an Abomination, but unless I missed something, not a Blood Mage.

Read codex 64... the chantry considers them to be the same thing i.e. evil.

[termokanden]

Well that's the chantry. Wynne certainly does not think she is a blood mage, that's for sure. Sadly that holds even if you make her a blood mage.

[Karma Crimzin]

Last Darkness wrote...

Karma Crimzin wrote...

Last Darkness wrote...

Ummm yeah dont take specs.....that simple. You are hurting yourself though since the specs do add small bonuses to stats and some have spells you cant get any other way (Like Revival so you can get dead party members back)

I dont understand why theres this automatic assumption where Arcane Warriors can not be played as anything but a pure melee class.

Ya i see what you mean about the assumption on AW but it however people feel like playing which i guess pure melee. Sometimes it gets boring though because your now an auto attack bot most of the time thats when i get bored and swap out to my staff and just hang out in the back for a while just for fun :happy: 

The irony is the can make a better tank in mage cloth gear then in massive armor too. Theres plenty of gear that gives huge +Def and +Dodge for casters add that with maxed resistances from AW and bam you have a beast.

Perfect example for that is the Reapers Vestments haha

[Last Darkness]

Karma Crimzin wrote...

Last Darkness wrote...

Karma Crimzin wrote...

Last Darkness wrote...

Ummm yeah dont take specs.....that simple. You are hurting yourself though since the specs do add small bonuses to stats and some have spells you cant get any other way (Like Revival so you can get dead party members back)

I dont understand why theres this automatic assumption where Arcane Warriors can not be played as anything but a pure melee class.

Ya i see what you mean about the assumption on AW but it however people feel like playing which i guess pure melee. Sometimes it gets boring though because your now an auto attack bot most of the time thats when i get bored and swap out to my staff and just hang out in the back for a while just for fun :happy: 

The irony is the can make a better tank in mage cloth gear then in massive armor too. Theres plenty of gear that gives huge +Def and +Dodge for casters add that with maxed resistances from AW and bam you have a beast.

Perfect example for that is the Reapers Vestments haha

Eaxactly, theres plenty of +Def armor and decent +evade armor in cloth alone. The meat and potatoes still is the maxed resistances AW gives.

[Elhanan]

I am now a fan of Dodge effect for mages. While I hate to lose armor to get it, it seems to be worth a small loss, and may be better against more powerful foes than Defense.

[miltos33]

Other than Arcane Warrior and Shapeshifter the other 4 specializations are meant for pure casters and provided your character is properly built they can all be powerful.

[DWSmiley]

Elhanan wrote...

I am now a fan of Dodge effect for mages. While I hate to lose armor to get it, it seems to be worth a small loss, and may be better against more powerful foes than Defense.

Me, too.  I did it for my shapeshifter per TBastian's suggestions and 30% dodge + ac @20 (reaper's + rock armor) makes quite a reduction to the squishiness of a mage.  It's fun to roam the frontlines casting all the cone spells.

[Tirigon]

You can play as you want.
But I would suggest taking AW and the first spell of its line ALWAYS. Sometimes you might want to wear armor (especially if you play on PC and use mods, because there are armors who are better for a pure mage than the best robes) or just for the looks, and in a few cases a meelee weapon is helpful.

I did, too, and still played pure caster for 90% of the time. But, again, you are not forced to anything.

Modifié par Tirigon, 26 août 2010 - 02:36 .