DAO: Celurriel

Here is Celurriel at the Harrowing Chamber with Irwin(left) and Gregoir (right) the commander of the templars. Mages in Thedas are hardly tolerated and are often kept under close watch by the templars. Which is the militant branch of the Chantry. The Chantry would be equivalent of the Church in medieval times as they wield quite a tremendous amount of power.


BACKGROUND

I never knew who my parents were. I barely remembered their faces. It was blurry & vague. As if it was obscured by fog. Were they Dalish? It didn't matter, well not anymore. I was brought to this tower a long time ago. I can't even remember how old I was then. If someone asked me what childhood meant. I don't think I could ever answer them.

I was brought up here. Not much later, my training has began. The concentration, the books & rituals. Amongst all that, we were watched by the bunch of men in heavy armor that called themselves the Templars. It didn't matter what you are, human or elves. They kept a close watch on us regardless. We were never allowed to leave the tower. Though I have heard of a particular mage that have escaped the tower on several occasions. Anders was it?

Now several years have passed, at least a decade. I have grown and started to notice a Templar by the name of Cullen. Who seems to be paying special attention to me. An odd fellow for a Templar, sometimes I catch him smiling at me. When he realized that I was aware, his expression quickly change & seems to be a little nervous when I talked to him.

I haven't had much time to contemplate. Since much of my time has been spent on harnessing the powers of the arcane. Which I am told is extremely dangerous. I have spent much time learning from the Senior Enchanters and I'm told the day of my Harrowing is just tomorrow.

I will have to enter the fade and face one of the greatest challenges in my life. There is a chance that I might even turn into an abomination that must be put down by those Templars guarding us.

If I am successful I will leave the ranks of apprenticeship and become a full-fledged mage. Yet I'm not filled with excitement. I will still be kept in this prison of a tower. I'm often told that we are dangerous and we are housed here to keep ourselves and others safe.

And that with power comes great responsibility.
Though I should count my blessing that the Circle hasn't decide to turn me into a Tranquil. One of those creepy mages who no longer have any emotions. Oh... what I would give to leave this tower. And maybe.. to experience a bit of love? Is that too much to ask?

BUILD
Class: Mage
Specializations: Arcane Warrior / Spirit Healer
Primary Role: Healer / Buffer
Secondary: DPS / Crowd-Control

I wanted something different for my 2nd play-through. So I tried another class, but its hard to get the hang of friendly fire when everything is moving in real-time. Pausing can only do so much. So a healer would definitely be a lot easier to manage. The decision to go Arcane Warrior was merely cosmetic, Celurriel can't actually tank at all. Robes are just too plain ugly for me. Definitely the traditional D&D Cleric.

Heavy armor will attract aggro so putting her in the back is a sound plan. It forces enemies to wade through my other party members. The down side is that she runs out of mana fairly easy due to fatigue. Therefore potions are an absolute must in long drawn-out fights. Also deliberately done so to exclude Wynne from the party since I wanted a completely different experience.


PARTY COMPOSITION
1. Shale - Tank
2. Leliana - Rogue
3. Oghren - Main DPS

Very standard MMO party set-up. Shale is hard to take down and can switch modes. Her tanking mode is what interest me since it comes with some AoE CC that helps in the fights itself.
Leliana is a no-brainer... she is the only rogue around. Going the ranger route is just to bring a little extra dps & to soak the damage. Also useful to block off enemies.
Oghren is just mainly just for comedy relief, but he also comes with two specialization slots unlike Sten who given only one.

Celurriel in her full battle regalia. From robes to massive-armor.