Blood Necromancer Build - Dragon Age: Origins (DAO)

Blood Necromancer Build

So the build is here for those who are looking to use Entropy and Spirit Magic. In my opinion, it is not as strong as Primal Tree, but does offer a satisfying playstyle and combinations. So I will concentrate on the two trees mentioned in the beginning to create the Dark theme of the build.

The build does suffer from one problem... Undead. You will not have that many tools against them, so a good party that can support you will prove valuable. Still, it is a solid choice.

For example, you will be able to put the whole room to Sleep. After this, you have various follow-ups - inflicting significant damage via Horror or putting a group of enemies under confusion, fighting amongst themselves, getting stunned, etc.

You will also be able to create corpse explosions which are excellent for destroying large groups of enemies. Although this is risky as your allies can be damaged, generally your tank will hold aggro, and with good gear, it will receive minimal damage. Moreover, a skeleton companion can be resurrected to provide some support in combat.

Blood Magic is another core aspect, that will expand your casting pool - to HP. The main focus is the ability to paralyze a large group of enemies using Blood Wound. Not only that, if your HP falls low, just use Blood Sacrifice and restore your health from Tank or Ranger's pet.

Character Creation

If you are into optimizing there are a few things that you can do to optimize your build a bit.

Race

There are 2 race options in my opinion:

Class

The choice here is obvious:

Background

Sadly only one choice is possible here:

Attributes

For the start of the game, all points should be invested - +5 Magic. This will make all of the spells much more effective. By all I mean - healing, control, and damage. You may think about investing in Willpower, but I would not worry too much about it, as your MP will increase naturally and from gear bonuses.

Skills

I would recommend getting Coercion, this will help with some early-game dialogues and quest options.

Spells

The build will start relatively weak, however, as you progress strong spells that can create deadly combos will be unlocked.

Quest Priority and Locations

Once you have finished Ostagar and Lothering, the world will open up and you can visit multiple areas. Below I will cover some progression recommendations, to obtain a few core items needed.

If you do not have Specializations unlocked:

1. Finish Lothering quests - this is a timed area, so it's good to do all the stuff here before moving on
2. Lake Calenhad Docks - visit the Mage's Collective, and pick up Places of Power quest. This will be useful as you will have to visit various areas through the main story.
3. Soldier's Peak - you can obtain Robes of Avernus.
4. Return to Ostagar - at least find the old Mage chest, where you will find Corrupted Magister's Staff.
5. Circle Tower - additional attributes for progression. Mana Clash can be useful for this quest but is not mandatory.
6. Redcliffe Castle - this could be done earlier, before Circle Tower, but you will be limited by decisions you will need to resolve the main quest here. Here you can unlock Blood Mage specialization.
7. Your preferred quests

If you have the specialization:

1. Finish Lothering quests - this is a timed area, so it's good to do all the stuff here before moving on
2. Lake Calenhad Docks - visit the Mage's Collective, and pick up Places of Power quest. This will be useful as you will have to visit various areas through the main story.
3. Soldier's Peak - you can obtain Robes of Avernus.
4. Return to Ostagar - at least find the old Mage chest, where you will find Corrupted Magister's Staff.
5. Circle Tower - additional attributes for progression. Mana Clash can be useful for this quest but is not mandatory.
6. Your preferred quests

Full Build Setup

In this section, I will go with in-depth explanations of each important selection for attributes, talents, and skills. This will give you a better understanding of what role each decision will have on your overall build. The explanations can also be used to better decide your picks for optimizations

Attributes

In this section, I would like to review the recommended attributes for Necromancer Build. You will be required to pick them every level up, so optimizing and not wasting any of them will prove vital for the build.

Skills

The goal in my opinion is to get Combat Training and Coercion to a maximum. This will cover all the aspects that the main character would need in my opinion.

Specializations

The build core is 1 specialization. Another one is free and generally depends on your preferences. Here is what and why I recommend.

