14 réponses à ce sujet

[kirkonacid]

I'm a long time fan of the series, but I've never ventured into the nightmare territory. (

Okay, well, I did defeat the Harvester in DA:O on nightmare, but that was strictly trophy seeking and induced a severe bout of rage.)

 

I decided to challenge myself after beating the game on normal and playing 12 or so hours on hard, but I ended up struggling with the first Pride Demon. After a handful of tries, I was finally successful, but I'm worried how I'll manage the rest of the game without tossing my monitor out the window.

 

I'm currently attempting this as an Elven mage. I've just started so I've not locked into a character build just yet, but I prefer to be a high DPS / AOE kind of mage rather than a defensive one.

 

TL;DR - Any tips for a mage on nightmare to an experienced player of normal difficulty?

[Farangbaa]

Pick Knight Enchanter.

Oh and eh, abuse the Bee grenades you get from Sera.

[deadkai]

For an easy time: Bring another mage with you,with Barrier(you should have this too/but only use it manuelly when needed,disable as a skill).

Dispel is also an essential skill.

Iron Bull as a the best tank(spec Weapon and Shield) before reaching Skyhold.(then Blackwall)

Then for AOE,high dps and crowd control: Electric Cage and Fire Mine,also Chaotic Focus so Barrier boost the damage of your fire spells.(take also Strenght of the Spirits)

[DarkAmaranth1966]

KE/Inferno is a powerful mage build but, you want barrier and fade step with it. For fire resistant enemies you can either rely on other classes or, another mage and, focus on keeping barrier on you party then, until you can use Mark Of The Rift and, get specialized, then you have spirit blade to deal with fire proof things. You could also add energy barrage to get at fire proof targets.

[kirkonacid]

So far those tips sound good. Seems like I need to pick and choose particular skills rather than focusing on one or two skill trees.

 

I spam the bee grenades no matter what class/difficulty I'm playing. I've done to blood lotus what Shale did to the pigeon population.

[Tharkun]

There isn't much fire resistance pre-skyhold.  And even after it isn't all that common either.  Wraiths resist Fire/Cold/Lightning.  Rage Demons resist fire.  Also Red Templar Behemoths.  Certain Dragons.  Some of the mages if they use fire themselves.

 

Wall of Fire is amazing on nightmare pre-spec.  But be aware that if all of your enemies are panic'd and/or slept the AI of your team will not attack.  So get used to using the Attack my Target key (Y on PC).  For mages Fire is a great bang for your buck tree and comes with high damage, low mana costs, and bonus status effects.

 

Learn to tab lock on a target if you are on PC, hitting pause (Ctrl) is a huge help too and doesn't come with the baggage of the tac cam.  I use the tac cam to inspect resists etc.

[Zeratulr]

Visit crafting table and make yourself (and your companions) nice weapon and armor. Unless you have done it already or all of your looted gear is purple it's quite possible that you have some schematics which will allow you to make significantly more powerful items. If not, browse stocks of schematics merchants. Early in the game there are two of them available: in Redcliffe and in Val Royeaux.

[bladenicholas]

If you really want challenging, I suggest you play nightmare combine with difficult tweak mods. http://www.nexusmods...tion/mods/440/?

 

The post-skyhold game play is quite easy even with nightmare mode,  

[SomeoneStoleMyName]

Dont use cheap tricks like assassins mark or thousand cuts. Thats more a recommendation from a personal opinion that they make the game too easy. Anyway here goes:

1) Take your time early on. Rifts are permanently shut down, so no need to rush. There is also no shame in swapping zones back and forth. 

2) Hardest part imo is pre-skyhold. Party:

A pure fire mage, fire mine and fire wall are extremely efficient spells. Another solid combo is static cage + energy barrage.
A SnS tank 
A support mage, I recommend Solas as a barrier + ice mage for winter grasp. Grap fade leap as an escape for him.

+ Inquisitor. If rogue, go archer early then swap to DW at skyhold.

 

Set shield bash and payback strike to preferred.
Set static cage and fire wall to preferred. 
Set stamina on tactics to 0%, you want your party to always spam abilities. 

On solas you might want to set stamina to 10-20%, so you can dispel emerging enemies on rifts. You probably know this but you can dispel demons being summoned by rifts.
 

