Talk:Arcane Warrior

Has anyone unlocked this?

I am not sure where you can get the manual but I do know where you can learn it for free. There is a vial in the ruins you find the werewolves in. Free the spirit in the vial and in exchange you can have him teach you the Arcane Warrior specialization. -Goblinlordx 04:35, November 9, 2009 (UTC)
 * I have the walk through and I am in the area where it states that the presence is supposed to be. Yet I can't find the phylactery or vial that the walkthrough speaks of.. What am I doing wrong Any ideas?
 * There are actually 2 vials I ran across in the ruins. One was one of the Revenant vials and the other was the little mini-quest.  Just check all the rooms in the ruins.  If you look you will find it.  The room is easy enough to distinguish as to the left of where the vial is there is also a pedestal that is selectable if I remember correctly. -Goblinlordx 00:23, November 10, 2009 (UTC)

How to UNLOCK:

It has been unclear due to various sources stating different areas for which this class could be obtained, yet I will write down the exact location for this.

LOCATION: Bracilian Ruins

FLOOR: Lower Ruins (NOT the Werewolf lair)

MAP: Middle Right; left section of two outstretching quarters.

LANDMARK: Broken Stone Altar; the section looks like a ruined library with a broken altar. If you see this land mark and it specifically says "Broken Stone Altar", they you are in the correct room.

POSITION: It is hidden in the shadows of that room; it's not sparkling, so just use your mouse/controller on the area across from the broken altar, next to the headless statue.

ITEM: Phylactery

Additional Directions: Go south from the area where the Earthen Jug is; the first area you reach that has rooms on both sides of the pathway is where you want to be. One of those sides is a ruined library (it isn't named such, just looks like one) with a Broken Stone Altar in it. This is in the Lower Ruins portion of the ruins, not the Werewolf Lair and not the Upper Ruins. It will specifically say "Lower Ruins" on your compass. Just keep on going south on the map, taking no turns until you see two quarters outstretching on the path.

--Viscount Thalvaus 03:00, November 14, 2009 (UTC)

Earthen Jar Room | |                      | |                    ---  |                    ---  |                       | |                       | |                       | |                  * ---   ---                    ---   ---                 <- Phylactery

--Viscount Thalvaus 03:00, November 14, 2009 (UTC)

Spell Casting
Arcane Warriors can use their sustained abilities to get insane levels of defense/armor/spell resistances. (At the cost of extremely heavy fatigue). This can be powerful, but limits what the Arcane Warrior can do to basically being an auto-attacking machine (great damage, impossible defense).

Some people prefer more of a 'gish' build. Engaging in melee while throwing out cones of colds and the like. However! There is a hidden mechanic in the game that is visible using the toolset editor. Many spells cannot be cast with a sword in your hand. If you try to do so, your character will sheathe the sword, then cast. This delays the casting and can cause a lot of trouble with AoEs/Mindblast.

There is a work around. While meleeing, if you want to cast a spell that requires your weapon be sheathed but want to avoid the sheathing animation, switch weapon sets to another set of martial weapons (even a shield will do). Your character will instantly sheathe their first set and their second set of weapons will instantly appear on their back. Cast your spell, then switch back to your first set. This work around requires two sets of melee weapons because you cannot cast any spells with your staff sheathed (and it will appear sheathed after switching to it).

For those who don't want to use this mechanic (I admit, it breaks immersion terribly and feels cheap), you can build your Arcane Warrior around those spells that can be cast with a sword in hand. This info is courtesy of the work of dearlyblvd, ShadeDragonIncarnate, and xFrayx on the BioWare forums. --Ocdscale 23:07, November 9, 2009 (UTC)


 * This is great stuff! We should definitely add this to the main article.  I'll try to do so if someone else doesn't beat me to it. --  21:01, November 10, 2009 (UTC)


 * Done! I've added a blurb on spellcasting with a weapon drawn, and a link to a new page called Arcane Warrior Spellcasting.  We still need info on the two new abilities you can get with the Warden's Keep DLC. --  20:13, November 11, 2009 (UTC)
 * Can someone clarify whether the original work around works? It was reported to me that it works, however I have not gotten it to work on my Xbox.  Using two sets of martial weapons does work, however.  I am hesitant to change the Article page because it occurs to me that using two sets may not work on the PC using one-button switching --Ocdscale 20:41, November 11, 2009 (UTC)

