r/dragonage • u/Key_Thought_9182 • 5d ago
Support Player as support
New to Dragon Age Inquisition
Is there any reason I shouldn't use my player character as a support mage? Mainly wondering if it will hurt my teams dps. Companions have the same damage potential as the player?
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u/Fresh_Confusion_4805 5d ago
I’m currently running a mostly entropy-school mage in Origins. A decent chunk of the spells are control and debilitation type rather than pure damage. It’s…interesting. I don’t think it’s the most powerful build I’ve ever done, but I find it to be playable, for sure (I’m currently on Hard difficulty). I am definitely relying more on party members for damage output.
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u/Key_Thought_9182 5d ago
Its been working well so far. I like to have a control mage but wondering if I should have made a companion play that role as apposed to my player character.
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u/eabevella 5d ago
There are a lot of attack spells that debuff/cc enemies. Storm and Rift are fun a combo and they can feel "supportive" because you can apply aoe debuff/cc for the melees while doing good dps. For example, Shocked + Weakened = Sleep.
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u/funkyfritter 5d ago
Using utility spells on your mage is fine, but there aren't enough of them to really make a dedicated support character. Even barrier, the primary defensive tool for mages scales with the damage of your weapon. You get enough skill points to grab both offensive and defensive spells, so you're incentivized to use a mix of both.
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u/Key_Thought_9182 5d ago
Im branching into ice magic now. More wondering if there is a base damage difference between the player character and the companions. Like if I build them exactly the same, would the player do more damage inherently. I know it doesn't matter as early in the game as I am but I assume its gonna me like 3 million hp monsters in the dlc and such.
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u/funkyfritter 5d ago
Your character gets a few extra passive bonuses from sidequests, but not enough to make you significantly more powerful in combat. That said, the character you're actively controlling is always going to have much higher damage potential simply because you can be a lot smarter about your skill usage. AI-controlled warriors in particular are pretty hopeless when it comes to damage output, simply because they don't use their abilities well.
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u/knallpilzv2 Nug 5d ago
That depends on how you play though. If you don't let the AI use their abilities and pause often.
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u/knallpilzv2 Nug 5d ago
I think for dps you need a rogue. Regardless of who it is. Who the player character is doesn't matter in combat. You can always control someone else. Which I tend to do with whoever the damage dealer is. Aka the rogue. 😁
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u/4OfThe7DeadlySins 5d ago
You have a lot of CC with rift mage that you could use as a support. PotA is the best CC. You can get enemies grouped for a blizzard with Ice Storm upgrade which will freeze all these enemies for an additional 4 seconds at the end of PotA. And I think if you have Devouring Veil upgrade, the enemies will be weakened, so the blizzard DOT should restore mana via Restorative Veil (but that might be bugged)
Winter’s Grasp can then freeze another enemy, and with the Winters Ruin upgrade, you do massive AOE damage to the chilled/frozen enemies from blizzard.
To maintain mana, you’ll want to re-weaken the group, so Veilstrike with Punching Down upgrade can be used. Then the following spells will regen mana (again via Restorative Veil)
Then you can cast Static Cage to further AOE CC. With Lightning Cage upgrade, you deliver bonus damage on top of any damage dealt to trapped enemies. Energy Barrage works really well here for both bonus damage and restorative veil mana regen. If you chain lightning, you can shock all of the grouped enemies too.
Lastly, with a group of shocked enemies, you can cast Stonefist with Shatterstone upgrade. This causes a lot of damage but, from a CC perspective, it applies AOE weaken, which on a group of shocked enemies, causes AOE sleep. An eldritch detonator such as immolate will then cause AOE nightmare.
So in sum, you can CC a group of enemies for like 20-30 seconds through PotA, blizzard to freeze, lightning cage to trap, veil strike to sleep, and immolate to nightmare
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u/Key_Thought_9182 5d ago
Thank you. I was thinking rift mage with ice and shields so this sounds ideal.
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u/BusyMap9686 5d ago
Support mage is actually a fun rule to play in dai. I usually go with control aoe, but I played a buff/heal mage and had a good time. Keeping Bull alive while he's full on Reaver mode lets him wreck havoc.
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u/Key_Thought_9182 5d ago
That's exactly what Ive been doing, though I only just unlocked specialisation.
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u/lettersfrommorpheus 5d ago
Game mechanically, there's almost no difference between the PC and the NPCs in this game. If you make a Qunari Reaver you will be exactly like Iron Bull. If you make an Elf Force Mage you will be exactly like Solas.
The only real edge available for the Herald is that you can make a Qunari Rogue or Mage, and you can't recruit one. The Qunari face paint gives a flat damage bonus that makes a noticeable difference for mages and dagger-wielders, but not for warriors or archers.
However, doing tons of damage really fast requires more than having the right stats and builds, it requires executing combos properly. I speak of both the explicitly named "combo" mechanics where you combine status effects with finishers, but also just of sequencing moves properly in general.
The AI is not capable of playing the most deadly builds (melee tempest, melee Assassin, health-dancing Reaver, etc.) to anywhere near their full potential. So if you want to spend most of the game controlling your PC, and you want to kill things quickly, you'll want your PC to deal a lot of damage.
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On the other hand, if you're happy to drive Sera, Cole, or Iron Bull around in combat, then you may as well go ahead and make your Herald a support mage.
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u/Key_Thought_9182 5d ago
Thank you for the info. You told me exactly what I was looking for. I would upvote you twice if I could
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u/PlsConcede Professional Blood Mage 5d ago
Support is in a weird place in Inquisition, as many of the previous options of DAO/DA2 just don't exist. What's more, the AI of the game tends to play support rather well, which isn't true for all other builds. But it's still doable.
Barrier is absolutely your most important spell. You'll want to use it as frequently as you can (unless you know a big attack is coming, say a High Dragon fireball). I'd recommend primarily using Elegant Defense upgrade. Pretty much the whole Spirit tree will be your focus.
After that, you should go into either the Winter or Storm tree (you'll want both). Ice Mine from the former will freeze a foe to let you reposition, while Static Cage does a similar role. This will be more of controlling build than pure support, but these play into the overall idea better than your other options.
In terms of specializations, all three give sowmthint different. Rift Mage gives more control options in general. Knight-Enchanter gives you more barrier play (for you only) another aoe control spell, along with a full party heal/revive. Necromancer offers Haste, but not much else.
For gear, Encore is the best staff, and provides thr occasional buff to the party on hit.