Arcane Warrior Build - Blood Mage Tank - Dragon Age: Origins (DAO)

Arcane Warrior Build - Blood Mage Tank

For the early game, most of the time you will be spending casting repulsion and paralyzing fields. Sadly, you won't be using any cool Fireballs, as these will limit talent points available and this build will depend heavily on what you can cast while the weapon is drawn.

As the game progresses from mage you will slowly turn yourself into a sturdy mage at first supporting your tank and later phasing them out. You will be able to fully control the battlefield - paralyze enemies, push them back, or freeze your foe's blood.

The build will mostly utilize spells that can be cast without sheathing weapons. This limits your options, however, you will avoid long weapon sheath/draw animations at crucial points in the battle. However, the latter part of the game will mostly concentrate on using your sword.

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 play a crucial role in becoming a powerful Arcane Warrior.

Skills

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

Spells

You can go two choices here:

• Glyph of Paralysis + Glyph of Warding
• Weakness + Paralyze

So this is kind of the first decision. I do think that Weakness + Paralyze can be a bit more useful as it will also help your allies once you obtain Miasma.

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 Warden Commander Armor Set.
2. Return to Ostagar - get swords and shields for Cailan's Arms Set.
3. Brecilian Forest (at least until you unlock Arcane Warrior)
4. Redcliffe Castle - Unlocks Blood Mage
5. Circle Tower - additional attributes for progression. I would make sure to have Mana Clash or be close to getting for this quest.
6. Your preferred quests

For those that have Specializations:

1. Soldier's Peak - obtain Warden Commander Armor Set.
2. Return to Ostagar - get swords and shields for Cailan's Arms Set.
3. Circle Tower - additional attributes for progression. I would make sure to have Mana Clash or be close to getting it, for this quest.
4. Your preferred quests

Attributes

In this section, I would like to go through the recommended attributes for Arcane Warrior Blood Mage 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. I would take most of the time Magic and on every second level 1 Constitution.

What about other attributes? I would skip them. Willpower is great, but mana is only needed for sustained spells in the later game. Dexterity would improve hit chance and defense, and the former is essential for this build. Still, with high Magic and various debuffs like Miasma, you will have a good chance to hit and in turn, improve your spell success.

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

Okay, so the build core is 2 Specializations. When playing the game for the first time you will have access to neither. But there are ways to unlock all of them if you are curious, check the internet for that.

So how I would recommend picking them? I am a fan, of first going with Arcane Warrior. Just using Heavy Armor early in the game, will help to pull away enemies from your tank, so that it would not get overwhelmed.

After that, you can slowly transition to a playstyle with sword + shield and spellcasting. This is mainly because the second specialization becomes accessible at level 14 - Blood Mage. This is the same time that is main spell becomes available, so I would not be in a huge hurry to get it.

Talents and Spells

So this is one of the most important aspects of the builds, as picking good spells will make your combat much easier. Check this list for spells that can be cast without sheathing weapons.

Arcane Warrior

Get all the talents. They will maximize your resistance, damage, and armor.

Blood Mage

Mage

Okay, this tree has very low priority, as you would only invest more than Arcane Shield, only for the late game, when most of your core spells are covered.

Primal

Path of Stone Tree

Creation Spells

Glyphs Tree

Nature Tree

Heroism Tree

Now, if you do not have other mages, specifically those that would have Haste, I would also think about getting it. This will greatly improve combat capabilities once you start using a sword.

Still, in the latter part of the game, I would think about getting Haste. It stacks two times and will result in a very fast attack speed.

Spirit Spells

Mana Drain Tree

Okay, this is an expensive investment, but one of the spells is mandatory, and the second will prove valuable against any casters. It will destroy them.

Entropy Spells

The spell tree is a very powerful choice, and I enjoy using it in early games. There you will need to do some running around from melee foes. Its bonuses will also be significant to ensure that you do not miss your attacks once having a sword equipped.

However, in the late game, if you will be limited by your mana pool on sustained abilities I would phase it out for other options.

Chains of Entropy tree

Equipment

This is another important pillar of Arcane Warrior build, as good gear will make or break it. To be fair, due to the nature of the game and various story progression paths, it's hard to recommend a single-gear path.

