If you still wish to view the ideas I had prior to the game's release, you are free to do so, but please do not look to this page for accurate advice. They are merely old ideas.
According to a few images and videos floating around the internet, Dragon Age: Inquisition's skill system has a lot of potential for creating interesting interesting character builds. So, in a typical fashion I figured I'd write out some of the hair-brained ideas that have been rattling around in my mind.
Fair warning, I have a bias for Elves and Humans. It's simply the way of things.
All builds will finish at level 25 (since anything higher than that likely won't have anything left to fight against) and will broken down as follows:
Name - A stupid title, the race, and class
Build Order - the order in which the skills are learned
Bonus Skills - 5 other skills worth learning if you find skill tomes or go beyond level 25
Role - The extremely basic idea of what the build excels at
Loadout - The 8 skills mapped to the buttons
Usage - An in-depth summary of what the build does
Additional Skill Notes - The explanation for why the additional skills were chosen
Team Notes - A brief idea of which team mates work well with the build
Variations - Small changes to the build that help it address specific issues.
Also, note that I am operating under the assumption that one cannot go backwards in a skill tree except for the assassin class, as at the time of writing it is broken in favor of the player. Additionally, all build orders (excluding KE) are written with the assumption that the player is not using the Tacticians Renewal item to respec and acquires their specialization at level 10 (and thus can only begin to develop it at level 11).
1. Master of Some: Human - Knight Enchanter
* – Barrier
1 – Immolate
2 – Fade Step
3 – Pre-KE: Passive: Winter
Stillness (+3 Mag)/Post KE: Passive: Frost
Mastery (+3 Mag)
4 – Energy Barrage
5 – Winter’s Blast
6 – Lightning Bolt
7 – Passive: Flashpoint (+3
Mag)
8 – Passive: Clean Burn (+3
Will)
9 – Upgrade: Winter’s Chill
10 – Passive: Conductive Current
(+3 Mag)
11 – Spirit Blade
12 – Passive: Combat Clarity (+3
Con)
13 – Passive: Fade Shield (+3
Mag)
14 – Passive: Mana Surge (+3
Mag)
15 – Fade Cloak
16 – Upgrade: Decloaking Blast
17 – Focus: Resurgence
18 – Passive: Knight Protector (+3
Con)
19 – Passive: Static Charge (+3
Con)
20 – Upgrade:
Wildfire
21 – Upgrade: Exploding Bolt
22 – Passive: Chaotic Focus (+3
Mag)
23 – Passive: Guardian Spirit (+3
Con)
24 – Upgrade: Defending Blade
25 – Passive: Veiled Riposte (+3
Mag)
Bonus Skills:
---------------------------------
1. Passive: Pyromancer (+3
Will)
2. Passive: Frost Mastery (+3 Mag)
3. Mind Blast (Pre-requisite)
4. Passive: Strength of Spirits
5. Passive: Gathering Storm (+3 Will)
Role: Balanced (Control, Tank, and DPS)
Loadout:
A. B.
1. Defending Blade 1. Decloaking Blast
2. Winter’s Chill 2. Energy Barrage
3. Wildfire 3. Exploding Bolt
4. Fade Step 4. Resurgence
Usage: “A skilled tactician
both dictates and responds to the flow of battle”
To those who played Dragon Age:
Origins, this is basically Arcane Warrior mk.2. You don’t have any of the
typical “nuke” spells, but your strong assortment of offensive abilities enables
you to maintain a consistently high damage output while simultaneously
controlling the battlefield and setting up Cross Class combos. Since the build
is at least somewhat adept at everything, the order that you should cast your
spells changes from fight to fight.
Generally, you begin an engagement with the
Fade Step+ Defending Blade one-two punch to gain some barrier and draw enemy
attention. Then use Winter’s Chill to
set enemies up or disable problematic units, Winter’s Chill then Exploding Bolt to nuke clusters, Wildfire to also nuke clusters or just
hurt something, Decloaking Blast
whenever it’s available to burst down enemies, or Defending Blade again when you’re in the rare situation where every
other spell is on cooldown or you are too low on mana to cast anything else.
It’s also worth noting that this situation
is only rare because of the passives: Mana Surge, Fade Shield, Combat Clarity,
Clean Burn, and Flashpoint. Fade Shield
is essentially the KE’s claim to fame; it generates barrier every time you hit
something, proportional to how much damage you inflict. Mana Surge triggers whenever a barrier cast on you runs out (both
naturally and by force) and lets you cast a spell for free. So by consistently
keeping your barrier at minimal strength with Defending Blade, you can cast
whatever you want, regardless of mana cost provided it is off cooldown. This
also lets you cast vastly more powerful versions of spells with Conductive Current by granting spells
damage boosts greater than that of the spell cost. You won’t be able to exploit
this often, but super charged (40+% damage boosted) Exploding Bolts are still
very nice when they are available.
More practically, there’s Clean Burn which further synergizes
with Defending Blade (as it has no cooldown) and lets you consistently hasten
all of your spells, and Flashpoint
which will almost certainly proc multiple time during an engagement since you almost
never stop casting spells. And last but not least, there’s Resurgence to pick your allies back up if everything goes to hell.
It shouldn’t happen often if you’re freezing/shocking anything dangerous, but
better safe than sorry. In short: you can do everything at the very least
competently (DPS, Tanking) and at the very best exceptionally (Control,
Support).
Additional Skill Notes:
Since this is a jack-of-all-trades
build it could theoretically be better at everything, so the additional skills
are spread to improve various capabilities. Note that the order they’re listed
in isn’t all that important. Pyromancer is for damage, Frost Mastery is for
control, Mind Blast+Strength of Spirits is for sturdiness, and Gathering Storm
is for if Bioware ever decides to fix the damn thing...and speed. If you have
any particular problems choose a skill that best alleviates your issues. None
of them will a make a significant difference, but they all help.
