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[Prismo]

*Pre 1.03 Build*

The Primal BloodForce Mage
A Guide for the Intrepid Nightmare Mage

Nightmare as a Mage in Dragon Age II is quite frankly a kick in the balls. This guide is intended to provide a general outline of the way that I found most conducive to not just surviving but excelling in Nightmare. The build focuses heavily on crowd control, while focusing on damage spells that are both potent and friendly fire friendly.

This guide is narrow in scope, based solely on my personal experience and assumes some basic knowledge doesn't need explaining. I highly recommend The Blood Mage Compendium for more extensive (both basic and technical) knowledge on Blood Mages, mechanics etc. Having said that, on with the guide.

ATTRIBUTES
I'll start with the easy stuff. Magic, Constitution and Willpower, that is your box. Never leave your box.

I wish I could give you some easy guide like 1 mag/1 con/1 wil per level but it doesn't really work like that. Early game you want to concentrate on magic, putting the minimum amount of points into will so you can wear armour (your will need never exceed 26 all game, I'll explain in the gear section), maybe put a few points in con or just rely on gear to get a few more hitpoints.

At 14 when you spec into Blood Mage things change, you will probably have to cut into your magic to beef up your con while keeping your will at 26 (curse you armour requirements!). For the rest of the game I would suggest trying to keep your con at about 10-20 points below your mag, whatever you are more comfortable with.

For reference, at lvl 24 I had:
(61)70 Magic
(26)32 Will
(40)45 Constitution

GEAR
This section is also somewhat simple, in a nut shell, gear for Blood Mages in Dragon Age II fills me with ambivalence.

All mage gear basically discriminates against Blood Mages by providing both mana and mana regen by the truck load, both of which are irrelevant to the Blood Mage, you just have to suck it up and wear it anyway. On the other hand Dragon Age II introduces a concept that effectively turns the Blood Mage into the energizer bunny of casting, it does this in the form of equipment that grants a "1 health provides 1 additional mana" bonus.

The Rune of Valiance is what allows you to keep your will at 26. At the beginning of Act III get the rune design and go fight the High Dragon (stack Fire Warding Runes). Put the rune in your 'Hands of Fate gloves' and your will requirements are now taken care of.

This is some notable gear:

Act 1 gear:
- Visit (and re-visit and re-visit etc. etc.) the Trinkets Emporium in Lowtown until you have purchased 2 'Ring of Minor Cantrips' with the Blood Mage bonus.
- Talisman of Saarebas from the Shepherding Wolves quest.

Act 2 gear:
- The Hands of Fate (1 rune slot, +1 willpower, 3% spirit damage, Blood Magic bonus) from the Black Emporium
- Belt of Vigor (22 health +2 health regeneration) from Huber in Hightown
- Ring of Ruin (+4% Spirit damage, Blood Magic bonus) from the Trinkets Emporium, Lowtown)
- Cold-Blooded from Mage vendor on Wounded Coast (Act II only)
Cold-Blooded is very expensive but great if you have the money.
- Robe of the Notorious Pirate from the Raiders on the Cliffs quest.
I include these because I wore them until I got the Champion Armor but it was purely for aesthetic reasons not stats.

Act 3 gear:
- Champion Armor
- Awakened's Might from Lirene's Fereldan Imports in Lowtown
- The Final Thought from the Black Emporium

In case you are curious:


TALENTS
Now to the meat and potatoes of the build. This is both leveling guide and general reasoning behind my choices.

1. Mind Blast
2. Chain Lightning
3. Heal
4. Rock Armor

At this point (or ASAP) you should have enough money to ditch Mind Blast. Do it.

