Dragon Age 2
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Lautreamont

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Lautreamont

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About this mod

Upgrade most of the spells in DA2, making the mages much more powerful. All spell lines should be rewarding now.

Permissions and credits
This simple mod is aimed on making spells more powerful and all lines satisying. I found, in fact, the concept of many spells very good, in theory, but their execution a bit lacking (an example was the entropy line, apart Hex of Torment and Horror). I tried my best to resolve this issue (within the restrictions imposed by not having a toolset), making all spells powerful for what they should do.

Another intent of this mod is making mages less tied to CCCs to be effective and be less reliant on other party members to do their job. There are two different approaches on how to handle this, imo, namely:

- Have mages to be able to cast more. This is my preferred approach and it's based on the assumption that mages rely much more on abilities than other classes and do very minimal damage from auto-attacks. In this way mages are able to cast spells more often than before and so they can be very efficient without having to wait a party member to open the option for a CCC.
- Make mage spells more powerful overall with diminished CCC damage. This was the approach of the old "Normal" version of the mod and it does work quite well. It relies more on brute force instead on having the possibility of casting more. Instead of not waiting to use a spell because you will be able to use it soon after, this approach is based on the principle that you will not have to wait on a CCC because your spell will do anyway good damage.

A note: this mod works best on hard/nightmare difficulty, where enemies' resistances/immunities and their much increased health make encounters more difficult and the aforementioned approaches and improved spells have a sense and are either arguably needed. If you use the mod on normal/casual then it is perfectly possible that your mage will destroy everything with ease. It is not a bad thing in itself, given the lore and the fact that many find this aspect of mages fun, however keep this in mind.

TO ALL USERS:
If you are interested on a full overhaul of combat gameplay, including Rogues and Warrior classes, plus naturaly the changes in this mod, then take a look at my "Better Combat" mod here:
http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2766


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How to install:
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Extract or copy the content of the archive (using 7-Zip, Winrar or similar) under ..\Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age 2\packages\core\override.
Be sure to not have the game running while you do this, or the changes will not take effect until you restart.

NOTE: If you have a version prior to 2.0 then remove the old version since I've packed the files in an erf for better management by users.

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How to uninstall:
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Remove/Delete from ..\Documents\BioWare\Dragon Age 2\packages\core\override the Better_Mages erf.


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Changes in version 2.1:
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- Dispel Magic: increased AoE to 10m.
- Transmutation: increased damage to Crushing Prison level (without upgrade). Transmutation is similar in concept to the the old Mana Clash of DAO, but its pitiful damage didn't do anything whatsoever and I don't know anybody who ever took the spell. Now it becomes, on the contrary, very strong against some type of enemies. To counteract the much greater value of the upgrade the points to take it are increased to 4.
- Mind Blast/Stunning Blast: changed to don't affect party members (I don't know why it did in the original, it doesn't make much sense), and increased duration on Stunning Blast to 5s.
- Made small changes to some abilities' costs.

Ok, that's it. I think the changes are now working nicely togheter and I will take a break from the game (I already did 5 mage runs from start to finish to test all the synergies in this mod). This will be the last change to the mod for a while. After I will return from this little pause I will probably start working on companions' spells. Probably other modders that uses my mod as a start for compatibility and changes will thank me profusely for this ;-)


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Versions of the mod:
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- Default version:
This version changes the costs and cooldowns of abilities of mages (mostly on upgrades, to reward specializing, and for damaging spells) plus the enhancements on the individual spells. This way you will be able to cast more and more often your preferred spells, without relying on waiting on the occasion to use a CCC and without having numerous pauses where you only auto-attack. Damage of spells is the same as vanilla DA2. A clarification: you will probably note that I didn't change cooldowns for healing spells. This is done voluntarily because I think one of the intentions of the developers for DA2 was making classes less reliant on spamming healing. Since I agree with this concept I don't want to variate it.

- Increased Damage version:
This is the old "Normal" version of the mod. It make all spells do +50% damage overall and decreases staggered CCC damage by 25-30%. This way you will rely more on quality than quantity in comparision to the default version, however the gameplay is very similar to vanilla DA2 in the fact that, since the number of spells you can have are limited, you will often have to make pauses to auto-attack inbetween spells.

- Xtreme Version:
This version mixes the two concepts. You have more damage overall as in the "Increased Damage" version, plus reduced cooldowns as the "Default" version. However the cooldowns are reduced only slightly in comparision to the "Default" version to not be overpowered. This version is called "Xtreme" for a motive: on anything that's not nightmare you will probably be overpowered on the endgame if you build your mage right. It is to be used more as fun than serious play.

- Vanilla version:
This version has the original damage of spells plus the same cooldowns as original DA2. Only the changes to individual spells remains. This version is more for "purists", those that think that mages in DA2 are perfectly fine apart some spells that could be better.

