Wasn't the soft cap at 28-30?
Yeah, I may have been thinking of the level they said people were likely to hit vs the actual soft cap for someone completing all of the content. You may be right. I just saw someone in another thread state that a reasonably complete play through is 25-27 but the soft cap is 30 like in DA2. No reference though.
@DannypGreene @Mike_Laidlaw Fear is meant to be the ability, which causes a target to be Panicked. 
@DannypGreene @Mike_Laidlaw Same effect. My bad for inconsistency in the name.
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Fear and Panic are the same, which is awesome for an Inferno / Necro build!
Blinding Terror, Immolate..
@DannypGreene @Mike_Laidlaw Fear is meant to be the ability, which causes a target to be Panicked.
@DannypGreene @Mike_Laidlaw Same effect. My bad for inconsistency in the name.
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Fear and Panic are the same, which is awesome for an Inferno / Necro build!
Blinding Terror, Immolate..
Bruh...looks like Inferno just loves synergizing with specialzations!
@DannypGreene @Mike_Laidlaw Fear is meant to be the ability, which causes a target to be Panicked.
@DannypGreene @Mike_Laidlaw Same effect. My bad for inconsistency in the name.
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Fear and Panic are the same, which is awesome for an Inferno / Necro build!
Blinding Terror, Immolate..
Well so much for that. I was planning my future Dalish to be a storm necromancer, but with this info... Storm might have to go with rift mage so that inferno can go with necromancer. Seems a terror-flamer might be a very good combination. Then again, rift mage will boots inferno's already-high damage output so that inferno would be best with rift mage. Ah well, that playthroughs a long way off. Not going to get stressed thinking about it now.
Bruh...looks like Inferno just loves synergizing with specialzations!
You bet it does! Barrier + Chaotic focus + Firestorm = Craploads of damage!
Problem is, that means I'm forced to drag another mage everywhere. I like to be self sufficient, I don't want my barriers to be weaker because I left someone at the keep. Besides, that would mean my companion would need to focus on spirit, which is bad because I want companions to focus on direct skills. I'm focusing on barriers so nobody else has to. Every point I put into spirit is a point a companion mage has to focus on other areas. And this is on this character. My other future mages, my rift mage and necromancer, will probably not use barrier that much (barrier will still be used, but a companion will have that job next time). I'm trying to make a tank mage with my Qunari. Once that role is done, on future playthroughs I'll ignore barrier for myself and be more focused on controlling or killing than surviving like I am for my KE.
This mage playthrough- tank, durable, very very hard to kill
next mage playthrough- necromancer, controls the battlefield and enemies to make enemies unable to fight at their best
next next mage playthrough- rift mage, focus on massive damage and power and obliterating enemies
See? Focusing on barriers is my theme for my first playthrough. And like I said, those spirit powers will be some of the last I focus on. I'll start working towards that when I'm level 21/22 and already have KE and winter pretty much maxed out. I won't be super broken up if I fail to get those passives.
A couple of things and then I'm going to leave you alone because it's obvious that the reasons you do things have nothing to do with game play, but are driven by thematic, role-playing visions that you have in your mind.
1. You are not a tank. You do not have taunt, your barriers do not gain any sort of advantage from mitigation making barrier intrinsically weaker than guard. No matter what you do, unless you play on an easier setter (maybe normal, I don't know. No advance review copy for Varus), you'll likely still need a real tank in your party. Your "tank mage" is redundant.
2. Specializing all of the barrier skills onto one character just means that your build finishes slowly. If you spread the "pain" out across a second mage then you can gain access to all the barrier goodies that you prize so highly (for whatever reason) so much quicker. And since, as I tried and failed to point out earlier, you have no means of extending barrier duration beyond that which all KEs have access to (and will take) then staggering barrier casts is your best bet for max up time anyway. Additionally there will be times when barrier is needed for someone other than you (that tank I mentioned, or another party member about to bite the dust). A spare barrier in those instances is huge. So "dragging a mage NPC around" is in your best interest. Suck it up, you have 3 to choose from.