1. Chain Lightning
2. Heal
3. Rock Armor
Helps reduce knockbacks until Unshakable, also just nice to have.
4. Chain Reaction
Stagger and Chain Lightning is your bread and butter damage spell (except against those damn Qunari) for Act 1, don't cast it unless it is at a Staggered enemy.
5. Horror
Assassins are a pain in the ass, even more so early game, use this then focus fire until they explode.
6. Stone Fist + Petrify (1st Extra Talent Point)
Stone Fist is handy for when enemies get in your face or just general damage and Petrify is great for locking down enemies for a while. Note that Petrify should be used only as a substitute for Horror when Horror is on cooldown and you're desperate for some CC while you focus fire, the +50% damage resistance makes it far more suited to simple mob lockdown for the moment.
7. Force Mage Spec + Fist of the Maker
Fist of the Maker kind of sucks, it is useful mainly for stopping a horde of humanoids from rushing you.
8. Unshakable
Unshakable is phenomenal, don't leave home without it.
9. Telekinetic Burst
Pre-requisite, I think I cast it twice...ever, it's for when every possible spell and companion skill is on cooldown.
10. Gravitic Ring
Along with Unshakable, Gravitic is the reason you want to be strong with the Force. You will control the battlefield from here on.
11. Dessicate
The reason you want this is Varric and Archer's Lance. When discussing a bow wielding Hawke, Archer's Lance is dismissed as a poor man's Assassinate, and rightly so, however Varric doesn't have Assassinate so we make do. I suggest respeccing Varric at 11 to something like this. Petrify should now be your go to Assassin/Mage spell, lock them down quick, move your party out of Varric's line of sight and let loose.
12. Hex of Torment
Mostly for the Rock Wraith at the moment but generally handy all round.
13. Golem's Fist + Despair (2nd Extra Talent Point)
If you handle your money well you get the second point well before now. Just upgrade Horror or Stone Fist (whichever you use most) whenever you get the second book and do the other at 13.
14. Blood Mage Spec + Blood Magic
Now it's Blood Mage time. You will need a repec to sort out your Attribute distribution so while you are doing that you can also move a few spell points around. I could list all the spells again but it's not that complicated a respec. Drop Golem's Fist, Hex of Torment and Despair. Pick up Sacrifice, Grim Sacrifice and Hemorrhage with those points. When All is said and done your skill tree will look a little something like this.
15. Paralyzing Hemorrhage + Bloodlust (3rd Extra Talent Point)
Again you could easily get the tome/potion point before now but you want it at 15 to get these two talents asap. Hemorrhage now replaces Chain Lightning as your bread and butter damage spell, always cast it on as many Staggered enemies as possible.

At this point the core of the build is done, from here on is more personal preference. You can get back the Spells you dropped for Blood Mage, go for Winter's Grasp etc., finish off the Primal tree, or if you have the patience for Walking Bomb on Nightmare go for that. At some point I recommend getting Gravitic Sphere, the larger diameter also increases the size of the inner ring that shuts enemies down completely.

In case you are interested this was my build at lvl 24 when I finished the game.

PARTY
This section will be short. I micro manage most of my parties abilities so I have no elaborate tactics to share. Basically I would suggest either Varric or Sebastian(I buy games on Steam so I got screwed out of Sig Ed. and consequently have no experience with this guy). The choice between Aveline and Fenris is pretty straight forward, Aveline is the better tank and has a guaranteed stagger in Shield Bash (good for bosses) while Fenris can more frequently stagger larger groups of enemies and generally tear **** up. Anders is a great healbot but can be replaced by items if you are so inclined and rich enough.

Modifié par Chazzwazza, 03 juin 2011 - 03:35 .

[AreleX]

Good post, I'm glad that there's more about mages than incessant whining on this forum now. I think I'm going to give Mage a shot next, so thank you!

Modifié par AreleX, 28 mars 2011 - 06:04 .

[Gloxgasm]

I think it is better to first fill out primal to grab the end of the line bonus. Horror is rather useless to as you can petrify the assassin, kill all adds, kill assassin that won't stealth. I'd rethink the entropy line entirely as you can get a stronger build without it since they don't last that long on NM anyways.

I find a 8 primal 8 Spirit 2 Force a much stronger transition into Blood/Force.

Edit: You ingonre galvanism entirely which is a huge mistake.

Modifié par Gloxgasm, 28 mars 2011 - 06:08 .

[mokponobi]

I like this build though I don't agree that getting anything more than unshakable from the force mage spec is useful on NM, lower difficulties are a diff story though.

Someone mentioned spirit line instead of the extra spells in entropy and force, I think either that or the arcane line for crushing prison (upgraded) would be the way to go.

Primal is definately the way to go on NM, get that to mastery by lvl 10. with unshakable and you are pretty much set.

[Amioran]

Actually if you can squeeze 2 points to get both upgrades to get Maker's Hammer then it becomes your 3rd resource for constant damage. With it you have 3 spells that do high damage against Staggered enemies. CR, PH and this. With its very low cooldown (10s)  and +900% on staggered enemies it is very good and it can be casted above yourself without injuring you.

