160 réponses à ce sujet

[kab]

Staff Focus is great, since it boosts the only spammable instant attack and doesn't require any mana. Which is very helpful in a lot of situations. Not the best ability out there, but definitely worth it once you have aquired your favorite spells.

In what scenario that actually happens is autoattacking with a staff a more effective use of your time than using a spell? I say actually happens because running out of mana isn't one of them. I don't autoattack and I've had to use a potion maybe once. Even on a boss I've got enough spells for him to cycle through them without stopping or using AoE.

Arcane Mastery rises your main attribute as a mage, adding damage, rising your chance to overcome enemy spell resist and adding to healing. Plus it is passive. One of the best choices there are. Wondering, how anyone can consider rising his main attribute "plain trash"...

It doesn't raise it enough for it to matter. I would need far more spell picks than exist in the game to get to the point that Arcane Mastery would offer more than an alternative. If it weren't Tier 4 or if Staff Focus and Arcane Shield weren't trash it would be one thing, but they are, so it's terrible. It doesn't increase healing because I don't Heal, nor do I need to, and it increases damage by a trivial amount.

[Enuhal]

1. Blood Wound

2. Crushing Prison

3. Force Field

4. Cone of Cold

5. Group Heal



Also, Horror and Winters Grasp can be really nice low level spells.

If you play with 2-3 Melee characters, the Weapon Enchantments are a must, imo. The damage you gain especially against heavily armored targets (and you will get telecenetic weapons anyway for crushing prison) is quite useful.



Won't list the negative ones, because I didn't test all the trees yet (especially if they seemed to be rather bad)

[Annuke]

Kidshowbusiness wrote...

5 best:

2) virulent walking bomb - seems dissappointing at first, but when you learn to combine it with force field and freezing spells, this is a VERY fun and devastating spell! I run with 2 mages, leliani archer spec, and alistair, most fights involve force field on alistair after a taunt, then a fireball, then throw a viral bomb and have the archer critical strike that target. Can also cast horror on the bomb target to root it in place. To ensure complete destruction, cast regular walking bomb on a different enemy and stun the entire group.

The Virulent walking bomb is my favorite.  My basic attack is pretty much the same, start with inferno or fireball, VWB, then just normal attack and boom....things explode before they even touch me.

[Lazytiger]

kab wrote...

It doesn't raise it enough for it to matter. I would need far more spell picks than exist in the game to get to the point that Arcane Mastery would offer more than an alternative. If it weren't Tier 4 or if Staff Focus and Arcane Shield weren't trash it would be one thing, but they are, so it's terrible. It doesn't increase healing because I don't Heal, nor do I need to, and it increases damage by a trivial amount.

Sorry, but if you don't heal this doesn't change anything. I do heal, others do too. And Arcane Mastery makes you heal better.

About the staff: Since I only tend to pause on a turn-based scale in boss-fights I am quite happy with my mage ditching out 30% more damage if left alone on auto-attack. Usually I give her the opening spell and then just set targets for my toons, only pausing if things get messy. So for my playstyle this is a very useful tree. 

[kab]

I'm sure there are many play styles for which a less efficient spell is useful. That doesn't make it good. I would however say that for a companion if you don't wish to setup 15 tactics and/or micromanage I can see why you'd pick it. There are none the less better alternatives -- if you don't wish to exert the effort required to use them then so be it. That's not an insult by the way. There's nothing wrong with not wanting to micromanage if you don't find it fun.

[D_Strider]

I really like the fact that there is a rather wide variety of favorites being listed in this thread, the fact that there are conflicting opinions says a lot for the usefulness of the spells. Not the “best”, but my favorite spells/combos are:



1 – Sleep. Great opener because it lets me close distance to mages and archers without affecting my own party. Add Waking Nightmare to keep the melee occupied and a dose of Horror on a sleeping Mage is a great advantage as well.

2 – Earthquake + Blizzard. I can’t do “Storm of the Century” yet, but this combo is great for wide-area CC. The EQ keeps ‘em on their backs and in the Blizzard and allows mages/archers to be picked off easily with ranged attacks while outside the area of influence.

3 – Cone of Cold. What’s not to like?

4 – Hexes. Affliction Hex helps other spells stick, and Misdirection Hex allows you to ignore a lieutenant and rip apart the regular dudes.

5 – Heals. I probably could get by without ‘em, but I like hoarding poultices and using my crafting money on Poisons.

[plecha]

 Many have been mentioned already, some of them just cry to be (ab)used. I won't repeat the obvious - although i, too, use the cone, the field and so on ... i try not to overdo it.

Best:

# 4th Spirit line is ridiculous! All 4 spells are insanely useful. Telekinetic Weapons, too - Morrigan has that on all the time.

# The Glyph series. Paralysis Explosion is really good. I actually like the Warding Glyph (+ Heroic Defense) in some situations (Revenants for instance) - if i can make the tank stay in place, basically. The 4th Glyph i haven't used yet, but i guess it can come in handy.

