39 réponses à ce sujet

[skyrend]

Choosing between Merrill and Anders, I'll take Merrill.  I would like to have SOME healing, though, which I don't think is a huge thing to ask from a mage.  Otherwise, the game practically forces me take Anders with me or roll a mage.

[Forst1999]

You can do fine without a healer. Threat management, good use of potions, life ward and Mythal's favor make a healer less important. You can do without.
As a bloodmage Merrill with high con is propably the best companion, there has to be a catch.

[Sordel]

Depends on what difficulty level you're using; my first complete playthrough was on Normal and I didn't have a mage who could heal in the party (except for Anders' companion quests.) I agree: taking Anders along is very annoying, but a healer is certainly not compulsory. With the cooldown on Heal, it's not as powerful as it might be, so while it would help for Merrill to shoot off the occasional heal it might not make the difference that you think.

I actually prefer Merrill with no heals because it gives you a sense of the sort of mage that she is. It's the same with Anders actually; he makes a big deal about being a healer but when you look at his individual tree you get a hint of what he "really" is.

[skyrend]

Forst1999 wrote...

You can do fine without a healer. Threat management, good use of potions, life ward and Mythal's favor make a healer less important. You can do without.
As a bloodmage Merrill with high con is propably the best companion, there has to be a catch.

I agree for the most part, and I have been playing 2h warrior without Anders or a real S/S tank.  Still, I don't see why I couldn't have the option.  Not to mention the healing tree has some other significant benefits (at least on paper as I haven't played a mage with the healing tree besides Bethany until...).

Sordel wrote...

Depends on what difficulty level you're using; my first complete playthrough was on Normal and I didn't have a mage who could heal in the party (except for Anders' companion quests.) I agree: taking Anders along is very annoying, but a healer is certainly not compulsory. With the cooldown on Heal, it's not as powerful as it might be, so while it would help for Merrill to shoot off the occasional heal it might not make the difference that you think.

I actually prefer Merrill with no heals because it gives you a sense of the sort of mage that she is. It's the same with Anders actually; he makes a big deal about being a healer but when you look at his individual tree you get a hint of what he "really" is.

A mage with a group heal and revive?

[Sordel]

Well, yes, he has group heal and revive, but spirit healer Hawke is much better at healing than Anders, and half of Anders's tree are dps abilities. I think that the devs absolutely intended Anders's credentials as a healer to be subject to doubt.

[SuicidalBaby]

creation on Merrill is available by mod

heal on a mage is fine, heal on Merrill is downright broken. she is already powerful as is and does not need it.

[Forst1999]

skyrend wrote...

Forst1999 wrote...

You can do fine without a healer. Threat management, good use of potions, life ward and Mythal's favor make a healer less important. You can do without.
As a bloodmage Merrill with high con is propably the best companion, there has to be a catch.

I agree for the most part, and I have been playing 2h warrior without Anders or a real S/S tank.  Still, I don't see why I couldn't have the option.  Not to mention the healing tree has some other significant benefits (at least on paper as I haven't played a mage with the healing tree besides Bethany until...).


[

The healing tree (creation) for sure has other benefits, but so has the entropy tree, which Merrill has and Anders lacks. I think it is nice that the mages have different skill setups. Anders with his personal healing tree and a broad palette of spells, but without the real nasty tricks entropy offers; Bethany with her very broad amount of skills, both offensive and defensice, but lacking the controlled damage the primal tree offers, Merrill with her pure aggressive skill set. The warriors and rogues are very differently from each other, so why not the mages? (okay, Carver just is a worse Fenris, Varric and Sebstian are rather similar, but it think my point still is valid).Fighting style is a part of the character, so it has to be varied.

[MichaelXC]

Well I personally don't want the healing tree for Heal but actually want Heroic Aura and Haste, not to mention Glyph of Paralysis is also quite useful. And the fact that Merril can basically run a huge amount of sustains without losing any capability to cast spells would mean a dps/tank mage as well as a sustained-ability-sink all-in-one. But then again it would make Anders pretty much obsolete and no one would use him if he doesn't at least have one thing better than Merrill.

[Running_Blind]

To be honest I found that Anders was healing himself more than anyone else. Warriors are tough enough to get by with the occasional use of a potion, Rogues can dump threat easily and Merrile is virtually unkillable.

