But again, removing even one limb or both doesn't do anything to nullify the mage's inherent magical ability.
The Mage Inquisitor doesn't lose any of their power by losing an arm, merely the ability to use it and their staff with the same adeptness they had before. It's entirely possible that they'd eventually learn to compensate for the loss of the limb and even be able to use the staff with one hand in the future, just not with the same skill or flashier moves they could pull off previously.
From what we know of magic in the DA universe, it always finds some means to channel itself. While we're told that it's near-impossible for hedge-mages to learn Circle spells because their magic manifested so differently that it's locked them out of those skills, we don't know if the loss of a limb has the same affect or that someone couldn't relearn the same spell with one hand instead?
Well that's... what I've been saying since this debate came up a few days ago. A mage Inquisitor could conceivably relearn how to fight, even without the arm.
But, I also said that I don't think the staff really majorly effects anything, which was how we got to this particular turn of the debate. And I still stand by that mostly, so...
...Although, I guess what Tea suggested could be true - staves are mostly useless to using magic, but they're a crutch that modern technique relies upon heavily and many mages just don't know how to do anything without them. Not impossible, given that spell-casting seems to mostly be a mental effort, so removing the staff - even though it's basically just a placebo - means the mage will be unable to cast as well because they don't think they should be able to. Sort of like how biotics in Mass Effect don't need all those flashy hand movements, but they're taught to new students as a mnemonic device.
It would explain why mages without staves can still cast and be a threat, but mages who rely on them draw power from them (And are of course diminished by their removal.). It might even answer the question of why the Circles hand out staves to the mages - make them think they need it to cast, and they won't be as good without it. (Doesn't answer the question of why they let Circle mages run around with staves all the damn time, but I suppose every fight with Circle mages would be a total push-over otherwise.) And it does gel with the fact that all mages we've seen cast without a staff are using magic the Circles didn't teach them. But, it doesn't contradict the entire Circle storyline by revealing a trivially easy solution that everyone's just ignoring for no reason.
Huh. I like this explanation.
Well then.
Complaint rescinded, I guess. Sorry about all that.
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