50 réponses à ce sujet

[Bayonet Hipshot]

So I have been busy due to academic related work and now I have some time off, I would like to do a full playthrough of DAI with the DLCs. I plan on playing as a male Elven mage, especially now there is a mod that fixes male Elves body. 

 

More importantly, I plan to play with the trials toggled on from the beginning of the game on Nightmare with no friendly fire on. Specifically, the trials I plan to toggle on are Even Ground, Walk Softly, Rest Easy, Travel Light, Fair-Weather Friends, Grizzly End,

 

Here's the thing -  I don't know what specialization to choose for my character though.

 

Necromancer has been buffed up and it has its exploits that make it powerful but Rift Mage looks like fun although I hear the Shock-Weakness bug still persists. Should I have Dispel on my character due to the Trials ?

 

Cheers.

 

 

 

 

[ottffsse]

Hmm do you want to solo?

Both have pros and cons. If you do not go qunari for the vitaar you may find doing burst damage insufficient to pop those regenerating barriers on the enemy mages without dispel. Everything else is relatively easier well except maybe bolters and other special enemies in the dlcs. So dispel is great I would use it whichever way you go with the barrier gen upgrade. Bring some tactical renewal potions along though to respec your character if you find ability points short to respec to use dispel only in fights you really need it.

On necro at least I found 1. Energy barrage 2. Fade step 3. Ice mine 4. Walking bomb 5. Barrier 6. Dispel 7. Fire mine 8. Horror to be a pretty powerful setup. If you don't need dispel there you can take lightning cage or wisps.

Soloing can be rough if you can't use health potions making life steal of necro a big plus but if you do not enable that trial it is a bit more even between the two specs. Necro will rely more on direct damage output to dominate while rift on cc to keep mooks flat on their butt. Necro has unlimited self res with some skill and timing while rift has what? 1 minute cooldown guardian spirit. Ring of doubt makes both classes very powerful but it does bug out on occasion hope you have barrier at that time off cooldown if it is a tricky situation.

[Zachriel]

I just finished a trials run with a necromancer mage.  It was the first time I had ever played the necromancer spec, so I didn't trust myself to solo with it at first, but as I got more comfortable with it I found myself needing my party less and less.  The biggest problems I had at first were mana and cooldown times for my big necro spells.  Those are easily managed with various skills and abilities, though:  Winter's Stillness, Enerigizing Step, various cooldown amulets, Gathering Storm, Clean Burn, etc.

 

I've played Rift Mage many times, though never with the trials turned on.  I personally find it to be the most fun mage spec to play.  I like the near infinite mana it gets you and the great crowd control in Veil Strike and Pull of the Abyss.  Pull can be really great at dealing with enemy archers, which were the bane of my existence as a necromancer.  As a Rift Mage, you can yank them into an ice mine/fire mine combo.  Of course, there are other ways of dealing with them too.  Confusion Grenades are great.

 

I'm currently doing another trials run as a Knight Enchanter.  It's been super easy to solo as a KE.  Spirit blade was nerfed, but I can still generate barrier constantly as long as I keep my damage ouput up.  Combine that with guard generation from the Andraste's Sacrifice amulet and an armor masterwork that procs 5 seconds of Walking Fortress on hit and nothing can touch me.  I'm really noticing the disparity in damage output between this character and my necromancer, though.  I didn't realize how much extra damage I was getting from Walking Bomb.  Spirit Blade and Fade Cloak (decloaking blast) don't quite match up.

[DarkAmaranth1966]

I run Inferno/KE even nightmare with all trails on. Now I couldn't solo that because I need specific staff damage types for some barriers (not on enemies) and, I can't crash locked doors and red lyrium like a rift mage can so, I need others for that stuff.

 

Trying an inferno/rift now and, so far - JoH done going to Arbor wilds next. Solo is fine.

[Bigdawg13]

I'd go Necromancer.  Rift mage shock+weakness bug is a deal breaker to me.  I don't care what other say, my mana regen sucks when I try to include lightning spells or staves.  And the only good spell (in my opinion) is Stone Fist.  After 5 levels or so, I became ill at the sound of Pull of the Abyss.  And veilstrike is fune but I'd rather have something else.

 

Necromancer, all three spells are good and fun.  Worst part about the spec is the way your companions hate it.  Other than than, it's great.  And it's all spirit damage.  I also love the focus for the necromancer tree too.  It makes it easy to resurrect someone in a party in a pinch.

[SpaceV3gan]

I run Inferno/KE even nightmare with all trails on. Now I couldn't solo that because I need specific staff damage types for some barriers (not on enemies) and, I can't crash locked doors and red lyrium like a rift mage can so, I need others for that stuff.

