Being the achievement sucker I am, I started a nightmare mode playthrough playing as a mage.... and ehrmahgerd it is SO difficult. Has anyone had any success nightmaring as a mage and/or got any tips about how I should proceed?
I really want this playthrough to be my canon one which I get everything right in, which means I really want to stick with my Fem!Qunari mage, but I'm considering packing it in and just tanking it...
Argueably mage is the best class so...
Yeah, sure. I'm playing Nightmare + FF as a Dalish mage Inquisitor.
The beginnings on Nightmare are the most difficult (as was the case in every DA game so far).
Remember to use barrier, have a sword and shield tank (Shield Wall is incredibly good) and I advise an archer rogue (Varric/Sera) and a second mage.
It's probably easiest as a Mage, honestly.
And, yeah, Knight Enchanter.
Mage start of decent. Then become godlike. All 3 specializations are decent.
So.. yeah. No probs there 
Mage and SSWarror are more convinent than Rogue because idealy you always need a Tank to well tank, and a mage to spam barrier. So if thats the inquisitor then fine. However its not so obvous that you want to commit yourself to always having a rougue in your party.
Mage is without a doubt the easiest class in Nightmare. Humans have an extra ability point to add. Specing as Storm to start, because at an early level you can have Static, the top tier spell. Static is easily the best CC for mods early on, and lightning bolt paralyzes.
Respecing later for the story mission, templar, or mages, to a Spirit spec, this will see an easier game.
My game in Nightmare I always run with two tanks Cassandra and Blackwell, using the other member as a vaired dps, depending on the situation, or which door needs opening, or the particular interest of quest.
I have spec'ed myself to spirit to cast competent barriers, dispels, and also revive. Changing between fire, ice, and storm depending on what epic staff I have got, or which mob is immune.
I play almost every fight in realtime, because there is nothing worse then the slow-mo screen going black. Nightmare difficulty is a breeze. I'm only level 14, I haven't got my other specification tree, rift, necro etc yet.
Thanks for the tips guys. I guess I just got really frustrated at the beginning... probably didn't help that I started the playthrough at 3am 
Once you get Skyhold nightmare gets a lot easier. I got through 'In your heart shall burn' by the very skin of my teeth on nightmare.
I'm stuck at Haven on hard i don't know how you guys are doing it on nightmare.
I'm stuck at Haven on hard i don't know how you guys are doing it on nightmare.
This game got a learning curve. The lack of healing means you need to think thing through.
That said: once you got a good build, regardless of class, with a mix of offense and defense, and a good team setup, nightmare becomes simple enough. On my newest playthrough, 2 handed warrior, I have yet to meet any challenge. Currently at level 16, so I might still get one!
CC is the name of the game.
Nightmare is equally easy for all classes.
And equally hard for all classes.
The whole game (on NM) is about reaching skyhold.
(completed NM mode as mage necromancer zero exploits and cheese and no tac-cam, minimal pause)
Nightmare Pre-Skyhold is filled mostly with Rift Fighting which is trivialized with you and Solus getting Dispel and using it on ground demon portals BEFORE the mobs pop out. This is equivalent to a 1-hit KO which can hit multiple ground portals if aimed right, or at the very least guarantee the pack to have two less enemies.
Post Skyhold, Knight-Enchanter is a beast, but to keep it interesting, I would disable pause screen when casting AOE and avoid using Tactical View for a very challenging experience regardless.
Good luck and keep it up!
Like most people said, the difficulty and challenge is in not using tactical cam. If you just want the achievement, exploit away (I don't condone it because you might as well play the game on easy, or not play it at all and watch the cutscenes online).
Personally, I go full damage KE with 1 point in Barrier for Spirit (I may take it out) and 1 point in ice for Fade Step as an escape/gap closer.
The BEST CC in the game on nightmare is Death and it's very "by the seat of your pants" without another mage backing you up. I go full melee party (KE using only melee based abilities and no ranged and killed the Frostback w/ a level 12 (2 12's and 2 11's) no exploits. Super Fun. I love this game so much!
