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[thendcomes]

Table of Contents

Use Ctrl+F to jump to the section by searching for the key word plus brackets.

General Knowledge and information
[Intro]
[Videos]
[Guidelines]
[DLC]
[Import decisions]
[Staff Swings]
[Enemies]
[Gold and XP]
[Battle Planning]
[Elements]
[Force]
[General Gearing]
[Consumables]
[Spells]

Act 1
[Act 1]
[Act 1 Build]
[Act 1 Gear]
[Act 1 Walkthrough]
[Act 1 Quests]
[Ancient Rock Wraith]

Act 2
[Act 2]
[Act 2 Build]
[Act 2 Gear]
[Act 2 Walkthrough]
[Act 2 Quests]

[Intro]

By following this guide you can create a very strong mage capable solo'ing even the most difficult encounters in the game and making it look easy. A solo mage is one of the hardest challenges this game provides and should not be attempted by someone who has not at least beaten the game with a full party on Nightmare first. The challenge can vary depending on the rules you follow regarding your playthrough.

Part of the challenge is trying to achieve the highest level possible at the end of the game, which is 27 (or 29 with Legacy). The game can be made significantly easier by opting to finish Acts quickly. Getting to new Acts at an early level will open up staves way stronger than generic staves and you can coast through many portions of the game.

If you want to know where to find anything, or need help with quests, all the information you could want is available at the Dragon Age 2 wiki here.

[Videos]

Deep Roads Mature Dragon kill - 1 min 21 sec- Speed run. Not a required build to defeat..
Ancient Rock Wraith kill - 2 min 20 sec- Speed run. Not a required build to defeat.
Nexus Golem Gauntlet - 3 min 5 sec- Speed run with Cold Blooded (not recommended) and Runes of Spirit Warding (very cheap and encounter breaking, definitely recommended if you're having trouble). Build/gear shown at the end.
Nexus Golem Gauntlet - 4 min 30 sec- This is a build without Haste, but useful for the fight. Not a speed run, more for really displaying what a solo mage is all about. There's a longer article on it linked in the Nexus Golem Section.
Xebenbeck Room clear without exiting - 6 min 14 sec - Really shows the power of the build with Cold-Blooded in Act 2. Dispel is obtained specifically for the fight. I doubt this is possible with a build that is significantly different.

[Guidelines] for the challenge

• Technically, the only rule is that companions must not aid in combat at any time (exception is #2). A purist would argue that you can't use party members at all, not for looting, disarming, or unlocking. I don't play this way.
• There are times when companions are forced into your party for their companion quests. For PC players, it's not always necessary to play with them, but since the game forces them upon you, I think it's ok. In my case, I do not level my companions, I set their tactics to passive, and uncheck all abilities. If you want to gear them and level them as normal, I see no problem with that. The only exceptions I personally follow are leveling Varric’s cunning to 50 (there are "ultra" traps in the game that require 50 cunning on PC, and 44 cunning on consoles) and Aveline's Strength and Constitution to wear the Lion of Orlais (or other shield with Rune Slots).
• The Mabari war hound is a usuable ability and thus I see no issue being used in a solo. You are entitled to play without it if you feel differently.
• Leaving chests unopened and traps armed a huge loss of experience and gold throughout the game, so I swap in Varric to open chests and disarm traps.
• I use companions as “Rune of Fortune bots” to maximize my gold throughout the game. I swap in Varric/Aveline/Fenris equipped with RoF (and +coin items) when looting. For PC players, no illegitimate use of swapping is allowed to earn extra money that would not be possible in a regular game.

***PC Players can download a companion swap mod here. It's easier and faster than using the console. Be careful using it since you can prevent progress by swapping out someone during a plot point where they are required.***

***XBOX360 and PS3 Players***

Since console users cannot swap companions in and out, there will be many times when you are forced to bring companions along at least to disarm traps and open chests. Many locations can be revisited after the enemies are all dead for looting and disarming. For areas where that's not possible, ideally have them hold position away from battle. If they interfere in a significant way that detracts from the challenge, then reset. In battles where you can't place them out of the way, kill them off at the beginning of every battle before doing anything while maintaining the integrity of the solo as much as possible.

Useful [DLC]

• Mabari War Hound DLC – Your dog will be one of your most reliable skills for much of the game. It's weak early on but gets exponentially stronger as you level. If you don't want to use it, it is probably feasible with a lot of extra patience and heartache. I would not recommend it.
• Black Emporium - This came with the game for many people. Has respec potions, one extra talent point, Rune of Fortunes, Robes of Unblemished Cleanliness, and more. Hard to imagine playing without at least the respec.
• Mage Pack 1 – This set is weaker than the Rogue and Warrior Item pack. The Staff in particular is not that useful until midway through Act 2. However, there are many good things to mention.
  • The armor and staff have no attribute requirements
  • The armor has tons of rune slots for RoF, or for increasing elemental resistances easily
  • Very high innate item levels ensure that you'll get the most bang for your runes
  • The high armor significantly reduces the margin of error in fights, especially early on and when you hit level 15 and 17 for the armor/headpiece
  • The level 13 gloves specifically have a Knockback Immunity modifier that will save you from taking the Etched Ring of the Twins
• Mage Pack 2 - classyUnicorn posted the stats for all the gear here. If you can only get one Mage pack, take the first one. The staff is not as good as Malcolm's Honor, and good Fire staves are already available in every Act. The helmet is worse than Mage Pack 1. Both chestpieces are significantly better than Mage Pack 1, but are still worse than Robes of Unblemished Cleanliness in Act 3. The gloves are a wash - still not sure if the knockback immunity is useful or not. The boots are the only piece that is an actual upgrade, but it's a small one at that.
• Staff of Parthalan - Easily available to anyone and can make parts of Act 1 much easier, especially Kirkwall guards and The Night Lies quest.
• Dura's Blue Flame - Free, available immediatley, best amulet in the game for cold damage, and for a well rounded mage in general.
• Legacy - The Legacy DLC is a double-edged sword. You can find great items there (take a look here for all the items available with stats) and there is more gold to obtain, but it also has over 40,000 XP inside which will level you higher and make the rest of the game more difficult. Additionally, the items within will not level with you so they will only be useful for a few levels. You don't have to do it all at once though, so I'll note where you may benefit most within the walkthrough. Several new items handy for a solo mage are below.
  • Eye of Blue - Pure fire damage amulet, increasing from 13% to 20% at level 23. Available from the first encounter. Good to grab immediately if you don't have Dura's for some reason.
  • Graven Circle - Obtained late, this ring can be stronger than the 100g rings in Acts 2 and 3. Obtained early, it will be comparable in damage, but not until you can get your crit chance up. Obtained in the second area of the DLC.
  • Smite - Amulet with Fire, Electric, and Spirit damage. Best overall Amulet until Act 3. Obtained late, it is the best amulet for a Spirit setup in the game.
  • Bloodstained Girdle - Best belt until Act 3's Seven Deadly Cinch.
  • The Hawke's Key - Electric damage staff. Obtained late, it is the best staff in the game. If you want it to level, it is best acquired early in Act 2. Look at the bottom of this post to decide how to upgrade it.

[Import decisions] and pre-built histories

Before you start the game, you can choose to import a history from DA:O and Awakenings into DA2. The decisions you import are not totally game changing, but they will impact a lot of things. You can use my import FAQ in my signature (which has since moved to the wiki) to select the best pre-built history or decisions that will help your Mage with experience or items. Or just click here.

Among the things affected by your choices are

• Act 1
  • Dark Epiphany - worth 2 attribute points
  • Miracle Makers - for the miracle making Stalker's Boar Hides, the best DPS armor in the game (excluding Mage Pack 2) until Robes of Unblemished Cleanliness
  • Experience and gold from quests like Secret Rendezvous, Last of His Line, Changing One's Nature, and The Conspirators.
• Act 2
  • Fool's Gold vs. Finding Nathaniel - the former is found in Act 2 and hides Zoey's Battered Horde Kickers. You'll miss out on the latter in Act 3 which contains Varric's third armor rune slot.
• Act 3
  • Finding Nathaniel - has Varric's third armor rune
  • A Murder of Crows - has Isabela's second armor rune should you choose to use her as a RoF bot over Aveline in Act 3

How to play a solo mage

Mage [staff swings] and you

As a solo mage, you will be relying on auto-attack for a large portion of the game. Mastering the technique is vital to surviving. The link in my signature shows you how.

[Enemies]

In a solo playthrough, you can’t just go around blowing things up as you would in a party. Here is a general description of how to deal with the different enemies you’ll find. Suicidal Baby has taken on the monumental task of creating a bestiary for the game, and that can be found here.

