57 réponses à ce sujet

[Ticondurus]

Rift Mage is pretty satisfying to play if you like to setup combos. Mana being near infinite allows you to chain cast spells and adapt on the fly. Knight Enchanter allows you to be durable enough to be "in the action". You can always use Solas to Pull things into a nice group, and you cast a combo then frost step into the action if you still want that aoe combo destruction.

 

If you have played Mass Effect, I'd liken the Rift Mage to the Adept, and the Knight Enchanter to a Vanguard. I found with the Rift Mage I could use all eight abilities on my bar, but with Knight Enchanter I really only needed to use four or five, since the others were far inferior or too costly mana wise to use.

 

IMO If you are wanting to use Dorian, I'd suggest Rift Mage since you could pull groups into whatever he walking bombs, and get some chain detonations going. You could fade cloak onto whatever he walking bomb'd, but there is no guarantee anything would be close to it. I think there is more synergy with Rift Mage if that's what you're looking for.

 

hey thanks for that specific setup Just about to declare my Riftness.

[Demiga]

hey thanks for that specific setup Just about to declare my Riftness.

 

Hey bud - So, Im the type that loves my mages - always run them - always stick with the major damage dealers/support (for this game) - Now, I chose rift mage, and have absolutely loved it every step of the way 

 

As far as setup goes there are some key abilities - You will want the Ice tree first passive in the middle (standing still gains mana gen) I know people are going to say you might not need it, but having that on top of the rift trees really helps, especially for early game because the "infinite" mana doesnt really kick in till later 

 

Another thing you REALLY should try out is static cage.  With rift mage being able to pull everyone to one point, dropping an upgraded static cage on the group of 5 you just pulled in can obliterate each of them.  Now, for the bread and butter skill - No matter what else you pick, get Stonefist and its upgrade as soon as humanly possible - My favorite 1,2,3 combo is to pull all the enemies to one single point, drop a static cage, stonefist - This weakens them, zaps them with the cage, and then inflicts AOE spirit damage from stonefist - Now I also have an upgraded immolate - you can also use upgraded winters grasp or upgraded lightning bolt for more aoe damage 

 

I know this build isnt a min/max build and alot of people go a diff direction with the fire/ice mines and others - but, I gotta tell ya, Nothing beats the sound and feel of some horros, knights, and stalkers getting sucked into the middle and combo'd to death in a matter of seconds - And if you really wanna drop some big boys- Add a firestorm focus into a static cage 

[Blackstork]

 The best Way to use Rift Mage is to stack shocked on weakness done by eldritch + stagger and by Templar passives, together with rogue sleep abilities , and Spirit tree and Templar Dispells. It is constant Shocked>Wakened>Nightmare>Panic>Rogue Crit cycle. It never ceases to be fun to stun lock and put your foes in panic till they die. 

Only problem targets with sleep immunity, but hey, you have bees for them!

[Bayonet Hipshot]

Lorewise, the Rift Mage is a mage that uses the Fade directly as opposed to twisting and manipulating bits of the Fade. Cole explains this in great detail if you choose to be a Rift Mage. 

 

His first comment about you as a Rift Mage:- "It shines on you, shimmering and sharp. You made magic from the Rifts."

 

When you inquire him on how being a Rift Mage has changed you:- "The Fade sticks to mages. Little figments, flitting, floating free, then forced into shapes. Fire, Ice, Lightning. You use the Fade itself. You make it charged but not changed, channel enchantments.

It's strong and pure and loud. You ripple like water when the stone is dropped "

 

Solas's views on you as a Rift Mage:- "You seem to be drawing upon the raw substance of the Fade, likely using your Mark as a catalyst. I use similar techniques, although it took years to learn them. Why did you chose such an esoteric area of study ?"

 

To which you can reply to Solas:- "I hoped that studying such magic would help me better understand the Fade."

 

He then approves of this and says:- "While our fight affords little time for formal study, the wise can better themselves even in the midst of battle. Perhaps especially then. I hope your new studies serves you well."

