27 réponses à ce sujet

[skullmuppet]

Greetings web-dwellers, trolls, lurkers and more.

I'm in a bit of a pickle, and as with most of life's big desicons I've decided to turn to the almighty internet for help. (This is where you, the cunning reader might deduct, come in).

I'm a fan of armoured casters. Always was. Not because I want to tank, but because I like armour.
Most of this stems from playing entirely too much warhammer, and I always liked the idea of chaos sorcerers.
This in itself isn't a problem. The problem is the eternal battle ragng between my inner munchkin, and my need for immersion.

Concept is important to me, in form of injoyment. Just because something is best doesn't mean one half of me will wear it, if it's aesthetically unpleasing... The problem is, the other half can't ignore it either...
As those of you who suffer from similar afflicton will guess, I spend more time making characters, than I actually do playing them...

Which sucks.

So, I'm going to attempt to describe what I'm looking for, and then I'm going to sit here, and hope you fine people can help me out.

As far as gear goes, I like armour. I like the idea of this metal juggernaught slinging spells about. I'm not so much a fan of using weapons, as I don't see the point in a sword, when you can just incinerate everything within a 10-mile-radius.
I'm a fan of dark, corrupt sorcery... If nothing else, then becuse it looks good. And I find  combination between armour and blood magic fit's this corrupted feel very well. It's brooding an omnious.

The issue I have is, it doesn't seem to work if you still want to cast spells. I have no intention of tanking, nor punching. But I so dearly want the armour none the less. Immersion and all that.
The catch is, I'd rather not gimp myself into oblivion getting it...

So, can any of you picture a metal wearing, spell slinging, fireball totting person running around... (Preferably without a staff... My God what a hedious thing indeed) without it being completely gimped?

I'm thinking Glyph combo for stunns, inferno, grease for when they wake up, and a fireball for yet more fire... (Fire's purdy).

What you reckon, is this doable, or am I doomed to fail?

If it has to be changed, how would you change it, while keeping with the corrupted caster feel...?

- Cheers.

[rumination888]

Not quite sure what the problem is.

Take Arcane Warrior and put 1 point in Combat Magic. You don't need to turn on Combat Magic to wear armour.

[Wuxia]

I wouldn't worry too much about having a 'gimped' build, there are loads of builds available that may not be 'perfect' or 'optimal' but will allow you to have a great time completing the game anyway.



If your going for the armored caster route I would definitely recommend Arcane Warrior as your 2nd specialization to go with blood mage so you don't have to put points into strength. If you like the look, I would also recommend getting Wade's Dragonscale or Dragonbone armor as soon as possible (it's a nice dark red, heavy looking armor which I think goes with your corrupted bloodmage theme). The set (you can also use Evon the Great's Mail instead of the normal chestpiece for even more awesomeness) provides something like -20% fatigue, which pretty much takes away all the negativities of wearing armor.



Also you may not know that there is actually a sword that allows you to cast most spells while wielding it, called Spellweaver. This allows you to ditch the staff and have a sword and shield while casting if you fancy.



The armored caster is quite a popular build, I think, and while it may not be the 'best' it can be great fun and allow you to complete the game without too much difficulty.

[skullmuppet]

Huh, I'd just understood arcane warr as gimping your casting abilities and making you into some self buffed warrior... I'd be very upset to give up on my fireballs...

[Count Viceroy]

Arcane warriors spells will cost more mana due to fatigue caused by wearing armor, thats basically the only thing is does by default. Spending more points into the tree allows you buff up your melee abilites further.  You can just put one point into it, in order to use armor but it should be noted at refusing to use a melee weapon/staff when you run out of mana might result in well, lots of standing about or mana pot abuse.

I myself love mages and heavy armor and thus arcane warriors are my favorite class. I've actually installed a mod which lowers the fatigue penalty of combat magic. But I like to melee as well and this mod allows me to cast reasonable amount of spells and then going into melee without toggling combat magic back and fourth like a moron.

Modifié par Count Viceroy, 22 mars 2010 - 11:12 .

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

AW can make spellcasting harder ... but only if you have Combat Magic & other sustainables up all the time. The thing to do with AW & your concept is to just get the first spell (Combat Magic) or go all the way to the 3rd one (Shimmering Shield). Just don't use Combat Magic unless you feel like it for some reason. If you get Shimmering Shield you can have that one active nearly all the time & it's actually not a bad idea if you are a Blood Mage too.

