273 réponses à ce sujet

[toxic]

i.. i just want to add...

lacking of equipment and/or mage loot

all the game was finished with a hope to find a staff and A HAT that i can call as "mine"

i dressed up - upgraded the buds with in or with out of the party nearly 7 times through the game and i was like: "ok guys! i envy you! cute, nice, new shinies you got.. tho look at me! with a stupid cone on my head! oh.. shrug.."



In short: outfit customisation would be nice



As for the rest; most ppl covered them

[7th_Phoenix]

 Likes:
- More fun and exciting of the of the three classes because of the spells and the abilities.
Dislikes:
- There weren't any good ingame staffs. It would be nice to have staffs specific to certain schools of magic; also the some of the stats on the staffs in the game already weren't impressive; I preferred using modded staffs over the ingame ones.
- Arcane Warrior has to sheath weapon(s) in order to cast certain spells? I have the mod to resolve this but I was surprised before when I didn't have the mod. It was time consuming.
- The robes and clothing weren't good either. Like the staffs, I wasn't impressed by the stats of the equipment and preferred modded equipment. I wish there were school specific robes and clothing as well. I was also startled by the lack of designs -- the only pieces of equipment I liked as far as color and design goes... the Archon Robe, the Libertarian's Cowl, and Morrigan's Robe.
Underpowered:
- Arcane Warrior's use of other weapons (swords, daggers, axes, etc...) seemed to lack any strength and ability as far as being a "warrior" is concerned but maybe it's just me.
Overpowered:
- ???
Favorite specializations:
- Arcane Warrior
- Spirit Healer
Least favorite specialization:
- Shapeshifter -- it never struck me as outstanding and the abilities were dull. Changing into a spider, bear...? Why not something more interesting?
Favorite talent trees:
- I loved Spirit and Entropy Spells
   - Spirit: 1) Death Spells, 2) Telekinetic Spells, 3) Anti-magic Spells, 4) Mana Alteration Spells
   - Entropy: Draining Spells
- Combing Crushing Prison and Curse of Mortality is helpful
- being able to remove spells from enemies and companions is a plus especially if they have spells I don't want them to have
- Summoning an undead warrior to aid me and draining life to heal myself is also handy
- My favorite spells ever... Walking Bomb and Virulent Walking Bomb -- great when in a thick crowd as well as Mind Blast
Least favorite talent trees:
- Creation spells... the only good one was healing and reviving for me -- nothing else was remarkable
   - particularly Glyph and Summoning Spells -- not sure exactly why but I never used them nor cared for them.

I love playing as the mage along with anyone else who enjoys good arcane excitement. Hope our input makes a difference for future Dragon Age: Origins projects. 

[JasonMez]

* What do you like and dislike about the Mage?
* Is there anything that you feel that is underpowered or overpowered on the Mage?
* What are your favorite Mage specializations? What are your least favorite?
* What are your favorite Mage talent trees? What are your least favorite?

Likes

• It's the most vertile class imo. There's just so much do to and so muc that you can do with spells specializaions. That can be a little overwhelming on a first mage play through though.
• This class also has the most useful and varied specializaions.
• I love how the tradiional cleric and mage are combined in this game. It seems to be one of the biggest complaints from those of us who are so used to clerics though. It stayes true to the game world where all the Gods have packed up and left.

Dislikes

• The biggest complaint: Lack of style. There's basically a mage "uniform" and it kind of gets old. Also, Dalish mages...why are they dressed like Tivinters and Circle Mages?
• No mage sets. There are sets and set bonuses for every other class, why not mages? We never get an awesome tier 7 robes or staff either. There's not a Legion Dragonbone armor equivelent anywhere.
• Only one origin. My complaint for the Human fighter/rogue as well. There are two kinds of mages, those the Chantry controls and those the Chantry hunts. I would have loved to play an origin that was less Harry Potter and more The Fugitive
• I felt like I ended up taking over morrigan or wynne way too much because they weren't executing their tactics right or I was afraid they'd use up crushing prison on the wrong target.
• There isn't a "dead" status for my healer to use so she can revive party members w/o me having to tell her.

Is there anything that you feel that is underpowered or overpowered on the Mage?

