Dark Healer - Blood Mage Healer Build - Dragon Age: Origins (DAO)

Dark Healer Build

The build has a very interesting premise and playstyle that I wanted to achieve. I mixed here two opposite specializations - one that heals and supports allies, and another that drains their HP to fuel spellcasting.

So you take Blood Mage, which gives you the ability to cast with HP and it becomes another source of spellcasting. Now, where things get drastic is Blood Sacrifice. By consuming allies HP you can restore your HP and further continue casting spells.

Because Blood Sacrifice is very efficient you can drain HP, heal an ally, and still have a big surplus for the next spells. With a few gear picks the combination will become very cost-efficient. So all allies on the field, become your dolls, for further magic.

This does make for a very interesting build where you unleash various control and healing spells, to then sacrifice your ally, to further continue casting. If this sounds interesting let's go!

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. You will want the mage spells to be effective, especially on Nightmare difficulty. Moreover, this stat will be crucial in becoming a powerful Dark Healer.

Skills

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

Spells

The build is a controller and healer, so we will start with these picks:

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. Soldier's Peak - obtain some decent items and purchase Spirit Healer specialization
2. Other DLCs - Stoner Prisoner, and Return to Ostagar have a few useful items, but they are not crucial and could be delayed for later. Still, this is a great source of XP.
3. Circle Tower - additional attributes for progression. Mana Clash can be useful for this quest but is not mandatory.
4. Redcliffe Castle - unlocks Blood Mage Specialization with specific choices.
5. 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 Dark Healer 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 uses two specializations which both improve the build:

So, the main question is which Specialization to go first? A safe bet would be Spirit Healer in my opinion. Early game, you will not have good gear, especially Lifegiver. Moreover, to obtain Blood Sacrifice you will need level 12. Spirit Healer spells can be picked much earlier and we will only need a few spells.

At level 14 have some talent points saved up so you can get everything you need from Blood Mage.

Talents

The build will want a lot of talent, and it depends on your preferences. Here are a few points and options that you might change depending on the party setup.

• If you are the only mage in the group and have 2 melee combatants, I would make sure to pick Haste and skip something like Mana Drain tree. However, I do recommend not taking Haste, as it will make the build talent allocation much better
• The build will not have many offensive talents, it is mostly about control and support.

Blood Mage Tree

Spirit Healer

Mage

Primal Tree

Path of Stone Tree

Creation Spells

Healing Tree

Heroism Tree (optional)

Glyphs Tree

Spirit Spells

Mana Drain Tree

This tree is somewhat optional. I do find it an excellent pick for my play style. However, with the number of control spells - glyphs, Sleep, Crushing Prison, etc. Handling enemy mages should not be a problem. So if you will be needing Haste, I think these talents I will be skipping these.

Telekinesis

Entropy Spells

Chains of Entropy

Mental Contamination tree

One of my favorite talents in the game. You can put to sleep or confuse large numbers of enemies instantly.

Equipment

The gear you use with Dark Healer 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
Final Reason	Trades blows with Staff of the Magister Lord. This one is much cheaper and can be accessed earlier for this reason.
Staff of the Magister Lord	The best staff in terms of overall stat boosts, however, it is quite pricey.
Magister's Staff	I would say these staves are the same. So get the ones that are easier to obtain. Sadly, the spirit damage bonus is not as important and you will not use these spells as much.
Corrupted Magister's Staff
Torch of Embers	Gives a spellpower boost which will result in more effective spells. The fire-related bonuses are not so relevant.
Harrowmont's Staff	A good stave for Blood mage builds as it gives a slight boost to constitution and magic.
Acolyte's Staff	A very early game staff that boosts magic, and comes with physical damage type.

Helm

Item	Description
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.
Collective Arming Cowl	I think this is a good option for a Blood Mage as the additional Constitution will give a bit bigger casting pool.
The Libertarian’s Cowl	Improves mana regeneration and gives a decent boost to defense.

