16 réponses à ce sujet

[WarCable]

I'm trying to create a mage but somehow I don't know how to progress at the point where I need to choose skills and spells (I suspect a balance of 3 points in magic, 2 points in willpower and 1 point in cunning while levelling should do the trick) .
When it comes to skills I invested the point in Combat Training as I suspect a mage benefits alot from the extra damage allowed before it interrupts the spellcasting. But my biggest confusion starts when I have to put 2 points in spells. There is so much to choose from and although I have an idea what I want my mage to be I have no clue what we should take in mind before allocating those points. I see spells in different categories Mage, Primal, Creation, Spirit and Entropy but what tactic would be most desirable as I suspect you can't just put in points in random spells just to get everything you would like to have. I think you need to put points in spells so you can level those spells to max level but how can you if you haven't got a clue how many spell points you will get along the way while levelling? So, do we get enough spell points to invest in different categories or should we just stick to a combo like putting points in the Mage tree and then choose just one other spell out of the other 4 remaining trees?

[Zentropix]

I'd be tempted to dump ALL the Attribute Points into Magic at creation as that increases your Spellpower, which means more damage. You don't have enough spells at the start to use all your mana in battles during the Origins part as fights don't last long enough for them to recharge. You might just get off a second Arcane Bolt so are typically firing off a couple of spells then using your staff's bolt. Primal is a good branch to start in. Good starting spells are Winter's Grasp and Rock Armor. WG does good damage and freezes the target long enough to finish it. RA is very effective in mitigating damage.

You get one Spell point per level and three Attribute points. So by completion of the Origins, at which you'll be level three, you can add a couple more spells and have begun increasing your mana pool (i.e investing in Willpower). Stone Fist synergises well with Winter's Grasp for your choice at level 2, Flame Blast is a good choice for level 3.

[WarCable]

Thanks for your info Zentropix. But let me rephrase my question as I am actualy struggling with how many schools of magic to invest in? I mean, would it be more advisable to put all the points in spells of the Primal school or is a combination of different spells of different schools more advisable and if so, should it be better to restrict myself to a 2-part combo like picking up spells out of the primal / creation schools (or whatever combination suits your needs) or should it be a 3-part combo where you take spells over 3 different magic schools? At the moment I'm tempted to create a mage with only spells taken out of the creation / spirit schools. So I would make a healer / crow controlling mage. And later on I would choose shapeshifter of blood mage as specialisation if those options will be displayed.



Hope this rephrasing of the question makes it alot easyer to understand my issue

[hinds1]

Don't know if this is the best way - but when I made my mage - I was looking at what specilization I wanted. If i wanted a pure dps mage - you should pick a primal school - either one will do -fire, earth, cold, electric - and then stick in that school. Some great combos come out of these schools. You could get shapeshifter spec with this. One thing to know is that, to get the 3rd tier spell in your chosen primal school @ 3rd level - you will need to spend most if not all your leveling and creation points in magic.



Also you can take the spell heal along side a dps primal at level 1, cause you never know when your gonna need a quick heal.



Not to spoil anything, but one of the npc's you can get in your party is a premade party healer so as in most games - i would guess making your character a primary healer would be boring.



But another thing doing the tower quest so much easier as a dps mage - although bioware has outdone themselves with the mix of characters that join your party b4 the quest starts.

[WarCable]

I always played a damage dealer in my previous games (sacred 2, etc) and I can't deny that the possibilities given by DA: Origins are just way to great to ignore. So, I will stick to your advice by investing in not too many spells and just concentrate on levelling the alreadu chosen spells. Nevertheless I will try to be a healer / crowd controlling mage. Although I must say I would be tempted to pick a pure damaging specialisation just to see what this would do to my character. But maybe you are right and it is better to use the specialisation as it is there for, to take your existing mage further in the role they were designed for. (in my case healer / cc'ing)

[Majspuffen]

My character is a healer/crowd controller. I've specced in creation and spirit, and all the basic mage talents (that increases spell power and such). I also unlocked a fire attack just so that I can put the grease spell on fire ... So far I havn't seen any spell that hasn't been useful. I have few offensive attacks, but that is because I heal/cc, but my character is very resilient and well, I'm happy so far.