I actually felt like most of the offensive spells were underpowered, but I liked that your mage had to work for a kill. So many rpgs make the mage way too overpowered in later stages of the game. This one felt right. I never felt like enemy mages could take out my entire party (I've only been playing on normal haha!) and I like that for a change.

What are your favorite Mage specializations? What are your least favorite?

Arcane Warrior and Blood Mage are my favorite. Spirit Healer is probably the best support character in the game though. When I play as a mage I play an offensive crowd-controller and leave Morrigan at camp. My least favorite is the Shapeshifter. Just seemed useless. All it really does is add another melee character.

What are your favorite Mage talent trees? What are your least favorite?

I really like the Entropy tree and Spirit tree. Both have great spells. I like the element spells too, but later in the game I feel like I wasted talent points on them.

[Girl on a Rock]

* What do you like and dislike about the Mage?



Being a lady mage, I rather like the robes provided - though a bit more variety wouldn't be bad.



Other than that, I see that many people are complaining that the mages are overpowered compared to the melee classes, but to be honest, I haven't found them to be so. All too often I find mages are made limited to the point of uselessness.



Beyond that, from a narrative standpoint, it only makes sense that mages are a little frighteningly powerful. The thing is, they're also much more physically vulnerable. Well, other than the Arcane Warriors. That's kind of crazy.



I like the versatility and flexibility of structure in the schools of magic - you can specialize or dabble at will.



I like the spell combinations (though I think there ought to be more of them).





Dislike:



Oh my, those hats are wretched, there is no doubt about that. Good god, a hood or a circlet, please.



Also, it would be nice if one could play a mage from a different school - perhaps a Chasind/apostate mage, or a Dalish mage. I think I understand why it was initially done this way, but in the end, I'd like to see the complexity of the mage narrative (extraordinarily powerful to the point where they have to be cloistered/imprisoned) pushed further, and see how the other half (halves?) live.



* Is there anything that you feel that is underpowered or overpowered on the Mage?

Arcane Warriors seem somewhat overpowered in general. I feel generally that most of the spells that are supremely powerful, I didn't get to until the end of the game - but I'm generally one to spread out my interests/abilities, so...



I have to agree with the consensus that Shapeshifters seem pretty useless, as does the Creation spell/talent tree.



I don't know if this is an overpower/underpower issue, but it does seem to me as though there ought to be a spell or at least a spell combo that just heals injuries without having to go to the length of Cleansing Aura. Just sayin'.



* What are your favorite Mage specializations? What are your least favorite?

Spirit Healer is my favorite, Shapeshifter is my least favorite.



* What are your favorite Mage talent trees? What are your least favorite?



I adore the Primal trees, the Spirit Healer specialization tree (excepting Life Ward, which seems kind of like a throwaway) and also the Entropic sleep tree. I don't know what people are talking about when they say the sleep tree is underpowered - Waking Nightmare is one of my favorite spells in any game, ever. EVER. Also, love Cone of Cold.



I'm very meh, as I mentioned, on the Creation school. It seems kind of like filler to me.

[lazuli]

Girl on a Rock wrote...


Oh my, those hats are wretched, there is no doubt about that. Good god, a hood or a circlet, please.

This cannot be said enough.

[colourlee]

* What do you like and dislike about the Mage?
I enjoy playing the caster. I like being able to do damage, crowd control some healing. I like being able to pick through the spells. I dislike the robes and hats (mage concept art, nudge nudge) and some of the ambient spell effects. Fade shroud in particular jumping between two effects (http://social.biowar...66/index/327808) and sometimes the effects are too much, especially when there are multiple ones stacked, cut scenes become...cluttered.

* Is there anything that you feel that is underpowered or overpowered on the Mage?
I don't think any part of the mage is over or underpowered. The spells do enough damage to balance the low damage from staves and the mages overall fragility.

* What are your favorite Mage specializations? What are your least favorite?
I like arecane warrior. The worst is shapeshifter however made tollerible by addons that shortened cast time and additional forms. I feel that shapeshifting needs more work. There are great possibilities with the line but cast times make it unbearable in combat and the choice of shapes are...disappointing, especially after master shapeshifter, the bear...well.

* What are your favorite Mage talent trees? What are your least favorite?
Entropy is my favorite mostly for the crowd control aspect and for the life gain spells in case something gets a hit in.

[Lord Phoebus]

Theinen83 wrote...

