I've got a couple questions regarding the Friendly Fire of Rift Mage abilities - What about upgraded Stonefist (does it weaken and stagger my own tank, even damage them?), Veil Strike upgraded (does it throw down my tank?) and Pull of the Abyss (is my tank also pulled/ weakened?)
Would be really nice to get somme comments, haven't yet progressed so far and would like to further theory craft:)
What's the point of Fade Step?
I'm playing a tank currently, and if my mages ever get aggro, I consider that a failure.
What's the point of Fade Step?
I'm playing a tank currently, and if my mages ever get aggro, I consider that a failure.
Haven't used it much myself yet, but I think the main point would be to get out of AoE quickly. Like when a terror is about to pop up under your feet and then spams slow+knockdown.
Haven't used it much myself yet, but I think the main point would be to get out of AoE quickly. Like when a terror is about to pop up under your feet and then spams slow+knockdown.
I haven't used it at all, but it seems like it's directional. I feel like I'd rather keep my ranged classes grouped up for barriers and have my tank charge over and interrupt than have everyone teleport off in random directions. If it was point and click, so they could all still end up in the same location, then I could definitely see the value. I'd just prefer something like Dispel instead to cheese rifts. Actually, can Dispel be used to stop the Terror's pop up attack? I haven't tried it.
I'm also not sold on Veilstrike, though I haven't seen it in action.
I'm level 12 and just specced into Rift mage. What is a good build for me to have at this level? Right now my abilities are:
Stonefist, Veilstrike, Pull of the Abyss+, Immolate, Chain Lightning+, Energy Barrage, Barrier, Mark of the Rift.
I have every talent in the Rift tree except for the Firestorm unlocked. Is this wise, or should respec and limit the # of points in this tree? I also want to get a bunch of other talents from the other trees I just don't have the points 
I haven't used it at all, but it seems like it's directional. I feel like I'd rather keep my ranged classes grouped up for barriers and have my tank charge over and interrupt than have everyone teleport off in random directions. If it was point and click, so they could all still end up in the same location, then I could definitely see the value.
It's point and click if you use it in tactical view, which you probably will when you don't main the Mage or when you prefer to micro-manage a lot.
Also, it's absolutely impossible for Tanks to draw the aggro of all enemies in some fights (I remember this one fight where 3 Archers "spawned" in 3 completely different locations), so I'd say not taking Fade Step is an unnecessary risk - when Barrier is on CD (or the Mage is almost oom) and the Warrior is unable to immediately draw the aggro, the 3-4 seconds you need to get out ouf LoS is enough for a lone Archer to instagib a Mage, at least on Nightmare. A Knight Enchanter can and should even use it offensively, setting up combos and detonations.
Fade Step in general is easily one of the best abilities in the game.
Apart from that, you just said that you consider it a failure if your Mages ever draw aggro, so why would you need your ranged classes grouped up for Barriers? (;
Not to mention that having 2-3 ranged characters group up, w/o any of them being able to evade an AoE asap, is kinda questionable. Then again, I don't know how far into the game you are.
I'm level 12 and just specced into Rift mage. What is a good build for me to have at this level? Right now my abilities are:
Stonefist, Veilstrike, Pull of the Abyss+, Immolate, Chain Lightning+, Energy Barrage, Barrier, Mark of the Rift.
I have every talent in the Rift tree except for the Firestorm unlocked. Is this wise, or should respec and limit the # of points in this tree? I also want to get a bunch of other talents from the other trees I just don't have the points
IMO, there are two "key" passive abilities for an ideal Rift Mage build.
Restorative Veil, from the Rift Mage Tree <- your most important passive, the key to infinite mana. to use it properly, you must weaken enemies.
Clean Burn, from the Fire Tree <- 1 second cooldown reduction on all spells gets nice real fast, especially when you have infinite mana
So, the key is to Weaken enemies using your Rift Mage actives, then unload on them with fast-cast (aoe!) damage (to recharge mana), then weaken them again, then more damage...
14 talent points:
Veilstrike, Restorative Veil, Smothering Veil, Pull of the Abyss**, Stonefist**, (7)
Immolate**, Flashpoint, Clean Burn (4)
Chain Lightning** (2)
Barrier (1)
15th Talent point: Respec to Twisting/Encircling Veil instead of Smothering
16th Talent point: Upgrade Veilstrike
17th Talent point: Get Smothering Veil if FF is off, imo ignore if on
17+: Your call. I'd build towards a fully upgraded Fire Mine because it combines so well with PutA.