Party Notes:
The build is designed to be
self-sufficient and thus enables the player to synergize with any assortment of
characters. The only gap in the build is the lack of Dispel because you need to
avoid the Peaceful Aura to keep aggro (though it’s only slightly problematic on
Nightmare). So, consider bringing another mage with you to fill that potential
need. Since you can play virtually any role, you are free to make your party
consist of roles that you don’t want to manage yourself, or whomever you happen
to like.
Variations:
The skills chosen were all chosen
and arranged for a reason. Immolate is always better than Flashfire for a jack
of all-trades. Energy Barrage is always better than Chain Lightning for a jack
of all trades. Mana Surge is invaluable for KEs and is exclusively abusable by
KEs. The spirit tree is generally not worth investing in as endlessly chaining
spells together leads to infinite barrier anyway. Ostensibly, there are no
alternatives to this build. However, there are plenty of other ways to build
KEs, most obviously focusing on one or two of the basic spell trees.
Winter is the ultimate control
tree, containing three different spells dedicated to freezing enemies. Inferno
is the ultimate DPS tree containing numerous DoT spells, situational damage
boosters, and the strongest nuke in the entire mage class. Spirit is the
ultimate support tree and has every directly defensive spell and support spell
in the game. And then there’s Storm which borrows a little bit from all of the
others (a jack-of-all-trees, if you will). However in focusing on any one of
these trees, you always lose some very useful utility, so choose carefully if
wish to do so.
Also an extra note learned from
testing out Blizzard with KE: it’s worthless don’t get it.
…Okay it’s not worthless but it doesn’t generate
barrier anywhere near as fast as one might expect because it doesn’t inflict
very much damage. Even against a large group of enemies (8-10) with its upgrade, at best you’re
getting returns on a swiftly shrinking 1500% DPS with minimal spell casting to
supplement it (as you you’re mana is gradually dwindling over 10 seconds and
can’t regenerate, but your barrier is too high to abuse free spells from Mana
Surge). For reference, a single well-placed Exploding Bolt against a cluster
half that size would generate roughly the same amount of barrier and set up all
of the damaged enemies for a Cross-Class Combo in a fraction of the time it
would take to freeze them all. What’s more, you would still have plenty of mana
left to continue casting spells to push this boost further instead of being
forced to use Spirit Blade (or worse attack) until your mana comes back. It
doesn’t do much while it’s active and hampers you after the fact. So, no, it’s
not awesome on a KE and you shouldn’t use it.
2. Blood Knight: Elf - Reaver (Sword and Shield)
1 – Shield Wall
2 – Grappling Chain
3 – War Cry
4 – Shield Bash
5 – Passive: Crippling Blows (+3 Str)
6 – Combat Roll
7 – Passive: Bear Mauls the Wolves (+3 Con)
8 – Charging Bull
9 – Upgrade: Roll with It
10 – Passive: Warrior’s Resolve (+3 Con)
11 – Ring of Pain
12 – Passive: Blood Frenzy (+3 Str)
13 – Upgrade: Call to Arms
14 – Passive: Terrifying Fury (+3 Cun)
15 – Devour
16 – Dragon Rage
17 – Upgrade: Torrent of Pain
18 – Passive: Turn the Blade (+3 Con)
19 – Upgrade: Ravage
20 – Passive: Coup de Grace (+3 Str)
21 – Upgrade: Give them the Boot
22 – Upgrade: Gore and Trample
23 – Passive: Fervor (+3 Cun)
24 – Passive: Scenting Blood (+3 Con)
25 – Focus: Rampage
Bonus Skills:
---------------------------------
1. Payback Strike (pre-req)
2. Passive: Turn the Bolt
3. Passive: Cutting Words
4. Passive: It’ll Cost You
5. Passive: Hamstring
Role: DPS + Tank
Loadout:
A. B.
1. Gore and Trample 1. Shield Bash
2. Torrent of Pain 2. Call to Arms
3. Ravage 3. Devour
4. Roll with it 4. Give them the Boot
Usage: “…true focus lies somewhere between rage and serenity”
The thinking man’s berserker. Initiate combat against groups or solo targets with Gore and Trample to separate yourself from your allies (drawing agro), build your armor, and weaken enemies. Then activate Torrent of Pain to start draining your health and theirs, augmenting your damage (and stamina gain via Warrior’s Resolve) over time. From here your mission is simply to score a kill against anything in order to activate Fervor. With the damage boost secured, you’re free to maul a crowd with Gore and Trample, burst down an individual with Ravage, or regroup with Combat Roll, Shield Wall, and or Devour depending on the circumstances. If the crowd begins to disperse (likely due to the fear from Terrifying Fury) or target your allies, draw them back to you with War Cry or Grappling Chain based on how many are leaving. If played intelligently, you should be able to keep your health low, damage high, and armor up; you are a diamond cannon.
Extra Skill Notes:
There's not much to say here really. Turn the Bolt is the only thing really worthwhile as it paired with the Elf racial bonus of +20% projectile resistance trivializes ranged attacks entirely. Everything else just makes you hit harder.
Party Notes:
The build synergizes best with a party of ranged attackers (e.g. Varric, Sera, Solas, etc.), as you can be the only person on the frontlines and draw most of the aggro for them without needing to stop and refresh your taunts. This allows you to focus on inflicting as much damage as possible while indirectly protecting your allies. Additionally your allies can help keep you defended by erecting barriers and fueled by continually killing off the enemies.
Variations:
None thus far.
