16 réponses à ce sujet

[TheAwesomologist]

So I'm at lvl 14 playing a human mage and bored out my mind with the class. I don't want to reroll at this point however since I'd like to finish the game as a mage. Storywise the Mage is fun, but in combat he feels less powerful than prior Dragon Age mages. I realize this may be because I went Storm/Winter so maybe I just have a bad build but I don't want to respec until I choose one of specializations. I loved playing the Mage both in Origins (Arcane Warrior was godmode) and DA2 (Powerful and I didn't have to drag Anders around with me), but the mage in DAI just feels weaker and lackluster to me.

 

Here's a list of the annoyances/issues I deal with: 

• Barrier is MANDATORY- Since I rarely use another mage because I need 2 melee classes and need a rogue (when I don't take Rogue I immediately stumble upon some locked door). Barrier is basically proactive healing so it chews up one of my limited active power slots. Outside of the beginning of combat, good luck ever getting more than 2 characters in your Barrier.
• AoE Powers rarely get 2-3 enemies - Most combats seem to have fewer than 6 enemies but since 90% of this game takes place outdoors most enemies are spread out. Even if your tank draws 2-3 toward herself you basically have to hope you have the mana/no cooldown to use your AoE. I actually like Chain Lightning because it will just hit 2-4 enemies without slowing down combat by going into tactical view. Also the special inquisitor mark power seems to be the most powerful AoE I've seen in action, and it requires no investment in a tree.
• Specializations look boring - I've played a little bit as Dorian/Solas/Vivianne just so I can try out the specializations without having to commit to one. Now while I only have a couple of points in each, the specializations don't seem to do much. Knight Enchanter forces you into Barrier even further but at least they come with the only real healing spell in the game. Necromancer has Haste but that costs Focus. Walking Bomb comes late in the Necro tree so I don't know if it's as powerful as it once was. Rift Mage looks like the old Force Mage tree. Again I haven't tried Pull of the Abyss because it's so deep in the tree, but that looks like the only real method of forcing more than 2-3 enemies into an AoE. My biggest problem overall with the specializations is that even if I find one I like, wouldn't it simply be better to have one of the Mage companions do it for me? Should I consider just going full Elementalist and ignore the mostly boring looking trees?
• Dragons - I just end up playing as Iron Bull, switching to my mage when I need to re-up Barrier. Dragons seem like they're immune to everything so spells just change the color of your damage numbers. Against mooks the Mage is fine, does enough damage even if it is boring to play, but against anything else that's bigger than a bear I'm basically praying that it isn't immune to all of my spells.

Hate to be so negative because otherwise I'm really enjoying the game. I wish I hadn't gone so far into the game before realizing the class I'm playing is just so boring to me. Sadly I took the advice of several people saying to play a mage. Maybe I'm just in a power lull in the game too. At the beginning of the game Mage was fine, but now I'm mostly playing as Iron Bull/Cassandra/Blackwall with occasional switching to Varric/Sera.

 

Any advice besides restarting as a class I would enjoy more?

[Only On Nightmare]

All classes have some method of avoiding damage. For mages, that is barrier. If you go down the spirit tree a couple of points, you can reduce the "threat" level of a mage, which makes it so things will attack you less.

 

The AOE powers should hit several enemies at once, if you time it right. It can be really hard to properly time it, but I usually see a bunch of enemies bunched up on my tank. If you go into the fire tree, you have the wall of fire ability, which makes a lot of fights really easy if timed correctly and placed perfectly. 

 

For the specializations, they are pretty good from my experience. Necro does spirit damage (Which most things are vulnerable to), KE can act as a tank that dishes out a ton of damage, and I haven't tried Rift Mage yet.

 

For dragon fights, each dragon is vulnerable and resistance to something. You just have to take the right skills and staff in to be effective.

[TheAwesomologist]

All classes have some method of avoiding damage. For mages, that is barrier. If you go down the spirit tree a couple of points, you can reduce the "threat" level of a mage, which makes it so things will attack you less.

 

The AOE powers should hit several enemies at once, if you time it right. It can be really hard to properly time it, but I usually see a bunch of enemies bunched up on my tank. If you go into the fire tree, you have the wall of fire ability, which makes a lot of fights really easy if timed correctly and placed perfectly. 

 

For the specializations, they are pretty good from my experience. Necro does spirit damage (Which most things are vulnerable to), KE can act as a tank that dishes out a ton of damage, and I haven't tried Rift Mage yet.