 

So it is safe to say that Rift Magic is one of the, if not the purest form and purest expression of magic for the reason because you use the source of magic itself as opposed to relying on bits of it that is around you.

 

This also explains why it is very uncommon and only discovered after the Breach was created. Your Trainer (love that woman) is an example of this. The magic is so pure, so powerful that it takes someone who is specially gifted in magic and have a brilliant mind to make Rift Magic work. Those who cannot, get overwhelmed and die or lose their memories. 

 

Additionally, this gives the Rift Mage a great roleplaying advantage. You have the Mark of the Rift and is the first mortal mage in ages to be able to physically walk the Fade without issues. Suffice to say, you as the Inquisitor are tied very intricately towards Rifts and Fade, which makes Rift Mage a natural mage specialization for the Mage Inquisitor. 

 

Other than that, the Rift Mage's esoteric-ness and complexity will allow you to roleplay as a scholarly mage who uses knowledge as a weapon.

 

Gameplay wise, Rift Mage is all about area of effects, crowd control, debuffs, mana regeneration and combos. Think of Rift Mage as the marriage between Mass Effect's Adept class and Dragon Age 2's Force Mage specialization. 

 

Veilstrike is a cheap spammable ability that debuffs enemy. Stonefist is spammable nuke that does good spirit damage, can put people to sleep and with its upgrade, has an area of effect debuff. Pull of the Abyss is the Fade version of Singularity that drags enemies slowly to its center. With the Rift Mage passives, you can use the enemy's debuffed status to gain mana regeneration, cause them to do less damage and make you do more damage to them. 

 

In a recent conversation with fellow BSN-er, Selea, I have come up with a decent Rift Mage build. 

 

Build Setup

• Rift Mage - 9 (No Firestorm, no Veilstrike upgrade, take everything else)
• Inferno - 4 (Immolate upgraded, Clean Burn, Flashpoint)
• Winter - 4 (Winter's Grasp upgraded, Mana Surge, Winter Stillness)
• Storm - 6 (Energy Barrage upgraded, Static Cage upgraded, Conductive Current, Static Charge)
• Spirit - 4 (Barrier upgraded, Peaceful Aura, Guardian Spirit)

That is a total of 27 skill points. Mana Surge, Winter Stillness, Barrier's upgrade and Guardian Spirit are all optional, they are just icing on the cake here. So that leaves you with 23 must have skill points for this build which is very achievable. 

 

Lower Level Inquisitor Skillset

1. Veilstrike
2. Stonefist
3. Pull of the Abyss
4. Energy Barrage
5. Immolate
6. Winter's Grasp
7. Barrier
8. Mark of the Rift

High Level Inquisitor Skillset

1. Stonefist
2. Pull of the Abyss
3. Energy Barrage
4. Immolate
5. Winter's Grasp
6. Static Cage
7. Barrier
8. Mark of the Rift

There are few important things to note with this build. I do not take Firestorm and instead chose to use Mark of the Rift instead and in the later higher levels, I choose to ditch Veilstrike completely. 

 

First, Mark of the Rift is the best focus ability in the game, bar none, except for Thousand Cuts. It works everywhere and on everything, even high dragons. Secondly, it is called "Mark of the Rift" and your Inquisitor will be a Rift Mage so there is a theme synergy. Thirdly, Mark of the Rift and all the Rift Mage abilities, are all green in color which enhances the "Mastery of the Fade" theme.

 

Firestorm is powerful but it does not work on targets with high fire resistance and fire immunity. It is also very erratic and irregular in its animations. Plus, Firestorm is clearly intended to be a focus for the Inferno tree but moved haphazardly to the Rift Mage tree. Firestorm if good on Solas, you have an OP Focus ability that deals with Rifts so use that. 

 

Veilstrike is not upgraded because upgraded Stonefist and upgraded Pull of the Abyss makes Veilstrike redundant. Veilstrike can be good at the beginning when you still don't have the upgrades to Stonefist and Pull of the Abyss but later, it is no longer a must have. 

