100 réponses à ce sujet

[Tonya777]

But your guide calls Virulent walking bomb a 3/5 star spell , BLASPHEMY

You basically can have no better spell for annihilating the massive numbers of enemies this game is constantly throwing at you

Edit : To the guy who is talking up mana clash with its sole purpose to kill enemy mages

Uhhhh crushing prison gets the job done , if thats all mana clash is good for why waste 4 more points getting it when you could just do it w/ crushing prison?

Modifié par Tonya777, 28 novembre 2009 - 08:27 .

[Zilod]

eheh well if you look at the comment i gave it 3/5 because tricky to use... but i say too that is an extremely powerfull spell if used right


btw earthquake is not that good, expecially at higher levels, most mobs have good resists or are immune to it

Modifié par Zilod, 28 novembre 2009 - 08:29 .

[Tonya777]

Not really , just target whoever your melee characters are beating on and cast it on that one , then its only a few seconds before they all get blown up and die XD lol

[Zilod]

eheh problem is that it can include your melees too (at least till they have not some big spirit resists) also when you cast it you get aggro from the mob (that run to you) so you need to taunt back or to mez him...



mind that is a spell that i really like and with one of my mages i love to use it and make everything go boom (Alistair included when i'm lazy ) but as said you have to work a bit on it

[Tonya777]

If you play on normal you can have all of its insane power without the accidently killing Alistar part

I figure , I'm not trying to prove anything I mean I killed the final boss on nightmare mode with my 1st mages save , I know for a fact I could beat anything in the game on nightmare as I've already proven it so I just sit back and play on normal instead of crazy mode

Modifié par Tonya777, 28 novembre 2009 - 08:58 .

[xiphus200]

The reason I'd take mana clash over crushing prison is because I'm already planning to take spell might so I'm just 1 step away from mana clash, crushing prison is nice but I wouldn't want to spend 4 spell slots getting to it. It might be a circumstantial spell but it works great for getting rid of those pesky Emmisaries and all there glyphs of annoyance.

Modifié par xiphus200, 28 novembre 2009 - 09:01 .

[Tonya777]

But at least you don't get total P.O.S. spells ont he way to crushing prison or anything



AoE stun , force field , and armor penetration + buff for party isn't too shabby either

[Zilod]

mana clash is veeery nice, it trivialize some of the hardest fights in the game (2.5k dmg ftw!) you can instapop multiple mages and orange elite bosses... is totally worth it



i will not get it for every build, but if i alredy plan to get spell might well 1 more spell slot for total mage ownage? yarrrrrr!!!

[Tonya777]

All this talk makes me want to start a 2nd regular mage save



I feel like I messed up some things on my 1st mage (and rogue too)



I already started a new rogue whos lvl 10



I been messing w/ arcane warrior mage lately but this is making me want to go make another regular mage lol



Not that theres anything wrong with my 1st mage , she & her party did beat the final boss on nightmare mode without struggling or anything

[MS3825]

I don't get why people say shapeshifter is useless. Maybe before you get the Master Shifter... but now as soon as my mage throws out everything he can he goes bear form and mauls what's still alive. If there's a group of white named enemies I'll sometimes just use Swarm Shape (name might be wrong) immediately to get them all less than 1/2 on HP and revert to normal when my mana gets to 1/4.

[Zilod]

MS3825 wrote...

I don't get why people say shapeshifter is useless. Maybe before you get the Master Shifter... but now as soon as my mage throws out everything he can he goes bear form and mauls what's still alive. If there's a group of white named enemies I'll sometimes just use Swarm Shape (name might be wrong) immediately to get them all less than 1/2 on HP and revert to normal when my mana gets to 1/4.

because you can pop a potion (or use blood sacrifice if you are bm) and you will be way more effective than any shifted form, not to say to shift you have to spend a pair of secs

a mage have always more dps, utility and CC than any shifted form, as mana is not really an issue there is no real need to transform... why to give away all the mage power to become a sort of gimped dog?

[DragoonKain3]

You can modify the build I posted in the best non-chantry mage build (before the OP changed the topic to best crowd control mage build >_>) to include Walking Bomb earlier if you wanted to, maybe leave Arcane Mastery for last. That said, Blizzard + ally earthquake + Death Cloud is enough AoE for most situations, that's why I left it for last since it tends to kill your melee people at higher difficulties.

