Spell Combos from WORST to BEST in Dragon Age Origins!

[@LAZERAK47V2]

During the siege of Ostagar: "Warden! Are you sure this will work?" "Haha! I have NO idea!" *Casts Storm of the Century on the Darkspawn horde*

[@TheArnoldification]

the world being spooked by mages made a lot more sense in origins lol

[@sometingwong2733]

meanwhile inquisition just ignore all of the lore and made mage cast puny spell

[@Knight1029]

I absolutely love these types of videos. There aren't many videos that just talk about the gameplay of DAO in depth.

[@AKisHerceg]

Glad you like it! :)

[@Knight1029]

@@AKisHerceg it was pretty good!

[@spartanhuntergaming]

I do love the combo system, like petrifying enemies with Mage then shattering with mighty strike with the twohander

[@Knight1029]

@@spartanhuntergaming that is pretty fun. Though the way I play DAO that doesn't happen often (I play on easy).

[@spartanhuntergaming]

@@Knight1029 it is a hard game

[@RiverHB]

I agree with the glyph explosion being hands down the best combo in the game. However, I'd like to suggest an upgraded ranking to shatter. It offers a controlled detonation with walking/virulent walking bomb. Cluster a mob however you wish, afflict a white enemy with both bombs, cone of cold the pack, and stone fist the afflicted for the shatter. This offers an efficient, armor bypassing nuke. The nuke isn't technically part of the combo, but the combo itself offers a perfect setup for it. And it's a whole lotta fun... And thank you for the continued support for this game!!

[@EminNSU]

Flame-Quencher is more of a joke. Like, look, there's physics in our game....

[@equilibrium9135]

I just wanted to show appreciation for this type of content and thank you dearly for not only going through the combos, but explaining them really well. I've seen videos and guides on combos before, but only now do I understand which ones are good and which ones I can rate as good for my type of gameplay.

[@AKisHerceg]

Thanks! Glad it helped you! :)

[@F8isRIPPIN]

I'm not a Mage player in DA usually and I never even knew spell combos existed other than Sleep and Nightmare lmao. Awesome video!

[@AgentZ46]

A pleasant surprise hearing your voice! And great video too. I was hoping you'd talk about Storm of the Century's radius because man it's frustrating for me to try and avoid it 😅

[@Boldumor]

Love the Dragon Age content! Also wanted to share a few things about Spell Combos: Shattering: Whirlwind and Low Blow can crit, giving you a chance for AOE shattering. If you have a Dual Weapon Duelist Rogue you can activate Pinpoint Strike before using Whirlwind/Low Blow to guarantee crits. Paralysis Explosion: If there's an enemy Glyph of Paralysis you can use it against them and cast Glyph of Repulsion on top of it to trigger the combo.

[@DivineBanana]

I love that people are still making content for this game and new players are still trying it ❤ truly an unforgettable RPG!

[@Onyz187]

Lots of quality info, wish you had timestamps or a F-S shortlist in the description.

[@DivineBanana]

Great video, I really appreciate how you go into details of the pros and cons of each, even the ones you dont really like or use. Idk if this counts as a spell combination but i would add that sleep + waking nightmare has a special effect where it makes the waking nightmare unresistable. Really good for taking a group of enemies out of the fight, while they beat each other up. Might not be as good as the paralyze shockwave but still fun to do.

[@RavinerPayne]

2:45 Well Grease and a line of defense lines people up then a fireball on top of the ones standing or on the ground.

[@peterboice7442]

Phenomenal content! Thank you for making these!

[@AKisHerceg]

You are welcome! :)

[@sharkdentures3247]

Great video! I'd say I 100% agree with you & your rankings. (or at least 90% agree) A little while ago I DID actually do an "Entropy Focused (Blood) Mage". (And got the Hexor achievement unlocked too. Yay.) It was FUN, but yeah, had some major vulnerabilities. (Like being very squishy & pulling a LOT OF AGGRO!) It started because I was interested in an online suggested "Non-Spell Combo"/ Spell combo. Arcane bolt & Life Drain. (I seem to "have a THING" for Spirit Damage mages.) They both cast quite quickly. (I think Life Drain is "insta-cast".) Later, I added Bloody Grasp & Vulnerability Hex to the front. (Making for are "relatively" fast, respectable spirit damage, single target "Non-Combo".) And just kept going with more & more Entropy spells. ANOTHER "Non-Spell Combo"/ Spell Combo I like (& regularly use, ESPECIALLY if I am playing a Primal mage) is what I saw someone on an online forum call the "Tripple Cone 'Combo'.". Enemies charge you. Hit them with Cone of Cold. (For cold damage & FREEZE them in place) Then, hit them with Flame blast. (For Fire damage & set them on fire, while NOT "Thawing" them out of being Frozen) Finally, hit them with Shock. (For Lightning damage & stamina drain) Yeah, these aren't "true" "Spell Combos", but they are quite a useful & enjoyable Spell "sequence" IMO.

