What did you do today in Thedas?
Aug 28, 2018 22:30:36 GMT
Beefy Titans, Rouccoco, and 2 more like this
Post by natashina on Aug 28, 2018 22:30:36 GMT
Final post in a row. I wanted to share my mage spec for all you spell lovers out there. This has proven to be the most brutal and substantial dps I've run into thus far. Your Mileage May Vary of course, but it's been a blast. Er, no pun intended. I ran with Cass/Varric/Solas until Descent. Descent is the second-to-last thing that I do before I go kill Dr. Cory Evil and his pet dragon. I typically go to do JoH and the Well with Solas. Post-Well I run with Dorian instead.
The Amulet of Renewal is better than using an Amulet of Willpower for mana regen by far. I've tried with both but the Renewal necklace is a much better investment in the long run. For the Willpower/Magic boost, I typically just make a nice hood that either has a good mix of magic and willpower or just one with high willpower. That's all I've needed for Rya.
Lightning: Everything but Lighting Bolt (center spell.) I prefer to save my points for other things. Static Cage and Energy Barrage are key. With the Cage, use the ability that will paralyze any enemy that tries to leave the the AoE. This is nice for pesky things like rogues. If you're wondering if a rogue is about to back stab, use that ability around you. That will help flush them out.
Energy Barrage is also interesting in later levels. If you forge an item with Hidden Blades on hit, Energy Barrage will usually proc the ability. Combine that with a high crit build and things get very interesting. Paralyze or Shock + Weaken = sleep, by the way. I wish the game actually told you this, but there it is.
Spirit: I skip Mind Blast and Strength of Spirits. With this set up, I don't have to worry as much with mobs getting too close. This build has good crowd control. SoS is nice, but I didn't find it all that useful. I waited until about level 26 before grabbing Revive. I don't really need the spell until Descent.
Rift: Everything save the Meteor spell. Now while Pull of the Abyss is nice, I found it unnecessary. I've got the spell mapped at the moment, but it's something to bare in mind. If you want to save those two points for something else (like Fade Step,) then it isn't a huge deal to do so.
Inferno: I grabbed Wildfire, but I didn't button map it. It was a means to get to Clean Burn and Flashpoint. That seriously reduces the cooldown time for all of my spells.
For best results, team up with Solas. Make your favorite humble guest a Frost/Rift mage. Get used to the slow motion that is going to happen a lot. There is a ton of combos that happen between two Rift mages and with a focus belt, you'll be able to use Mark of the Rift (or any focus ability) a lot more often. Lightning is a better DPS spec than Frost, but I'd still recommend Frost for Solas.
Ice Mines add more crowd control as well as more AoE damage. Using Veilstrike to weaken, then Chain Lightning to further weaken the mobs. Then have Solas (or whoever) use Ice Mines. Proceed to use Shatterstone on them. The Static Cage will paralyze enemies for a decent length of time. This will allow your second mage to use more ice spells as well as give your tank time to pick the mobs up.
When you have to switch out Solas after the end of the game, get the mage on Frost if you're a Rift/Lightning mage. It's not as good as having two Rift mages in the party, but it still more than gets the job done. Pairing that with Walking Bomb is great for Dorian and Frost/KE is a great spec for Vivienne.
Finally, a few tips: Fade-Touched Onyx can potentially offer +2 Guard on Hit. You can find Onyx in the Hinterlands. If you decide to rush to Skyhold, try to farm up the FT Onyx before you go. I didn't know that until this session. It was quite the pleasant surprise.
There is two places to get +5 guard on hit in JoH. One of them is loot dropped from one of the southern river rifts. The other is a Fade-Touched Gurgut skin that comes from the Fade-Touched mob of the same name. The easiest way to find the Gurgut is to accept the Huntmaster quest in Stone-Bear Hold. One of the three mobs you have to kill will be the Gurgut and it's a 100% guaranteed drop.
Fade-Touched Paragon Lusters will give you a chance to get 3 seconds of Walking Fortress on hit. Also something I didn't know until this time. The ore is all over the Western Approach, but you can find some in the Flooded Caves by the lake in Crestwood.