(D) Means the spell can be cast with your weapon drawn (S) Means the spell requires that your weapon be sheathed

Arcane Bolt(D) Arcane Shield(D)

Flame Blast(S) Flaming Weapons(D) Fireball(S) Inferno (D)

Rock Armor(D) Stonefist(S) Earthquake(D) Petrify (D)

Winter's Grasp(S) Frost Weapons(D) Cone of Cold(S) Blizzard(S)

Lightning(S) Shock(S) Tempest(D) Chain Lightning (D)

Heal(D) Rejuvenate(S) Regeneration(D) Mass Rejuvenation (D)

Heroic Offense(S) Heroic Aura(D) Heroic Defense(S) Haste (S)

Glyph of Paralysis(D) Glyph of Warding(D) Glyph of Repulsion (D) Glyph of Neutralization (D)

Spell Wisp(D) Grease(D) Spellbloom (D) Stinging Swarm (D)

Spell Shield(D) Dispel Magic(D) Anti-Magic Ward (D) Anti-Magic Burst (S)

Mana Drain(D) Mana Cleanse(D) Spell Might (D) Mana Clash (D)

Walking Bomb(S) Death Syphon(D) Virulent Walking Bomb (D) Animate Dead (D)

Mind Blast(S) Force Field(D) Telekinetic Weapons(D) Crushing Prison(D)

Weakness(D) Paralyze(S) Miasma(D) Mass Paralysis(S)

Vulnerability Hex(S) Affliction Hex(D) Misdirection Hex (D) Death Hex (S)

Disorient(D) Horror (S) Sleep (S) Waking Nightmare (S)

Drain Life(S) Death Magic(D) Curse of Mortality (D) Death Cloud (D)

Combat Magic(D) Shimmering Shield (D)

Blood Magic (D) Blood Sacrifice (D) Blood Wound (D) Blood Control (D)

Spider Shape(D) Bear Shape(D) Flying Swarm(D) Master Shapeshifter(D)

Group Heal (D) Revival (D) Lifeward (D) Cleansing Aura (D)

Dark Sustenance (D) Bloody Grasp(S)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYgcxXTAPxo

Book available in Circle Tower?
A: Buy from templar as you enter.

I've scoured the Circle Tower and have yet to find a book for Arcane Warrior there. I haven't unlocked the specialization from Nature of the Beast yet. Therefore, until someone can conclusively say that they've found the book in the tower (and ideally, post screenshots or descriptions of where they found it), I've removed the line from this page about finding the book in the tower. MasterAaron01 20:24, November 10, 2009 (UTC)

-Unlocking Arcane Warrior-

I think the current section is vague. I would note that the room is actually on the Lower Level of the Ruins not the actual werewolf level. And that the phylactery can be quite hard to see. The phylactery is on the floor on the back right side of the room to be more specific. Note that in order to get down there you have to go through the Dragon room on the Upper Level, but you can bypass the Dragon encounter itself by going around its triggering dais.

Notes on Shimmering Shield
While Shimmering Shield is active it will drain your mana when you get hit until you run out of mana. When you run out of mana it will deactivate automaticly. This mechanic seems to be similar to Spell Shield.

This is not stated in the description of the spell which is quite disappointing as my Arcane Warrior is sustaining 8 other auras at all times so does not have the mana to use this.

Easy work around is blood mage as second spec, draining hp when hit instead of mana, since you should only be hit 1-3 damage (8 for elite or boss's) a health poli or healer will make all buffs continious

How Combat Magic modifies attack
Combat Magic provides an attack bonus IN ADDITION TO the normal stats which modify attack with a weapon. This means it also works with ranged weapons. For example, a mage with Combat Magic and Aura of Might, and 50 spellpower, will receive an attack bonus of 10+50*0.2 = 20 in addition to the attack rating supplied by their strength and dexterity.

How Combat Magic modifies damage
Combat Magic replaces the primary attribute used by a weapon to determine damage with the Magic attribute. Attribute modifiers on weapons are applied to the Magic attribute.

These are the formulas for the Arcane Warrior's abilities. Effects are cumulative, so for Combat Magic + Aura of Might, you would add both sections.

