Arcane Warrior and Shapeshifter

[Dr. G]

Does anyone actually use the talents in these mage specializations? I decided to experiment with Arcane Warrior, just because I think the concept is cool (why wouldn't mages use magic to boost physical abilities?).

The best way I have determined to use the Arcane Warrior spells and tactics are to outfit my main character (a mage, obviously) with standard mage gear, except for in the secondary weapon loadout I have a sword/shield. I usually have a party consisting of Morrigan (specialized with spirit healer), Sten or Alistair, and Lelliana or Shale (really the only reason I ever bring Lelliana is to open locked contatiners).

I usually use my character as a damage dealing/crowd-controlling mage (crushing prison, force field, mass paralysis, etc.), Morrigan as a healer and secondary damage dealer, and everyone else as you would expect. But, once my character runs out of mana, instead of guzzling lyrium potions, I have him switch on Miasma (to weaken nearby enemies) and Combat Magic and charge into the fray. This has actually seemed to work pretty well, as the enemies are usually in disarray due to all of the disrupting spells, and the large spellpower my character has makes him do really good damage with his sword, plus he has really high defense and is hard to hit with Combat Magic(plus Miasma hurts enemy attack). Plus, if I need to I can always pull him back out to standard mage duty once his major crowd control spells have cooled down.

This way, my main character can quickly jump between ranged, magic damage dealing, and up-close damage-dealing/tanking. Anyone have any thoughts to improve the process? I have tried a similar tactic with Shapeshifting, but transforming takes so long and limits your abilities so much that it rarely seems like a good option in the middle of a battle.

[RaxXeZ]

The optimal way to play Arcane Warrior is to use all your mana to have sustainables like arcane shield up and 10+ manregen to hold up shimmering shield 24/7. Then you use blood mage to cast your spells, as you wont take any damage anyway. If you have any more question about Arcane Warrior or Dragon Age so feel free to ask. I'm know pretty much everthing about this game :P

[Onion]

ugh.. nothing new here.. best way to play AW is to use sustainables as was said.. miasma.. shield.. stone armor.. etc etc.. and.. its very boring after while sadly