So go for it, try your creation/spirit idea, I think you'll be satisfied.

[Dubheitte]

Spells don't level as you seem to think they do in your first post. There are no max ranks. What spells you see on the spells and abilities tab are the only spells available at present, aside from those of the four specializations. Thus you are free to pick and choose as you see fit, providing you meet the magic prerequisites. Spell damage scales with your level, and your spell power.



Also, you get one spell point for every level, and one skill point for every three levels. You can also buy an Arcane Technique tome for around 22 gold from certain merchants that will give you one "free" spell point on use.



Essentially, play your mage how you want to play him/her. Though for crowd control I'd definitely recommend Crushing Prison. It's a fourth tier spell in the Spirit category I believe. It keeps an enemy locked down for a goodly amount of time, while slowly killing them. Very handy.



Anyway,I hope this helps. Have fun and good luck with your mage.



Take care.

[Default137]

For my Mage, I boosted my Cunning to 16 in the first two levels, then just left it there, and started boosted Magic, and only putting points into Willpower when I finally got so many spells that I ran out of mana in each fight.



Mages are a bit different then a Warrior or a Rogue, our mana pool is usually good enough to last us a full fight, unlike a Warrior, or a Rogue, it will need to be boosted before endgame of course, but I actually didn't start putting points into it until I had already reached my second ally, because I could just cast everything with impunity.



As for spells, I'd suggest you grab the first two spells in Mind no matter what, Mind Blast is an AoE Stun, and will give you time to run away when you get swarmed, as well as making you a hilariously broken melee later on if you choose to go Arcane Warrior, and Force Field can be used to keep you/Alistar alive while being beaten on by 5-6 enemies, or can be used to shut down several enemy units by making them Invulnerable, but also making them unable to attack.



After that, I'd make sure to grab Lightning, at least the first spell, if not the whole tree, it does Stamina Based damage, which means it tends to do better against high HP mobs ( like bosses ) then Fire or Ice would do, and then I'd normally grab Ice, due to the freezing property, of all the spells, including Ice Weapons.



Really though, its up to you, I just offered a spec I know for sure works, and works well with Arcane Warrior, if you prefer blowing things up, Fire is your man, if you want to be a Necromancer type Mage, there is a tree for that, as well as a lifedrain type, etc.



Just make sure to read what spells do, many of them work well when combined, for example shattering Frozen enemies with a Earth spell, or setting fire to a Grease spell, it all works together.

[Ninjaphrog]

The best way to make a Mage in my opinion is to consider a high magic, alittle higher then willpower atleast. I'm a level 12 blood mage and I might have less mana regen then Morrigan but I blast things away with ease. Don't worry about Cunning too much, it really is more for Reaver warriors and Rogues. Alittle strength is good to wear lighter armor to not get 1 shotted by a boss if your massive damage drags unwanted attention.



Anyway just try to stay as far away from a swords edge as possible and let people know why mages are a force to be careful with



So far:



Elena: Lvl 14 Reaver Warrior Human (Sword & Buckler)

Negai: Level 9 Duelist Rogue Elf (Duel wield)

Solona: Level 12 Blood Mage Human (Lightning)

[Gaudion]

Regardless of what type of Mage you want to be, Mages work best when you've got your eggs in as many different baskets as possible, within reason. Consider that you'll probably want to master the Mage School chain and that of your chosen specialization, so that's eight talent points right there. Most players will reach a level somewhere in the low-to-mid 20's by the end of the game, so that leaves you with at least 12 more talent points, plus the three that you start with, and possibly one or two more if you buy some talent-giving tomes over the course of the game.



