Favorite Class Builds, Anyone?

[PhoenixAdamu]

Note that the spells i mentioned are "generic good mage spells", it is unlikely for a build, much less an aw build, to take them all. Telekinetic is good against zombies and bosses and golems, but flame & frost tend to do a better job on your average white/yellow mobs. You can only have 1 xx weapons active per character, but you can stack them from different mages. Note also that most/all of the spells listed can be outsourced to another mage in the party (in particular the flame/frost lines, since they are on rather short cooldowns and also require you to sheathe).

 

Ah, I see. I didn't know there could only be one "enhance weapon" spell active at a time, since I don't think there was any disclaimer for that in any of the descriptions (I really didn't read them much, though ^^; ), but I figured that if I was going for Crushing Prison, TKW was something to utilize. I'm not sure if it really adds much damage, but I'll work through some stuff and work on getting Flaming Weapons and Fireball, for sure, after learning Miasma. BTW, major kudos for everything taught, TG. I'm sure this will help present some standard builds that others can refer to if they're having trouble dealing major damage in the game, which was what I was hoping for with this thread. :)

[PhoenixAdamu]

Note that the spells i mentioned are "generic good mage spells", it is unlikely for a build, much less an aw build, to take them all. Telekinetic is good against zombies and bosses and golems, but flame & frost tend to do a better job on your average white/yellow mobs. You can only have 1 xx weapons active per character, but you can stack them from different mages. Note also that most/all of the spells listed can be outsourced to another mage in the party (in particular the flame/frost lines, since they are on rather short cooldowns and also require you to sheathe).

 

Ah, I see. I didn't know there could only be one "enhance weapon" spell active at a time, since I don't think there was any disclaimer for that in any of the descriptions (I really didn't read them much, though ^^; ), but I figured that if I was going for Crushing Prison, TKW was something to utilize. I'm not sure if it really adds much damage, but I'll work through some stuff and work on getting Flaming Weapons and Fireball, for sure, after learning Miasma. BTW, major kudos for everything taught, TG. I'm sure this will help present some standard builds that others can refer to if they're having trouble dealing major damage in the game, which was what I was hoping for with this thread. :)

 

With the above post said... I feel like I made a mistake in taking the Heroic Chain, so I'm going to go ahead and reroll. I'll leave the Heroic Chain to Wynne, as I'm sure she'll be useful in the early stages of the game, and I'll restart the way I need to by grabbing Rock Armor and Miasma early. With that said, I've also figured out that I really do want to go with the Blood Mage specialization to be the offensive powerhouse I want to be, and so here's how I'm thinking about doing things now:

 

AW/BM Offensive Spec Shell

 

Arcane Warrior

Combat Magic -> Aura of Might -> Shimmering Shield -> Fade Shroud

 

Blood Mage

Blood Magic -> Blood Sacrifice -> Blood Wound

 

Mage

Arcane Bolt -> Arcane Shield

 

Primal

Cone of Flame -> Flaming Weapons

Rock Armor

 

Creation

Heal

 

Spirit

Walking Bomb -> Death Syphon -> Virulent Walking Bomb -> Animate Dead

Mind Blast -> Force Field -> Telekinetic Weapons -> Crushing Prison

 

Entropy

Weakness -> Paralyze -> Miasma

 

Skills

(optional: Coercion up to whatever rank can be achieved)

Herbalism (playing an Elf, remember?)

Poison-Making to Rank IV

Combat Training to Rank IV

Combat Tactics (waste for a mage, but...)

 

This build, from a FAQ I read on GameFAQs on Arcane Warriors (which, BTW, uses the exact shell we came up with in this thread), allows for a lot of customization between party, offense, taking that massive armor that we so love, and doing everything else. The author described the AW as a utility mage, and that does seem to shine, but is actually really powerful. For now, I haven't taken consideration to Fireball yet, as from the looks of things, we should have everything we need in this build. One thing to note: I've figured out that Death Syphon is not really akin to the AW, as once they put on their sustainables, they're left with only a puddle of mana to work with. So while it had to be taken for VWB and Animate Dead (not only will this be used with the BM, but I plan on taking a rogue, probably Leliana, and making them a Ranger, for more bodies to leech health off of), it will not be utilized to the extent that I have been putting it at thus far. Also, I plan on allocating my stats a lot better than I had before, instead making sure I bolster my Magic and Willpower until about level 10 or so; then, I'll be boosting my Constitution with Magic (we ARE playing with the Blood Mage spec, right?).