 

Static Cage is here because with the upgrade, it is a truly devastating spell, especially when you combine it with Energy Barrage, which is, in my opinion, the best single target mage spell. You could use Chain Lightning but I find its damage to not be that impressive, especially when you compare it alongside Energy Barrage, just meh. Chain Lightning in this game reminds me of a weak Chain Overload from Mass Effect 3.

 

Fade Step or Frost Step is also not exactly necessary since you will be crowd controlling and debuffing everyone from afar so dodging is not much of an issue.

 

Alternatively, you can however :- 

 

1) Use Chain Lightning instead of Static Cage.

2) Upgrade Veilstrike and use that instead of Energy Barrage. 

 

Which means then it would look like this :- 

• Rift Mage - 10 (No Firestorm)
• Inferno - 4 (Immolate upgraded, Flashpoint, Clean Burn)
• Winter - 4 (Winter's Grasp upgraded, Mana Surge, Winter Stillness)
• Storm - 4 (Chain Lightning upgraded, Stormbringer, Gathering Storm)
• Spirit - 4 (Barrier upgraded, Peaceful Aura, Guardian Spirit)

1. Veilstrike
2. Stonefist
3. Pull of the Abyss
4. Immolate
5. Winter's Grasp
6. Chain Lightning
7. Barrier
8. Mark of the Rift

Total skill points would be 26. Mana Surge, Stormbringer, Gathering Storm, Guardian Spirit are all optional which then makes mandatory skill points required to be 22.

 

Stormbringer actually works contrary to belief that it does not, it just takes a while. I just put Gathering Storm there in case Bioware patched it make it work, in its current state it does not.

 

So this build will give you, theoretically, plenty of mana regeneration and spell cooldown...If Bioware fixes Gathering Storm...

 

I also recommend getting items with enchantments that reduces spell cooldowns since Rift Mage's passives will essentially give you unlimited mana so having your spell cooldowns lowered is a good thing. What's more, get those amulets that gives you better Focus generation and unlock your Focus to tier 3 as quickly as you can. 

 

Rift Mage has its weakness. For big creatures like High Dragons and Giants, Pull of the Abyss and Veilstrike do not work on them. Stonefist does.  That is their only weakness, it is a rather glaring weakness though so keep that in mind. 

[Bayonet Hipshot]

As for Knight Enchanter...

 

Yes, people have been playing the Knight Enchanter and building them in an overpowered immortal way but that is not the only way you can play as the Knight Enchanter and there are other builds for the Knight Enchanter that make them effective without being immortal and overpowered. 

 

Take this build for example.

• Knight Enchanter - 11 (Invest in all)
• Inferno - 4 (Immolate upgraded, Flashpoint, Clean Burn)
• Winter - 4 (Winter's Grasp upgraded, Mana Surge, Winter Stillness)
• Storm - 4 (Chain Lightning upgraded, Energy Barrage, Conductive Current)
• Spirit - 4 (Barrier upgraded, Peaceful Aura, Guardian Spirit)

1. Spirit Blade
2. Fade Cloak
3. Disruption Field
4. Immolate
5. Winter's Grasp
6. Chain Lightning 
7. Barrier
8. Resurgence

This setup allows you to genuinely play as a hybrid mage without the worry of becoming overpowered.

 

Notice that you have area of effect elemental spells for all types of elements and you have a lockdown spell, Disruption Field, that works on everything. Yes, Disruption Field, works on Giants and High Dragons, although only if you trap their legs but that is far better than say, being pointless.

 

This is where Disruption Field trumps Pull of the Abyss. Yes Pull of the Abyss can debuff enemies, give you mana regeneration, have a larger radius but it does not work on everything. Disruption Field does. 

 

With this setup, you can stay back, lock enemies with Disruption Field and proceed to waste them with area of effect elemental attacks. 

 

If any enemy comes near you, whip out Spirit Blade and start hacking and slashing. If you see a big dragon breath projectile coming your way, use Spirit Blade to swat it off.

 

If you see an enemy with a lot of guard, use Fade Cloak, get close, use Spirit Blade on them and then retreat to a distance and start casting away. 

 

If shite is about to get real, use Fade Cloak to get away or use Resurgence to give the party a group heal.