• Melee – Kite! Melee are the easiest enemies to deal with. Shoot, shoot, move your way to victory. The slower the attack animation, the easier they are to kite, so take out the dagger wielding melee before the 2h reavers. Shades are the most difficult to reliably kite since their attack animation is super-quick. They also have the lowest magic resistance of all enemy types and so will take the most damage from your attacks.
• Archers – These are usually priority #1. You can’t kite them. They will auto attack you to death unless you take them out quickly. Critters and Standard enemies deal around the same damage, so take the small ones out first. Usually the difficulty of the battle is directly related to how many archers you are facing. Medium magic resistance.
• Assassins – Assassins are very tough. Usually focus fire is pointless because they can continually avoid damage by stealthing. In most cases, you will have to leave them for last. Assassins will not enter stealth if they are the only ones left on the battlefield. After entering stealth, the Assassin will almost always backstab the target nearest to him, and you want that target to be your reliable dog. Assassins can be taken out of stealth by many spells. After obtaining Gravitic Ring at level 10, you can use it to keep even stealthed assassins at bay. If everything is on cooldown, then RUN!!! Take a look at Mr. AFK’s guide here for more detailed Assassin help.
• Rage Demons – Very similar to assassins except easier. Their backstabs do not mean instant death. Their normal attacks do fire damage, which your dog is immune to. They can be taken out of “stealth” like regular assassins. However, unlike assassins, they will continue to burrow under the ground even if they are the only enemies left.
• Mages - The mages that "bubble" are easy. They will stay in a bubble until the fight is over and they are the only ones remaining. Mages that do not bubble have attacks that are easy to dodge by moving. They teleport to pre-programmed locations, so if you've taken the fight to a different room or area, they will teleport back to the first room and be out of your hair at least temporarily. All Mage types have high Magic Resistance AND are not weak to any element.
• Saarebas - Same as regular mages, except they don't bubble, and their version of the "magic bomb" is much deadlier and harder to avoid than the regular mage version. Should be treated much more cautiously.
• Blood Mages – Blood mages are capable of a lot of damage and their attacks can be hard to dodge, especially with other enemies on the battlefield. Because they are so dangerous, boss blood mages like Leech and Lady Harimann are especially difficult. They have 3 attacks: 1) Hemorrhage, 2) Charged up Blood Projectile, and 3) a channelled spell that affects a large radius around them. Single target spells like Winter's Grasp, Chain Lightning, and Stonefist can interrupt their casting, as can AOE spells. You should be constantly on the move so you don't get caught in the middle of a Hemmorhage, because it will get a couple ticks in. The charged projectile hurts, and must be interrupted. Keep your interrupting spells off cooldown just for this purpose. The channelled melee spell is their least dangerous, and as a result you can entice them to use it by using your dog or running into melee range.
• Arcane Horror – Just like blood mages, except all their attacks do spirit damage and thus can be countered with spirit resistance. They are also much slower and can be out ranged.
• Commanders – Their attack pattern is very predictable. If they are engaged with your dog, they will stun it first, then throw their sword down to send a stun projectile towards you. It can be easily avoided. Prior to patch 1.03, you could safely leave these guys for last. However, after Patch 1.03, the aura they have is much more powerful. It astronomically increases nearby enemies’ health regeneration and damage resistance. In many cases, you should take these guys out first if archers are not present.
• Desire Demons – Like commanders, except they have a projectile auto attack. Usually should be priority number one. They can do a lot of damage if your dog is not around to occupy them. However, because they move so slowly, it is possible to kite them by outranging their projectile. Their attacks are also spirit based and thus can be countered with spirit resistance.
• Revenant – Like melee commanders, except they move around more and they have a potentially dangerous special "GET OVER HERE!" move if you don't dodge it. They telegraph it by throwing their sword down first. The area of effect moves out in about a 30 degree cone shape from where he's pointing. Maneuver out of the cone shape to avoid getting pulled in. Moving behind the Revenant also works.

Managing your [gold and XP]

Gold

Your ability to manage your bank account will have a huge impact on your playthrough. The challenge is possible without paying it any mind, but will be much more difficult. Managing your gold involves increasing the amount you get from drops through Runes of Fortune and +coin gear, but also reducing your spending. In this way, it's a balancing Act trying to find what is worth buying. You could theoretically maximize gold by finding gear with a lot of rune slots and never remove those pieces for the whole game. That probably will not get you very far.

In each Act, there is a finite amount of +% coin you can get. Your goal should be to get as much as possible without spending more than you'd earn back while making sure not to gimp yourself in the process. For example, a hat that costs 6g should not be obtained solely for the rune slot. This even applies to the cost of the Rune of Fortune. If you don't plan on wearing a piece for very long, buying a Rune of Fortune to place in there may not earn you back the cost.

Once you figure out your final +coin amount for that Act, avoid looting any location where you can revisit later. Once you accumulate all the pieces, you can go back to the areas you cleared and cash in on all the extra coin.

• Act 1 - The only 2 companions who have rune slots available in Act 1 are Varric (10%) and Aveline (up to 11.75%). For gear, if you have the Mage Pack, you'll find solid gear with rune slots and it's all free. Other DLC items can also do the trick if you don't.
• Act 2 - Varric (20%) and Aveline (up to 21.75%) are still your companions of choice, and Fenris (20%) is now the third. No one else can get more than 10%. The amount you can get from gear will not increase drastically, although owners of the mage pack can get an extra slot in the helmet.
• Act 3 - Varric (30%) and Fenris (30%) are the only ones who can wear 3 rune slots in their armor. Aveline is still stuck at 21.75%, which beats out everyone else who cannot get more than 20%. However, if you decided to go with the Lion of Orlais, Aveline caps out at 18.75% and another companion will beat her. Don't forget that companion armors usually cost money, and whoever you plan on using in her place will have to get their armor in Act 2.

As for a cost-benefit analysis of all the different items in the game, I give recommendations in the Act walkthroughs.

XP

The goal of the challenge is to finish a "complete" game as a solo mage, which includes opening every chest, finishing every quest, finding every resource, etc. If everything is done correctly, and with the proper imported decisions, you can hit level 27 without Legacy and level 29 with Legacy. However, even though that is your goal, managing your XP gains during each Act has an impressive effect on the difficulty of the challenge.

The game gets harder as you level, both from your gear not improving with level and enemy scaling. Your goal should be to keep your XP down when possible. That means skipping things like resources and locked chests in areas where you can revisit. Another obvious one is handing in quests. If the quest is done, and the bad guys are dead, don't turn it in until the end of the Act. If you save all the unnecessary XP gains until the end, you can spare yourself a lot of heartache.

Lastly, take on the difficult quests sooner rather than later. Act 1 quests like Wayward Son, Pier Pressure/Night Lies/Sharp Little Pinpricks, Secret Rendezvous etc. are more difficult compared to other quests. They will just get harder as you increase in level.

[Battle Planning]

• Save often! - Any battle has the potential to kill you. Make sure you save before walking further along or before entering new areas. Hard save every so often just in case.
• Planning - If you're unfamiliar with the battle, identify what enemies you're facing and what they're weak to, where they spawn, any waves there may be, traps, etc. You need to develop a plan before you can work on it.
• Pull individuals - Your first tactic should be to try to pull enemies away from the main group. You can do this from a distance or from around a corner. Once one or more appear on your minimap, they've spotted you and will chase you if you run. If they have only detected your dog and not you, they will not appear on the minimap and not chase!
• Reset combat - If the battle is going sour, drop a Gravitic or leave your dog and run! You can run away to end combat so you can save and regain HP and mana. "Far enough" is when there are no red dots left on your minimap. In close quarters or indoors this will not always be possible.
• Pull with your dog - While out of enemy view, summon your dog in enemy view. This puts immediate aggro on the dog instead of you. In the meantime, you can focus damage on a single priority target to knock them out of the battle.
• Utilize a choke point - Gravitic Ring is an incredibly powerful spell which can hold off the entire enemy group just by putting it at a choke point. This doesn't have to be a door. This can be a simple as around a corner, or in front of a group of melee. This gets you 20 free seconds to focus damage on priority targets, and setting up Firestorms or other AOE.
• Manage your mana and cooldowns - Unless you can AOE everything down in one barrage of spells, you will likely need to patiently take down priority targets and avoid damage while conserving mana. Save spells for de-stealthing Assassins, interrupting Mages, and preventing damage. If your spells are all on cooldown and you're out of mana, RUN!

Equipment

[Elements] and [Force]

Elements are a mage's best friend. Most enemies are weak to at least one element (a table showing enemy elemental weaknesses is here, corrections: Abominations are not weak or immune to anything, some mages are not immune to Spirit) and exploiting those weaknesses is the key to battle.

All attacks can interrupt an enemy by producing enough force (force mechanics explained here) but elements have special properties that physical damage doesn't have (special properties explained here.

A little cliff notes on what to expect from each element:

• Fire has no property. Slavers and Kirkwall guards are weak to fire and not much else. When you find yourself in a situation against someone not weak to any element, Fire is likely to be your best bet because it almost always has the best +% damage from gear and talents.
• Cold's property is great, as it slows both movement speed and attack speed. Many dangerous enemies (Arcane Horror, Dragons, Rage Demons, Golems, Profanes) and numerous enemies (Qunari) are weak to cold. The best staves in Act 1 and Act 2 are both cold damage.
• Electricity's property would be dubious, since a forceful attack already interrupts an attack, however the stuns affect Shades and Spiders, who are normally resistant to force effect. Stuns also remove aggro, so you can use it to get a Raider archer off you and onto your dog. The Hawke's Key from Legacy is the strongest Electric staff in the game depending on when it is found. Besides that one, there is Eye of the Storm in Act 3. Some of the more dangerous and numerous enemies in the game are weak to electricity (Shades, Desire Demons, Spiders, Raiders).
• Nature's property innately increases the force of the attack by 25%, which is incredible because it improves your chance to stunlock with your staff. Because Hawke has no Nature spells, only staff attacks can be boosted. There is only one unique staff in the game, but it is the strongest in the game. Only one enemy type is weak to only Nature, the very numerous and dangerous Mercenary type, but Shades, Qunari, Darkspawn, and more are also weak to Nature.
• Spirit is the only property that increases damage. It is hard to boost with +% damage, and even if you do, Spirit Bolt is the only relevant spell that benefits from it. Many enemies are weak to spirit though, and if you have the Mage Item Pack, Malcolm's Honor will level with you the whole game. Chanter's staff in Act 1, Stone's Breath in the Deep Roads, and Allure's Crook in Act 2 are the important unique Spirit Staves.

[General Gearing]

A mage can exploit enemy elemental weaknesses using elemental staves. You'll have to loot or buy staves of different elements throughout the game. The game unfathomably has no gear swap or even weapon swap functionality, so you will have to swap manually mid-combat by entering the inventory. This can be aggravating in a fight with 3 different enemies with different immunities and weaknesses.

