Rogue Abilities

Dual Weapon

Used By: Hawke, Isabel

• In most Isabela and dual-wielding Hawke builds, you will want to pick up pretty much everything in this talent tree.

• Unforgiving Chain and the upgraded Explosive Strike offer one of the best opportunities for heavy single-target damage. Ten consecutive standard attacks followed by an Explosive Strike finish against a Staggered opponent packs a malicious punch.

• Backstab and Twin Fangs are staple abilities for a rogue built for dual weapon fighting. Acquire them early in the story.

• The Lacerate sustained mode provides a 10% chance of inflicting bonus damage to any attack, which rises to 100% against Staggered targets with the Maim upgrade. This is not cumulative with Explosive Strike, which has priority when both are technically applicable.

Archery

Used By: Hawke, Varric (under the Bianca heading), Sebastian

• If Hawke or a companion focuses on archery, just assume that almost every ability and upgrade in this tree is pretty much essential. Bursting Arrow is an absolute killer for enemy groups rendered Brittle by Cone of Cold, while Archer’s Lance causes cruciferous damage to anyone in its path. Set up Brittle with Winter’s Grasp on a high-ranking opponent, and it’s a commander killer.

• Pinning Shot can be employed to immobilize and (with an upgrade) Disorient a single high-priority target for a mage or warrior to knock down with a cross-class combo.

• Hail of Arrows isn’t massively damaging, but its upgraded effect of slowing down opponents over a 15m radius for 4 seconds makes it useful for setting up cross-class combos or layered AoE barrages.

Sabotage

Used By: Hawke, Varric, Sebastian, Isabela

• With the exception of one upgrade, this entire talent tree offers no direct damage to opponents and is dedicated entirely to status effects. Rush is employed for knockdowns, Miasmic Flask for stuns, and Fatiguing Fog to slow groups of opponents down. Confusion has a 50% chance of causing enemies to fight among themselves for up to 20 seconds. In short, it’s a school for those who favor advanced strategies, particularly cross-class combos.

• When upgraded, Fatiguing Fog and Confusion both have a chance of inflicting the Disoriented status effect over a small area, but you will need to invest at least 6 ability points to obtain these effects. Varric and Sebastian at least have Pinning Shot to Disorient single targets, but Isabela and a dual-wielding Hawke only have the Sabotage school to set up this effect.

Subterfuge

Used By: Hawke, Varric, Isabela, Sebastian

• The Stealth ability (and related Ambush passive ability) offers rogues the inexpensive option of disappearing from view, then striking a target for massive damage. The Lingering Shroud passive ability is a connected perk that is only of use if you regularly employ Stealth and use attacks that buff the party with the Obscure effect (such as Bursting Arrow and Fatiguing Fog). With Stealth and an obscure effect active on the rogue, they can make two (potentially critical) attacks before they become visible.

• Acquire Evade (and the Tactical Withdrawal upgrade) early in your rogue’s development. Subtlety is another mainstay, offering a 25% threat reduction that benefits rogues of any variety.

• Chameleon’s Breath has an AoE obscure effect and can be a good way to give brief respite to a beleaguered party, or augment the strike capacity of a rogue employing Lingering Shroud.

Specialist

Used By: Hawke, Varric, Isabela, Sebastian

• This tree offers three sustained abilities (and upgrades) that enhance a rogue’s efficiency in distinct ways, plus a final passive ability that augments the effects of all three. However, you can only have one of these sustained modes active at a time.

• Complicating matters somewhat, the tree requires 4 to 6 ability points to gain the ability you desire and Harmony.

• The one individual who can definitely benefit from this tree is Varric. Spend the 6 points to pick up Speed (and upgrades) plus Harmony, then grab Well-Oiled and Bianca’s Song (and its upgrade) in his personal talent tree to create your own walking, wise-cracking auto-cannon.

Scoundrel

Used By: Hawke, Varric, Isabela, Sebastian

• Blindside and Twist the Knife are passive abilities that offer damage upgrades in specific circumstances. The former boosts damage against enemies engaging other allies and is a great choice for any rogue; the latter offers assured critical hits against stunned opponents. With the upgraded Miasmic Flask or Evade, a rogue archer can stun groups of opponents and then immediately capitalize on this effect with an AoE finish.

