Staff of the Magister Lord versus Winter's Breath etc.

LastDanceSaloon · Post by **LastDanceSaloon** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:13 pm

Beware the Quartermaster!

Playing a mage, you find you are pretty much forced to buy all the good gear in Dragon Age Origins, and so most of it I did. But in doing so I noticed some very stark 'rip off' items in the Quartermaster's collection of saleable goods.

I completed the mages tower very early on and didn't even step foot in Denerim until quite late, so I spent most of the game drooling over the Quatermaster's stock not realising just how much he was to be avoided... at all costs! (pun intended)

Check this out:

Staff of the Magister Lord:
+6 Willpower
+2 Mana Regeneration
+6 Spellpower (making 13 in all added to it's base of 7)
+10% Fire Damage
+10% Spirit Damage
Range: Over 50
Armour Penetration: 40

Available at the Quatermaster in the Mages Tower for 128.5 Gold Pieces.

Now compare this to:

Winter's Breath:
+25% Cold Resistance
+3 Spell Power (making 10 in all added to it's base)
+10% Cold Damage
Radiates Cold (?)
Range: over 50
Armour Penetration:40

Available from the Mage's Emporium in Denerim for a paltry 31.5 Gold Pieces.

At first I was lost for words. I felt I must be missing something. Just what exactly would I be paying the extra 100 gold pieces for?

+6 Willpower? - that's one swig of a lesser lyrium potion isn't it?
+3 Spellpower? - always nice, but when you already have 69 it's neither here nor there really.
Mana Regeneration? - Again, that's just a saving on lyrium potions isn't it?
And surely 25% Cold Resist is far better than 10% extra damage?

Similarly,

Anduril's belt:
+2 strength, Dexterity, Willpower, Magic, Cunning and Constitution.
+20% Nature Resistance
+1 Mana Regeneration
+1 Stamina Regeneration
+10 physical Resistance

Avaialble from the Quatermaster in the Mage's Tower for 106 gold pieces.

Compared to:

Lifegiver Ring:
+10 Constitution
+3 Health Regeneration in Combat
+10 Health Regeneration while exploring (?)
+3 Armour
+20% to healing effects recieved

Available from the lyrium juiced Dwarf Trader in Ozrammer for 88 gold pieces.

What exactly would your extra 20 gold buy you from the Quatermaster?

+2 in stats you have no use for.
+10 Pysical resistance (which is only a minor rune for a warrior, buyable for 2 or 3 gold pieces)
The mana/stamina regen cancel each other out as no player has both
Some Nature resistance.
But zero additional armor bonus! a stat which really means something in this game.

So, be warned gaming browser, when splashing out all your gp's, visit the Quatermaster last with whatever you have left, not with what you've been saving up!

With the 120 gp I've just saved you, you can buy The Spellward Locket from the trader at your campsite and 2 Tomes of Archane Technique (for 2 extra spells)

The Spellward Locket:
+5 Willpower
+8 Health regeneration while exploring (?)
+30% Spell Resistance
10% Chance to dodge attacks
Chance to avoid missile attacks

Available for 87.5 gold pieces from the 'odd couple' traders in your campsite.

(See how this then covers the Willpower gain from the magister staff and gives you amazing spell resist on top).

I must admit, I would have like the belt, just for the physical resistance as mages got precious little to help this stat as they can't use runes, but I always managed to find better things to spend my money on

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Slightly amusing tag-line

GoldDragon · Post by **GoldDragon** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:17 pm

One of the best robes for mages is available in the Wonders of Thedas for just under 100 gold, too.

Best staff is in awakening, however.

LastDanceSaloon · Post by **LastDanceSaloon** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 2:50 am

Reaper's Vestments (Mage Robe):
+6 Constitution
+20% Fire Resistance
+16% Spell Resistance
+10% Dodge Chance
+12 armour

Available fron the Mage's emporium in Denerim for only 92.5 gold pieces.

Yes indeed, *the* only real choice for mage clothing and the first item the mage should be buying once the cash starts rolling in properly.

Also, you can see how this complements the Spellward Locket and lifegiver ring so much better than the belt.

Combined with the ring and locket, it gives you +15 armour, +16 Constitution, +46% spell resistance, Lots of defence chances etc.