[skullmuppet]

So... By picking Combat Magic, I can substitute Magic for Strength, even without toggling the ability and heaping in a HEFTY 50% fatigue?



The way I read it, you had to toggle it, to use it...

So, in theory, I could pick one point in the tree, equip my armour, turn off the toggle, remove it from my bar... And then never worry about that tree again?

That's AWESOME! That way, I can get my plate, and still tot fireballs left and right... Good times a-plenty!

[Count Viceroy]

The talent combat magic passivley replaces the strength requirement on armor with magic. If you don't activate it you can still wear armor and  you'll only have the fatigue penalty imposed by the armor itself to deal with.If you activate it you recive the extra fatigue penatly and gain melee combat stats.

Modifié par Count Viceroy, 22 mars 2010 - 12:32 .

[AuraofMana]

You can faceroll with a Mage through this game anyway, not maxing out due to not wearing the best armor for spell slinging isn't going to hurt. You can also consider downloading some pretty good looking armor that are meant for Arcane Warriors (so +Magic and the like) and wear them. With modding, you can have both what you want and still make your character awesome in terms of power.

[skullmuppet]

I prefer not altering the game while playing. I always felt it felt too much like cheating. Grabbing player made armour that added stats and the like, seems a lot like just giving myself free stat increases.

At best, I'll alter colours and the like... But never hard mechanics.

[beancounter501]

An armored caster is probably one of the strongest builds in the game. So no worry about gimping your character. Taking the first Arcane Warrior talent will allow you to equip any armor or weapon. You do not have to activate Combat Magic to wear armor. The only drawback is maybe an extra 10 or 15 points in fatigue. That is a very minor negative because you will get a massive boost in armor plus some massive boost to mana regen.

[Novadove]

arcane warrior + blood mage for DAO

graphically if you go for heavy armor in DAO, then u might lose out on the amazing Reaper.

for heavy armor, either go for juggernaut and do elemental resist build, or go for warden armor to look cool or wear evon for all purpose.



AW no matter how you play, will always be one of the mean machines in the game. the only way u can gimp it is by choosing the wrong spells.

[megalust]

As everyone else has said, take blood mage and arcane warrior. You can just put one talent in combat magic to wear the armor. If you just want to wear armor you never need to activate the skill and the only fatigue penalties will be from the armor itself. You can get sets of armor that offset fatigue bonuses. Wade's superior dragonscale armors all offer negative fatigue bonuses and also offer bonuses to stamina regeneration which for an arcane warrior equals mana regeneration. Armor of diligence for mages is also nice.

[UserXX]

I played an Arcane Warrior through Origins and all its DLC as well as Awakening. As long as you take Bloodmage with Arcane Warrior you can nuke away at your foes. I prefer having a ranger in my party to summon a bear that I can us as a huge mana pool or health pool depending on how you look at it. I keep enough mana in my pool to sustain whatever amount of sustainable spells I want “I included a buffer just in case” and use my Health to cast from.

It gets extremely interesting in Awakenings when you have the ability to grab Spirit Healer on top of it all. With the AW/SH/BM build you can transfer your party/Ranger Pet health to your own then heal them up. This means you can cast to your heart’s content and never having to pop a mana pot.

I can AOE and CC at the same time. I can kill at range with spells or get in close and personal like a battle mage. It is really hard if not impossible to go wrong with a AW/BM and later in awakening SH.

[UserXX]

Removed DBL post...

Modifié par UserXX, 23 mars 2010 - 07:11 .

[Takrandro]

Well, as said above and such, taking 1 point in it is best if u just want the option of wearing armor, i myself have gone for the whole package, since the 4th talent, Fade shroud, not only boost your defence big time but also lets u look like some kind of white transparent demigod(only sucks for conversations) but definitly makes u look special.

For armor i suggest the Juggernaut armor since it give a HUGE boost to your elemental res, and the Spellward amulet that u can buy somewhere.

when u arrive in Awakening, u get another class that makes u even more awsome, namely the Battlemage class, it ads an series of spells that let u take on entire army's on your own

1st, Draining aura, sustainble aura that drains health from nearby enemies, only the more enemies it drains, the faster u run out of mana.

