31 réponses à ce sujet

[Joseph Silver]

My character is a mage named Lelouch.  I originally wanted him to be a Blood Mage, but since I found the Arcane Warrior specialization first, I'll have to wait until level 14 to get the Power of the King.  Anyway, I have some questions about this specialization:

1. Should I spend more points on Dexterity to be able to use better swords?  Or should I stick to pumping Magic to boost my spell and melee damage?

2. Is it better to use a two-handed weapon or a sword and shield?  Right now, I use a sword and shield because I can't find a merchant who sells good two-handed weapons.  Personally, I prefer the look of wielding a two-handed weapon.

3. Should I spend some points on Constitution?  I haven't pumped my Constitution ever, even during character creation.

4. Do my character's specializations make any difference in conversations?  Basically, do characters react differently to me because I'm an Arcane Warrior?

[dkjestrup]

Dunno about 1. Should be fine without dex though, considering you have miasma, Combat Magic, Fade Shroud, Shimmering Shield, Arcane Shield, Rock Armor, Heroic Offence, Death Hex to help with your attack/defense.



2. 2h is horrible on an arcane warrior, because they miss out on the active abilities and Indomitable, which are the only reason 2h Warriors don't suck. Go either Dagger and Shield, or dual daggers.

[owl208]

1. I would get Dex up to 20 for your arcane warrior. This should be enough so that your hit rate is acceptable. There is nothing more aggravating than whiffing part of the time. It really depends on your difficulty. In NM, 20 is good. You can get by with less in lower difficulties, especially if you have aura of might and miasma.
2. Sword & Shield. Your attack is quicker and the spellweaver longsword is tailor-made for an arcane warrior. The shield will also give you extra protection and a few have nice mods.
3. No points needed in Con. Your buffs will sufficiently protect you. You should be able to catch a few stat increases in the Fade, just make sure to hit all of them.
4. No effect that I've noticed.

Modifié par owl208, 31 décembre 2009 - 04:20 .

[SusanStoHelit]

Joseph Silver wrote...

1. Should I spend more points on Dexterity to be able to use better swords?  Or should I stick to pumping Magic to boost my spell and melee damage?

You don't need dexterity to use better swords as an AW. Combat magic (the first skill in the AW line) allows you to use Magic to equip armor and weapons - so it is your Magic stat that counts. The higher your Magic, the higher the level of armor and weapons you can equip.

Modifié par SusanStoHelit, 31 décembre 2009 - 08:45 .

[DKJaigen]

Given the nature of the AW buffs and weapon enchants its best to wield dual daggers for maximal damage. So you need to raise your dex to at least 30 to use the best daggers. in addition dex increase your defense crit and dagger damage. my current AW hits with his main hand dagger for around 45-50 damage (white damage) combine this with weapon enchants and haste and your a killing machine

[bas273]

1. Attributes

Strength: X

Dexterity: 20-25

Willpower: 30-35

Magic: MAX

Cunning: X

Constitution: X or 20-25 (if you're a Blood Mage)



2. That depends on your character. If you use your Arcane Warrior as a main tank it is better to go for a weapon&shield (get Spellweaver ASAP!!). If you want to do more damage dual weapons is the way to go (sword&dagger, dagger&dagger...).



3. 20 Constitution should be enough and you don't need to worry about it until you acquire the Blood Mage specialization.

I usually get the Blood Mage spec at level 14 and then put 2 points in Magic and 1 in Constitution at every level up. You should aim for at least 60 Magic.



4. Nope. Would be fun though.

[Vitrium]

My character is a level 15 Arcane Warrior and I have spent no points in dex. I play on the hardcore difficulty setting and my hit rate is around 80% from memory. However be sure to get all the free additional points from the fade area in the mages circle (http://dragonage.wik...ences_and_Fonts).

[Ygolnac]

I am playing an AW and i don't really see the point of people saying to use dual dagger. Daggers need dex to be equipped, so you missmagic points that makes your attack higher, and raising only magic you get the spellpower and attack increase at same time with AW.