 

Trying an inferno/rift now and, so far - JoH done going to Arbor wilds next. Solo is fine.

Does the Fade Shield + Chaotic Focus combo work well? Is it reliable damage-wise?

I haven't played as a KE yet, though I am considering it for my next playthrough.

[Zachriel]

Does the Fade Shield + Chaotic Focus combo work well? Is it reliable damage-wise?
 

 

Well... There's some inconsistency with Chaotic Focus and Fire Mine.  See this thread:  http://forum.bioware...-chaotic-focus/

 

But otherwise Fade Shield and Chaotic Focus work great together.  You lose some barrier when you case a fire spell, then get it right back from the damage done.

[SpaceV3gan]

Well... There's some inconsistency with Chaotic Focus and Fire Mine.  See this thread:  http://forum.bioware...-chaotic-focus/

 

But otherwise Fade Shield and Chaotic Focus work great together.  You lose some barrier when you case a fire spell, then get it right back from the damage done.

Based on that thread, Fire Mine and any upgrade works best without Chaotic Focus.

I remember coming across the '1 damage bug' several times when playing my last Mage, a Necromancer. Despite being weird, I assumed that was due to some sort of Trial-added enemy resistance or whatever. Now it feels like a turn off...

[Bayonet Hipshot]

Hmm do you want to solo?

Both have pros and cons. If you do not go qunari for the vitaar you may find doing burst damage insufficient to pop those regenerating barriers on the enemy mages without dispel. Everything else is relatively easier well except maybe bolters and other special enemies in the dlcs. So dispel is great I would use it whichever way you go with the barrier gen upgrade. Bring some tactical renewal potions along though to respec your character if you find ability points short to respec to use dispel only in fights you really need it.

On necro at least I found 1. Energy barrage 2. Fade step 3. Ice mine 4. Walking bomb 5. Barrier 6. Dispel 7. Fire mine 8. Horror to be a pretty powerful setup. If you don't need dispel there you can take lightning cage or wisps.

Soloing can be rough if you can't use health potions making life steal of necro a big plus but if you do not enable that trial it is a bit more even between the two specs. Necro will rely more on direct damage output to dominate while rift on cc to keep mooks flat on their butt. Necro has unlimited self res with some skill and timing while rift has what? 1 minute cooldown guardian spirit. Ring of doubt makes both classes very powerful but it does bug out on occasion hope you have barrier at that time off cooldown if it is a tricky situation.

 

I am not intending to solo the game. DA has always been a party based game and then there's the banters. I find soloing in a game like this to be quite boring.

 

Does Horror even work properly ? I mean, the optional upgrade makes it so that the enemy is stuck there until they drop below 25% health but judging by the number of enemies immune to fear/panic, wouldn't it be better to use Wall of Fire instead ? Wall of Fire costs far less, has a larger area of effect, panicks enemies and does fire damage and fire damage over time.

 

I am thinking of running this setup :-

• Necromancer - 7 (All passives, Horror, upgraded Walking Bomb)
• Inferno - 6 (Immolate, all passives except Chaotic Focus, upgraded Wall of Fire)
• Winter - 7 (Upgraded Fade Step, Ice Mine, Upgraded Blizzard, Winter Stillness, Ice Armor)
• Storm - 5 (Energy Barrage, right side passives, upgraded Static Cage)
• Spirit - 6 (Upgraded Barrier, upgraded Dispel, Peaceful Aura, Rejuvenating Barrier)

1. Dispel (Transmute Magic)
2. Fade Step (Energizing Step)
3. Energy Barrage (no upgrade)
4. Wall of Fire (Lasting Flame)
5. Blizzard (Winter Winds)
6. Static Cage (Lightning Cage)
7. Walking Bomb (Virulent)
8. Barrier (Energetic Defense)

That is a total of 31 skill points. I chose Blizzard over Ice Mine because Blizzard with Winter Winds upgrade only costs 5 mana more than Ice Mine and Blizzard does ice damage on top of providing Ice Armor. There is no fire mine here but the other mages will have it and I never liked aiming the spell anyway, prefer fire and forget spells.

 

For staff, I am going to have a masterwork walking bomb so that I can have up to 3 virulent walking bombs at once. 1 from normal casting, 1 from exploit and 1 from the staff itself. For accessories, I will use Amulet of Renewal, Belt of the Elements, Ring of Doubt and Superb Ring of Life Drain.

[PapaCharlie9]

Based on that thread, Fire Mine and any upgrade works best without Chaotic Focus.

