Blood Mage build - maximum spellpower mage - Dragon Age: Origins (DAO)

This build is about being all offensive and lashing out elemental spells. You will have limited survivability capabilities, but this pays off with over the top damage

Before starting

• This build works for the main character. However, Morrigan can also definitely use this, as she also has many skills in elemental tree

• Elves are the best starting race in terms of starting attributes for mages.

• If you use it on the main character do Circle of Tower first to get 16 Cunning (I recommend doing this on all characters)

• You will need to have a healer in your party like Wynne to keep your tank with high HP (more on that later on)

• For this build to work you will need to have a strong tank that can ensure that you are not being hit. Because you will have low hp and you will use it to cast spells

• Get pickpocketing talent to unlock additional side quests in Denerim

Attributes

Magic – attribute which will increase your spell damage. This is all that you need for this build

Contrary to thinking that blood mage needs constitution you should avoid it. Your mana pool will be your HP + MP. Due to this you will be able to cast spells easy without any big limitations

Skills

• Pickpocket - Level 1 (if you are the main character)
• Combat Training - Level 4
• Tactics - Level 4

If you have any other points left invest based on your preference.

Specializations

You will use two main specializations: Blood Mage and Spirit Healer. I suggest getting the latter one second at level 14 and Blood Mage at level 7. This will increase your casting pool early in the game.

NOTE: you can also take Arcane Warrior and invest 1 ability point into Combat Magic. This will allow you to use Helm of Honnleath, the best helm in the game giving +2 to all stats. Otherwise, if it is being used by others you can skip it

How to unlock Blood Mage?

To unlock this specialization you will need to do the Arl of Redcliffe story quest. You will need to be a mage and enter the Fade.

Once you reach the last Demon it will show its true form. You will then have a conversation with it. If you are able to strike a deal one of the rewards will be the Blood Mage specialization.

Spells

For this type of build, you will want to use all the spells that scale Spellpower.

Level 1 - 7

At the beginning of the game, we want to build the offensive capabilities of the mage,

• Winter's Grasp – great single-target spell, freezing enemies

• Frost Weapons – progression spell, to get the next talent

• Cone of Cold - area of effect skill, petrifying enemies (even though it looks like they are frozen)

• Heal – good to have at a start until you will have a dedicated healer.

• Flame Blast

• Flaming Weapons

• Fireball - an area of effect crowd control skill that knocks back enemies. Great when dealing with weaker enemies.
• Spell Wisp - provides a moderate bonus to spellpower

Level 7-14

Get Blood Mage specialization at level 7. If you do not have it unlocked do Redcliffe castle's main quest to obtain it. You can also wait till level 14 and just take the Spirit Healer specialization.

Your strongest crowd control skill will only be available on the Blood Mage tree at level 14. So before that, you will want to have unlocked Blood Sacrifice

• Blood Magic – allows using hp to cast spells
• Drain Life - does not do much damage but can be used to quickly regenerate some of hp.
• Death Magic - this is optional, but you can use it to recover HP. It synergizes well with Blood Magic.
• Curse of Mortality - great damage over time ability. Scales with spellpower
• Death Cloud - an ability that deals a lot of damage and can trigger Entropic Death. Be careful how you use it, as Friendly Fire is possible
• Blood Sacrifice – your main healing spell, which you will use to take HP from your tank

Level 14+

Get the second specialization either Spirit Healer or Blood Mage

• Blood Wound – tremendous skill, allowing to paralyze living enemies in a wide area with fast casting. It also has a low cooldown and deals damage over time.
• Vulnerability Hex
• Affliction Hex
• Misdirection Hex
• Death Hex - Cast this on enemies when they enter the Death Cloud area. The result will be an Entropic Death combination. This is the biggest damage-dealing spell combo in the game.
• Mana Drain - can be used to recover some MP
• Mana Cleanse
• Spell Might - this sustained ability will allow you to further maximize your spellpower.
• Mana Clash - this ability will allow you to one-shot almost all enemy mages in the game

If you have any points left feel free to put them into Waking Nightmare, Arcane Mastery or any other spell that looks interesting or useful to you.

In the end, you should have all of these abilities at your disposal:

Equipment

I list out by the priority which equipment you should use. The first ones are for the end game or close to it.

NOTE: you need to have at least one item with “Improved Blood Magic” status:

• Blood Ring

• Robes of Avernus

• Sash of Forbidden Secrets

NOTE: if you will be using equipment that boosts Elemental Damage, for example, +10% fire damage, there is a cap of 30% for that element. So, having Wilhelm's Magus Staff and Dalish battery will reach that limit, and equipping ring Twitch ( with a 5% increase to electric damage) would have no effect.

