I’ve always
loved the style of Rogue that the DA games have allowed us to make; the ones
that are not afraid to stand proud and tall in the thick of battle. While
(usually) not as tanky as a warrior, the Duelist adds additional survival to
the Rogue, to balance against its already great offensive capabilities.
This style
of build was at its height in the Awakening expansion for Dragon Age: Origins
(DAO) and in Dragon Age 2 (DA2), combined with the Legionnaire Scout subclass in the former and standing on its own
two legs in the latter. Alas, this specialization is gone in Dragon Age:
Inquisition (DAI), but is the playstyle?
If we are
talking about pre-Trespasser, then the answer is probably yes. There are no
Rogue skills that really benefit facing your opponent or even support you in
the thick of battle. You also have no Guard or Barrier skills, leaving your
survivability behind, bleeding out in the gutter. Parry can help you against some attacks, but there are many skills
that ignores it. With Trespasser, however, the game changed. The alternate
upgrades for skills included a few that altered some key features of the Rogue;
most notably Twin Fangs and Poisoned Weapons.
The new skill upgrades and
why they work
Twin Fangs got the fantastic upgrade of Unyielding Fangs and Poisoned Weapons got Leeching Poison. These two skills alone
make up for two of the biggest deficiencies of the original Rogue in the
Duelist archetype.
It is
important to note that Unyielding Fangs
is not better than Ripping Fangs if
you play as a more traditional backstabbing Rogue, so leave it to the Duelists.
And the reason it works so well with Duelists is because it fundamentally
changes the rules for the skill. Instead of getting a damage bonus and
knockdown when you flank someone, Unyielding
Fangs gives you those benefits when you don’t
flank someone. Together with the skill’s short cooldown (8 seconds), this
allows you to stand toe-to-toe with enemies with much better results than
before.
Leeching Poison fixed the other major problem for the Duelist;
survivability. While Stealth and
whatever mobility skill you prefer are the only proactive damage reductions,
because not getting hit is the best defense, Leeching Poison makes it so you heal whenever you attack with Poisoned Weapons active. This reduces
your reliance on potions and your Mage friends.
Skills to consider
In addition
to Twin Fangs and Poisoned Weapons, there are a number of
skills that are useful for this build. One of the mandatory ones would be Parry. Unlike Block and Slash from the Two-Handed tree, however, it does require
timing without the Patient Defense
upgrade (from Trespasser). If you’re having trouble parrying your opponents,
consider picking this upgrade up.
The passive
skill Evasion and the activated Evade are both worth picking up, because
of a boost in survivability and a good mobility skill. Note that you have to
pick up the Stealth skill to get
these, so use it. While this is a
Rogue supposed to be more accustomed to the thick of battle, don’t ignore the
strategic benefit of singling out mages and archers among your enemies. And, if
you’re worried about the lore implications for your Duelist, consider the DA2 Duelist
skill Vendetta and its description:
“Every duelist, even an archer, knows that
the most memorable fights happen at close quarters...and that the first strike
is the most crucial. To gain that advantage, the rogue vanishes behind a cloud
of smoke, then strikes the enemy viciously from behind. This ability can be
used from across the battlefield, for few rogues are as capable of moving under
stealth as a duelist.”
So do like
the proper Duelists and take full advantage of your ability to vanish from an
opponent’s view!
A last
skill worth having on your bar, before taking specializations into account, is Deathblow. It is one of the best damage
skills for the Rogue, effectively working as an execute when an enemy is below
50% health. It also has a short cooldown (8 seconds) and no cooldown if it kills
the enemy.
On the
passive Sneak Attack: You have to
pick this one up to get Deathblow and
its sole benefit is for flanking targets. Don’t dismiss the usefulness of this
passive, even on this style of Rogue! In essence, this passive makes your
Duelist capable of both toe-to-toe combat and ambushing priority targets. It
also works well with Deathblow, which
is a skill otherwise neutral to whether you’re flanking or not.
Prior to
getting enough ability points to get Deathblow,
it might be worth having Flank Attack
to have an additional damage skill on your bar. It too has a cooldown of 8
seconds. You can always respec once you have enough for Deathblow, at a minor cost.
All these
core skills should be possible to pick up by level 10 or so, so what the hell
do we do with the rest of our levels?
Specializations
So, with
the basis of the build well in place, what should our characters specialize as?
Or should we skip subclasses (specializations) altogether? As for the latter, I
wouldn’t recommend it, because the subclasses are really powerful, but whatever
floats your boat.
Tempest
I told
something of a lie before; there is a survivability still for melee Rogues
pre-Tespasser; Flask of Frost. But
without support for this skill, I still say the Duelist isn’t particularly
viable pre-Trespasser.
In general,
however, the Tempest is an excellent choice, mechanic wise. Flask of Frost is a great defensive
skill and Flask of Fire will give you
a massive DPS boost for a short time. Flask
of Lightning also have some good uses, as it slows down time around you.