 

With this build, you definitely will not be an immortal mage jedi since there is no Fade Step and it will be somewhat mana intensive since you will be primarily spellcasting as opposed to spirit blade casting, so mana regeneration gear will be helpful.

 

It also requires quite a lot of skill point investment as well, 27 in total. Of course you can get rid of the unnecessary ones like Fade Cloak's upgrade (not really useful for this build), Disruption Field's upgrade (not really useful for this build), Barrier's upgrade (not really useful since you will regenerate barriers)..Which leaves you with 24 skill point investment in total. 

 

Having said that, this Knight Enchanter build is, in my opinion, the most flexible mage build out there. Your Mage Inquisitor need to be the only mage in the party for this build since you can do everything here from area of effect spellcasting, enemy slowdown, damage negation, healing, and some melee combat. 

 

All in all, just because people have been powergaming with the Knight Enchanter and making immortal Inquisitor builds with it, does not mean we have to just discard it.

 

It is like Arcane Warrior in DAO all over again. You can obviously make an OP Arcane Warrior Blood Mage Warden or you can just make an Arcane Warrior who stays at range, primarily casts spells and only uses melee it is really necessary. 

 

Cheers.  

[Bayonet Hipshot]

At the end of the day though...

1. Determine what and how you want to roleplay.
2. Try out your companions who have these specializations first, meaning try out Solas and Vivienne.

Then pick the mage specialization you most like. 

[Aridneptune]

Rift Mage has its weakness. For big creatures like High Dragons and Giants, Pull of the Abyss and Veilstrike do not work on them. Stonefist does. That is their only weakness, it is a rather glaring weakness though so keep that in mind.

So, given that Rift Mages are weak against dragons and big bosses, should I opt for KE instead in your opinion? I'm in the same position as the OP. I tried RM on Solas and enjoy it but am concerned about boss effectiveness and survivability.

[JaegerBane]

Yes, Disruption Field, works on Giants and High Dragons, although only if you trap their legs but that is far better than say, being pointless.
 
This is where Disruption Field trumps Pull of the Abyss. Yes Pull of the Abyss can debuff enemies, give you mana regeneration, have a larger radius but it does not work on everything. Disruption Field does. 
 

This is a good point, and one that rarely gets mentioned. Pull of the Abyss is often considered the ultimate CC spell but I've found Disruption Field's universal application makes it level pegging, if not better. The fact that It can CC the kind of enemies that one really wants to CC is a big plus.

The most bizarre thing about it is, like PotA, it's a refugee from the Force Mage class, but it's part of the battlemage's repertoire.

[Anelyn77]

Seriously guys stop with the whole misconception that Rift Mage is weak vs bosses. It's a team based game, not a 1v1 challenge! Nobody stops you to get 3 rogues if you want to OHK dragons on NM while you play your rift mage if that's what you want.

 

It's like you would compare Rift Mage CC to CC of a warrior or rogue. It doesn't compare, period. Same as a s&b warrior dmg redux is best in game, bar none, you can't make something as durable on a rogue or a mage (and don't tell me about tempest frost flask, effect lasts only few seconds, and I doubt your Tempest can facetank the boss in templar mission on NM being in level range of encounter).

[Troubleshooter11]

Ishten, the conversation with Cole you posted earlier made me think about playing a purely Spirit / Rift oriented Mage without elemental abilities. No doubt far less flashy or powerful than a conventional build but perfectly fitting the idea of the Herald/Inquisitor fully embracing his new-found abilities to interact with the Fade and the Spirits who live in it.

 

Spirit (12)

All 12 perks in the Spirit line. 

 

Rift Mage (10)

All 10 perks, minus Firestorm. Personally i feel Firestorm looks, sounds and feels too much like an Inferno ability. Summoning in a load of random boulders from the Fade and dropping them on enemies would be fine but the boulders being on fire seems a bit random. 

 

Winter (2)

Fade Step and Winter Stillness. Skipping Frost Step as i purposely avoid fire/ice/lightning magic. 

 

Storm (3)

Energy Barrage, Energy Bombardment and Conductive Current. 