# The Hex series. I just like it.

# Sleep. The opener, sort of

Worst:

# The basic Mage line. Maybe useful for some, but i don't see the use.

# 4th Creation line. Stinging Swarm i can believe to be great, but the others don't cut it imo.

# 1st Spirit line. If this were BG or so, i'd take it. Here i don't see much use, combat's too 'fast'.

# The Heroic line (except maybe H. Defense). Haste seems nice, but the mana drain is awful - plus the miss-chance is higher.



All in all i think it depends on playstyle. Nukers will like Primal, i like to take other spells.

I sometimes wish we had spells that go up as we level, like the infamous Magic Missile or Chromatic Orb - but well, it's not DnD

[edit] 2 lists in one post look awful here ...

Modifié par plecha, 19 novembre 2009 - 07:17 .

[hOnOr]

Best:



1. Cone of Cold - CoC lock with two mages is awesome

2. Heal - must have

3. Force Field - so good I try not to use it

4. Sleep

5. Winter's Grasp - bread & butter and a bargain at rank 1



Honorable Mentions: Mind Blast, Cleansing Aura



Worst (there are so many to choose from):



1. Staff Focus - just a joke for rank 3

2. Arcane Mastery - joke for rank 4

3. Spellbloom - has anyone actually ever cast this spell?

4. Earthquake - good in concept, but horrible in reality, rank 3

5. Anti-Magic Burst - rank 4 and useless

[Stumpypunk]

Great thread.

[AliciaLibuse]

Hi

I like cone of cold alson but if i cast it to soon they mob my mage.

How do you guys handle its timing?

Thanks

Alicia

[Leon Zweihander]

For the best spells from highest to lowest.



1. Heal - Lifesaver from beginning to the end.

2. Cone of Cold - Once they're frozen a critical from a teammate means they're f*****.

3. Misdirection Hex/Death Hex - Bosses that are a few levels higher than your party are now rendered useless.

4. Force Field - If your tank's health is getting low, have it use taunt then use force field on him/her. Enemies will no longer attack anyone else but an invincible statue.

5. Storm of the Century - Use it on all random battles for an instant win.

[castaftw]

Best: (Should pretty much be self explanatory, and yes I like fast cast aoe damage and cc spells)

1: Blood Wound

2: Glyph of Repulsion

3: Fireball

4: Cone of Cold

5: Virulent Walking Bomb



Could mention Force Field and Mana Clash, but they are more in the overpowered category as they work now



Worst: (inclined to just say shapeshifter line, but would be too cheesy)

1: Mana Cleanse

2: Anti Magic Burst

3: Death Magic

4: Mana Drain

5: Disorient

[tetracycloide]

Best:



1. Blood Wound. AoE crushing prison with no friendly fire? Yes please.

2. Cone of Cold. Because the only thing better than a CC is a CC that deals damage and makes boss level enemies susceptable to easy one hit kills

3. (Virulant) Walking Bomb. Because the only thing better than one shotting a frozen boss mob with a critical hit or a crushing prison is having them take out every one of their lakeys at the same time. Would be top 5 even if it were just a spirit damage DoT.

4. Glyph of Repulsion. Best spell combo in the game available from level 2 onward. Tower of Ishal solo? No problem.

5. Mana Clash. More fun than a dispersal dream cast on a horde of rampaging myrkridia.



Honorable mention: Affliction Hex. Because AoE damage hitting 40% harder is a very good thing ™



Worst:

Honorable mention: Arcane Mastery. A tier 4 skill that doesn't scale with spellpower and only gives 5 spellpower compared to a tier 1 skill (spell wisp) that gives 5 at 0 spellpower and 10 at 100 spellpower? All for the low low price of taking the 3rd worst spell in the game just to get to it.

5. Mana Cleanse. After Mana Clash what would still have mana?

4. Chain Lightning. There is a circle in hell reserved for whatever developer decied a 4th tier direct damage ability would not scale with spellpower.

3. Staff Mastery. What's an auto attack? It sounds like something mages caught without enough lyrium potions do.

2. Death Magic. Who needs health when everything is already dead?

1. Death Syphon. Because the only thing more useless than extra health after everything is dead is extra mana.

[soteria]

AliciaLibuse wrote...

Hi
I like cone of cold alson but if i cast it to soon they mob my mage.
How do you guys handle its timing?
Thanks
Alicia

When your mage gets mobbed, cast mind blast.  This resets all threat to zero on the monsters it hits.  Then move away from them--normally they'll go to attacking whoever is nearest.  Also, having your Alistair or Shale taunt works well too.

[Sylvius the Mad]

Cleansing Aura really changes your available tactics. If you can remove injuries from your party members with no cost, you can start doing things like casting large AoE spells at your own tank, not caring if he dies in the process.

[Atranes]

Best:

1: Sleep. Quick and awesome opener. Also makes waking nightmare un-resistable.

2: Love the hexes - all of them have good uses (I know that's more than 1 but whatever). They do draw aggro tough.