Talents and Spells

The build is very demanding on talents and there are a lot of spells to pick from. I will try to explain what I think is crucial.

Blood Mage

The core specialization of the build, giving access to mechanics allowing them to cast spells.

Arcane Warrior Tree

Only one talent will be relevant here.

Mage

Primal Tree

To be fair you can skip this altogether, but one spell in particular gives decent bonuses

Path of Stone Tree

Spirit Spells

Mana Drain Tree

Necromancy

Telekinesis

Entropy

This is the iconic spell class that will give the full feeling of the necromancer, where you play with enemies, curse them, and fill them up with nightmares.

Chains of Entropy

Hexes

Mental Contamination

The main problem with the spells in this tree is that they are weak against the undead (you cannot put them to sleep). However, Waking Nightmare works against almost all enemies making it very deadly.

Still, I would get the spells in this tree as early as possible as they will work wonders in many early-game encounters.

Entropic Mortality

Equipment

The gear you use with Necromancer Build will play a crucial role in combat. There are various combos that you can go with.

Below, you will find the gear that should be used with the build. Generally, the lower the item is in the table the lower its priority and the earlier you can get it. So the top ones are the best picks.

For a build that uses Blood Magic, you will want one item with Improved Blood Magic so that your spells don't drain as much HP. So I recommend looking at these:

• Robes of Avernus
• Blood Ring
• Sash of Forbidden Secrets

Weapons

Item	Description
Staff of the Magister Lord	The best staff in terms of overall stat boosts, and improves spirit damage by 10%. Use this together with Black Hand Gauntlets for the maximum bonus of 30%.
Final Reason	Grants +10 Spellpower, which is the highest value out of all staves.
Corrupted Magister's Staff	Grants a 15% spirit damage boost, excellent choice before obtaining the above ones.
Magister's Staff	A bit weaker choice compared to Corrupted Magister's Staff.
Acolyte's Staff	A simple staff, that will be excellent for early game, where enemies are resistant to Nature damage.

Helm

Item	Description
Helm of Honnleath	If you picked Arcane Warrior Specialization then, this Helmet becomes mandatory, as it is the most powerful option.
First Enchanter's Cowl	Significantly increases the chance to dodge attacks. This effect stat with other items, can enable you to easily avoid enemy attacks. Still, this is only available very late in the game.
The Libertarian’s Cowl	Improves mana regeneration and gives a decent boost to defense.

Armor

Item	Description
Vestments of the Seer	Gives significant bonuses to willpower and magic, greatly improving the healing capacity of the build. However, might not be accessible if you are playing for the first time, so look at the options below.
Reaper's Vestments	These robes are perfect for the Necromancer playstyle as they improve the total HP pool for casting. Moreover, the +12 Armor bonus is significant for survivability.
Wade's Superior Dragonskin armor	Part of Wade's Superior Dragonskin armor set. If you are looking to be able to sustain some enemy damage, this option is perfect. The whole set will make your fatigue value negative, meaning spells will cost even less than what is written in the tooltip.
Robes of Avernus	Gives the "Improves Blood Magic" effect. I think the robe is a great pick in the early to mid-game, especially if you will be using Blood Magic.
Tevinter Mage Robes	Gives mana regeneration and a direct increase in spellpower improving your damage.
First Enchanter Robes	Improves core stats of caster - willpower, and magic.
Senior Enchanter's Robes	Improves core stats of caster - willpower, and magic, albeit with a lower bonus than First Enchanter Robes.
Archon Robes	Decent robes that you can get early in the game if you do the Circle Tower quest.

Gloves

To be fair, any kind of gloves will work. Generally, I would recommend elemental gloves. However, as the build doesn't deal that kind of damage, they are irrelevant. There is one option if you plan on going with the armor set:

Item	Description
Black Hand Gauntlets	Provides a substantial 20% spirit damage bonus.
Wade's Superior Dragonskin Gloves	Part of Wade's Superior Dragonskin armor set.
Spirit Hands	Provides a +10% spirit damage bonus.

