Post About Lyrium
Category: Resources
Current mood:  blah

ser_lurk·3y

Others have already said this, but I want to reiterate, mages do not need lyrium to perform magic. They use it to enhance their natural capabilities.

[lyrium potions are] used to aid in the casting of especially taxing spells, for a short time granting a mage far greater power than he normally wields.

Lyrium is also used by mages to enter the Fade fully aware.

When mixed into liquid and ingested, lyrium allows mages to enter the Fade when fully aware, unlike all others who reach it only when dreaming.

Mages can even use lyrium to contact sleeping people from far way. It's also used in the Harrowing, or other rituals to "seek enlightenment".

Lyrium is an integral part of a ritual that allows mages to separate spirit from the body and enter the Fade voluntarily. This has traditionally been used to contact those asleep and far away, or as part of a quest to seek enlightment.

Lyrium is also used to replenish mana quickly.

When used properly, the mana within lyrium can replenish a mage's power more quickly than through natural means.

It can be used cast spells that would be beyond a mage's ability without the use of lyrium or blood magic.

Lyrium can also aid in powerful spells and rituals. It is the only known way a typical mage can achieve power otherwise reserved for blood magic or dangerous pacts with demons.

Lyrium is addictive to anyone that uses it, not just Templars, and the addiction gets worse over time.

Regardless of its state, lyrium is addictive. The more one uses lyrium, the more one wants to use it, and always in greater quantities.

Mages do suffer side effects from excessive lyrium use.

Though mages, of course, consume it in a diluted form to bolster their abilities, this is not recommended. Overindulgence in lyrium can have disastrous consequences, particularly in more concentrated amounts.

The excessive consumption of lyrium by ancient magisters even led to physical mutation. Look at Corypheus for example. He doesn't even look wholly human anymore.

Lyrium has its costs, however. Prolonged use becomes addictive, the cravings unbearable... The magister lords of the Tevinter Imperium were widely reputed to have been so affected by their years of lyrium use that they could not be recognized by their own kin, nor even as creatures that had once been human.

Mages can also suffer from something called "mana imbalance", which can cause symptoms such as dizziness and hearing voices. Anything that increases a mage's capacity for magic, including lyrium, can have damaging effects on the body. Vivienne talks about it if the Inquisitor drinks from the Well.

Inquisitor: I've been dizzy for hours, and every now and then I still hear voices.

Vivienne: You may be experiencing mana imbalance. For mages, anything that increases your capacity for magic, such as lyrium, has a damaging effect on the body.

Edit: As /u/Ostrololo mentioned, having the PC/companions never become addicted to lyrium is just a matter of gameplay and lore segregation. The writers did consider making lyrium addiction a mechanic in the game, but it was ultimately scrapped. It was too costly to implement in a meaningful way.

The implementation we had was that, if the addiction developed, the use of lyrium had diminishing returns. You needed more and got less. The problem we encountered, as you point out, is that mages pretty much needed to drink lyrium potions. Addiction was practically guaranteed. So there needed to be some method of dealing with the addiction without rendering it pointless, and ideally some kind of story implication...

...and you can see why it suddenly became costly. If we could come up with some other implementation that was meaningful, I'd like to see return in the future -- it was something templar characters were meant to face as well as mages, after all.

Sources:

• Codex entry: Lyrium (Origins)
• Codex entry: Lyrium (Dragon Age II)
• Conversation between the Inquisitor and Vivienne (Inquisition)
• "Your companions and the Taint" Thread (Bioware Forums)
• The World of Thedas, Volume 1 (pg. 93)

TL;DR Mages don't need lyrium, but it makes them more powerful. Lyrium is addictive to both mages and Templars.