Armor

Item	Description
Reaper's Vestments	An excellent pick for a blood mage build. It comes with improved armor, a higher chance to avoid attacks, and a larger HP pool. More or less everything that the build needs to improve survivability. Use it if you have  "Improved Blood Magic" from other sources. It is a pricey item, so I would delay its acquisition.
Vestments of the Seer	Gives significant bonuses to willpower and magic, greatly improving the build's damage potential. Another good addition is improved armor to reduce damage.
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 decide to take Blood Mage specialization at level 7.
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

Unfortunately, there are not many worthwhile gloves.

Item	Description
Black Hand Gauntlets	Gives a +10% spirit damage increase. Remember that total elemental damage for a single element cannot go above 30%.
Spirit Hands	Gives a +5% spirit damage increase. Remember that total elemental damage for a single element cannot go above 30%.

Boots

Item	Description
Fade Striders	The only boots giving direct damage improvement for mages.
The Lion's Paw	Improves chances of avoiding enemy attacks, increasing survivability.
Imperial Weavers	Improves the chance to dodge attacks, and works well with other gear giving the same bonus - First Enchanter's Cowl and Reaper's Vestments.
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 Blood Mage build. It does provide significant bonuses to stats but requires one to have finished The Golems of Amgarrak DLC
Andruil’s Blessing	One of the best belts all around. The bonuses to stamina regeneration are great to counteract the sustained abilities like Shimmering Shield, Haste, etc.
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 mana regeneration.
Belt of Magister Lords	Gives +3 spellpower.

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.
Amulet of War Mage	Excellent early-game amulet, that improves all of the elemental damage.
Heart of Witherfang	Provides +1 to magic.

Rings

Item	Description
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. Moreover, it improves spirit damage.
Key to the City	One of the best rings in the game. It gives +2 to all attributes. It can be obtained in Orzammar
Dreamsever	Gives a +10% spirit damage boost, which will help with abilities like Horror and Blood Wound.
The Lucky Stone	Gives +1 to all attributes, which in turn will improve the constitution, magic, willpower - everything that the build uses.
Spiral Band	A weaker version of Dreamsever with a 5% spirit damage boost.
Band of Fire	It can be used together with Blood Mage specialization until you get access to the better rings.
Ring of Study	A great ring at the beginning of the game that you can obtain if you choose Magi origin.

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 Talents

The good thing is that this build relies on Blood Magic and HP to cast spells. This means that you can use most of your mana pool for various sustained spells. Still, I would leave at least a third of it untouched for a few reasons:

• There might be a situation where you will want to deactivate Blood Magic and use heals with mana to regenerate yourself
• Some of the sustained talents drain MP, so the left pool will be used to leave them active.

Now let's go through the talents that I think are essential, to be always turned on:

1. Blood Magic - the obvious one, and the core of this build which allows casting with Health points.
2. Rock Armor - a significant boost to armor to reduce incoming physical damage.
3. Spell Wisp - improves spellpower which results in stronger spells.
4. Spell Might - improves healing power and success chance of your spells.

Optional sustained abilities. These can be activated depending on the situation or party composition:

• The Cleansing Aura - a very strong healing spell, that constantly fuels allies' health. It does drain mana significantly, so I recommend activating it before difficult encounters.
• Telekinetic Weapons - this is perfect if you have two melee combatants so that they would get a boost to armor penetration.

Effectively Applying Control

So what makes this build powerful is a large array of spells to fully control foes. More or less you can have all the enemies - stunned, sleeping, confused, paralyzed, etc. Just be careful not to consume your HP too fast!

• 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.
• Glyph of Paralysis + Glyph of Repulsion - these spells work very well separately. However, when cast on top of each other they can create a large paralysis explosion. It does have a friendly fire, so try to not touch your allies.
• Crushing Prison - what makes this powerful is that it has almost no casting animation, so perfect to be used on enemy casters or other powerful creatures.
• Force Field - this is a very tricky spell, that can be used both offensively and defensively. You can disable a single enemy until others are killed. Or cast it on ally to save yourself.