In this section, 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

Weapons

Item	Details
Maric’s Blade	The idea of this blade is to use it together with Cailan’s Shield to get Cailan’s Arms set. Will greatly boost mana regeneration. Using it will guarantee that you can maintain the Shimmering Shield.
Spellweaver	Provides a +5 magic bonus. Great for this type of build where you cast magic abilities often
Duncan’s Sword	Provides Medium mana regeneration
The Veshialle	If for some reason you find yourself more doing physical hits than casting magic, get this weapon. It outmatches any other single-handed weapon from 60 magic/strength.

Shield

Item	Details
Fade Wall	Boost to Stamina and mana regeneration one of the best shields for this type of build
Cailan’s Shield	Use this shield with Maric’s Blade for an increased stamina/mana regeneration bonus. Get this shield in Return to Ostagar DLC
Warden Tower Shield	Gives a mana regeneration bonus that you can obtain in Warden’s Keep DLC.
Bulwark of the True King	The shield comes with the Ultimate Edition of the game and can be used early in the game. Provides adequate stats bonuses to armor, willpower, and defense
Eamon's Shield	A decent early shield that you can get in Redcliffe Castle. Boosts both defense and mana pool

Helm

Item	Details
Helm of Honnleath	The best helmet in the Dragon Age Origins game all around. Get it in Stone Prisoner DLC
Helm of the Deep	Boost to the constitution for a bigger HP pool
Executioner’s Helm	Boost to stamina/mana will allow you to have more sustainable

Armor

Item	Details
Evon the Great’s Mail	Counts toward Wade's Superior Heavy Dragonscale armor set. Provides larger bonuses than base armor
Wade's Superior Heavy Dragonscale Armor	If you cannot afford Evon the Great’s Mail, this is a perfect alternative that you get by crafting from Wade
Warden Commander Armor	Use it for the Warden Commander Armor set until you get access to Wade's Superior Heavy Dragonscale Armor or Evon the Great’s Mail. Obtain it in Warden’s Keep DLC

Gloves

Item	Details
Wade's Superior Heavy Dragonscale Gauntlets	Use it for Wade's Superior Heavy Dragonscale armor set.
Warden Commander Gloves	Best gloves until you get Wade's Superior Heavy Dragonscale Gauntlets

Boots

Item	Details
Wade's Superior Heavy Dragonscale Boots	Use it together with other Wade's Superior Heavy Dragonscale armor set items.
Warden Commander Boots	You get these boots in Warden’s Keep DLC. They are the best boots until Wade's Superior Heavy Dragonscale armor set.
Fade Striders	Excellent boots that you can obtain very early in the game.

Amulets

Item	Details
The Spellward	One of the best amulets as it increases the mana pool for more sustained abilities but adds a chance to dodge and significant spell resistance.
Pearl of the Anointed	+1 to all attributes, great amulet until you find Blood Gorged amulet
Lifedrinker	Provides +4 spellpower boost. It’s a tradeoff with survivability so use it at your own risk.
Blood-Gorged Amulet	Immense boost to the constitution. It Will greatly increase your mana pool as you will use hp to cast spells

Belts

Item	Details
Andruil’s Blessing	The best belt in the game provides a large boost to all stats
Sash of Forbidden Secrets	Only accessible if you finish The Golems of Amgarrak DLC. An alternative to Blood Ring and a bit overpowered.
Cinch of Skillful Maneuvering	A powerful belt that gives a flat 10% chance to dodge enemy attacks.
Destructionist's Belt	Boost spellpower and mana regeneration. A decent alternative until you get Andruil’s blessing

Rings

Item	Details
Lifegiver	Boosts your survivability and HP pool for spell-casting
Blood Ring	Provides a boost to Blood Magic. This item should be mandatory because your spells will cost 25% less hp.
Key to the City	One of the best rings in the game. It gives +2 to all attributes. Can be obtained in Orzammar
Band of Fire	A decent starter ring until you get the ones mentioned above.
Ring of Study	A great ring at the beginning of the game that you can obtain if you chose 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

Maintaining Sustained Spells

So the art of this build is to correctly use Sustained spells to fully utilize your mana pool. This will force you to use HP for casting but you will have a large amount of buffs at all times. Here are my recommended sustained abilities:

