Morrigan Support Healer Build - Dragon Age: Origins (DAO)

Morrigan Support Healer Build

Morrigan starts as a solid Debilitator or control mage. The main problem is that in some cases you still want to have her, but need a good support mage. Luckily with a few optimizations, this can be easily achieved.

Her initial spells are not perfect, but they will still offer some damage and control options like Winter's Grasp, Horror, or Drain Life. Now, where things start to get interesting, what to pick next?

Generally, you will want to have plenty of healing options, so Spirit Healer specialization and all good healing spells will be a must. I would recommend Blood Mage, but knowing this to be a crucial pillar of a party, I would avoid this risky pick on AI build.

Morrigan will not get as many talent points as a main character so once you have support part covered you can get some control options like Crushing Prison, Glyph of Paralysis, etc.

Attributes

In this section, I would like to review the recommended attributes for Morrigan Support 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

This section will go through recommended skills to optimize the character. These unlock general utility actions or improve combat capabilities in terms of new talent levels or tactics slots.

Specializations

Talents

In this section, I would like to go through the recommended talents for Morrigan Healer Build. They are important in optimizing the various bonuses and what actions are unlocked.

Shapeshifter Tree

Spirit Healer Build

Primal Tree

Most of these talents come by default, so it's still recommended to make use of them.

Path of Stone

Path of Ice

Path of Storms

Creation Tree

Healing Tree

Heroism Tree

Glyphs Tree

I would only recommend talent here. Although Glyph of Paralysis + Glyph of Repulsion is a powerful combo that can paralyze enemies in large areas, in my opinion, AI is not that good at handling this.

Nature Tree

Spirit Tree

This skill tree has two main options. I will try to cover their pros and cons and what would I pick.

Telekinesis Tree

Entropy Tree

Morrigan comes with these talents by default so mentioning already what is unlocked.

Hexes Tree

Mental Contamination tree

Entropic Mortality Tree

Equipment

The gear you use with Morrigan Support Build will play a crucial role in combat. The main concern will be the item availability as many of them will be contenders for your main character.

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.

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. The additional spirit damage bonus is not that relevant.
Corrupted Magister's Staff
Torch of Embers	It gives a spellpower boost which will result in more effective spells. The fire-related bonuses are not so relevant.
Acolyte's Staff	A very early game staff that boosts magic, and comes with physical damage type, perfect for early game.

Helm

Item	Description
Helm of Honnleath	The best helmet if you have the Arcane Warrior specialization with Combat Magic. This way you will not need to meet the 20-strength requirement.
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.
Reinforced Magus Cowl	Comes with +2 Willpower for a slightly higher mana pool.
The Libertarian’s Cowl	Improves mana regeneration and gives a decent boost to defense.
Enchanter's Arming Cap	Gives +1 to willpower which increases the mana pool for spellcasting.

Armor

Item	Description
Vestments of the Seer	The best robes in the game, especially for the build that relies on a lot of mana. I give a large boost to magic, armor, and spell resistance.
Robes of Possession	One of the best robes specifically for Morrigan. In addition to a magic boost, it gives bonus cold damage which helps with occasional Winter's Grasp damage.
Wade's Superior Dragonskin armor	Looking for something more defensive with Arcane Warrior specialization? Part of Wade's Superior Dragonskin armor set. The whole set will make your fatigue value negative, meaning spells will cost even less than what is written in the tooltip.
Tevinter Mage Robes	Gives mana regeneration and a direct increase in spellpower improving Morrigan's spell success chance
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

Sadly, there are not many options for gloves that would give a truly strong case for Morrigan controller build.

Item	Description
Ashen Gloves	Gives bonus damage to the cold element. These are perfect if you are heavily using Winter's Grasp and Cone of Cold.
Wade's Superior Dragonskin Gloves	Part of Wade's Superior Dragonskin armor set.

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.
The Lion's Paw	Improves chances of avoiding enemy attacks, increasing survivability.
Imperial Weavers	Gives a 10% chance to dodge enemy attacks.
Magus War Boots	Improves defensive values leading to more chances of avoiding attacks.
Bard’s Dancing Shoes	One of the best defensive boots in the game. Gives bonus defense and reduces hostility.

Accessories

Item	Description
Sash of Forbidden Secrets	The best mage belt in the game, with substantial bonuses to willpower and spellpower.
Andruil’s Blessing	Excellent belt, that will likely be in high demand by your main character. Gives +2 to all attributes and improves mana regeneration.
Cinch of Skillful Maneuvering	A defensive belt with bonuses to spell resistance, dodge chance, and a +1 increase on all attributes.
Destructionist's belt	Boosts spellpower and gives a slight boost to mana regeneration.
Belt of Magister Lords	Gives a good spellpower bonus of +3.