It's a choice to play that way. If the game is so easy, then obviously it's not forcing you to play that way. It's a single player game. So you're not competing for rewards or spots in parties with other players who play that way. Stop choosing to play the game in a cheap way and the game won't be cheap. Some moves won't be so "overpowered". It's nothing more than the players doing it to themselves. Let's use this opportunity to point out problems or issues we have with the game that we would like solved, rather than complaining because we've minmaxed and made the game far too easy. You don't HAVE to cast Storm of the Century at every encounter, y'know.

Bioware put those moves in the game and didn't program the enemy to use them against the player ipso facto they knew these abilities were overpowered.  If you're trying to play the game tactically, you're going to use the best tactics available to you in every battle, doing any less is an anathema to that mind set.  Unfortunately in this game, playing that way completely trivializes the highest difficulty setting which is supposed to be a challenge.  They should either weaken these abilities or make the enemy use them on the higher difficulty levels.     A player not using these abilities would be like the US not using air support when fighting in Afghanistan because their enemy doesn't have air support.   Don't penalize the players who want to play to their best because you're happy to limit yourself.  Not everyone wants to be forced to play like Harrison Bergeron to have a challenge.

[Delryin]

* What do you like and dislike about the Mage?

Like:

Arcane Warrior (

Versatility

No "encouraged focus" (I can get spells from all over the board and build something that suits me, unlike warriors for ex that must choose between shield, dual wielding or the other two).

A bit of an "anything goes" attitude

Powerful, but not game breaking



Dislike:

Did someone mentioned clothing... hats?

Staff only throw energy bolt, no melee attack with 'em...

Arcane warrior can't throw energy bolts with melee weapon

Having to sheath weapon before sending spells... grrr at least give a skill to prevent that.

No "lockpick" or "destroy that chest" spell.

Fade Shroud

Friendly fire... (alright I understand the need for balance but still... anyway).

One origin

No wind based spells (get the air outta their lungs or increase pressure there, bring forth tornadoes...)

No gravity based spell (yeah I know, just for the heck of it).



Ma favorite class (by far) just too much fun to be have there and always something fresh (I haven't tried all the spells yet).



* Is there anything that you feel that is underpowered or overpowered on the Mage?

Shapeshifter: you do realise I'll keep spamming the forum until I get to use my other spells in animal form?

Specializing forms for melee, range and something else would not hurt either.

Electricity spells: they would deserve a tad more punch... they should all "spread" to nearby enemies (given how everyone use metal and such).

Earth based spells: underwhelming (get us the "raise spike from the ground" or "catch the bad guy" like ogres).





Overpowered:

Throughout the game we are reminded of how dangerous mages can be, so they MUST be powerful or we loose the whole point. I was surprised playing mage how no templar would come after me (you know with the wardens being branded traitors and such) having to deal with them a bit more (since we're technically out of control and that they have our phylactery) could actually balance a lot of the perception that mages are overpowered.



* What are your favorite Mage specializations? What are your least favorite?

Arcane Warrior

Spirit Healer



Blood magic: a tad underwhelming, besides it does not really play like what is shown in the game.

Shapeshifting: leave me using my spells in animal form (just add a second toolbar with the form's own spells) and I'll be just happy (and if the issue is how an Arcane warrior and shapeshifter could be too powerful, just prevent players to choose both spec).



* What are your favorite Mage talent trees? What are your least favorite?

Every tree has something cool (tis' why mages are so fun to play).

I wish I could pick up the spells I want without having to spend points on spell I'm not going to use.

[auxleyleonard]

Give mages an option to use another helmet design please. That's all I need.

[draxynnus]

Delryin wrote...

No wind based spells (get the air outta their lungs or increase pressure there, bring forth tornadoes...)

Heh. I made a thread to this effect a day ago in the Awakenings forum, with the observation that "wind and ice attacks" are mentioned in the Ash Wraith's codex entry, which is suggestive that they might be interested - although it's equally likely that they've just been melded into the cold line.

Overpowered:
Throughout the game we are reminded of how dangerous mages can be, so they MUST be powerful or we loose the whole point. I was surprised playing mage how no templar would come after me (you know with the wardens being branded traitors and such) having to deal with them a bit more (since we're technically out of control and that they have our phylactery) could actually balance a lot of the perception that mages are overpowered.