I built Solas this way and he's been pretty monstrous. I can only imagine how nasty he'll be with Fire Mine - I've currently got Fire Mine on my Mage Inquisitor and it's pretty nasty just following up AI-controlled Solas's PutA's (protip: if you're not gonna micro him, set Veilstrike/PutA to preferred tactics). Protip 2: If playing with FF off, enjoy the synergy with a 2-handed warrior. It gets silly FAST.
IMO, there are two "key" passive abilities for an ideal Rift Mage build.
Restorative Veil, from the Rift Mage Tree <- your most important passive, the key to infinite mana. to use it properly, you must weaken enemies.
Clean Burn, from the Fire Tree <- 1 second cooldown reduction on all spells gets nice real fast, especially when you have infinite mana
So, the key is to Weaken enemies using your Rift Mage actives, then unload on them with fast-cast (aoe!) damage (to recharge mana), then weaken them again, then more damage...
14 talent points:
Veilstrike, Restorative Veil, Smothering Veil, Pull of the Abyss**, Stonefist**, (7)
Immolate**, Flashpoint, Clean Burn (4)
Chain Lightning** (2)
Barrier (1)
15th Talent point: Respec to Twisting/Encircling Veil instead of Smothering
16th Talent point: Upgrade Veilstrike
17th Talent point: Get Smothering Veil if FF is off, imo ignore if on
17+: Your call. I'd build towards a fully upgraded Fire Mine because it combines so well with PutA.
I built Solas this way and he's been pretty monstrous. I can only imagine how nasty he'll be with Fire Mine - I've currently got Fire Mine on my Mage Inquisitor and it's pretty nasty just following up AI-controlled Solas's PutA's (protip: if you're not gonna micro him, set Veilstrike/PutA to preferred tactics). Protip 2: If playing with FF off, enjoy the synergy with a 2-handed warrior. It gets silly FAST.
Thanks a bunch! I think I might run with this for a while, seems like a great build. I am torn because so many people suggest investing in Fade Step from Winter, or Static Cage from Storm...ideally I would love them all haha but skill points are in short supply.
You could replace Chain Lightning with Fade Step if you like. I'd rather have another short-cooldown multi-target damage tool to fuel Restorative Veil than a melee-panic-button skill, though.
Fade Step is really nice for KEs, who can use it to close range with enemies for Spirit Blade, but it's much more of a purely defensive tool for everyone else - and I'd rather be playing offense. Melee-type enemies who get too close to a Rift Mage can usually be disabled by some combination of PutA, Veilstrike, and Stonefist.
PutA makes Static Cage largely redundant, in my book, and I don't love any of the spells en route to it, with the exception of Chain Lightning. Rift Mage's tree gives you a ton of a crowd control all by itself - doesn't need a lot of supplementing, which is why I prefer to add in Chain and Immolate, which gives damage spells of different elements on 8-second cooldowns. (Plus, Immolate is on the way to Clean Burn)
Oh, and I don't have a Rift Mage inquisitor, but I'm giggling a little at the thought of the PuTA/Mark of the Rift combination.
It's point and click if you use it in tactical view, which you probably will when you don't main the Mage or when you prefer to micro-manage a lot.
Also, it's absolutely impossible for Tanks to draw the aggro of all enemies in some fights (I remember this one fight where 3 Archers "spawned" in 3 completely different locations), so I'd say not taking Fade Step is an unnecessary risk - when Barrier is on CD (or the Mage is almost oom) and the Warrior is unable to immediately draw the aggro, the 3-4 seconds you need to get out ouf LoS is enough for a lone Archer to instagib a Mage, at least on Nightmare. A Knight Enchanter can and should even use it offensively, setting up combos and detonations.
Fade Step in general is easily one of the best abilities in the game.
Apart from that, you just said that you consider it a failure if your Mages ever draw aggro, so why would you need your ranged classes grouped up for Barriers? (;
Not to mention that having 2-3 ranged characters group up, w/o any of them being able to evade an AoE asap, is kinda questionable. Then again, I don't know how far into the game you are.
I have them group up for Barrier because one of my mages has Rejuvenating Barrier, and also to facilitate Batman levels of preparedness; you never know what could spawn and where. It also lets me get a little lazy with my tank for mundane trash pulls (I only consider it a failure when my mages get hit on content that matters). If an enemy is charging my DPS and will get a hit or two off before he dies, I can just let it happen if they all have a full barrier and not worry about it.