Statistical Analysis
Since dexterity affects all classes equally, we will ignore it for the purposes of this analysis.

With Aura of Might, Combat Magic and the Arcane Warrior specialization bonus, the formula for the mage's attack power is: (Str/2)+15+(Spellpower/5).

By comparing an Elf Mage with base 10 strength who increases magic at the same rate as an Elf Warrior who increases strength, we can see that Magic is actually better than Strength until the stats reach 60, where they are even, and afterwards strength pulls ahead.

What this means is that Combat Magic is a more or less balanced replacement for high strength where attack power is concerned.


 * Are we sure this is correct. I am pretty sure I was seeing somwhere around +.8 or +.9 damage per point of Magic increase according to the character screen.  I will check again next level and post again.  -Goblinlordx 03:41, November 14, 2009 (UTC)


 * I am seeing about the exact same increase in the character screen for Magic as I am for Strength. Also, contrary to the tooltip for Combat Magic... I see absolutely 0 increase when spellpower increases but Magic does not.  It seems it is based on Magic and NOT spellpower.


 * The test I did was I removed Spell Wisp and Spell Might from him. I then turned on Combat Magic (with 70 Spellpower).  I recorded my damage stat from the character screen (since there is no "attack" stat for them as opposed to a Warrior/Rogue.  I then turned off Combat Magic and activated both Spell Wisp and Spell Might increasing my Spellpower to 96.  After they were activated I activated Combat Magic.  When I checked my damage stat it was the exact same as when I had it up unbuffed.


 * Another thing to note... is it seems to have a ~+.9 effect to the damage per point of Magic. This was observer both on a level up by comparing damage prior to level and after leveling and also by Removing/Wearing an item that gave +1 Magic.


 * Taking these things into consideration... it seems that every point of Magic is the equal to one point of Str for an Arcane Warrior Mage. Also, it means that increasing Spellpower via Spell Wisp and Spell Might will not effect your stats via Combat Magic (though still useful for Flaming/Frost Weapons and Arcane Shield).


 * Edit: I just realized you ARE probably talking about the attack Stat as it is not shown =/. This kind of makes my information irrelevant.  Though, I would say that would do you mind throwing out where exactly you got the formula as I would like to see it and also try and find a few other formulas I am interested in.


 * Further testing seems to show that while using Combat Magic Strength has no effect on damage. I tested using 2 rings.  One with a Strength Bonus and one with a Magic Bonus.  First, I removed a ring from one slot and deactivated all auras.  I then equipped the ring with Strength.  Doing this showed an increase in damage.  I did this with the ring with + to magic and obviously there was no difference in my damage stat from when I had no ring equipped.  I then activated Combat Magic.  The same testing showed that the exact inverse happened when I equipped each ring.  The Strength ring showed absolutely no change in damage from no ring equipped.  The Magic ring showed the showed the same increase in damage as when the Strength ring was equipped without Combat Magic up.


 * This seems to indicate that when Combat Magic is up Strength is completely ignored for the damage stat and is instead based on Magic (not spellpower). Also, I would really like to suspect that it might have the same effect on Attack... though... I have no proof of this since there is no Attack stat shown on a Mage's character screen.


 * -Goblinlordx 05:35, November 14, 2009 (UTC)


 * I would like to point out that this information was collected by reading the ability scripts in the toolset. The formulas are accurate.  There is no guesswork here. --Mozuzaeram 19:12, November 16, 2009 (UTC)

Arcane Warrior Specialization
Attack Bonus = 5.0 Dexterity Bonus = 1.0 (Not included in my analysis since I ignored dex.)

Combat Magic
Attack Bonus = 5.0 + (SpellPower * 0.2)

Aura of Might
Attack Bonus = 5.0

Defense Bonus = 10.0

Damage Bonus = 5.0

Fade Shroud
Mana Regen Bonus = 1.0

Displacement = 25.0%

Shimmering Shield
Armor Bonus = 15.0

FireRes Bonus = 75.0

ColdRes Bonus = 75.0

ElecRes Bonus = 75.0

NatRes Bonus = 75.0

SpiRes Bonus = 75.0

PhysRes Bonus = 75.0

MentRes Bonus = 75.0

Mana Regen = -10.0

Edit: I may as well register and sign this.