 

For dragon fights, each dragon is vulnerable and resistance to something. You just have to take the right skills and staff in to be effective.

- I always take the reduce threat passive for all classes except warrior.

- Wall spells don't seem to do much since maps are 90% outdoors with barely any choke points. Great in a cave or dungeon, but outdoors enemies may take a little damage but eventually combat just moves elsewhere. CC spells like lightning cage thing last for a wopping 2 seconds of paralyze so using them as a setup just feels like a waste of mana.

[Selea]

You don't need barrier at all on a dps mage (actually after a certain point barrier is a total waste of a skill given the type of enemies you encounter; this is especially true on higher diffs); Fade Step is a much better option to avoid damage and it is not a wasted skill because Winter Stillness is just after. Barrier is useful on a secondary support mage focused on Spirit, but if you want to go the damage route and you aren't a KE taking barrier is a waste imo (I never took it on nuke builds and I never had a problem; it's important only if you don't have a secondary support mage).

For what you say about aggro, you should set the tank to attack on her own and the other party members to defend her so that with War Cry and the damage enemies group on her.

As for the specs, my advice is to actually play with them as just reading tooltips will never give the full picture. Both Necro and Rift mage are very good options for a nuke mage, while KE is a very versatile spec that permits you to do what you want (however it makes the game really easy if you take Fade Shield, so be warned that if you want a challenge either don't take the spec or skip on Fade Shield). Naturally also a non-specced mage is a very good option, but you miss some key spells as Pull of the Abyss and Walking Bomb that are very very good to have if you want to nuke (just Walking Bomb alone already suffices to taking Necro as a spec, for example).

[JaegerBane]

I think the mage's biggest issue in DA:I is the 8 slot limit. To get the best out of each specialisation we're talking a minimum of 3 spells, plus barrier and Fade Step - so in reality you only have a choice of 3 spells after the critical stuff is chosen. That's needlessly restrictive.

On the other hand, the class is loaded with passives and upgrades that allow you to slice through enemies without actually doing anything, particularly in the case of Knight Enchanter. In many cases the main trick to playing the mage is to nail your positioning to suit your skill set, which is fairly rare in mage RPG classes.

[MissOuJ]

Knight Enchanter, Knight Enchanter, Knight Enchanter.

 

One of the (early!) passives gives you Barrier every time you do damage. Then spec your elemental spells + Energy Barrage to max, and get all passives which up your damage. Obviously check from tac cam what the enemy is immune/vulnerable to and use those spells/staves. For extra kick-a**, craft yourself a high-tier armour with fade-touched obsidian (if I remember correctly), which gives you 3 Guard on every hit. Voila, you're practically unkillable.

 

No need to get Barrier. (Of course you might want to have another mage in your party, but IMO there's not really need to do that)

 

I had so much fun just tanking the everliving daylight out of everything: I was running around (or Fade  Stepping  Surfing around, more like [remember the cold damage upgrade!]) with full Guard and Barrier in all of the fights. Practically soloed a coulple of dragons because everyone else was down and I couldn't be bothered reviving them, since I was doing way better on my own. Also, Spirit Blade's critical damage is ridiculous against enemies with spirit damage weakness. My record damage on one hit was 6000+ on one of the dragons. (I was playing on Hard).

 

Do it before they nerf it. I had such a blast! I'll have to try to do my Nightmare run before the patch - there's no way this isn't getting nerfed. Enjoy it while you can!

[Selea]

plus barrier and Fade Step 

Now, both are completely redundant. Either take Fade Step or take Barrier, not both. One defensive skill is enough, and it naturally gimps your char if you have both in your skills.

Actually 8 skills are fine even for a mage; 10 would be the absolute best however.

[Selea]

One of the (early!) passives gives you Barrier every time you do damage. Then spec your elemental spells + Energy Barrage to max, and get all passives which up your damage. For extra kick-a**, craft yourself a high-tier armour with fade-touched obsidian (if I remember correctly), which gives you 3 Guard on every hit. Voila, you're practically unkillable.

 

LOL. You really wanted to become immortal, isn't it?

Joking aside +guard is a waste in a KE since Fade Shield is more than you need to be already invincible. There's no way you can get damaged with a everlasting barrier, guard is not going to make you more invulnerable than invulnerable

But surely (or at last I hope) Bioware will nerf the spec, since the spec completely removes all the challenge even on Nightmare. The culprit is just the above mentioned Fade Shield: without it the spec is powerful, yes, but not utterly immortal.