Later on you want Cassandra or Blackwall as your tank. Blackwall is tankier, while Cassandra provides party buffs to damage + resistance and has the all-mighty wrath of heaven + spellpurge

 

3) Loot all crafting nodes you see. You want to always have 5 x regen pots at hand and/or later on - Bee grenades to panic people. Upgrade potions, first priority regen pots. Resistance tonics are also king.

4) Explore everything and loot everything that you CAN at your current level. Nightmare is an enjoyable slow-burn imo. 

5) DELAY THE ATTACK ON HAVEN AS LONG AS YOU CAN - It is the hardest point in the ENTIRE game. When you DO get there, take note of the supply caches, one by the alchemist. One by the blacksmith, one by the last trebuchet, one at the chantry entrance. DO NOT take them if you dont have too, save them. On the last boss in Haven, DISENGAGE and run BEHIND the chantry - it will pull Fiona/Samson with only 1-2 adds. 

6) After skyhold, craft your guts out.

---

I completed Nightmare without using tactical cam. The key to victory is mosty:

CC/Disables like Static cage, winter grasp, fire wall, shield slam, payback strike.
Dispels.

For an easier time run a party with:

2 x mages 1x warrior tank 1x rogue.

Min/max: 

 

Varric | Cole | Sera 

Vivienne | Solas | Dorian
Cassandra | Bull | Blackwall

 

Cole has a useless ultimate but great skills. Sera has a great ultimate but mediocre skills if not micromanaged.
Vivienne has a great ulti, Dorian and solas has mediocre ulties but Dorian wins out. 
Cassandra and Blackwall are both great, most people would argue that Blackwall is the best. But Cassandra has another AOE dispel, stun, party buffs, and better ulti.
 

Edit: lastly , the Inquisitor. 

Most powerful in skilled hands is the DW rogue. 
Playing the tank as the Inquisitor is also a very fun and solid choice. 
Mage is always bulletproof. I recommend Necromancer or Rift mage.

Some people will argue that KE is OP. Keep in mind KE is a dreadfully boring spec, and in the right hands - (well, my hands) a DW rogue is imo the strongest inquisitor class in the game. A DW rogue has much higher damage potential and great CC + escapes and is imo also the most fun class in the game. 

 

"Knight enchanter OP" is a very exaggerated statement. When the KE becomes as powerful as it does, a DW rogue is in the right hands - just as powerful if not more. Hell any class at that point in the game is equally OP due to crafting. A crit build Static + EB build even WITHOUT a specialization will do more damage than most, but that is lategame only.

[Alan Drifter13]

Before Skyhold, be patient, and try to craft as much as possible (there's a store in Val Royeaux, next to the garden, where you can get good schematics for the early game). And stay away from rifts with high level demons (especially the one in the river in the Hintherlands).

 

After Skyhold... there's no "nightmare" after you get the specializations, the game gets way easier. Also, you can get the best schematics in the Hissing Wastes (there's a crack northwest of where you start, with a store guarded only by a dog) for armors and in Emprise de Lion (in the fort you take away from the templars) for weapons.

 

Crafting is very important to turn "nightmare" into a piece of cake.

[Elhanan]

Personal recommendations:

* Set defensive abilities to Preferred (eg; Barrier, Fade Ctep, Fade Cloak, etc). Against Dragons, disable Fade Step and use manually.

* Set Behavior to Mana/ Stamina and Potion usage to 20%, set Follow to themselves to improve self-defense.

* Avoid Berserker effect on weapons and shields as if they were flying pigeons to Shale.

* Pause is the new bff, and Tac-Cam may be used frequently to gather opponent and terrain info during combat.

* Still have not activated Friendly Fire myself, but this should increase the challenge if desired.

* Clearing the Fallow Mire pre-Skyhold may aid in getting the KE spec a bit more efficiently.

* KE design for ranged focus is my current personal fave. Spirit magic (All on left side, Guardian Spirit on right), all KE except Disruption Field, and all Storm except Lightning Bolt. Some other picks may be made in Fire or Cold as desired.

Enjoy!

[Zeratulr]

Dont use cheap tricks like assassins mark or thousand cuts. Thats more a recommendation from a personal opinion that they make the game too easy. Anyway here goes:

I wanted to say that there is at least one more cheap trick and it's called... CHEAP TRICK! And then I remembered that it's actually called the Cheap shot. It makes all other armor reduction unnecessary. Cheap. And one step down the same tree there is Looked like it Hurt. Since I took there my abilities are only limited by CD but not by stamina. Very cheap. On hit hidden blades? Pure bargain! And don't let me start on tempest's flasks! That's Walmart cheap!

