Arcane Warrior?

[Teslyn]

Playing through this time with an arcane warrior and I'm trying to figure out what the big deal is?

 

Wow, my caster can wear plate (ok, so super stylish Ivory Tower plate by Morrowind), but still, just a caster in plate.

 

I do crap damage compared to using a staff when using any other weapons.

 

And the armor doesn't exactly make me live all that much longer.

 

So, what am I missing?

[Viperswhip]

Playing through this time with an arcane warrior and I'm trying to figure out what the big deal is?

 

Wow, my caster can wear plate (ok, so super stylish Ivory Tower plate by Morrowind), but still, just a caster in plate.

 

I do crap damage compared to using a staff when using any other weapons.

 

And the armor doesn't exactly make me live all that much longer.

 

So, what am I missing?

 

Well, it depends on your build, but really, it is about security. No other class can match your defense. More than that though, with proper energy management you can easily be doing the point blank AoE. My preference in the base game is really any plate that gives you a nice stamina boost/reduction. Really, I used Evon's with Wade's sup heavy, but you could swap into Cailan's or Warden Commander easily. You don't need the resistance from Wades as Shimmering Shield takes care of that for you. However, if you have another tank using massive armor he will draw aggro from you, which isn't good.

 

Miasma kicks the baddies hard in the butt. I like a high dex, I was at 35 in the base game and went to 50 in Awakening. My hit rate was close to 90, normally around 88, and high magic, don't need much else, 30 or so willpower.

 

Now, if you are just in there doing melee, ya, you are not doing the same damage as other classes, but frankly, you can stand in the midst of many enemies without any trouble. My favourite is dropping fireballs right on myself. That's nice because you can put Zev or whoever in Wades so they don't get injured by the fire. Ya, if you are just swinging then you are not going to kill quickly. If you are really just being the draw so the rest of your team can kill with very little danger then you are doing a good job as well, though it doesn't mean you can't do a lot of damage as well. Take note though, there are few things that seem to kick your ass. Archers using shattershot will hurt you, also a two hander using sunder armor...not much fun, kill them quickly.

 

Dispel magic or whatever, is quite dangerous, it will kill your shimmering shield. Watch for it. Anyway, I loved the class, more than my melee rogue, and far more sturdy. It's nice being the tank because...well, even with tactics, the AI is not great at prioritizing targets but recognizing when your mages need assistance. Warrior was boring to me, this was a fantastic alternative.

 

Awakening made you sick, especially if you rune up your gear...sick.

[rebalious]

Lets not forget the original unpatched one was nigh invulnerable. :wink:

[Mlai]

Even with the Combat Tweaks mod, taking Arcane Warrior made my vulnerable weak Wynne into Iron Maiden Granny. No longer a potion drainer; she just never got hurt anymore.

[givemodz]

It really becomes stupid powerfull when you combined it with blood magic. Using blood magic = less fatigue when casting. Which means you can pump your CON for all your spell use which makes you nigh unkillable. Just use your mana for sustatinables and melt faces.

[DarkeWolf]

this is like saying that a dual wielder isn't a fast killer. If you don't do it right, no... they're not as effective as if you do use them correctly. If you throw the right attribute balance into them, use their sustained abilities/spells correctly, gear them well, and use good combos, they turn into meat grinders.

 

another thing that can really help out, is high defense. defense lets you block, parry, and dodge melee attacks. I did a run against the Howe estate in Origins with some gear that really bumped up my defense, and both Howe, AND Cauthrien (both some nasty bosses) got Wiped because neither of them could hit me worth a darn.

EASY to survive a fight when you can't be hit, lol.

 

One thing to watch out for in Awakening tho, is that some of these guys have spells and abilities that mana drain. In the last area, both my mages (Anders and that ugly elf chick) were getting sucked DRY FAST by opposing mages (The Architect and Mother). One minute they'd have at least 3/4 mana, the next they were EMPTY.

[PhoenixAdamu]

As all of the others before me have said, Arcane Warrior mages are the absolute bomb in DA: O. I can't vouch for Awakening just yet, but I am looking at grabbing that very soon; however, my experience as an Arcane Warrior mage in DA: O has been absolutely phenominal. I ended up playing the wrong way the first time as well, and thought it was crap, but as soon as I started posting stuff on here and learned the right way, it was a piece of cake, and I've tinkered with supporting spells since, but the core of the AW is the same every time:

 

Arcane Warrior

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

 

Mage

Arcane Bolt -> Arcane Shield

 

Primal

Rock Armor

 

Spirit

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

 

Entropy

Weakness -> Paralyze -> Miasma

 

NOTE: The Telekinesis tree in the Spirit school, in my opinion, is staple for all mages to have, therefore it's considered a core requirement for AWs.

 

With this, Rock Armor and Shimmering Shield decrease the damage you take if you DO get hit, which is very unlikely with the other sustains and AW passive spells. Plus, with Aura of Might, some points in Combat Training skills and a main focus on your Magic attribute, your attack score should be pretty high up there, making sure that you do get nice hits in. Of course, when you're ready to go melee mode, ALWAYS MAKE SURE TO HAVE COMBAT MAGIC ACTIVE; without it active, your attack score won't totally reflect and your damage won't be as great. Follow this core, though, take the Blood Magic spec up to Blood Wound and throw in some other fun spells, like the Glyphs tree in the Creation school, the Death tree in the Spirit school, and the Cold tree in the Primal school, and you have a DPS/CC machine that can go for a long, long time. You can even grab some fun spell combos to use with your AW, if you're into that kind of thing; Paralysis Explosion offers a widespread Paralysis AoE, which definitely helps, and you can also go on a Shattering frenzy with Cone of Cold and (if you can pump it up that much) a melee crit or just cast Crushing Prison. Fun stuff, indeed.