 

So how to play this build? Well, I've learned that what you want to do is first cast the spells you want to cast (Mind Blast, VWB, Crushing Prison) to get your mana out before you start swinging, then throw on the sustainables and start going at it. With the BM spec, though, you can still cast after going into Blood Magic mode, thus giving you more offensive/CC options. With that said, I'm still going to utilize Telekinetic Weapons, but only on certain battles as suggested; the rest of the time, I definitely want to have Flaming Weapons. As far as my weapon set goes, since I'm definitely going to be going with Alistair as a tank, Leliana as DPS/Support and Wynne for heals when I need her, I'll most likely head off with dual weapons, making sure to get some nice stuff. The FAQ said sword and board might be better, but I'm not a Spirit Healer; I'm out to do DAMAGE. ;)

 

As far as skills go, Combat Training's definitely one to max out; having very little chance to be interrupted while casting a spell is nice, and Imp. Combat Training provides a bit of mana regen. Plus, highest-tier weapons! That, I can live with. Other than that, the other skill to max out would definitely be Poison-Making, as the poisons can throw down even more numbers in your favor. Other than that, Herbalism and Combat Tactics are already given at the start (such a waste, really...), and I don't know if I'll have extra points for Coercion... guess we'll have to see.

 

So that's how I'm looking at the Arcane Warrior now. Once I get farther on my rogue and warrior, I'll provide builds for those that I've taken thus far. Thanks again, TG; the advice has been ever so helpful. Kudos definitely earned. :)

[PhoenixAdamu]

Here's a little bumpity-BUMP to bring this to others' attention. Also, I've decided to update the current AW/BM shell come up with so far. So here we go:

 

Arcane Warrior/Blood Mage Shell

 

Arcane Warrior

Combat Magic -> Aura of Might -> Shimmering Shield -> Fade Shroud

 

Blood Mage

Blood Magic -> Blood Sacrifice -> Blood Wound

 

Mage

Arcane Bolt -> Arcane Shield

 

Primal

Flame Blast -> Flaming Weapons

Rock Armor

 

Spirit

Walking Bomb -> Death Syphon -> Virulent Walking Bomb -> Animate Dead

Mind Blast -> Force Field -> Telekinetic Weapons -> Crushing Prison

 

Entropy

Weakness -> Paralyze -> Miasma

 

Skills (under construction)

Coercion

Poison-Making

Herbalism

Combat Training -> Improved Combat Training

Combat Tactics

 

Stat Focus: Magic (HUGE), Willpower (until level 10), Constitution (after level 10, especially once you've reached level 14 and with the Warden Commander armor set)

 

So while it pretty much looks the same as before, I've wanted to clarify a few things before we get all worked up about certain spells working out and what-not. To me, Virulent Walking Bomb is one of the best "AoE" spells in the game; being able to smack on a mob to make it blow up, damage others, and infect them with the same virus to do it all over again is pretty huge. Also, with this shell, I've forgone Heal, as I've found it to be severely unnecessary with Wynne as the main healer (especially if you raise her approval to max and have her utilize Vessel of the Spirit in battle). However, those who like to have some extra flexibility with their AW may take it indeed; there's nothing stopping you. The build does pretty much line you up to be a house of offense and CC, however, and I would think that looking up spell combos that work with this line of duty will definitely do the trick. As for which spell combos to work with, I'm doing research on that; I'll provide certain builds of certain utility combos.

 

 

So what of my other characters? Well, I still haven't gotten Zevran to open up about teaching a party member to be an assassin, but once I do, I'll definitely work on getting my female human rogue's Song of Death (Assassin/Bard) build up for all to see, based on TG's information. Wish me luck!

[PhoenixAdamu]

Okay, so in addition to already having Force Field and Crushing Prison, thereby allowing one to achieve the Shockwave spell combo, I've look and it seems that taking Spell Might is not bad to achieve the Advanced Reanimation spell combo, thereby giving you a far more viable skeleton that you can still Blood Sac for health when need be. As far as other spell combos, the other one that seems pretty viable is Paralysis Explosion (Glyph of Paralysis + Glyph of Repulsion), so I may try to spec into that, too. I'll have to see what extra spell slots I can muster up via Tomes of Arcane Skill to make it all happen, as Spell Might is a tier 3 spell within the Mana Clash chain in the Spirit school. But if it can be done, here's how I'd look at it:

 

Arcane Warrior/Blood Mage Triple Spell Combo Build

 

Arcane Warrior

Combat Magic -> Aura of Might -> Shimmering Shield -> Fade Shroud

 

Blood Mage

Blood Magic -> Blood Sacrifice -> Blood Wound

 

Mage

Arcane Bolt -> Arcane Shield

 

