28 réponses à ce sujet

[Cypher0020]

Finally got a mage into Ostagar....I don't want to specialize in anything... just a plain mage.... in most runs I've had Wynne= healer... and Morrigan= damage dealer.... so I'm always stuck on what to make the PC....

So what spells do you prefer? I was aiming for

Fire Magic-flaming weapons
Ice Magic- Cone of Cold
Lightening Magic- Shock
Heal Lv. 2...
Glyph Spells- Repulsion
Complete Hex line


Is that a good first... load out? I want to be part damage/healer....

[Rawr23]

Personally, I love your choices here. Cone of Cold is one of the most useful spells a mage can have and flaming weapons, in my humble opinion, is a good choice, as well, as (I believe) only dragons are immune to fire. Lightening is another good choice as few things are immune to its effects and it drains your enemy's stamina. The glyphs are a good branch to max out. They're quite useful if used correctly and good for CC. If you want to be part damage/part healer, then you'll only need the "Heal" and "Group Heal" spells.

Group Heal is useful as it gives a moderate amount of health to all your allies regardless of range. It's the first spell in the Spirit Healer tree and seeing as Shapeshifter is somewhat useless and you don't seem to want to play an Arcane Warrior, it would make sense to invest a spec point in this tree.

If you want a good buff to have on at all times, continue maxing the Spirit Healer tree for the constant healing buff OR max out the tree that ends with the "Haste" spell, which gives a massive increase to attack speed (equal to that of Momentum for rogues) to your entire party.

The hex line is a good choice, too, as Death Hex is essential against bosses and Misdirection Hex is the best way to defend yourself against enemy mages.

Hope that helps, but you seem to already know what you're doing pretty well!

Modifié par Rawr23, 16 juillet 2011 - 08:06 .

[naddaya]

I'd suggest to add Mind Blast (you don't want to be surrounded by five charging enemies) and Fireball (since you already have flaming weapons).
It's not as expensive as Inferno, the cooldown is short and it knocks nearly
everyone down (careful not to fry the melee guys though).

I've never used hex, the rest seems fine.

Modifié par m_k, 16 juillet 2011 - 10:09 .

[naddaya]

hmpf, double

Modifié par m_k, 16 juillet 2011 - 10:09 .

[mosesofwar]

Primal and Healing. I like morrigan as a Crowd Controlling/Debuffing when I have a PC. Wynne as a Healer/Hex/Glypher. Because you can control where you aim, the Primal School is where you want to spend most of your points. Fireball is the shiznit.

[Requiesta De Silencia]

Well I dunno about others but I recommend all mages to have at least these spells in their arsenal:

Heal
Vulnerability Hex
Affliction Hex
Mind Blast
Spell Shield
Cone of Cold
Drain Life

other then that hmm, I think fireball makes a good choice as well as Spell Might and Animate Dead (Crowd Creation Spells are useful when there are a lot of enemies but few of you). oh and don't forget to grab Stonefist, for shattering after you've cast cone of cold.

[The Train]

i'm also playing a mage for the first time. what does everyone think of the mana draining spells? i've never played with them. are they a waste?

[mosesofwar]

Mana Clash destroys anything with mana.

[Requiesta De Silencia]

mosesofwar wrote...

Mana Clash destroys anything with mana.

Mana Clash is almost a cheat xD I nearly 1-hit Zathrian with that spell

The other mana draining spells are...okay. Mana Drain itself can be useful when you're running low on gas in the middle of a mage battle.

[nicethugbert]

I like Paralyze and Mass Paralyze. It's party friendly.

[mosesofwar]

Chain Lightning is nice as well. But if you do a three mage plus Shale, you don't really need to worry about AOE FF damage. You can use Mass Para, Sleep and Glyphs to hold enemies in place. Plus the DPS of Storm of the Century (or Ages of whatever) is enough to eliminate the mass of anything under the level of Boss. And even if an elite survives, just turn Shale into tank mode and using Single target spells. 3x Vun/Aff Hex +Single Target primal spells = heavy Direct Damage.

[Arthur Cousland]

I like a mage that does a bit of everything.

Usually, I start out with heal and winter's grasp at level 1. Rock armor and arcane shield at lv 2 and 3, or just go after cone of cold asap.

After that:

Mage spells: through arcane mastery
Primal spells: either up to fireball and cone of cold, or I'll get blizzard+tempest for storm of the century.
Creation spells: heal through regeneration, and the glyph spells.
Spirit spells: dispel magic, spell might and possibly mana clash, and of course the line with crushing prison. Every spell in the crushing prison line is useful, and force field is a lifesaver.
Entropy spells: usually I ignore the entropy spells, though my arcane warriors like to pick up miasma. Paralyze and sleep can be nice for crowd control.

