43 réponses à ce sujet

[-Zorph-]

Ok so I just learned AW, so I am now Blood/AW.

The game was going great with just blood, and I was doing fine and everything.

When I learned AW, the first fight I did I got UTTERLY obliterated, to say the least.

I immediately went back to Soldier's Keep and got my mage robe/staff and have thus far never touched any sort of AW spell or worn heavy armor again.

I absolutely am at a loss on how to play as a blood / AW and how to play AW in general. I was using a 2h, and I kept missing and stuff, having to sheathe my weapon to cast a spell, I couldn't do any damage and I died somewhat quickly since they had a lot of mages/archers.

I don't even understand what the point of a AW is if you have to sheathe your weapon to even cast a fricken spell. Kind of ruins the point of being a mage, does it not?

Anyone that can tell me how to even play AW so I can again use it, otherwise I will respec using Respec Mod and get something else since AW is uselss to me.

[ussnorway]

-Zorph- wrote...

I absolutely am at a loss on how to play as a blood / AW and how to play AW in general. 

I think you should read this first and then come back here and ask your questions... Good luck m8.

[USArmyParatrooper]

You have to play AW a particular way - (short version) keep a massive amount of buffs going at all times. Also, until you've basically filled your AW tree I wouldn't go charging into battle with your sword drawn just yet.

[-Zorph-]

USArmyParatrooper wrote...

You have to play AW a particular way - (short version) keep a massive amount of buffs going at all times. Also, until you've basically filled your AW tree I wouldn't go charging into battle with your sword drawn just yet.

I have filled out the tree, using Respec Mod after I learned the spec.

[ussnorway]

The main point is that AW is a tanking subspec... it's about getting their attention and then surviving that which they throw at you i.e. you walk into battle with your buffs up, sword/ shield equipped & your healer.



Side note; You don't use a two-handed weapon (Shapeshifter can use a great-sword in bear form) and you never cast spells while fighting with a two-handed sword! If you have to cast a spell then pause your game and switch to a staff just like any other mage would have to.

[Elhanan]

For myself, being able to go into melee is secondary; good for when you are trying to meet the exisiting rules of the Proving and Landsmeet duels.

The primary reasons are access to protective wear and spells, and being able to don something better looking than robes and those hats & cowls.

[SEsterline]

IMHO your best bet with an Arcane Warrior is to get Wades' Dragonscale Heavy Armor, switch in Evon the Great's breastplate, use Maric's Sword and Shield (if you don't have Fade Wall), and grab a couple of good rings and belts... etc. (Lifegiver, Key to the City, Anduril's Blessing, Helm of Honnleath)



Also, you've GOT to have your buff spells running. Rock Armor and Shimmering Shield are a GREAT two-some, toss in Arcane Shield if you want as well.



Top it off with Combat Magic, and you're running around with an armor above 30, base weapon damage at the same level as Sten or Oghren, and the ability to use "crowd control" spells when you need them. You'll be unstoppable!

[Addai]

Mods can improve the AW play a lot. Get Weapons Drawn Casting and since you want to use a 2H sword, AW 2H Abilities which will allow you to take weapons talents. A few points in dex will help your hit rate. There is some good mod equipment for AW, too, such as the Atonement set.

How you actually play, that kind of depends on what you find fun. You can build an AW as a tank. Get Miasma which will pull a lot of threat and put talents in weapons abilities.  Keep your buffs running.  I use the first point in AW+ Indomitable+ Powerful Swings which works very well.  Or start out a fight with Blood Wound and then pick off the survivors, either ranged with a staff and/or switching to melee when the stragglers close in. That's more of a spellcaster build. I often bring Morrigan along with me and let her do a lot of the healing, hexing and buffing so that my AW can just be combat/ damage focused.

Modifié par Addai67, 23 janvier 2011 - 09:53 .

[Elthunder]

Why not just use the armor benefit, but still have an staff equipped? ;D

[Elthunder]

There are some really awesome staffs out there, nothing that says you have to go sword, just because ju went AW.

I stopped playing my AW myself, because it was to easy.

Modifié par Elthunder, 27 janvier 2011 - 09:12 .

[Elthunder]

Right now Im playing a pure warrior on Nightmare, thats abit challanging though.

Modifié par Elthunder, 27 janvier 2011 - 09:12 .

[Juggernaught203]

My AW/BM was practically immortal, at least, once I respecced. Throughout the entire Origins (on Hard) campaign I
felt like you did, since I tried to make her some sort of
spellcasting/melee hybrid. Got my ass handed to me on a silver platter in almost every battle. It was a nice idea, but far from practical.