• Back to Back is best used to teleport a dual-wield rogue to save a weaker party member from a strong and persistent enemy. It is also the gateway to Brand (an ability that only really pays for itself in protracted battles against strong single opponents) and Follow-Through, which offers a much-needed boost to stamina regeneration.

• Armistice and Goad are powerful threat management tools that come into their own on higher difficulty settings.

Swashbuckler

Specialization: Isabela only

• By route of Across the Bow and Savvy, the Experienced Hand and Sea Legs passive abilities are the only talents that might be of genuine interest in a Normal playthrough, though All Hands on Deck packs a punch against groups of enemies.

• Across the Bow and Savvy will be of most use to players who aim to micromanage threat and employ Isabela in an off-tank role. That said, the Below the Waterline upgrade offers an excellent 50% decrease to an enemy’s defense stat for 20 seconds: a fine debuff when you face commander-grade enemies and higher.

Marksman

Specialization: Varric only

• Though you have to unlock Rhyming Triplet to get them, Well-Oiled, Bianca’s Song and the Embellishment upgrade for the latter are the only essential upgrades in Varric’s personal tree. Pick them up early in the game: the difference they make to his damage output is huge.

• Overtime is worth an ability point only if you already have Follow-Through and are still struggling with stamina issues. Kickback and its upgrade offer novelty value over palpable harm. The effect of landing a hit against a Staggered opponent is to launch them from a standing position with comedic velocity.

Royal Archer

Specialization: Sebastian only

• Guardian Angel is an intriguing ability: a decoy target (with all threat transferred from Sebastian as he disappears) will always be useful in sprawling melees, if just to keep certain enemies busy while you banish their peers. The main reason to acquire this talent, however, is to gain access to the Holy Precision, Maferath’s Advance and (to a lesser extent) Disciple’s Discipline passive abilities.

• The Wounding Arrow (and Debilitating upgrade) and Righteous Chain (with the Arrow of Judgment finish) both require that you link up to 10 uninterrupted default attacks before one augmented payoff. Unless you have the time or inclination to perform these manually, you may find that other talents and their upgrades in the Archery tree represent a better all-round choice.

Assassin

Specialization: Hawke only

• With its two upgrades, Mark of Death reduces its victim’s damage resistance by 50% for 20 seconds. It’s an excellent way to cut short battles against tough individual foes, especially if you can employ cross‑class combos while the effect is active.

• Pinpoint Strikes increases critical chance to 100% for the duration of the effect. Augment this with the connected Bloodlust (stamina regeneration per each kill) and Devious Harm (+1% critical damage per point of Cunning), and Hawke becomes a near-tireless critical hit machine against groups of weaker opponents.

• Assassinate has colossal damage-dealing potential, especially on Brittle targets.

Shadow

Specialization: Hawke only

• Even if you only intend to invest ability points in one specialization, make this your second and pick up Pinpoint Precision for that superb 25% passive boost to critical damage.

• Disorienting Criticals increases critical damage by 25% and has a 100% chance of Disorienting a foe if Hawke lands a critical hit while obscured. With the Shadow Veil passive ability, the latter effect can be achieved simply by slipping into stealth. While obscured, land an Explosive Strike, Archer’s Lance or Assassinate cross-class combo finish, and the automatic 100% critical chance of each ability will always inflict Disorient to set up another cross-class opportunity.

• In addition to the obvious merits of 100% critical chance for flanking attacks, the Predator passive ability will increase the frequency at which Hawke Disorients opponents through the Disorienting Criticals talent.

• Decoy is similar to Sebastian’s Guardian Angel ability (see Royal Archer), but with two exclusive upgrades that increase the doppelganger’s value. Inconspicuous, meanwhile, offers great benefits for Hawke if critical hits and high-impact talents are drawing more threat than the rogue can comfortably deal with.

Duelist

Specialization: Hawke only

• Duelist offers abilities that enable Hawke to perform an off-tank role with individual high-rank opponents.

• Throw the Gauntlet (plus upgrades) causes a single enemy to abandon their current target and pursue Hawke with a relentless fervor, with penalties to their damage and defense scores while the effect is active. The related Parry sustained mode offers notable perks to Hawke’s defense, attack and critical chance (with Riposte and En Garde), but these are doubled while Throw the Gauntlet is in effect.

