Rogue

Dragon Age: Inquisition requires you to make some tough decisions. And perhaps the most critical of these decisions is choosing your character’s class and abilities. Whether selecting a rogue, warrior, or mage, your class determines what types of weapons and armor your character can equip. To a greater extent, class also dictates which abilities your character can select when leveling up. Before making these decisions, reference this chapter to determine which class and abilities best fit your style of play.

Rogues rely on speed and agility rather than heavy armor, using skill and advantageous position on the battlefield to deal incredible damage. They may get up close and personal with daggers or strike from a distance with arrows.

Unique Class Ability: Lock-picking

Dual-Wield Starting Abilities

Ability	Name	Description
	Stealth	You step into the shadows, all but invisible to your enemies. Attacking from stealth gives you a damage bonus and brings you back to the enemy’s attention. Dealing damage to enemies reduces the ability’s cooldown.
	Twin Fangs	You lash out with both daggers, striking deep, with bonus damage if you flank your foe.

Archer Starting Abilities

Ability	Name	Description
	Stealth	You step into the shadows, all but invisible to your enemies. Attacking from stealth gives you a damage bonus and brings you back to the enemy’s attention. Dealing damage to enemies reduces the ability’s cooldown.
	Long Shot	You fire a powerful single shot that delivers more damage the farther you are from the target.

Rogue Starting Stats

* Base stats listed. Elves get a 25 percent bonus to ranged defense, dwarves get a 25 percent bonus to magic defense, and Qunari get a 25 percent bonus to melee defense.

Rogue Specializations

Specialization	Name	Details
	Artificer	Complete Way of the Artificer offered by Three-Eyes in Skyhold.
	Assassin	Complete Way of the Assassin offered by Heir in Skyhold.
	Tempest	Complete Way of the Tempest offered by Kihm in Skyhold.

Tactical Considerations

Rogues are masters of stealth and subterfuge, outsmarting and outmaneuvering their opponents to gain a tactical advantage. As a result, this can be a tricky yet rewarding class to play, requiring a heightened sense of tactical awareness, constantly scanning the battlefield for new opportunities. Unlike warriors, rogues do not gain guard and must put an emphasis on evading incoming strikes. In addition to Stealth, rely on abilities like Evade (Subterfuge), Leaping Shot (Archery), and Flank Attack (Double Daggers) to get out of trouble. Have at least one of these abilities mapped and ready to activate whenever you see a large enemy winding up for a major attack.

Armed with daggers, dual-wield rogues are capable of inflicting enormous amounts of damage, particularly when flanking their foes—daggers are some of the highest damage-per-second (DPS) weapons available, and this rogue carries two of them. While these rogues excel in melee combat, they are not designed to go toe-to-toe with heavily armored enemies. Instead, use the Stealth ability to flank and then strike from the shadows with abilities like Twin Fangs. For best results, attack an enemy from behind while they’re distracted by one of your party’s warriors. If your rogue draws the attention of enemies, use Stealth again to slip back into the shadows before resuming your attack. By utilizing a stick-and-move approach, dual-wield rogues can extend their lifespan while still dishing out more than their fair share of damage.

Archers fill a very different role than their dual-wield counterparts, utilizing bows to strike their foes from long range. Initially, archers are equipped with the Stealth ability, allowing for threat-free deployment at any point on the battlefield. Stealth also comes in handy when it’s time to flee—activate Stealth as melee enemies approach and relocate to a safer location before firing more arrows. By investing in the Archery discipline, archers can benefit from powerful abilities like Explosive Shot and Full Draw, turning their bow into a formidable instrument of death. The default Long Shot ability is particularly useful, dealing up to 600 percent bonus damage when engaging targets at 15 meters or more.

Lock-Picking

Did you find a locked door? Chances are a rogue can open it. The rogue’s lock-picking skill is indispensable when scouring dungeons and other hostile locations—always make sure you have a rogue in your party. It’s hard to say what you’ll find behind each locked door, but there’s usually something of value waiting on the other side. After all, somebody locked that door for a reason. However, some doors even a rogue can’t unlock. To open these doors you must acquire the Deft Hands, Fine Tools perk. Once this perk is acquired, no lock in Thedas can withstand your rogue’s lock-picking prowess.

Rogue Abilities

Double Daggers

Description: Experts in this style are fast and deadly, their blades slicing through enemies’ defenses—and throats—before they have time to react.