Another thing is to be able to hit things with a sword, wich might led people to thing an AW needs some dex, but it's not the case.

1: the AW spec gives you +2 dex

2: in the fade you get some dex points

3: you can equip some gear (there are nice boots) that raise your dex.



I haven't spent a single point in dex and my AW sword/shield hits anything fine

[Elroy Shepherd]

How do you unlock the new specialisations? Do you have to find them? Or is it when you reach certain levels?

[Leyt22]

Elroy Shepherd wrote...

How do you unlock the new specialisations? Do you have to find them? Or is it when you reach certain levels?

You do, indeed, have to earn your specializations. However, once you do so, they are available on every character of yours. I found this page especially helpful:

http://dragonage.wik...Specializations

[Elroy Shepherd]

Nice one pal.

[Joseph Silver]

Are two-handed weapons really that bad? Right now, my Arcane Warrior is level 11 and he is using a greatsword. It deals a lot more damage than my old longsword and shield, but my character attacks slower. I'm guessing the slow attack speed is what kills two-handed weapons? A faster attack speed would let me apply the bonus damage from Flaming/Ice Weapon more often.

[bas273]

Well as an Arcane Warrior you don't have all the weapon talents but a two-handed weapon isn't that bad. It's a single-player game, choose the weapon playstyle you like the most.

Modifié par bas273, 01 janvier 2010 - 08:14 .

[DKJaigen]

Ygolnac wrote...

I am playing an AW and i don't really see the point of people saying to use dual dagger. Daggers need dex to be equipped, so you missmagic points that makes your attack higher, and raising only magic you get the spellpower and attack increase at same time with AW.

Another thing is to be able to hit things with a sword, wich might led people to thing an AW needs some dex, but it's not the case.
1: the AW spec gives you +2 dex
2: in the fade you get some dex points
3: you can equip some gear (there are nice boots) that raise your dex.

I haven't spent a single point in dex and my AW sword/shield hits anything fine

Several reasons

1. magic is not efficient you only receive a 0.2 attack opposed to 0.5 attack from dex

2. aw spec gives only 1 point of dex and more importantly 5 attack

3. raising your dex to 30 means you can equip the best daggers in the game have 20 extra defense and 10 extra attack and 4.5 damage for daggers(stacks with magic)

4. you say that you shield and sword hit fine. how fine exactly . most likely a 70% hit rate (which is very low)

5. dual wield daggers with haste and weapon enchants kill things fast. and i mean VERY FAST. indeed i can solo all bosses on nightmare mode with this spec

being a min maxer i try to optimize my builds. so far dual wield daggers hav been the most damaging dps build for an AW. if you post a better one im eager to eager to hear it

Modifié par DKJaigen, 01 janvier 2010 - 01:02 .

[Hahren]

Joseph Silver wrote...

Are two-handed weapons really that bad? Right now, my Arcane Warrior is level 11 and he is using a greatsword. It deals a lot more damage than my old longsword and shield, but my character attacks slower. I'm guessing the slow attack speed is what kills two-handed weapons? A faster attack speed would let me apply the bonus damage from Flaming/Ice Weapon more often.

2h weapons are better in the hands of warriors that can make use of the talents to help override the swing speed. If you have Haste then 2her's aren't terrible, but still not ideal. I found even using two weapons wasn't as good as warrior/rogue counter parts for dealing damage. You really need to take advantage of elemental runes, and buffs to make two weapons worth it. It's better than weapon&shield, but you aren't a warrior anyway.

I prefered using sword, and shield on my AW. Dealing melee damage isn't a priority, and there are some really nifty shields later on that give +stamina (stamina/mana are the same thing), and stamina regeneration (which will also increase mana regeneration).

[Joseph Silver]

If each point of Magic increases my attack by 0.2 and Dexterity by 0.5, that means that the difference between spending a point on Magic instead of Dexterity is 0.3, since there is a 0.2 opportunity cost for not spending that point on Magic.