3: CoC - all the reasons stated above

4: Group Heal - more effective than regular heal and a good mid-battle way to avoid using potions

5: Blood Wound



Worst:

1: Heroics - always annoyed Wynne has them

2: Weakness - only good to get later paralysis and miasma (I have mixed feelings about mass paralysis)

3: Disorient - like Weakness only good for the later spells in the line

4: Mana spells before Spell Might. I only consider this line if I'm aiming for SOTC or the better animation

5: Summoning



I like Force Field, but it can be so cheesy that I use it only to free someone from an enemy crushing prison or to save someone from dying (i.e., no taunt cheese).



What this thread proves is that we need another mage origin. I'm so tired of the Fade opening and Mouse. Why couldn't we take Merril for example?

[tetracycloide]

I'm not sure I understand ranking sleep over blood wound. They work on all the same enemies and blood wound stacks damage on top of CC without requiring an additional spell be cast.



Also confused over heroic line and disorient. When melee or archery party members can count on +attack for themselves or -defense buffs on their targets or both they're free to maximize damage without having to worry about stacking extra +attack items. If my main is a dual wield rogue you can bet there's a mage somewhere behind him pretty much loaded with as much +attack and -defense as she can get.

[Atranes]

I ranked Sleep over Blood Wound because in my playthoughs Blood Wound is often resisted. I know that's not the case for other people, but it's enough to take the otherwise awesome Blood Wound down a few slots. Even when Sleep is resisted it has such a big radius of effect that it will take out large numbers. Plus, Sleep is available much earlier on.



Disorient just never seems to make much a difference to me. Yellows and higher still hit just as frequently, and it's a waste to use on whites. I don't like the heroics as much because I prefer to immobilize my enemies, or hit the strong ones with a hex.

[castaftw]

Generally spells not affected by spellpower tend to suck later on in the game, except some cases.



Disorient is a flat -5 to attack and defense for 10s. I don't know about you but I find that not worth casting when I got an arsenal of far superior spells both buff wise and damage/cc wise.

[tetracycloide]

I tend to play a one player + support kind of game and center nearly every one of my party members abilities around my own character. When I play as a mage I never touch the disorient line but when I play as a rogue or warrior it's in every mage's tactics that has it albeit low on the list. Most of the other defense debuffs do not scale with spellpower either and many of them are worth using throughout the game. Sometimes 5 defense is the difference between hitting and not hitting plus the spell is still useful early game and some of the worst spells aren't useful even then.

[Frantica]

TOP 5

1. Tempest- Has awesome name and animation. Also does massive damage.

2. Inferno- Awesome name and animation PLUS fire over time damage.

3. Cone of Cold- Good for setting up chain shatters.

4. Blizzard- See Tempest and Inferno except has possibility of freezing

5. Walking Nightmare- Doom for ogres. Random stuns seem a bit too often though.



TOP 5 WORST

1. Lightning- Unspectacular, low damage, relatively high mana cost for a first-tier spell.

2. Spider Shape- Why switch shape when you can cast spells

3. Bear Shape- See Spider shape

4. Rock Armor- Looks ugly

5. Mana Cleanse- Small number of enemies that actually HAVE mana

[Stuffy38]

Chain Lightning is awful for a 4th tier spell. Takes way too long to cast and recharge, and doesn't deal very impressive damage.

[bas273]

TOP 5

1) Mana Clash -> A large AoE spell that instantly kills most mages. Genlock/Hurlock Emissaries and all 'normal' mages instantly die. Enemies like Zathrian lose around 75% of their health.

2) Shimmering Shield -> +75% to all your resistances. This spell makes you nearly immortal.

3) Combat Magic -> Turn your Mage into a killing machine. Strength becomes a useless stat and you can wear Massive Armor if you want.

4) Virulent Walking Bomb -> One of the strongest AoE spells in the game. Use Force Field on your main tank followed by this spell and the fight is practically over.

5) Force Field. See above glitch ^. It's also an excellent life saver.



TOP 5 WORST

1-4) All Anti-Magic spells. Get Mana Clash and you won't ever need them.

5) Arcane Bolt. Decent during the Mage Origin but that's about it. There are better spells available, like Winter's Grasp and Cone of Cold.

[Cybercat999]

I was wondering who will mention Mana Clash finally. Its so much I-win button it should be nerfed

[jsachun]

Top 5
1. Inferno (Kill without being touched or seen)
2. Misdirection Hex (Melee Bosses)
3. Mana clash (Mage Killer)
4. Mass paralysis (simlar to force field but freezes them all & they take damage)
5. Petrify (Same as cone of cold but more accurate)

Worst 5
1. Glyph of neutralisation (accidently glyphed myself & permanetly buged my character to not being able to use magic).
2. Heal (Useless when you have lots of Healing potions, only used to heal npcs that were not my companion)
3. Animate Dead (Only allows one other. might be good if i can raise a horde of the dead)
4. Anti Magic burst (It effects allies & I as well as enemies, Gee I wish "Cleanse Area" works on me).
5. Spellbloom (Noticeable Mana regeneration during Combat is zero to none I'll pause & take Mana potion instead).

Modifié par jsachun, 09 janvier 2010 - 12:33 .