[MissOuJ]

LOL. You really wanted to become immortal, isn't it?

Joking aside +guard is a waste in a KE since Fade Shield is more than you need to be already invincible. There's no way you can get damaged with a everlasting barrier, guard is not going to make you more invulnerable than invulnerable

But surely (or at last I hope) Bioware will nerf the spec, since the spec completely removes all the challenge even on Nightmare. The culprit is just the above mentioned Fade Shield: without it the spec is powerful, yes, but not utterly immortal.

 

Go big or go home, that's how I roll!

 

EDIT: Sorry, mixing Fade Shield and Fade Cloak! Urgh! Yeah, Fade Shield is def. getting nerfed. Kinda sad about it, since this is the most fun I have had playing melee mage, but in all honesty, it's pretty game-breaking.

[JaegerBane]

Now, both are completely redundant. Either take Fade Step or take Barrier, not both. One defensive skill is enough, and it naturally gimps your char if you have both in your skills.
Actually 8 skills are fine even for a mage; 10 would be the absolute best however.

I did wonder about that, particularly on my current mage which is going to be a KE and will cast mini-Barriers every time he damages someone... But I suspect I'll miss it once I start rotating Solas out of my party.

My current favoured selection is the three amigos (chain lightning/immolate/winter's grasp) plus fade step and flash fire that I still haven't respecced out of, so Barrier still feels useful. The 12-sec cooldown on fade step feels like it can't quite do defence by itself, at least early on.

[TheAwesomologist]

I think the mage's biggest issue in DA:I is the 8 slot limit. To get the best out of each specialisation we're talking a minimum of 3 spells, plus barrier and Fade Step - so in reality you only have a choice of 3 spells after the critical stuff is chosen. That's needlessly restrictive.
 

Yeah I switched from PC to PS4 and being stuck with 8 slots feels like I'm playing with one hand tied behind my back.

Knight Enchanter, Knight Enchanter, Knight Enchanter.

 

One of the (early!) passives gives you Barrier every time you do damage. Then spec your elemental spells + Energy Barrage to max, and get all passives which up your damage. Obviously check from tac cam what the enemy is immune/vulnerable to and use those spells/staves. For extra kick-a**, craft yourself a high-tier armour with fade-touched obsidian (if I remember correctly), which gives you 3 Guard on every hit. Voila, you're practically unkillable.

 

No need to get Barrier. (Of course you might want to have another mage in your party, but IMO there's not really need to do that)

 

I had so much fun just tanking the everliving daylight out of everything: I was running around (or Fade  Stepping  Surfing around, more like [remember the cold damage upgrade!]) with full Guard and Barrier in all of the fights. Practically soloed a coulple of dragons because everyone else was down and I couldn't be bothered reviving them, since I was doing way better on my own. Also, Spirit Blade's critical damage is ridiculous against enemies with spirit damage weakness. My record damage on one hit was 6000+ on one of the dragons. (I was playing on Hard).

 

Do it before they nerf it. I had such a blast! I'll have to try to do my Nightmare run before the patch - there's no way this isn't getting nerfed. Enjoy it while you can!

This barrier thing is so weird. I never roll with another Mage unless I have to because any other rogue or Iron Bull simply does more damage. So barrier feels mandatory to keep other people alive since they removed healing spells from the game. Maybe I just have to play in tactical mode more (which I'm just not used to playing with on a controller).

 

Honestly I'm so frustrated with Mage gameplay I may just bump down to casual just to get it over with then reroll with a more fun class to play a second playthrough. I don't think the class is at fault here, must be something with how I'm managing the horrid AI/Tactics. I seriously spend so much time playing as Iron Bull/Cassandra they may as well be the main protagonists of this game.

[MissOuJ]

My current favoured selection is the three amigos (chain lightning/immolate/winter's grasp) plus fade step and flash fire that I still haven't respecced out of, so Barrier still feels useful. The 12-sec cooldown on fade step feels like it can't quite do defence by itself, at least early on.

 

There are a lot of passives that reduce your cooltimes - I was practically consta-spamming Fade Step around mid-game.

 

Don't worry too much about "missing out on" Abilites - since you only have 8 slots available, upgrade the ones you really use and then pick as many damage/cooldown/regen enhancing passives as you can.

[Selea]

I did wonder about that, particularly on my current mage which is going to be a KE and will cast mini-Barriers every time he damages someone... But I suspect I'll miss it once I start rotating Solas out of my party.