Dual-wield rogues are extremely formidable combatants, and these abilities only make them deadlier. But rogues should never stand toe-to-toe and trade blows—stick and move instead. Abilities like Flank Attack, Twin Fangs, and Sneak Attack reward damage bonuses for flanking enemies. The Double Daggers abilities are more effective when combined with those from the Subterfuge discipline, allowing your rogue to deal heavy damage while remaining stealthy and highly mobile, avoiding retaliatory strikes.

Archery

Description: Experts in this style are masters of ranged combat. They can avoid enemies that attempt to close, put arrows or bolts through multiple foes, and even unleash explosive shots to devastating effect.

Any rogue carrying a bow should invest heavily in this discipline, which provides a good mix of offensive and defensive abilities. In an effort to keep your distance from melee attacks, utilize Leaping Shot and Strafing Shots to escape incoming strikes and remain mobile while firing. Explosive Shot comes in handy when targeting clusters of enemies crowded near choke points. But the pinnacle of this discipline is Full Draw. This sniper-like shot deals devastating damage, particularly to uninjured enemies—use this as your opening shot when starting a battle.

Sabotage

Description: Experts in these talents specialize in poisons and traps. Their dirty tricks leave enemies sick and limping, easy pickings for a sharp blade or a barbed arrow.

The abilities in this discipline allow any rogue to become an absolute menace on the battlefield. The poison-based abilities are particularly deadly, slowly draining the health of all affected enemies. Archers utilizing the Poisoned Weapons ability can poison multiple targets within a matter of seconds, making any battle a little easier as enemies succumb to toxins. Caltrops are effective for staging ambushes—place them in choke points and lure enemies into the trap. Both Cheap Shot and Throwing Blades are useful for sundering enemy armor, making targets vulnerable for a short period of time.

Subterfuge

Description: Experts in these talents are masters of misdirection. Whether leaping to safety, disappearing into shadows, or tricking enemies into slashing at empty air, they are never where anyone expects them to be.

Whether carrying a bow or daggers, the abilities offered here play a huge role in keeping your rogue out of danger. Stealth is the cornerstone ability of this tree, giving your rogue the ability to vanish. This makes it easy to sneak up on enemies and attack without drawing their attention, often yielding bonus damage, particularly if you flank using an ability from the Dual Daggers tree. Seek out other abilities, like Ambush and Shadow Strike, that offer bonuses for using Stealth. Abilities like Evasion and Knockout Powder can be an absolute life saver, giving your rogue the chance to escape and regroup before returning to combat.

Artificer (Specialization)

Description: These specialists control the battlefield with deadly traps. Neither they nor their explosive mines are ever where the enemy expects them to be.

The Artificer specialization emphasizes the use of traps and other devices to gain a tactical edge on the battlefield. Abilities like Spike Trap, Hail of Arrows, and Elemental Mines add to your rogue’s offensive repertoire. If you’re looking for a more defensive ability, consider Fallback Plan, allowing your rogue to retreat to a predetermined location and instantly heal in the process. Before settling on Artificer as your specialization, review all of the abilities and determine if they fit your rogue’s preferred tactics.

Assassin (Specialization)

Description: Any rogue can kill a target, but assassins make death into an art form. They specialize in quick, deadly kills that let them slide back into shadows undetected, or indirect kills that eliminate targets while the assassin is safely away.

Any dual-wield rogue should strongly consider making Assassin their specialization. Abilities like Hidden Blades make your daggers even deadlier, allowing you to strike multiple times, dealing enormous damage. Abilities like I Was Never Here and Knife in the Shadows make the Stealth ability (from Subterfuge) even more effective. Acquire Mark of Death to boost your party’s damage output when engaging single targets—ideal for boss fights. The Cloak of Shadows focus ability allows your rogue (and the entire party) to remain undetected for a short period of time, ideal for staging deadly ambushes or sneaking past enemies.

Tempest (Specialization)

Description: These unpredictable experts specialize in using alchemical mixtures that wreathe them in frost or flame. Fast, chaotic, and possibly mad, they wade into the fight and dare enemies to face the storm.

Tempest emphasizes elixir-based abilities to give your rogue a tactical advantage during combat. Flask of Frost, Flask of Fire, and Flask of Lightning all provide unique benefits, but they can’t be used simultaneously—you must wait for the effects of one elixir to expire before activating a new one. The Thousand Cuts focus ability allows your rogue to dash across the battlefield, slashing multiple foes before sinking daggers into the primary target’s back, dealing heavy damage.