Not true. The problem only affected some people who upgraded from old saves. Give it a try before abandoning the best buff for damage. It worked great for me.

[PapaCharlie9]

I am not intending to solo the game. DA has always been a party based game and then there's the banters. I find soloing in a game like this to be quite boring.
 
Does Horror even work properly ? I mean, the optional upgrade makes it so that the enemy is stuck there until they drop below 25% health but judging by the number of enemies immune to fear/panic, wouldn't it be better to use Wall of Fire instead ? Wall of Fire costs far less, has a larger area of effect, panicks enemies and does fire damage and fire damage over time.
 
I am thinking of running this setup :-

• Necromancer - 7 (All passives, Horror, upgraded Walking Bomb)
• Inferno - 6 (Immolate, all passives except Chaotic Focus, upgraded Wall of Fire)
• Winter - 7 (Upgraded Fade Step, Ice Mine, Upgraded Blizzard, Winter Stillness, Ice Armor)
• Storm - 5 (Energy Barrage, right side passives, upgraded Static Cage)
• Spirit - 6 (Upgraded Barrier, upgraded Dispel, Peaceful Aura, Rejuvenating Barrier)

• 
  
• Dispel (Transmute Magic)
• Fade Step (Energizing Step)
• Energy Barrage (no upgrade)
• Wall of Fire (Lasting Flame)
• Blizzard (Winter Winds)
• Static Cage (Lightning Cage)
• Walking Bomb (Virulent)
• Barrier (Energetic Defense)

That is a total of 31 skill points. I chose Blizzard over Ice Mine because Blizzard with Winter Winds upgrade only costs 5 mana more than Ice Mine and Blizzard does ice damage on top of providing Ice Armor. There is no fire mine here but the other mages will have it and I never liked aiming the spell anyway, prefer fire and forget spells.
 
For staff, I am going to have a masterwork walking bomb so that I can have up to 3 virulent walking bombs at once. 1 from normal casting, 1 from exploit and 1 from the staff itself. For accessories, I will use Amulet of Renewal, Belt of the Elements, Ring of Doubt and Superb Ring of Life Drain.

I haven't tried the Horror/Terror toggle yet, not even sure exactly how it works. I think I'd rather use a Winter spell and Freeze them, for combo damage.

What's your first 16 ability points going to be in? A 31 point spec isn't too useful during the Haven raid or Into the Abyss. Your first 16 are what determine your spec for most of the main quest. Unless you are using CE, in which case I don't care any more.

[DarkAmaranth1966]

If you try to play older saves, then you get inconsistency with fire mine+Chaotic focus but, in new games post update, it's fine. At least that is my experience.

 

Plan B is all fire and forget it spells plus barrier (no AoE) and, that can work but, it's a weak start, great later on and, fun for fast paced fight.

[ottffsse]

I am not intending to solo the game. DA has always been a party based game and then there's the banters. I find soloing in a game like this to be quite boring.

Does Horror even work properly ? I mean, the optional upgrade makes it so that the enemy is stuck there until they drop below 25% health but judging by the number of enemies immune to fear/panic, wouldn't it be better to use Wall of Fire instead ? Wall of Fire costs far less, has a larger area of effect, panicks enemies and does fire damage and fire damage over time.

I am thinking of running this setup :-[list]
[*]Necromancer - 7 (All passives, Horror, upgraded Walking Bomb)
[*]Inferno - 6 (Immolate, all passives except Chaotic Focus, upgraded Wall of Fire)
[*]Winter - 7 (Upgraded Fade Step, Ice Mine, Upgraded Blizzard, Winter Stillness, Ice Armor)
[*]Storm - 5 (Energy Barrage, right side passives, upgraded Static Cage)
[*]Spirit - 6 (Upgraded Barrier, upgraded .

Well try it. In my opinion blizzard was terrible still even with frost belt. Not enough damage quickly enough but I was soloing. Horror seemed to be more useful with that despair upgrade I did notice that enemies were standing around doing nothing when I kept doing damage to them. And because I found horror to be more useful now I never put those precious ability points into firewall and upgrade and took flame array (you don't have to aim flame array you just dump it at a mob of enemies or on the path between you and the enemies and they're dead quicker). Other than that always use an enhanced walking bomb ring not the life drain if you necro. And enhanced storm or inferno belt.

[Bayonet Hipshot]

I haven't tried the Horror/Terror toggle yet, not even sure exactly how it works. I think I'd rather use a Winter spell and Freeze them, for combo damage.