And, because their duration is so short and they are mutually exclusive, the
Flasks require timing to get full benefit.
On the
roleplaying/lore side of things, however, the Tempest is a mess when it comes
to being a Duelist. While the Duelist is a methodical and deadly swordsman, the
Tempest is something of a maniac. Rushing in, smashing bottles and utilizing
the elements to gain the advantage. Kihm, your Tempest trainer, describes the
Tempest as a “storm”.
Artificer
Like the
Tempest, the Artificer depends on tools beyond your weapons, poisons and
stealth. Specifically traps.
Mechanically,
this subclass works quite well. Spiked
Trap has a strong crowd control component and can be used very effectively
in melee range. The passives of the Artificer also work very well.
For
roleplaying, this subclass has the problem of being an Artificer. You’re
specialized to make traps and mines, not to be a master of melee combat.
Assassin
All three
subclasses for the Rogue works for the Duelist on a mechanical level, but the
Assassin might be the best for the roleplaying aspect of it. It is still not a
Duelist, but it relies mostly on the Rogue’s own skills at arms (Hidden Blades) and singling out enemies
for death (Mark of Death).
The
passives also work well, with increased damage the more health an enemy loses
and a passive armor penetration. The ones affecting Stealth also fit well, due to the aforementioned description for Vendetta. Hidden Blades itself can also work as a substitute for that
ability, and Mark of Death can work
for Throw the Gauntlet.
Focus skills
If you play
this on the Inquisitor, I recommend sticking to Mark of the Rift, at least on Assassins and Artificers. Since this
is a Double Daggers build, the Artificer’s Hail
of Arrows does literally nothing. The Assassins’ Cloak of Shadows also fall short of the Mark.
The
Tempest’s Thousand Cuts, however, can
work well. It depends on whether you want a single target or area of effect
skill.
If you’re
making Cole or Varric into duelists, I’d pick up at 8th regular
skill over a Focus skill. They are, for the most part, going to do more for
your party.
Some skills to consider if
you have points to spare
If you have
maxed out your subclass and your core skills or you want to skip a subclass
altogether, these are some things to consider.
Looked like
it Hurt & Cheap Shots
A 3 point
investment, given the requirement of picking up Caltrops first. Looked like
it Hurt will regenerate stamina on all critical hits and Cheap Shots will sunder armor on
critical hits. Great with Sneak Attack
and a high critical hit chance in general.
Bloodied
Prey & Unforgiving Chain
Another 3
point investment, this time in the Dual Daggers tree, since they require Flank Attack to unlock. Bloodied Prey is a good combination with
Throatcutter (Assassin passive), as
it increases your damage if your target has lost a higher % of health than you.
Unforgiving Chains will increase you
critical hit chance by 2% for every hit, resetting when you score a crit.
Easy to
Miss
Simple
threat reduction. Makes enemies less likely to seek you out, letting you engage
single enemies more easily. 1 point investment.
Ambush
Another 1
point investment, as you will likely pick up Evade as one of your core skills for this build. It gives you a 50%
armor penetration on all attacks from Stealth.
With Gaps in the Armor (Assassin
passive) and Mark of Doom (upgraded Mark of Death from the Assassin skills)
you’re leaving your enemy with a pitiful 5% of their armor to protect them.
The Toxic
Combo
Down from
the Poisoned Weapons, this requires 4
points. Fighting Dirty, Explosive Toxin,
Toxic Cloud and Lost in the Mist.
The things
that makes this combo a possible investment are 1) some nice area of effect
damage, and 2) stacks of Elusive. The
latter of which is the most important.
Lost in the Mist makes your Toxic
Cloud, including those spawned from Explosive
Toxin, grant all allies up to 3 stacks of Elusive. And each stack of Elusive
grants you a free “get out of damage” card. Very useful if you have the points
to spare. Also worth putting on your ranged Rogues, because of its group
utility.
My Build for Hard
Currently
running this archetype on Hard, with the Assassin subclass. My talents look
like this:
Sabotage
Poisoned Weapons – Leeching Poison
Double
Daggers
Twin Fangs – Unyielding Fangs
Parry
Dance of Death
Sneak Attack
Deathblow – Thrill of Victory
Subterfuge
Stealth
Evasion
Evade
Assassin
Hidden Blades – Overkill
I Was Never Here
Knife in the Shadows
I’m at
level 13 on a Human (with 1 Amulet of Power, found in Crestwood). So far this
build has been viable, and quite effective, on Hard even without any additional
survival added from things like Guard on Hit.
Guard on Hit Masterworks
If you want
more survivability, with or without Trespasser, to make this playstyle viable,
just pick up some Guard on Hit Masterworks. Fade-Touched Silverite and
Fade-Touched Obsidian work well. As an effect, it is so overpowered that it can
make any build a survivor, including the Reaver warrior while spamming Dragon Rage.
If you want
to play this on Nightmare, a Guard on Hit Masterwork should definitely add
whatever survivability you might lack.
