93 replies to this topic

[SuicidalBaby]

You can replace all those question marks with periods to have a list of facts about chain mechanics.

[Tideford]

Great guide for those of us that like healing. (I know most like damage. Play an MMO, everyone shouts for healers and tanks)

I just finished my first playthrough and never knew about this guide.

I found out you really can make a healer that won't die though. But he/she would take a month to duel Arishok

I played straight Spirit heal (Group Heal, Revival, Healing Aura) and Creation (Haste, Heal, Heroic Aura) with a dabble in Arcane (Elemental Weapons, Mind Blast). On normal you can literally play any other characters you want almost anytime. If you want to go with the melees or casters you can. I wanted to romance Isabella, so it was fun. Granted this was normal, so I guess I need to try nightmare. Only hard fight at all was the 3 scrolls side quest boss in Darktown in Act 3.

Two questions, is it bugged if I can run heroic aura, healing aura, and Elemental Weapons with no problems on mana?

Secondly, after a revival, is it a bug if characters take a while to start using their own AI? I mean they just walk over to Hawke and pick their nose while the group is beat on sometimes.

Edited by Tideford, 29 May 2011 - 01:49 PM.

[AreleX]

There was a bug with revived allies being put in 'out-of-combat' mode, but I thought it was fixed in the last patch? Maybe not, but if it wasn't, that's likely the cause.

[SuicidalBaby]

tideford- you need to patch the game.

[ezrafetch]

AreleX wrote...

There was a bug with revived allies being put in 'out-of-combat' mode, but I thought it was fixed in the last patch? Maybe not, but if it wasn't, that's likely the cause.

It was patched with the 1.02/Title Update 1.  The bug did more harm than good, actually, since companions never went into combat and followed their tactics...basically meaning you couldn't speed run / no pause ever

Edited by ezrafetch, 29 May 2011 - 08:42 PM.

[ezrafetch]

Unintentional necro, but 1.03 changed a lot with the guide. I'll get the changes edited in and stuff. It's gonna be a long haul.

Basics:
-Party should always be Anders, Merrill, Varric
-Doube-Haste will basically end battles ASAP. SOOOOO FASTTTTT
-Blood Mage's Paralyzing Hemorrhage is terrible now but Blood Slave and Grave Robber are worth using
-Blood Mages aren't going to be able to stack a lot of conversion items, but given larger Spirit Healer life totals shouldn't be an issue.
-Spirit Healer received a few nerfs. It totally didn't deserve any, but it's nit-picking to a reasonable extent.
-Walking Bomb is not a viable strategy anymore.

[Kymberly]

Call me unknowing, but I can't see how a party like that can work on Hard+.
I'm already having trouble with the Deep Roads on Hard with Aveline, Merrill, Varric, let alone without a tank on NM.

I may have made the mistake in going double Primal though, since Cold seems to be the ideal thing for Deep Roads (combined with a Spirit damage staff for Elemental Weapons).
Also I went with Spirit Healer first, which probably could've been exchanged for Force Mage instead, but this is my first real playthrough of the game, so I've probably messed things up with stats placement regardless.

[AreleX]

Damage will always be paramount to things like defense and tanking in this game.

Anders, Merrill, Varric is the best party for ANY class you choose. This is not only due to their individual abilities (Varric's speed buffs, Merrill's Hex of Torment/CC, Anders Haste + Heroic Aura + Vengeance, etc.), but also for the simple fact that they don't have to walk up to an enemy to damage it. Melee companions lose a lot of DPS due to not having closing attacks when being AI controlled, but ranged companions don't have this issue.

Walking Bomb is still incredibly viable, but it just takes a bit of arbitrary work, and requires Fatiguing Fog on Varric/Sebastian, or some good upgraded Blood Slave placement on the part of Hawke. I'd even say it can trivialize things that the patch tried to change, like increasing normal mob health.

patch 1.02/1.03 = spirit healers are officially losing, this thread needs a new title

Edited by AreleX, 17 June 2011 - 10:40 AM.

[ezrafetch]

I updated the majority of the guide, just need Anders/Merrill/Varric tactics. And as per AreleX's suggestion, I re-titled the thread to reflect the state of Spirit Healing in the post 1.02/1.03 apocalypto landscape.

Double Haste makes playing Mage worthwhile.

Though I am debating about Varric. Use him to set up DISORIENT WBs or to use him for Lance/Bursting BRITTLE exploits? I'm inclined to say BRITTLE but I'm probably biased. I don't think there's a particularly good way of giving Varric both, as you have to start sacrificing things like helping Anders out via obscure or giving up some stuff in the Marksman tree, neither of which I can seem to think would be worthwhile giving up for an extra CCC (which, of course, usually got a 1.03 nerf).

Edited by ezrafetch, 22 June 2011 - 06:32 AM.

[mr_afk]

Haha spirit healers- the true mage underground.
All you need is to start some revolutionary movement to revert the patch changes (which is bound to fail so I suppose you'll just have to blow something up haha).


Anyway I generally spec Varric to do both so it's definitely possible.
Usually by late act 2 he'll be fully specced out and able to do dps, lock-picking, disorient, and brittle-archer's lance.

Unless you're talking about act1? In which case it's almost impossible to get him to do anything but single-target disorient and dps. I usually place priority on his dps + brand + pinning shot; then on fatiguing fog/confusion; and finally archer's lance.

[ezrafetch]

mr_afk wrote...
Anyway I generally spec Varric to do both so it's definitely possible.
Usually by late act 2 he'll be fully specced out and able to do dps, lock-picking, disorient, and brittle-archer's lance.

