191 réponses à ce sujet

[Lacan2]

During my second playthrough, I stopped increasing my willpower at about 20 (started at ~17 with my mage).

Why? It's a wasted stat. Level magic instead. Higher magic = higher spellpower. Higher spellpower = more effective spells. If I do more damage, I kill my enemies more quickly. Then I don't need to cast as many spells; cast more spells and have a greater mana poll, or do more damage and end fights quicker... hmmm, I'll choose the latter. If you're an Arcane Warrior/Blood Mage, it becomes even more useless, since any mana you have left above the cost of your sustained spells will quickly be eaten up (and you'll use HP).

Question: is there any reason to increase Willpower above level 20 for a mage? 

[Mavkiel]

Not really. If you run lots of sustained spells more willpower might be useful. Or if your like me, you get somewhat annoyed that blood magic auto turns itself off after every bloody fight, and just ignore blood magic unless your in a serious fight.

[foolish_sagacity]

Can't kill something if I run out of juice, can I? Willpower is a vital stat. I have 550 mana and only boss fights require me to THINK of a mana potion...though I try not to use those too much. I prefer being able to cast many varieties of spells than a handful of very powerful arcane bolts.

[Lacan2]

You can just suck down mana potions. It will only take a small time longer in comparison to the greatly increased damage you do, and ending the fight earlier while casting fewer spells.

[PhD-gaming]

I found that a balance between the two (magic, willpower) made it seem very... balanced on my first playthrough as a mage. I was a healer, so I'm sure that gave the whole battle a different perspective than those using arcane warrior/blood mage.

[MerinTB]

Yeah, see, I'd rather have the mental resistance bonus AND the extra mana and not spend every 2nd or 3rd action drinking a potion then re-turning on my sustaineds that shut off due to running out of mana.



Or I could crunch numbers and do math and not play a single-player CRPG but instead need to game the system for the best possible selections ever. While I'm at it I might as well use a mod to just give me unlimited mana so I don't have to use potions at all. And then since I'm already there I could just turned off the cool-down timers on all spells. There we go.



Yeah, so, crunch your numbers and figure out the best way to win fights the fastest - if that is what makes the game fun for you, go to town!

Just don't come back later and complain the game is too easy.

[rumblefv]

Depends which mage we're talking about here. Wynne is essentially my healer and buffer who contributes zero damage in my party so there is absolutely no need for maximum magic once she unlocks all of her spells. However she needs more mana to throw around group buffs, group heals and rejuvenations while my melee heavy gang goes to work on stuff.

[Zarenthar]

foolish_sagacity wrote...

Can't kill something if I run out of juice, can I? Willpower is a vital stat. I have 550 mana and only boss fights require me to THINK of a mana potion...though I try not to use those too much. I prefer being able to cast many varieties of spells than a handful of very powerful arcane bolts.

Obviously you fail to understand a core aspect of the game... Mages have infinite mana. The OP is completely right Willpower is completely worthless for casters* put every single points in magic and rape things X5 faster... You're gonna finish the game with an absurd amount of gold a/w so the most efficient way to proceed is to go for full power and chug mana pots like there's no tomorrow. You won't even use THAT much. If you want to balance things out though I'd say 25 points.

[Zarenthar]

MerinTB wrote...


Just don't come back later and complain the game is too easy.

That's exactly what I did!! 
/facepalm

[Schyzm]

MerinTB wrote...

Yeah, see, I'd rather have the mental resistance bonus AND the extra mana and not spend every 2nd or 3rd action drinking a potion then re-turning on my sustaineds that shut off due to running out of mana.

Or I could crunch numbers and do math and not play a single-player CRPG but instead need to game the system for the best possible selections ever. While I'm at it I might as well use a mod to just give me unlimited mana so I don't have to use potions at all. And then since I'm already there I could just turned off the cool-down timers on all spells. There we go.

Yeah, so, crunch your numbers and figure out the best way to win fights the fastest - if that is what makes the game fun for you, go to town!
Just don't come back later and complain the game is too easy.

not everyone enjoys being an intentional retard in the hope they don't break the game.  maybe you have more practice than we do?

[Lord Phoebus]

I stopped at 30 for my mage, raised dex to 30 (So my AW could hit stuff) and put the rest in magic. If I did run out of mana everything was so close to dead I didn't need to bother with potions, just buff and bash. Once you have enough mana to cast your first offensive salvo, you don't really need anymore, since having extra mana doesn't mean much when you're waiting for your spells to cooldown. At that point you have the time to quaff a potion if you need to or do something else (AW buffs, or blood magic).



With the 30% fatigue my mage had, I found 330 mana was more than enough.

[MerinTB]

Schyzm wrote...

MerinTB wrote...

Yeah, see, I'd rather have the mental resistance bonus AND the extra mana and not spend every 2nd or 3rd action drinking a potion then re-turning on my sustaineds that shut off due to running out of mana.

Or I could crunch numbers and do math and not play a single-player CRPG but instead need to game the system for the best possible selections ever. While I'm at it I might as well use a mod to just give me unlimited mana so I don't have to use potions at all. And then since I'm already there I could just turned off the cool-down timers on all spells. There we go.