So there you have it. Two excellent suggestions for you to disregard on why a 31 point build focusing on barriers is a bad idea. Having said that I encourage you to do so because you'll probably enjoy it more and it's your game. I only argue with you for the benefit of the impressionable youth who might be reading, lest they be lead astray.
@DannypGreene @Mike_Laidlaw Fear is meant to be the ability, which causes a target to be Panicked.
@DannypGreene @Mike_Laidlaw Same effect. My bad for inconsistency in the name.
-
Fear and Panic are the same, which is awesome for an Inferno / Necro build!
Blinding Terror, Immolate..
Thanks so much for the clarification. So it's just like "Freeze" is the ability, but "Frozen" is the status effect.
This is what I assumed, but the wording in the tool tips of the spells was very unclear so it's nice to be reassured. It wouldn't have made sense to me to have two separate status effects that are 99% the same.
You bet it does! Barrier + Chaotic focus + Firestorm = Craploads of damage!
It's nice that fire is awesome again. Fire sucked so freaking much in DA2. It went from the best element to the worst from DAO to DA2. I'm not sure if it's truly the best again, but at least it doesn't suck anymore.
@DannypGreene @Mike_Laidlaw Fear is meant to be the ability, which causes a target to be Panicked.
@DannypGreene @Mike_Laidlaw Same effect. My bad for inconsistency in the name.
-
Fear and Panic are the same, which is awesome for an Inferno / Necro build!
Blinding Terror, Immolate..
Thank you devs! I made a thread specifically asking them this question but got nothing. 
In any case, I don't know about Rift Mage (haven't even looked at it), but Inferno is really starting to look like the "master" tree for synergy. At least for KE and Necro. If my MC wasn't going fire I'd be speccing Dorian as fire...hell, I still might although I want some other elements for dragons and rage demons, etc.
A couple of things and then I'm going to leave you alone because it's obvious that the reasons you do things have nothing to do with game play, but are driven by thematic, role-playing visions that you have in your mind.
1. You are not a tank. You do not have taunt, your barriers do not gain any sort of advantage from mitigation making barrier intrinsically weaker than guard. No matter what you do, unless you play on an easier setter (maybe normal, I don't know. No advance review copy for Varus), you'll likely still need a real tank in your party. Your "tank mage" is redundant.
2. Specializing all of the barrier skills onto one character just means that your build finishes slowly. If you spread the "pain" out across a second mage then you can gain access to all the barrier goodies that you prize so highly (for whatever reason) so much quicker. And since, as I tried and failed to point out earlier, you have no means of extending barrier duration beyond that which all KEs have access to (and will take) then staggering barrier casts is your best bet for max up time anyway. Additionally there will be times when barrier is needed for someone other than you (that tank I mentioned, or another party member about to bite the dust). A spare barrier in those instances is huge. So "dragging a mage NPC around" is in your best interest. Suck it up, you have 3 to choose from.
So there you have it. Two excellent suggestions for you to disregard on why a 31 point build focusing on barriers is a bad idea. Having said that I encourage you to do so because you'll probably enjoy it more and it's your game. I only argue with you for the benefit of the impressionable youth who might be reading, lest they be lead astray.
No, I'm not a tank. But that won't stop me from being the most durable a mage can possibly be in DAI without cheating. I have no delusions, I know I'm not a true tank. Any warrior on my team will take damage far better than me. But I still intend to be the hardest to kill mage I can possibly be. I can't reach a warrior's durability, but it won't be on account of not trying.
Spare barrier? What the hell are you talking about? Barrier covers the whole party when cast. I cast it once, and everyone is protected. It's a party-wide buff, like haste in DAO and DA2. There doesn't need to be an extra barrier companion, the only way someone won't have a barrier on is if I'm dead.
And there comes the beauty of Fade Cloak/Winter's Stillness. Casting Fade Cloak itself takes a second, the cloak itself is 2 seconds, and Winter' Stillness activates during 3 idle seconds. Basically instead of standing around like a still doofus, you avoid any damage and gain a big mana regen. That mana regen could really come in handy after a lengthy blizzard just drained your entire reserve.
Eeeeeh I still think Winter Stillness is bad on KE. But I guess you can't avoid it if you want Blizzard.