• The Sure Strikes and Evasive Maneuvers passive abilities offer +20% to attack and defense respectively. It is the Vendetta ability, however, that will most catch the eye. This is one of the best single-target assaults available, especially if the opponent is Staggered.

Mage Abilities

Elemental

Used By: Hawke, Merrill, Anders, Bethany

• This talent tree is a staple for mages dedicated to dealing damage and contains two of the best AoE attacks for crowd control.

• Cone of Cold and Winter’s Grasp are absolutely essential: both can inflict the Brittle status effect, and their capacity for impeding enemy movement (either through freezing or slowdown) is remarkably useful. Winter’s Grasp has a very slight AoE effect: try to capitalize on this whenever possible.

• Firestorm is enormously efficient. Despite the protracted casting process and the fact that damage is not distributed evenly throughout the effect area, this is always a great leveler against large groups.

• For mages who favor this school, Elemental Mastery is a must: the perks (particularly the increased Brittle results for Cone of Cold and Winter’s Grasp) are just too good to ignore.

Primal

Used By: Hawke, Merrill, Bethany

• The upgraded Stonefist and Chain Lightning spells are viciously efficient if you regularly employ cross-class combos; the latter is particularly devastating against opponents with a weakness to electricity.

• Compared to Firestorm, Tempest has the advantage of hitting all targets in the effect radius. It also causes no friendly fire damage on the Nightmare difficulty setting: a perk of inestimable merit.

• Rock Armor is an easy and inexpensive armor buff for any mage; useful if you are focusing on a build with attribute points dedicated to Magic and Willpower only.

• Petrify works against any target without a specific immunity to it. On its own, it’s essentially a “stay there!” spell to temporarily remove powerful enemies from the fight while you deal with their allies. Upgraded, it’s a boss-killer.

Spirit

Used By: Hawke, Anders, Merrill, Bethany

• Spirit Bolt is cheap, easy to use and twice as effective against opponents Disoriented by your resident rogue.

• The fully upgraded Walking Bomb is awesomely powerful against condensed packs of enemies but tends to be less efficient unless you deliver the payload manually: your companions just won’t get the best out of it.

• Death Syphon can help cut the expense of Lyrium Potion usage; disable it during battles against single opponents. Dispel Magic really comes into its own on higher difficulty levels, where it’s harder to keep enemy mages and commanders consistently debilitated through other means.

Arcane

Used By: Hawke, Anders, Merrill, Bethany

• Elemental Weapons and Arcane Shield (especially when applied to the entire party with upgrades) are a must for a support healer. The former is the cornerstone of a major tactic for maximizing party damage.

• Don’t underestimate Mind Blast: though it causes no health loss, it’s vital for redirecting attention away from a vulnerable mage.

• On higher difficulty levels, Barrier is a lifesaver in those instances where you anticipate a deadly attack before it lands, such as when an Assassin striding purposefully towards a mage disappears in a puff of smoke.

• Crushing Prison is one of the most powerful single-target spells, which should make it a key part of a nuke’s repertoire.

Entropy

Used By: Hawke, Merrill, Bethany

• This school is all about debilitating individual foes and, as such, lends itself to playthroughs on Hard or Nightmare where commanders, assassins and bosses of any type pose a far graver threat. On Normal, only Horror and Hex of Torment are worthwhile investments.

• The upgraded Horror (inflicting spirit damage) can be employed to annihilate individual targets, especially if you weaken them with Hex of Torment beforehand.

• Entropic Cloud and Sleep are debuffs that make a world of difference when you cannot rely on Firestorm, Tempest or Cone of Cold to exert sufficient control over crowds.

• Misdirection Hex is a key tool for reducing the efficiency of more powerful opponents – useful against Assassins of all varieties.

Creation

Used By: Hawke, Anders, Bethany

• If Hawke is a mage, acquire Heal: even if you’re playing as a nuke, a separate source of restorative magic is always useful.