3. Gul'dan: Human - Necromancer
* – Barrier
1 – Energy Barrage
2 – Fade Step
3 – Immolate
4 – Passive: Peaceful Aura
5 – Passive: Storm Bringer (+3 Mag)
6 – Passive: Gathering Storm (+3 Will)
7 – Static Cage
8 – Passive: Flashpoint (+3 Mag)
9 – Passive: Clean Burn (+3 Will)
10 – Upgrade: Lightning Cage
11 – Horror
12 – Passive: Death Siphon (+3 Con)
13 – Passive: Power of the Dead (+3 Will)
14 – Spirit Mark
15 – Upgrade: Lingering Mark
16 – Passive: Blinding Terror (+3 Mag)
17 – Passive: Simulacrum (+3 Will)
18 – Walking Bomb
19 – Passive: Pyromancer (+3 Will)
20 – Fire Mine
21 – Upgrade: Virulent
22 – Upgrade: Searing Glyph
23 – Passive: Conductive Current (+3 Mag)
24 – Passive: Winter Stillness
25 – Passive: Static Charge
Bonus Skills:
---------------------------------------
1. Upgrade: Energy Bombardment
3. Passive: Guardian Spirit
2. Wall of Fire
4. Dispel
5. Chain Lightning
Role: DPS, AoE, DoT
Loadout:
A. B.
1. Fade Step 1. Static Cage
2. Energy Barrage 2. Chain Lightning
3. Immolation 3. Searing Glyph
4. Lingering Mark 4. Virulent Walking Bomb
Usage: “Now, let them tremble”
You blow things up, then cackle in the corner as things continue exploding. No, seriously. You initiate (ideally with a Barrier up) on a group of enemies with Horror, pick off the weakest straggler with Lingering Mark and Immolation, and trigger a damage boost from Power of the Dead as it resurrect as an ally. Then, once the enemies begin to regroup, your spirit ally can draw the enemy attention while you trigger a Virulent Walking Bomb on the weakest of the pack. From there, all you do is sling spells (Energy Barrage, Immolate, Lightning Bolt, etc.) or auto attack (shortening the spells’ cooldown times with Gathering Storm) and watch the fireworks as everything explodes from your explosive plague. If engaged with a powerful enemy you can use Lightning Bolt to paralyze it/them then lay a Searing Glyph at its/their feet for a tremendous amount of immediate burst (and gradual burn) damage. Lightning Cage sadistically assists this tactic, as it lets you set up a “kill box” where the enemies take an extra 50% damage from each DoT ability (Walking Bomb, Lingering Mark, anything Inferno related, etc.) and can’t flee without being frozen in place, thus making it even easier to chain explosions with Virulent Walking Bomb or hit a group of enemies with Searing Glyph.
Inevitably, however, an enemy will get into melee range against you… Fade Step lets you blink away before they even become a problem. You are the nightmare that haunts RPG gamers’ dreams; the enemy that continually spawns other enemies, has high damage, comes back to life as something worse (Simulacrum) when it dies, and is nigh on impossible to hit without severe repercussions. Oh, and there’s Haste for when you just want to watch explosions in slow motion. Enjoy.
Additional Skill Notes:
Static Charge provides some much needed protection for when enemies close in on you and both Fade Step and Horror are on cooldown (which should never happen). Energy Bombardment makes killing bosses even easier (i.e. lower their defense with Energy Bombardment, then unload on them, preferably with a Searing Glyph). Wall of Fire is another powerful DoT spell that can assist in wearing down groups if Lingering Mark and Virulent Walking Bomb prove too slow (and it synergizes extremely well with Lightning Cage for added lulz). Dispel provides some utility in the event that you choose to forgo taking another mage in your party. And lastly, Chain Lighting is there if you don’t feel like you are taking an active enough role in the combat (though honestly, why should you when you can just sit and cackle as you watch the enemies flounder helplessly in an electric prison?)
Party Notes:
You will need at least one mage for support and one warrior for agro. This is a pure DPS build and as such, you are exceedingly vulnerable to all forms of attack. Your spirit allies will help divert the enemy attention (ideally you’ll only be able to sustain 2-3 allies at a time) however, a champion like Blackwall easily outstrips them in terms of drawing attention and keeping the enemies at arm’s length. And, since you lack both a revival spell as well as a means of dispelling buffs (sans bonus skills, of course) another mage like Vivienne can help break enemy defenses for you and keep you healthy.
Inevitably, however, an enemy will get into melee range against you… Fade Step lets you blink away before they even become a problem. You are the nightmare that haunts RPG gamers’ dreams; the enemy that continually spawns other enemies, has high damage, comes back to life as something worse (Simulacrum) when it dies, and is nigh on impossible to hit without severe repercussions. Oh, and there’s Haste for when you just want to watch explosions in slow motion. Enjoy.
Additional Skill Notes:
Static Charge provides some much needed protection for when enemies close in on you and both Fade Step and Horror are on cooldown (which should never happen). Energy Bombardment makes killing bosses even easier (i.e. lower their defense with Energy Bombardment, then unload on them, preferably with a Searing Glyph). Wall of Fire is another powerful DoT spell that can assist in wearing down groups if Lingering Mark and Virulent Walking Bomb prove too slow (and it synergizes extremely well with Lightning Cage for added lulz). Dispel provides some utility in the event that you choose to forgo taking another mage in your party. And lastly, Chain Lighting is there if you don’t feel like you are taking an active enough role in the combat (though honestly, why should you when you can just sit and cackle as you watch the enemies flounder helplessly in an electric prison?)
You will need at least one mage for support and one warrior for agro. This is a pure DPS build and as such, you are exceedingly vulnerable to all forms of attack. Your spirit allies will help divert the enemy attention (ideally you’ll only be able to sustain 2-3 allies at a time) however, a champion like Blackwall easily outstrips them in terms of drawing attention and keeping the enemies at arm’s length. And, since you lack both a revival spell as well as a means of dispelling buffs (sans bonus skills, of course) another mage like Vivienne can help break enemy defenses for you and keep you healthy.
Variations:
If enemies engaging you directly doesn’t prove to be a problem, you can swap the defensive skill Fade Step with Chaotic Focus. Doing so let’s you convert Barriers into still more firepower (no pun intended), though it will cost your escape plan.