[@AKisHerceg]

Indeed, there are plenty of "combos" that you can play around with in this game and they work amazingly! I used the "Tripple Cone 'Combo'" with my Elementalist build a ton, and it was indeed awesome. :) Combining Blood Wound with Fireball and Chain Lightning is also a fantastic crowd-wrecker. Applying Affliction Hex before you do it adds insult to injury. For defensive combos there is the Arcane Shield+Glyph of Warding+Heroic Defense stacking, which can result in colossal defense for a mage. Lots of options, lots of fun! :)

[@sharkdentures3247]

@@AKisHerceg Oh goodness yes! I remember that from your "Blood Archer" video. Great video & awesome concept BTW. But don't forget Glyph of Warding (whenever you can) too. Another very good spell which is (partially) why I rank Glyph of Repulsion as the 2nd best spell in the game! (only behind Mana Clash) Three very Useful spells in a row? And you get access to (arguably) the BEST Spell combo in the game? Not to mention it is a terrific battlefield control spell by itself? Love it! And yeah, Blood Wound is a LIFE SAVER (offensively & defensively) that allowed me to use Entropic Death more frequently.

[@Sanvone]

My go-to non-spell combo is haste+flaming weapons on Wynne. Both effects from Wynne feed into each other on rest of team and give great mileage from early on. Honorable mention for Kinetic Weapons+Dual Striking.

[@sumeetmaity6252]

For me, ironically, the AOE elemental spells like Fire+Ice Storm or the Storm+Fire were game changers. Basically get my tank in the thick of it and set up the combo and BAM! And my tank takes only takes moderate damage while everyone's already down.

[@StarMarshal]

Using those elemental balms also helped it so they'd have a better chance of survival on higher difficulties too.

[@dummyboy3835]

Dude awesome to see someone still making origins videos!

[@Sanvone]

My favourite Vanilla spell combo is Mana clease after Mana Clash into another Mana Clash =D SoC is stupid stronk. Made run where I was rushing it and beside having tempest in Korcari Wilds, then Chain Lighting in Tower of Ishal, you still have room to squeeze Mana Clash for Mage Circle waiting for Morrigan to pickup Blizzard. After Circle it was dealing around 80 dmg per tick (but I had basic lighting rod from Denerim already as it is cheap and obtainable straight after Lothering) which meant that on Nightmare it cleared enemies in Redclife in 3 ticks. Given maximum range of it and big area of effect it made it less annoying due to downtime after (As I was clearing often 2+ packs of enemies at once) and no enemy ever made it out of it alive (I always start by timing Blizzard that knocks down like 1 second earlier). Later was planning on getting Glyph of Negation to make it usable in small areas (glyph under team and hold position while everything else melts - you can add glyph of expulsion too). If you want useless then make a video about Traps. Some (Choking powder/gas) I have no idea how made it into game. On more serious topic - consumables are often overlooked. Seen "expert" guides lately that omitted that if you don't pick something in Ostagar then you won't see it for 95% of the game ;).

[@MrPawsPause]

Guard at 4:16 kindly shows an example of slipping 😂😂😂

[@rr-nu9hs]

thank you so much for the new video format. i LOVE it this way

[@SaganTheKhajiit]

As a Warrior main now branching out to Mage: thank you. Really. All combos look super tempting and now I have an idea of what's actually worth the investment. And that means I'll probably go Storm of The Century plus Shimmering Shield from Arcane Warrior.

[@Nicomancer001]

Back when I was new to the game, I used to spam Storm of the Century a lot since it's the only reliable damage spell I can use for mobs. Now that I'm more experienced and have specifically tailored min-max builds for my team (My mage warden just basically dumps every stat to increase my Magic and Spellpower), I avoid that combo like the plague. One cast with a mage with max magic and spellpower + buffs from Spell might and Spell wisp kills my team in seconds. I didn't even had the chance to move out of the MASSIVE AOE it brings.