Primal

Flame Blast -> Flaming Weapons

Rock Armor

 

Creation

Glyph of Paralysis -> Glyph of Warding -> Glyph of Repulsion

 

Spirit

Drain Mana -> Mana Cleanse -> Spell Might

Walking Bomb -> Death Syphon -> Virulent Walking Bomb -> Animate Dead

Mind Blast -> Force Field -> Telekinetic Weapons -> Crushing Prison

 

Entropy

Weakness -> Paralyze -> Miasma

 

Power of Blood (optional, must have Warden's Keep DLC)

Dark Sustenance -> Bloody Grasp

 

Skills (Note: Bold skills are ones you start off with)

Herbalism

Combat Tactics

Coercion -> Improved Coercion -> Expert Coercion

Survival -> Improved Survival (Imp. needed for Elora's Halla at the Dalish Camp)

Poison-Making (just take one point and let Zevran do the rest ;) )

Combat Training -> Improved Combat Training (only need two ranks for mana regen; spell interruption with AW is really not an issue)

 

Stat Focus: Magic (always always ALWAYS!), Willpower (levels 1-10, maybe sprinkle a point here and there after)/Constitution (10+, especially once you gain the Blood Mage spec), 20 Cunning (just a personal preference)

 

Hey, I just realized that that's 29 spell points up there (not counting the Power of Blood spells), and that's as many as you get without Tomes (One for each level * 25 levels + 4 story-granted spell points = 29, and the above build is 29 exactly)! So those extra Tomes can be used to grab whatever you think would be fun. I feel Spell Might will work awesome, if you can keep building Willpower along with Constitution and Magic with AW/BM builds, and having more spell combos to work with will help fill the codex out, as well as give you some cool stuff to work with. I dunno, but an exploding wave of paralysis on enemies sounds like a fun AoE effect to use, since you're already given Blood Wound and Mind Blast to work off of, as well. Shockwave... well, it's not as good as it could be, I'm afraid, but with the build given, it's... there. However, I feel the most abused combo will be the Advanced Reanimation; having a minion slugging away alongside you is never bad, especially when it's got a nice skill set from Spell Might's effect, and it gives you that outlet for Blood Sacrifice. Very nice.

 

As far as skill set goes, the one I have listed above is mainly to allow for a greater range of dialogue options for certain quests, while also giving the AW/BM what is needed for the most part. I am aware that the Survival chain is pretty much disastrous, but only take up to Improved if you want to complete the quest listed in parentheses at the Dalish Camp (it nets a nice 200 XP). Other than that, Improved Combat Training is a must to keep the mana up if you have to go out of Blood Magic, Poison-Making allows you to use the powerful poisons that Zevran is very capable of concocting and Expert Coercion will allow you to be very persuasive... intimidating, I'm not sure (to the best of my knowledge, Combat Magic doesn't allow you to sub Magic for Strength in Intimidate dialogue), but if you can at least bump your Cunning to 14 to get it, and add on just a tad more to help, it should prove useful.

[PhoenixAdamu]

Good news: I can now provide the Song of Death rogue build for everyone! :D Obviously, as you can tell, it's the Assassin/Bard combo that was originally planned on, and to me, it just seems like the absolute most awesome way to go for an Assassin build. So, here's the build of it!

 

Song of Death: Assassin/Bard Rogue Shell

 

Assassin

Mark of Death -> Exploit Weakness

 

Bard

Song of Valor -> Distraction -> Song of Courage

 

Rogue

Dirty Fighting -> Combat Movement -> Coup de Grace

Below the Belt -> Deadly Strike -> Lethality

Deft Hands (I'd take this right at the beginning of the game if you're a Human or Dwarf Noble; I can't say for the other origins, however)

Stealth -> Stealthy Item Use -> Combat Stealth -> Master Stealth

 

Dual Weapon

Dual-Weapon Training -> Dual-Weapon Finesse

Dual-Weapon Sweep -> Flurry -> Momentum

 

Skills (second starting skill varies with origin)

Poison-Making -> Improved Poison-Making -> Expert Poison-Making

Coercion -> Improved Coercion -> Expert Coercion -> Master Coercion

Survival -> Improved Survival

Trap-Making (take before Lothering to accept the quest given by Allison)

Combat Training -> Improved Combat Training -> Expert Combat Training -> Master Combat Training

 

Stat Focus: Strength (up to 20 for Tier 7 light armor), Dexterity (spike to 24 towards the beginning, then at least 1 point every level), Cunning (absolute MUST with Lethality)

 