I wonder if Reaver can reach dmg of mage, maybe if his health is super low but thats very risky lol. Might need some Vanguard skills for o-shi** barriers.
How do people think a Storm + Necro build will work?
I wonder if Reaver can reach dmg of mage, maybe if his health is super low but thats very risky lol. Might need some Vanguard skills for o-shi** barriers.
See for yourself. Lots of Reaver gameplay here:
https://www.youtube....iKmSWBXU#t=1200
How do people think a Storm + Necro build will work?
The hilarious image of casting Horror onto enemies who are currently in a Static Cage came to mind. Them running like morons out of the cage and being shocked back in lol
How do people think a Storm + Necro build will work?
Personally, seeing as I'm planning it, it seems like it will work well. You can lock a large group of enemies in a static cage with another enemy you cast walking bomb on and just royally screw up their whole day. You can blow lots of mana debilitating enemies and then hit them with a shock spell for massive damage with that passive that makes your damage go up when low on mana. Stormbringer will be useful for pretty much any spec, necro included.
Probably not the best combo of trees, but I see it working pretty well anyway.
The hilarious image of casting Horror onto enemies who are currently in a Static Cage came to mind. Them running like morons out of the cage and being shocked back in lol
Ah. Didn't think of that. Like I said, not ideal... But not weak. You could definitely tear sh!t up with that combination.
Regarding Deathblow:
If 450% weapon damage is enough to finish an enemy at half health, then Deathblow + Thrill of Victory + Dance of Death = 450% damage per strike with no cooldown and no effective stamina cost (Deathblow costs 50 stamina but Dance of Death returns 50 stamina each time you land a killing blow). In comparison, Spinning blades does 675% weapon damage for 65 stamina with a 16 second cooldown. I can't imagine ever taking Spinning Blades over Deathblow. In fact, I can't imagine taking a double-dagger rogue without Deathblow.
[Edit]
Also, Deathblow is a detonator. Spinning blades isn't.
OK that's it. I'll shut up about Deathblow now.
Thank you devs! I made a thread specifically asking them this question but got nothing.
In any case, I don't know about Rift Mage (haven't even looked at it), but Inferno is really starting to look like the "master" tree for synergy. At least for KE and Necro. If my MC wasn't going fire I'd be speccing Dorian as fire...hell, I still might although I want some other elements for dragons and rage demons, etc.
I don't think rift mage syngerizes with anything in particular, but it's focus ability, firestorm, might benefit from chaotic focus, which is... a frightening idea.
I have to make a slight retraction. Barrier isn't a party-wide buff, but it is an area-of-effect spell that can still hit multiple people at once. So it's between being party-wide and single-target.
Personally, seeing as I'm planning it, it seems like it will work well. You can lock a large group of enemies in a static cage with another enemy you cast walking bomb on and just royally screw up their whole day. You can blow lots of mana debilitating enemies and then hit them with a shock spell for massive damage with that passive that makes your damage go up when low on mana. Stormbringer will be useful for pretty much any spec, necro included.
Probably not the best combo of trees, but I see it working pretty well anyway.
Ah. Didn't think of that. Like I said, not ideal... But not weak. You could definitely tear sh!t up with that combination.
Yeah actually I like your Static Cage --> Walking Bomb idea much better. Mine wasn't really implied to be effective, just comedic.
Yeah actually I like your Static Cage --> Walking Bomb idea much better. Mine wasn't really implied to be effective, just comedic.
Give yourself credit, your idea was effective too. Besides, why pick just one? You could static cage a whole group in with a walking bombed enemy and scare the crap out of them to make them run out and hurt themselves. That's an excellent combo. Drop an immolation on top of that same group after scaring them and blowing them up while still locked in the cage, and even elites will probably be dead after.
@DannypGreene @Mike_Laidlaw Fear is meant to be the ability, which causes a target to be Panicked.
@DannypGreene @Mike_Laidlaw Same effect. My bad for inconsistency in the name.
-
Fear and Panic are the same, which is awesome for an Inferno / Necro build!
Blinding Terror, Immolate..
Yesssssssssssssssssssssssss
Dorian's element will be Fire.
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