Thoughts on adding to attributes

[Crenshinibon]

I don't think you need to raise it. I haven't touched my Willpower at all, and right now, at level fourteen, buffed by items alone, I have a bit over three hundred, which is more than enough to last me for a battle (and that's with sustaining almost a hundred mana worth of spells).

EDIT:

Spoiler:

Spoiler

Like Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age: Origins has a few events where you can raise your stats, which matters a lot. Through this even, I got enough Cunning points to take the third level of Coercion, so you may want to keep in mind the significance of these increases.

[Tenser]

I didnt get the game until yesterday and started two Origins, without finishing either one yet.

The levelup is very easy so far: MAG for the Elf Mage, STR for the Dwarf Tank.

The Mage will get WIL and then a bit CON later too, as well as +1 CUN for CUN 12 and more diplomatic abilites (2nd stage of the corresponding skill). Not going to waste more into that. I will focus into the combat skill afterwards. Planned Specializations: Spirit Healer, and then either Arcane Warrior or Blood Mage (not sure yet).

The Tank will get some Dex too, so I can skill all Weapon and Shield talents. Then I will try to balance WIL and CON in a way that I get a decent amount of fatigue and a decent amount of hitpoints. Specializations will be Templar for best magic defense and Reaver for best thread and some nice extras.

gotcha. I'm still trying to figure out how to pick my specialty at level 7. Says it's not "unlocked" yet. Like I need a trainer or something.

Yes you need to solve quests etc to get access to certain specializations.

Let me add another question to that: some items add "spellpower +X" when equipped, but it's never clear what they affect. They don't actually seem to increase spellpower or any stat. What gives?

Spellpower increases the power of your spells just about as much as the magic stat would. Making the talents that give extra spellpower extremely useless on higher levels, because they contribute so little to the total damage.

Playing as a Rogue, I've been raising DEX and Cunning as needed for my Rogue/Dual wielding talents, and STR as well so I can wear armour. STR seems to be rather important, as it definitely governs how good your armour is.

I boosted CON a bit, but you can only raise so many stats.

You dont need much STR for the heaviest medium armor; I think its 22 or so. And you can get STR from items, too. Its much more important to raise DEX and CUN and get Lethality at the earliest level possible (I think that is level 8).

But if you hit Blood Mage as your second specialization [...]

You need to be level 12, 14 and 16 for the three higher BM abilities, so yeah, you will always have to wait quite a lot before BM mode is on.

For your lower specialization as a Mage, only Spirit Healer and Shapeshifter are a real option, because Blood Mage and Arcane Warrior wont kick in until later.

[Scottg]

On the subject of Spell Power and the attribute Magic:

Magic = Spellpower

So if an item has 2 Magic OR 2 Spellpower boost, the 2 Magic is preferable because Magic effects other things beyond Spellpower, like Mental Resistance & item usage (staff) which require a certain Magic value.

Spellpower's workings (for resistance) are presented here:

BioWare : Dragon Age : Spellpower and spell resistance

Specifically it effects Damage, Duration, and save like resistances for things like paralysis, domination, etc.. But it does NOT *directly* effect elemental resistances. (..of course if you are putting out more elemental damage with additional Spellpower then you are still damaging the opponent more regardless of elemental resistance unless they are 100% immune.)

Spell Resistance (like a dwarfs) appears to be an out-right chance of failure that cannot be compensated for (..BOO!).

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/dragonag ... pid=920668

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/s ... p=11981063



IMO unless you utilize multiple "always-on" spells and/or fire-off multiple different spells at one time, your Willpower's mana pool is FAR less important. (..though of course Willpower effects mental resistance, but so does Magic.) Presumably for Blood Magic, it uses Health instead of Mana (or perhaps in addition to Mana). Either way, Magic for a Mage is pretty much *it*.

Of the skills Combat Training is particularly important for what essentially is your concentration check, AND it effects your Mana/Stamina pool when under attack.

IMO (..at least early on), it's a no-brainer:

Totally Magic until at least achieving the 34 required for selecting higher level spells, BUT if so, then you need to look at what spells you are casting. IF they require a lot of Mana or place a large amount of "fatigue" (in the case of always on spells), then consider increasing Willpower.

At least the 1st skill point should be for Combat Training. (..particularly because it doesn't appear the your ability to persuade (via Coercion).. makes a big impact in the "Origin" creche stage for the Mage class, at least not that I could tell.)

[GawainBS]

To be nitpicking, Spellpower = MAG -10. But there's a positive linear relation between them indeed.

[Scottg]

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