Also, in some instances, having threat doesn't matter, such as with Terror demons.
I did just run into the situation you were talking about, where random archers spawned in sort of a triangle formation. It was annoying; I felt like it betrayed the combat structure of the game. I don't feel like the game gives you the tools to deal with situations like that, other than making sure all of your DPS have Barrier already, which supports stacking. I'm not sure how Fade step would really have helped in that situation. The archers would have repositioned in seconds anyway.
What would have helped was some crowd control, but most of the crowd control spells in this game suck. They last only a few seconds and break early.
Speaking of breaking early...is it just me, or does Pull of the Abyss not last 12 seconds? I count about eight seconds.
Do you think its a waste of skill points to have twisting, encircling AND smothering veil? I like that smothering veil makes weakened enemies do 30% less damage, that sounds like a great passive. However, is that skill point better spend on an inferno/storm passive/active ability?
Do you think its a waste of skill points to have twisting, encircling AND smothering veil? I like that smothering veil makes weakened enemies do 30% less damage, that sounds like a great passive. However, is that skill point better spend on an inferno/storm passive/active ability?
I think it is best to invest 10 poins in Rift Mage...for everything except Veilstrike upgrade...and then to not use Veilstrike since it becomes useless once you have the upgrade for Pull of the Abyss and Stonefist...Here is a build
I think it is best to invest 10 poins in Rift Mage...for everything except Veilstrike upgrade...and then to not use Veilstrike since it becomes useless once you have the upgrade for Pull of the Abyss and Stonefist...Here is a build
- Stonefist
- Pull of the Abyss
- Immolate
- Winter's Grasp
- Chain Lightning
- Barrier
- Mark of the Rift
- Firestorm
Isn't upgraded Veilstrike required to make sure you have enough Mana to cast spells like POTA which is 65 Mana?
Also are Dragons effected by Weakness the same as any other enemy or do some have resistances to it just like other conditions?
What do you all think of my build? Right now my active abilities are:
1. Veilstrike
2. Stonefist
3. PotA
4. Immolate
5. Chain Lightning
6. ???
7. Barrier
8. Mark of the Rift
I am wondering which direction to go with my build. Should I pick up Winter's Grasp so I can get Winter Stillness? Or go Fade Step + Winter Stillness? Should I ignore Winter all together and get the Lightning Bolt talent, which acts as a CC paralyze and damage spell? Or grab Flashfire and eventually get Clean Burn and other passives in the fire tree? When I started out I was going to focus on the Storm tree but it seems Inferno has better passives. Which way would you recommend?
Also, I don't have Firestorm unlocked yet, but when I do I will switch between that and Mark of the Rift, I don't see the need to have both in the loadout at the same time, and it frees up room for an extra spell.
Appreciate the help and advice!
Reposting here from another thread.
Is anyone else having a problem with Restorative Veil giving mana only from some of the spells? After a few dozen reload/respec testings I found it works with
- Basic Attack
- Stonefist
- Chain lightning
- Energy Barrage
- Fire Mine
But not with
- Winter's Grasp
- Blizzard
- Lightning Bolt
- Flashfire
- Immolate
This is quite a spec-breaking bug.
Reposting here from another thread.
Is anyone else having a problem with Restorative Veil giving mana only from some of the spells? After a few dozen reload/respec testings I found it works with
- Basic Attack
- Stonefist
- Chain lightning
- Energy Barrage
- Fire Mine
But not with
- Winter's Grasp
- Blizzard
- Lightning Bolt
- Flashfire
- Immolate
This is quite a spec-breaking bug.
What The F*** ?! So the only mage specialization that is even worth taking is Knight Enchanter ?!
Why bothered to even give us specializations when you are being half-arsed about it ?!
Reposting here from another thread.
Is anyone else having a problem with Restorative Veil giving mana only from some of the spells? After a few dozen reload/respec testings I found it works with
- Basic Attack
- Stonefist
- Chain lightning
- Energy Barrage
- Fire Mine
But not with
- Winter's Grasp
- Blizzard
- Lightning Bolt
- Flashfire
- Immolate
This is quite a spec-breaking bug.
Restorative Veil only works on Weakened Enemies. Testing is probably an issue of not setting up the combinations properly. Use tactical view to make sure the enemy is Weakened before casting a damage-dealing spell - it definitely works with Immolate for me, I can't speak as to the others.