Boots

Item	Description
Fade Striders	The only boots giving direct magic attribute improvement for mages.
Wade's Superior Dragonskin Boots	Part of Wade's Superior Dragonskin armor set. Although the boots can be used, that is an unlikely choice as you would utilize the whole set.
Imperial Weavers	Improves the chance to dodge attacks.
Magus War Boots	Improves defensive values leading to more chances of avoiding attacks.
Bard’s Dancing Shoes	Improves defense and also reduces hostility, attracting fewer enemies.

Accessories

Item	Description
Sash of Forbidden Secrets	This is the best build for Necromancer build. It does provide significant bonuses to stats but requires one to have finished The Golems of Amgarrak DLC
Andruil’s Blessing	The best belt available all around. The bonuses to stamina regeneration are great to counteract the sustained abilities.
Cinch of Skillful Maneuvering	You will need to finish Witch Hunt DLC to unlock this accessory. The chance to dodge is excellent for survivability improvement.
Destructionist's belt	A decent belt that boosts spellpower and damage.

Amulets

There are plenty of choices for Blood Mage in terms of amulets.

Item	Description
Lifedrinker	The only amulet to add pure spellpower. Works on Blood Mage only.
Blood–Gorged Amulet	Significantly improves total health pool. Could be used together with Lifegiver to greatly improve the Blood Mage playstyle.
The Spellward	It is one of the best amulets as it increases the mana pool adds a chance to dodge and a significant boost to spell resistance.
Pearl of the Anointed	The +1 to all attributes is a significant boost, especially at the start of the game.
Heart of Witherfang	Provides +1 to magic.
Par Vollen Willstone	+2 Willpower, which is a decent boost early in the game. Otherwise, it is a low priority.

Rings

Item	Description
Key to the City	One of the best rings in the game. It gives +2 to all attributes. It can be obtained in Orzammar
Lifegiver	One of the best rings for Blood Mages as it gives a significant boost to the HP pool for Blood Magic.
Blood Ring	Provides "Improved Blood Magic" effect allowing to cast spells with less HP used.
Dreamsever	The +10% spirit damage is significant. However, the total bonuses to spirit damage cannot be higher than 30%.
The Lucky Stone	Gives +1 to all attributes, which in turn will improve the constitution, magic, willpower - everything that the build uses.
Ring of Study	A great ring at the beginning of the game that you can obtain if you choose Magi origin.
Morrigan's Ring	+2 Willpower. It's a decent bonus, especially if you have other casters and gear needs to be shared.

How to use the Build

In this section, I would like to go through some general tips on how to correctly utilize the build.

Main mechanics

In this part, I would like to go through the core mechanics of the build. Using them you can construct your preferred playstyle and utilize everything that the various talent and equipment picks have to offer.

Sustained Spells

As with all caster Builds, this one will utilize them to some degree. Still as a Blood Mage, in the late game, you will have plenty of HP to continue casting spells with it. For this reason, I would recommend activating more sustained abilities than on a normal mage.

1. Blood Magic - the spell can be turned on/off depending on the situation. For early games, I would turn it on when out of MP. For late game, when you can freely use Blood Sacrifice I would use this most of the time and deactivate only when HP management becomes a problem.
2. Spell Might - improves spellpower resulting in stronger spells. Moreover, it will improve Drain Life and Animate Dead spells for their stronger versions.

And here are some optional ones, that I might use depending on the situation:

1. Miasma - excellent for slowing down and weakening foes.
2. Death Magic - works okay with Blood Magic, to restore health from dead foes. Sadly, the amount of HP restored is decreased compared to when not using Blood Magic.
3. Animate Dead - if you picked this the skeleton could be a decent addition as a distraction.