Wow i'm having trouble passing the final mission of haven on hard, last time i gave in a dropped difficulty to pass it then bumped it back up.
you guys are just a cut above, i can't see me ever plaything this on nightmare.
To be fair, pre-Skyhold is diffficult, and that last mission there did get me by suprise the first time around!
Once you know that fight is up, it becomes so much easier the next time around.
I was also level 12 this time around... so that probably helped.
I need more tips on Nightmare, haven't started yet but I don't really want to...however as a trophyhunter I can't let this go since it's the only two trophies left for Dragon Age Inquisition. I do hate it to be honest, especially since the first and second games did not have trophies/achievements regarding difficulty. And yes I know DLC had them, but that's not the same thing. I'd rather walk 10 hours in the Hissing Wastes listening to Vivienne and her "My Dear responses" while Sera is making pranks and Cole is losing his mind than playing this game on Hard or Nightmare.
I have been searching a lot for this, it seems you need at least one mage in your party at all time and someone who can tank. However that leaves two other people. Most people advise a second mage or a second tank, I hear that the skills "Barrier, Dispel and Revive" are a must have. Lastly if you only play main story missions and don't do anything else it will go quickly, but is that possible since you miss a lot of items and XP that way. I want to enjoy this game a second time for again 100 hours and more but first I need to go through it fast on Nightmare.
I feel already unwell thinking about it, make's me remember Call of Duty World At War again on Veteran, now that was a nightmare. I don't understand people want to be irritated or even annoyed while playing a game, because that's what you get on these difficulties. I know it's a challenge, but it's a challenge I'd rather avoid.
hmm currently lvl 8 guess i should do another map before trying again, what is better for leveling up, clearing the storm cost or the gloomly swamp of undead?
I need more tips on Nightmare, haven't started yet but I don't really want to...however as a trophyhunter I can't let this go since it's the only two trophies left for Dragon Age Inquisition. I do hate it to be honest, especially since the first and second games did not have trophies/achievements regarding difficulty. And yes I know DLC had them, but that's not the same thing. I'd rather walk 10 hours in the Hissing Wastes listening to Vivienne and her "My Dear responses" while Sera is making pranks and Cole is losing his mind than playing this game on Hard or Nightmare.
I have been searching a lot for this, it seems you need at least one mage in your party at all time and someone who can tank. However that leaves two other people. Most people advise a second mage or a second tank, I hear that the skills "Barrier, Dispel and Revive" are a must have. Lastly if you only play main story missions and don't do anything else it will go quickly, but is that possible since you miss a lot of items and XP that way. I want to enjoy this game a second time for again 100 hours and more but first I need to go through it fast on Nightmare.
I feel already unwell thinking about it, make's me remember Call of Duty World At War again on Veteran, now that was a nightmare. I don't understand people want to be irritated or even annoyed while playing a game, because that's what you get on these difficulties. I know it's a challenge, but it's a challenge I'd rather avoid.
If you merely want the achievement, there are a ton of posts about Exploits/Glitches/Etc. that will get you just that and though I don't condone it and in my opinion invalidates the point of the achievement, it will get you there if that little ding sound is your goal. HOWEVER, if you want to actually play the game with a challenge, the only really hard part of Nightmare as many people have pointed out is pre-skyhold because you don't have a lot of points, and need to tactical spam as much as possible.
Most of the time I was able to not have to micromanage my companions, but you do need to tweek their AI a bit in terms of the HP threshold they use to chug a potion or if you want to manually control it, and always manually use dispel and barrier. Two mages pre-skyhold and Cassandra tanking is all I needed and everything else was cake and golden. Honestly it's a joke with three mages since you cycle through 3 barriers, and the only hard spots, in my opinion are large groups which can be cc'd with ice, and dispel for dealing with rifts.