• All spells in this school are suitable for a dedicated support healer. Glyph of Paralysis is useful for taking stronger foes out of the equation. Glyph of Repulsion has countless tactical applications: prevent enemy reinforcements from using a particular entrance, use it to fortify a choke point, or cast it on a weaker party member to give them a temporary force field.

• Heroic Aura is a worthwhile (though expensive) sustained buff. Haste can facilitate withering micromanaged onslaughts.

Vengeance

Specialization: Anders only

• Anders can only employ one set of abilities in this tree at a time, each linked to the Panacea and Vengeance sustained modes.

• With Panacea active, Anders boosts party health regeneration by 50 and can use Aid Allies to heal all party members as well as Regroup to revive the fallen. The cost, however, is 40% of Anders's total mana and the disabling of his offensive spells.

• The Vengeance mode, by contrast, renders him immune to conventional healing (both spells and potions) but offers a boost to damage output. To make the most of this mode, you must also acquire Blood of my Enemy to regenerate health, Martyr and Swift Justice to access spells in Cooldown more quickly, and the Wrath upgrade to enhance the damage increase. This mode is only truly efficient against large enemy groups. Against individual targets, it leaves Anders extremely vulnerable.

Dalish Pariah

Specialization: Merrill only

• Merrill’s personal talent tree lends itself to some unique strategies for a mage, so only invest ability points in this area if you’re certain of the benefits it will entail. Staves and poison aside, its spells are the only way that you can inflict nature damage.

• Blood of the First enables Merrill to call on blood magic, using health rather than mana to cast spells (which is why it will make sense to max out friendship with Merrill to gain the benefit of the Solidarity bonus). The only way that she can regain health in that mode is through the Wrath of the Elvhen spell.

• Wrath of the Elvhen inflicts constant nature damage within a set radius surrounding Merrill, also healing her in accordance with the number of foes affected. Stone’s Throw and Ensnare are used to either send her into the heart of a melee or draw opponents to her position.

• In essence, the Dalish Pariah tree is geared towards a very unique approach to leveling Merrill: rather than investing in Willpower, you might assign all attribute points not placed in Magic into Constitution. This would both give her a huge pool of health (and, therefore, mana with Blood of the First active) and make her more capable of surviving at the centre of an enemy pack, causing constant damage.

Force Mage

Specialization: Hawke only

• Even if you don’t intend to fully exploit this Specialization, the boost to physical and elemental force is a worthwhile perk. The principle reason to choose this tree, however, is the Unshakable passive ability: that +100 boost to Fortitude makes a world of difference.

• Without upgrades, Fist of the Maker is expensive and rather weak. With Maker’s Hammer and Maker’s Fury, however, it’s a brutal punch that can be delivered to great effect (900% damage!) whenever a warrior Staggers a target.

• Gravitic Ring, Telekinetic Burst and Pull of the Abyss are all crowd-control spells with many defensive and offensive applications. The latter is especially important on the Nightmare difficulty setting as it enables you to draw opponents to a fixed point before you rain down an AoE barrage.

Spirit Healer

Specialization: Hawke only

• The Spirit Healer tree enables Hawke to keep the party healthy – but at the expense of vastly reducing his or her offensive capability while the Healing Aura ability is active.

• This tree offers two superb passive abilities. Vitality’s +10 boost to Constitution and +100 health regeneration are boons of obvious merit, while Second Chance completely disables the need to manage injuries – a welcome perk for a first-time Nightmare playthrough.

Blood Mage

Specialization: Hawke only

• This Specialization requires that you invest several ability points to really get the most out of it and necessitates a more planned approach to combat. With equipment that offers additional mana for each health point consumed and careful use of Sacrifice and Grave Robber, it offers virtually unlimited casting capabilities.

• As the Blood Magic sustained mode precludes the use of healing potions or spells, you must rely on Sacrifice and Grave Robber to make it viable. Sacrifice is obviously best employed as a direct transfusion of health from your party’s tank (or a similarly hardy warrior). Grave Robber’s boost to health is of most service in battles against large groups, with the spirit damage contributed by the One Foot In upgrade a fine perk against all affected enemies.

• Those who partake in this most malign of arcane arts can employ one of the most deadly spells available: Hemorrhage. Acquire the Paralyzing upgrade to unlock its true capacity and cause 900% damage against Staggered foes in the targeted area.