Both Fade-Touched Dragonling Scales and Fade-Touched Bloodstone can potentially have Berserk on it. That's +10% damage output from the character but with a +100% damage increase from enemies. I did that on accident with Bull during my first run and he dies very very fast. My suggestion is to either sell or just delete the items that contain Berserk. They aren't worth much money in any case and they are just terrible ideas in general. Unless you're braver than I am. In which case, Godspeed to you.
The Amulet of Renewal is better than using an Amulet of Willpower for mana regen by far. I've tried with both but the Renewal necklace is a much better investment in the long run. For the Willpower/Magic boost, I typically just make a nice hood that either has a good mix of magic and willpower or just one with high willpower. That's all I've needed for Rya.
Lightning: Everything but Lighting Bolt (center spell.) I prefer to save my points for other things. Static Cage and Energy Barrage are key. With the Cage, use the ability that will paralyze any enemy that tries to leave the the AoE. This is nice for pesky things like rogues. If you're wondering if a rogue is about to back stab, use that ability around you. That will help flush them out.
Energy Barrage is also interesting in later levels. If you forge an item with Hidden Blades on hit, Energy Barrage will usually proc the ability. Combine that with a high crit build and things get very interesting. Paralyze or Shock + Weaken = sleep, by the way. I wish the game actually told you this, but there it is.
Spirit: I skip Mind Blast and Strength of Spirits. With this set up, I don't have to worry as much with mobs getting too close. This build has good crowd control. SoS is nice, but I didn't find it all that useful. I waited until about level 26 before grabbing Revive. I don't really need the spell until Descent.
Rift: Everything save the Meteor spell. Now while Pull of the Abyss is nice, I found it unnecessary. I've got the spell mapped at the moment, but it's something to bare in mind. If you want to save those two points for something else (like Fade Step,) then it isn't a huge deal to do so.
Inferno: I grabbed Wildfire, but I didn't button map it. It was a means to get to Clean Burn and Flashpoint. That seriously reduces the cooldown time for all of my spells.
For best results, team up with Solas. Make your favorite humble guest a Frost/Rift mage. Get used to the slow motion that is going to happen a lot. There is a ton of combos that happen between two Rift mages and with a focus belt, you'll be able to use Mark of the Rift (or any focus ability) a lot more often. Lightning is a better DPS spec than Frost, but I'd still recommend Frost for Solas.
Ice Mines add more crowd control as well as more AoE damage. Using Veilstrike to weaken, then Chain Lightning to further weaken the mobs. Then have Solas (or whoever) use Ice Mines. Proceed to use Shatterstone on them. The Static Cage will paralyze enemies for a decent length of time. This will allow your second mage to use more ice spells as well as give your tank time to pick the mobs up.
When you have to switch out Solas after the end of the game, get the mage on Frost if you're a Rift/Lightning mage. It's not as good as having two Rift mages in the party, but it still more than gets the job done. Pairing that with Walking Bomb is great for Dorian and Frost/KE is a great spec for Vivienne.
Finally, a few tips: Fade-Touched Onyx can potentially offer +2 Guard on Hit. You can find Onyx in the Hinterlands. If you decide to rush to Skyhold, try to farm up the FT Onyx before you go. I didn't know that until this session. It was quite the pleasant surprise.
There is two places to get +5 guard on hit in JoH. One of them is loot dropped from one of the southern river rifts. The other is a Fade-Touched Gurgut skin that comes from the Fade-Touched mob of the same name. The easiest way to find the Gurgut is to accept the Huntmaster quest in Stone-Bear Hold. One of the three mobs you have to kill will be the Gurgut and it's a 100% guaranteed drop.
Fade-Touched Paragon Lusters will give you a chance to get 3 seconds of Walking Fortress on hit. Also something I didn't know until this time. The ore is all over the Western Approach, but you can find some in the Flooded Caves by the lake in Crestwood.
Both Fade-Touched Dragonling Scales and Fade-Touched Bloodstone can potentially have Berserk on it. That's +10% damage output from the character but with a +100% damage increase from enemies. I did that on accident with Bull during my first run and he dies very very fast. My suggestion is to either sell or just delete the items that contain Berserk. They aren't worth much money in any case and they are just terrible ideas in general. Unless you're braver than I am. In which case, Godspeed to you.
I turned on helmets just to see Maxwell in it, love the look.
For now though I'm playing with Matthew Trev...
Brought Blackwall along, why you always lying?
Much love right back at ya!