***PC Players can download a weapon swap mod here.***

Most mage gear in the game does not have any DPS properties. Besides the big pieces in Act 3, all you'll see are small boosts to single elements. In general, these will not increase your DPS as much as items with crit chance and crit damage. The reason is simple: crits affect all sources of damage of any element, including physical, whereas single element increases only affect one element out of six. Use my Mage Spell Damage and DPS spreadsheet in my signature for help with gearing up, or just click here.

In each Act, you can supplement your elemental staves with elemental armor and accessories. A list of unique elemental gear by Act is here. You can also buy generic gear from specific vendors in and around Kirkwall. A list of which vendors sell which elements is here. The generic item list is not totally complete. You should look through the comments to get a more comprehensive idea of what is available and where. Things to gather:

• Fire is by far the easiest to gear up for in every Act. It's availabe in every slot starting from Act 1 and some of the biggest modifiers in the game (Dura's Blue Flame, Ring of the Ferryman) include fire. However, because you can get 50% free fire damage from skills, you'll get the smallest return from +fire gear.
• Cold accessories are found with regularity at Bonny Lem's. Cold apparel is found only at Shady Merchandise and is unfortunately much, much rarer.
• Lightning gear is hard to come by, and if you want to keep a lightning set, make sure not to throw any of it away. Bodahn sells lightning rings, but only in Act 1, so stock up with Dirthamen's and another generic ring while you can. No vendors sell generic lightning armor. However, Lightning gets a big boost by benefiting from the Ring of the Ferryman and Smite in Act 3.
• Nature accessories are available from Ilen and less frequently at Shady Merchandise. Nature armor is only available from Shady Merchandise very rarely. In Act 2, you can get the Poisonwood Locket, but this is outclassed by Four Fingered Eddy's Lucky Talisman in Act 3. Note the only Nature damage available to Mage Hawke is generic staves and The Final Thought in Act 3.
• Spirit rings and belts are not available until Act 2 and Act 3, respectively. Amulets and armor are always available in the back of the Gallows. Unfortunately, Spirit is hampered by not being compatible with the Robes of Unblemished Cleanliness, or any big damage piece in general except Smite. On top of that, the most potent Spirit spell - Walking Bomb - is unaffected by +spirit% modifiers, so the only relevant spells you'll be boosting are Spirit Bolt and Horror.

[Consumables]

• Curative Potions - Restoration potions are good because you can double them up with Lyrium potions to restore most of your mana.
• Buff Potions - Rock Amor/Mighty Offense/Elixir of Purity are not generally necessary but should be used if you need help getting over a particularly tricky battle.
• Poisons - Arcane Poison is huge. Almost all your attacks will be magical, and enemy magic resistance in NM is high. It will be a straight 15% damage increase on affected enemies. The other poisons are all bugged or not worth the cost.
• Grenades - Tar Bombs and Combustion Grenades are valuable aoe CC found in Act 1 and are cheap to make. In Act 3, Fell Grenades are pricey but do a TON of damage.
• Weapon Runes - Few staves have rune slots. Weapon runes are generally junk in Act 1. +x element damage is unmodified and will do paltry extra damage. The first useful one you find is Rune of Striking, but there aren't any Staves in Act 2 that can use it. In Act 3, you'll have access to 10% damage to everything and one Primeval Lyrium Rune, which should be placed in either the Torch of Falon'din or The Final Thought.
• Armor Runes - Your best friends. Used wisely, Runes of Fortune will enable you to afford all the best gear by the end of the game. Elemental Warding runes can make some of the most difficult encounters cheese. A list of the elements used by all enemies in the game is here.

[Spells]

Rather than repeat myself on what spells are useful and how, I'll list some interesting things about a great number of spells that you should consider using in your play through:

• Elemental - Your biggest DPS and utility tree. Cold and Fire will serve you well the whole game.
  • Winter's Grasp - An absolutely awesome nuke from the beginning of the game to the end. Cheap, short cooldown, great element, great debuff. Worth upgrading for the small AOE it provides, which can really put a hurt on a bunch of enemies group up from Pull of the Abyss or Gravitic Ring. Be careful with your dog (or yourself!) that you don't get hit by the AOE.
  • Cone of Cold - Very reliable cone AOE that is instant and potent. Gets you out of a jam, assassins out of stealth, this spell is all utility. Downside is the long cooldown. The upgrade is not worthwhile, since it just adds a greater chance to freeze.
  • Fireball - Cheap, AOE, and pretty strong with all your fire gear at 2.25x base damage. The upgrade only ups the radius and force, so I don't upgrade.
  • Firestorm - Just a ridiculous spell. Can reach upward of 18x base damage without upgrade. Upgrade adds 33% damage, so can total 24x base damage, the most damage in the game. Can be used to demolish a group of enemies in a Gravitic Ring or after Pull of the Abyss, or can be used to CC a single priority target for 10 seconds. Counts as a DoT, so you can perform other actions while it's devastating the battle field. Downsides are a 3 second cast and you can get unlucky with where the fireballs land. At 60 mana I consider this a steal and I can't believe the cooldown is only 30 seconds.
  • Elemental Mastery - No brainer. Requires 7 points in Elemental, which should be WG + upgrade, CoC, FB, Pyromancer, and FS + upgrade.
• Primal - Handy against electric-weak enemies, but most important is Rock Armor.
  • Rock Armor - 25% damage reduction. One point wonder. Your best defense against archers, especially early.
  • Chain Lightning - Great AOE spell with high damage, stuns, low cooldown, and can take assassins out of stealth if used on a nearby enemy. Hard to use before upgrade due to short proximity required for arc. After upgrade, zaps up to 5.
  • Tempest - Lackluster damage, especially before upgrade. Its zaps can stun. Overall pretty crappy even after the upgrade.
  • Stonefist - Same power as WG, shorter CD, but without the debuff. After upgrade does 50% more damage, but unfortunately it is physical damage, so I don't recommend it. Useful as a single target interrupt. Use on targets with low armor, like mages.
  • Petrify - A strange single target CC meant to lock a target down and brittle with the upgrade. Of no use to you.
  • Galvanism - Worthwhile just for the boost to Rock Armor. Requires 7 points, so you should get SF, Petrify, RA, CL + upgrade, and Tempest + upgrade
• Spirit
  • Spirit Bolt - Quick, powerful nuke that packs a lot of force. Very cheap with upgrade, short cooldown, Spirit's bread and butter skill. Upgrade increases damage by 50%.
  • Walking Bomb - Very powerful when used precisely. Can devastate huge groups of enemies. However, it's difficult to use effectively since the detonation has a small radius. It will always take away 50% of enemy's health regardless of +spirit%. Virulent upgrade is the key to devastation, but only has a 20% proc rate. Corrosive upgrade adds a DoT equal to only one non-upgraded Spirit Bolt, but combined with Virulent it can help set up multiple explosions. If you're here only for Walking Bomb, then you may want it over Dispel.
  • Dispel - Can be useful against Commanders as it removes their aura for about 10 seconds. This allows you to get a full damage Firestorm on enemies around the commander. Also removes Pride demon auras, but that doesn't really help you. Upgrade does same damage as non-upgraded spirit bolt, so avoid at all costs.
  • Death Syphon - Get 5% mana from a corpse before upgrade, 10% mana and 5% health after upgrade. Could have been useful, except Valiant Aura and Rock Armor are more important, and with this sustain you'll be down to 50% mana. Upgraded, you need only 4 corpses to equal a Lyrium potion, but the Health regen is too small, eg. you need 12 corpses to equal one health potion. Would seem to go well with Blood Magic, except that sustain blocks the health regen from Death Syphon. Take only as a requirement for Spirit Master.
  • Spirit Master - Best for the 10% crit. The only worthwhile boost afforded by 25% spirit damage is for staff attacks, Spirit Bolt and Horror. Other sources like Corrosive Walking Bomb, Transmutation, Entropic Aura, are small. Choose this before Galvanism for a glass cannon build. Get SB + upgrade, WB + 2 upgrades, Death Syphon and Dispel.
• Arcane - Only useful spell is Crushing Prison.
  • Elemental Weapons - Good for very early, never good after that. Adds minimal damage that is unmodified by any bonuses.
  • Mind Blast - Other spells do what this does but way better.
  • Arcane Shield - Defense doesn't work against arrows. The Elemental Shield upgrade is situational at best, and the other has no use to you. A total waste of points for 20% of your mana.
  • Barrier - Can help in a pinch, especially when upgraded. This can be a strategic boon in Legacy, where you may have to expose yourself to some damage before completing your tactics. Most damage outside of Legacy can be avoided or prevented though, so it's situational.
  • Crushing Prison - Strongest single target nuke in the game, also has a chance to CC. Upgrade grants 33% more damage. Physical damage but multiplier is 2x stronger than Stonefist and 3x stronger than WG. Only costs 10 more mana. Best used on mages who have low armor and no elemental weakness. Sadly requires Mind Blast and does not lead to a Mastery. You may enjoy using it in between getting your masteries.
• Creation - The buff tree. Mandatory 5 points go here from Act 2 onward.
  • Heal - Weaker than a health pot without upgrade and costs too much mana especially early. Can be useful used in conjunction with health potions.
  • Heroic Aura - Upgraded is the best buff in the game. 15% attack rating is a boon to an early mage and 10% damage and crit is better than any mastery.
  • Haste - 50% dps increase for 20 seconds? Yes please. Total coincidence this lasts as long as Gravitic Ring? Don't know, don't care.
  • Glyph of Paralysis - Not worth the time or cost to cast. Ends up being a semi-expensive, unreliable, short length interrupt/CC.
  • Glyph of Repulsion - Haven't used, but sounds okay on paper. Lasts for 10 seconds so it could buy you time to DPS longer in between Gravitic Rings. Unfortunately won't work against Fade creature, Spiders, and other enemies that are unmoved by force. Necessity of upgrade is questionable.
• Entropy - Debuffs in Nightmare do not last the stated amount on the tooltip. They are first reduced by 30% to account for the harder difficulty, and further reduced by an enemies magic resistance. The hardest enemies in the game who you would want to debuff tend to have the highest magic resistance as well.
  • Hex of Torment - Lasts 10.5 seconds before magic resistance. It ends up being a loss of DPS in virtually every scenario. The upgrade would be fantastic for your low-crit mage, if only it stayed up for longer and didn't need 6 points to invest.
  • Horror - Lasts 7 seconds before magic resistance. The upgrade will do 4.5x base damage over 5 ticks, regardless of the duration of the stun, so it's a good place for 3 points if you like Spirit damage.
  • Sleep - Lasts 7 seconds before magic resistance, only 50% chance to work against standard enemies. Useless.
  • Misdirection Hex - Lasts 7 seconds before magic resistance. Will not defend against backstabs or special abilities. Upgraded it will debuff for less time than Winter's Grasp.
  • Entropic Cloud - Untested. Must use on an enemy instead of an AOE, so it may be reduced by 30% and magic resistance. Cast animation takes a few seconds. A lot of low chances for minor debuffs doesn't add up to a good spell. Upgrade adds pitiful damage, slow debuff and damage resistance.
• Force Mage - Your first specialization. The bonus increases force of all damage, which helps greatly when staff attacking.
  • Fist of the Maker - Low damage, even with 0% armor modifier. Very reliable for getting assassins out of stealth due to low cost and cooldown. Upgrades are not worth it.
  • Unshakable - This used to be mandatory before Patch 1.03. Now it is almost useless. Rock Armor in Act 1, and Etched Ring of the Twins or Black Silk Gauntlets (Mage Item Pack DLC) ensure you'll never need to invest this point.
  • Telekinetic Burst - Can buy you significant time against a group of archers, or an expensive way to destealth assassins. Still not enough force to phase Demons or Beasts even with the upgrade.
  • Pull of the Abyss - High utility spell. Useful to collect enemies for AOE, or for placing a Gravitic Ring, or to buy yourself time. The only downside is it will not work against Demons or Beasts. The upgrade is skippable.
  • Gravitic Ring - The best spell a Mage has. It's a brick wall with a 20 second duration. Use it at a choke point, around a corner, on top of you, or just in front of oncoming enemies to give you 20 seconds of free time. Works on every enemy in the game except for End of Act bosses.
• Spirit Healer - I've never used this. The +25 mana is not as useful as the +25 HP granted by Blood Mage. You shouldn't invest more than one point into this tree, if at all.
  • Healing Aura - This sustain grants you 1% HP per second while it's on (see health regen mechanics here) and you can't cast offensive spells. It could save you in a pinch but the opportunity cost is likely too high. You're giving up one skill point and 25 HP to have it, which by itself is 25 seconds of regen, and your heals will restore less HP. The radius increase upgrade obviously offers you no benefit, and the double health regen would be great if you didn't need to invest 5 more points to get it.
  • Group Heal - Needs 2 points to be as powerful as your regular heal, and you won't be using that much either.
  • Revival - Revises your companions. You have no companions.
  • Second Chance - Clearly useless.
  • Vitality - This would be such a nice buff if it didn't require such a hefty investment in useless skills. Unfortunately this is beyond your reach.
• Blood Mage - This section is still under construction, but as of the 1.02/1.03 patch, the health cost is just too high without a five point investment in this tree, and may be too high period. The specialization should be taken at 14 for the +25 HP.