1. Miasma - this is the go-to ability to have activated at least in the early game. Once you start using Sword, you could think about switching it out for something else. However, I continue using it throughout the game.
2. Combat Magic - well this will ensure that your sword attacks deal sufficient damage.
3. Spell Wisp - a simple and cheap spell that will improve everything for the Arcane Warrior Build.
4. Shimmering Shield - this is a very powerful spell, but it will drain your mana very fast. I would only use it together with Cailan’s Arms set which can negate the drain.
5. Haste - later in the game, you can stack this with another mage. However, if you do not have other ones casting it, I would then prioritize this higher.
6. Spell Might - increases spellpower, which in turn improves almost all aspects of the build. However, I am putting it in lower priority as its activation cost is steep and you will need a lot of spellpower to make it worth it.
7. Flame Weapons - this is an optional sustained action that you can get in the late game to improve your damage. It will work well against darkspawn.
8. Rock Armor - Improves armor. Overall, you will already have high values of it, so I would not put much emphasis on it.

You will not be able to activate all of them but depending on the gear you can have most of them running. I would use the prioritization I have mentioned above.

The problem arises with the Shimmering Shield, which will give a 10 MP penalty to regeneration. So if your mana reaches 0, it will get deactivated. For this reason, you need to counteract it. Here are some items that will allow you to better manage:

• Cailan’s Arms set - 5.75 Mana regeneration
• Andruil’s Blessing - 2 Mana regeneration
• Improved Combat Training - 0.5 Mana Regeneration
• Wade's Superior Dragonscale Armor Set - 2 Mana Regeneration
• Duncan's Sword - 2 Mana Regeneration
• Spellweaver - 1 Mana Regeneration
• Fade Wall - 1 Mana Regeneration

Using Control Spells

Most of the game will revolve around you utilizing various control spells at your disposal. Here is what you should be aware of:

• Glyph of Paralysis + Glyph of Repulsion create a huge explosion that can paralyze multiple enemies. It will also hit allies so be careful of that. You can still use those spells by themselves as they can cover choke points or disable key targets.
• Blood Wound is the simplest and the strongest control spell in your arsenal. It will damage and paralyze any enemies that have blood.
• Paralyze - I would only use this before equipping the sword. Otherwise, you will need to sheathe your weapon, which will greatly increase the activation duration.

Blood Magic

So one of the core aspects of the build is Blood Mage specialization. It gives access to two spells:

• Blood Magic - allows casting with HP instead of mana. As you are a tanky character this has a very low risk of you dying.
• Blood Wound - the ultimate control spell, disabling enemies with blood and adding spirit damage over time effect.

So, once you have sustained abilities active, your mana pool will be close to zero. This is where Blood Magic, will allow you to cast spells, to control foes.

Still, sometimes you will get overwhelmed and your HP will go down. Deactivate Blood Magic and use healing only then. This way you will get full amount of HP.

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.

Sheathed casting or not?

So the main problem with Arcane Warrior is that many spells will force you to sheath your weapon. This is problematic as it slows down you in combat, and can mean life or death. For this reason, most of the spells that I recommend can be cast with weapons drawn.

However, if you are curious and maybe want to land a Fireball or two, you could get it and cast it just when the combat starts. This is when the weapon is not yet drawn, and you can inflict damage, aggro enemies and then use the spells that I recommend.

Early Game Combat

For the early game, you will be playing a normal mage, that concentrates on control:

• Use Paralyze to disable specific enemies, especially archers or casters.
• Glyph of Paralysis + Glyph of Repulsion can be used on a group of enemies. Just be sure that your allies are not standing close to the explosion.
• Glyph of Repulsion is excellent for covering choke points.

Late Game Combat

1. First I would do mana Clash if there was a mage around
2. Then, I would use the Glyph of Repulsion. Use it in tight spots, like corridors or doors.
3. After that Glyph of Paralysis to do Paralysis Explosion
4. Cast Blood Wound to start dealing AOE damage on enemies that were not caught by paralysis
5. Now my companions would have killed a few of the weaker enemies and I would concentrate on the boss or lieutenant by using melee damage

Conclusion

So here it is, the Dragon Age: Origins Arcane Warrior build that I recommend using in your playthrough. It is one of the most well-known and powerful builds in the game offering a solid spellsword experience.

Feel free to leave feedback below