Origin: Arcane Bolt
1) Winter's Grasp + Frost Weapons
2) Cone of Cold
3) Blizzard
4) Mind Blast
5) Force Field
6) Telekinteic Weapons
Ostagar Talent) Crushing Prison
7) Life Drain
8) Death Magic
9) Curse of Mortality
10) Death Cloud
11) Vulnerability Hex
12) Affliction Hex
13) Misdirection Hex
14) Death Hex

(By this time, you should've unlocked bloodmage if you went Circle Tower-->Redcliffe, reloaded before you unlock bloodmage and then pick talent tome instead, and you should have enough gold to buy all three arcane books)

Redcliffe bonus talent) Blood Magic
Desire tome) Blood Sacrifice
Arcane tome 1) Blood Wound
Arcane tome 2) Mana Drain
Arcane tome 3) Mana Cleanse
15) Spell Might
16) Blood Control
17) Spell Clash
18) Spell Wisp
19) Arcane Shield
20) Staff Mastery
21) Arcane Mastery
Landsmeet Talent) Walking Bomb
22) Death Syphon
23) Virulent Walking Bomb
24) Animate Dead

Since this has the powerful Death combo, and the fact it uses all the spirit spells in the game, you can easily stack +spirit equips to max and +cold gloves for your staff/CoC damage. I had DPS with this build in mind, with survivability/CC as secondary.

And copy pasting from that thread...

Reason for spell picks..

Blizzard/Crushing Prison - cone of cold/forcefield really are the stars, but finishing these lines first gives you the survivability you need in Nightmare, so these are your #1 priority. For the most of early to mid game, you're going to rely on CoC and shattering to quickly kill off enemies to more manageable bits

Death Cloud/Death Hex - Vulenrability + Affliction + Cloud + Hex = major damage. Other mages can piggy back by just casting Hex as well

Blood Mage - Blood Wound is the star, because you have access to AoE CC that does not affect friendlies. Blood Control I find is very useful, since it works on more reds than you would think, and yellows are always a safe bet

Spell Clash - tanks are vulnerable to other mages. Keeping them off the battlefield means one less thing to worry about. Just too bad I think the first three spells are crap, even spellmight because of its insane mana drain

Spell Wisp - best one point wonder in the game. Increasing your overall spell effectiveness by 5% for 5% more mana cost is a good deal, since you get to frontload your spells and your resistchecks are harder

Arcane Mastery - by this point, you have filled out all the necessary spell lines. So getting +5 spellpower for all your spell lines and more staff damage is great.

Walking Bomb - the last of the spirit line (it does spirit not nature oddly enough). Death Syphon would be useful in final battle since there's lots of minions to wipe out, but this line is more than just afterthought.

[TheNecroFiend]

I started a pure DPS mage the other day and he rocks.

Specializations: 

Spirit Healer: Not for the spells but for the +2 to magic

Bloodmage: +2 to spellpower

Cold line, Lightning line up tempest. This way I can cast Storm of The Century.

Mana line for spell might and mana clash.

Blood Magic for Blood Wound

Is the overall plan for the toon. I should grab Virtulent Walking Bomb but I always get it on my mages so this time I'm going to grab Deathcloud for a change.

[Zilod]

you should get at least first 2 hexes

[themaxzero]

If your going to get Spirit Healer may as well spend 1 point to get the AOE heal.

My setup:

Arcane Warrior: (only for Medium drakescale armour + Helm of Honnleth)
Spirit Healer: AoE Heal is something you won't miss until you actually need it.

Origin: Arcane Bolt
1) Heal + Glyph of Paralysis
2) Mind Blast
3) Force Field
4) Telekinteic Weapons
5) Crushing Prison
6) Glyph of Warding
Ostagar Talent: Glyph of Repulsion
7) Arcane Warrior Combat Magic
8) Winter's Grasp
9) Ice Weapons
10) Cone of cold
11) Blizzard
Bonus talent book 1: Lightning Bolt
Bonus talent book 2: Shock
Bonus talent book 3: Tempest
12) Vul Hex
13) Aff Hex
14) Mana Drain
15) Mana Clense
Redcliffe bonus talent: Spell Might
16) Spirit Healer AoE Heal
17) Mana Clash
18) Spell Wisp
19) Arcane Shield
20) Staff Mastery
21) Arcane Mastery
22) Anything you want after this

This is the setup I went with. Its not as pure a DPSer as some builds healers (but it has almost the same) but is much better CC and support (can't DPS if your dead!). I get the Force spells early one since they can be used to for the combo for a ghetto Fireball or for single target control/DPS. Find it much more flexibile then just plain Fireball. The Glyph is a personal preference, all the AOEs in the world don't help if mobs just run out of them.