4. Red Arrow: Human - Archer Assassin
* – Stealth
1 – Passive: Death from Above
2 – Long Shot
3 – Passive: Easy to Miss (+3 Cun)
4 – Leaping Shot
5 – Upgrade: Rolling Draw
6 – Twin Fangs
7 – Passive: Dance of Death
8 – Passive: Strafing Shots
9 – Caltrops
10 – Full Draw
11 – Hidden Blades
12 – Upgrade: Overkill
13 – Passive: I Was Never Here (+3 Dex)
14 – Passive: Looked Like it Hurt (+3 Cun)
15 – Hook and Tackle
16 – Upgrade: It Beats Walking
17 – Passive: Cheap Shot
18 – Throwing Blades
19 – Passive: Knife in the Shadows
20 – Mark of Death
21 – Focus: Cloak of Shadows
22 – Upgrade: Tread Lightly
23 – Upgrade: Precision Targeting
24 – Upgrade: Lost in the Shadows
25 – Passive: First Blood
1 – Passive: Death from Above
2 – Long Shot
3 – Passive: Easy to Miss (+3 Cun)
4 – Leaping Shot
5 – Upgrade: Rolling Draw
6 – Twin Fangs
7 – Passive: Dance of Death
8 – Passive: Strafing Shots
9 – Caltrops
10 – Full Draw
11 – Hidden Blades
12 – Upgrade: Overkill
13 – Passive: I Was Never Here (+3 Dex)
14 – Passive: Looked Like it Hurt (+3 Cun)
15 – Hook and Tackle
16 – Upgrade: It Beats Walking
17 – Passive: Cheap Shot
18 – Throwing Blades
19 – Passive: Knife in the Shadows
20 – Mark of Death
21 – Focus: Cloak of Shadows
22 – Upgrade: Tread Lightly
23 – Upgrade: Precision Targeting
24 – Upgrade: Lost in the Shadows
25 – Passive: First Blood
Bonus Skills:
1. Knockout Powder
2. Poison Weapons
3. Upgrade: Infected Wounds
4. Upgrade: Archer’s Lance
5. Passive: Sneak Attack
2. Poison Weapons
3. Upgrade: Infected Wounds
4. Upgrade: Archer’s Lance
5. Passive: Sneak Attack
Role: DPS!!, Debuff
Loadout:
A. B.
1. It Beats Walking 1. Lost in the Shadows
2. Precision Targeting 2. Overkill
3. Tread Lightly 3. Full Draw
4. Rolling Draw 4. Long Shot
Usage: “I have a very particular set of skills…”
Melee archers have always been one of those ideas that sounds awesome conceptually, but rarely ever is in reality. You either have to put the bow away before you start fighting or move more slowly or can't roll quickly, etc. And though some of that awkwardness manifests here, it in no way detracts from its efficacy. The driving skill of the entire build is Hook and Tackle which allows you to instantly swing into melee range (at any time, thanks to It Beats Walking) with any foe. While this is the antithesis to the archer’s ethos it allows you to concentrate the damage of your 2 multi-hit cone AoEs Throwing Blades and Leaping Shot. Leaping Shot, in particular, opens up stupendous close range damage options as the follow up attack granted by Rolling Draw adds a guaranteed knockback and 200% bonus damage to whatever move follows it. Therefore, a full set of Throwing Blades would inflict 300% (or more via Precision Targeting) x4 damage while Overkill would inflict 500% x6 (3000%!!) damage, both of which rival or outright beat an ideal Full Draw in terms of raw damage without the fleeting requirement that the target be at full health. In short, your damage output at melee range is greater than or equal that at long range.
Lastly, in the inevitable scenario that you become surrounded, Lost in the Shadows allows you to freely disengage, is always available following a kill via I was Never Here, and sets you up for even easier kills via a guaranteed crit from Knife in the Shadows. Even the one potentially major weakness of the build, stamina shortages, is addressed by Dance of Death (which should proc very frequently)
In general, you KO whatever you can from a distance with Full Draw and Long Shot, leap into the fray with Hook and Tackle, then lay some traps with Tread Lightly (for in case the enemies could more easily be dealt with by simply strafing and shooting). When the enemies invariably come to attack you, Rolling Draw out of the way, then use either Hidden Blades or Throwing Blades to finish off the attacker(s). If anything remains and is aggro’d you can either use Stealth or activate Cloak of Shadows to reposition yourself. There is no situation in which you are not prepared to deal obscene damage and walk away unscathed.
Additional Skills Notes:
Knockout Powder grants you an alternative means of escaping a sticky situation. It shouldn't ever be necessary since Tread Lightly slows enemies to a crawl, but you never know. Plus, it doubles as support a supporting move, which counts for something I guess. Poisoned Weapons adds DoT to your attacks, while its upgrade provides a very appreciable 25% damage boost. Then there's Archer's Lance for some extra utility against fighting enemies through chokepoints, and lastly Sneak Attack to further profit off of critical hits.
Party Notes:
Anyone can work well with this build as your job is simply hitting things, though a tank would be helpful for drawing aggro. Iron Bull, Blackwall, and Cassandra are all great choices.
Variations:
Shadow Strike is a fine alternative to Throwing Blades and taking it would also enable you to pick up Knockout Powder at no extra skill cost. If the damage boost from Rolling Draw only applies to a single dagger, then I'd highly recommend using this instead.
Also, if stamina shortages aren’t an issue (I can’t say, since I can’t test it), you should replace Dance of Death and Twin Fangs with the Evade and Evasion skills to reduce the need to enter Stealth or use Knockout Powder. Unfortunately that would also lead to 4-moveslot-syndrome which the build suffers from already. It's hard being so damn good.