The impression I had from the behaviour of most of the templars was basically that they had bigger problems than worrying about a Grey Warden that they weren't convinced was a traitor, mage or not. While the phylactory being in Denerim, and thus close to Loghain's reach, may be a concern, it's possible that the Chantry has strict rules about who can be granted access to the phylactories - or the phylactory requires a templar or Circle mage to track down the mage the phylactory was drawn from, and there were simply none available to track down an individual that the Templars as a group weren't convinced was guilty.

[Kulyok]

Good: area effect spells. Great damage.



Bad: area effect spells. They either hurt the party heavily, or (on easy mode) they make the party members escape the area.



In Baldur's Gate 2, once the mages hit a high enough level, there were numerous party-friendly area-damage spells. Horrid Wilting in Chain Contingencies, Dragon's Breath, Comet, and even Chain Lightning was worth it, because

1) a weak spell could be put into a spell trigger;

2) various items decreased casting time.



That's why mages were powerful. But there are no party-friendly good damaging spells except for Mana Clash, and that's a very specific one.





And another point: low defence. With Magic score approaching 90, there's still no spell that would raise defence to at least 150. A mage cannot allow herself to put all her points into dexterity, and her shield spell only gives her a few defence points. Armor spells aren't as good, because they increase hostility rating.

[Lord Phoebus]

Kulyok wrote...

And another point: low defence. With Magic score approaching 90, there's still no spell that would raise defence to at least 150. A mage cannot allow herself to put all her points into dexterity, and her shield spell only gives her a few defence points. Armor spells aren't as good, because they increase hostility rating.

It depends on how you equip your mage.  If you have the Libertarian's Cowl (+12), Magus War Boots (+12), First Enchanter's Robes (+9), Magister's Shield (+6), Anduril's Blessing (+2 to dex) and Key to the City (+2 to dex)  that's +43 to defense, with a 40 base defense that's an 83 defense.  With the fade and racial bonuses let's say thats an 88 defense with just equipment.  Now if you have a spellpower score of 90, arcane shield will give you +19 to defense (raising your defence to 107) and heroic defence would give you +38 or a 145 defence.  That's not quite 150, but you can keep that for the duration of a battle, though you may have to chug a lyrium potion with the added drain of recasting heroic defence.  You could even chuck in glyph of warding to raise that to 175 for short bursts.

If you made an AW you would have more options: Combat magic with Aura of Glory gives you another +10 and you could equip the Champion's Shield (+15 defence) or Howe's Shield (+18 defence).

Modifié par Lord Phoebus, 08 février 2010 - 10:51 .

[inkaholicj]

* What do you like and dislike about the Mage?

Like- the main reason that I play a mage is that I love to play a spellcasting character. So I like just about everything involving a mage.

Dislike- lack of origin story. I've played the origin twice now. I'm not all that interested in playing through it multiple times. It would have been nice to have the option for a Dalish mage (perhaps being the keeper's first) or an Apostate mage (Duncan consrips you to save you from a group of Templars).



* Is there anything that you feel that is underpowered or overpowered on the Mage?

Underpowered - Staffs. In the Urn of Sacred Ashs trailer Morrigan uses her staff -physically. I want to be able to do that. Chain Lightning is an amazing spell in theory, but it should have been a 3rd tier spell considering the damage output.

Overpowered - Storm of the Century - but I like that it is Overpowered. It should be given the 3 spells that it utilizes. But perhaps there could have been a penalty against the mage casting it? Something like root/paralyze. That way, if you cast it you at least are vulnerable to any enemies that might survive..

* What are your favorite Mage specializations? What are your least favorite?

Favorite - Arcane Warrior. I like being able to wield a sword. I don't feel that AW is overpowered unless you CHOOSE to play it that way. (I don't think any character is overpowered with what you give us. I believe they become overpowered by people's choices). I would like to see armor dedicated to an Arcane Warrior. Perhaps a suit of armor that can be combined with mages robes. The mage's cowl/helms or whatever you would like to call them are mostly atrocious looking. Also more weapon options - Spellsword is great, but a dagger and a shield specifically for an AW would be wonderful.

Spirit Healer - I love this specialization, but there is no way that I can run a character that isn't offensive. Wynn just stays in my party. The only thing that would be nice for a spirit Healer is to have ONE specialization specific offensive spell. If you are a healer, you know how to hurt because you know how the body works.