Cold for base damage/control then Lightning for much more reliable damage (a lot of things resist cold). Stacking 2 AoEs clears rooms much faster then just one. -resist Hexes after that (just cause they are awesome). After that Spell Might because by now you should have the mana and gold (to buy Magisters Lord Staff) so you can actually take advantage of Storm of the Century without it crippling you mana.

After that its just clean up. Wisp, AoE Heal, Arcane line, etc. I find having just a little armour (20 from helm and drakescale) makes me a much more effective (and safer) caster. 1 or 2 archers isn't a dire threat that will kill me in 3-4 shots and lets me get off spells under pressure (which the game loves to put you under).

After checking out the spell damage formulas if I were doing it again I would drop the Ice and Lightning lines for fire (Inferno does 2/3 the damage of Storm of the Century without the mana cost) and use combos to keep mobs Frozen in place (remember Storm of the Century does not snare either). A follow up with a Fire Ball would  cancel any lost damage. Use the spare three points to pick up Blood Wound. Maybe a combo of Blood Wound> Inferno, Fire Ball> Paralysis Explosion> Fire Ball (if needed)?

Modifié par themaxzero, 28 novembre 2009 - 09:01 .

[NTsikuris]

what are these bonus talent books you have there?

[konfeta]

Circle Tower Quartermaster, Wonders of Thades in Denerim, and the camp merchant.



Mana Clash isn't just for mages you know... it one shots demons, abominations, ash wraiths. If it's not human/animal, chances are, Manaclash instagibs it.



And Spellmight is underrated. The mana drain isn't that bad, and gaining a 20% damage boost on your spells is more useful than you think. Early on it's horrible, yes, but once you have 80+ base spellpower with a high base pool it becomes totally worth it.

[NTsikuris]

i finally gave up making a DPS mage and made a blend mage.

here is what i came up with.





0. arcane bolt

1. winter's grasp, frost weapons

2. cone of cold

3. blizzard

4. mind blast

5. force field

6. telekinetic weapons, crushing prison

7. group heal (spirit healer)

8. revival (spirit healer)

9. life drain

10. death magic

11. curse of mortality

12. lifeward (spirit healer)

13. death cloud

14. cleansing aura (spirit healer)

15. mana drain

16. mana cleanse

17. spell might

18. lightning

19. shock

20. tempest



as you can see. i have the basic damage spells, but i also have the awesome healing spells incase of a long battle or if wynne dies. that way my party has no chance of falling in battle.

[DragoonKain3]

Spellmight is not a 20% boost, but a mere 10% increase in spell effectiveness.



Worth the -4 mana regeneration? Not really unless its a red, and only if you don't mind downing lots of pots. Most reds you don't even need it... its only the elite bosses that matter.

[Ulrik the Slayer]

DragoonKain3 wrote...

Spellmight is not a 20% boost, but a mere 10% increase in spell effectiveness.

Worth the -4 mana regeneration? Not really unless its a red, and only if you don't mind downing lots of pots. Most reds you don't even need it... its only the elite bosses that matter.

You do need Spellmight for certain spell combinations though.

[Zilod]

why gave up dps route? dps is pretty viable for mage and pretty fun to play

[Tonya777]

Whats this storm of the century **** I keep hearing about?



Is that a name given to that spellcombo by the players or does it literally transform into some whole other thing when you combine those?

[NTsikuris]

well if you look carefully, most of my spells deal damage and take life. i made this mage based on what i encountered during my playthrough. my mage seemed to always draw attention, so i chose mind blast incase im surrounded. i wanted blizzard early on since it too can handle a great deal of enemies if they surround me, and crushing prison to smash 'em

[konfeta]

Spellmight is not a 20% boost, but a mere 10% increase in spell effectiveness.

Spellmight gives me ~22 spellpower when I activate it. And Wisp gives 11, for that matter. Together they seem to add 34.

[DragoonKain3]

And Spellmight combos suck too. I've said it before, but Storm of the Century is like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer... most of the time, you'll miss because even with earthquake, they'll just run right through in nightmare. You're better off using Blizzard + Earthquake --> Tempest/Death Cloud. They'll stay put and between 2 damage AoEs, trash mobs die.



As for better animate dead, fact that you need an enemy dead to cast it (which means the battle is already going in your favour) and the fact that it has one of the more outrageous upkeep (meaning that its just not worth it keeping it on between battles), makes animate dead one of the worse sustains in the game.