 

 

That's 27 points in total, none of them using elemental magic other than through the staff. 

[Ticondurus]

Guys as a Rift Mage, why do I want Flashpoint and Clean Burn from the Fire Tree? They just speed up my cooldowns, right?  I get the Immolate for the AoE after Pull of the Abyss.

 

Also, is Veil Strike redundant? Seems like I can get Weakness going on other abilities...

 

ALSO: I'm a new level 12 - with I think 2 extra ability points due to being human and getting one bonus on, so I have 14 I think.

 

I have Dorian speced in Spirit down to Revive and the rest in Necro also.

[Tensai]

Properly built KE is the most OP thing in DAI right now. Unlimited barrier uptime basically makes you unkillable and you can solo all Dragons. But it boring to play because you just need to use 1 attack

 

This.

[JaegerBane]

Seriously guys stop with the whole misconception that Rift Mage is weak vs bosses. It's a team based game, not a 1v1 challenge! Nobody stops you to get 3 rogues if you want to OHK dragons on NM while you play your rift mage if that's what you want.

It's not a misconception - you've just demonstrated that above by claiming a Rift Mage does just fine because you can use your squadmates.

Of course, that doesn't necessarily make the class 'weak', just that it does have weaknesses. If you're just going to say 'well you can use squadmates' then by that logic, no class or spec in the game has any weaknesses.

[Bayonet Hipshot]

 

Guys as a Rift Mage, why do I want Flashpoint and Clean Burn from the Fire Tree? They just speed up my cooldowns, right?  I get the Immolate for the AoE after Pull of the Abyss.

 

Also, is Veil Strike redundant? Seems like I can get Weakness going on other abilities...

 

ALSO: I'm a new level 12 - with I think 2 extra ability points due to being human and getting one bonus on, so I have 14 I think.

 

I have Dorian speced in Spirit down to Revive and the rest in Necro also.

 

Use this

• Rift Mage - 9 (Veilstrike, Stonefist+, Pull of the Abyss+, Restorative Veil, Encircling Veil,  Smothering Veil, Twisting Veil)
• Inferno - 2 (Immolate+)
• Winter - 2 (Winter's Grasp+)
• Storm - 4 (Energy Barrage+, Chain Lightning+)
• Spirit - 2 (Barrier, Peaceful Aura)

1. Stonefist
2. Pull of the Abyss
3. Energy Barrage
4. Immolate
5. Winter's Grasp
6. Chain Lightning
7. Barrier
8. Mark of the Rift

+ indicate upgrade.

 

This is the basic Rift Mage build. 

 

For passives, get the Rift Mage's passives and Peaceful Aura. The other passives in the 4 basic mage trees are either redundant or contradict the Rift Mage Passives. For example, Conductive Current gives you more spell damage the less mana you have but Rift Mage passives give you near unlimited mana regeneration. Then there is Winter Stillness which is interrupted when you cast Energy Barrage or other spell that make your character move. So these other passives are genuinely optional. 

 

Upgrade every ability except Veilstrike and Barrier. You won't be using Veilstrike since upgraded Stonefist and upgraded Pull of the Abyss make Veilstrike redundant

 

Skip Firestorm. Mark of the Rift is a far better Focus ability than Firestorm is. Also, it makes more sense thematically as a Rift Mage. Plus, the notion that Mark of the Rift will use something other than mana makes a lot more sense than Firestorm. 

 

Fade Step is unnecessary for this build since you should be able to lockdown most enemies who are trying to attack you. 

 

For fights against enemies that are immune to crowd control, use Stonefist followed by Energy Barrage and then any one of the 3 elemental attack of your choosing. 

 

What's more, while some enemies, particularly bosses, might be immune to crowd control, no enemy in the game is immune towards Weakening. That 30% damage debuff will be invaluable when you fight Dragons and Giants. 

 

Then you are good to go. You only need 19 points in total for this build which you can get by mid game. 

 

After that, you can spend your other skill points in Winter Stillness or Clean Burn or Flashpoint or Pyromancer or Mana Surge or Stormbringer or Conductive Current or Static Charge or Guardian Spirit or Gathering Storm. 