Focus fire is key and was more effective in my experience than using AOE, but that's just me and my playstyle.
Here is an example of the Fereldan Frostback Dragon Fight on Nightmare w/ an AT LEVEL team composition. Knight Enchanter is strong, and stupidly trivializes things in the end of the game to get a feel for what's in store.
Good luck
https://www.youtube....h?v=-V9wc6C-AGU
(All melee party, Nightmare Frostback Fight, No Exploits, No Dragon Runes, with a Fire Staff -1 damage basic auto-attacks)
The point of this video is that it's not so bad, and party micromanagement doesn't have to be a thing if you don't want it to. You don't need to out level content, nor stack your gear to each boss fight. All you really need is to know the fight and how to adapt with what you have.
hmm currently lvl 8 guess i should do another map before trying again, what is better for leveling up, clearing the storm cost or the gloomly swamp of undead?
I just did Hinterlands quests as my Nightmare playthrough is my completionist playthrough. I did the game on Normal as a warm-up so I knew where potion bottles were ahead of time and got a general sense of when a checkpoint was coming up so I knew when to save them vs. chug them like no tomorrow.
The problem with the mage is that your starting skillset is outright horrible. After respec mage is easily the strongest earlygame class. There are many viable builds, I prefer to just get barrier(without the upgrade, must have for any mage) + aoe skills (upgraded immolate + chain lightning) + winter stillness for mana. Since you're mostly fighting groups everything just melts. Respec to something more fancy once you get your specialization.
The problem with the mage is that your starting skillset is outright horrible. After respec mage is easily the strongest earlygame class. There are many viable builds, I prefer to just get barrier(without the upgrade, must have for any mage) + aoe skills (upgraded immolate + chain lightning) + winter stillness for mana. Since you're mostly fighting groups everything just melts. Respec to something more fancy once you get your specialization.
On nightmare I got away with Barrier, and the single target flame ability and auto-attacks 
Honestly, just recruit Blackwall and anything Pre-Skyhold becomes easy.
Wow i'm having trouble passing the final mission of haven on hard, last time i gave in a dropped difficulty to pass it then bumped it back up.
you guys are just a cut above, i can't see me ever plaything this on nightmare.
Actually the Haven battle is the most difficult one in the entire game imo. On both my hard and NM runs, the haven fights were the hardest ones by far for the entirety of the game.
Actually the Haven battle is the most difficult one in the entire game imo. On both my hard and NM runs, the haven fights were the hardest ones by far for the entirety of the game.
I would agree. Otherwise, the Fereldan Frostback at or below level after Haven on NM was pretty difficult w/out runes/exploits. Fun fights, just challenging. I don't know. The Haven fights were not too tough if you controlled your tank and had the mages hold position together. I found that the enemies just automatically flocked to whoever you were controlling and my ranged classes took it from there.
Between Solus, The Inquisitor, Viv, and Dorian that's 3 Barriers and 1 tank which made NM Pre-Skyhold not so turrible.
The problem with the mage is that your starting skillset is outright horrible. After respec mage is easily the strongest earlygame class. There are many viable builds, I prefer to just get barrier(without the upgrade, must have for any mage) + aoe skills (upgraded immolate + chain lightning) + winter stillness for mana. Since you're mostly fighting groups everything just melts. Respec to something more fancy once you get your specialization.
Yep I agree, although I sometimes just ditch lightning and go right down fire for fire mine, the damage and CC it provides is incredible.
I need more tips on Nightmare...
Play a mage, pre-Skyhold invest into the Spirit tree and anything else you can grab that has crowd control. Post-Skyhold spec into Knight Enchanter and spirit blade your way to victory. That's probably the easiest no-brainer way to beat nightmare.
There are other combos as well that are just as ridiculously broken, such as tempest rogues that can use unlimited rift abilities (although I believe this is a bug). Archer-assassins are also capable of incredible burst damage and can take off half a dragon's life bar before they even land.
Retour en haut