--Mozuzaeram 22:09, November 13, 2009 (UTC)

Notes on Resistance caps
Not sure if this should really go hear or not but I was running up against stat caps because of combat magic and such.

Mental and Physical Resistance caps: 100

Elemental Resistance caps: 75%

-Goblinlordx 03:50, November 14, 2009 (UTC)

Overhaul
Along with my efforts in overhauling the spells, tactics, this page will soon be getting an upgrade. I'm also planning on moving Arcane Warrior Spellcasting to Armed Spellcasting due to the fact that you don't really have to be one in order to do it. --Various Pickles 19:13, December 3, 2009 (UTC)

Arcane Warrior Heavy Style
This is a set up that I used for my arcane warrior that relied on a massive amount of defense and armor to sustain myself. The setup revolved around the use of 5-6 sustained spells which enhanced my defense and sustained each other. My gear consisted of massive and heavy armor, with a preference towards anything that boosted constitution and attack. My weapon was the Spellsword, which is an arcane warrior only weapon with two enchantment slots and is the best choice if you can get your hands on it. (It dropped in the wyrming lair in the Urn of Andraste questline off one of the mini bosses.) The sustaind spells that I relied on were: Combat Magic, Shimmering Shield, Rock Armor, Arcane Shield, Fire/Frost Weapon, and Death Syphon. Death Syphon was the most important, as it allowed me to run the extremely mana hungry spells like Shimmering Shield. All of the arcane warrior abilities are needed for this, and you can use offensive spells as you desire. One of the other sustained spells that I tested out with it was Miasma, which I found to be effective. I also had the mind to try out Death Magic, but never got the chance. This setup allows you to become almost invincible, but with the trade off of limited offensive abilities. The reason for this is the reduced mana pool from the sustained spells and the large amount of fatigue casued by the spells and the armor. (My fatigue was around 119%.) My character has 57 armor and 117 defense, and was several times harder to kill then the rest of the party combined. Just wanted to throw out what I thought was a good setup.

99.14.25.19 10:54, December 4, 2009 (UTC)Artemis Lycheborne

its definetly not in that room, ive looked over an hour and its not there

It is.. you get it off the arcane warrior up on the left. but watch out when you attack him because 2 drakes and several baby dragon things attack you from behind when you do.

I prefer a non Shimmering Shield build, because of the mana drain, because I use Combat Magic, Arcane Shield, Rock Armor, Death Magic, and the ultimate Cleansing Aura. Clearly using a Spirit Healer secondary, this makes me incredibly useful, because Cleansing Aura heals my party well, and draws a great deal of aggro for me. This also focuses me on Willpower, witch gives me an enormous pool of mana that keeps my mana going. Also, stamina boosting and stamina regeneration armor seems to affect your mana pool the same way, so my Cleansing Aura doesnt even lower my mana anymore. Instead of having weapon enhancements on all the time (Fire on my other mage and maybe ice or telekinetic on me as needed.), It keeps me clear to use Glyphs for support. Virulent Walking Bomb and Stinging Swarm, both drawn sword quick casts to do some extra damage, Crushing Prison and Force Field for extra crowd control, and healing magics like Revival and Group Heal. This basically makes me an indestructible health dispenser. This build will however require the spell spiking glitch or level 20-25 to really be fully effective, but it is the most effective way to make your main char the most effective healer in game, since you don't have to worry about it dieing. Axier 16:31, January 5, 2010 (UTC)

Just A Thought....
Apart from the 2+ aproval from Alistair, is there any reason to not pocket the stone and destroy it? You already have the Arcane Warrior knowledge before you destroy the stone, and a dialogue option says "No, You Might Be Usefull Later". Well. Is it? Anyone know, anyone try? Coroxn 22:06, January 9, 2010 (UTC)

I had choose "No, You Might Be Usefull Later" but no item receive. Just quest log says:"You took the knowledge of the Arcane Warrior from thePresence, but refused to set it free."

So, I think it's better to let it RIP.

Arcane or Blood
Should I get Arcane Warrior or Blood Mage specialization ???

Does anyone know if a mages fatigue still comes from strength or does it come from magic after the mage becomes an arcane warrior?