What's your first 16 ability points going to be in? A 31 point spec isn't too useful during the Haven raid or Into the Abyss. Your first 16 are what determine your spec for most of the main quest. Unless you are using CE, in which case I don't care any more.

 

For the Haven assault my points will be in Barrier, Dispel, Wall of Fire, Energy Barrage, Chain Lightning, Fade Step. Wall of Fire + upgraded Chain Lightning is brilliant for Haven.

 

By the time I do the Adamant mission, I plan to use all those in addition to Walking Bomb and either Ice Mine or Winter's Grasp. So I should be okay. 

 

If you notice I did not toggle the reduced XP for enemies option in the Trials. Couple that with the fact that I am a completionist freak and I have all 3 DLCs, I expect that should be able to reach level cap without a huge amount of difficulty.

 

Cheat Engine ? Bah, that's for lame people.

 

Well try it. In my opinion blizzard was terrible still even with frost belt. Not enough damage quickly enough but I was soloing. Horror seemed to be more useful with that despair upgrade I did notice that enemies were standing around doing nothing when I kept doing damage to them. And because I found horror to be more useful now I never put those precious ability points into firewall and upgrade and took flame array (you don't have to aim flame array you just dump it at a mob of enemies or on the path between you and the enemies and they're dead quicker). Other than that always use an enhanced walking bomb ring not the life drain if you necro. And enhanced storm or inferno belt.

 

True, Blizzard does not do impressive damage. But it does do damage, it freezes, it chills enemies in a large area of effect and it procs Ice Armor. It does all this for just 40 mana which is just 5 more than Ice Mine. An extra 5 mana is no big deal.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

On a related matter, who are the ideal companions to tackle Nightmare + Trials ? Suggestions would be welcome.

 

[ottffsse]

Yes blizzard can freeze and is probably OK as long as not all the aggro is focused on you in which case it would be too slow to freeze compared to ice mine.

Take Cassandra as tank and extra dispel with spell purge. Everything else is optional I think.

[JiaJM98]

Does the Fade Shield + Chaotic Focus combo work well? Is it reliable damage-wise?

I haven't played as a KE yet, though I am considering it for my next playthrough.

Whenever people mention KE, I always think of fire mine spam...

[SpaceV3gan]

Not true. The problem only affected some people who upgraded from old saves. Give it a try before abandoning the best buff for damage. It worked great for me.

 

 

If you try to play older saves, then you get inconsistency with fire mine+Chaotic focus but, in new games post update, it's fine. At least that is my experience.

Thanks guys, that is a lot clearer now. I guess I will give it a try.

[SpaceV3gan]

And enhanced storm or inferno belt.

It is a shame those Trial rewards aren't reliable at all. I have played over 150 hours with most Trials on (Even Ground, Walk Softly and Grizzly End always on, the others on/off depending on the circumstances) and I have only got 1 Belt of Inferno Pact. Not the Enhanced, just a lowly one.

[Bigdawg13]

It is a shame those Trial rewards aren't reliable at all. I have played over 150 hours with most Trials on (Even Ground, Walk Softly and Grizzly End always on, the others on/off depending on the circumstances) and I have only got 1 Belt of Inferno Pact. Not the Enhanced, just a lowly one.

 

Pretty sure you can save-scum the rewards.  Save before you open the chest.  Open it.  If you don't like it, load the last save and try again.

[stop_him]

Not true. The problem only affected some people who upgraded from old saves. Give it a try before abandoning the best buff for damage. It worked great for me.

 

So if I have an old save, what is the solution? I'd rather not delete the character, remake her and then start the whole game over again for her. 

 

If there's nothing to be done, should I just abandon Chaotic Focus? I get the 1 damage bug at least 50% of the time.

[Blood Mage Reaver]

I'd go Necromancer.  Rift mage shock+weakness bug is a deal breaker to me.  I don't care what other say, my mana regen sucks when I try to include lightning spells or staves.  And the only good spell (in my opinion) is Stone Fist.  After 5 levels or so, I became ill at the sound of Pull of the Abyss.  And veilstrike is fune but I'd rather have something else.

 

Necromancer, all three spells are good and fun.  Worst part about the spec is the way your companions hate it.  Other than than, it's great.  And it's all spirit damage.  I also love the focus for the necromancer tree too.  It makes it easy to resurrect someone in a party in a pinch.

You gotta try using Lightning Bolt, this is the only spell which deals electricity damage without shocking enemies.

[PapaCharlie9]

So if I have an old save, what is the solution? I'd rather not delete the character, remake her and then start the whole game over again for her. 

 

If there's nothing to be done, should I just abandon Chaotic Focus? I get the 1 damage bug at least 50% of the time.

