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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2017 8:03:12 GMT
I don't like specializations in DA2 except Forced Mage and since I don't generally play mages, I stick with non-spec skills they're much better
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Post by Catilina on May 24, 2017 18:40:57 GMT
I don't like specializations in DA2 except Forced Mage and since I don't generally play mages, I stick with non-spec skills they're much better Force mage's pretty fun.
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Post by Lazarillo on May 24, 2017 22:50:02 GMT
I come up with a build idea, then after finishing the prologue, I use the console to level/add the eventual equipment and levels I'll have by the end of the game. Then I solo clear the streets at night and if I don't end up pulling my hair out, I go back and play it from the beginning.
It's a little cheap, unorthodox, but it gives me an easy roadmap to follow.
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2017 16:35:12 GMT
As I've started a whole new game for Dragonage 2 I have went for mage hawke, her primary powers are mind with fire so bad ass.
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Post by Jarovbees on May 27, 2017 18:48:27 GMT
I usually play a mage and have Spirit Healer for my first specialization, because I tend to bench Anders and that way I still have some healing available. Beyond that, I love having potent fire magic.
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mmoblitz
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Post by mmoblitz on May 28, 2017 12:59:28 GMT
I tend to play mostly on Hard, but will try nightmare at least once. I have equal PT with DW Rogue and Mage. I switch up what type of mage builds based on what I feel like playing at that particular time. I spend more time working on the tactics for all my companions and getting the builds setup around that. I loved the tactics settings in DAO and DA2. I don't like micro managing my companions so with the tactics setup correctly, I don't have to.
I will check forums and such to see if any particular spells or mechanics are bugged and not working before setting things up, but mostly it's just me doing trial and error.
I hated the lose of Tactics among a myriad of other things in DAI. Only did one PT on that game and didn't bother with any DLC.
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2017 23:14:16 GMT
Meh. I always play as a mage Hawke. Making my Hawke a Sprit Healer is a must. Otherwise, I don't really care for the rest of the planning. I never really pre-plan my character's specs in this game - it's too inconvenient.
I should put more detail into my first post
Yeah all my Hawke's are mages (cause playing mages in DA:2 is the best). Yeah I never do per-plan my character's classes, but I usually have a class I always choice for my character to be. In this game, my Mage's were usually a Sprit Healers/Battlemage duel because i worked best. I sometimes do a Blood Mage/Spirt Healer duel class Mage, but the Blood Mage class cuts my Hawke's usually short health into it being to the point where my Hawke would be murdered in a one hit. So yeah, I prefer Sprit Healer/Battlemage.
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midnightwolf
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Post by midnightwolf on Jun 7, 2017 17:44:44 GMT
I don't like specializations in DA2 except Forced Mage and since I don't generally play mages, I stick with non-spec skills they're much better Force mage's pretty fun. Force Mage get's my vote too. It works exceptionally well if, like me, you enjoy controlling crowds with the Primal and Elemental school, AOE spells. Just throw down the AOE lighting spell, then slam enemies with the makers fist. It's great. I also like to take Spirit healer as my second specialization, and get the heal spell from the Creation school so I don't have to take Ander's everywhere with me.
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Post by Catilina on Jun 7, 2017 18:30:36 GMT
Force Mage get's my vote too. It works exceptionally well if, like me, you enjoy controlling crowds with the Primal and Elemental school, AOE spells. Just throw down the AOE lighting spell, then slam enemies with the makers fist. It's great. I also like to take Spirit healer as my second specialization, and get the heal spell from the Creation school so I don't have to take Ander's everywhere with me. Force/Primal/Spirit Healer is good crowd control, and safety (true, I usually take Anders, but he also good damage with classic elemental). But I love Elemental/Blood/Force this crazy and destructive. My Mage Hawkes always have only one healing spell from Creation tree.
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Post by boxofscreaming on Jun 11, 2017 12:53:54 GMT
When I played as a rogue I put far too much time into planning how to maximize damage output, thinking about how I was going to handle the Arishok etc. Guess I'm just obsessive like that, but it got a bit silly.
Playing as a mage, I tried to get away from that and just go for what I liked. Focused on Elemental and Force Mage with bits and bobs from other trees and Spirit Healer as second specialization, but only for the bonus. Worked out as a very fun play through.
