Dragon Age Orgins Mage Specialization

[DanielPowell33]

I'm about to unlock my first specialization for my mage.

I can pick Shapeshifter, Spirit Healer, Arcane Warrior, or Blood Mage.

So, witch one should I pick.
Is one better that the others? Is one complete shit that should be avoided?

Blood Mage seems the coolest and most powerful, but it would also be useful to use melee weapons as an Arcane Warrior.

Those are really the two I'm torn between, but let me know what yall think.

 

[RobotNinja]

Blood Mage is kinda lame actually. Spirit Healer is incredibly useful though. You can revive dead teammates.

 

[APPCRASH]

Go with Spirit Healer. Most of your damage should come from melee, and there are plenty of good fighters to choose from. The arcane warrior thing was ok for some of the passives, but you really don't want to be squishy and in the midst of the battle when shit goes down. By being a healer in the party, you don't need Morigan or the old bag, so you can have more choppas in your party.

 

[rockingnic]

Spirit Healer IS A MUST! then the second can be anything but the ability of more healing spells and revival is crucial.

 

[Booze Zombie]

I actually like using blood mage, myself.

 

[DanielPowell33]

Spirit Healer IS A MUST! then the second can be anything but the ability of more healing spells and revival is crucial.

So you can pick a second one later. I'll go with Arcane Warrior then, guess I'll wait till later to satisfy my craving for power!!

 

[RobotNinja]

Spirit Healer IS A MUST! then the second can be anything but the ability of more healing spells and revival is crucial.

Healers are necessary. When I started playing the game my whole party was 3 warriors and a rogue and I died constantly. As soon I put a healer into my party I was winning more battles, plus the healer can also add offensive and support spells.

 

[Sparecash]

There is a big thing on the forums about Arcane Warrior being bugged so that its almost impossible to die (i didnt read the article, but there were like 15 other articles like it) and you might come across that bug which might ruin the game for you depending on how you feel about that sort of thing.

 

[Souplex]

Whatever you pick, don't pick shapeshifter. It is completely useless.
Arcane warrior is if you feel like going after certain builds.

 

[Fightgarr]

Whatever you pick, don't pick shapeshifter. It is completely useless.
Arcane warrior is if you feel like going after certain builds.

I've always been a fan of shifter classes (though I admit most of my experience with them comes from Neverwinter Nights where I had a good deal of fun with them online) so could you explain to me what is so bad about them. I bought this game recently and Shapeshifter was actually what I was hoping to go for. What's so bad about them?

 

[Shoggoth2588]

shape-shifter: I believe you can become a bear which is pretty bad ass

 

[clairedelune]

Shapeshifter just doesn't have the damage output you need. I went Spirit Healer and then put points towards getting a ton of AOE spells for crowd control, it was a good route.

 

[Souplex]

Whatever you pick, don't pick shapeshifter. It is completely useless.
Arcane warrior is if you feel like going after certain builds.

I've always been a fan of shifter classes (though I admit most of my experience with them comes from Neverwinter Nights where I had a good deal of fun with them online) so could you explain to me what is so bad about them. I bought this game recently and Shapeshifter was actually what I was hoping to go for. What's so bad about them?

A shapeshifter is either an animal or a mage, not both at once. As a mage, it is down a specialization, as an animal it lacks the abilities of dedicated classes. Shapeshifting also takes too long to cast for it to be effective mid combat.
Also, I don't think arcane warrior and blood mage work in conjunction, but I could be wrong.

 

[Klepa]

If you're playing on a PC, you can get a small mod that makes shapeshifting instant.

I'd say go with spirit healer. The group heal is without a question my most used spell. If you're going shapeshifter, you're likely to want a second mage in your party, especially if you're playing on hard/nightmare.

 

[Fightgarr]

A shapeshifter is either an animal or a mage, not both at once. As a mage, it is down a specialization, as an animal it lacks the abilities of dedicated classes. Shapeshifting also takes too long to cast for it to be effective mid combat.

Can you buff yourself and then shapeshift having the buffs carry over? That's what you had to do in NWN and it was rather effective and fun to play as.

 

[Chicago Ted]

Arcane Warrior is benificial for me in the sense of letting me wear good armours. Try Spirit Healer. I'm going to be taking that after so I can revive team mates since Wynne runs out of her magic at an unbelievable rate for me.

 

[Souplex]

A shapeshifter is either an animal or a mage, not both at once. As a mage, it is down a specialization, as an animal it lacks the abilities of dedicated classes. Shapeshifting also takes too long to cast for it to be effective mid combat.

Can you buff yourself and then shapeshift having the buffs carry over? That's what you had to do in NWN and it was rather effective and fun to play as.

Most all of the buffs in DA:O are sustainables, and you don't have access to your spells while shapeshifted.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

I actually like using blood mage, myself.

Speaking of which, what are some perks of being a Blood Mage? I had developed an interest during the beginning when your friend does that cool thing to escape using blood magic, but I don't actually know what it does.

 

[Fightgarr]

Most all of the buffs in DA:O are sustainables, and you don't have access to your spells while shapeshifted.

You usually can't with shifting classes. Ah well. I'll probably look for something else to try out, but I think I may do a shifter on my second run-through or something, just to see how it is.

 

[Exocet]

I found blood magician to be the most fun.You just have to be really,really careful with those AOE and party members getting hurt in the process.
Plus,the ability to use HP to use spells while you recover mana through spells is nothing short of godlike.No more mage running around looking stupid and using his staff because he has no more mana and used up all the mana potions.