Seriously though I don't think that MoD is on par with TC in how cheap it is. With TC you just push the button and if gear and abilities are good everything instantly dies. With MoD you push it, order your party to concentrate fire, deal your best attacks, press the button before MoD expires (and it doesn' give you any warning) and than 1 enemy dies. It's different.

[SomeoneStoleMyName]

I wanted to say that there is at least one more cheap trick and it's called... CHEAP TRICK! And then I remembered that it's actually called the Cheap shot. It makes all other armor reduction unnecessary. Cheap. And one step down the same tree there is Looked like it Hurt. Since I took there my abilities are only limited by CD but not by stamina. Very cheap. On hit hidden blades? Pure bargain! And don't let me start on tempest's flasks! That's Walmart cheap!

Seriously though I don't think that MoD is on par with TC in how cheap it is. With TC you just push the button and if gear and abilities are good everything instantly dies. With MoD you push it, order your party to concentrate fire, deal your best attacks, press the button before MoD expires (and it doesn' give you any warning) and than 1 enemy dies. It's different.

I get your point  

I just think those 2 are the worst offenders as to make the game trivial. But yes there are certainly plenty of other ways to rip the fun out of the game and into a borefest. 

[Forsythia77]

I'm on my first nightmare run and it was the hardest pre-skyhold. Don't phone it in and let the game auto-level your companions.  For the pride demon at the beginning you need to make sure Solas has barrier.  Make sure he is constantly putting it on the party.  I'm a mage, so I also had barrier, but I also got past that pride demon jerk as a DW rogue on nightmare (before quitting and rerolling as a mage), so it can be done with a one mage party.  For the battle at Haven, you probably want to grind in the hinterlands beforehand to level up to 10 or 11.  I tried it at 8 and got murderized.  But you might be better than me   LOL. 

 

Anyhoo, I went in and had Dorian full fire since (although he auto specs full fire anyhow) since the templar behemoths are resistant to electricity. Also barrier for Dorian too.  I had myself spec'ed with some fire and some ice and both Dorian and I also had fade step which I found in easier difficulties I never needed but was a lifesaver in this run.  I also had fire and ice mines.  So Cass would taunt and draw the group in and I would set a fire/ice mine and burn/freeze groups.  Ice mine also worked well on the templar behemoth knight captain.  Someone else also mentioned jar of bees.  I made sure Sera had that and tossed it into the groups Cass taunted.   It was great to send templars into a panicked run (and humorous to watch).

 

Lastly, whenever you can, work on turning the crank to that trebuchet.  Let the rest of your team fight fiona/kinght capitan denam and crank crank crank.  We didn't actually kill knight captian denam in my run.  I ended up getting the trebuchet cranked before he was dead and it immediately went to the cut scene and ended the battle. 

 

Other than that, by the time you get to the battle at haven, you should be able to go to Val Royeaux and buy tier 2 armor/weapon schematics.  Craft the best possible armor/weapons you can.

[PapaCharlie9]

For an easier time run a party with:

2 x mages 1x warrior tank 1x rogue.

Min/max: 

 

Varric | Cole | Sera 

Vivienne | Solas | Dorian
Cassandra | Bull | Blackwall

 

 

 

...

 

Hell any class at that point in the game is equally OP due to crafting. A crit build Static + EB build even WITHOUT a specialization will do more damage than most, but that is lategame only.

Agree completely with the last part, but disagree with the companion min/max. Solas's ability to weaken entire mobs makes Nightmare a lot easier, particularly if you haven't gotten T3 gear yet. If you rule out Solas and only want one mage in the party total, I'd go with Dorian over Viv, post-specialization. Dorian is better for crowd control. I tend to play Viv more as a primary or secondary melee damage dealer, rather than a mage. If the Herald is a mage in a supporting role, then I prefer Viv over Dorian.

 

Sera holds her own with just Flask of Lightning post Skyhold, and with Pincushion and high crit chance, it's awesome. Flask of Fire + Leaping Shot is fun too. I do give it to Cole, though, once he has MOD, though Hidden Blades is fun early on post Skyhold.