The AoE can bugger a little in crowded situations but still it's very powerful if you can get both upgrades. I would actually prefer Maker's Hammer to Winter Grasp and CoC all the time, if I had to choose.

Paralyzing Hemorrhage is the most powerful CCC you have but its cooldown is 30 seconds. If you have both Chain Reaction and Maker's Hammer that's one CCC every about 7-8 seconds. Not bad, especially in late game when you have staggered enemies everywhere if you build your fighter right (more than you can handle, especially with only CR and PH).

Modifié par Amioran, 28 mars 2011 - 08:10 .

[mokponobi]

^^

Agreed except the investment to get the upgrade is steep.

[MASSter EFFECTer]

Why not hit 31 will so gloves of the champion can give +7 to all attributes instead of hands of fate with +5? You lose 5 potential con/ magic points but you get +2 extra all around.
I don't really know whats better either way, but I guess an extra+2 strength dex and cun actually doesn't matter with unshakable and con being the only real defense stat over cun.

There- I kinda just answered my own question

[Ace Attorney]

I am considering doing a Spirit with some Primal Bloody Force Mage due to the Spirit master +25% to Hemorrhage. Perhaps ditch most of the Primal (just get Rock Armor and perhaps Chain Lighting with Chain Reaction if you can spare the points) to go heavier in entropy like the Horror upgrade. <EDIT> Something like this? <END EDIT>

Granted, I don't play on Nightmare.

Modifié par T3hAnubis, 28 mars 2011 - 09:25 .

[Ace Attorney]

MASSter EFFECTer wrote...

Why not hit 31 will so gloves of the champion can give +7 to all attributes instead of hands of fate with +5? You lose 5 potential con/ magic points but you get +2 extra all around.
I don't really know whats better either way, but I guess an extra+2 strength dex and cun actually doesn't matter with unshakable and con being the only real defense stat over cun.

There- I kinda just answered my own question

You "loose" only one, as the 7 is granting two extra to Con and Mag, giving you four stat points to the five point investment. And you gain extra mana. I actually like that, as I am a firm believer that Blood Zmagic is to be used after you empty your mana pool or desparately need a Hemorrhage, so extra mana helps anyways.

[SuicidalBaby]

When you complete the guide I would be more than happy to add a link to it from the compendium. Ignore the over-reaction toward entropy and Horror, another fantasic cc that cost 1 ability point and has 0 damage reduction. I would include the Act 1 ring with +4% elec from the Dalish vendor as an early purchase considering the volume of chain lightning casts throughout the game.  Chain Lightning cast every 15 seconds of combat + 4% is a ton of extra damage.

9. Telekinetic Burst
Pre-requisite, I think I cast it twice...ever, it's for when every possible spell and companion skill is on cooldown.

Think of this spell as a get out of jail free card for your companions.  Someone is pinned up against a wall and being pounded on by 2-3 enemies.  Throw the assailants up against that same wall with out including your comanion, the companion will be on their way up from the ground as the enemies are just hitting it and can move away easily.  You can also use it to throw stunned or staggered allies free from AoEs.  It can also be used to manipulate enemies walking free of gravitic ring by throwing them back into its core, this can be said the same of any AoE spell.


all around nice job

Modifié par SuicidialBaby, 28 mars 2011 - 10:45 .

[SuicidalBaby]

T3hAnubis wrote...

I am considering doing a Spirit with some Primal Bloody Force Mage due to the Spirit master +25% to Hemorrhage. Perhaps ditch most of the Primal (just get Rock Armor and perhaps Chain Lighting with Chain Reaction if you can spare the points) to go heavier in entropy like the Horror upgrade. <EDIT> Something like this? <END EDIT>

Granted, I don't play on Nightmare.

You do realize Hemorrage is physical damage in DA2.  It was spirit damage in Origins.

Modifié par SuicidialBaby, 28 mars 2011 - 10:49 .

[Prismo]

AreleX wrote...

Good post, I'm glad that there's more about mages than incessant whining on this forum now. I think I'm going to give Mage a shot next, so thank you!

[smilie]../../../images/forum/emoticons/wizard.png[/smilie]

Thanks. You're welcome.

Gloxgasm wrote...

