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[Skimbass]

Table of Content
 I.     Intro
 II.    Preface & Useful Infos
 III.   Attributes
 IV.    Skills
 V-I.  Spells (Paladin)
 V-II. Spells (Spellsword)
 VI.   Other Stuffs


I. Intro

The build posted below will follow the format that I borrowed from Aura's Nuker/CC Mage Build. The reason I created this thread is because I have never played as an arcane warrior before and I'd like preparing a good build that I can follow. The arcane warrior I had in mind is like a tank who can take hits well and be able to dish back good DPS. What I did was formulating a semi offensive and defensive arcane warrior that utilizes supportive buffings such as Miasma and Haste, as well as having access to the crowd control spells such as Blood Wound and Paralysis Explosion combo. This build is essentially what could be termed "Spellsword" arcane warrior, which was a term coined by the forum's Ako80 (author of Ultimate Guide to Arcane Warrior).

Here's the video representation of this build:
(That isn't my video, but it coincidentally matches with my build)


II. Preface & Useful Infos

The build is assuming the character will be able to reach lv 35.
(Mage > Arcane Warrior > Blood Mage/Spirit Healer > Battlemage)

Broken Circle Attribute Rewards
 Strength: 4
 Dexterity: 4
 Willpower: 4
 Magic: 2
 Cunning: 5
 Constitution: 2

List of bonus attributes, skills, and talents.

The link posted below is a spell table to be use in conjunction with the build as the reader goes through the sections below: http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Spell

I'm also posting the link to the tome table since it will be mentioned in this post:
http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Tomes

Here's the table for spells that does and doesn't require weapon being sheathed:
http://dragonage.wik...or_Spellcasting




Now onward to the character build...


III. Attributes (Slight differences between the Paladin and Spellsword)

About total of 112 (PC) or 123 (Xbox 360/PS3) attribute points to spend including the tomes and/or events/quests (3 attributes came from Desire Demon, Arl of Redcliffe, and Landsmeet specific to console versions).

 Strength: None
 Dexterity: None or 35 (30 + 5 for Haste)
 Willpower: None or 20-30 (For Spirit Healer specialist)
 Magic: Max
 Cunning: None
 Constitution: None or 20-30 (For Blood Mage specialist)

Note that after importing onto Awakening and having access to the item Manual of Focus every attributes, specs, skills, and spells could be redistributed and invested entirely into Magic. This is very possible because of the boosts in hitpoint and mana/stamina from the skills Vitality and Clarity. The new equips in Awakening are very more powerful too. If opting to go with wielding sword and shield, then the item Legion of Dead Heraldry will grant +20 to all attributes!


IV. Skills (Same for both the Paladin and Spellsword)

About total of 18 or 17 skills (Lv.1-35 =12 skills) including the 4 tomes (3 tomes w/o pre-order) and 2 automatic given skills at Lv. 1.
Asterisk (*) represents skills exclusive to the Awakening.

Check out the links below for total attributes, skills, spells/talents, specs, and etc.:
http://www.gamebansh...cementtable.php
http://dragonage.wik...xperience_Table

 Coercion: 4 
 Stealing: None 
 Trap-Making: None
 Survival: None (I would've dropped some points into here if there were any leftovers)
 Herbalism: 1 (automatic)
 Poison-Making: None
 Combat Training: 4 (+1 Armor Rating & +6 Attack. Sure, I'll have these bonuses over the +10 Nature Resistance)
 Combat Tactic: 1 (automatic)
*Runecrafting: None
*Vitality: 4 (Bonus health, oh yes)
*Clarity: 4 (Bonus mana, yes yes yes)


V-I. Spells (Paladin)

About total of 45 spells (Lv.1-35 = 37 spells) including 4 tomes and 4 events/quests (Grey Warden Ritual, Desire Demon @ Redcliffe, Curing Arl of Redcliffe, and Landsmeet). Infos borrowed from Wiki and AuraofMana's Nuker Mage Guide.

Asterisk (*) represents spell branches exclusive to the Awakening.  

