Rogues are problem solvers. If a problem exists, they can solve it, with arrows to the neck or daggers to the spine. If a door needs to be unlocked, they can defeat it. If you need someone somewhere they are not meant to be, a rogue can be that someone. Two varieties of rogue are playable, one specializing in ranged combat and one in up-close-and-personal knife-fighting. The ranged rogues bring a form of control to a fight, as they can set traps and help hold down choke points. The dagger-wielding rogues bring high-damage, single-target focus to a team. Both types of rogue can be set up to quickly put down a target of choice, which makes them excellent at counter-rogue assignments. If the enemy brings scouts or shadows to the field, a rogue can be there, waiting for them to reveal themselves before springing into action.
Archer
An expert marksman and sniper
Hall is a survivor from the Wilds, a woodsman and archer. A Dalish hunter rescued him from a bandit raid when he was a child and taught him her skills. But he was human, and not welcome in her clan; once he could fend for himself, he was turned out. Hall wandered for years, never quite finding his place. When a beam of light tore the sky, he was drawn toward it, knowing that it spelled disaster and—for once—understanding that he was needed.
Ability Trees: Marksman and Evasion
Specialized in the bow, the archer named Hall is your first rogue. Capable of singling out and picking off lone targets from afar, the Archer can provide heavy damage that does not fall into particular elemental archetypes. He possesses skills that allow him to stay away from the enemy in a pinch. Additionally, the Archer starts off with the Caltrops ability, which by itself may not seem impressive, but it allows Hall to help the party lock down choke points because the spikes slow and hurt enemies that try to run over them. That very basic starting ability can serve a group well even on Perilous-level missions!
Hunter
A grizzled trapper and master of the bow
Thornton is a veteran ranger. An experienced soldier, he has served different masters, lived through several wars, and always lived to tell the tale. What the Inquisition faces now, however, is altogether different and far more terrifying, and it will take everything he’s ever learned to get through it. But he will get through it—because Thornton always does.
Ability Trees: Trapping and Survival
The Hunter uses unique traps to foul up enemy charges, while also capable of high damage output from afar, like the Archer. Thornton’s survivability starts off much greater than the Archer’s, with Fallback Plan as one of his two default abilities. The Hunter can also spec into Stealth, and when that’s combined with abilities like Full Draw, the Hunter can put down an unsuspecting target very early into a fight, a perfect way to deal with major threats.
Alchemist
An eccentric dwarf with an assortment of strange brews and explosives
Luka remembers the prison in the Vimmark Mountains: She was nobody, clearing out tunnels for the Carta, not important enough to know the truth about why they were there. She watched as the Carta descended into madness, never learning who pulled the strings. When Hawke destroyed the prison, she was trapped, alone and forgotten. It took years, but she got out, using salvaged treasures to blast her own exit to freedom. Then the Inquisition came calling, because they also remembered the prison—and what was held there.
Ability Trees: Alchemy and Cunning
The Alchemist could be considered the brawler of the two dagger rogues, specializing in poisons and explosives meant to bring harm to as many targets at once as possible. With Stealth available at the outset, the Alchemist makes an excellent scout, able to lead the team into dangerous territory and pick out the greatest threats before the fighting begins. A good way to leverage the poison talents available to the Alchemist is to craft a pair of dual-blade daggers for her. She can poison groups of enemies while pounding them with a relentless slashing whirlwind, tossing bombs to cause further chaos.
Assassin
A knife from the shadows.
Argent was named the old Orlesian word for “quicksilver.” She is swift, strong, and deadly—trained from birth to be a weapon. Argent has served many masters, sometimes as a bodyguard, often as an assassin. Passed from noble to noble, she was bought and sold like a prized sword, a fact that does not bother her. A weapon has no loyalty—it serves whoever wields it. Now, the Inquisition wields Argent.
Ability Trees: Assassination and Stalker
The Assassin is exactly what her title describes. From the outset, Argent is prepared to come from the shadows and give one unfortunate victim a proper lesson in violence. Early in the Assassination tree, you can pick up Hidden Blades, a powerful skill that when upgraded can hit one target six times, at 300 percent weapon damage a strike.
Much of the Assassin’s best work comes in the moment just after she breaks Stealth, and many of her early available skills are meant to enhance that initial brutal burst of damage. Players using the Assassin are well suited to picking off the odd red templar shadow that tried to sneak through the party or hunting down the highly annoying marksmen fielded by the templars or the Venatori. They can also be saviors, able to put down a foe that is on the verge of killing a wounded party member.
Leveling Your Characters
Experience is distributed to the party after a mission succeeds or fails. You gain bonus experience from kill streaks, completing in-mission events, and from completing challenges. Gaining a level earns you one ability point, regardless of race or class, and the maximum level in multiplayer is 20. Because you have only 19 ability points to work with, you really need to think about where you want those points to go, to maximize your character stats while also getting the active abilities you want! You can’t get all of the abilities, but you can get some active and passive abilities that really complement how you want to play your character.
A Note on Respeccing
There’s a reason why the game makes you confirm whether or not you want to spend an ability point! However, mistakes can be made, and unfortunately there is only one way to undo them: by purchasing loot chests and lucking into getting a character respec in your loot. This will free up your points so you can try to spend them correctly! Just don’t mess up twice in a row—you cannot count on respecs always being available.
Character Promotion
At level 20, there is no more you can do for your character in terms of experience. You can choose to keep playing at that level, improving their equipment every chance you get, or you can promote your character.
Promoting characters resets them to level 1. However, depending on the class of the promoted character, you’ll receive a bonus point to one of three stats, across all of your currently unlocked characters.
Don’t be afraid to promote characters! You can still use old gear provided it doesn’t have a level requirement, which can make reaching level 20 again that much easier!