[ACT 1]

[/list]Build concept and justification

Offensively, your mage’s biggest asset from the prologue through the end of the first Act is auto-attack. Your spells just don’t do enough damage to kill anything and you don’t have the mana to support a lot of casting anyway. At least at first, you’ll be trying to turn yourself into an auto attacking turret, while picking up some utility spells.

Defensively, prior to 1.03, a Mage suffered from severe vulnerability to knockback prior to Unshakable at level 8. Now that is not the case. Unshakeable is completely unnecessary in Act 1. 25% damage mitigation from Rock Armor will be all you need.

Attributes – Those who have either Mage Pack should go 100% Magic. Magic increases your spell damage and auto attack damage, but most importantly your attack rating. Your first goal is to get 100% attack rating before you have the flexibility to try anything else. Those without a Mage Pack will need at least enough willpower to wear Vestments of the Mystic. Don't forget you have items with +willpower that you can equip to meet the requirement: Air of Confidence, Meghen Vael's Locket, Ring of Resilience, Enchanted Silverite Belt, etc. If you plan on wearing crit gear (Lowtown Stompers, Stalker's Boar hides, Bloody Butcher's Gloves) then fill out only enough Dex and Cun for this too. Don't forget to pre-buff.

[Act 1 Build]

Prologue

It is doable with a variety of abilities, but Winter's Grasp at level 2 and Heroic Aura at 3 is probably your best bet.

After prologue
Spec out of Mind Blast when you can. If you're having trouble with assassins, and need an extra tool, you should get Winter's Grasp and Cone of Cold instead of Pyromancer/Heal. Warning: This build is not fit to take on Rage Demons until at least level 7, so stay away from those quests until then.

1 - Rock Armor
2 - Fireball - Fire Spells have always synergized well with the dog because he is immune to them. Since the patch massively buffed Fireball and Firestorm, you should get them instead of Chain Lightning early on. However, it's more difficult to use since there are LOS issues and you have to time the projectile. Chain Lightning + Chain Reaction is the easier alternative.
3 - Heroic Aura
4 - Pyromancer
5 - Firestorm
6 - Heal
7 - Valiant Aura
7 or 8 (bonus) - Fist of the Maker
8 - Telekinetic Burst
9 - Apocalyptic Firestorm
9 (bonus) - Pull of the Abyss
10 - Gravitic Ring

After Gravitic, you can go for Cone of Cold, Winter's Blast + Elemental Mastery, Chain Lightning + Chain Reaction, or Haste + Great Haste.

I had great success with this build. Fireball and the puppy are enough to deal with assassins for most of Act 1. The other option is to take points out of the Creation tree and invest in Winter's Grasp, Cone of Cold, Chain Lightning and Chain Reaction. The obvious disadvantage is that your attack rating will be hurting for awhile, and you lose 10% damage and crit.

[Act 1 Gear]

In the prologue, make sure to replace your fire staff with the cold staff found on the first body.

Staves

• Staff of the Primal Order - Best Act 1 staff. Best damage, big time + cold % and + fire %, and a rune slot. This staff really shines in the Deep Roads. Get it ASAP. Sold by Bonny Lem.
• Staff of Parthalan - 22 Fire Damage, great staff and synergizes with your Fire spells and +fire% gear
• Chanter's Staff - 22 Spirit damage, received during Act of Mercy
• The Hypnotist's Staff - 22 Lightning damage, received during Act of Mercy
• The Hawke's Key - From the Legacy DLC, I don't recommend grabbing this right away. It will beat out the Hypnotist's staff on damage by level 8 (!) but you gain levels quickly early on and so you'll outgrow it too soon.

Other

Amulet – Dura’s Blue Flame. 10% cold and fire damage
Bloody Butcher's Gloves - Sadly the best DPS gloves in the game for a mage, but offers low armor. No need to rush, especially if you'll need to put points into Dex just to wear them.
Lowtown Stompers - One of the better DPS boots you'll find in the game, but same as Bloody Butcher's Gloves, no need to rush.
Stalker's Boar Hides - Best armor in the game until Act 3. Ramps up in usefulness after Valiant Aura.
Cap of the Antivan King - It won't be that strong early on, but once you get Valiant Aura it is the 2nd best DPS helmet in the game, behind the Mage Pack Apostate's Mask.

Without a Mage Pack, you'll be hurting for armor rating, but you don't need to turn to Blood Dragon Gear:
Vestments of the Mystic (Black Emporium 7g)
Boots of Frozen Waste - DLC
Gloves of the Spiral Eye - found during Long Way Home

Belt – Enchanted Silverite Belt - It's back on the priority list behind Staff of Primal Order, Vestments of the Mystic, and the 2 talent point items. You'll only have it for a little while before it gets replaced by the Belt of the Primevals (or Bloodstained Girdle from Legacy) in Act 2. Long term, you may need it for pre-buffing before equipped a rogue crit piece.

I shove Runes of Fortune in rune slots that I will wear for awhile. Runes of Fortune cost silver, so you have to keep the armor for long enough to recoup your expenditure. If you have the Mage Pack, I don't think it's worth giving up the rune slots and extra stats that this armor bestows versus buying specific +element% gear to swap in and out for different battles. That would be useful for a speed run, but for a typical soloist, the extra mana, armor, and other stats are more useful.

For accessories, if you don't have the Ring of Resilience, generic rings with cold or fire damage will be useful during Act 1, but it's just not needed. If you want electricity rings for now or later, Acts 2 and 3 have none. In Act 1 only, Ilen sells a unique ring and Bodahn sells generic rings. The best ring will be any ring you find with +2% critical chance.

[Act 1 Walkthrough]

Prologue

You'll have to make liberal use of pulling individual mobs, especially for the large group with the darkspawn emissary. Sevenplusone has a couple of videos in his guide that show you what you should be trying to do. He gets Stonefist, but if you want a single target nuke, Winter's Grasp is just about superior in every way.

For the Ogre, first run down the south paths so you can take him on with only a few darkspawn. All his attacks are easily avoidable, but don't take your eye of him because he hurts. Watch out for the charge in the narrow corridor - make sure you have enough room to sidestep. His charges and rock throws will hurt the Darkspawn, so focus on avoiding damage and leave him for last. Make sure you have your dog available to summon before killing the Ogre.