- *All versions* have reworked requirements in the trees to take spells, especially for low tier and upgrades. As an example you can now take Winter Blast without investing a point in Cone of Cold, or you can take Spirit Mastery with 4 points' investment instead of 7. This is done to give more freedoms to players on the spells they want to take.

If you want even more freedom on investments of points then I suggest you to take a look at the "Lazyman" version of this mod, created by Honey Lemon. You can find it here:
http://www.dragonagenexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2683


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General changes:
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- Hexes that causes AoE effects (as Sleep) don't cause friendly fire.
- Made all lines have more synergy in themselves and with others.
- Revised costs of all abilities to give more freedom to users.
- Reduced cooldowns on spells primarily on upgrades, to reward specializing (Default Version, and, in a reduced way, Xtreme Version).
- Increased overall damage on spells by 50% and decresed staggered CCC by 25%-30% (Increased Damage and Xtreme versions).


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Individual changes:
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Winter Grasp/Blast:
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Increased Area Of Effect of Winter Graps to 5 meters. Increased freeze probability on Winter Blast against normal enemies to 100% and brittle chance to 80%.

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Deep Freeze:
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Increased damage by 25%*, increased freeze probability against normal enemies to 70% and brittle chance to 50%.

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Fireball/Searing Fireball:
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Increased damage by 100%*, increased the force to 5x and +10x (for Searing), this way the spell knocks back many enemies. The spell in vanilla was utter crap, now with the knockback and increased damage it actually becomes handy.

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Apocalyptic Firestorm:
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Now it doesn't increase the area of effect no more. This way with the increased damage and a smaller area the probability of hitting what you want to hit is really increased. Believe me, it's much better this way, especially in nightmare.

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Chain Lightning/Reaction:
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Increased area of effect to 4 + 4 (for upgrade), for a total of 8 meters instead of 4 meters. The only drawback of this very handy spell (especially on staggered enemies) was the too little area of effect. Now no more so much.

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Tempest:
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Reduced time for the effects to take place by 1s (for a total of 3s). Tempest has very low damage, its use is primarily as CC, however 1 strike every 2 seconds (with the upgrade) was a bit too much. Now with Strikes Twice you "stagger" enemies every second. Not bad.

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Spirit Strike:
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Increased damage on Disoriented enemies to 400%. The upgrade was used in vanilla mostly to take Walking Bomb. Now it should add more of a punch against disoriented targets (that are difficult to exploit fully).

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Corrosive/Virulent/Walking Bomb:
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Reworked the spell and upgrades to have more applications. While Walking Bomb was a very good spell in some situations, it was too situational to be good as in theory it should be. Now this is changed. Just be careful on nightmare for the increased AoE (or use Spirit Ward runes).

Walking Bomb: increased AoE to 8m.
Corrosive Walking Bomb: decreased casting time, damage increased by 75%* and on Disoriented targets by 400%.
Virulent Walking Bomb: adds +15% damage to Corrosive, infection chance to normal enemies is increased to 50%.

Morover the upgrades lower the cooldown (the amount of which depends on the version of the mod used).

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Death Syphon:
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Upkeep decreased to 10% and AoE increased to 20m. With the reduced upkeep and double AoE it now becomes a very efficient way to replenish mana (an health with the upgrade).

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Dispel Magic/Transmutation:
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Transmutation is similar in concept to the old Mana Clash of DAO, however the damage is really too low to do something and enemies that have sustainables are not too many and far inbetween. I don't know anybody that either took the spell. I made it so that the spell adds much more of a punch and it actually becomes quite useful. To counteract the much greater value of the upgrade the costs to take it are increased to 4.

Dispel Magic: increased AoE to 10m.
Transmutation: increased damage to Crushing Prison level. Increased health regen for party members to 40%.

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Spirit Mastery:
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Changed to give a bonus of +30% critical chance instead of a measly +5% (this way it becomes a plausible and either strong mastery, and opens up many more possible builds, maybe with a little investment on cunning, for example).

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Stunning/Mind Blast:
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Mind Blast and its upgrade were, in theory, good spells but the too little AoE, too little duration of Stunning Blast and friendly fire made them much less effective than they should.

Mind Blast: made spell not do friendly fire (I don't know why it did in the original, it doesn't make much sense) and increased AoE to 6m.
Stunning Blast: increased AoE to another 6m (for a total of 12m) and increased duration to 5s.

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Arcane Shield:
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Increased the defense bonus to 40%. Mages have really poor defense, the spell takes double stamina than Rock Armor and with much less "bang for the buck". All in all a waste in vanilla. This way it should be a much more meaningful choice.

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Crushing/Paralyzing Prison:
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Increased damage by 50%*, percentual of damage on staggered enemies to 500% (for upgrade) and chance of reduced attack/movement to 75% on normal enemies. This way it is not more so crap as it was before in comparision to, for example, Hemorrhage.

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Barrier:
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Increased duration to 10s. As it is in vanilla the duration is really too low to make any real difference at all. This way it is more balanced, in my opinion.