[@happy_thinking]

Also if your mage has electricity ring and gloves that's 30% more damage which makes the combo equal to a nuke.

[@dakar1324]

I like doing advanced reanimation and hexes for neromancer flavor but having to recast it constantly sucks. Especially in spots like the Redcliff Castle courtyard where I need to fight that revenant at practically level 2 because I invested everything to get a skeleton that doesn't feel like following me through that particular door.

[@RavinerPayne]

24:52 I did not know about quench...

[@thehalfrican1386]

I actualy had no idea about the crushing prision+barrier combo. I might play again here soon just so i can use that combo to counter those damn genlocks in the deeproads.

[@woodpecker8116]

Nightmare is my preferd combo, didnt know about many of those. Only Shatter and grease fire although i think i triggerd the life drain combo by accident once

[@DiluteOrb]

Damn! Watching this makes me feel like I should've played a mage instead of a rogue

[@Nagram_]

Return of the king

[@angrymike590]

This js absolutely awesome, I have the worst time playing a mage and this just give me a lot of ideas and I want to play the game again

[@Baadriano]

oh shit! Is that your real voice? Good to hear you still keep moving forward :D

[@RavinerPayne]

19:39 I used to be in the middle of those since almost nothing touched me and punching them to death as weaker people blew up into a biohazard chain bomb.

[@RavinerPayne]

Oh and add in a blood wound.

[@OnStrike69]

Im not going to lie, I had no idea that there were combos in DAO

[@LaCo1028]

Grease Fire is not intended to be used for damage, instead its use is for crowd control. Almost everybody uses both grease and fireball immediately one after another, but you can use grease to knock down enemies and then use the fireball to knock down enemies again once they are up. It is basically a cheap two times knock down combo.

[@AKisHerceg]

Hmm... I would not call it cheap, especially since for the same price, you can get much better spells early on. Mind Blast + Force Field, or Heal + Life Drain, or 2 Lightning spells, or Rock Armor + Stone Fist etc. Getting Spell Wisp and Grease seems like one of the worst way to invest 2 spells, unless you really want to get to Flying Swarm fast.

[@Jhin_Wick]

wait u talk? hell yes. and very informative video!

[@RavinerPayne]

11:31 Well you're supposed to set up tactics so that they do automatically combo into shatter.

[@AironSmieciowy-di3qy]

Great video!

[@Massinissathefirst]

Witty and to the point!

[@Dullahan3470]

Grease fire being awful is one of the main reasons I swear by the Combat Tweaks mod changes. The vanilla game just has too many things that are either extremely weak or extremely strong.

[@beagay963]

If you go with a difficulty that has no friendly fire, which I think is easy on pc and normal on xbox; storm of the century becomes S+ tier. But yeah on hard or nightmare it loses so much usefulness.

[@EdSouzaL2]

I love your DragonAge videos. I know this is a DA:O video but I got a question about DA:I since you AI videos are amazing! How do you setup the behavior for companions in DA:I? Thanks

[@AKisHerceg]

I almost always make them follow the Inquisitor - the controlled character. The only time I let them follow themselves is when I really want them to stay away.

[@EdSouzaL2]

@@AKisHerceg Thanks!

[@EminNSU]

The Storm of the Century is not a S, but a S+ spell. I suppose about 60-70% of all my damage in the last solo run was dealt by this spell. Besides combining it with paralysis (or any other cc) and a force field on yourself, there is an even more advanced way to use it. Just be a arcane warrior. The Shimmering Shield gives a staggering 75% resistance to electricity, 15 to armor, and huge bonuses to physical and mental resilience, which practically guarantees that you can perform all combinations, even when surrounded by a group of enemies. And then, you just draw your sword and fight right inside the Storm like a boss. To manage mana costs and buy time for casting spells, it will be useful to use blood magic and the Blood Wound spell. The health costs for spells with blood magic do not increase as much from fatigue as they do with regular casting.

[@garwynrosser8907]

I use storm of the century constantly. I cast force field in myself afterwards. The duration is 30s.

[@AKisHerceg]

On NM the duration of Force Field is 20 sec. on you or the team, so it does not outlast SoTC. Which is why I recommend using Anti-Magic Ward first(it lasts 10 sec, so the two together will outlast SoTC).