After the Ogre is dead, make sure to save as soon as you exit combat. A cutscene will ensue and you'll have to do the Ogre over again if you die during the next sequence. After the cutscene, you'll have fight another large group with four Bolters. The sequence will end once 6 Darkspawn are dead. The Bolters should be your main concern. Once they are dead, the next 2 are easy. Try to outrange the other Bolters while taking down the rest. If you're not counting your staff swings here, you will probably die to the dozen melee Hurlocks following you around.

***PC Players - Make sure your companions are around for the cutscenes***

After Prologue

Money Making

As you go through the game, make sure you sell extra Stam pots, Injury Kits, and Lyrium pots at every opportunity. You would also do yourself a favor by storing a handful of extra Health pots and Lyrium pots to possibly take into the Deep Roads with you, or for other difficult encounters in the future.

I follow SuicidalBaby’s Money guide here to get the Rune of Fortune design right away, except I DO buy the Amulet of Influence to place in Varric’s amulet slot for the rest of the game. If you're serious about making money in the game, the posts in the thread give a lot of information not contained in the OP. In Act 1, I used to give Aveline the Lion of Orlais instead of Rosamund’s Bulwark, since it was always a close call making it to 26 before The Last Straw. Now, Legacy grants 42,000 xp so if you have it, you shouldn't have a problem reaching the next level threshold with Rosamund's Bulwark.

After I get the Rune of Fortune design, stick 2-3 RoF in Aveline's Shield and stack up the slots on the Mage Pack gear. Those without the Mage Pack should place 2 in Vestments of the Mystic, Boots of Frozen Waste, and optionally the Gloves of Unknowable Unknown or Slaver Lord's Cowl (found during Bait and Switch) if you plan on wearing those for the rest of the Act. Lastly, I go for Fenris to get the String of Pearls and equip that on Varric or Aveline.

Legacy

I don't recommend going through Legacy in Act 1. You'll quickly outstrip the gear you find, and you'll gain a lot of XP that will make your life hell. If you don't have Dura's Blue Flame for some reason, you can go in for the Eye of Blue from the very first encounter.

[Act 1 Quests]

After finishing Birthright (Staff of Parthalan wrecks slavers), you should have enough to get the Staff of the Primal Order. When fighting your way to Bonny Lem's, you'll have to put the battle guidelines above to good use. The staff will come to good use in the next few quests (Dragons, Arcane Horror, and Tal Vashoth are all weak to cold). After Long Way Home, you should have enough for Vestments of the Mystic if you do not have the Mage DLC. During Blackpowder Promise, an aggressive Hawke should be sure to convince the rogue Tal Vashoth to fight against his kind. This will help later when you take on the Tal Vashoth Commander.

After that, I strongly recommend doing difficult quests right away, since your relative power decreases as you level up. Also, Act set pieces appear in main quests for those of you without a Mage Pack. Wayward Son followed by Act of Mercy will supply you with 2 great staves, bearing Electricity and Spirit damage, for free. Now that you're fully equipped, taking on difficult quests should be your priority.

Enemies Among Us (Shades weak to electricity)
The Night Lies (Guards weak to fire)
Pier Pressure
Sharp Little Pinpricks
Finish up Blackpowder Courtesy
Shepherding Wolves
Magistrate's Orders (Spiders weak to electricity)

Secret Rendezvous has two lieutenant assassins and may be worth waiting until after level 10 and Gravitic Ring.

Wayward Son

Particularly tough. Reiner is a lieutenant rogue and is accompanied by an Abomination, and Aboms are not weak to any element. The longer it takes to kill, the more resources you'll need to counter Reiner's backstabs, and at level 11 or 12, this will be very taxing. Also, Danzig is easy, but the Slaver Mage that spawns on the third wave of the fight is ridiculous. Pre-patch, the only way to kill him was to kite him over to Anders and have Anders + Dog whittle his HP down. Now you can do it without him, but it will require a lot of heals and kiting - you may just want to kite him over to Anders anyway. Alternatively, you can get some fire resistance and that will enable you to stand toe-to-toe with him.

Night Lies

With Parthalan, Pyromancer, and Dura's Flame, Qerth is in for a hurting. You should be able to take him out with a Firestorm targeted on him followed by staff attacks. Once he's down, if you can make it up the stairs and all the way to the back, you won't alert the upcoming wave. Kill the rest of the initial spawn from there and you will leave combat. The rest of the quest is standard archers first, melee second.

Pier Pressure

Open the door from the side, then summon the dog in the doorway to get the enemies attention. If you run to the back of the room now, you can kill a few guards without attracting Leech. See if you can continue to draw guards with the dog without Leech seeing you. At some point, you will have to take him on. He likes to teleport right at the doorway, which is also a good choke point for the adds, so you can drop a Firestorm on his head and Gravitic ring. Make sure to save your interrupts for his charged blood projectile.

Blackpowder Courtesy

The fight at the end is made much simpler by running up to the ledge where the Leader is standing. Summon the dog on top of him to keep him occupied, stand back by the little cubby and kill the handful of adds that come, then kill him. That should allow combat to end and you to save. There should only be 3 adds left to take on with the Sarebaas, which will make it much more manageable.

Unbidden Rescue

Mercenaries. A good nature staff will help here. Stay towards the back of the dead end to prevent getting the commander and the assassin at the same time. The assassin is actually weak to spirit, retarded I know.

Deep Roads

Before entering the Deep Roads, I always take one last stroll around every area in the game to make sure I didn't miss anything. When you're ready to enter, you'll need 2 Runes of Lightning Warding and maybe 3-4 Restoration potions just in case. You may also want to bring a Maker’s Sigh. Whether you have the Fugitive's Mantle from the Mage Pack or Vestments of the Mystic, 2 Runes in either should bring you close to 90% Lightning resistance. Make sure you put them in before the room where you find the Lyrium Idol, because after that you lose access to Sandal. Because of the big payload in the chests behind ARW, it's worth it to bring a backup chest piece with a Rune of Fotune if you have one available.

[Ancient Rock Wraith]

By the time you reach him, you should be level 13 with 15 total points to use. You CAN respec to make it an easier fight, although it's not necessary. If you do, there is little use for anything besides +cold% damage and Haste. If you’re trying to make it as easy as possible, it would probably look like 8 points in Elemental for Elemental Mastery, 5 points in Creation for Haste and Valiant Aura, Rock Armor and Elemental Weapons.

As for the fight itself, he really doesn’t produce enough damage to kill you outright, unless you get trapped in a corner. As a result, it's more of a battle of attrition, and enough health potions will allow you to kill him even if you're sloppy. If you have Firestorm, use it on him during the double damage phase, and keep the dog around for when ARW is chasing you. If the dog is dead when the Profanes are about to come up, don’t resummon until they are dead. Haste will also be best used during this time if you have it.

[ACT 2 build]

Build concept and justification

Your spells are likely eclipsing your staff now in damage, but you are limited by both mana and cooldowns. You could use points in willpower, but you get a poor mana return (25% of your mana is tied up in sustains) and that reduces your spell damage, which is the reason you need mana to begin with. I recommend using Gravitic and the Dog to prevent damage while setting up your enemies for maximum efficiency with your damage spells. You'll do this with passives. The relevant talents that beef up your damage are:

Valiant Aura - 10% across the board, 10% crit across the board
Great Haste - 17% across the board if you consider its effect minute to minute, however it's more powerful because it gives you the burst to remove the high priority targets in an encounter
Pyromancer - 25% fire only
Elemental Mastery - 25% fire and cold only
Galvanism - 25% lightning only
Spirit Master - 25% spirit only, 10% crit across the board

From a value perspective, clearly Valiant Aura and Great Haste win. You can get them both with only 5 points, while the Masteries take 8 to get and only affect 1 or 2 elements. You lose out on utility spells but have huge gains in the spells you currently have, which works well because of your limited mana. Spirit Master comes in a strong second, but it requires three wasted points and it won't treat you very well for much of Act 2.

From a practical perspective, Elemental Mastery will treat you best for the majority of Act 2. Your best DPS spell is Firestorm by a mile, your best single target nuke is Winter's Grasp, and the two best staves in Act 2 are Cold and Fire.

Attributes - If your attack rating is capped, put enough willpower/dex/cunning to wear gear (don't forget to pre-buff), otherwise 100% magic. Magic is still your most valuable stat by far even though your attack rating is maxed. If you don't have the Mage pack, you may consider putting a couple additional points in willpower if you have serious mana problems, but I don't recommend it.

[Act 2 Build]

Vital Abilities

At level 14, you'll have 16 points. Once you have 17 points, whether from leveling or purchasing the Tome (not before Cold-Blooded) you should respec to:

Rock Armor - 1 point
Valiant Aura/Great Haste - 5 points
Elemental Mastery - 8 points
Gravitic Ring - 3 points

You can have have success by going up the Primal or even Spirit tree instead, but the Elemental tree is the most powerful and synergizes best with your skills and gear.

From here, move up the Primal or Spirit tree to get the mastery. Those without any Mage Pack may find the boosted armor from Galvanism more useful than those with the Mage Packs. Because the Mastery is what you're there for, mix and match the best from both trees until you have 7 total extra points for Galvanism at level 20, or 8 total extra points for Spirit Mastery at level 21. These will be Chain Lightning + Chain Reaction, Spirit Bolt + Spirit Strike, and Walking Bomb + Virulent Walking Bomb + Corrosive Walking Bomb. If you like Crushing Prison for a single-target Nuke, you can spend 3 points there in the meantime as well.

[Act 2 Gear]

Staves

At the beginning of Act 2, you should have a staff of every element at 28 damage or more. Keeping your staves upgraded will mean the difference between a good challenge and breaking the keyboard with you head.