Unless you're talking about act1? In which case it's almost impossible to get him to do anything but single-target disorient and dps. I usually place priority on his dps + brand + pinning shot; then on fatiguing fog/confusion; and finally archer's lance.

Yeah, I was talking late. But I suppose I can sacrifice some of Varric's personal tree + obscure for it (though Fog also grants obscure, so I guess that's a wash). It just feels extremely awkward to not invest points into the entirety of the special tree...it's supposed to be there for a reason no?

Ah, well. I think that's probably the best bet.

---

After thinking about patch changes, I think that despite the slight SH nerf, the patch actually kind of made it more palatable for mage Hawkes to take SH since Anders's Aid Allies is so crappy now (only 25% as opposed to potential 40%). I think they wanted people to stop using Anders as a healbot.

Edited by ezrafetch, 22 June 2011 - 06:46 PM.

[Mr_Raider]

A few notes on 1.03:

The health regen from SH passive and upgrade is doubled, and the base area of effect is now wider. This means the sustain will actually do something for the party.

The regen for the player however has been halved, so I doubt you can just stand around and regenerate your health from all the hits now.

While haste has been fixed, and double haste is awesome, you can't double up on heroic offense. So in a mage hawke party with anders, one of you will end up throwing away a point on heroic aura two get double haste.

[ezrafetch]

Mr_Raider wrote...

A few notes on 1.03:

The health regen from SH passive and upgrade is doubled, and the base area of effect is now wider. This means the sustain will actually do something for the party.

The regen for the player however has been halved, so I doubt you can just stand around and regenerate your health from all the hits now.

While haste has been fixed, and double haste is awesome, you can't double up on heroic offense. So in a mage hawke party with anders, one of you will end up throwing away a point on heroic aura two get double haste.

Yeah, it's a pity that they give in one hand and take with the other re: the health regeneration. It's really quite silly. You can't offensively cast spells, so it's pretty much nonsensical to nerf the self-regen, the only reason to stay in the mode outside of a quick cast anyways.

I wasn't aware of the non-stacking of Heroic + Valiant Aura. C'est la vie, 1 point. I think it's best to not run the Aura on Anders, you're already cramping on his mana with Vengeance to begin with. And since Rock Armor isn't really the all-powerful sustain it used to be, Hawke will only be spending 20% base on sustains with Heroic + Valiant Aura (activating Healing Aura when necessary takes that to 50% maximum). You need an extra point for Haste-y goodness then and Glyph of Paralysis + Glyph of Binding serves that role. Glyph is pretty much wonderful utility. Panic button, WB safety, grouper for mass nukes, I definitely like the skill, though it NEEDS the Binding upgrade before it has any real use.

Here's my post-1.02/1.03 apocalypto preferred SH Hawke:

Elemental
Winter's Grasp + Winter's Blast
Cone of Cold + Deep Freeze
Fireball
Pyromancer
Firestorm + Apocalyptic Firestorm
Elemental Mastery

Creation
Heal
Glyph of Paralysis + Glyph of Binding
Heroic Aura + Valiant Aura
Haste + Greater Haste

Spirit Healer
Healing Aura
Group Heal + Unity
Revival
Second Chance
Vitality

Force Mage
Fist of the Maker
Telekinetic Burst
Gravitic Ring
Pull of the Abyss + Pull of the Void

Epic nukes, the Haste, extreme battlefield control with Force Mage and Glyphs, plus healing when you need it.

Edited by ezrafetch, 23 June 2011 - 04:51 AM.

[Carmen_Willow]

@ezrafetch, thank you so much for this guide. I was using your build on Hard, but I wasn't able to stay alive during the dock quest where you battle the Blood Mage, Pride Demon and army of Shades. I figured out it was because I'm not good enough at this to turn off the Spirit Healer sustained, use the offensive spells, and then stay alive while waiting for the cool down to complete. The Blood Mage was getting me every time.

So, I re specc'd to using all defensive spells including the glyphs, force magic and spirit healer. By being able to leave my spirit healer sustained on all the time, I was able to glyph the blood mage to the ground and keep her from casting the red ring of death. I was also able to keep my team alive as well and finally beat that b***h on Hard.

It was so cool that I have used this modification on your build all the way through this time and have only had to dial down to Normal twice (trust me this is very good for me). My only offense is my team and my basic attack from my staff, but it's still working. Gotta love the patch! Thank you for writing this guide. It was your guide that started me on the path of a mage who doesn't use blood magic and manages to be a force to be reckoned with.

[Tyrium]

My Anders mod (as a side effect) undid all the 1.03 balance changes. Since I only play Spirit Healer, I'm trying to decide if its worth going through and manually putting in the changes. They nerfed us, but do other things play better?

(said mod adds the SH tree to Anders, and removes his dodgy healing from Vengeance, so he still gets the unique and can actually be a proper healer)

Edited by Tyrium, 11 July 2011 - 04:50 AM.

[Tyrium]

Is haste really all that good? I've never really gone into the creation tree

[AreleX]

haste is the ****

double haste is even better

[Tainan7509]

Yeah Haste is a must in this game. You will see if you use it.
I have just finished my blood mage playthrough last week. I think i will make a SH mage this time. great guide
Thanks for sharing!

Edited by Tainan7509, 28 August 2011 - 04:49 PM.

[HansVedic]

Regarding Haste....  does magic resistance still affect the duration of haste in nightmare mode on the Xbox 360?  I'm trying to decide whether or not to use it.