Blood Mage - shouldn't be an activated effect. I should have access to my Blood Magic without having to turn it on. I should also be able to use my mana until it runs out, then start draining my own health. Since being a malificarum is inherently evil in Ferelden, it should have a cause and effect in game also.

Shapeshifter - If Morrigan can shift into a giant spider in the trailer why does it take 3 or 4 seconds to cast? She has died on me while attempting to shape shift. Also, why can I not heal in shifted form? As a whole I would not play this specialization. I save my points to distribute elsewhere. Three more useful spells are worth it.

* What are your favorite Mage talent trees? The elemental trees are mostly very good. I would have liked to see a fire spell that was for a single target. My favorite spells are Cone of Cold, Curse of Mortality, Mind Blast, Crushing Prison, Walking Bomb, and Vulnerability Hex.

* What are your least favorite? I don't like the earth spells, the Mage school line doesn't seem to help as much as I think it should. I have no interest in setting glyphs or using the creation school other than heal.

It would be nice to have a summoned familiar or be able to summon demons and what not. It would also be nice to have some form of lockpick spell. One would think that a mage would have such a spell.

Thank you for taking the time to ask our opinions. I look forward to further DLC, expansions, and games.

[DragonDefender]

Shape shifting was almost useless in DA:O. My favorite mage class is in the air between Arcane Warrior or a Spirit Healer both are highly functional. All the Mages staves and robes (including) hats needs a complete workover. I dont know who the concept artist is but you need another.

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

When you play a Warrior or Rogue, there is a pretty strong incentive to max out a talent group. For instance a TWF Rogue will usually end the game with most of the talents in that grouping. The reason for that is that many of the higher level talents build on the lower level ones, making them stronger with passive bonuses, or are amazingly good themselves. There is a secondary driver at work here in that weapon choices matter. You spend a lot of effort or gold to get the best use out of your weapon slots, and it’s usually not very effective to have two different types of “best” weapons on one character when he is in a party … ie. you will not have the best TWF weapons and the best TH weapon on the same guy most of the time.



I have that long lead in because I used to consider mages broken. However after playing more rogues & warriors as PCs I feel a bit different. Most Mage stuff isn’t broken by itself, instead the problem appears to be design based. Unlike Rogues and Warriors, the Mage can easily cherry pick. There is absolutely no incentive to take all the spells in a particular group, unless you want an achievement. In fact the well built Mage is actually encouraged to cherry pick leading to a richly diverse character. The mage staffs that are in the game don’t really discourage this either, unlike other weapons. With the best bonuses being static increases to Magic, Spellpower, or Combat Mana Regeneration they support the cherry pick build mage just as well as the specialized group mage.



I think that this is what really leads to the most “Mage frustration” by the folks who like playing Warriors and Rogues. The Warrior is usually stuck being either a tank or a DPS guy who only gets to use a single weapon over and over again. He can’t easily switch roles once he starts down a particular build path. The Rogue gets to be a TWF or an Archer who picks locks, but he doesn’t really get to be the crowd control guy. Mages on the other hand can have DPS, Crowd Control, Utility, and more all in one build. That’s the true “brokenness” of the mage. His flexibility trumps so many other more specialized builds. I see how some “spell combos” can encourage specialization a bit, like Shattering, but even many of them require spells from different groups, like Grease Fire.



The more I play the more I wish that the Spell groups had been designed more like the talent groups had. I really wish that Primal Mages really were better blasters and got more use out of standard spells like Fireball than mere dabblers in the Fire line of spells did. Similarly I wish that there were different kinds of staves that supported the different groups. Having a Primal Staff that did one thing and a Creation Staff that did another would be really interesting.



On the other hand I do feel that many of the mage spells are underpowered & thus rarely see use. I feel somewhat frustrated that many Primal spells rarely seem to do enough damage. I feel somewhat silly taking a bunch of time to cast Blizzard on a group of archers ... a tier 4 spell that takes an insanely long time to cast in game ... only to watch them drop to slightly above half their HP by the end of the spell’s duration. I cast a Fireball into a group, which very satisfying knocks them down, only to see that each only took what looks like about a tenth of their HP damage wise. Only on easy difficulty do these spells seem effective (and ironically they are even somewhat party friendly on this difficulty too given the damage reduction for allies). OTOH I totally get that these spells can be brutal in combination, Storm of the Century, Inferno + Glyph of Repulsion on a door, etc. However Spells like Flame Blast never really seem to do anything for me in any playthrough.