So this is the base build for the Assassin/Bard that I've come up with, based on what TG mentioned. From here, the talent block is still pretty flexible, as you still have a good many points to allocate, not including Tomes of Physical Ability. From my experience with WoW, however, I've always thought bleed effects were pretty good to have, so you may want to extend your Assassin school to Lacerate (and even Feast of the Fallen, for that matter) and your Dual-Weapon Training chain to Dual-Weapon Expertise. Of course, as discussed before, you won't want to go with any melee weapons except daggers, which is why Dexterity and Cunning are so crucial in this build. If you can't find armor that allows for extra stamina/stamina regen, maybe a couple points into Willpower here and there will help. As discussed, as well, Momentum, from my testing, has been HUGE; being able to quickly pull off backstab after backstab in rapid fashion is absolutely brutal. I like it. :) If you find that you have all your necessary Rogue talents taken, then perhaps taking the extra talents in the Deft Hands chain isn't a bad idea, as extra XP and free loot is never, EVER bad. If you feel like you want another stun, however, go for Riposte for sure.

 

The skill set up above is working with the fact that rogues gain a skill point at level 2 and every 2 levels after that, as opposed to other classes gaining theirs at level 3 and every 3 levels after; essentially, this means rogues get more skill points to work with, but that doesn't mean you can't spend them frivolously. With my experience as a Human Noble rogue, due to starting off with Combat Training and Poison-Making, you might want to have Coercion ready from the get-go for easier dialogue maneuvering, then take Trap-Making sometime during Ostagar to ensure you can take all 3 "profession" skill quests in Lothering; then, while you're off amassing your army against the Darkspawn, get 2 points into the Survival chain before you reach the Dalish Camp to take Elora's Halla. This will definitely alter between origins (and be a bit harder to achieve with the Dwarf Commoner, as they start off with Stealing), so don't take these words to mean for all races. Now, if you happen to find a Tome of Skill and Sundry, you may want to take the other two points in the Trap-Making chain to be able to detect traps from a longer range (in fact, that's the only reason why I would take Trap-Making at all), but if not, Improved Poison-Making is never bad if you need to condense your inventory a bit while giving you some poisons to work with. However, maxing out Poison-Making is not necessary, as you'll get Zevran in your party pretty early on in the game, so leave him to create the really powerful stuff.

 

All in all, this feels like a very high-damage, party-friendly build to work with, and decapitating opponents has never looked sweeter than with the animations given in Dragon Age. My closing comment: Make sure to look for gear with Dex, Cunning, +damage, +attack, +crit/backstab damage, and +stamina/stamina regen; great daggers for the end-game are the Rose's Thorn, the Dead Thaig Shanker, Duncan's Dagger (requires the Return to Ostagar DLC) and The Edge (if you were able to obtain The Edge DLC). Toward the beginning of the game, the Enchanted Dagger and the weakest form of the Thorn of the Dead Gods you can obtain from Barlin in Lothering are not bad at all. Enjoy!

[givemodz]

@Phoenix

 

Why skip Blood Control? One of the best spells in the entire game. I'd drop flaming weapons since you already telekinetic weaps. Just my imo. :)

[PhoenixAdamu]

@Phoenix

 

Why skip Blood Control? One of the best spells in the entire game. I'd drop flaming weapons since you already telekinetic weaps. Just my imo. :)

 

To the best of my knowledge, Blood Control's gonna be wasted health, as I'd rather put someone I take control of to good use before they die. Besides, with this build I have up right now, I'm doing so much damage that mobs don't last long, especially when put under the effect of Blood Wound and there's a Virulent Walking Bomb waiting to go off (seriously OP stuff, if you ask me). Also note here that you'll have companions to leech life off of via Animate Dead (and possibly even speccing Leliana into an Archery Bard/Ranger build). Plus, Flaming Weapons should NEVER be overlooked in the beginning of the game; not only does it give you Flame Blast that you can use while you're still playing normal mage mode until you unlock the Arcane Warrior specialization, but the fire damage that FW adds on can be substantial. I'm not bashing on TKW; it's also a very handy weapon enhancement sustain. However, there are some mobs that just take more damage from Flaming Weapons, and so I put it to use. I'd have to say that the main thing to keep in mind as an Arcane Warrior is that you provide utility to the battle before you start dishing, and trust me, if you keep focusing on your Magic stat, you can REALLY dish.