[QwibQwib]

Pfft, Anders is the only one that can rez

[sonsonthebia07]

Yeah Merrill is already powerful enough as it is, it's a good thing that she cannot heal I think.


I do miss not being able to rez not using Anders, but there are bombs that rez too.

Modifié par sonsonthebia07, 06 avril 2011 - 12:38 .

[Maverick827]

I use the mod that gives Merill healing, but if I do then I restrict myself from taking any abilities in her personal tree. Then she's pretty much Bethany.

[YourFunnyUncle]

I understand why they didn't give her the heal tree from a gameplay perspective, but from a story perspective as someone who was training to be a keeper, it makes no sense to me.

[nicodeemus327]

I actually use the console on the PC to give all my mages the same trees at hawke. It's rather interesting and fun to play.

[Bfler]

If you consider the fact that the dalish elves live in close touch with nature it would be logical that Merrill could learn healing and resurrection spells Then she would be something like a shaman.

Modifié par Bfler, 06 avril 2011 - 01:12 .

[Forst1999]

Bfler wrote...

If you consider the fact that the dalish elves live in close touch with nature it would be logical that Merrill could learn healing and resurrection spells Then she would be something like a shaman.

Maybe the Dalish treat their sicks in a more conventional way. You know, crafting potions and such. Fits even better with the "tree hugging elf" stereotype.
Also, remember Pol's death? If Anders is with you, Merrill begs him to do some healing. So even from a story perspective, Merrill isn't a healer.

Modifié par Forst1999, 06 avril 2011 - 01:20 .

[Fruit of the Doom]

No.

[Feranel]

Wait, you guys don't use Anders as an 80% reduced cooldown nuking monster? I have potions for healing and resurection, Anders' precious precious mana is for "The right to shoot fools with lightning."

[Gnoster]

I completely understand where the OP is coming from.

Through now 3 playthroughs I have had to use Anders as the healer, for the simple reason that Bethany is taken away and the only other mage can't heal. I know a solution is to just turn down the gameplay difficulty and then walk over all the enemies with 4 dps'ers, but honestly that isn't fun either. ..and no, it's not an option to only play mage myself through all my games.

It's not that I dislike Anders as a character, it's just that it would be nice to be able to mix it up a bit more, so I don't keep getting the same party banter over and over ...and over :-)

Here's hoping that a DLC with a new companion is soon released containing a new mage with healing powers. Until then while I hate modding the character's skills, this seems to be my only choice.

Modifié par Gnoster, 06 avril 2011 - 03:48 .

[Killjoy Cutter]

YourFunnyUncle wrote...

I understand why they didn't give her the heal tree from a gameplay perspective, but from a story perspective as someone who was training to be a keeper, it makes no sense to me.

Yeap.  She's been trained since the age of 4 or 5 to be a Keeper, she should have healing magic. 

Of course, having installed the "unlock" mod that gives all the companions all the trees for their class, I've stopped worrying about things like this. 

[Killjoy Cutter]

Oh, isn't there a potion that's an AoE rez? Mystral's Favor or something like that?

[brazen_nl]

I'm still torn up about this. The more I play the game, the more I detest Anders. I'm so close to just giving Merrill healing. Why oh why is Bethany scripted out.

[Mira]

I agree with the OP - since Anders merged with Justice I'm trying to avoid him as much as possible. Merrill is much better companion.

As for using potions - I only do that during boss fights when there is no other choice. Using healing potions all the time sounds too much like Diablo... (not to mention it's just expensive)

SuicidialBaby wrote...

creation on Merrill is available by mod

Link, please - I couldn't find it on nexus.

Modifié par sean-camel, 06 avril 2011 - 05:43 .

[Feranel]

Double post

Modifié par Feranel, 06 avril 2011 - 06:11 .

[Feranel]

Why do people assume Keepers can heal?

Keeper specialization in DA:A had self healing, so does Merrill.

Zathrian's family is dead, his clan keeps getting pwned, his Hala keep dying, yeah, he's a real "healer."

Velana is a complete B----, she couldn't protect her sister, and was exiled for being "too violent." Not healer.

Marithari loses people to corruption, injury, etc... Her Hala all died off, somehow I don't think she's a "healer".