• Cold-Blooded - 37 Cold Damage. This is the strongest staff in the game against Cold weak enemies. The low base damage is offset by the gigantic +30% cold damage modifier. If you've been maximizing gold, you should be able to just barely afford this right out of the gate, or at least be very close.
• Voracity - 41 Fire Damage. The best staff in the Act aside from Cold spells. Can be received from doing Forbidden Knowledge. Even when not facing Fire-weak enemies, this staff can be swapped in to cast more potent spells (Firestorm/Tempest). If you have Mage Pack 1 or 2, you'll be doing more damage with either of those by level 18 or so.
• Allure's Crook - 35 Spirit Damage. Found during Repentence.
• The Hawke's Key - It's not necessary, but at level 14 this staff will have 35 damage and will help immensely against all the shades you'll be seeing. It will be matched by generics by level 18 though.

Essential

Apostate's Mask - If you have the Mage Pack 1, this is the best in slot headpiece and usable at level 17
Aldenon's Vestments - If you have the Mage Pack 2, this is the best piece until Act 3 and usable at level 17
Zoey's Battered Horde-Kickers (if available) - Best DPS boots in the game for a mage. Found during Fool's Gold, which is only available depending on your save import.
Puzzle Ring of the Black Fox - Pricey but best in slot ring. If you don't need the Knockback Immunity on the Etched Ring, this is the better ring. Get after Cold-Blooded and Tome from Ilen.
OR
Etched Ring of the Twins - Possibly essential without the knockback immunity from the Mage DLC gloves. If you have Legacy, save your money, because The Graven Circle will be better than this. Without Legacy, this is the second overall best ring in the game. Unfortunately you won't be able to afford both rings in this Act.

Without a Mage Pack, you may want to boost your armor rating with the following. This will set you back from obtaining Cold-Blooded, so only do so if you really need it:

Chest - Vain from Lirene's for 10g or Robes of the Void for 10g from Jean Luc. Vain gives you a little more armor, Robes give you 36 mana.
Helm - Mariner's Trust. Bought from Shady Merchandise for 5g. A much better value than Cap of the Ponderer. DuPuis Family Chapeau is not worth 3g more just for the +coin modifier
Boots - Worn Leather Boots at 4g from Shady Merchandise has the best value and good DPS. Boots of the Overseer will be found soon from Family Matter.
Gloves - Gloves of the Void at 9g from Apparel Shop in Lowtown is a better value than Hands of Fate from Black Emporium, though neither are necessary. A blood mage will want the Hands of Fate as a permanent piece later on if you want to splurge for it now. The set gloves are found during All That Remains.

Everything else

Belt of the Primevals - Looted in Bartrand's House during Family Matter. Worse than Bloodstained Girdle, but it's somewhat far into Legacy. Without Legacy, this is the best belt until Act 3.
Rivaini Seer Band/Ring of Ruin - The only spirit rings in the game.
Gauntlets of the Magister - Only gloves in the game with electricity damage, but a trivial amount
Poisonwood Locket - Bought from Bonny Lem - Don't buy this unless you want to supplement your nature staves in Act 2. Four Fingered Eddie's Lucky Talisman in Act 3 outclasses this in every way.

Now is a good time to start packing mana consumables besides the Lyrium potions you'll be finding. Both can be used in conjunction to restore all your mana. Try and be a little frugal so you don't break your bank with restoration potions, but they will certainly help in a difficult encounter.

Modifié par thendcomes, 28 septembre 2011 - 12:08 .

[mr_afk]

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Modifié par mr_afk, 31 août 2011 - 03:58 .

[thendcomes]

Ran out of room, continuing here.

[Act 2 Walkthrough]

Your 3 RoF bots will be Aveline, Varric, and Fenris. If you're interested in max'ing gold, here's how:

• 1. Start by getting Fenris' armor upgrades and fitting him with 2 RoF. He's now your third "RoF bot".
• 2. Aveline's rune slot upgrade is easiest to obtain, go to the Wounded Coast and do Raiders on the Cliffs. You should head over to Magus to purchase Cold-Blooded if you have the coin. Don't loot anything until you finish your +coin gear.
• 3. Varric's rune slot upgrade is from Family Matter. This is not available until you finish either Blackpowder Courtesy or Prime Suspect. I recommend doing Prime Suspect, as the house can be looted after you've obtained all your plus coin gear.
• 4. There are two amulets that have the modifer "Enemies Drop Better Equipment." Although untested, I pick these up next in case they are beneficial for money-making. They are found during the quests A Bitter Pill and All That Remains. You don't have to finish All That Remains right away if you don't want to. The item is in the first room of the Killer's Lair.
• 5. If you have Rosamund's on Aveline, then there's no need to do this step. However, if you prefer the Lion of Orlais for the XP gain, then you will be replacing Aveline as your RoF bot in Act 3. If you have A Murder of Crows quest available from your saved import, pick up Isabela's companion armor from Hightown. If not, then pick up Merrill's at the same shop.

If you don't care about the enemies drop better equipment pieces, I still suggest doing Blackpowder Courtesy. You will get the Arcane Poison formula, which is a straight 15% damage increase across the board on any enemy with more than 15% magic resistance. Additionally, there is no quest involved, but if you go to Sundermount and walk up the path that you took for Long Way Home, you will find the Potion of Mighty Offense that can give you 10% damage increase for 30 minutes.

After that, I suggest taking on Forbidden Knowledge so you can grab Voracity, even if you have Mage Pack 2. Repentence is good especially if you don't have Mage Pack 1, since it has Allure's Crook and Sebastian will be recruited so you can start gaining Rivalry or Friendship with him. Night Terrors is a good idea for the extra attributes or talent point. Otherwise, go for difficult quests first, though there aren't many:

Inside Job
Mirror Image
All That Remains

Make sure that Isabela's Friendship or Rivalry is at 75% before To Catch A Thief. The battle with Arishok versus your party will be very difficult without an invincible Isabela.

[Act 2 Quests]

Raiders on the Cliff

Piece of cake. You can flank the two outside group and if you approach slowly, you can get most of the guys around Fel Orden too. There are several standard and complex traps around, so watch out for those.

Prime Suspect

First room has a few shades at first, then a Rage Demon will spawn after a couple die. Gather them all up with Gravitic, Firestorm, and focus down the Rage Demon with Cold-Blooded.
When you meet Gascard, opting to kill him results in more XP, so I suggest you do so. Gascard will flee when he loses 20% HP and is too dangerous to let hang around . Summon the dog, run to the corner and drop a Firestorm on his head, then focus down using Winter's Grasp if necessary. The shades can be kited even in these close quarters, but they hurt and their super fast attack animation makes it difficult. Use Gravitic and Haste or Chain Lightning to burn them down.

A Family Matter

I strongly suggest bringing a 28+ damage nature and fire staff with you here. Almost every fight has a commander weak to fire and needs to be bursted down (with Firestorm and Great Haste) and the mercenary archers weak to Nature hurt bad and should be focused after (use a Pull of the Abyss to group them and Gravitic to slow them if necessary). Bartrand himself is weak to cold, but Gravitic and the dog should hold him off until you're done removing his cronies, then he just becomes a melee enemy with a big health bar. When facing Bartrand, drop the dog and run down the stairs through the western doorway and drop a Gravitic + Firestorm + Great Haste and take out as many mercs as you can. Get a head start kiting Bartrand until Gravitic is back up, clean up the rest of the mercs, then kill the toothless Bartrand.

Blackpowder Courtesy

A strong Nature staff, and to a lesser extent a cold staff will help you greatly here. The mercenary archers have a ton of HP and you'll be pulling your hair out without a strong Nature staff. Pop Great Haste at the start to take out as many as you can while the Dog or Gravitic keeps the melee occupied. In the area with the poison gas, use the corners and hidden areas to your advantage.

Offered and Lost

This quest may drive you nuts. Varnell has far too much HP to burst down, even with Cold-Blooded and throwing the kitchen sink at him. As a result, the fanatics, which are mercernary type, are very difficult to AOE down. The waves are plentiful and frequent, with a handful of archers and dagger wielding fanatics in each one. Bring the strongest nature staff you can get, ideally with +nature% damage on it. If you have enough potions, you can run from one end of the area to the other placing Gravitics and Firestorms and Great Haste focusing on the archers. I had success preventing waves from appearing by bringing the fight all the way to the nook at the entrance, but sometimes it wouldn't work. If there is a request, I can post a video for it.

Nexus Golem Gauntlet

Nexus Golem Gauntlet guide here.

Forbidden Knowledge

Xebenbeck room clear without exiting here

Mirror Image

Varterral is a pain - he has a heat-seeking spitball that takes off a huge chunk of HP and you can't avoid it. The spitball is Spirit damage though. If you pump your spirit resistance up to 95%, you can go toe-to-toe with him. If you don't want to replace your Runes of Fortune for this mini-boss, you can kill him slowly by running up the stairs and hiding behind the wall. He'll hang out at the bottom of the stairs, and when he starts stomping the ground, you can pound on him with Winter's Grasp and Hasted attacks for about 8 seconds. Even with Cold-Blooded it will take a few minutes but eventually he will go down. If someone else has a method that doesn't involve spirit resistance or running up the stairs, please let me know.

Inside Job

Difficult on paper, easy on execution. Cluster the enemies and run back. Drop a Gravitic in a good spot, and focus on Brekker. They are all weak to Spirit, so use Malcolm's Honor or Allure's Crook, and Spirit Bolt. Haste, staff attack, and drop Firestorm when he is at half health to prevent him from using a potion. If you have Walking Bomb, cast it right before he dies to take out most of the rogues next to him.

All That Remains

If you have a strong Electric or Nature staff, you should have enough firepower to take down the Desire Demons quickly as they spawn. There is plenty of space earlier in the lair to fall back to if you need to wait on cooldowns. The killer faces you by himself and so you should be able to dispatch a strong Blood Mage by now.