This is the reason I like to have Veilstrike, Pull, and Stonefist ALL upgraded - keeps that status effect on everything. (Though sadly, as with other status effects, some bosses are strait-up immune.)
Restorative Veil only works on Weakened Enemies. Testing is probably an issue of not setting up the combinations properly. Use tactical view to make sure the enemy is Weakened before casting a damage-dealing spell - it definitely works with Immolate for me, I can't speak as to the others.
This is the reason I like to have Veilstrike, Pull, and Stonefist ALL upgraded - keeps that status effect on everything. (Though sadly, as with other status effects, some bosses are strait-up immune.)
I've done all my testing the same way. No other person in the party, tactical view, casted the upgraded PotA, checked if targets are weakened (using the same targets for all spells).
Looks like a bug then. What system are you running on? Immolate at least seems to be working for me on XB1.
I'm loving Rift Mage. At first I picked Veilstrike and I didn't like my build, so I respecced and got to Pull of the Abyss first, and now it rocks. My mage is full Storm, Rift Mage and some Winter. And he is unstoppable! His active skills:
1. Chain Lightning (awesome damage to weakened enemies with an enhanced ring)
2. Lightning Bolt (useful with large groups of enemies)
3. Static Cage (at first I didn't use it a lot, but then... I got the upgrade... and BOOM!)
4. Stone Fist (lovely, isn't it?)
5. Pull of the Abyss (This + Static Cage is amazing, seriously! Gather 'em, hold 'em, and kill 'em!)
6. Firestorm (awesome)
7. Winter's Grasp (with the upgrade it does good damage in a good area)
8. Fade Step (I'm in love with this spell, and if you have the upgrade...)
With large groups of enemies I do: Pull of the Abyss, Static Cage, Chain Lightning and Winter's Grasp... No enemy survives that! 
(and if they do, I Fade Step over them)
I'm loving Rift Mage. At first I picked Veilstrike and I didn't like my build, so I respecced and got to Pull of the Abyss first, and now it rocks. My mage is full Storm, Rift Mage and some Winter. And he is unstoppable! His active skills:
1. Chain Lightning (awesome damage to weakened enemies with an enhanced ring)
2. Lightning Bolt (useful with large groups of enemies)
3. Static Cage (at first I didn't use it a lot, but then... I got the upgrade... and BOOM!)
4. Stone Fist (lovely, isn't it?)
5. Pull of the Abyss (This + Static Cage is amazing, seriously! Gather 'em, hold 'em, and kill 'em!)
6. Firestorm (awesome)
7. Winter's Grasp (with the upgrade it does good damage in a good area)
8. Fade Step (I'm in love with this spell, and if you have the upgrade...)
With large groups of enemies I do: Pull of the Abyss, Static Cage, Chain Lightning and Winter's Grasp... No enemy survives that!
Love this build. I am going for something similar, but I don't have enough skill points yet. Could you post all of the skills you took, including passives, so I can get an idea of how you built your mage? I would really appreciate it!
Love this build. I am going for something similar, but I don't have enough skill points yet. Could you post all of the skills you took, including passives, so I can get an idea of how you built your mage? I would really appreciate it!
Sure 
I'm currently at level 17. I took the +1 talent point of the Inquisition perks, I'm a human, so that's +1 and I found 2 necklaces of power! (so +2) --> 21 points thus far.
Storm Tree: Everything but the upgrade of Energy Barrage (I took it only to access Conductive Current)
Rift Mage: The branch of Stonefist until you get to Pull of the Abyss and its upgrade (+ Firestorm)
Winter: I have Winter's Grasp with its upgrade, Fade Step with its upgrade and Winter Stillness.
In the next levels, I'll get the upgrade of Stonefist, Frost Mastery, Veilstrike (without the upgrade) and the two remaining passives of the Rift Mage tree. After that, I think I'll get Barrier (just as prerequisite) to get to Peaceful Aura and Guardian Spirit, although I don't really need it as I build guard with every hit thanks to my masterwork armor. If I have any points left, I don't know... I don't need more active talents, so I'll go for useful passives in the Winter or Inferno tree
ED: Note that I don't use Barrier. I have Vivienne as my off-tank/supporter. Anyways, I don't find Barrier absolutely indispensable and I play on hard.
havnt been able to make any of the suggested rift mage and strom mage combos, no mana.
fire and frost are easy and fluid tho
Where do you find Amulets of Power that grant your character skill points? I have only found Amulets for party members.
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