From Awakening on I decided to make her a tank. I basically stuffed her full of Sustainables.
I'm talking about:
Of course, don't forget  to keep Combat Magic up. The AW's Shimmering Shield is a great ability too.
Rock Armor, Spell Wisp, Haste, Death Syphon/Death Magic (please note that they don't seem to stack, so take your pick), Spell Shield, Spell Might, Miasma, Arcane Shield and Frost/Fire/Telekenetic Weapon (I personally used Frost). I thought the Weapon spells did stack, but i think it's a waste of Talent points to unlock them all three.
Spells like Heal can be nice in a pinch, or when your healer is  lying face-down in a pool of their own blood or you are the last one standing.

Note that I have these abilities on a level 35 mage in Witch Hunt, so maybe you want to play around on a "Character Builder Tool" to see what would be best to invest in in the current story you are playing.

http://social.biowar...ct/353/#details

As others have said before me, it costs a lot of mana to keep these sustainables up, so you will likely do a lot of auto-attacking, since you won't have a lot of mana left for casting spells. 

As for gear, I would think it's a bit tricky to say "this or that type of armor is best" since not every player finds everything, or maybe isn't at that part of the story yet.

Modifié par Juggernaught203, 29 janvier 2011 - 12:18 .

[Jon abcd]

I think that essentially, you should focus on buffs and the best massive armor you can find for a tank AW. For a more balanced one that ISN"T a lovably overpowered piece of s**t, blood mage is acceptable if you simply use it ONLY for the ungodly might of blood control. Otherwise, even shapeshifter is a better choice than blood mage. At least you get an armor bonus.

[SEsterline]

If you're talking about having three special classes, my personal favorites are Spirit Healer, Arcane Warrior, and Battlemage. (For many of the reasons previously posted I prefer those over Blood Mage.) And as far as "buff" spells, I normally run with the bare minimum (Shimmering Shield, Combat Magic, Arcane Shield, Rock Armor) so with a 64 Armor rating I still have PLENTY of mana to cast spells during the first few rounds of combat.



(Tactically, I love the Mass Paralyze and then Inferno/Blizzard with a Fireball to wrap it up... then the paralysis/repulsion glyph combo and wade into the fray to take care of what's left standing.)



Once I get my Dexterity up to around 20, and my Constitution around 20 or 25, I usually push my Magic and Willpower scores up on a two for one basis for the rest of the game. (Keep in mind you can get points for Dex and Con while you're on some of those Fade quests, in both Origins AND Awakenings.)



As far as using a Staff vrs. Sword and Board... Elthunder is right, there are some GREAT staff weapons out there, but the weapon/shield combos that give you mana regeneration are just as good, and they let you hit for a LOT more damage. (As high as three times as much damage per hit for the Sword vrs. the Staff!!)



It all depends on whether or not you want to wade into combat, or stand back and support from the rear. (With Battlemage's burst freeze attack, however, you can do both pretty easily.)

[Callidus Thorn]

I don't see what's wrong with going AW/BM. I'm currently playing one, and I only have a few buffs on at any given time. I always have Shimmering shield, arcane shield, and rock armour active, meaning my fatigue level is quite low. Add in Wade's superior dragonscale armour, and a decent staff and I'm well defended and still able to cast spells without any trouble. Then when my mana gets low, I can either switch to blood magic for more casting, or activate miasma and combat magic, change weapons (spellweaver and grey warden tower shield) and go hack things to pieces.



You can still play an arcane warrior as a caster, you just need to be a little more conservative with what buffs you keep active and what armour you wear. Just because you can strap on massive armour and use a sword and shield, doesn't mean that's all you can do.

[Morroian]

TinyT wrote...

NO. NEVER use blood mage with AW. That is a DISASTER. First of all, the AW is built to buff up, and attack things with a weapon. 

My tactics as an AW/BM/BM was to get all the entropy spells, then in battle: buff up (exc shimmering shield for all except the toughest fights); debiltate the enemies with blood wound and the entropy spells, then use my melee weapon.

[Omnius Evermind]

I'm having trouble with this as well. I keep seeing these recurring claims of "unstoppable" and my own experience leads me to believe there's a lot of dubious claims going on here if not wild exaggerations. The problems are two-fold:



1. The survivability is not meeting the claims many are making. I have ALL of the recommended sustainables, + a really good set of armor and shield. I am still taking a fair bit more damage than these claims of "I can't be hurt" I've read.