Night Terrors

This quest is a piece of cake. Make sure to get all the attribute points you can. If you accept Torpor's offer, you have to make the choice of selecting Power for 6 attribute points or Knowledge for 1 talent point. You've been out of keybinds for awhile now, so adding an extra talent is not necessarily for an active ability, but to get one step closer to Galvanism or Spirit Mastery. You need 32 talent points to get the core build in this guide, which you can reach by level 28 without Torpor's help. If you take the extra talent point, you can reach the final build at 27 and take 1-2 more spell(s) at 28-29.

Demands of the Qun

You should be doing massive damage to Qunari with Cold-Blooded, and Sarebaas' magic should be tickling you with your magic resistance so high. Walking Bomb will be great here since Firestorm is useless against them. Fighting the Arishok with your party results in more XP and gold, but feel free to duel him if you like. He should be no problem at all for your mage. The battle against him and his cronies is more difficult, but as long as he is trained on an invincible Isabela, you should be able to dispatch everything else easily.

[Act 3 Build]

The build continues from where you left off in Act 2. If you've been max'ing XP, you should be level 21 at the beginning of the Act. Start working towards Spirit Mastery if you have Galvanism, or vice versa. Again, in between these Masteries you can play around with other spells since the actual trees aren't the best. These can be Crushing Prison, Glyph of Repulsion, Pull of the Abyss, and so on. If you took Torpor's ability point, your build will be complete at level 27.

[Act 3 Gear]

You're finally in Act 3 and have a plethora of choices for your gear! If you did a good job of max'ing gold in Act 2, you should be close to or over 100g at the start of Act 3 and can start thinking of which big ticket item you want first. If you do not have Mage Pack 2, do not even consider taking anything before the Robes of Unblemished Cleanliness. It is vastly superior to any other purchase. If you do have it, it's not as big an upgrade over the Aldenon's Vestments so you should consider other purchases.

If you don't swap staves just for spells, The Final Thought will just be splitting time with your other staves so you should pass for now. However, If you are proficient in switching, then The Final Thought with a Rune of Devastation will be your biggest booster, even when compared to the other best staves in the game from levels 21-24. However, you're left with a catch 22. TFT is most powerful early on in the Act, but it will start getting weaker relative to the staves that level up with you. It is the best Nature staff in the game so you will want it eventually, but if you have to wait until level 24 to get it, it's likely better to purchase Four Fingered Eddie's Lucky Talisman and Seven Deadly Cinch first.

Staves

Just like in Act 2, it helps to have high level staves at least at first. Act 3 has staves of every element and only one you need to purchase.

• The Final Thought - The strongest Nature staff in the game, and one of two candidates for the Primeval Lyrium Rune (PLR).
• Torch of Falon'din - Acquired during A New Path, this is the other candidate for the PLR, and the best Fire staff in the game if you don't have Mage Pack 2.
• Eye of the Storm - The best electricity staff in the game outside of Legacy. Acquired during Alone. Has a rune slot but should not be considered for the PLR.
• The Hawke's Key - Due to the abundance of good staves, I'd suggest waiting until the end of the Act to get this, or at least until level 25, just so you'll have a best-in-slot staff for casting spells.

Essential

Robes of Unblemished Cleanliness - Best chest in the game.
Gauntlets - Looted off the High Dragon.
Four-Fingered Eddie's Lucky Talisman - Best amulet in the game.
Seven Deadly Cinch - Best belt in the game.
Graven Circle (Legacy) - Best ring in the game once your crit chance is high enough. Obtained early in Legacy and peaks at level 23.

Everything Else

Smite (Legacy) - The best amulet in the game aside from Lucky Eddie's. It is available early on in the DLC and peaks in power at level 20, so you should consider going for it if you use Electricity spells, can't afford Lucky Eddie's for awhile, and don't mind the experience gain.
Bloodstained Girdle (Legacy) - A strong second best to Seven Deadly Cinch, however it is far into the DLC and found after The Hawke's Key. If you've waited this long, I suggest just buying the Seven Deadly Cinch.
Circlet of the Dreamer - One of the options for your helm if you don't have the Mage Packs. Bought from Black Emporium for 30g.
The Resolutionist's Cap - Another option, found during Faith in the Exiled Prince DLC
Hood of the Champion - If you have no DLC. Found during Best Served Cold.
Boots of the Champion - Your best bet without any DLC. Found during On The Loose.
Rune of Devastation - Best Weapon Rune. Useful in Eye of the Storm, Torch of Falon'Din, and The Final Thought. Found during On The Loose.
Rune of Valiance - Best Armor Rune. The bonus does not change depending on the piece it is in, so put it in your weakest piece, likely the gloves. Easily acquired towards the back of Sundermount.
Primeval Lyrium Rune - Best Rune in the game for staff attacks, place in either Torch of Falon'din or The Final Thought. There is only one and it's acquired during Haunted.

[Act 3 Walkthrough]

Your RoF bots will be Varric, Fenris, and Aveline if you use Rosamund's Bulwark, and Isabela (or Merrill, see below) otherwise.

• 1. If you plan on taking Four-Fingered Eddie's Lucky Talisman first, grab that for the +coin modifier. Do not skip the Robes of Unblemished Cleanliness just for that though if you don't have Mage Pack 2.
• 2. If you have been using Rosamund's, skip this step. Pick up Isabela's armor first if A Murder of Crows is available. If not, skip this step. It's looted from a pile of bones at the beginning of the Mountain Cave in Sundermount, right at the bottom of the steps. You can loot it without triggering the battle with the spiders, so do so. The Antivan Camp is not available to loot after you're finished there. Don't forget to pick up the Rune of Valiance design right outside the cave.
• 3. Pick up Fenris' armor next. Mine Massacre is available immediately and you already have the best cold staff in the game, so the Dragon will just get harder as you level. Plus you can leave all the dragonling loot on the ground until you come back with max RoF gear.
• 4. If you aren't using Rosamund's, and don't have A Murder of Crows available, Merrill will be your RoF companion. You must take on On the Loose before A New Home is available.
• 5. Pick up Varric's armor last. You can't come back to the Deep Roads after completing Finding Nathaniel. If you already did A New Home for Merrill, then you can start right away. Otherwise you will have to do On The Loose first.
• 6. The last piece of +coin gear is the Gem of Keroshek from Gamlen's Greatest Treasure.
• 7. Do not buy Pretty Little Thing. You cannot recoup the gold spent on it.

Quest Order

Alone for Eye of the Storm
If you have TFT, you can take on Haunted for the PLR. If not, you can wait.
A New Home next for Torch of Falon'din. Depending on how you want to finish A New Home, you will need to finish A Murder of Crows first.
Once you hit level 23, if you have Legacy you can go for The Graven Circle, though you won't be able to turn back for awhile.
If you're looking for lots of cash to make big purchases, Faith from The Exiled Prince DLC and No Rest for the Wicked have a lot of gold.

The remaining quests should be done in order of difficulty. The most difficult quests are:

Red Run Streets
Reining It In
Kind of Want

Mine Massacre

More of a battle of attrition than anything. DPS using Cold-Blooded, Haste and Winter's Grasp when the High Dragon is on the ground and dodge its fireballs. The dog is most useful for distracting him during this phase. When he flies up to his perch, collect all the dragonlings and kill them with a Cone of Cold. If that doesn't kill them, a Chain Lightning is the best to finish them off. More waves will come. Keep your constant eye on the High Dragon. You should be always on the move so you don't take damage from his fireballs. The Dragons that spawn in the second and third "perch" phases have the ability to kill you if they stun you right when the High Dragon is loading a fireball. They are also very fast. Use Winter's Grasp and Haste to take them down. You can also Cone of Cold the Dragon and the Dragonlings at the same time. If you want to cheese the entire battle, use Fire resistance runes, but they are totally unnecessary.

A Murder of Crows

It's another Varterral. Unlike the first one, the stairs are inaccessible here, so you'll have to tough it out with Spirit Resistance runes. I couldn't get a reliable stun to proc even with Chain Lightning, so you can't really divert threat back to your dog. I tried using Gravitic and getting out of line of sight plus I brought a bunch of potions, but no dice. If anyone has luck killing him without Spirit resistance, please let me know. You should put the Spirit Resistance runes in alternate armor so you don't overwrite the Runes of Fortune on any current armor. 80%+ should be more than enough, though you'll still need health potions and possibly Heal.

The battle with Nuncio was easier than I thought. The basic strategy is to get rid of the weaker ones first while you CC the bigger guys. At the start, I had the best luck planting the dog and running west. You'll attract a couple of the chumps, which you can burn down. When one of Nuncio's guard chases you, use Gravitic and Haste to burn him down. Try to avoid AOE since you want as many enemies trained on the invincible Zevran as possible. Remember you have tons of space to run, so get a head start if your Gravitic is about to run out.

Alone

Danarius' bubbles from the beginning, and the only threat is the Rage Demon that can be burned down. The waves spawns quickly but they can all be grouped for AOE. Be sure to loot the room before taking down Danarius, otherwise all the loot will be lost.

A New Home

The main part of this quest is easy. Depending on how you answer the Dalish outside the cave, you may have to fight all of them in a small area. You'll have to CC the two assassins or occupy them with the dog while burning down the Archers. A single Firestorm or Walking Bomb should take care of them. You'll likely need a couple of health/mana potions to survive this part.

Red Run Streets

This gang is weak to fire so use your Torch of Falon'din. The mages are dangerous. For the final encounter, just like Captain Qerth in Act 1 you should drop a Firestorm on the boss' head and burn him down with haste. You will probably need to Winter's Grasp him to buy some time before he pots. The rest should be a piece of cake.

Reining It In

The melee count as Slavers here but the archers are Raiders for some reason and they can hurt if you leave them unchecked. Burn them down with Eye of the Storm. The final encounter is pretty simple since the boss won't detect you if you stay on the starting spot.