Similarly the Heroic XYZ spells are really not bad at all, they just don’t last long enough. I don’t want to list every spell here, but my feeling is that I really do wish that there weren’t just a handful of really good spells & feel that making some of the other spells better could lead to less cherry picking.





It’s also worth noting, as a separate topic, that Mage specializations are different than those for any other class. Being a TWF Assassin or a TWF Duelist are largely similar things mechanically. However even the rare specialist mage is going to be really different depending on their specializations. A Primal Blood Mage is going to be able to cast nuke spells for a really long time in most combats. A Primal Shapeshifter is able to dump mana into costly spell attacks, then Shapeshift and melee. A Primal Spirit Healer is able to swich between nuking and party support, with healing that no non-Spirit Healer can come close to. A Primal Arcane Warrior can wear heavy armor and get up close and personal for spells like Cone of Cold with greater protection than most other Mages can manage.



With the exception of Shapeshifter, all of the Mage specializations offer build defining spells and abilities that no non-specialist can match. That’ simply not true for the Rogue and Warrior specializations, which seem to function more like add-ons to the characters.



After a lot of reflection on the Arcane Warrior, my thought is that I wish that they were more channeled into being either a spellcaster or a warrior. I think that this would have been doable if their ability to use Magic instead of Strength had been limited to WEAPONS only. If you wanted an Arcane Warrior in armor he would need to actually put points in Strength to wear it. At that point you get to decide if you want to put points in Str or Magic. A high Magic build would wear lighter armors while a high Str build would either be a lesser caster or use spells that don’t need to overcome resistance, like the buff and healing lines.



So the TLDR version



Overpowered:

* Cherry Picking Spells

* Specializations when compared to Rogue and Warrior

* Arcane Warrior in particular for having heavy armor, melee, and casting, instead of 2 of 3.

* Mana potions being so common



Underpowered:

* Almost all Primal spells damage wise

* Lighting spell line … ugh it’s extra bad

* Heroic XYZ spells

* Shapeshifter (mostly comparatively to the other Mage specializations)



Favorite Specialization

* Arcane Warrior (just love the archetype)



Least Favorite Specialization

* Shapeshifter (don’t like the forms chosen, time to shift, or messed up mechanics – it’s frustrating that the temporarily fade shifting is so much better)



Favorite/Least Favorite Talent Tree:

* None (cherry picking negates this)



Least Favorite Gear

* The stupid mage conehead hats

[draxynnus]

inkaholicj wrote...
Blood Mage - shouldn't be an activated effect. I should have access to my Blood Magic without having to turn it on. I should also be able to use my mana until it runs out, then start draining my own health. Since being a malificarum is inherently evil in Ferelden, it should have a cause and effect in game also. 

Actually, Word of God is that blood magic may not necessarily be inherently evil, but that the power it grants and the way it grants this power makes evil very, very tempting... and the fact that this knowledge is known to originate from demons makes anyone who practises is instantly suspect.

That said, they are keeping their options open regarding whether blood magic does actually have an inherent corrupting effect rather than simply having the reputation and presenting a temptation, though.

[Zecele]

* What do you like and dislike about the Mage?

Like:
Love the pure power they bring to a party.  Also, I love the AW specialization. 

Dislike:
The clothes, especially the hats.  Also dislike some of the spell mechanics (see below under "overpowered").

* Is there anything that you feel that is underpowered or overpowered on the Mage?

Overpowered:
Spells need to either be crowd control (CC) or damage not both.  Crushing prison is a main offender.  It's damage is sick enough as it is but it also removes the target from combat AND still allows others to beat on it.  Crushing prison getting cast on a character that is taking any kind of incoming fire is an almost guaranteed death sentence.  On the flip side being able to fling that spell at an enemy mage can take a decently hard fight and turn it into cake.

Wintersgrasp is another good example.  It shouldn't freeze you solid on top of damage done.  At most it should de-buff you with a movement speed penalty or somethign similar.  Force field is a much better example of what I consider a balanced spell.  It works as CC but does no damage and you also can't damage the target.  That being said....

