Dragon Age II Mage Class Profiled
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Mages in Dragon Age II deal in raw power, whether sapping, bestowing, or inflicting it. They have incredible tactical potential, a fact underscored by how doggedly they are hunted by the Templars. Versatile and devastating, an apostate mage lives a dangerous life in Kirkwall, but he or she is more than capable of handling the risk posed by the over-tasked authorities.
Mages can all but destroy an enemy's ability to fight. Slowing, weakening, disenchanting once they know a weakness, they can turn the most dangerous opponent into a helpless target.
Alternately, Mages can turn their teammates into an unstoppable force by healing, adding elemental damage to weapons, and seemingly altering time in the party's favor with Haste. Both Warriors and Rogues can benefit from having a Mage at their backs.
But perhaps the main reason Mages are feared is that they command the battlefield with incredible area-of-effect damage. Enemies who are not incapacitated or countered with empowered allies are simply obliterated. All of the classes in Dragon Age II are masters in their own discipline, but it's Mages who truly leave the earth scorched in their wake.
Force Mage: All mage specializations manipulate energy, but Force Mages revel in it. A specialization popular in Kirkwall, they focus only on the raw application of magic, in all its vicious glory maelstroms that draw opponents, ethereal weight that crush and slow, or great waves that throw enemies about like ragdolls. Targets not to be toyed with are simply slammed into the ground, as though pummeled by a great fist. And in their mastery of such damage, Force Mages can make themselves all but immune to similar attacks, an ability that hints at the true discipline they must maintain. After all, unsubtle doesn't mean unsophisticated the Force Mage specialization requires uncommon precision to keep such overwhelming power under control.
Spirit Healer: Spirit Healers focus on restoration, not destruction. They know that the best way to win a battle is to keep themselves and their allies in the fight as long as possible. They are the mages most likely to be accepted or at least tolerated by common people, and yet templars fear them as much or more than the damage-focused specializations. No other mages so directly draw their power from the beneficial spirits of the Fade. It's a risk, but the rewards are undeniable. Removing injuries, granting resilience to wounds, even rescuing comrades from the brink of death these are not support abilities, they are the core of any effective party. Any fool can cause harm, but no amount of muscle can make a weapon heal.
Blood Mage: Nothing inspires as much wild-eyed terror as the Blood Mage. Mages of this type take the raw energy of life and twist it to their own purposes. They can corrupt and control, and sustain their power by consuming the health of others, willing or not. The effects can be vile, but this specialization isn't limited to madmen and monsters. Many see it as the only form of magic that is truly free, because it's tied to the physical, not favors to spirits or demons. It remains an undeniably violent and self-destructive discipline, however, and the Blood Mage must be careful. The temptation to take just a little more is always there.