[@Mateo-sn8ig]

That F was for the bear 2:27 😭

[@AKisHerceg]

To be fair, the bear died because I cast Flame Blast on him intentionally, so he can ignite Grease. Grease won't ignite from Flame Blast, you need a flaming enemy/ally to ignite it and that could not be the Wisp because then the damage would not have been accurate from Grease Fire. So I set the bear on fire lol. :)

[@quint3ssent1a]

I'd say shatter is an S tier combo just because of how ubiquitously useful it is. Yeah, there are cool spells which you can execute once in a blue moon, but shatter just gets the job done again, and again. Also that entropic death combo is my personal favourite just because of how stupid it is. Not only death cloud is a damaging AOE, it's also DARK, YOU CANT SEE SHIT IN THERE!

[@Masterty66]

You do get +50 xp per codex unlocked so I guess if you do happen to have Grease and Fireball it's probably still worth casting once just for the xp lol

[@AKisHerceg]

Only if you want to get Flying Swarm. I can't imagine wasting a spell on Grease for any other reason. :)

[@Franju98]

The firts times i use this combo that cause a storm my game crash so i was like, yeah i better don't do that, plus the radio of damage is pretty big and i get death xD

[@benmezd]

I think this game influences dos2

[@eraythehan]

yessss

[@Twilight5007]

Man how the hell did they go from this to a crappy arpg with only 3 skills per character

[@RavinerPayne]

6 I thought.

[@Bubble955]

👍

[@RavinerPayne]

21:32 Wasting!?! What kind of mage are you it's like a personalized arena for the dragon since you have to be "This" good to survive.

[@yournumberonepal]

So, what you are saying is to use 3 mages. Problem solved! 😂

[@sjbell4653]

Nevermind combos- having three mages in the party solves pretty much every problem!

[@rusty3432]

Almost all of These combos don’t even look worth the trouble except for shatter, does quake also trigger shatter ?

[@AKisHerceg]

Yeah, there are quite a few that are trash. But Improved Drain, Nightmare and Paralysis Explosion are super cheap and very effective too. No, Quake does not auto-shatter. Unless of course you crit. In that case, it does.

[@rusty3432]

@@AKisHerceg i can see no reason i would need paralysis explosion for a group, you can just blood wound and that would take care of most normal enemies or they would be almost dead, as for drain there are just a ton of potions and heal spells so meh, i am thinking to look into nightmare tho as i am lacking single target dmg and i already have all hexes

[@Anim8ionManiac]

why aren't i subbed? i'll fix that

[@TMNWG]

I love it, but the last two videos were on the quiet side, for me at least.

[@AKisHerceg]

That's interesting! When I make the video I have a headset on, so to me it sounds the exact opposite: headache inducingly loud! :) Even louder than other YT videos I watch. So I also double checked it with my tv and phone, and it seemed fine. Not sure why it's so quiet for you, but I would love to fix it. What do you use to listen to YT?

[@TMNWG]

@@AKisHerceg Laptop + headphones. It could be a setup quirk, I've only ever noticed it with your last few videos though. Regardless it doesn't make them unwatchable, it's just something I noticed.

[@kenpachiramasama1139]

Man I forgot how good magic was in dragon age origins. Da2 and inquisition are terrible in comparison.

[@kenzovich9225]

Sounds more like you forgot about every Dragon Age game and refuse to take off the nostalgia blinders.

[@kenpachiramasama1139]

@@kenzovich9225 ah an idiot. Objectify look at the spell list in origin. It has everything from dot, buffs, aoe, control, burst, and healing. There is 150 spells to choose from how can the other games compare an anyway.

[@slagwerk111]

Arcane warrior blood mage best

[@fraisertinko]

Mostly useless combos) Only freeze-> shatter makes any difference during playthrough) In DA2 and especially in DAI there are much better combos)

[@AKisHerceg]

Nightmare can make all the difference when you face a boss or an elite boss. Especially if they are immune to knockdown or stun. Improved Drain is also God tier if you do a no potion run.

[@fraisertinko]

@@AKisHerceg yeah sure, if you are making come challenge - you can use it) but in usual run, even at nightmare difficulty, you don't need most of the combos) for a mage you just need mana clash (all mages in the game are dead instantly - very balanced), AOE stun from the blood mage spec, fireball, sometimes cone spells and few one target spells) in the awakening you can add 2 new AOE spells from 2 new specs and you are good to go)