[mosesofwar]

Arthur Cousland wrote...

I like a mage that does a bit of everything.

Usually, I start out with heal and winter's grasp at level 1. Rock armor and arcane shield at lv 2 and 3, or just go after cone of cold asap.

After that:

Mage spells: through arcane mastery
Primal spells: either up to fireball and cone of cold, or I'll get blizzard+tempest for storm of the century.
Creation spells: heal through regeneration, and the glyph spells.
Spirit spells: dispel magic, spell might and possibly mana clash, and of course the line with crushing prison. Every spell in the crushing prison line is useful, and force field is a lifesaver.
Entropy spells: usually I ignore the entropy spells, though my arcane warriors like to pick up miasma. Paralyze and sleep can be nice for crowd control.

This is actually some prety good advice. Many common mage builds take this route, as would I. The only difference that I make is I take Heal then try to get Fireball as soon as I can. Then, I get Winter's Grasp, follow by Vun Hex. Having Fireball in the early stages of the game makes things an easy walk through. Then, having Winter's Grasp for the Circle simply amplifies that. Again, all of this is great dvice and really, you should take a look and see how you want to play your Mage.

[Cypher0020]

Ok has anyone used spells like horror? Also... which deals more weapon damage? Frost or Fire weapons? I loooove cone of cold..but hate taking frost weapons....especially since I think flame is cooler..

Has anyone speced? I'm not a fan of blood mage... and I bombed my last arcane warrior...I like Healer...but Wynne is that already... having 2 bad?

[mosesofwar]

Cypher0020 wrote...

Ok has anyone used spells like horror? Also... which deals more weapon damage? Frost or Fire weapons? I loooove cone of cold..but hate taking frost weapons....especially since I think flame is cooler..

Has anyone speced? I'm not a fan of blood mage... and I bombed my last arcane warrior...I like Healer...but Wynne is that already... having 2 bad?

No, I make all my mages spirit healers. My PC is a Spirit Healer/BM, Wynne Spirit Healer/BM, Morrigan Spirit Healer/Shifter (I never use a shifter and every arcane warrior bores me.. I like beating people with shields, not carrying one around for style).

[TBastian]

Depends on what type of mage you want. If you want a nuker, then the most damaging mage in the game is easily the primal mage, hands down. Entropy and Creation are very similar trees, the main difference is that you cast Entropy spells on your enemy and Creation spells on your allies. Either is a good choice for a support mage. Spirit is great for its anti-mage spells and and enhancing spells, a Spirit-focused mage is an oddity but all mages should take spells from the Spirit tree. The Arcane tree rounds off any mage quite nicely. Over time you'll get enough spell points so you can take spells from other trees, giving your specialized mage some flexibility.

Generalist mages (mages who have spells from every school) are a different type of mage since as far as they're concerned there are such things as the "best spells" -  usually the spells that best  complement the skills of their fellow party members. Generalist mages are not out to fill a particular role, so they are not support mages - true support mages turn weak fighters into juggernauts, while as far as a generalist mage is concerned, as long as that weak fighter has a skill that guarantees a critical hit, then Cone of Cold + that skill and you have a deadly combination. Popular spell choices for a generalist mage include an AoE disable (Paralyze/Sleep/etc), Mana Clash, Force Field, Heal, Cone of Cold, the Glyphs.

Any of these mage types can become really powerful, so what matters is that your mage does have some direction regarding which spells you decide to pick.

Fire Magic-flaming weapons
Ice Magic- Cone of Cold
Lightening Magic- Shock
Heal Lv. 2...
Glyph Spells- Repulsion
Complete Hex line

Good choice, Fireball + Flame Blast/Shock/Cone of Cold gives you the most damaging spell sequence that you can repeatedly spam all the way into Awakenings. I'd skip the Hex line, however, since nothing is going to survive that combo long enough to warrant casting Hex (except elites/bosses, but you can just recast this for elites and you should be busy healing/supporting anyway when it comes to bosses - you might even be forced to use persistent AoE's just so you can focus on keeping your party members alive). In any case you can just have some other mage in the party cast Hexes while you nuke. Depending on your party setup I'd suggest getting Force Field (additional support spell, makes your tank invulnerable so you can drop nukes on him and every other nasty critter near him in case of emergency) or Mana Clash (in case you don't have a Templar or some high burst damage character to take out enemy mages). Arcane Shield and Rock armor are a must for this type of mage - please take them ASAP.
Since you won't be taking any specs the Glyph line should be invaluable in case you build too much aggro. My advice is you take Spirit Healer if only for Group Heal - that AoE heal is all the extra support you'll ever need after you get Heal and Forcefield. Also, wear all the +defense cloth/gear you can get - seriously, this build takes a LOT of aggro, glyphs +Arcane Shield/Rock armor are not enough. Switch to +dodge gear when available.