Kind of Want

Not difficult but very frustrating. The enemies seemingly have random weaknesses. The assassins are weak to cold, some melee are weak to fire, some archers are weak to electricity, etc.

No Rest for the Wicked

Put Aveline back in your party when Isabela is removed. Once you enter Castillion's Landing, immediately to the north is a room with three crates. The crate on the right always has around 16-18g inside, but with all your +coin it should come out to 32-35+g. The other two crates infrequently contain around 5-6g, which turn out to be around 11g with all your +coin. I suggest resetting it until at least one of the two crates has gold inside so you can really cash out on this quest.

[Legacy]

I recommend taking on Legacy at level 23 because that's when the Graven Circle has reach it's max potential. Almost every battle here will be trickier than those you encountered in the game. Barrier ends up being a huge tactical tool here, so don't be afraid to spec into it. In case you want to figure out the challenges on your own, I suggest you don't read further.

Vinmark Wasteland

The Carta Overseer in the first battle is actually a Mercenary and thus weak to Nature. All the other Cartas are weak to Cold as usual. The initial Overseer will run down if you don't stop him, so drop a Gravitic on him and take him down with a Nature staff. The remaining Snipers will slaughter you if you don't distract them with your dog first. Summon him and have him run out. You have to make quick work of both sets before your dog is dead. Use a Winter's Grasp and Haste. The second group that is farther ahead will be trained on you, so take them out quickly while you're still Hasted with Walking Bomb.

The arena fight has a Bronto weak to fire. When he reaches 50%, the Carta Snipers and Thugs will take their positions and will be in combat shortly. Right before the Bronto is 50%, get to one side of the arena and get him to charge far away from you. Haste and burn him down. By this time, the Snipers will be up. Take them down with Winter's Grasp and Walking Bomb. Once they're dead, cleanup the Thugs.

Vinmark Chasm

The first group with two Brontos and lots of Thugs should be a piece of cake. After that, you should head to the building in between the Bronto cages for The Graven Circle. Unfortunately, when you come back down the stairs you'll be greeted by about 10 Snipers in a row and 2 Assassins. If you hug the left side of the staircase, you can attract the far right Assassin away from the group. Gravitic and burn him down, using Winter's Grasp to prevent potion use. After this, wait until your cooldowns are up. The next part can involve a small amount of luck. Summon your dog to attract the Snipers at first. Run down the stairs Hasted and burn down one Sniper, making sure to plant a Walking Bomb on him before he dies. As long as you got one or maybe two other Virulent Bombs to proc, you should be good. Use Firestorm on the left side of the Snipers to assist detonation. The remaining assassin can be cleaned up with a Gravitic.

Heading down the stairs to the south, you'll get to a building with the Twisted Steel Ring inside. When you come out, you'll be able to see Snipers running down the stairs into position. You can take half of them on at a time. Summon your dog from around the corner so all threat is on him. Run up and Firestorm/Walking Bomb/Winter's Grasp to clear the first group. If you do it from far enough away, the 2nd half won't even show on your minimap. After cleaning up the Overseer, do the same strategy for the second group.

Beyond the gate, you'll encounter two Master Snipers. These guys will mess you up. They hit strong enough to knockdown-lock you without Unshakable. Thankfully they run away from you, so you can reset combat after dishing out some damage. They appear as soon as you pass the barrel. If you time it right, you can Winter's Grasp the two of them as they use Hail of Arrows. With Haste and Fire storm, you may be able to drop one of them before they run off. If not, run back and try to exit combat. Use whatever you have available to prevent them from firing at you.

Modifié par thendcomes, 28 septembre 2011 - 12:45 .

[thendcomes]

Added Mature Dragon speed run timed at 1 min 21 sec

[SirValeq]

I noticed that you didn't spend the specialization point in the video. Does the small elemental force boost from Force Mage not apply to staff attacks for a higher chance to slow the target?

Also: where can I get this Enchanted Silverite Belt?

PS. Oh, great read and an inspiration for me to come back to DA2!

Modifié par iLikeBWgames, 17 juin 2011 - 10:19 .

[thendcomes]

Oh haha, that's just a mistake on my part. I'm actually in Act 2 and went back to an earlier save to make a Dragon and ARW speed run.

I don't even know if the elemental force and the chance to proc slow are related. If they are that would be neat.

It's not necessary to respec for that fight, and I don't recommend that spec in general. It was highly specialized just for the 2 speed runs.

Enchanted Silverite Belt is sold by Bonny Lem in the Disused Passage (tunnel that's open in the Docks only during Night).

Glad you enjoyed it!

Modifié par thendcomes, 22 août 2011 - 03:26 .

[Rabbit-Heart]

I don't think its worth reloading if a dormant varric gets attacked, it just doesn't seem worth it.
If he takes a backstab that's different and probably deserves a reload, but I suppose this is only relevant to console players.

[thendcomes]

Play how you like of course, but I agree with you. If one enemy gets redirected by Varric's aggro or even attacks him a couple times, it's not a big deal. Just to save on having to enter the console over and over, many times I would leave my companions in and would get into situations like that.

I'm of the mind that if your party absorbs several hits or a backstab, and it would detract from the difficulty of the challenge, I'd say you're breaking the "solo" aspect.

[sevenplusone]

Keep it up, it's unlikely that I'll be able to record anything on my playthrough for a long time, so I stopped it a while ago. Someone needs to do it/finish it and get it recorded. Not to mention that I haven't touched my solo mage since like 2 weeks after release, and I rushed the entire thing. It's definitely possible without the mabari though, using him is cheating imo.

[thendcomes]

Thanks for your input man. I included a guideline regarding the Mabari and modified the section under Useful DLC. I honestly do not think it's feasible without a dog post patch 1.03. The regular enemies have much more health and hit significantly harder.

I would love to see how you were able to do a quest like A Family Matter in Act 2 without it.

[thendcomes]

Updated for Act 2. If anyone wants to see any video in particular, I can post it. Also, I'd accept any tips/hints/suggestions on alternative builds or just in general. I'm only one person and don't have the time to try everything available.

[SirValeq]

Hmm, did you ever abuse pulling mobs far away from their spawning place or did you try to complete fights "legally" by staying in the same room as the enemies?
I'm mostly thinking about the beginning of the game and doing things like Tal'Vashoth cavern, where there are quite a few ranged enemies, a dangerous mage and all are immune to most of your spells.

[thendcomes]

Absolutely. Many fights are simplified by pulling mobs one or two at a time. If that's not possible, getting aggro on one or two and running them out of the room while your dog keeps the others busy is an option. Usually the rest of the pack won't follow you, or even if they do, it buys you enough time to take them all on. However, that second tactic takes forever, so it's a last resort.

"Legally" can mean so many things to different people. I saw Sevenplusone's battle versus Captain Reiner after I killed him, and he intelligently used an exploit to cheese the fight. I personally wouldn't consider that tactic unless the fight was completely unbeatable. I'm sure some people don't consider pulling mobs or breaking up combat as legit, but I don't have a problem with it.

The fights where running is not possible, like Shepherding Wolves, are some of the hardest I've faced. That quest in particular I remember having an epic battle where I had a sliver of health left and no health pots, but there was a corpse on the ground nearby. There was an archer winding up to shoot an arrow that would have killed me before looting the corpse, and all my spells were on CD except for Telekinetic Burst lol. So I cast it to knock him down, ran to the corpse and luckily it had a health pot. I went on to beat the encounter.

If you were intent on completing every fight without pulling mobs, if it's even possible, it would require incredible patience and possible min-maxing for every encounter. In the end, I wanted this to be fun instead of a chore, so I tried to take the road that leads to surest victory and fewest resets without using exploits. How you want to play is entirely up to you.

About the Tal-Vashoth cavern, in my walkthrough I get there really early, like level 7 or something. You really don't have anything to defend yourself. If someone was able to beat that without pulling, I'd love to see it. Each mob takes like 10 hits to take down. However, you don't have to take on the room with the Sarebaas until much later, since I only go for the RoF resources. After you have Gravitic and a good nature staff, that room should be much more manageable.

Modifié par thendcomes, 05 juillet 2011 - 08:56 .

[thendcomes]

Sorry for the bump, but I added a video some people might want to see.

[Minjiliu]

Any tip for soloing Hybris in act 3 ? Thank you

[mr_afk]

I'm not sure if thendcomes still frequents these forums-
but anyway, all you should need is fire.

i'm not sure what build thendcomes has you using, but ideally you should have the torch of falon'din with a primeval lyrium rune and rune of devastation (it's pretty much the only end game staff that has runeslots so it's not like there's any superior options). freedom's promise makes the next best alternative. Oh, and keep a spare cold staff and/or lightning staff for the plebs which pop up.

On top of that, having crit-gear (seven deadly cinch, four fingered eddie's lucky talisman, puzzle ring of the black fox, graven circle etc) and/or +%fire gear (robes of unblemished cleanliness, ring of the ferry man, apostate's mask, etc) will be useful.

After you're all decked out simply drop a grav ring on it (making sure it isn't about to just charge out of it) and drop a firestorm on it. That and some hasted autoattacks should kill it pretty fast- after that just do the usual run around freezing/destealthing rage demons and zapping shades and you should be set.

So in terms of abilities, I would suggest the elemental tree decked out for fire and ice, the creation tree for heroic aura and haste, the force mage tree for grav rings and destealthing, and maybe the primal tree if you're having problems with the shades (otherwise you could either go into bloodmagic or maybe get some extra crit-chance from spirit mastery). Up to you really.


If you are having problems with anything still I can give you some more specific tips (and perhaps check to see if I have an available save to demonstrate what I mean), but in general hybris is ridiculously weak to fire.

[Minjiliu]

Thank you for the tips, i tried at normal difficulty without any problem but nightmare seems out of reach for me without trying to kill all the adds first. I got many problem with the rage demons.