Best Morrigan Builds: Offensive and Support - Archived

Best Morrigan Builds: Offensive and Support - Archived - Dragon Age: Origins (DAO)

By zanuffas
Last updated:
0

In this post, I will show you how to build Morrigan for different party compositions. This include offensive mage and support roles.

I used these builds on Nightmare difficulty and it helped me clear the game easily. The builds support themselves so there is no need to micromanage them a lot.

So let’s start

Morrigan The Wizard – maximum spellpower build

If you are planning to have Morrigan in you party, I recommend to have her as a wizard. She already starts with some Primal Tree skills and you would just have to continue expanding this tree.

Attributes

Morrigan Wizard build attributes

  • Magic: every level +3

I would spend all of the points on Magic, maybe 1-3 points in willpower, but have in mind, that your mana pool increases as you level up while your spellpower doesn’t.

Up to 16 points in cunning (based on how many tactics slots you need).

Skills

Morrigan skills wizard build

You can skip investment in herbalism. I invested only for the Exotic Methods quest. This way you can put more points to Combat Training

Invest as much as you need to tactics

Otherwise nothing special here

Talents and spells

Dragon age origins morrigan talents

We concentrate on acquiring spells that mostly do single-target damage. This way Morrigan will not make any friendly fire damage. Here is how I suggest to progress:

Order Skill Description
1 Lightning Single target electricity damage spell, early in the game
2 Flame Blast Mainly take it for progression
3 Flaming Weapons Mainly take it for progression
4 Fireball An extremely strong ability that can knock down enemies in AOE
5 Rock Armor Mainly take it for progression
6 Stonefist This spell can knock down enemies like archers or other mages. Moreover, with Cone of Cold, you can shatter enemies.
7 Combat Magic (optional) Take this if you chose Arcane Warrior specialization
8 Frost Weapons We mainly take this for progression
9 Cone of Cold A great ability that can freeze solid enemies making them immobile. Use Stonefist on Frozen enemies to shatter them
10 Spell Wisp A sustained spell that will increase Morrigan's spellpower resulting in more damage
11 Arcane Bolt A single target spell that does spirit damage
12 Shock We mainly take this for progression
13 Tempest We mainly take this for progression
14 Chain Lightning Unfortunately, this spell does not scale with spellpower. You can fix it with this mod
15 Arcane Shield We mainly take this for progression
16 Staff Focus We mainly take this for progression
17 Arcane Master Boosts spellpower resulting in more damage from your spells
18 Earthquake This is AOE spell that can become handy at the end of game to disable many small enemies at once

Specializations

Morrigan comes by default with Shapeshifter specialization. However, we will not be using it for this build.

There are a few options here for the second mage specialization. The role-playing friendly would be Spirit Healer:

spirit healer icon

I chose healer specialization for additional magic, as I did not plan to use blood magic while having a low constitution

However

There is an alternative that provides a bigger boost to your overall stats. For that, you will need Helm of Honnleath (so check if it is not used by other characters).

Take Arcane Warrior specialization

arcane warrior specialization icon

It will allow you to wear Heavy armor. With this, you can wear Helm of Honnleath, get +2 to magic, and boost to all other attributes.

Gear

Weapon

Item Details
Final Reason Provides the largest direct boost to spellpower, this is what the build aims to
Staff of the Magister lord iconStaff of the Magister Lord One of the best staff in the game. Provides strong overall stats but can be expensive
magister's staff iconMagister's Staff A good staff before you are able to get the best ones in the game
Corrupted magisters staff iconCorrupted Magister's Staff Similar to Magister's Staff provides more damage for this build, but less mana regeneration
Enchanter's staff iconEnchanter's Staff Early game staff that you can obtain in Lothering. Gives bonus elemental damage and +1 Magic

Helm

Item Details
The libertarian's Cowl iconThe Libertarian's Cowl Gives additional mana regeneration
Helm of Honnleath iconHelm of Honnleath If you took Arcane warrior specialization and have this helm free, wear it. +2 to all attributes
Reinforced magus cowl iconReinforced Magus Cowl Boosts willpower by 2 points, increasing the mana pool

Gloves

Your main goal is to increase the elemental damage that you do with Morrigan using one of the gloves below:

Item Details
Elementalist's Grasp iconElementalist’s Grasp Additional damage to all elements, a must for this Morrigan build
Storm talon iconAshen Gloves Boosts cold damage by 20%
cinderfel gauntlets iconCinderfel Gauntlets Boosts fire damage by 20%
storm talons iconStorm Talons Boosts electricity/lightning damage by 20%