I don't think many of them have played AW's much recently because I'm willing to bet a nerf of some sort has gone into one or more of the defensive sustainables they use since the days when AW's were supposedly uber OP tanks.



2. People seem to always omit the little fact that AW's are lyrium pot chuggers due to the fact that you run dry VERY early into fights and are always at risk of having shimmering shut down on you. Even with item bonuses to mana regen, Wynne casting Rejuv on me, etc, as soon as Combat Magic is on, it's like someone punched a hole in my gas tank.



Both points are manageable with a little micromanaging, but it just irks me a little that people can't be more straightforward about the shortfalls of AW instead of exaggerating their capabilities. It would have made building one a lot easier right from the start, rather than wondering why this character isn't matching up with forums claims and thinking you did something wrong.

[Callidus Thorn]

I've just finished a playthrough of Origins with an AW/BM on hard, and I was pretty damn unstoppable. I ended up with: Wade's superior heavy dragonscale, fade wall, spell weaver, and Andruil's blessing, and even with shimmering shield on, I was gaining mana. I didn't even need the belt actually.

An arcane warrior is in my opinion made or broken by the equipment they have.

Modifié par Callidus Thorn, 06 février 2011 - 09:05 .

[ezrafetch]

Omnius Evermind wrote...

I'm having trouble with this as well. I keep seeing these recurring claims of "unstoppable" and my own experience leads me to believe there's a lot of dubious claims going on here if not wild exaggerations. The problems are two-fold:

1. The survivability is not meeting the claims many are making. I have ALL of the recommended sustainables, + a really good set of armor and shield. I am still taking a fair bit more damage than these claims of "I can't be hurt" I've read.
I don't think many of them have played AW's much recently because I'm willing to bet a nerf of some sort has gone into one or more of the defensive sustainables they use since the days when AW's were supposedly uber OP tanks.

2. People seem to always omit the little fact that AW's are lyrium pot chuggers due to the fact that you run dry VERY early into fights and are always at risk of having shimmering shut down on you. Even with item bonuses to mana regen, Wynne casting Rejuv on me, etc, as soon as Combat Magic is on, it's like someone punched a hole in my gas tank.

Both points are manageable with a little micromanaging, but it just irks me a little that people can't be more straightforward about the shortfalls of AW instead of exaggerating their capabilities. It would have made building one a lot easier right from the start, rather than wondering why this character isn't matching up with forums claims and thinking you did something wrong.

If your AW/w isn't a self-sustaining tank, you aren't gearing or speccing right.  AW/x builds are largely underpowered before you attain the magic number of +10 regeneration/sec.  If you have any less, then you lose mana, and then once you start losing sustainables the AW goes back to its underpowered self.  That's basically it.

Ways to attain +10/sec:
Evon's + Wade's Dragonscale
Duncan's Sword
Fade Wall / Duncan's Shield
Andruil's Blessing
High Regard of House Dace
Cailan's Shield + Maric's Sword

I usually vouch for Evon's + Wade's with Duncan's Sword + Fade Wall and Andruil's Blessing, which gives you +4 for the armor set, +3 for the S/S, +2 for the belt, then you can tack on +1 from the High Regard of House Dace,+1 from level two of Combat Training skills, which gives you more than your magic +10 that you need.  This is based off of PC numbers too, if you're on consoles (360 like me) you should be excreting mana from your pores.  PC players will have a lot harder time running more than Shimmering Shield, but on consoles you could get away with running Haste too without any trouble.  Cleansing Aura is a bit of a trouble since it tacks on another -10 penalty, but that's not something I'd run all the time anyways, so you can turn it off when you don't need it in combat to enjoy the really high mana regeneration #s.

[Funkyflapjacks]

Omnius Evermind wrote...

I'm having trouble with this as well. I keep seeing these recurring claims of "unstoppable" and my own experience leads me to believe there's a lot of dubious claims going on here if not wild exaggerations. The problems are two-fold:

1. The survivability is not meeting the claims many are making. I have ALL of the recommended sustainables, + a really good set of armor and shield. I am still taking a fair bit more damage than these claims of "I can't be hurt" I've read.
I don't think many of them have played AW's much recently because I'm willing to bet a nerf of some sort has gone into one or more of the defensive sustainables they use since the days when AW's were supposedly uber OP tanks.