* – Flank Attack
1 – Stealth
2 – Passive: Easy to Miss
3 – Upgrade: Skirmisher
4 – Passive: Evasion
5 – Evade
6 – Shadow Strike
7 – Caltrops
8 – Upgrade: Tread Lightly
9 – Passive: Looked Like it Hurt
10 – Hook and Tackle
11 – Spike Trap
12– Passive: Opportunity Knocks
13 – Fallback Plan
14 – Upgrade: Bait and Switch
15 – Passive: Set Them Up
16 – Elemental Mines
17 – Twin Fangs
18 – Passive: Dance of Death
19 – Passive: Sneak Attack
20 – Deathblow
21 – Upgrade: Thrill of Victory
22 – Upgrade: Quick Blade
23 – Passive: Ambush
24 – Upgrade: It Beats Walking
25 – Passive: And Take Them Down
Bonus Skills:
---------------------------------------
1. Passive: First Blood
2. Passive: Cheap Shot
3. Passive: Bloodied Prey
4. Upgrade: Hidden Step
5. Upgrade: Throw Everything
Role: DPS, Hit and Run
Loadout:
A. B.
1. Skirmisher 1. Tread Lightly
2. Quick Blade 2. Thrill of Victory
3. It Beats Walking 3. Bait and Switch
4. Evade 4. Elemental Mines
Usage: “They never see me coming…”
This is quite possibly the most unorthodox build on this list. Of course, that’s part of what makes it so damn fun. Prior to combat, set Caltrops, Spike Trap, Fallback Plan, and Throw Everything (in that order) until you’re out of stamina. Then, initiate on the most problematic enemy you can find with It Beats Walking (as it costs no stamina) and Bait and Switch back to your traps. If the enemy isn’t outright dead, it’ll be completely separated from its allies and crippled beyond salvation. Finish it off for the stamina regeneration, then Stealth as you finish off the remaining enemies with Skirmisher and Quick Blade (preferably in that order) from behind. If you start drawing too much attention, Knockout Powder can create plenty of room and Stealth can allow you to set another Spike Trap from the shadows. As you can see, this is a hit and run style character who initiates with tremendous damage and vanishes as quickly as it appears. It looks gimmicky, but the power (and sheer hilarity) of “kidnapping” an enemy before the engagement truly begins offsets the character’s relatively low damage output (low for a dual dagger rogue that is). During boss battles, you’ll be spending a lot more time retreating via stealth, but if you can stay behind the enemy Easy to Miss should ensure that you don’t generate any aggro.
Additional Skill Notes:
These are all designed to pick up your (theoretically) so-so damage output. Lost in the Shadows has top priority for maximizing the speed that you can execute your guerilla tactics. Cheap Shot makes your critical hits far more valuable, thus increasing you and your party’s damage output. It also synergizes spectacularly with the next skill Mercy Killing which gives you guaranteed critical hits against sleeping or panicked targets via Knockout bomb or Horror from a party Necromancer, respectively. This skill is these skills are then further improved by the 3rd skill, Deep Sleep which lets you score 3-4 extra critical hits before the enemy wakes up (and doubles the sleep duration, for good measure). And finally there’s Hidden Step to grant you a pseudo-counterattack.
Variations:
None, so far. Perhaps if you can find a way to squeeze Poison Weapons and its upgrade on the build you could seriously improve its damage output, but likely at the cost of some mobility.
Team Options:
Honestly, anything works. For simplicity’s sake, I suggest having a traditional party of a mage, rogue, and warrior to assist you, as you are basically playing as the “wildcard.”
5. Smoke and Daggers: Human - Dual Dagger Artificer
* – Flank Attack
1 – Stealth
2 – Passive: Easy to Miss
3 – Upgrade: Skirmisher
4 – Passive: Evasion
5 – Evade
6 – Shadow Strike
7 – Caltrops
8 – Upgrade: Tread Lightly
9 – Passive: Looked Like it Hurt
10 – Hook and Tackle
11 – Spike Trap
12– Passive: Opportunity Knocks
13 – Fallback Plan
14 – Upgrade: Bait and Switch
15 – Passive: Set Them Up
16 – Elemental Mines
17 – Twin Fangs
18 – Passive: Dance of Death
19 – Passive: Sneak Attack
20 – Deathblow
21 – Upgrade: Thrill of Victory
22 – Upgrade: Quick Blade
23 – Passive: Ambush
24 – Upgrade: It Beats Walking
25 – Passive: And Take Them Down
Bonus Skills:
---------------------------------------
1. Passive: First Blood
2. Passive: Cheap Shot
3. Passive: Bloodied Prey
4. Upgrade: Hidden Step
5. Upgrade: Throw Everything
Role: DPS, Hit and Run
Loadout:
A. B.
1. Skirmisher 1. Tread Lightly
2. Quick Blade 2. Thrill of Victory
3. It Beats Walking 3. Bait and Switch
4. Evade 4. Elemental Mines
Usage: “They never see me coming…”
This is quite possibly the most unorthodox build on this list. Of course, that’s part of what makes it so damn fun. Prior to combat, set Caltrops, Spike Trap, Fallback Plan, and Throw Everything (in that order) until you’re out of stamina. Then, initiate on the most problematic enemy you can find with It Beats Walking (as it costs no stamina) and Bait and Switch back to your traps. If the enemy isn’t outright dead, it’ll be completely separated from its allies and crippled beyond salvation. Finish it off for the stamina regeneration, then Stealth as you finish off the remaining enemies with Skirmisher and Quick Blade (preferably in that order) from behind. If you start drawing too much attention, Knockout Powder can create plenty of room and Stealth can allow you to set another Spike Trap from the shadows. As you can see, this is a hit and run style character who initiates with tremendous damage and vanishes as quickly as it appears. It looks gimmicky, but the power (and sheer hilarity) of “kidnapping” an enemy before the engagement truly begins offsets the character’s relatively low damage output (low for a dual dagger rogue that is). During boss battles, you’ll be spending a lot more time retreating via stealth, but if you can stay behind the enemy Easy to Miss should ensure that you don’t generate any aggro.
Additional Skill Notes:
These are all designed to pick up your (theoretically) so-so damage output. Lost in the Shadows has top priority for maximizing the speed that you can execute your guerilla tactics. Cheap Shot makes your critical hits far more valuable, thus increasing you and your party’s damage output. It also synergizes spectacularly with the next skill Mercy Killing which gives you guaranteed critical hits against sleeping or panicked targets via Knockout bomb or Horror from a party Necromancer, respectively. This skill is these skills are then further improved by the 3rd skill, Deep Sleep which lets you score 3-4 extra critical hits before the enemy wakes up (and doubles the sleep duration, for good measure). And finally there’s Hidden Step to grant you a pseudo-counterattack.