Armor

Item Details
Vestments of the Seer iconVestments of the Seer +6 magic boost, outmatches any other robe in general usage
Robes of possession iconRobes of Possession Morrigan specific robes gives +5 magic, however, it also boosts cold damage by 20%
Tevinter Mage RobesTevinter Mage Robes Gives +5 spellpower and also boosts mana regeneration

Boots

Not many choices for boots. If you do not have any of the listed just equip any to increase the armor stat of Morrigan

Item Details
Fade striders iconFade Striders The best boots for mages. Gives +1 to magic
Magus war boots iconMagus War boots Gives +12 defense

Belts

Item Details
Sash of forbidden secrets iconSash of Forbidden Secrets Only accessible if you finish The Golems of Amgarrak DLC. An alternative to Blood Ring and a bit overpowered.
destructionist's belt icon Destructionist's belt Boost spellpower and mana regeneration. A decent alternative until you get Andruil’s blessing
belt of magister lordsBelt of Magister Lords Gives a bonus to spellpower of 3 points

Amulets

Here there are many choices so select an amulet based on what is available.

Item Details
Amulet of War Mage iconAmulet of War Mage Boosts all elemental spells damage by 5%. useful for this Morrigan build as she will use many different elemental spells
The spellward iconThe Spellward Does not boost your damage but increases willpower giving a larger Mana pool
Pearl of the Anointed Provides +1 to all attributes
Heart of Witherfang iconHeart of Witherfang Gives +1 to magic, so it is similar to Pearl of the Anointed, however, it provides fewer overall bonuses

Rings

Item Details
Key to the city iconKey to the City One of the best rings that gives +2 to all attributes, found in Orzammar
the lucky stone iconThe Lucky Stone A good all-around ring that provides +1 to all attributes
ring of faith iconRing of Faith +10 to fire damage
frostshear iconFrostshear +10% boost to cold damage
dreamsever iconDreamsever +10% to spirit damage
dalish battery iconDalish Battery +10% electricity damage
ring of study iconRing of Study A great ring at the beginning of the game that you can obtain if you chose Magi origin

Tactics

Morrigan Wizard build tactics

Using AOE spells with AI is fairly difficult. Usually, you need to intervene to correctly use them. To circumvent this I use fireball first so that it would hit enemies before my companions get to them. Otherwise, I use single target skills mostly: Stonefist, Lightning, Arcane Bold, Winter's Grasp.

In case the enemy gets close, I use Cone of Cold or Winter's Grasp to freeze them and change my position

If you manage to get Petrify, also try to utilize that.

Morrigan the Controller – support build

I usually prefer to leave companion characters alone and not micromanage them. In my eyes, they should deal with enemies automatically.

This Morrigan build is perfect for this type of playing. Your spells will not deal friendly damage and concentrate on controlling the battlefield. All of this is possible due to the Entropy tree.

Moreover, in this playthrough, I used Morrigan as the sole healer in the party (from level 15 onwards), which worked out pretty well. Moreover, there was no need to invest a lot of time to manage her. So let’s get through the details

Attributes

Dragon age origins controller attributes

  • Magic – the main attribute which you need to invest in. For this particular build, I have put in all the points. This made me sure that spells like Paralyze worked even on High Dragon

  • Willpower – if you feel that Morrigan is out of mana points too fast you can put in a few points here and there. However, as you see I am getting 29 points to boost to willpower from equipment

  • Cunning – needed for tactics, get up to 16

Skills

Morrigan controller build skills

Your priority should be getting tactics and combat training at least to level 3. You will be needing many slots to cover the use cases of your spells: healing, sleeping, confusing, paralyzing, etc.

Specializations

Morrigan controller build specializations

These are the two specializations you will need: Shapeshifter and Spirit Healer

Unfortunately, you get Shapeshifter automatically and you cannot change that. For the second specialization take Spirit Healer. You will need the passive effect of more magic points. Moreover, you will get access to Group Heal which may be useful down the road.

Talents and Spells

Morrigan controller build spells

Early levels

I recommend getting Paralyze so that you could deal with enemies like archers or mages. After that get both Sleep and Waking Nightmare.

Now you will be able to do the Nightmare combo by casting sleep and then activating Horror on one of the enemies.

Waking Nightmare will give you a cheap and fast option to control enemies AOE. It will cause disarray among their ranks, especially for the normal enemies.

I also recommend getting Heal to provide support in critical situations

Level 14

Get the second specialization which will Spirit Healer. Once you get Group Heal and Revival Morrigan can now act as a sole mage in the party, providing heals, buffs, and CC.