2nd Stoic(passive) converts any damage u take to mana! now u can get overwhelmed and get out better!(and trust me it will happen alot in Awakening)

3rd, Hand of winter, AOE frost blast centered on u, kills of freezes enemies(no friendly fire risk)

4th. Elemental Chaos. sustainble aura that switches every few seconds to another type of elemental damage, giving u something for everyone! drains mana moderate, but by the time u get it, u probably have some nice mana-regen items as well as a big mana pool

this class just makes your dreams come true, combined with the new mage spells,like 1 that enhances arcane shield to also block spells, even when its not activated, u have everything u can dream of, just get the Spellweaver sword in the DA campaign and a nice shield and u don't even need to swing the sword if u choose to.

There's also a nice armor i find in Awakening that is bloodred with black that lok very cool! forgot the name but it drops in the blackmarch(just search well for all the pieces)

Hope this helps!

[JunkInMyTrunk]

Takrandro wrote...

Well, as said above and such, taking 1 point in it is best if u just want the option of wearing armor, i myself have gone for the whole package, since the 4th talent, Fade shroud, not only boost your defence big time but also lets u look like some kind of white transparent demigod(only sucks for conversations) but definitly makes u look special.
For armor i suggest the Juggernaut armor since it give a HUGE boost to your elemental res, and the Spellward amulet that u can buy somewhere.
when u arrive in Awakening, u get another class that makes u even more awsome, namely the Battlemage class, it ads an series of spells that let u take on entire army's on your own
1st, Draining aura, sustainble aura that drains health from nearby enemies, only the more enemies it drains, the faster u run out of mana.
2nd Stoic(passive) converts any damage u take to mana! now u can get overwhelmed and get out better!(and trust me it will happen alot in Awakening)
3rd, Hand of winter, AOE frost blast centered on u, kills of freezes enemies(no friendly fire risk)
4th. Elemental Chaos. sustainble aura that switches every few seconds to another type of elemental damage, giving u something for everyone! drains mana moderate, but by the time u get it, u probably have some nice mana-regen items as well as a big mana pool
this class just makes your dreams come true, combined with the new mage spells,like 1 that enhances arcane shield to also block spells, even when its not activated, u have everything u can dream of, just get the Spellweaver sword in the DA campaign and a nice shield and u don't even need to swing the sword if u choose to.
There's also a nice armor i find in Awakening that is bloodred with black that lok very cool! forgot the name but it drops in the blackmarch(just search well for all the pieces)
Hope this helps!

-20 combat regen is not what I'd call moderate

[miltos33]

JunkInMyTrunk wrote...

-20 combat regen is not what I'd call moderate

True, this is not a moderate penalty by any standards but it is possible to completely offset it. With my current character I managed to have about +20 combat mana regeneration and elemental chaos wouldn't turn off unless I toggled it.

I disagree with people who say that wearing armor increases your fatigue. If you wear the right armor it is exactly the opposite. Wade's Superior Drakeskin armor gives you decent protection at -12.5% negative fatigue so all your spells will cost less to cast than when wearing robes.

Besides, Wade's Superior Dragonbone armor with Evan the Great's Mail gives you the same protection as massive armor at only +3% fatigue which is the same with wearing robes, a pair of gloves, and a pair of boots.

 

[JunkInMyTrunk]

miltos33 wrote...

JunkInMyTrunk wrote...

-20 combat regen is not what I'd call moderate

True, this is not a moderate penalty by any standards but it is possible to completely offset it. With my current character I managed to have about +20 combat mana regeneration and elemental chaos wouldn't turn off unless I toggled it.

I disagree with people who say that wearing armor increases your fatigue. If you wear the right armor it is exactly the opposite. Wade's Superior Drakeskin armor gives you decent protection at -12.5% negative fatigue so all your spells will cost less to cast than when wearing robes.

Besides, Wade's Superior Dragonbone armor with Evan the Great's Mail gives you the same protection as massive armor at only +3% fatigue which is the same with wearing robes, a pair of gloves, and a pair of boots.

 

I assume you're playing on a console to have 20 passive regen from gear and talents. Dunno why Bioware were so mean to PC users.