 

Also, with the now-permanent release of Return to Ostagar, I think I'd like to make a quick notion that, indeed, Maric's Blade is VERY nice to have against darkspawn mobs, and thus should perhaps be considered to wield in the Final Battle sequence. I wasn't too impressed by the Cailan's Armor Set as a DPS suit, but as a tanking suit, it's definitely not bad; however, the shield is definitely subpar if you've gotten something else that can stand up to it by the point you undertake the DLC quest. Duncan's Sword is overshadowed by Maric's Blade, IMO, but the dagger is definitely something to think about keeping. Whether you can upgrade any gear you obtain in the Return to Ostagar DLC like you could upgrade the Warden's Commander Armor Set by taking it to Mikhail Dryden at Soldier's Peak is a mystery, but I'll experiment once I have more gold to do so; after all, nothing beats dragonbone massive armor on your tank. :)

 

For now, though, since I haven't been really seeing a lot of darkspawn as of late, I've been toting around Spellweaver and a grey iron Thorn of the Dead Gods as my weaponry, and it's been working pretty well thus far. However, I shall exploit some Potent Lyrium Potions in the near future and work my way to some epic gear (such as the Veshialle and Chasind Great Maul for Sten), and I'll probably be looking to perhaps increase my dexterity a bit to use some of the higher-up and powerful daggers... we'll have to see in the near future yet. On the note of daggers, I haven't worked out much on my warrior yet, but I should be working on that part pretty soon, once I get Ohgren into my Arcane Warrior's party, get him drunk and leech the Berserker spec off him. XD

[hermy12]

Arcane Warrior with as many sustainables as possible was a fave for me, although boring to be, I was indestructible. Relatively high willpower and mana regen to have Shimmering Shield up at all times and just enough magic to equip Juggernaught set. That's all I remember.

 

Cunning rogue was fun. Super high damage and ripped anything apart. And the persuasion speech options are always fun for me.

[Riddleofsteel]

I'm going to try that Song of Death build when I start over.

[PhoenixAdamu]

I'm going to try that Song of Death build when I start over.

I'm glad that it's piqued your interest, Riddle, and from what I hear about Cun rogues, it seems like it should be pretty devastating. I've actually worked on my rogue a bit more, especially since I've gotten more DLC content from the Dragon Age Wiki manual download page (the only thing I've seen that doesn't show up after you install the DLC with DAUpdater is the Blood Dragon Armor set... pity, but having the other content's pretty cool to have, either way). Seriously, the Lucky Stone, the Edge and the Wicked Oath on a Song of Death rogue = BRUTAL damage to enemy mobs. I've already got enough Dex to equip the powerful silverite dagger, so it's been a major boon, and I've only gotten into the Fade portion of the Circle Tower! XD

 

Now, the thing about the Song of Death rogue is, while it could be classified as a Cunning rogue, I also do like to keep adding Dex to keep the damage scaling on the daggers at a premium. I'd have to say that, in the case of the new DLC you can get, Duncan's Dagger will be great against the two High Dragon fights (Cult Mountain and Flemeth), and can be a decent overall dagger to throw down with, especially with runes equipped; otherwise, I'd still shoot for the Rose's Thorn as your primary dagger. As far as gear goes, I was thinking Shadow of the Empire as a chest would be nice, but if there is some other piece of equipment you all prefer (I've seen people go after the Felon's Coat from Wade's Emporium), then by all means, go for it. I'll see what all works and give you a final rundown of gear to work with.

 

Also, I'll make an edit to the Song of Death build in the Skills section; I just read on the Bioware forums that, apparently, another tooltip doesn't work, like the Magic = Strength tooltip for Shapeshifter mages = epic fail. This time, it goes for the Improved Trap-Making and Master Trap-Making skills in that they don't increase the radius in which you can detect traps; it all depends on your (Cunning - 10) + (Deft Hands rank * 10) score. So perhaps it's better to go Master Poisoner after all, and let Zevran be a tad bit lazy, eh? :P

 

EDIT: I think I've got the best gear setup to work with here, so here goes!

 

Main-hand Dagger: The Rose's Thorn

Off-hand Dagger: The Edge/Duncan's Dagger/Dead Thaig Shanker

Head: Helm of Honnleath (the +2 to all attributes is just that good)

Hands: Red Jenny's Seekers

Body: The Felon's Coat

Feet: Silverhammer's Tackmasters (you can also wear the Cadash Stompers here, if you wish; keep in mind, though, that with the extra stat increases, you get increased hostility, which is BAD unless you have high Dex and are the Duelist spec)

Amulet: Nothing increases DPS here, but I'd look at something that grants +Willpower, +physical resistance, +mental resistance, etc.

Belt: Andruil's Blessing

Ring 1: Key to the City

Ring 2: Dusk Ring/The Lucky Stone/The Wicked Oath