Amulets

Item	Description
The Spellward	Very strong amulet which improves dodge chance and mana pool. Sadly, it is a highly contested item by almost any build.
The High Regard of House Dace	This is more of a rogue or amulet. However, it can still be worn by mages due to a significant boost to mana (stamina can also mean mana).
Pearl of the Anointed	+1 to all attributes which results in improved willpower and magic stats.
Heart of Witherfang	Gives +1 to magic for improved spellpower.
Shaper's Amulet	Both of these amulets give +2 willpower. They are great choices for early game, to slightly improve the total mana pool.
Par Vollen Willstone
Magister's Shield	Magister's Shield is a better version but is obtained later in the game. Overall, these are similar items with minor differences. Both of them will help to resist spells and improve chances of avoiding attacks.
Mark of Vigilance

Rings

Item	Description
Key to the City	One of the best rings in the game. It gives +2 to all attributes. Sadly, it is highly contested by many builds. It can be obtained in Orzammar
The Lucky Stone	Gives +1 to all attributes, which in turn will improve the 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.
Frostshear	+10% boost to cold damage.
The Wicked Oath	Provides a decent stamina regeneration. However, I would prioritize this ring on Rogue.
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. Although this is a companion build it is still crucial to understand how to best utilize it in the party composition.

Sustained Abilities

Morrigan build can use a few sustained abilities to improve overall combat performance and help allies. I do not recommend activating too many of them as this cuts into the mana pool and will leave her on auto attacks too soon.

These sustained spells are the ones that I think should be active all the time:

1. Spell Wisp - adds a bonus spellpower, improving all of Morrigan's spells.
2. Rock Armor - adds bonus armor, that improves survivability.
3. Haste - mandatory spell if you have physical damage combatants to exploit the increased attack speed.

And here are more situational sustained spells:

1. Cleansing Aura - the spell is a very powerful support option. However, it does drain mana fast. I do recommend using the aura on more difficult fights and avoiding normal ones.
2. Frost Weapons - excellent sustained talent if you have two melee weapon allies to utilize the bonus cold damage effect.
3. Telekinetic Weapons - perfect against armored foes to increase armor penetration and in turn damage.

Support and Healing Spells

• Heal - I would recommend using this in the early game or when Group Heal is on cooldown. It has a low cooldown so perfect when you need to make sure your ally survives the onslaught.
• Group Heal - the main healing option, especially in harder fights. The only downside is its long cooldown.
• Regeneration - this is an extremely cost-efficient healing option. Use it more or less always, especially on characters that are being targeted by enemies - like tanks or mages.
• Cleansing Aura - the ultimate sustained healing spell, that will release waves of healing. It does become weaker the further your allies are, so be aware of that.

Control Spells

Even though this is more of a support build, you still have access to some control spells. They will prove valuable in disabling key enemies and making fights easier.

• Winter's Grasp - can freeze or slow down a single enemy.
• Mind Blast - excellent spell to stun most targets in close range. This will also improve your survivability In case you get overwhelmed.
• Force Field - a great spell that can be used to save an ally that is close to death. On the other hand, you can use it to disable a caster while your group members take care of the fodder.
• Crushing Prison - a very strong control spell, that targets a single foe. It has instant activation and inflicts spirit damage.
• Horror - a single target spell that can inflict fear and make the enemy stand in place.

Stocking up on Lyrium potions

Morrigan will be going through her MP very fast, especially in the late game. With level 1 Herbalism investment you can craft Lesser Lyrium potions. Generally, you would think why would you make the weakest ones? Well, with high Spellpower and their dirt-cheap crafting price, you can craft tons of them for a few gold coins.

1. Buy Lyrium Dust in Circle Tower from Quartermaster for 2 Silver 40 Copper each.
2. Purchase Flasks from Bodahn Feddic in camp for 1 Silver and 50 Copper Each

Now with these stocked up, you can craft Lesser Lyrium potions and let AI use them during combat. This will improve the mage combat potential at minimum investment cost, while still being able to buy the best gear in the game.

Early Game Tactics

These are the tactics that I would use for the early game, up until levels 10-12. The game up to this point can be very hard, so you might need to do some cheesing. A few things of note:

• Set Behaviour to Ranged.
• You can use the auto-attack to lure enemies one by one in open areas like Ostagar and Lothering.
• Include Winter's Grasp as an offensive spell as it can also freeze enemies.
• Most of the time, you can heal Morrigan with Drain Life.
• Heal should be a priority as it will make sure that your allies survive the combat encounters.

Late Game Tactics

These tactics are aimed towards the late game when you have most of the build talents covered:

• Crushing Prison is used early to shut down any kind of mages on the field.
• Healing spells are important and they will ensure that allies can safely engage in combat.
• Force Field is used to save an ally when caught by Ogre or Dragon. This will in turn save valuable mana, as it will not be wasted on healing them.
• For offense, you have attack command for concentrated damage and Winter's Grasp.
• The Lyrium Potion option is optional here. With the numerous amount of spells, Morrigan will go through her MP very fast.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading the Morrigan Healer Support Build post for Dragon Age: Origins. If you are looking to have her as the go-to support option this build is for you. With plenty of customization, Morrigan can still unlock good control and healing spells while maintaining some offensive from the cold tree.

Feel free to leave feedback below