Specializations Branch
 Arcane Warrior: 4 (Shimmering Shield and Fade Shroud are the cores of arcane warrior)
 Spirit Healer: 4 (Group Heal and Cleansing Aura are very good. Recommended for paladin AW)
*Battlemage: 3 (Hand of Winter is a strong AoE spell. Stoic is very handy as a passive. Elemental Chaos is optional)

Arcane Branch
 Mage branch 1: 4 (Arcane Shield is great w/ Fade Shield)
*Mage branch 2: 3 (Attunement is very awesome. Time Spiral is way too costly for arcane warrior)
*Mage branch 3: None

Primal Branch
 Fire: None (Use Telekinetic Weapon)
 Earth: 1 (Rock Armor)
 Cold: None
 Electrical: None

Creation Branch
 Healing: 1 (Potions are more effective later on though)
 Enhancements: 4 (Haste will really improve DPS and walking speed! It's one of many arcane warrior's best friends)
 Glyphs: 3 (Paralysis & Repulsion make excellent CC spell combo)
 Summoning: 1

Spirit Branch
 Anti-Magic: 3 (Spell Shield prevents stat debuff. Dispel Magic and Anti-Magic Ward are party supports)
 Mana Alteration: 4 (Mana Clash will one-hit-kill any non-boss mages. It will make short work of boss mages too!)
 Death: None (Too heavy on friendly-fire)
 Telekinesis: 4 (Mind Blast & Force Field in general. Crushing Prison has farther range than Blood Wound)

Entropy Branch
 Debilitation: 3 (Miasma really helps with melee accuracy and avoiding hits from enemies)
 Hexes: 3 (Misdirection Hex is excellent on bosses and usable w/ weapon drawn)
 Sleep: None
 Draining: None


V-II. Spells (Spellsword)

About total of 45 spells (Lv.1-35 = 37 spells) including 4 tomes and 4
events/quests (Grey Warden Ritual, Desire Demon @ Redcliffe, Curing Arl of Redcliffe, and Landsmeet). Infos borrowed from Wiki and AuraofMana's Nuker Mage Guide.

Asterisk (*) represents spell branches exclusive to the Awakening.  

Specializations Branch
 Arcane Warrior: 4 (Shimmering Shield and Fade Shroud are the cores of arcane warrior)
 Blood Mage: 3 (Blood Wound is excellent, but not getting Blood Control since it get resisted. Recommended for spellsword AW)
*Battlemage: 3 (Hand of Winter is a strong AoE spell. Stoic is very handy as a passive. Elemental Chaos is optional)

Arcane Branch
 Mage branch 1: 2 or 4 (Arcane Shield is great w/ Fade Shield. Arcane Mastery is optional for spellsword)
*Mage branch 2: 3 (Attunement is very awesome. Time Spiral is way too costly for arcane warrior)
*Mage branch 3: None

Primal Branch
 Fire: 3 or 4 (Flaming Weapon has great melee damage bonus. Fireball & Inferno are optional for spellsword AW)
 Earth: 1 (Rock Armor)
 Cold: 3 (Frost Weapon is for those fire-immune enemies. Cone of Cold is also optional for spellsword AW)
 Electrical: None

Creation Branch
 Healing: 1 (Potions are more effective later on though)
 Enhancements: 4 (Haste will really improve DPS and walking speed! It's one of many arcane warrior's best friends)
 Glyphs: 3 (Paralysis & Repulsion make excellent CC spell combo. This is an awesome combo with Blood Wound)
 Summoning: 1 (Nothing decent for arcane warrior besides the Spell Wisp for boosting spellpower)

Spirit Branch
 Anti-Magic: None or 1 (Spell Shield prevents stat debuff, but Blood Wound/Mana Clash usually kill mages/templars first)
 Mana Alteration: 4 (Mana Clash will one-hit-kill any non-boss mages. It will make short work of boss mages too!)
 Death: None
 Telekinesis: 4 (Mind Blast & Force Field in general. Crushing Prison has farther range than Blood Wound)

Entropy Branch
 Debilitation: 3 (Miasma really helps with melee accuracy and avoiding hits from enemies)
 Hexes: 1 (Vulnerability Hex help to raise the damage from your spells. Useful against the bosses)
 Sleep: None
 Draining: None


VI. Other Stuffs

As for the equipments I would recommend going along with the ones in Ako's Ultimate Guide to Arcane Warrior.