My current favoured selection is the three amigos (chain lightning/immolate/winter's grasp) plus fade step and flash fire that I still haven't respecced out of, so Barrier still feels useful. The 12-sec cooldown on fade step feels like it can't quite do defence by itself, at least early on.

With KE is different because Fade Step is used offensively there, not defensively (so you aren't using two defensive skills at once). However KE usually needs less nuking spells, so 8 slots are enough. If you want to go more the nuking style with KE you can skip on some of the KE skills (as Stasis Lock and Fade Cloak ) to focus more on AOE.

[Sevitan7]

Now, both are completely redundant. Either take Fade Step or take Barrier, not both. One defensive skill is enough, and it naturally gimps your char if you have both in your skills.

Actually 8 skills are fine even for a mage; 10 would be the absolute best however.

 

I'd say that's pretty bad advice. Fade will let you avoid one attack on your mage ever 10 seconds or so. It's only really worthwhile against certain bosses, and then only before you get good enough gear. Barrier will provide 10 second of invincibility for the whole party, which lets you to take on higher level enemies with subpar gear. Barrier becomes less useful as your gear advances, but it's certainly a far better defensive option for your party.

 

And Fade Step does waste a talent if you are a Rift Mage, as they have no need for winter stillness.

[Bayonet Hipshot]

Selea is right. Unless you want to make an all-round mage or a support mage, pick either Barrier or Fade Step.

 

For example, I wanted to make an all round mage that hearkens back to DAO and DA2 so I had both with me. 

 

Build

• Necromancer - 11 (Horror upgraded, Spirit Mark upgraded, Walking Bomb upgraded, Haste, Death Siphon, Power of the Dead, Blinding Terror, Simulacrum)
• Inferno - 4 (Immolate upgraded, Flashpoint, Clean Burn)
• Winter - 3 (Fade Step upgraded, Winter Stillness)
• Storm - 4 (Chain Lightning upgraded, Energy Barrage, Conductive Current)
• Spirit - 3 (Barrier upgraded, Peaceful Aura)

Skills

• Horror (Entropy)
• Spirit Mark (Spirit)
• Walking Bomb (Spirit)
• Frost Step (Primal / Elemental)
• Chain Lightning (Primal / Elemental)
• Immolate (Primal / Elemental)
• Barrier (Arcane)
• Haste (Creation) / Mark of the Rift

Necromancer is a DoT and CC specialization hence this is not a DPS monster, which is why people view it as underwhelming, especially when compared to the Invulnerable Knight Enchanter and Combo Master Rift Mage.

 

However, this is very versatile all round, you can be the only mage in your party without too much trouble.

 

Additionally, you can toggle Spirit Mark to kill off any creatures you raised and get some health back as well if you have Death Siphon passive. 

[JaegerBane]

With KE is different because Fade Step is used offensively there, not defensively (so you aren't using two defensive skills at once). However KE usually needs less nuking spells, so 8 slots are enough. If you want to go more the nuking style with KE you can skip on some of the KE skills (as Stasis Lock and Fade Cloak ) to focus more on AOE.

I think the question mark in my mind is whether Barrier and Fade Step overlap - imho they don't. More often than not I'm finding Barrier is something I use to buff my party rather than myself, whereas Fade Step is currently my main personal defence.

As for KE... I'm not specifically going to make my mage a Nuker but I think if you're not going to give a KE a means to attack groups with every element (to handle resistances) then you're pretty much forcing him into the 2-button spammer that everyone keeps saying the spec is. Part of the reason why I'm going KE is *because* of stasis and fade cloak.

[TheAwesomologist]

Sorry for a slight thread necro but I wanted to follow up on my Mage playthrough.

 

Finished the game last night with my mage, and thanks to the advice from others on here I went Knight Enchanter. While i still found mage gameplay to be boring in general, KE at least let me not worry about ever dying again. I got everything in the KE tree except for Stasis (the last power) because I had no trouble killing everything and to be honest I forgot to get it. I also picked up a few skills from each of the elemental trees so that I could always have a tool to get past resistances. I ignored the barrier tree and made sure my other mages picked that up, mostly so they could buff the other party members. After a while though I mostly rand with Sera and Varric since their damage was more useful than having another mage around.

 

I made it through 89+hrs before I finally just got bored grinding quests and just decided to end the story. KE works well enough but in the end the mage class just wasn't as fun to play as it was with past Dragon Age games for me. Swinging around a lightsaber was a little fun so not all was lost.

 

Looking forward to my next playthrough as a 2H-Warrior. Thanks to those who offered advice, it was helpful!