GoldDragon · Post by **GoldDragon** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 1:05 pm

Morrigan's Gift: Vestments of the Seer (Mage Robe)

+9 Willpower
+6 Magic
+10 Armor
+12% Spell Resistance

These robes are thought to have belonged to Eleni Zinovia before she became a statue.

Makes a nice second until you can afford the Reaper's Vestments. Gained by Completing Witch Hunt.

LastDanceSaloon · Post by **LastDanceSaloon** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 7:12 pm

Ah, Witch Hunt is a downloadable content, no? Not part of the main package & therefore not available to all and sundry.

Nice item though, I agree. Has all the right stats in the right places.

GoldDragon · Post by **GoldDragon** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 2:54 pm

Comes standard in Ultimate Edition, as well.

LastDanceSaloon · Post by **LastDanceSaloon** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:03 pm

I have the Ultimate Edition and, as far as I can tell, you need to 'Log on to an on-line account' for access to the Witch thing.

Everything in the packaging and on-line suggested on-line Downloadable Contenet cost money and since I'm not fully into the 'log-in to play' system I never ventured to find out.

Are you suggesting if you buy the Ultimate Edition then all the DLCs are free?

Why wasn't this made more clear in the packaging? I've, like, finished it now...

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:51 pm

I would strongly advise against getting Reaper's Vestments and purchase Felon's Coat instead. In my experience, for ANY type of Arcane Warrior (I often take the class just so I can use armor), defense is MUCH better than armor, and, if you build correctly, it can be pretty rare that basic attacks touch you.

LastDanceSaloon · Post by **LastDanceSaloon** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 5:25 pm

Really? I seemed to manage both ok with a regular mage as both my hat and boots has +12 defence, making an additional +24 defence, which, when added to the defence buff spell made my mage have a defence of over 80, which combined with the dodge effects made her already more impregnable than most warriors even without specialising in the melee specialisation of arcane warrioir.

The only specialisation I found any interest in was the Spirit Healer for it's more obvious benefits.

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 7:20 pm

I never really used Spirit Healer as after my first two playthroughs I started soloing.

I think that by endgame, my mage had about 120 - 140 defense. I got the Bloodmage specialization, but I only had to use it on rare occasions, mainly boss battles. Other than that, I was able to easily finish all encounters with my tiny mana pool.

I never used anything in the Heroic Defense line unless I was playing a hack and slash arcane warrior.

LastDanceSaloon · Post by **LastDanceSaloon** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 8:09 pm

Ah, this is where my posts often end up at cross-purposes whith other posters. I only ever play in normal mode and I always stick to the game's intented character quantities.

For example, I alwyas use 6 characters for Icewind Dale, and always in normal mode, so my posts in that forum often get objected to by people who solo on the hardest mode.

With Neverwinter Nights however the option to select whether you took collegues was always optional however and I often prefered just wandering around on my own unless it was impractical to do so.

I think I liked Divine Divinity so much because it was entirely a solo game and you were basically an all-in-one rogue/mage/warrior.

For me, difficulty isn't about making the battles harder, but rather making the problems and quests more involved and thought provoking - something which the Neverwinter series delivered in small but very memorable packages - such as the Snow Globe quest or the Gem Chest Lock-in and, most lovingly, the Gold Armour problem - the best armour I have ever had in an RPG.

In this respect DAO was fairly lacking. There was the Fade Lock-in in the Mage's Tower, but this was still more killing than puzzling and there was the Gauntlet which had a nice bridge puzzle, but this was all so much less than it could have been. I think they were affraid of putting off puzzle haters. Even the various Revenant quests were potentials for more of a Treasre Hunt, but just turned into battling Revenants for the sake of battling Revenants. There was the gauntlet leading up to the end of the Deep Road quest, but again this was just more battling to resolve the problem and one genuine small puzzle with the rotating spitting spirit statue.

It's like they knew they wanted and needed some good puzzle sections, but chickened out and, like other aspects of the game, gave you a few watered down examples rather than the real thing.

There were many times in DAO when I defeated a hoard of bad guys with just my mage, out of choice as it was actually less hassle than keeping an eye on eveyone's HP, but in the main I just did everything with the group because that's what the game wants.

Also, with even HP bottles having re-load timers and not being overly abundant as drops, I really couldn't imagine the amount of time and patience needed to defeat a red top bad guy or a big gang of yellow tops on my own, even in Normal mode. It would seem more like a chore than a challenge.