 

Craft gear that gives you reduced spell cooldown or find those rare amulets that give this effect. Oh and crafting staves that gives +Guard on hit is a good idea as well. 

 

Cheers. 

 

[Travis2310]

So would the consensus be that Knight Enchanter is the best choose for a Mage on NIghtmare difficulty?

[Bayonet Hipshot]

So would the consensus be that Knight Enchanter is the best choose for a Mage on NIghtmare difficulty?

 

They are. However, they turn your mage from a caster to a jedi / sith. 

 

Additionally, Knight Enchanter is powerful because of ONE passive. If Bioware nerfs it then...GG...

[sunnydxmen]

Nightmare was a cake walk for me with knight enchanter it was hilarious the enemies could not stop  me,every now in then i would check the setting to see if i was still playing on nightmare in i was knight enchanter turns nightmare into casual mode.

[JaegerBane]

They are. However, they turn your mage from a caster to a jedi / sith. 
 
Additionally, Knight Enchanter is powerful because of ONE passive. If Bioware nerfs it then...GG...

Well... Overpowered because of one passive perhaps. What I'm a little worried about is that if they start messing around with that passive they could easily render the spec incapable of handling melee. I'm currently running a new mage -just about to hit Hinterlands for the first time - and I'd forgotten how squishy mages are.

[MadDemiurg]

Fade shield nerf won't hurt KE that much (unless they make it like 5% which is unlikely), plus I think it's actually more or less fine. IMO the OP part is blade + clean burn allowing you to spam fade cloak 24/7 making you an invulnerable ghost. I think blade should be a toggle, this way would be less clunky to use but the clean burn synergy would be removed. Fade shield can be left alone.

[Ticondurus]

 

 

 

Use this

• Rift Mage - 9 (Veilstrike, Stonefist+, Pull of the Abyss+, Restorative Veil, Encircling Veil,  Smothering Veil, Twisting Veil)
• Inferno - 2 (Immolate+)
• Winter - 2 (Winter's Grasp+)
• Storm - 4 (Energy Barrage+, Chain Lightning+)
• Spirit - 2 (Barrier, Peaceful Aura)

1. Stonefist
2. Pull of the Abyss
3. Energy Barrage
4. Immolate
5. Winter's Grasp
6. Chain Lightning
7. Barrier
8. Mark of the Rift

+ indicate upgrade.

 

This is the basic Rift Mage build. 

 

For passives, get the Rift Mage's passives and Peaceful Aura. The other passives in the 4 basic mage trees are either redundant or contradict the Rift Mage Passives. For example, Conductive Current gives you more spell damage the less mana you have but Rift Mage passives give you near unlimited mana regeneration. Then there is Winter Stillness which is interrupted when you cast Energy Barrage or other spell that make your character move. So these other passives are genuinely optional. 

 

Upgrade every ability except Veilstrike and Barrier. You won't be using Veilstrike since upgraded Stonefist and upgraded Pull of the Abyss make Veilstrike redundant

 

Skip Firestorm. Mark of the Rift is a far better Focus ability than Firestorm is. Also, it makes more sense thematically as a Rift Mage. Plus, the notion that Mark of the Rift will use something other than mana makes a lot more sense than Firestorm. 

 

Fade Step is unnecessary for this build since you should be able to lockdown most enemies who are trying to attack you. 

 

For fights against enemies that are immune to crowd control, use Stonefist followed by Energy Barrage and then any one of the 3 elemental attack of your choosing. 

 

What's more, while some enemies, particularly bosses, might be immune to crowd control, no enemy in the game is immune towards Weakening. That 30% damage debuff will be invaluable when you fight Dragons and Giants. 

 

Then you are good to go. You only need 19 points in total for this build which you can get by mid game. 

 

After that, you can spend your other skill points in Winter Stillness or Clean Burn or Flashpoint or Pyromancer or Mana Surge or Stormbringer or Conductive Current or Static Charge or Guardian Spirit or Gathering Storm. 