P.S. I apologize for the frequent updates to those who were using my guide. It does certainly confuses those who do. I was constantly thinking of newer and more efficient ways to maximizing utility of this build. If there's any correction to be made, I'd welcome that too.
Thanks for reading!

Modifié par Skimbass, 25 décembre 2010 - 07:46 .

[Skimbass]

szekeres2010 wrote...

Once I had a really good Arcane Warrior wit the following stats:

Human: Elf:

Strenght: 16 14
Dexterity: 36 36
Willpower: 30 30
Magic: 60 60
Cunning: 18 16
Constitution: 14 18

I've picked Spirit Healer as a second specialisation, Take Fire spells, for Flaming Weapons and Fire bomb, Earth Spells for Rock Armor mostly, Frost weapons and Cone of Cold are also nice against deamons, Creation spells like the Heal, Enchantments, and Glypsh ar really good for AW Warriors. Anti Magic Ward, from the Magic line, Telecinetic line all the way for Telecinetic weapons, Force Field and Crushing Prison, and Miasma and Hexes from Entropy. Essentialy it will be a well rounded tank with a lots of utility to survive the toughest battles like the Harvester fight in Golems of Amgarrak DLC alone on Nightmare, I can only recommend this build, it really is nice. Pick Combat training for at least leve 2 for the 0,5 manna regeneration, I also picked Combat Tactics too.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing the thoughts! When I was listing the spells I had the thought of getting Haste in the Enchantments line, but then the mana cost seems to be off putting for those small speed boosts. It seems like a lot when coupling with other sustaining spell like Shimmering Shield. As for third specialization I thought of Spirit Healer too when making a more defensive arcane warrior. Keeper seems like cool specialization, but I haven't tested it out. 

[tonnactus]

Take spell shield.You seriously dont want that enemy spellcasters disable your sustainables.(Gaxxkang/The qunari mages when killing marjolaine)

Dexterity is not needed with Miasma and high magic. And against loghain even someone with 30 dexterity will miss by the way. You get a +20 boost from Awakening to all attributes with the Legion of Dead Heraldry.

Modifié par tonnactus, 11 décembre 2010 - 10:46 .

[Skimbass]

tonnactus wrote...

Take spell shield.You seriously dont want that enemy spellcasters disable your sustainables.(Gaxxkang/The qunari mages when killing marjolaine)

Dexterity is not needed with Miasma and high magic. And against loghain even someone with 30 dexterity will miss by the way. You get a +20 boost from Awakening to all attributes with the Legion of Dead Heraldry.

I see. Thanks for the suggestions! Great tips.

[Skimbass]

Wade's Superior Dragonbone Plate: +2 Manna regeneration. Fade Wall +1, Andruil's Blessing: 2, Cailan's Arms: +5!, Splellweaver: +1, Duncan's Sword: +2, High Regard of House Dace: +1, The Wicked Oath: +1. The level 2 skill: Combat trainig will also give another +0,5.

Thanks for your input again. I'll be sure to look out for these equips when I'm playing. I'll try your suggestions for the tank arcane warrior when I create another character.



To other readers:

If there are those who have played as arcane warrior with either the battlemage or keeper specialization, then I would really appreciate their opinions on these specializations. How viable is the combination of arcane warrior/blood mage/battlemage? What about the arcane warrior/blood mage/keeper? Or how about the arcane warrior/battlemage/keeper? Thanks.

Modifié par Skimbass, 14 décembre 2010 - 06:05 .

[Stoomkal]

No points in Dex?

By the time you hit mid-Awakening you will hit nothing.

Don't even try to attack in GoA.

Truthfully, if an AW wants to hit anything, they *really* do need to invest in Dex, and get all Combat Training skills.

I have also found Con to be important, but you can fly without it.

EDIT:

Battlemage goes so well with AW they are practically extensions of each other...

Draining Aura plus Stoic = circle of win.

Modifié par Stoomkal, 14 décembre 2010 - 06:59 .

[Skimbass]

Stoomkal wrote...

No points in Dex?

By the time you hit mid-Awakening you will hit nothing.

Don't even try to attack in GoA.