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Post by ewigDunkelheit on Aug 28, 2017 2:59:37 GMT
I love to pre-plan my builds, but I am not all that interested in challenging myself with the hardest difficulties. My favorite role is support and crowd-control, so no matter what classes and specs I may test out, I always wind up with no more than average damage at best. My Warden is an archer rogue with a two-handed maul melee switch and a bear pet, that mostly debuffs enemies. My Hawke is a dual-wielding Duelist/Shadow rogue that DOESN'T use Twin Fangs or Vendetta, throws flasks around, and sets up Disorienting combos for his companions. My Inquisitor is a Templar shield tank that provides as much, or better, defense and crowd control as a barrier mage.
These builds are so much fun to me.
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boxofscreaming
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Post by boxofscreaming on Aug 28, 2017 6:22:31 GMT
I love to pre-plan my builds, but I am not all that interested in challenging myself with the hardest difficulties. My favorite role is support and crowd-control, so no matter what classes and specs I may test out, I always wind up with no more than average damage at best. My Warden is an archer rogue with a two-handed maul melee switch and a bear pet, that mostly debuffs enemies. My Hawke is a dual-wielding Duelist/Shadow rogue that DOESN'T use Twin Fangs or Vendetta, throws flasks around, and sets up Disorienting combos for his companions. My Inquisitor is a Templar shield tank that provides as much, or better, defense and crowd control as a barrier mage. These builds are so much fun to me. Shadow is great - I love the decoy, especially once you upgrade it to blow up in people's faces!
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Post by mike3207 on Nov 24, 2017 3:45:45 GMT
I sill base my mages all about magic-all the way to 100. After that, I want to see if the critmage build really makes a difference. The blood mage and force mage specs seem to have been weakened a bit with the recent patches, which might mean more abilities for the standard spell schools.
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Post by boxofscreaming on Nov 24, 2017 19:50:48 GMT
I sill base my mages all about magic-all the way to 100. After that, I want to see if the critmage build really makes a difference. The blood mage and force mage specs seem to have been weakened a bit with the recent patches, which might mean more abilities for the standard spell schools. Probably hard to go too far wrong with a mage - you've got plenty of versatility and options to control the battlefield. I think Force Mage is pretty great - there's nothing like starting every fight with Gravitic Ring and once you get Fist of the Maker upgraded you can use it all the time and do some nice combos. Never got that far into Spirit or Entropy, though Horror and Hex of Torment are musts and Dispel Magic comes in handy. Walking Bomb was very fun when I gave it to Merrill. Might be interesting to go full out on Spirit instead of Elemental/Primal.
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Post by mike3207 on Nov 26, 2017 2:17:58 GMT
I sill base my mages all about magic-all the way to 100. After that, I want to see if the critmage build really makes a difference. The blood mage and force mage specs seem to have been weakened a bit with the recent patches, which might mean more abilities for the standard spell schools. Probably hard to go too far wrong with a mage - you've got plenty of versatility and options to control the battlefield. I think Force Mage is pretty great - there's nothing like starting every fight with Gravitic Ring and once you get Fist of the Maker upgraded you can use it all the time and do some nice combos. Never got that far into Spirit or Entropy, though Horror and Hex of Torment are musts and Dispel Magic comes in handy. Walking Bomb was very fun when I gave it to Merrill. Might be interesting to go full out on Spirit instead of Elemental/Primal. Spirit Mastery is a must with that 10% critical chance, though I hate putting 7 points in spirit. I'd like to pick up Death Hex but it will mean picking up Sleep and Misdirection Hex for the 5 point prerequisite. I think the cost is too high-will just stick with upgraded Horror and Hex of Torment. Creation-Heal and upgraded Aura-not sure on Haste. Some investment in Primal and Force Mage-remains to be seen how much.
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Post by boxofscreaming on Nov 26, 2017 8:18:49 GMT
Spirit Mastery is a must with that 10% critical chance, though I hate putting 7 points in spirit. I'd like to pick up Death Hex but it will mean picking up Sleep and Misdirection Hex for the 5 point prerequisite. I think the cost is too high-will just stick with upgraded Horror and Hex of Torment. Creation-Heal and upgraded Aura-not sure on Haste. Some investment in Primal and Force Mage-remains to be seen how much. Sounds close to what I did. Death Hex is tempting, but the amount of points needed in Entropy is off-putting. Entropy seems weaker overall in DA2 than in Origins (that Paralysis spell was amazing) although I did upgrade Horror. Never used it, but from what I've heard Death Syphon can destroy loot and even break some quests, which is kind of a negative with Spirit. From Creation, Heroic Aura (upgraded) is a must for me. The bonus to critical chance is especially nice for the rogues in the party. Haste is great if you're playing as a rogue or warrior, but it wears off in seconds for a mage with high Magic and since I often took Merrill along I felt I could get more benefit from investing the points elsewhere. I play on Hard, mind you. I've heard that on Nightmare your magic resistance doesn't reduce the duration of haste on you.