One Primal chain is probably enough unless you really want your Mage to do absolutely nothing but deal damage, but there is also a bit of a slider here: the deeper you go into any one Primal chain the more AoE-ish the talents tend to get. Going deeper into fewer chains will give you more versatile spell effects, going shallow into more chains will give you a more versatile and damaging single-target rotation. Either way, more than six points spent in the Primal School will start to make you miss utility elsewhere, and anything over eight is complete overkill.



There is no such thing as a Mage who's party can not benefit from them having Heal.



Healing and party-augmenting spells work well together. You can keep everyone healthy and your abilities that enhance your party members contribute to the overall party damage/defenses without drawing unnecessary aggro.



Conversely, if you're offensive-oriented, consider picking up additional controlling spells even if that isn't your focus. You can pretty safely assume that at some point you're going to find yourself in an unfavorable battle situation, and trying to bring the situation under control generally works better than just trying to blow your assailants up before they can blow you up.



If there are at least two melee-ers in your party, considering picking up one of the weapon-augmenting skills. If there are three it should be a no-brainer, if it's just the tank then it's not worth it.



Any of the Mage specializations work for offense except for Spirit Healer, but Spirit Healer is the only logical choice for a primary supporter/healer. Arcane Warrior is probably best for utility/control since they can contribute damage with their melee while expending the majority of their mana around wherever and whenever it's needed, but really any specialization works here.

[Vindelz]

Thanks for the info.

[Katarian]

Well I wouldn't recommend doing what I did and putting all your points into one school. I thought it would be nice thematic roleplaying but as I took spirit large groups are an absolute nightmare. Small groups of more powerful creatures are very easy, as I can Force Field one out of the fight and Force Cage another potentially taking them out of the fight. The school does include a nice spell combo, that I discovered completely by accident as I can't see you would ever willing combine the two spells involved to discover it .

Your AoE and general damage is pitiful and it makes large groups very difficult. Walking Bomb is just awful in any part of the game where I am not alone (where you can use Mind Blast to stun a large group and get away from the blast). If you want to only take one school then primal is probably the best option, otherwise spreading out spells across the different schools is the only way to go.

Don't worry about anything except willpower, magic and maybe constitution at creation if you are just going for a general mage. You can worry about the other stats later in the game.

Modifié par Katarian, 09 novembre 2009 - 11:44 .

[Mortear]

I myself made the mistake of putting 12 points into Primal. I can tear through larger groups of enemies with ease, Blizzard, Inferno and Tempest also mix into a nice Super Storm spell when all cast in the same area as well. But after some tinkering I've found that - of course - that isn't the only combo spell in the game.



Having a diverse ammount of spells / schools is advised. I'd suggest 6 or so in primal, because one of the most devestating combos for killing enemies is there. Going 4 into the frost tree and then 2 into the Earth tree allows you to freeze enemies and then shatter them for a one hit kill. This can work on Bosses as well but they have a much higher resistence to it, naturally. Also freezing a target and using Crushing Prison can do the same.



Heal is also a must. It helps your party survive and thrive. Also when starting dump everything into Magic so you can get it to at least 33-36 ish and have access to the end tier spells in a tree early on. Then worry about Will and whatever else you deem fit later. (Con if you plan on going Blood Mage).



Hope this helped.

[Svrtsn]

Thanks for the info:)

[WarCable]

Wow, didn't had the chance to log on the last days. Nice surprise to see alot of responses. Thank you for all the input.

I decided to mainly invest in the creation / spirit part of spells but will invest lightly in either entropy or primal too but only in spells that may help to the spells I already chose in the spirit / creation category.

Modifié par WarCable, 11 novembre 2009 - 03:44 .

[skelz1977]

Played with the mage a bit, here are what i think of the spells i have taken

Fireball-probaby the only reason to go down the fire line.  Havent tried inferno though.  Good AOE knockback + fire DOT

Heal-Pretty much a must. You cant always use health items not to mention it only costs mana. A life saver in many situations.