If you enjoy playing this type of mage and you'd like to take specs next time, then the spell choices you gave are actually the ideal ones for a Shapeshifter/Spirit Healer character. Shapeshifter will give this mage all the versatility it needs while enforcing its DPS, allowing it to Overwhelm bosses and manage archers/mobs like wolves/shadows/Children while in swarm form. Neither of these specs affect the playstyle of this mage, except for eliminating those awkward momentslike when your spells are being repeatedly resisted against or when your mage is forced to play full support because the humanoid boss is doing too much damage to the tanker or when you pull off a perfect Fireball + 3 cone spells spam and everything dies except for the elite.

Modifié par TBastian, 18 juillet 2011 - 12:03 .

[Cypher0020]

hmmmm I'll look into arcane mastery force field + rock armor.....by what level should I pick these up? I try to get cone of cold asap

Should I spec in Spirit Healer? I know Anders was my healer in DAII and it worked out pretty well....

Oh and what is this crushing prison I keep hearing about? Which line is that?

So many spells to choose from

[TBastian]

You should get Arcane Shield and Rock Armor as soon as you can if you plan on being a nuker of any sort. Around Ostagar should be ideal.
I don't think you need Cone of Cold that much until the Ostagar tower battle.
Spec Spirit Healer at least, Group Heal is a must if you ever want to be a decent healer.
Crushing Prison also happens to be in the same line as Force Field. It's a single-target Spirit spell, very powerful if not resisted. It basically kills non-elites outright, does decent damage to elites and disables bosses for a few seconds.

There are lot of them, yeah, but what's important is that the ones you choose work well with your choices, with your spec, and with the skills of your party members - and all this depends on what type of mage you're making.

Modifié par TBastian, 18 juillet 2011 - 06:31 .

[Cypher0020]

Well I think I'm now roughly Lv. 7 or 8... just picked up rock armor, have cone of cold, vuln hex, lightening, stuff like that... took spirit healer

not sure which tree to build next... the hex line? Or start getting arcane mastery? Or start my spirit healer?

I used the gold glitch and got the reaper's vestments and wintersbreath but need about 3 more points to use it.... those are the best mage robes in-game right?

[Sir Edric]

When are people gonna start using google?

[Arthur Cousland]

Here's a list of spells: http://dragonage.wik...Spells_(Origins)

Just try to have multiple save files, and not just rely on one. That way, if you're not happy with your build, you can go back and try things differently, or use a re-spec mod if on pc.

Reaper's Vestments are the best defensive option for mages. If you'd like more spellpower and some mana regen, I'd suggest Tevinter Mage Robes. During Broken Circle, you can pick up Staff of the Magister Lord, which is the best mage staff.

If you have Witch Hunt, you can unlock Vestments of the Seer, which are overall better than Reaper's Vestments. If your mage is starving for health, then they could probably use the Reaper's Vestments, but if they are getting hit that much, then the tank isn't doing their job, or perhaps going Arcane Warrior is a good idea.

[nicethugbert]

This guide is very thorough.

Check out the section on spell combos and it makes a good case for sleep.

SLEEP: an ideal starter
Sleep is a fantastic spell to set up most of the combos, it is fast to execute, have a very large area and is one of the least resisted spells, not to say it is also quite cheap to cast... it can be used both for single target combos or area ones, and you dont rick to hit accidentally your comrades with it.

so i said about how uber aoe dots can be... but most of the time mobs run away and you need few seconds to cast them... here an example of aoe setup using sleep
sleep -> blizzard -> death cloud
sleep will "freeze in place" all the mobs in the same area of your aoes (as they have same radius), the fact that mobs will awake on dmg is not a big as you are using blizzard that doesnt deal that much dmg compared to other aoe dots but have good CC components freezing and slowing mobs inside the area.
This "combo" is generally enought to wipe rooms of enemies with impunity

you can use sleep even as a starer for mass paralysis... the aoe paralysis in fact is a very good group friendly spell but have some casting time, making it difficult to execute on the hearth of the battle
sleep -> mass paralysis
do the job... you start with sleep mezzing all the mobs around you (of course you have to stop to hit them too) and then "upgrade" it with mass paralysis to hit them with impunity

something like that can also work for other spells as walking plague bomb, a powerfull but dangerous spell and as you are there you can add some res debuff hexes to maximize the damage of all mobs in the area of explosion, remember that hexes doesnt cause dmg so mobs will not wake up using them
sleep -> affliction hex -> horror -> walking plague bomb -> finish mob
sleep will keep all the mobs standing still in the area, hex will boost the dmg, horror will deal a considerable amount of dmg (with the combo) and make the mob standing still... walking plague bomb will finish him while your caster move away