Arsenal of Control Spells

So as a mage, you do have plenty of spells that apply some kind of control. Let's go through a few of them:

• Blood Wound - the strongest control spell in your arsenal against targets with blood. It paralyzes them and deals spirit damage.
• Sleep - can put to sleep enemies in a wide area. This can then be followed up with other spells or take out enemies one by one.
• Waking Nightmare - has a 100% success chance on sleeping enemies. It stuns foes, makes them attack each other, and creates confusion. I used this spell the most in combat.
• Horror - is also one of the spells that should be used on enemies with Sleep. Otherwise, its effect just paralyzes the foe.
• Mind Blast - excellent spell to stun most targets in close range. This will also improve your survivability In case you get overwhelmed.

Enemy Mages

One of the main and most destructive enemies in the game (besides Templars) is Mages. They can cast Fireball, apply Hexes, or freeze you or your allies. For this reason, I recommend taking Mana Clash.

In most cases, it will instantly destroy enemy casters if they have full mana. So use it the moment you see a caster enemy. It also works on enemies that might have mana, like Fade creatures, even though many of them don't use spells.

Magic Combos

So Entropy and Spirit Tree provide plenty of synergies unlocking some decent combos:

1. Spell Might + Drain Life/Animate Dead - an improved version of the spells making them somewhat stronger.
2. Sleep + Horror/Waking Nightmare - guarantees the effects of a second spell, and Horror also inflicts significant damage.
3. Death Hex + Death Cloud - Entropic Death, applying large spirit burst damage. Death Cloud does hit allies, so be careful when using it.

Using these you will be able to overcome most of the encounters.

Blood Magic

So this build revolves around Blood magic to some degree. This of course requires you to manage it well, so that you would not get killed. I would like to go through a few strategies to ensure that you survive:

• Use Blood Sacrifice to restore HP from the tank or Ranger's Pet. In the worst case, this can be utilized on your healer.
• Death Magic will restore some HP, however, with Blood Magic its effectiveness will be reduced.
• At worst, you can disable Blood Magic, and either use MP to cast, or heal yourself with something like Drain Life.

Early Game Combat

The start of the game might be a bit difficult as you will be limited by your spell arsenal. However, with each level, it will be easier and easier. Here are some recommendations for the early game:

• Mind Blast - should be used when enemies are close, this will not only stun them but reset your threat level, making them choose another target.
• I would only use Blood Magic after you are out of MP in the early game.
• Sleep is a very powerful spell, especially against early-game darkspawn and humanoid enemies. If you land it follow up with Horror and Waking Nightmare to guarantee the effect of those spells.
• If you need healing, use Drain Life. I would use it every time you lose a bit of HP and have 80% or less. It is not a very powerful spell but it does its job for the Necromancer theme.

Late Game Combat

You will have a huge arsenal of spells, for different situations, I will try to cover some of them, but I will leave it to you to find the perfect combos for your playstyle.

• Continue using the Sleep with Horror and Waking Nightmare combo, as this will continue to be very effective.
• Blood Wound, Blood Wound, Blood Wound... A bit boring, but it is so powerful, not using it is a crime.
• Mana Clash - if you see any kind of enemy mage, instantly use it.
• Vulnerability Hex + Affliction Hex can be used on bosses, to greatly weaken them and inflict significant damage with spells.
• For allies dealing physical damage, use Death Hex, as this will guarantee critical hits.
• Lieutenants should be affected by Misdirection Hex so that they inflict minimal damage with their hits.
• Walking Bomb - use it on a group of weaker enemies. Once you cast it, focus fire with your allies to destroy that target so that the corpse would explode taking out others. Be careful not to use it close to the allies. However, your tank should be able to handle the damage.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Necromancer Build, post for Dragon Age: Origins. This setup does offer an interesting approach a debuffer confusing enemies and draining their strength using Dark Magic. If you want to debuff enemies, inflict nightmares, and break their positions, give this build a try!

Feel free to leave feedback below