I think it is better to first fill out primal to grab the end of the line bonus. Horror is rather useless to as you can petrify the assassin, kill all adds, kill assassin that won't stealth. I'd rethink the entropy line entirely as you can get a stronger build without it since they don't last that long on NM anyways.

I find a 8 primal 8 Spirit 2 Force a much stronger transition into Blood/Force.

Edit: You ingonre galvanism entirely which is a huge mistake.

My thinking behind going Entropy instead of Galvinism is that the greatest strength mages have is crowd control and having more than one single target lockdown is worth its weight in gold. Horror and Petrify don't replace each other they complement each other, there is barely a fight after Act 1 when there aren't at least two or three powerful enemies that you would like to shut down. In fact not only did I have Petrify, Horror and Gravitic Ring for crowd control I also specced Anders into Petrify and I found myself using all of those options as often as I could, crowd control is what mages are good at.

On Galvinism, I was really torn on that and had quite a few builds that included it throughout the life of my mage but honestly I think the main reason to take Galvinism is for the Electricity Damage boost which may seem a strange position after that whole spiel on the importance of crowd control considering it also adds 4 seconds to Petrify's duration, but then again it is just that, 4 seconds. In the end I found my usage of Chain Lightning had become completely ancillary, I did give Galvinism to Anders but found the skill point investment harder to justify on my mage who has far more options.

Amioran wrote...

Actually if you can squeeze 2 points to get both upgrades to get Maker's Hammer then it becomes your 3rd resource for constant damage. With it you have 3 spells that do high damage against Staggered enemies. CR, PH and this. With its very low cooldown (10s)  and +900% on staggered enemies it is very good and it can be casted above yourself without injuring you.

The AoE can bugger a little in crowded situations but still it's very powerful if you can get both upgrades. I would actually prefer Maker's Hammer to Winter Grasp and CoC all the time, if I had to choose.

Paralyzing Hemorrhage is the most powerful CCC you have but its cooldown is 30 seconds. If you have both Chain Reaction and Maker's Hammer that's one CCC every about 7-8 seconds. Not bad, especially in late game when you have staggered enemies everywhere if you build your fighter right (more than you can handle, especially with only CR and PH).

While I agree with all of what you said and did indeed have a similar line of thought about having so many Stagger utilizing abilities at my beckon call, what killed my enthusiasm for Fist of the Maker was the FF, I honestly just got sick of trying to aim a 10m AOE so as not to hit any team mates, that coupled with its relative weakness damage wise sealed its fate. Also I specced Ander's Primal/Creation so I had Chain Lightning x2.

T3hAnubis wrote...

I am considering doing a Spirit with some Primal Bloody Force Mage due to the Spirit master +25% to Hemorrhage. Perhaps ditch most of the Primal (just get Rock Armor and perhaps Chain Lighting with Chain Reaction if you can spare the points) to go heavier in entropy like the Horror upgrade. <EDIT> Somethinglike this? <END EDIT>

Granted, I don't play on Nightmare.

I might be missing something here but Hemorrhage does Physical damage not Spirit, I think you might be thinking of Blood Wound from Origins.

Modifié par Chazzwazza, 28 mars 2011 - 11:11 .

[Ace Attorney]

Indeed. Hmm...will one foot in get a benefit from Spirit Mastery or +Spirit Damage items?

[SuicidalBaby]

It will benifit from both, but being as the damage is so small, it doesn't really matter. One foot In upgrade is to allow tactics to trigger off being surrounded by x enemeies rather than searching for corpses manually. As it sucks life from living as well as dead targets. IMO, if you go Grave Robber, One Foot In is manditory as an upgrade because the effect is a pure +10% from all targets once upgraded regardless of the damage output.

But seeing as Sacrifice is generally considered a manditory pick up for a Blood Mage, esspecially one planning on Blood Slave, Grave Robber becomes a 2 point ability dump.  Its all a matter of how and where you want your health to come from.  If you want your tank to keep its 20% health, go Grave Robber/One Foot In.  If finding sources for health is too much of a hassel for you, go with Sacrifice/Grim Sacrifice. 

Never go both Sacrifice and Grave Robber.

Modifié par SuicidialBaby, 28 mars 2011 - 11:11 .

[Ace Attorney]

Sacrifice might have additional value if used on Fenris due to his unique passive. Hilariously ironic too since his former master used him as a mana battery and you are using him as a health battery.