of course something like that can be made with other CC too, the glyph paralysis combo works extremely well too, but as is not group friendly is not always possible to use it... here a good example for paralysis explosion è storm of the century
glyph of repulsion + glyph of paralysis (better from 2 chars) -> blizzard + tempest (with spell might)
this is an overkill combo and in the end quite fast to set it up, the paralysis area is quite large and storm of century will cover it no prob dealing massive damage to helpless enemies

you can also set up single target spells or CCs... for example, we said that caster mobs tend to dispel the hexes on them, this many times prevent the use of entropic death combo... here how to resolve
sleep (or a single target CC) -> hex of vulnerability -> hex of affliction -> hex of death -> death cloud
and the mob will go boom

want to add some more damage?
sleep -> hex of vuln -> hex of affliction -> hex of death -> horror -> death cloud
2 maximized combo vs an helpless mob, you basically need the first CC to hit him and you will deal 800-1k dmg at the end of the "combo" i used it to instapop the poor loghain in the 1vs1 duel poor guy

of course there are other ways to set up spells, glyph of repulsion is another pretty good one... glyph at door, and then you can unload everything you want... from plague bomb to various aoe dots

there are also other ways to make spells interact to cover their weak points or to sustain them for example, it is kinda possible to keep a SH aura up using mass refresh+flourish, same for the 3rd spell in arcane warrior

there are many combinations to make various spells more effective, these are just some example to give a few ideas and "research" your own fav "combos"

[Requiesta De Silencia]

Vrex_12 wrote...

When are people gonna start using google?

When the Rage Demon's fade freezes over

[TBastian]

Vestments of the Seer is the best offense mage gear, and is amazing for a mage who has nukes but who isn't actually a full time nuker. Reaper's Vestments is the best defensive mage gear, and the ideal nuker mage robes bar none. Whether it's because you're fighting too many mobs for your tanker to Taunt all at once or you're simply doing too much DPS, if your mage is not out-aggroing your warrior at least intermittently  then it cannot be called a true nuker mage. Nuker mages spam aoe spells like Fireball, Flame Blast, Cone of Cold and Shock repeatedly until there's nothing left twitching - just because a mage can cast Virulent Walking Bomb and wipe out some enemy groups (-resist doesn't work on the AoE damage, btw - its all physical damage) doesn't make him a nuker, since a nuker mage is expected to do very high AoE DPS against every enemy group the party encounters. Against bosses he/she might be relegated to casting persistent AoE's like Inferno in order to ensure the group's survival (using spells like Heal, Group Heal and Force Field) but in any other scenario he/she is nuking nonstop (plus aiming time and the occasional Heal/Group Heal you should be able to cast the Fireball/Flame Blast/Shock/Cone of Cold chain over and over again without worrying about cooldowns). This type of playstyle is the alternative to using spells like Sleep and Mass Paralyze to CC enemies while you work on killing them one at a time - nukers aim to "neutralize" large enemy groups as quickly as possible, thus minimizing the need for true CC's in the first place. That both Fireball and Cone of Cold do have disabling effects is all just one happy accident. This is a playstyle that works very well for specific builds.

Mages can be near-immortal in DA:O without taking Arcane Warrior. Cloth armors offer the highest +defense bonuses in the game, and with Reaper's Vestment's + other dodge gear you can reach 40% dodge, around 50% SR along with high armor and defense from misc. gear and the spells Rock Armor and Arcane Shield. Add to that a large health pool (from gear) and the fact that you can basically full-heal yourself just by using lesser poultices, plus spells like Heal, Life Ward and Group Heal and the only thing that can pretty much kill a well-equipped mage outright is a Grab attack from a boss. Bottomline, try not to pick Arcane Warrior for sheer survivability - it's not worth it unless you're a Blood Mage (BMs needs all the survivability it can get) or you solo.

The problem with the setup I mentioned is that you'll need to have done all the treaty quests to get the final+dodge piece, the First Enchanter's Cowl, to appear in Bodahn's stash - this is why you still need to guard your healthbar closely for a large chunk of the game. Still, by the time you get the first 3 +dodge pieces (Spellward, Reaper's Vestments, Imperial Weavers) along with other goodies like Andruil's Belt and Lifegiver (you can buy all of these without cheating btw) you're pretty much set to just storm into a pack of baddies and wave your nukes. Depending on your specializations, at this point you should be just about as tough as a fully buffed Alistair - minus the fact that he'll probably survive a boss Grab attack while you won't, of course.

Modifié par TBastian, 19 juillet 2011 - 05:05 .

[nicethugbert]

The problem I have with the nuker is that he can kill the party. So, I set up all the party mages for CC and anti-boss.