Variations:
None, so far. Perhaps if you can find a way to squeeze Poison Weapons and its upgrade on the build you could seriously improve its damage output, but likely at the cost of some mobility.
Team Options:
Honestly, anything works. For simplicity’s sake, I suggest having a traditional party of a mage, rogue, and warrior to assist you, as you are basically playing as the “wildcard.”
6. Sera Says "Sod It" (Sera): Elf - Dual Dagger Tempest
1 – Twin Fangs
2 – Parry
3 – Stealth
4 – Upgrade: Ripping Fangs
5 – Passive: Dance of Death (+3 Dex)
6 – Passive: Easy to Miss (+3 Cun)
7 – Knockout Powder
8 – Poison Weapons
9 – Upgrade: Infected Wounds
10 – Passive: Fighting Dirty (+3 Dex)
11 – Hook and Tackle
12 – Flask of Fire
13 – Upgrade: Unquenchable Flames
14 – Shadow Strike
15 – Upgrade: Quick Blade
16 – Flask of Ice
17 – Passive: Explosive Toxin (+3 Dex)
18 – Upgrade: Deep Sleep
19 – Passive: Flask Master (+3 Dex)
20 – Passive: Ride the Storm (+3 Dex)
21 – Flask of Lightning
22 – Focus: Thousand Cuts
23 – Upgrade: Quicksilver
24 – Passive: Fury of the Storm (+3 Con)
25 – Passive: Killer’s Alchemy (+3 Con)
Bonus Skills:
---------------------------------------
1. Passive: Mercy Killing (+3 Cun)
2. Passive: First Blood (+3 Dex)
3. Caltrops (Pre-req)
4. Passive: Looked Like it Hurt (+3 Dex)
5. Passive: Cheap Shot (+3 Dex)
2. Passive: First Blood (+3 Dex)
3. Caltrops (Pre-req)
4. Passive: Looked Like it Hurt (+3 Dex)
5. Passive: Cheap Shot (+3 Dex)
Role: DPS, Support
Loadout:
A. B.
1. Parry 1. Flask of Ice
2. Quick Blade 2. Quicksilver
3. Ripping Fangs 3. Unquenchable Flames
4. Knockout Powder 4. Poisoned Weapons
Usage: “Sod it…”
Ho boy, the hype is real. The damage output and flexibility of this build are completely and utterly insane. As a Tempest you are supposed to play as a mode switcher, always adjusting to the ebb and flow of the battle. However, your innate offensive and defensive options are so good that you can actively change the rules of engagement so that you are always in control. So, skills: Flask of Fire (and its Unquenchable Flames upgrade) allows you to burst down literally anything with rapid fire Ripping Fangs (400% x2 and sundering armor) or Quick Blade (600% dmg and refresh all of your cooldowns). Considering that you can output 10+ uses of each of those attacks before the flask expires, you’re pretty much guaranteed to end everything.
And then there’s the second flask: Flask of Frost makes you damn near invulnerable on anything short of Nightmare difficulty (85% damage reduction and it freezes anything that melee attacks you). Its primary use is to mitigate damage along with Parry, if you draw too much aggro (which is a VERY real possibility), but it also doubles as a trapping mechanism when paired with Deep Sleep, opening up a slew of backstab opportunities when used prior to the last flask: Quicksilver.
This is either the nail in the coffin or a reset button for the encounter. The 99% time dilation allows you to unload a dozen flanking attacks on enemies, or catch your breath with potions, or move outside of the combat zone, or whatever else you can think of. Take note that it also slows down your allies as well, so you won’t be able to use it to escape an encounter entirely.
As far as I can tell, the optimal order to use these flasks in is always Fire->Lightning->Ice repeat. You can start at any point in the chain, but Fire is always the one that you either want to use first (to end an encounter as quickly as possible) or last (to refresh all of your cooldowns). At any point in time you can also supplement your damage output with 25% DoT damage from Poisoned Weapons as well as a hard 25% damage increase from Infected Wounds...and then the enemies explode via Explosive Toxin, damaging everything else. So, as has hopefully become obvious, Sera is one hell of a badass.
This is either the nail in the coffin or a reset button for the encounter. The 99% time dilation allows you to unload a dozen flanking attacks on enemies, or catch your breath with potions, or move outside of the combat zone, or whatever else you can think of. Take note that it also slows down your allies as well, so you won’t be able to use it to escape an encounter entirely.
As far as I can tell, the optimal order to use these flasks in is always Fire->Lightning->Ice repeat. You can start at any point in the chain, but Fire is always the one that you either want to use first (to end an encounter as quickly as possible) or last (to refresh all of your cooldowns). At any point in time you can also supplement your damage output with 25% DoT damage from Poisoned Weapons as well as a hard 25% damage increase from Infected Wounds...and then the enemies explode via Explosive Toxin, damaging everything else. So, as has hopefully become obvious, Sera is one hell of a badass.
Additional Skill Notes:
Mercy Killing is the most important skill here is it allows you to pivot from defense to offense at a moment’s notice. First Blood is second for the flat damage boost when you initiate. And then there’s the final three skills (or more practically, the last two) which are designed to help you put up a more sustained offensive.
Variations:
Team Options:
Get a tank and a support, maybe another DPS. Pretty straightforward.