Modifié par T3hAnubis, 28 mars 2011 - 11:15 .

[Prismo]

SuicidialBaby wrote...

When you complete the guide I would be more than happy to add a link to it from the compendium. Ignore the over-reaction toward entropy and Horror, another fantasic cc that cost 1 ability point and has 0 damage reduction. I would include the Act 1 ring with +4% elec from the Dalish vendor as an early purchase considering the volume of chain lightning casts throughout the game.  Chain Lightning cast every 15 seconds of combat + 4% is a ton of extra damage.

all around nice job

Thanks. I'll be honest with you I was kind of already done. If you have some suggestions for additions I would love to hear them but I am afraid I have reached the limit of my gleaned Mage knowledge, either that or I'm lazy...

[SuicidalBaby]

T3hAnubis wrote...

Sacrifice might have additional value if used on Fenris due to his unique passive. Hilariously ironic too since his former master used him as a mana battery and you are using him as a health battery.

Pro tip*
Aveline's Bodyguard ability has the added benifit of mitigating self inflicted damage as well.

Chazzwazza wrote...
either that or I'm lazy...

Join the club.

[SuicidalBaby]

arg stupid dp

screw it, I'll use the space.

Chazzwazza wrote...
 If you have some suggestions for additions I would love to hear them.

Since you bothered to mentioned gear:  I would suggest linking to the compendium's gear section by using the link tab found on each post or going full boar and adding the following;

Concerning Rings of Minor Cantrips:  If going Blood Mage @ 14
You only need 2, if at all for Merril.  1 Ring of Transitional Power can have an additional +4% fire damage with the blood conversion stat for not much more, if not the same price on occasion.  Same vendor, lower rate of drop.  If you're gonna fork the same ammount of gold over, get the value out of it.  (Ring of Ruin being the mirror item)

Apparel Shop: lowtown
Mage Adept Gear in Act 1 carries the Blood stat and a bonus stat as well, ussually +4-5% fire, 13% chest piece.  Neophyte gear will only carry 1 stat. 

Mage Goods: Gallows
will carry exceptional + %spirit gear and weapons

Modifié par SuicidialBaby, 26 avril 2011 - 04:37 .

[Ace Attorney]

SuicidialBaby wrote...

T3hAnubis wrote...

Sacrifice might have additional value if used on Fenris due to his unique passive. Hilariously ironic too since his former master used him as a mana battery and you are using him as a health battery.

Pro tip*
Aveline's Bodyguard ability has the added benifit of mitigating self inflicted damage as well.

Chazzwazza wrote...
either that or I'm lazy...

Join the club.

Wait...will Blood Magic + Elite Bodyguard on Hawke = Aveline pays half for you?
Hilariously wicked if so.

[SuicidalBaby]

By jove, I think hes got it!

[Heather Cline]

I'm gonna use this on my current mage build!

[Heather Cline]

Cazzwazza, there is a rune you can get that ups your armor defense even better than the rune you have on your current build. Not saying the runes you have aren't good but these runes are called Rune of Defense and the recipe can be found in Act 3. Once you get the recipe and ingredients go to town. It's a better rune than the Rune of Protection you use. Just thought I'd let you know.

Modifié par Heather Cline, 29 mars 2011 - 12:15 .

[Musou1776]

Is final thought picked as a staff just for the + spirit damage? Since your spells are mostly electric and physical why not go with allures crook as a staff? 35 spirit and 2 runes.

[SuicidalBaby]

Musou1776 wrote...

Is final thought picked as a staff just for the + spirit damage? Since your spells are mostly electric and physical why not go with allures crook as a staff? 35 spirit and 2 runes.

The Final Thought
Damage:
48 (physical) - 65dps
Runes:
1
Stats:
+4 magic
5% chance to regenerate 9% Mana
+ 104 Mana
+33% Nature Damage
+33% Spirit Damage

Weapon
Allure's Crook
Damage:
35 spirit damage (48 per second)
Runes:
2
Stats:
+38 mana/stamina
+5 mana/stamina regeneration rate


+damage runes wont increase his overall spell damage across all schools like the improved base damage of The Final Thought would over Allure's Crook.

Modifié par SuicidialBaby, 29 mars 2011 - 12:48 .

[Musou1776]

NM just realized the higher base damage would bump up all spell damage. One bummer is that there is no blood mage staff with runes other than a low level fire staff.