Weapons:

Item	Details
Final Reason	This staff is for pure spellpower and bonus fire damage
Staff of the Magister Lord	One of the best staves in the game due to overall bonuses to magic, mana regeneration, and willpower
Corrupted Magister's Staff	Provides +5 spellpower and increase in spirit damage of 15%
Magister's Staff	Similar to Corrupted Magister's Staff. However, gives less spirit damage bonus but more mana regeneration
Wilhelm’s Magus Staff	The staff gives bonus fire damage. It is on equal footing with Enchanter’s Staff
Enchanter’s Staff	This staff is quite easy to obtain. It also boosts fire damage and gives +1 to magic

Helmet:

Item	Details
Helm of Honnleath	If you will pick Arcane Warrior instead of Spirit Healer this is a much better helmet
Collective Arming Cowl	This is the recommended helmet if you did not take Arcane Warrior. It will increase your hp a bit allowing you to cast more spells
The Libertarian’s Cowl	This helmet will provide a small amount of mana regeneration and some defense to avoid enemy attacks.
Enchanter’s Arming Cap	I recommend this cap as the worst option. It only provides willpower which allowing to cast the one spell more at best before you change to HP.

Armor:

Item	Details
Vestments of the Seer	One of the best choices if you have other items with the "Improved Blood Magic" effect equipped. It will boost your armor and offensive power
Robes of Avernus	Provides "Improved Blood Magic" effect, that reduces HP consumed for each spell cast with Blood Magic active. If you already have an item with this effect, check other Robe options
Tevinter Mage Robes	Easily obtained robe and provides +5 spellpower to increase your spell damage
First Enchanter Robes	Boosts both magic and willpower resulting in higher damage and more MP.
Senior Enchanter's Robes	I would say this is equal to Archon Robes. The robes give a bonus to magic and willpower, increasing spell damage and allowing to cast few more spells before blood magic
Archon Robes	Gives a small boost to spellpower and health regeneration in combat. Great robe early in the game

Gloves:

Unfortunately, nothing special here, get gloves that boost your most used elemental skill:

Item	Details
Black Hand Gauntlets	Provides a boost to spirit damage of 20%. Will greatly increase the damage of Blood Wound and a combo of Death Cloud + Death Hex
Ashen Gloves	Boosts cold damage by 20%
Cinderfel Gauntlets	Boosts fire damage by 20%
Elementalist’s Grasp	Boosts all elemental damage by 5%, good if you use all spells equally

Boots:

Unfortunately, there are not many options for a mage:

Item	Details
Fade Striders	The best option for a mage, if you do not have them, equip any other boots
Magus War Boots	These are some of the best light boots in the game. They give +12 defense.
Bard’s Dancing Shoes	These boots reduce hostility and also increase defense.

Amulet:

The amulets are listed by the ones that provide the largest boost to spellpower

Item	Details
Lifedrinker	This amulet provides the biggest boost to spellpower out of all amulets. The result is the biggest increase in damage
Pearl of the Anointed	Provides +1 to all attributes
Heart of Witherfang	Gives +1 to magic, so it is similar to Pearl of the Anointed, however, it provides fewer overall bonuses
Blood–Gorged Amulet	I would suggest equipping this amulet if you find yourself dying too often. It will increase your constitution resulting in a bigger HP pool and allowing you to cast more spells with HP.

Belt:

There are many options here so choose based on what is available to you

Item	Details
Sash of Forbidden Secrets	To get this belt you will need to finish DLC Golems of Amgarrak, which should be played after you finish the game. So you can go for the next belt
Andruil’s Blessing	One of the best belts in the game, however, it is quite costly
Destructionist’s Belt	The belt provides +3 spellpower and is quite cheap to get in Ortan Thaig
Belt of Magister Lords	Similar to Destructionist’s Belt but does not give mana regeneration bonus
Cinch of Skillful Maneuvering	Although the belt is quite good by providing +1 to all attributes it gives a lower amount of spellpower compared to other options

Rings:

Item	Details
Blood Ring	Top priority if you don’t have any other items equipped with “Improved Blood Magic”
Key to the City	This ring provides +2 to all attributes, one of the best rings in the game. It will increase your spellpower, give more HP and mana
Lifegiver	I would recommend this ring if you want a larger pool of HP to cast more spells or survive against enemy attacks, otherwise, go with the next options
Frostshear	Provides +10% cold damage bonus
Dreamsever	Provides +10% spirit damage, will work well with Blood Wound and Death Cloud + Death Hex combo
Ring of Faith	Gives +10% fire damage bonus
The Lucky Stone	A good all-around ring that provides +1 to all attributes
Ring of Study	A great ring at the beginning of the game that you can obtain if you chose Magi origin

Tactics

As this build is low on Hp and uses hp to cast spells, play it with your main character. However, it can be used both by Wynne and Morrigan.

You should apply all the buffs: Spell Wish, Blood Magic and Spell Might to maximize your damage dealt.

Use Heal to heal your tank after Blood Sacrifice (if you do not have a healer or she is out of MP)

Constantly use Blood Wound as it has a short cooldown and allows to control the battlefield

To deal maximum damage use Death Cloud + Death Hex.

Conclusion

The build deals tremendous damage, the Blood Wound will paralyze most of the enemies and if you are not being attacked by archers, there should be no troubles dealing with other opponents.

Just always have a lookout on your HP as you can drain it fast.

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