2. People seem to always omit the little fact that AW's are lyrium pot chuggers due to the fact that you run dry VERY early into fights and are always at risk of having shimmering shut down on you. Even with item bonuses to mana regen, Wynne casting Rejuv on me, etc, as soon as Combat Magic is on, it's like someone punched a hole in my gas tank.

Both points are manageable with a little micromanaging, but it just irks me a little that people can't be more straightforward about the shortfalls of AW instead of exaggerating their capabilities. It would have made building one a lot easier right from the start, rather than wondering why this character isn't matching up with forums claims and thinking you did something wrong.

lol im in a good mood so i'll help you out

these aren't "wild claims" at all, im currently re playing origins and soloing it on nightmare with my AW/BM, you just have to know what you are doing. if youre not a hardcore video game player its probly not for you.

1. just to re-iterate, if you know what you are doing, you are unstoppable. i haven't died yet
2. i'll be specific to help you out on the defense department. im at lvl 17 atm (in the middle of paragon/anvil quest, still havent done brecilian) and im currently rockin wades superior dragonbone plate with the helm of honnleath. staff of magister lord as my staff. sash of forbidden secrets as my belt,  lifegiver and key to the city as rings. spellward as neck (which i will replace with blood-gorged amulet in cadash thaig)
3. there has been no nerfs you just need to know what youre doing. the buffs i run with (keep in mind only lvl 17 so far) are arcane shield, shimmering shield, and blood magic on and off. shimmering shield is extremely overpowered. you cap your elemental resistances and the armor bonus is 15. im at 51 armor, which means even ogres do only about 20 dmg to me to give you an example. next lvl ill be picking up spell might to beef up my offense, and eventually spell wisp. might get rock armor do depending on how i feel my defenses are holding up at the higher levels

now heres where im going into my own advice and not other peoples. i run a highly offensive aw/bm. i dont do that "buffs plus autoattack with sword" crap. being a mage (especially soloing) is all about control. to re iterate: ALL ABOUT CONTROL. if you have them cc'd they cant kill you. blood wound is the best offensive move in the game, use it on CD. fireball is great for its knockdown effect. crushing prison, cold of cone, winters grasp, mind blast, these should all be in your rotation. if i see an enemy spellcaster i will use blood wound, crushing prison, lightning and depending on his health maybe a fireball. then hes dead

now i will admit you are right about using a lot of pots. especially when soloing on nightmare like me. however, its so easy to make gold so who really cares lol. also, proper micro managing of switching between blood magic on/off makes it easier to save pots as well

alright ive typed enough as it is. if you have any specific questions feel free to ask, i dont mind sharing my l33t dragon age skills with the world.

[Last Darkness]

ussnorway wrote...

-Zorph- wrote...

I absolutely am at a loss on how to play as a blood / AW and how to play AW in general. 

I think you should read this first and then come back here and ask your questions... Good luck m8.

This was the only needed post.

I love these types of threads, they are entertaining to read.

[Omnius Evermind]

Funkyflapjacks wrote...

now i will admit you are right about using a lot of pots. especially when soloing on nightmare like me. however, its so easy to make gold so who really cares lol. also, proper micro managing of switching between blood magic on/off makes it easier to save pots as well

see that's exactly what I mean. A lot of people don't include that little detail. They hype it up to sound like an AW doesn't take any damage at all or use any mana which simply isn'y true. They throw around the word "invincible" and that's flat out untrue.

Another little detail most of them conveniently forget to mention is that by the time you get that magical list of high end (and very expensive) gear to reach those heights, the game is mostly finished. Up to that point you're not really any better off than any other class, which sucks considering AW isn't exactly exciting to play.

Once you do manage to collect the typical cookie cutter AW gear list after several hundred gold (without using save game edits for gold, thank you) and some questing, yes, I will agree that AW's are tough, but they're certainly not invincible. I'd like to see someone post a video of an AW soloing the High Dragon without using pots. Apparently my definition of invincible differs, because I wouild call that invincible, not:

"I solo nightmare and AW is unkillable.... 

[whisper]
....with pots"
[/whisper]

Modifié par Omnius Evermind, 08 février 2011 - 04:14 .

[Callidus Thorn]

Soloing the game on nightmare without potions isn't invincible, that is a complete and total lack of challenge in the game. And just what is your problem with using potions? They're in the game, you can make them, but you can't use them? That seems to be a little hypocritical, hugely expensive equipment is ok, potions you can make cheaply aren't allowed.



If you go through the game without dying, you were invincible. If you go through the game without dying or using potions, you are either cheating, or tragically sad and obsessive, or have the difficulty set too low.