 

That is a different bug that doesn't have to do with old vs new saves or Chaotic focus. That bug only affects Flaming Array. If you use the Searing Glyph upgrade instead, no more 1 damage.

 

No one is 100% sure how to get around the 1 damage bug. It happens to everyone that uses Flaming Array. It seems to have to do with how far away the target is from the caster, not the mine, at the time of casting. But even that isn't true all the time.

 

For an old save, you should try some tests with Searing Glyph + Chaotic Focus, with and without full Barrier. Just because you have an old save doesn't mean you will necessarily get the bug. But even if you have the bug, just respec and don't use Chaotic Focus. Searing Glyph is still one of the most powerful damage spells in the mage's bag of tricks, even without the CF buff.

 

EDIT: One other thought. Are you running Nightmare + Walk Softly Trial? If you are, it's entirely possible 50% of your enemies have fire resistance that make all fire attacks, including Searing Glyph, only do 1 damage. That is not a bug, that is a feature. But the resistance for being thrown into the air is less common even with Trials, so Searing Glyph is still useful for CC.

[stop_him]

That is a different bug that doesn't have to do with old vs new saves or Chaotic focus. That bug only affects Flaming Array. If you use the Searing Glyph upgrade instead, no more 1 damage.

 

No one is 100% sure how to get around the 1 damage bug. It happens to everyone that uses Flaming Array. It seems to have to do with how far away the target is from the caster, not the mine, at the time of casting. But even that isn't true all the time.

 

For an old save, you should try some tests with Searing Glyph + Chaotic Focus, with and without full Barrier. Just because you have an old save doesn't mean you will necessarily get the bug. But even if you have the bug, just respec and don't use Chaotic Focus. Searing Glyph is still one of the most powerful damage spells in the mage's bag of tricks, even without the CF buff.

 

EDIT: One other thought. Are you running Nightmare + Walk Softly Trial? If you are, it's entirely possible 50% of your enemies have fire resistance that make all fire attacks, including Searing Glyph, only do 1 damage. That is not a bug, that is a feature. But the resistance for being thrown into the air is less common even with Trials, so Searing Glyph is still useful for CC.

 

Really? Because I also took the Searing glyph upgrade thinking that would just solve that stupid 1 damage problem, but no, I still had 1 damage even with the single glyph. This particular character is not on Nightmare, and I don't think she has the Walk Softly trial on. I'll check this weekend to be sure. 

 

Thank you for the clarification.

[Gya]

That is a different bug that doesn't have to do with old vs new saves or Chaotic focus. That bug only affects Flaming Array. If you use the Searing Glyph upgrade instead, no more 1 damage.

 

No one is 100% sure how to get around the 1 damage bug. It happens to everyone that uses Flaming Array. It seems to have to do with how far away the target is from the caster, not the mine, at the time of casting. But even that isn't true all the time.

 

For an old save, you should try some tests with Searing Glyph + Chaotic Focus, with and without full Barrier. Just because you have an old save doesn't mean you will necessarily get the bug. But even if you have the bug, just respec and don't use Chaotic Focus. Searing Glyph is still one of the most powerful damage spells in the mage's bag of tricks, even without the CF buff.

 

EDIT: One other thought. Are you running Nightmare + Walk Softly Trial? If you are, it's entirely possible 50% of your enemies have fire resistance that make all fire attacks, including Searing Glyph, only do 1 damage. That is not a bug, that is a feature. But the resistance for being thrown into the air is less common even with Trials, so Searing Glyph is still useful for CC.

 

I managed to take that bug and make it unique... I somehow seem to get 77 damage instead of 1 sometimes. Special snowflake status confirmed.

 

[PapaCharlie9]

I managed to take that bug and make it unique... I somehow seem to get 77 damage instead of 1 sometimes. Special snowflake status confirmed.
 

First, great music! I find that I either love or hate the soundtracks for your videos, there's no in-between.

Pro tip: disable the damage number display on self/party for test videos. Then we know all the numbers on screen are damage given.

You weren't "burned" by too many 1 damage fire mines. It is kind of a shame that the 1 damage bug messes up what would otherwise be an awesome tactic: freeze them in place with Chilling Array, then blast them with Fire Array. No idea what the 77 is all about, never seen that before.

But I dunno, I might prefer Searing Glyph for that combo anyway. And I just couldn't live without Pull of the Abyss. I'd have to drop Fade Step, I guess. Or maybe Energy Barrage, but that would hurt, leaving only Stonefist for direct damage. If only Veilstrike also did Dispel! That would be awesome.