Using Blood Magic

So one of the core aspects of this build is Blood Magic, and I would like to go deeper into this. So by activating Blood Magic, you can use your Health instead of mana for spellcasting. This does sound very risky but with some practice runs you will have no problems.

• Your spell cost is reduced by 20% when casting with HP.
• Blood Sacrifice allows you to take 50 HP of ally and restore your pool by 100. This is extremely cost-efficient as you can restore health, heal the ally, and end up with plenty of free points.
• Get an Improved Blood Magic effect for further spell cost reduction. Items with this effect are -  Blood Ring, Robes of Avernus, and Sash of Forbidden Secrets.

With all these things in mind, you can easily sustain spells and restore health.

Enemy mages

One of the scariest things in the game is enemy casters. For example, a single Curse of Mortality can deal a devastating blow to one of the party members when they are not able to regain health. To combat them the Dark Healer build offers two spells:

• Mana Clash - one of the strongest spells against enemy casters and demons. If they have full mana, this will one-shot them.
• Crushing Prison - has instant activation, and inflicts spirit damage. I recommend using it if Mana Clash fails.

High Dodge chance

To increase the build survivability you can stack Dodge Chance from various items. This is a perfect option to overcome low defense and incoming enemy physical attacks.

• First Enchanter's Cowl - +10% Dodge Chance
• The Lion's Paw - +10% Dodge Chance
• The Spellward - +10% Dodge Chance
• Cinch of Skillful Maneuvering - +10% Dodge Chance.
• Reaper's Vestments - 10% Dodge Chance.

So with a 30% dodge chance, you can avoid three out of ten attacks. This does not account for any defense-related avoidance, which would further boost the survivability.

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:

• Use your long-range auto attacks to pull enemies one by one. This will weaken them before the main encounter.
• Leave some mana ready for healing. So do not use everything on spells, in case you have an "oh shit" moment.
• The Glyph of Paralysis + Glyph of Repulsion is an excellent early game combo, that can disable rooms of enemies. Then let your allies shred them one by one.
• Arcane Bolt although not very powerful is a good tool to instantly inflict some spirit damage.
• Rock Armor is a great early-game survivability boost.

Late Game Combat

During the late game, the build's potential just multiplies. The vast arsenal of spells can be used without stopping:

• Sleep is an excellent disabler of humanoid enemies. After that, you can follow up with Horror or Waking Nightmare for even more chaos on the battlefield.
• Mana Clash should be used to instantly destroy enemy casters.
• Waking Nightmare is an excellent spell to sow confusion and break enemy lines. It works on almost all enemies in the game.
• Force Field can be used both defensively and offensively. Cast on an ally to save them from grabs or close-to-death hits. Enemy can be removed from combat for a short period.
• Regeneration should be used early on. If you see an ally having less than 90% health and being under attack - cast it. It takes a while for the effect to be fully utilized. After that, you can follow up with Heal or Group Heal in case it is not enough.
• Blood Sacrifice should be used the moment you reach one-third or half of your health. Don't save it, and just use it on any ally. After that, you can follow up with instant heal to save them and have your HP pool filled. The build is about this risk-reward playstyle and your allies are there as meat shields.
• Blood Wound - one of the strongest spells in the game, that can disable rooms of enemies if they have any blood.
• Revival is there when things go bad, or you accidentally kill an ally with Blood Sacrifice.
• If you find yourself surrounded first use Mind Blast. After that make sure you still have HP (if not, use Blood Sacrifice) and follow up with Sleep or Blood Wound to instantly disable multiple targets.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Dark Healer Build, post for Dragon Age: Origins. If you are looking for a dark-themed setup that uses Blood Magic to control both allies and foes, look no further. The guide should help you to fully utilize all the mechanics to make this interesting build come to life.

Feel free to leave feedback below.