Mobs need to drop agro when force field is cast on a friendly.  The spell itself isn't overpowered, what's overpowered is how you can taunt then force field and kill everythign that is whacking on an invulnerable target.

Mind blast is also an excellent spell.  Decent duration stun/root to get you breathing room but no inherent damage.

Underpowered:
The heroic offense/defense line not counting haste.  Duration is too short on all of them. 

* What are your favorite Mage specializations? What are your least favorite?

Favorite:
Arcane Warrior.

Least Favorite:
Shapeshifter/Blood mage.  Shapeshifter for obvious reasons but I didn't particularly care for Blood Mage either.  This was mainly due to RP reasons though.  You're taught how evil the spec is and in fact it's only obtainable by doing a very evil action but then no one says a thing when they see you using it?  I make Wynne a Blood Mage and she doesn't even blink?  Maybe evil isn't the right word, abhored perhaps?

Modifié par Zecele, 08 février 2010 - 02:47 .

[Terranid]

Likes

I like the Mage origin story. Its allows me to indulge in betrayal and playing off people against one another.
I like the Blood Mage and the Power Of Blood skills from Soldiers Keep is more useful to a Blood Mage.
I like the how you can swap spells around to tailor your own personal preferences.
I like how the power of a spell or two can be quite godlike in certain situations. a feeling of real power.
I enjoy using my necromantic abilities. Would like some more please


Dislikes

Blood magic is fairly useless against enemies with no blood apart from Bloody Grasp/Dark Sustenance which you get from Soldiers Keep.
Blood Wound can not be used on creatures turned by Blood Control.
Animated dead do not travel with you and creatures which you think can be turned into animated dead like Shrieks cannot be. I would like to see all kinds of creatures turned into animated dead though.
Maybe more people acknowleding you as a blood mage?
I would like better clothes and maybe some armour for the mages. Battle mage armour anyone?

[Saerdor]

 * What do you like and dislike about the Mage?

Likes
Mages are definately the most fun class to play simply from the range of abilities from which to choose.  On my first playthrough, my primary character was a mage focusing on primal line with glyphs.  I added in healing and Spirit Healer line to round him out.  Was he a bit overpowered? Yeah probably, considering its almost too easy to get a group of mobs tied up in Paralysis Explosion and then using Inferno, Tempest or Blizzard to take them all down.  I kept Morrigan with me most of the time and focused her on entropy and spirit lines.  

Dislikes
There are a lot of multi-target primal spells, but few single target spells.  It would be nice to have at least one high-power single target spell that doesn't cause friendly fire.

Like most people said, the mage headgear is atrocious.  There's also less mage gear to choose from in comparison to warrior and rogue gear.

* Is there anything that you feel that is underpowered or overpowered on the Mage?

Yeah, I'd say mages a wee bit overpowered when the right spells are taken, but I'm not complaining.  Since many of spells can cause friendly fire, this offsets mages power quite a bit.  

Again, like most people said, Chain Lightning is virtually useless.  Shapeshifting doesn't really add much either.  The single target Heal spell isn't all that effective in my experience, it should tier up a bit or a second, more powerful single target heal should be added.

* What are your favorite Mage specializations? What are your least favorite?

Hands down, my favorite is Spirit Healer.  No one group should go without at least one mage with this specialization.

I never used Shapeshifting.  I find mages are far more useful at casting spells then front-line attacking.

* What are your favorite Mage talent trees? What are your least favorite?

Most of the primal line is great, as well as the glyph line.  The Sleep line is also quite nice.

The Death line seemed kinda useless to me.  I never spent any points on that one.

[Haplose]

Victor Wachter wrote...
* What do you like and dislike about the Mage?

In general I rather like the class. The headgear is terrible though. Robes leave a lot to be desired as well.

I feel that Mages are not specialized enough. They have been given too much freedom in cherrypicking best spells from all schools and specializations. Warriors and Rogues are forced to pick one Talent tree and stick to it if they want to be effective. Mages loose nothing and gain a lot by being generalists.
Maybe some restrictions should be put in place? Or perhaps some bonuses for specializing in one Talent tree, making spells from chosen tree more effective/more difficult to resist.

* Is there anything that you feel that is underpowered or overpowered on the Mage?

Too much versality, too much ability to cherrypick best spells.
And make something about Mana Clash. That spell is ridiculous.