EDIT:
It's Wade's Superior Dragonskin for medium armour and a silly fatigue bonus. Drakeskin is the leather version which only comes with -10% fatigue and 5 defence.

Wade's superior Dragonbone is itemset 30.
Evan the Great's Mail is part of itemset 29 "Wade's Superior Heavy"
If you use Wade's Superior Dragonscale gloves and boots, you only lose about 2 armour but set bonuse is -20% fatigue and 5 defence.

Modifié par JunkInMyTrunk, 29 mars 2010 - 08:29 .

[TBastian]

It's not a build, more like an item combination. Note that in Awakenings you can use the skill "Invigorate" to lower fatigue so your Arcane Warrior can use something more "darker" looking.



Or you can use a mod to change the look of the set, to make it "darker". Purely aesthetic, as you said.

[miltos33]

JunkInMyTrunk wrote...

I assume you're playing on a console to have 20 passive regen from gear and talents. Dunno why Bioware were so mean to PC users.

EDIT:
It's Wade's Superior Dragonskin for medium armour and a silly fatigue bonus. Drakeskin is the leather version which only comes with -10% fatigue and 5 defence.

Wade's superior Dragonbone is itemset 30.
Evan the Great's Mail is part of itemset 29 "Wade's Superior Heavy"
If you use Wade's Superior Dragonscale gloves and boots, you only lose about 2 armour but set bonuse is -20% fatigue and 5 defence.

You assume wrong I am a PC only gamer and it is possible to have 20 passive regeneration with the right combination of gear and talents.

But thank you for editing my post. Of course I meant Wade's Superior Dragonskin instead of Drakeskin and Wade's Superior Dragonscale instead of Dragonbone. I always get confused with those Dragon names.

[JunkInMyTrunk]

hehe allways found it amusing to have cheaper spells in dragonskin rather than when naked.



care to share the gear list?

[nuculerman]

 Whoever keeps suggesting juggernaut didn't read the OP.  Juggernaut will severely gimp your caster.  It has about a 40% fatigue cost total.  It's only for tanking AWs and even then it's far from the ideal armor set.

It's pretty easy.  Get the RtO DLC and get Cailan's Armor set.   It has -30% fatigue.  It's massive armor that will give you a grand total of 12% fatigue.  So basically you get one spell less.  

Your ideal armor is going to be Wade's Superior dragonskin.  This is medium armor with a -25% fatigue bonus for the set.  It will actually give you more casting potential than any robes in the game thanks to the fact you have negative fatigue with the set on.  The problem with this set though is painfully obvious when you put it on.  It looks like red splintmail.  It's hideous, IMO.  If you really like the look of that armor more than mage robes (which I admit are usually hideous too, but not as ugly as splintmail) then this is your set.  If, like me, you can't stand the look of it, then get Wade's Superior Dragonscale armor.  It has about the same total fatigue as Cailan's ( a little less) and it's heavy instead of massive.  Plus I love the look of Cailan's armor during dialogue but I freaking hate those jousting style knight helmets in the game.  So I wore Cailan's until I could get Wade's Superior Dragonscale.  The nice thing about Cailain's though is that you can get it by the time you can start wearing it.  You have to slay the high dragon, collect drakeskins, and pay 30g total or something to get Wade's Superior Dragonscale.  

If you care about optimization, replacing the breastplate with Evon The Great's Mail from Wade's shop is the way to go.  You still get the set bonus but Evon the Great's Mail has way better bonuses than the superior dragonscale breastplate.  

Your last option is Warden Commanders from the Warden DLC.  The only reason to take this is for the looks.  The set gives you like 20% more fatigue but more stamina (mana) making it pretty decent but still not ideal for a "casting centered AW."  But it does look pretty cool, plus you don't have to wear a helmet with it like Cailan's and can get it as soon as you can wear it (level 7).

[miltos33]

JunkInMyTrunk wrote...

hehe allways found it amusing to have cheaper spells in dragonskin rather than when naked.

care to share the gear list?

I have made a post about this with a possible list of gear and talents. Here is the link: http://social.biowar...6/index/1943610

[Psychoray]

WHAT.



Cailan's Shield + Maric's blade give +5.75 mana regen?!



Why haven't I noticed this earlier!?