Truthfully, if an AW wants to hit anything, they *really* do need to invest in Dex, and get all Combat Training skills.

I have also found Con to be important, but you can fly without it.

How much dex would you recommend? I'm seeing yes and no on other threads. I'm trying to figure how what amount of dex is the best.

[Skimbass]

Fair enough. I will make the change and go with 30 Dex. But I'm curious as to how the number is calculated. How did many of these people knew that 30 is the right number? Just from experiences?

[Elhanan]

I tend towards a DEX of 30 for DAO; good enough for the Landsmeet, plus dagger usage if and when you wish to try something besides S&S. Why daggers? Three more runes, and faster auto-attacks if you wish to use arms much at all.

[Elhanan]

Skimbass wrote...

Fair enough. I will make the change and go with 30 Dex. But I'm curious as to how the number is calculated. How did many of these people knew that 30 is the right number? Just from experiences?

DEX 30 is ther prereq for top tier daggers in DAO; 38 is needed for DAA.

[Skimbass]

Alright, thanks for the numbers. I shall go with 38 dex since I'll be importing right after DA:O. But is it 38 natural dex or including stats from equipments?

Modifié par Skimbass, 14 décembre 2010 - 08:28 .

[tonnactus]

Stoomkal wrote...

No points in Dex?

By the time you hit mid-Awakening you will hit nothing.

Don't even try to attack in GoA.
.

I dont have any trouble.I get 20 dex for free by the Legion of the Dead Heraldry in Awakening anyway.And with Miasma and someone who have Rally i dont have any problems to hit anything.Most Monsters like Dragons dont seem to have high defense anyway.

[Elhanan]

Skimbass wrote...

Alright, thanks for the numbers. I shall go with 38 dex since I'll be importing right after DA:O. But is it 38 natural dex or including stats from equipments?

It includes bonsuses, but I tend to build with base stats as I may wish to change items, and do not wish to depend on always having specific gear.

I do not care that much for Miasma, as it alerts foes to your prescence making advance surprise problematic.

Modifié par Elhanan, 14 décembre 2010 - 01:06 .

[tonnactus]

Elhanan wrote...


I do not care that much for Miasma, as it alerts foes to your prescence making advance surprise problematic.

Advance suprise with an arcane warrior? Miasma also has the bonus to show stealthed enemies.So damage them with something like flameblast and they dont get their critical hit.

Modifié par tonnactus, 14 décembre 2010 - 10:37 .

[Elhanan]

tonnactus wrote...

Elhanan wrote...


I do not care that much for Miasma, as it alerts foes to your prescence making advance surprise problematic.

Advance suprise with an arcane warrior? Miasma also has the bonus to show stealthed enemies.So damage them with something like flameblast and they dont get their critical hit.

Example: While in the Circle, the party would advance towards the next set of doors, but Miasma effect would alert foes that we were approaching them, and then we have to meet them in the halls. I would prefer to take one room at a time, rather than deal with multiple enemies in an area with multiple exits. 

[Skimbass]

Does someone know how many sustainable spells can the character cast? I'm kind of worried about the game crashing. lol I'm playing on Xbox 360. I'll be having 8-9 sustainable spells in total, but never tried before!

Modifié par Skimbass, 16 décembre 2010 - 03:15 .

[tonnactus]

Elhanan wrote...



Example: While in the Circle, the party would advance towards the next set of doors, but Miasma effect would alert foes that we were approaching them, and then we have to meet them in the halls. I would prefer to take one room at a time, rather than deal with multiple enemies in an area with multiple exits. 

Never happened for me.Enemies never came out of the doors until you open them.

[tonnactus]

Skimbass wrote...

Does someone know how many sustainable spells can the character cast? I'm kind of worried about the game crashing. lol I'm playing on Xbox 360. I'll be having 8-9 sustainable spells in total, but never tried before!

Not crashing,but it takes time before the quest updated or completed message come and you could loot enemies.
Annoying for sure.

[Skimbass]

I'm glad the game isn't going to crash! There were slight delays like what tonnactus mentioned, but it's not game-breaking. Here's an arcane warrior using NINE sustained spells on PC:

Modifié par Skimbass, 17 décembre 2010 - 07:21 .