 

Craft gear that gives you reduced spell cooldown or find those rare amulets that give this effect. Oh and crafting staves that gives +Guard on hit is a good idea as well. 

 

Cheers. 

 

 

thanks for the detailed reply - time for a re-spec then! When I start getting more points, what should I prioritize if I get all the talents you suggested here to start with?

 

Also, why is Winter's Grasp good here?  For the CC or combos?

[Bayonet Hipshot]

thanks for the detailed reply - time for a re-spec then! When I start getting more points, what should I prioritize if I get all the talents you suggested here to start with?

 

Also, why is Winter's Grasp good here?  For the CC or combos?

 

Immolate and Stonefist is the best. Chain Lightning works best when there are enemies clustered together and upgraded. Same goes for Winter's Grasp. 

 

Upgraded Winter's Grasp is the best AOE Ice damage spell we have right now. Blizzard is bugged. 

 

Additionally, Winter's Grasp combos very nicely with Stonefist. 

 

Plus, it works as a very effective way to lockdown those pesky Terror Demons and Red Templar behemoths. It just freezes them rock solid for you to exploit with a Stonefist or a for a Warrior to exploit. 

 

Mana should not be much of an issue since you should get mana regeneration from Rift Mage passives and from gear. 

[Ticondurus]

Ok thanks - can you tell me, as a Mage, what self-combos I have if I use the above spec you suggested?  I can't figure out which spells combo with which other ones, and I know I'm missing out on damage because of that.

 

As I mentioned also, I spec'd Dorian into Necro and focused on getting Walking Bomb+ for the AoE synergy with Pull of the Abyss which is nice.  I also have him into Spirit down to revival so far - how else should i spec Dorian going forward if I'm spec'd the Rift way you suggested above?

 

I'm also running with Cassandra spec'd into Templar and Sword/shield - and Iron Bull (dumped Varric) spec'd into Reaver and 2H - getting whirlwind+ for AoE synergy.  What do you think?

[xnarcosysx]

Honestly I don't see why you wouldn't want to do KEM. In my mind the inquisitor is in a battle for basically the world. In my eyes I'd want to just completely obliterate my enemies. Why give then a chance. If I can go into a fight against a dragon and come out untouched and my allies alive, seems to me that's the perfect outcome.

[JaegerBane]

Honestly I don't see why you wouldn't want to do KEM. In my mind the inquisitor is in a battle for basically the world. In my eyes I'd want to just completely obliterate my enemies. Why give then a chance. If I can go into a fight against a dragon and come out untouched and my allies alive, seems to me that's the perfect outcome.

From a purely personal viewpoint, I think the specialisation that makes the most sense for the Mage Inquisitor is the KE. The other specs require the mage to stand at the back or at least removed from the centre, which, for a figurehead, seems a bit odd. KE has you leading from the front.

[Caramacchiato]

Ok thanks - can you tell me, as a Mage, what self-combos I have if I use the above spec you suggested?  I can't figure out which spells combo with which other ones, and I know I'm missing out on damage because of that.

Pretty much anything + Stonefist works well. Most classes can only trigger basic ability combos by themselves. Rift Mages can use cross-class combos on their own because Stonefist acts as an Impact (Warrior) Detonator, not an Eldritch (Mage) one. For example, let's say you Freeze an enemy with Winter's Grasp. A non-RM could use a regular spell, say, Energy Barrage, and set off a basic combo, which deals a little bit of damage and nothing else. If you smack it with Stonefist, however, that will Shatter the target, as a Warrior ability would, dealing much higher cold damage. Same with Lightning Bolt's Paralyze effect. Regular magic sets off a basic combo, Stonefist causes Discharge, which results in high electrical damage to the target and enemies around it.

 

From a purely personal viewpoint, I think the specialisation that makes the most sense for the Mage Inquisitor is the KE. The other specs require the mage to stand at the back or at least removed from the centre, which, for a figurehead, seems a bit odd. KE has you leading from the front.

Eh. I think RM makes more sense. Having the Mark of the Rift and being able to use actual Rift magic seems like a better fit.

 

But then again...Rift Mage bias.