Winters graps is good in the early levels. After that i rarely use it.

Frost Weapons- Unfortunately you have to get it to get Cone of cold. Pretty useless compared to telekentic weapons.

Cone of cold-pretty good mutli enemy freeze during early game. After that it seems to wear off too quickly and then you have enemies chasing you. I use it less and less as i get farther into the game.

Rock Armor-Its ok i guess.  As a mage, you shouldnt really be getting hit though.

STone fist-good if you go frost to shatter frozen enemies

Spell wisp-sucks

Grease-most of the time you party runs into it.  Its ok if you micro manage your party and grab fire to combo with

Lifebloom-sucks

Mana drain-I think only works on mages so basically useless in most fights

Walking Bomb-Fun but again you have to micromanage your party to avoid taking damage from it

Death syphon-pretty good, free mana

Mind blast-its ok, good aoe stun to get out of danger. 

Force field-awesome CC.  Have to micromange to make sure party isnt attacking force fielded enemy.  But lasts long

Telekenetic weapons-probably the best weapon buff available

Crushing prison Heard good things, havent used it yet

Weaken-Good spell.  Seems to work on bosses fairly often

Paralyze-awesome CC spell again and takes damage while attacked.  Lasts pretty long too.

Miasma-I guess its good if you like to kite enemies.  I dont find much use for it personally

Mass paralysis, awesome again but keep in mind the casting time is long and you can CC your party if you dont watch out


The hex line is amazing with a rogue and animate dead is awesome as well. 

Modifié par skelz1977, 12 novembre 2009 - 02:55 .

[Takrandro]

! thing u should keep in mind is to try to spread out the spells over your main char and Morrigan, and maybe some support spells for Wynne.



first the Main char.

as some said above, get the all the spells in the crushing prison line!, they all are great!

meanwhile get all the fire spells up to fireball, since its a cheap long range blast spell handy to stop rushing out to get u. get the flamestrike spell only if u have't gotten an big AoE spell.

early on get some single target spells, lightning bolt, drain life and maybe winters grasp,

Aside from the Hex spells, i can also highly advice the glyph spells, since they are handy for cc when u are alone in some parts of the game and to keep enemies away from u when u cast a big aoe. u could also all spells up to Tempest in the lightning line, since they do great damage when fighting fire immune ememies(rage demons mostly) but i would't take Chain lightning, since it got a cast time and has highly diminished damage when used on big groups, but rarely any problems with friendly fire, so choose your self.



Morrigan.

Let her max out the frost tree, all spells(aside from frost weapons) are handy, and u will probably use Cone of cold till the very last fight, since it can even freeze up bosses pretty easy. blizzard is like the best big aoe spell in the game, just make sure your chars are't in it, and just stand back and watch it kill your enemies slowly.

The hex spells u should let morrigan build out, since she already starts with one and they greatly enhance your primal and drain spells. and the first or 2nd hex on a boss will make sure CoC freezes it for sure.maybe also let her down the crushing prison path a little, just experiment i suggest.

1 thing though, DON'T max out the shapeshifhter class she has, since even in those forms she still uses her normal form AC, witch means that no matter the form, she's down in 2 hits or so anyway.... better spend those points on spells or get her AW, in witch case u should get rock armor, and arcane shield, and ofc max out AW.



Wynn

Get her full spirit healer class spells and maybe some CC when u can't take morrigan with u, for her the glyph spells are handy also, as well as the earth spells she starts in, just make sure u give her a big mana pool couse she will need to heal ALOT,as 2nd class u could give her Blood mage,so she can use her own health for mana, in witch case u need more health(or just max out both, your choice) u don't need her alway in the party anyway, i went trough most of my first mage run without her(went to (mage tower 3rd) just get heal on your main char and maybe morrigan and for the rest use potions, works fine.

Hope this helps! best of luck!