7. Nature's Voice (Solas): Elf - Rift Mage
1 – Barrier
2 – Energy Barrage
3 – Fade Step
4 – Passive: Peaceful Aura
5 – Passive: Winter Stillness
6 – Ice Mine
7 – Passive: Ice Armor
8 – Blizzard
9 – Dispel
10 – Upgrade: Ice Storm
11 – Veil Strike
12 – Passive: Restorative Veil
13 – Revival
14 – Stone Fist
15 – Upgrade: Shatter Stone
16 – Passive: Smothering Veil
17 – Pull of the Abyss
18 – Upgrade: Shaken
19 – Upgrade: Elegant Defense
20 – Focus: Fire Storm
21 – Immolate
22 – Passive: Rejuvenating Barrier
23 – Upgrade: Life Ward
24 – Passive: Encircling Veil
25 – Passive: Flashpoint
Bonus Skills:
1. Passive: Clean Burn
2. Upgrade: Brittle Glyph
3. Mind Blast
4. Passive: Strength of Spirits
5. Passive: Mana Surge
Role: Support
Loadout:
A. B.
1. Shatter Stone 1. Veil Strike
2. Fade Step 2. Ice Mine
3. Pull of the Abyss 3. Ice Storm
4. Energy Barrage 4. Immolate
Usage: “Everybody gets one”
I foresee this as being a standard build for support mages. He has all of the mage-specific support spells (Dispel, Barrier, and Revive) as well as a couple of strong direct damage spells, Shatter Stone and Immolate, whose secondary abilities also improve the party’s damage and survivability via Weaken and Panic respectively. He also has Ice Storm and Shaken to help control the battlefield as well as Ice Mine to help protect the tank or pin a problematic enemy. There really isn’t much to say about it. It’s simple, but effective; your all-purpose mage.
Extra Skill Notes:
These all make Solas a little bit better at everything. Clean Burn can be applied offensively or defensively as shorter cooldowns mean faster offensive and defensive spells. Brittle Glyph assists the entire party by granting Ice Mine some utility as damage booster. Mind Blast mitigates the need to use Fade Step, indirectly making Solas a little sturdier. Strength of Spirits provides better barriers, and Frost Mastery improves all of his Ice-based control spells. Again, it’s all pretty straightforward.
Party Notes:
As a support he thus needs a tank and DPS for a solid party. He’s simply the glue that holds it all together.
8. Paragon of her Kind (Cassandra): Human - SnS Templar
* – Shield Wall
1 – Passive: Bear Mauls the Wolves (+3 Con)
2 – Shield Bash
3 – War Cry
4 – Passive: Turn the Blade (+3 Con)
5 – Grappling Chain
6 – Passive: Crippling Blows (+3 Str)
7 – Combat Roll
8 – Payback Strike
9 – Upgrade: Roll with It
10 – Passive: Turn the Bolt
11 – Spell Purge
12 – Passive: Coup de Grace
13 – Horn of Valor
14 – Blessed Blades
15 – Upgrade: Chevalier’s Step
16 – Passive: Champions of the Just (+3 Str)
17 – Upgrade: That’s the Spirit
18 – Passive: The Last Sacrifice (+3 Con)
19 – Wrath of Heaven
20 – Upgrade: Embrace the Light
21 – Upgrade: Spell Shatter
22 – Upgrade: Call to Arms
23 – Upgrade: Sweet Revenge
24 – Passive: Maker’s Will
25 – Passive: There is no Darkness
Bonus Skills:
1. Challenge
2. Passive: Trust the Steel (+3 Con)
3. Passive: Cutting Words (+3 Str)
2. Passive: Hamstring (+3 Str)
4. Passive: Deep Reserves (+3 Str)
Loadout:
A. B.
1. Roll with It 1. Call to Arms
2. Chevalier's Step 2. Blessed Blades
3. Sweet Revenge 3. Spell Shatter
4. Embrace the Light 4. That's the Spirit
Usage: “I stand for all of us”
Tanking should not feel like busy work.
Additional Skills Notes:
These are assorted to make her even more effective at tanking and supporting the party. The first two skills accomplish the latter by strengthening the entire party’s damage output against taunted enemies (Cutting Words) and crippling enemies she “hooks” (Give them the Boot). The latter three skills then assist with the former by improving her effectiveness at keeping enemies taunted (Challenge), transferring damage from anyone she misses (Body Guard), and improving her armor while enemies are taunted (Trust the Steel).
Party Notes:
She’s the tank, so bring some DPS and preferably a supporting mage for a balanced party.
Variations:
If you don’t plan on using Cassandra yourself, replace the last 4 skills of the build (all of the 2H weapon skills) with the top 4 additional skills. The goal of the build was to make a “fun” tank that doesn’t require you to open the tactical menu to do your job properly. However, if you don’t want to personally use her, then AI can use Shield Bash when appropriate in the place of the Guard Smasher passive. This version is actually a little bit stronger than the default version as it has more ubiquitously useful passives, but it requires more micromanagement than I personally care to deal with.
9. Fortune Favored (Varric): Dwarf - Archer Artificer
1 – Long Shot
2 – Passive: First Blood
3 – Explosive Shot
4 – Passive: Death from Above
5 – Stealth
6 – Passive: Easy to Miss
7 – Poisoned Weapons
8 – Upgrade: Infected Wounds
9 – Passive: Pincushion
10 – Caltrops
11 – Spike Trap
12 – Passive: Set them up
13 – Focus: Hail of Arrows
14 – Passive: Opportunity Knocks
15 – Upgrade: Archer’s Lance
16 – Upgrade: Lost in the Shadows
17 – Upgrade: Tread Lightly
18 – Elemental Mines
19 – Fallback Plan
20 – Passive: Tricks of the Trade
21 – Full Draw
22 – Upgrade: Stunning Shot
23 – Passive: And Take Them Down
24 – Skirmisher
25 – Passive: Bloodied Prey
Bonus Skills:
1. Passive: Evasion
2. Evade
3. Upgrade: Hidden Step
4. Knockout Powder
5. Upgrade: Deep Sleep
Role: DPS, Support
Loadout:
A. B.
1. Explosive Shot 1. Archer’s Lance
2. Elemental Traps 2. Stunning Shot
3. Spike Trap 3. Caltrops
4. Infected Wounds 4. Lost in the Shadows
Usage: “What would I do without my trusty dwarf?”