Yeah, so, crunch your numbers and figure out the best way to win fights the fastest - if that is what makes the game fun for you, go to town!
Just don't come back later and complain the game is too easy.

not everyone enjoys being an intentional retard in the hope they don't break the game.  maybe you have more practice than we do?

Not everyone is an insulting min-max munchkin who's only way to have fun is to cut every corner.

Some people buy the story-based CRPGs to, well, role-play.

If you need to find the best formulas and only the surest way to kill things as that is your only idea of fun, knock yourself out with some MMOs.

[Cuthlan]

Why do people argue over something that is pretty much a matter of opinion? Sure, the title of the thread makes it sound like he's stating a fact, but this is boiling down to which you prefer; a large mana pool, or chugging lots of potions.

Play whichever you find more effective and fun. I prefer a large mana pool, even with my bloodmage. I just figure he's got no issue with the moral question of using blood to fuel magic, he's just not excited about using his OWN blood.

Modifié par Cuthlan, 06 décembre 2009 - 04:51 .

[vicariouscheese]

just wondering what people think the best stat point distribution is for a dedicated healer (all my mage does in this playthrough is heal, buff/debuff, and the crushing prison line)

[.Raven.rpg]

I prefer larger mana pool so I have around 35 willpower and 63 magic

[.Raven.rpg]

vicariouscheese wrote...

just wondering what people think the best stat point distribution is for a dedicated healer (all my mage does in this playthrough is heal, buff/debuff, and the crushing prison line)

Only willpower and 40 magic

[MerinTB]

I like evening things out, and since there are so many items that boost spellpower or magic (more than boost willpower, I'd say, that are mage-friendly (non-AW mage friendly) -

so I'd probably be, point distribution-wise, a bit closer with Willpower and Magic.

For most levels I'd do 2 points Magic, 1 point Willpower.  After a certain point is reached with Magic (say 40) I'd toss some into Dex and Con, maybe at a rate of 1 Will, 1 Dex, 1 Con for a couple or a few levels, depending.  Being a Healer will draw angry enemies your way, and while others may tell you the right spell-combos to prevent this or survive this, you asked stats so -

Get yourself some points in Con and Dex to be able to dodge an attack and take an attack without going down in a single hit.

If you are at 40 in Magic, I'd like to be at least at 25 in Willpower and at least 12 in Dex and Con, though I'd personally prefer 30 in Willpower and 14 in Dex and Con in combination with that 40 Magic score.

Other people's focus on quick-damage-output mileage may vary.

[0mar]

Willpower is useless, it's only 5 mana per point. Your average spell costs about 40 mana.



The biggest advantage of willpower is greater mental resistance. That is rendered moot because mages have a dozen ways of controlling the battlefield so that they will never encounter a mental resistance check. See a mage? Mana clash. See a group of mages? Sleep! There's no reason, ever, to put points into willpower.

[MerinTB]

0mar wrote...

Willpower is useless, it's only 5 mana per point.
...
There's no reason, ever, to put points into willpower.

See, right here is my problem with a lot of forum posters.  The utilize the word "useless" to mean "not as effective", and they use the judgment call "there's no reason" to mean "I think it's the worse option."

Willpower is not USELESS - it does things, things that have tangible effects on the game.  There ARE reasons to point points into Willpower.

You can be of the opinion that it is better to always put your points in Magic instead of Willpower for whatever reasons you have, and mathematically and game design-wise you may well be RIGHT,
but
something being "better" is NOT the same thing as something else being "useless."

If a one pound paperweight will easily hold down your papers, it doesn't become useless just because using a ten pound paperweight  is ten-times heavier.

Modifié par MerinTB, 06 décembre 2009 - 05:16 .

[JaegerBane]

I do think that Willpower is a bit overrated. I generally buffed it so that I had about 260 mana without gear and just left it at that. Had I not gone Blood Mage then it would have been an issue in all likelihood, but that was not my path.

[Grumpy Old Wizard]

Lacan2 wrote...
Question: is there any reason to increase Willpower above level 20 for a mage? 

Yep. I think a balance between magic and will power is probably best.  My balanced mage will be casting more spells than your magic focused mage and will probably do more damage as a result. I'll spend less time chugging potions and more time doing damage and controlling the battlefield with my spells.

Crowd control spells are very important too. A balanced mage can do good enough damage and lots more crowd control. Now I guess if you go 3 mages in your party you can have one dedicated pure magic if you want. But he still spends a lot of time chugging pots.

Also, a balanced mage can keep up sustained abilities.

Anyways, that just my 2 cents.

Modifié par Grumpy Old Wizard, 06 décembre 2009 - 05:21 .

[Bad Mass]

I'll do what I want when I want and how I want.

[noobiedude]

Willpower isn't necessary when you can make pots for relatively cheap. With my DW warrior Morrigan was my only mage the entire game and I pumped solely magic on her. There's enough cc and damage on spells that you'll clear an entire room in a couple spells. In the end it doesn't really matter.

[Exploding8]

I like going 2 magic 1 will every level, but hey, whatever floats your boat right?