I read that two-weapon fighting imposes some penalties on attack. My previous experience has been TWF in D&D 3.5 (where it sucked) and in D&D 4e (where it's awesome). What exactly are the penalties I will suffer from if I go for TWF?



Anyway, I am currently stuck in a certain location which has no merchants, so switching to TWF will have to wait. Another thing... How much Magic do I need to be able to wield the best armor in the game? Right now, I'm wearing the Blood Dragon armor, which requires 38 Strength/Magic.

[Mr_Raider]

Joseph Silver wrote...

If each point of Magic increases my attack by 0.2 and Dexterity by 0.5, that means that the difference between spending a point on Magic instead of Dexterity is 0.3, since there is a 0.2 opportunity cost for not spending that point on Magic.

I read that two-weapon fighting imposes some penalties on attack. My previous experience has been TWF in D&D 3.5 (where it sucked) and in D&D 4e (where it's awesome). What exactly are the penalties I will suffer from if I go for TWF?

Anyway, I am currently stuck in a certain location which has no merchants, so switching to TWF will have to wait. Another thing... How much Magic do I need to be able to wield the best armor in the game? Right now, I'm wearing the Blood Dragon armor, which requires 38 Strength/Magic.

That's an overly simple analysis. Yes 5 points in magic give 1 attack, but it also gives you 5 points of damage in melee with a non piercing weapon, and 5 extra spellpower for all your spells. 5 points in dex will give you 2.5 attack but only 0.85*0.5*5 damage. Someone will have to do the damage calculations but dual wielding, without the right talents incurs a penalty to offhand damage. It may not be worth it for an AW.

How much magic do you need? 42 for massive tier 7 armor at least. A better way to look at it is how much do you need for willpower, con (blood mage) and just enough dex to hit. The rest should go in to magic. Personnally, I like to see an unenhanced magic score above 50.

[Ygolnac]

DKJaigen wrote...

Several reasons

1. magic is not efficient you only receive a 0.2 attack opposed to 0.5 attack from dex

2. aw spec gives only 1 point of dex and more importantly 5 attack

3. raising your dex to 30 means you can equip the best daggers in the game have 20 extra defense and 10 extra attack and 4.5 damage for daggers(stacks with magic)

4. you say that you shield and sword hit fine. how fine exactly . most likely a 70% hit rate (which is very low)

5. dual wield daggers with haste and weapon enchants kill things fast. and i mean VERY FAST. indeed i can solo all bosses on nightmare mode with this spec

being a min maxer i try to optimize my builds. so far dual wield daggers hav been the most damaging dps build for an AW. if you post a better one im eager to eager to hear it

You are completely right, it's just a reason of different playstyles:
i start battles with a staff and AW ability deactivated, and when an enemy closes in or few are left or i'm out of mana i switch to S&S and finish of the mob. And yes, my hit chance with 22 dex in nighmere is about 80%.(i have spent all the points 1 wp 2 magic, so magic is really high). But for my playstyle, in wich i only fight 10-20% of the time, going magic is better. I assume that with your playstyle you use your AW in melee majority of the time, and for that porpouse your configuration is completely better than mine.

But i have a consideration: if you melee all the the time and sacrifice that much spellpower, only spells that are worth using are sustained ones, and this make me think that a rogue dual wielder deals a lot more damage than an AW setup that way. So i still think that for optimization S&S is better.
In a single player game though optimization is not that important if you can beat the game with your build and have fun.

Modifié par Ygolnac, 02 janvier 2010 - 12:37 .

[DKJaigen]

Ygolnac wrote...




But i have a consideration: if you melee all the the time and sacrifice that much spellpower, only spells that are worth using are sustained ones, and this make me think that a rogue dual wielder deals a lot more damage than an AW setup that way. So i still think that for optimization S&S is better.
In a single player game though optimization is not that important if you can beat the game with your build and have fun.