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Horror:
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Decreased cooldown to 20s. In nightmare the spell lasts only 5 seconds on elites, so 25s on cooldown was a bit too much.

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Misdirection Hex:
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Increased duration to 15 seconds (Misdirection was a bit meh when compared to Hex of Torment, now the increased duration makes it much more worthwhile).

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Sleep:
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Changed effects to not affect all the party instead of just the user, increased chance of sleep to 100% against normal enemies and increased AoE to 15m. Glyph of Paralysis elsewhere was better in everything, now, on the contrary, especially with Coma you are in for a master of CC, as the spell has always been in the past.

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Entropic/Death Cloud:
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I had to completely rework the spell and upgrade because, apart being utterly useless in vanilla, it was either completely bugged. With the changes it now becomes a very powerfull spell (probably one of the best), especially Death Cloud. Another GREAT benefit of the spell is that it doesn't do friendly fire (as all Hexes in this mod).

Entropic Cloud: greatly reduced casting time, changed effects to not affect the party, increased sleep chance to 100% and stun chance to 50% against normal enemies. Duration is corrected (it was bugged and stopped at the first cycle, i.e. 4 seconds) and increased to 20s.
Death Cloud: reduced "strike" interval by 2s, increased damage by about 125%*, stun chance to 150% (so to affect either elites) and removed sleep chance (that overwrote stun chance in the upgrade for the paralysis that, however, was bugged).

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Heroic/Valiant Aura:
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Now the upkeep is decreased on Heroic to 15%, but when you take Valiant then it returns to 20% as before. This way seems to me a better compromise.

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Glyph of Repulsion:
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Increased force to 15 + 15 (for upgrade) respectively, increased AoE to 8m and increased duration to 20s. This way it has a stronger application and actually becomes a good spell; the only enemies that are not knocked back with the upgrade, apart immune creatures, are very powerful elite warriors and/or bosses.

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Haste:
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Increased duration to 15s + 15s (for upgrade). The cooldown is 60s, so half the duration seems plausible for the high-end talent of the line.

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Fist of the Maker:
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Increased base damage by 100%*. Without the stagger CCC (that required many points in vanilla) it was an utter waste of a spell.

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Telekinetic Burst/Blast:
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Increased force to 30 and +20 (for the upgrade) and increased AoE to 8m. As it was in vanilla it was a wasted point because it didn't either work on many powerful enemies and you were forced on taking it for the better choices in the line. This way it should be a little more balanced, and, while still a bit lacking, at last it's not a total waste.

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Pull/Edge of the Abyss:
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Duration change to 10s and the upgrade adds +10 to force and -25 movement speed. The cooldown, however, is increased to 30s. Pull of the Abyss is a good spell in theory, but in vanilla the duration was really too low to do something signicant (apart maybe the very powerful CoC + Walking Bomb combo tied with it). With the increased duration on the upgrade now it has many more uses.

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Healing Aura:
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Decreased upkeep to 10%. It is already a strong drawback being unable to cast offensive spells, then you either add a great cost on upkeep when the range of the effects is very little and you have to constantly be on a dangerous position for it to work... a bit too much.

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Hemorrage/Paralyzing Hemorrage:
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Hemorrage should warrant alone specializing in Blood Magic, so it should be probably the best spell in the game. While in DA2 it was powerful, its major component in DAO, very good CC, has been lost. I ripristined it, and in so doing it actually becomes the best spell in the game, bar none, especially with the upgrade, and it more than justify the drawbacks of being a Blood Mage with the requirements' system.

Hemorrage: increased AoE to 15m, increased duration to 10s and increased damage by 15% to counteract the deferred damage resulted by the longer duration. Level requirement has been lowered to 9.
Paralyzing Hemorrage: adds +5s to duration and increased paralysis chance to 100% against normal enemies. Lowered level requirement to 13.

Morover I reworked completely level requirements for all the Blood Magic line. They were a bit off compared to other specs.

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Grave Robber/One Foot In:
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Increased area of effect to 10 meters and One Foot In adds +10% health on corpses. This way it is much more useful. Before you had to nitpick where corpses were for the spell to do something at all.

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Blood Slave/Blood Control:
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Increased duration to 30s, but changed cooldown to 60s. Blood Control reduces the cooldown of the ability by 20s. This way the control has more sense, given the duration, however you cannot use it as often if you don't take the upgrade. If you take Blood Control you will have a slave under your command every 10 seconds, so it now becomes useful and either strong, depending on who you enslave.


*For the "Increased Damage" version add another +25% to the damage listed.



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Compatibility with other mods:
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This mod is incompatible with all the others that changes spells for Hawke, however it is perfectly compatible with all those that changes other abilities (as Warrior or Rogue) of Hawke or Monsters' abilities. If you use a mod that changes the full abi_base.gda then this mod will overwrite only the spells.