Extra Skill Notes:
Party Notes:
10. The Horns (Iron Bull): Qunari - 2H Weapon Reaver
1 – Mighty Blow
2 – War Cry
3 – Charging Bull
4 – Grappling Chain
5 – Passive: Shield Breaker
6 – Whirlwind
7 – Passive: Clear a Path
8 – Earthshaking Strike
9 – Upgrade: Gore and Trample
10 – Passive: Hamstring
11 – Combat Roll
12 – Ring of Pain
13 – Passive: Blood Frenzy
14 – Upgrade: Shattered Ground
15 – Passive: Terrifying Fury
16 – Devour
17 – Dragon-Rage
18 – Upgrade: Ravage
19 – Focus: Rampage
20 – Passive: Fervor
21 – Passive: Scenting Blood
22 – Upgrade: Rising Winds
23 – Upgrade: Roll with It
24 – Passive: Deep Reserves
25 – Upgrade: Torrent of Pain
Bonus Skills:
1. Shield Wall (pre-req)
2. Passive: Warrior’s Resolve
3. Passive: Bear Mauls the Wolves
4. Passive: It’ll Cost You
5. Upgrade: Call to Arms
Role: DPS
Loadout:
A. B.
1. Shattered Ground 1. Focus: Rampage
2. Ravage 2. Devour
3. Roll with It 3. Rising Winds
4. Gore and Trample 4. Torrent of Pain
1. Shield Wall (pre-req)
2. Passive: Warrior’s Resolve
3. Passive: Bear Mauls the Wolves
4. Passive: It’ll Cost You
5. Upgrade: Call to Arms
Loadout:
A. B.
1. Shattered Ground 1. Focus: Rampage
2. Ravage 2. Devour
3. Roll with It 3. Rising Winds
4. Gore and Trample 4. Torrent of Pain
Usage: “Sit down"
Extra Skill Notes:
Party Notes:
* – War Cry
1 – Block and Slash
2 – Upgrade: Flawless Defense
3 – Grappling Chain
4 – Mighty Blow
5 – Shield Wall (Pre-req)
6 – Passive: Bear Mauls the Wolves (+3 Con)
7 – Passive: Shield Breaker (+3 Str)
8 – Whirlwind
9 – Passive: Hamstring (+3 Str)
10 – Combat Roll
11 – Line in the Sand
12 – Upgrade: Roll with It
13 – Passive: Bulwark (+3 Con)
14 – Passive: Adamant (+3 Con)
15 – To the Death
16 – Upgrade: En Garde
17 – Passive: Clear a Path (+3 Str)
18 – Passive: Resilience (+3 Con)
19 – Passive: Unyielding (+3 Con)
20 – Walking Fortress
21 – Upgrade: Siege-Breaker
24 – Upgrade: And no Further
22 – Upgrade: Rising Winds
23 – Upgrade: Easy Target
25 – Upgrade: Call to Arms
Bonus Skills:
1. Passive: Deep Reserves (+3 Str)
2. (pre-req) Shield Bash
3. Passive: Turn the Blade (+3 Con)
4. (pre-req) Challenge
5. Passive: Trust the Steel (+3 Con)
Role: Tank, DPS
Loadout:
A. B.
1. And no Further 1. Call to Arms
2. Flawless Defense 2. En Garde
3. Rising Winds 3. Roll with It
4. Easy Target 4. Siege Breaker
Extra Skill Notes:
Party Notes:
11. One Beard Army (Blackwall): Human - 2 Handed Weapon Champion
* – War Cry
1 – Block and Slash
2 – Upgrade: Flawless Defense
3 – Grappling Chain
4 – Mighty Blow
5 – Shield Wall (Pre-req)
6 – Passive: Bear Mauls the Wolves (+3 Con)
7 – Passive: Shield Breaker (+3 Str)
8 – Whirlwind
9 – Passive: Hamstring (+3 Str)
10 – Combat Roll
11 – Line in the Sand
12 – Upgrade: Roll with It
13 – Passive: Bulwark (+3 Con)
14 – Passive: Adamant (+3 Con)
15 – To the Death
16 – Upgrade: En Garde
17 – Passive: Clear a Path (+3 Str)
18 – Passive: Resilience (+3 Con)
19 – Passive: Unyielding (+3 Con)
20 – Walking Fortress
21 – Upgrade: Siege-Breaker
24 – Upgrade: And no Further
22 – Upgrade: Rising Winds
23 – Upgrade: Easy Target
25 – Upgrade: Call to Arms
Bonus Skills:
1. Passive: Deep Reserves (+3 Str)
2. (pre-req) Shield Bash
3. Passive: Turn the Blade (+3 Con)
4. (pre-req) Challenge
5. Passive: Trust the Steel (+3 Con)
Role: Tank, DPS
Loadout:
A. B.
1. And no Further 1. Call to Arms
2. Flawless Defense 2. En Garde
3. Rising Winds 3. Roll with It
4. Easy Target 4. Siege Breaker
12. Whispering a Lullaby (Cole): Human – Dual Dagger Assassin
* – Stealth
1 – Passive: Easy to Miss
2 – Passive: Evasion
3 – Evade
4 – Passive: Ambush
5 – Upgrade: Lost in the Shadows
6 – Flank Attack
7 – Upgrade: Skirmisher
8 – Twin Fangs
9 – Passive: Dance of Death
10 – Passive: Sneak Attack
11 – Hidden Blades
12 – Passive: I Was Never Here
13 – Upgrade: Overkill
14 – Focus: Cloak of Shadows
15 – Passive: Knife in the Shadows
16 – Mark of Death
17 – Passive: Bloodied Prey
18 – Passive: Unforgiving Chain
19 – Upgrade: Ripping Fangs
20 – Upgrade: Mark of Doom
21 – Caltrops (Pre-req)
22 – Passive: Looked Like it Hurt
23 – Passive: Cheap Shot
24 – Hook and Tackle
25 – Passive: First Blood
Bonus Skills:
1. Poisoned Weapons
2. Upgrade: Infected Weapons
3. Passive: Throat Cutters
4. Knockout Bomb
5. Passive: Gaps in the Armor
Role: DPS
Loadout:
A. B.
1. Evade 1. Hook and Tackle
2. Ripping Fangs 2. Skirmisher
3. Overkill 3. Mark of Doom
4. Lost in the Shadows 4. Cloak of Shadows
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