Underpowered? Ummm... nothing.

* What are your favorite Mage specializations? What are your least favorite?

Arcane Warrior seems the best specialization. Blood Magic is nice, but doesn't have enough consequences, impact on story/NPC reactions and doesn't offer enough new power/spell options considering it's special place in the lore. Spitit Healer is pure utility. Shapeshifter could have been nice but is useless. Should be magic-based and transformations shouldn't have such long casting times.

* What are your favorite Mage talent trees? What are your least favorite?

Primal is real nice and so is Entropy.

The Anti-Magic lines felt useless - not because they were a bad idea. Simply because they weren't needed at all. Especially with the silly Mana Clash... Try to design some good protections for NPC mages (and spell breaches, so they can combat Magic Resistance.. and we can fight them) so that fighting NPC mages actually poses a challenge.

[_Ermehtar_]

* What do you like and dislike about the Mage?



Dilike: Overpowering



Like: Morrigan... Well ok, sometimes it's cool to be completely overpowered.



* Is there anything that you feel that is underpowered or overpowered on the Mage?



To be truly sincere... I always hated mages, they are always overpowered compared to other classes. They get to wreack carnage and slaughter but at the same time protect themself/allies from almost everything. (This hate stems from PnP back in the days. Where mages would kill me in melee.)



In DnD they have to memorize their spells and sleep to recover them.. But In DA they just have to wait a while.. And the most common loot is lyrium potions... Ahh how hate finding Lyrim potions in the boss loot.

To me it seems they don't have a single weakness in DA. Auras that gives you mana and auras that brings health.



To top it all you can run round in full plate and swing swords with the AW class.



* What are your favorite Mage specializations? What are your least favorite?



Favourite: Arcane Warrior... Im a typical fighter player, so to get some fighting skills was a plus for me..



Least Favourite: ShapeShifter



I think DA:O needs it's own druid/shaman class. The mage spells are more useful than the shifting abilities.. But a druid class with typical "Nature" skills would be cool, and with it the shifter classes would be nice. Perhaps instead of Druid have a own Witch class, since there doesn't seem to be druids in Ferelden.





* What are your favorite Mage talent trees? What are your least favorite?



The thunder spells where my favourite. Least favourite was really noene. They all had some usefullness.

[BowElk]

Apologies if this is a duplicate, since I did not read all 5 pages -



I would absolutely love an Arcane-Rogue specialization.

[nub5]

LIke about the mage class?
    I like that the mage class stays true to the stereotype of old of humble beginnings becoming a potent force in the world.  I enjoy the versatility of the class allowing many different play styels and the addition of spell combos to create greater effects.

Dislike about the mage class?
     Poor Gear!  Aside from what has been discusssed, it would be nice to obtain some other gear that helps the mage class.  It would be nice to get magic boost on other armor types

    Lack of the ability to createj / enchant items or runes.  Lack of item quest specific for mages.
 
    Lack of a "primal / nuker" specialization, arcane rogue specialization

    Lack of a hybrid style.  Example woudl be an Arcane warrior giving up some "mage talent tree" to pick up some basic warrior talent trees (like taunt). 

    Lack of counterspelling combos.  Example would be enemy wizard cast inferno on the party.  In response the mage cast blizzard on the party which cancels inferno and blizzard spells.

    Inability to stack enchantments upon a weapons from the same mage.

Anything overpowered on the Mage
    The abiltiy to drink Lyrieum potions at will.  Really there is no need to pump up the willpower stat 

Favorite Mage specializations?
    Blood Mage.  It was a close tie to Spirit Healer, but the Lore and gameplay with the blood magic boost it over the top.

Least Favorite Mage specializations?
   Shape Changer.

Modifié par nub5, 08 février 2010 - 10:05 .

[RockGnasher]

* What do you like and dislike about the Mage?

I like the control that mages have in melee. Whereas hand to hand combatants get hashed up by the game's dynamic mages can deliver with precision and timing. There is a pretty good variety of spells.



I dislike how many of the spells have little value, like disorient or weakness. The crowd control spells are too easy to win with. Two mages with teleketic lines get FF and crushing prison. I think the mage specializations are sort of useless like many of the spells.





* What are your favorite Mage specializations? What are your least favorite?

spirit healer is my fave if I can even call it my fave. I dont really like any of the specializations.