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Post by mike3207 on Dec 2, 2017 18:05:18 GMT
Does the spells screen properly reflect for all increases in damage? i had a helmet that increased the power of spells by 5% and it didnt seem to update on that screen, and i'm not sure about runes either.
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Post by boxofscreaming on Dec 2, 2017 19:51:53 GMT
Does the spells screen properly reflect for all increases in damage? i had a helmet that increased the power of spells by 5% and it didnt seem to update on that screen, and i'm not sure about runes either. I suspect it doesn't. Think it might just go off the damage rating from your magic stat and your staff damage.
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Post by ergates on Apr 16, 2018 10:41:24 GMT
I typically play mage Hawkes, but my philosophy in Dragon Age character builds has always been the same - work from the bottom up, first focus on the basics, essential passives, utility spells and other 'bread and butter' abilities, and one you have those fill the remainder out with the flashier stuff. Trying to get all the big 'whizzbang' abilties and spells before having the basics in place will ultimately create a poorly optimised character.
To that end the first spell I choose when getting my first level point is always Heal. I'm not going to be doing anything flashy with it, and I've got another entire level to go with nothing but a basic stave attack plus Mind Blast - but it's extremely useful to get early.
After that I start filling out the basics of the Primal tree with basic versions of Stonefist, Chain Lightning and Tempest (which I regard as mandatory for all builds). I'll then grab the upgrades for Chain Lightning and Tempest.
As soon as specialisations become available I'll go straight in to the Force Mage tree and grab Fist of The Maker, Telekinetic Burst, Pull of the Abyss and Gravitic Ring. This completes my 'core' Mage Hawk build Her role is mainly as an AOE damager, using Tempest and Gravitic Ring to do as much damage as possible to tightly-packed large groups of mooks in a short time. Single target DPS is taken care of by Isabella or occasionally Varric. Merril provides secondary AOE functionality, and will also carry all the sustained abilities that affect party members, given her huge carrying capacity when in Dalish Pariah mode.
After the core build's in place I'll start filling out for utility. I'm going to need the two damage mitigation abilities - Arcane Shield and Rock Armor, which I feel are necessary in DA:2. I'm also going to want to have Horror from the Entropy tree and Winter's Grasp from Elemental tree before facing the Arishok at the end of Act 2, plus Walking Bomb. Petrify and Galvanism completes the Primal tree. I don't bother with the Stone Fist or Rock armor upgrades.
After that it's mainly a case of filling out with anything that looks cool or useful. I'll grab Fireball and Firestorm for extra AOE mayhem. Crushing Prison can be useful, Dispel Magic can be handy too. There's no real right or wrong build once the basics are in place.
For attributes, I generally build toward having 20 constitution, any more than that is a waste, and even that's a lot more than I put into my Origins mages, but (in my opinion) the nature of DA:2 calls for increased survivability. I tend to keep Magic and Willpower fairly level to begin with. I like a nice big mana pool. I'm not one of those people who make glass canon Mages who rely on endless potion chugging. As I level and as I consume various Potions of Elemental Technique and other such devices I gradually allow my Magic attribute to outstrip Willpower. Around 30 points in Willpower is generally enough to keep Hawke comfortable through even the longest fights, after that the whole lot just goes into Magic, and leveling just means dumping three points straight into Magic.
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Post by talyn82 on Apr 16, 2018 15:34:14 GMT
Well I only played the game once for the first time last year. And she was a warrior cause I did not want to lose Bethany. I don't remember the specific's but I chose the skills and abilities that benefit two handers. This time around after I finish Awakening, I will play male mage. I have looked online for mage builds and found a few that look pretty interesting. I always have trouble figuring out which spells to invest it even if I read the description.
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Post by ergates on Apr 16, 2018 18:54:16 GMT
Primal, Primal, Primal all the way - that's my advice Nothing like watching hordes of minion-level mooks melt under a barrage of crackling lightning. Also gives you the biggest bang for your buck at low level, given that Elemental spells require a far higher investment of magic to be truly effective, and Tempest remains the most versatile and powerful AOE damage spell in the game, and is available super early. Team this up with Force Mage and you've got a character that can literally round up huge numbers of enemies into a ball, and then pound the living crap out of them before they can even react.
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