Moving to endgame

Here I recommend getting Haste ability. This ability will increase your party members' attack speed (works well if all other party members are melee/ranged). You should obtain it at level 17~. At the time you will also have good equipment providing a large boost to mana regeneration to sustain Haste.

Now if you will have any points left here are some other abilities to take into account:

  • Mass Paralysis
  • Miasma
  • Rejuvenate
  • Staff Focus
  • Arcane Mastery

Gear

Your aim is to get a boost to these stats:

  • Magic
  • Spellpower
  • Mana regeneration
  • Willpower

Weapons

Weapons are sorted best to worst

Item Details
Staff of the Magister lord iconStaff of the Magister Lord One of the best staff in the game. Provides strong overall stats but can be expensive
Final Reason It will give a strong boost to spellpower relatively early in the game
magister's staff iconMagister's Staff A decent staff before you can get the best ones
Darkspawn staffCorrupted Magister's Staff Similar to Magister's Staff provides more damage for this build, but less mana regeneration
Enchanter's staff iconEnchanter's Staff Early game staff that you can obtain in Lothering. Gives bonus elemental damage and +1 Magic

Helm

Item Details
libertarians cowl iconThe Libertarian's Cowl As there are not many options, this helmet provides mana regeneration and a little defense
Reinforced Magus Cowl Worse option, because Willpower does not increase mana regeneration only your mana pool

Gloves

There are not many options for gloves, so if you do not have recommended ones, take anything that you find.

Item Details
ashen glvoes iconAshen Gloves As you will not be doing much elemental damage, use these gloves in case you will use Winter’s Grasp

Armor

Item Details
Vestments of the seer iconVestments of the Seer Extremely powerful mage armor obtained after finishing Witch Hunt DLC
Tevinter mage robes iconTevinter Mage Robes Large spellpower boost and increased mana regeneration bonus makes it great value for money
robes of possession iconRobes of Possession Morrigan only Robes, provides a large bonus to magic
First enchanter robesFirst Enchanter Robes Decent robes can be bought in the Denerim Market district from Cesar.

Boots

Item Details
Fade striders iconFade Striders The best boots for mages. Gives +1 to magic
The lion's Paw iconThe Lion's Paw Mainly getting them because of armor boost. Good early in the game

Belts

Item Details
Sash of forbidden secrets iconSash of Forbidden Secrets Only accessible if you finish The Golems of Amgarrak DLC. A bit overpowered.
Andruil's blessing iconAndruil’s Blessing The best belt in the game provides a large boost to all stats, but should not be prioritized for this character
Cinch of skillful maneuvering iconCinch of Skillful Maneuvering You will need to finish Witch Hunt DLC to unlock this belt
destructionist's belt icon Destructionist’s Belt The belt provides +3 spellpower and is quite cheap to get in Ortan Thaig
Belt of the Magister Lords icon Belt of Magister Lords Similar to Destructionist’s Belt but does not give mana regeneration bonus

Amulets

Item Details
The spellward iconThe Spellward By giving you +8 to willpower the amulet will increase your mana pool greatly to support party members.
Pearl of Anointed iconPearl of the Anointed +1 to all attributes
Heart of Witherfang iconHeart of Witherfang All you need from this one is +1 to magic

Rings

Item Details
Key to the city iconKey to the City One of the best rings gives +2 to all attributes, found in Orzammar
the lucky stone iconThe Lucky Stone +1 to all attributes
the wicked oath iconThe Wicked Oath You need this ring only for mana regeneration
ring of study iconRing of Study +1 to magic

Tactics

Morrigan controller build tactics

Generally, I would recommend this build to be used if Morrigan is the only mage in the party and others are DPS + Tanks.

As I mentioned, this character's priority is being a self-sufficient AI. So that you would need a minimum amount of interventions. Moreover, it can act as a healer to support your party.

Everything comes down to how well Waking Nightmare and Sleep lands. So AI can make mistakes here

However, this build provides Haste, so in the first half a minute of the fight, your companions can shred through the enemies, to deal with weaker ones. However, we want to disable Haste when we have low mp as that means that the fight could take longer and we want to have mana points for heals.

Setup Heal and Group Heal as top priorities, in case your party members are in danger

Conclusion

Thank you for reading these best Morrigan's Builds in Dragon Age Origins. I hope the post helped you to understand how to best utilize her in your playthrough. If you need any more information feel free to leave a comment

Discussion

gamestegy-discord-invite-link
Post author zanuffas avatar zanuffas
Gamestegy Founder. I have been writing game guides and builds for 4 years. I like to push myself to create something wonderful for the readers!