Well i dont sacrifice that much spell power . i was still at at 70 magic after all. Of course your right rogues do more damage then an AW dual wield dagger spec.But this setup does far more damage then any single target damage the mages have. Suffice to say my mage can hurl a few spells to a group or boss and then go in for the kill.

Another thing BM spec is very usefull in negating fatigue penalty. With blood ring you you can nearly eliminate the the extra fatigue cost. Make leliana a ranger and have her summon bears so it can serve as a mana battery and you can cast all the spells you want even in combat magic mode.

[Boozan]

Joseph Silver wrote...

My character is a mage named Lelouch.  I originally wanted him to be a Blood Mage, but since I found the Arcane Warrior specialization first, I'll have to wait until level 14 to get the Power of the King.  Anyway, I have some questions about this specialization:

1. Should I spend more points on Dexterity to be able to use better swords?  Or should I stick to pumping Magic to boost my spell and melee damage?

2. Is it better to use a two-handed weapon or a sword and shield?  Right now, I use a sword and shield because I can't find a merchant who sells good two-handed weapons.  Personally, I prefer the look of wielding a two-handed weapon.

3. Should I spend some points on Constitution?  I haven't pumped my Constitution ever, even during character creation.

4. Do my character's specializations make any difference in conversations?  Basically, do characters react differently to me because I'm an Arcane Warrior?

1. Spend 20 points on DEXTERITY, the rest in MAGIC since it will improve the effectiveness of your spells and the AW has a special skill that changes armors that req str to armors that req magic.

2.AW is also known to be a tank, 2 handed sword is the most useless thing for an AW. shield and sword no question. 

3. If you don't want any skills like lockpick, or the influential skill then dont...But I have mine at 20 which is the maximum, otherwise you ruin your character.

4. I haven't thought of that, but I am sure they do react. For example, I met this NPC in Denerim who said I was an assassin(which I was) and was paying me ggood $$ to kill people.

5. Visit http://social.biowar...96/index/528968

[bas273]

@Boozan
2. You don't have to be a tank as an Arcane Warrior. You can also be a damage dealer with some extra defense.
4. You don't have to be an Assassin for that ;-)

Modifié par bas273, 02 janvier 2010 - 07:13 .

[Boozan]

I tried my best But AW is mostly for Tankers, I mean yes You can be damage dealer but it will kind of be useless since your going to take agro. What I do is make it cast earthquake around it, make Wynne use forcefield on him, and make my main character cast blizzard or inferno.



4. I guess not then, but its weird because when I made my mage, I did not see him and he did not call me an assassin

[bas273]

4. Are you talking about the quest: The Trial of Crows?

I tried my best But AW is mostly for Tankers, I mean yes You can be damage dealer but it will kind of be useless since your going to take agro. What I do is make it cast earthquake around it, make Wynne use forcefield on him, and make my main character cast blizzard or inferno.

Force Field + AoE spell is a good combination but Earthquake and Inferno are rather weak. Virulent Walking Bomb or Storm of the Century (Spell Might + Blizzard + Tempest) are better options. Not that it matters much .



Well you can also make an Arcane Warrior and let him use a staff instead of a sword and wear normal clothing. You can still use Shimmering Shield for those 75% resistances but other than that you're just a normal (blood) mage.



A blood mage is very powerful but can be killed quickly because he uses his own health to fuel his spells. But imagine a blood mage with the resistances and extra armor of an Arcane Warrior... he becomes an unstoppable force.

[Boozan]

yeah but AW will waste so much mana doing 1 spell because of its fatigue rate, arent you going to be wearing plate as an AW? or not

[Sarielle]

You guys have made me wonder about a paladin-esque type character for a second playthrough at some point.



Is it possible to make an effective tankish spirit healer? What stats would I aim for (to get the best armor I'd need etc.) and what starter spells would benefit me the most later?



Very interesting thread...love to see the different playstyles coming out