The Warrior: Strengths

You are sword and shield, retribution and resilience, the cornerstone of a party's defenses.

A warrior charges into the heat of battle to engage the enemy first, simultaneously damaging foes while protecting fellow party members from harm. When danger surrounds you, a warrior heeds the call to battle despite cut, gash, or threat of an early grave. Without a warrior, the party cannot survive long against sterner threats.

To deal with darkspawn and other deadly perils, the warrior has access to better weapons and armor than the mage or the rogue.

You may be fortunate enough to find these fine weapons and pieces of armor in shops, or you may discover them as loot hidden in dungeon treasure chests; regardless, the warrior has the best selection of combat goods.

The warrior uses them well in battle too. Whether in hand-to-hand melee or at longer bow range, the enemy cannot escape the warrior's severe punishment. Swords slice through mail, while arrows plunge into flesh.

As part of their natural training and skill sets, warriors have a strong understanding of battle tactics and strategy. You will have a wide array of talents to deal massive combat damage to single targets and groups of foes.

A warrior's talents are broken down by how you plan to use your weapons. If you plan to use gear in both hands, a warrior can pursue Dual Weapons or Weapon and Shield.

Alternately, the warrior can concentrate on larger Two-Handed Weapons to savage an opponent, or learn the ways of Archery to harass enemies at range.

Some of the warrior's general talents increase health and stamina, reduce armor penalties, draw hostilities away from allies, grant damage bonuses, improve critical hit percentages, and make you the meanest combatant on the battlefield.

Warrior specializations crank up your battle effectiveness. As a berserker, a warrior's rage fuels his strikes, adding damage to the blows at the expense of other qualities such as stamina.

A templar, on the other hand, hunts enemy mages and beats them down with mana drains and more damage. A champion inspires those around him with party-influencing abilities.

Finally, a reaver revels in the dark side as he sucks life back into himself from the pain of others.

If you like to jump straight into battle and be the first to draw blood, the warrior class is for you. Superb weapons and armor are at your disposal, and melee damage comes as naturally to you as forging to a blacksmith.

You will be the toughest party member, and you may have to save those less armored than yourself from time to time, but it's all part of the responsibility of the hero with the biggest muscles.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The strength of a warrior is in his arms and armor. A warrior can deal major damage to adversaries, especially in melee where he can land pounding blows and critical strikes with excellent hand-to-hand weapons.

Return blows from enemies will either glance off a warrior's superior armor or the warrior's defenses will limit the extent of the damage. The warrior's natural bonuses aid in the cause too.

His +4 strength bonus augments your most important attribute, and a +3 bonus to constitution raises health and makes you that much more difficult to kill.

Advantages

• Stat Bonuses to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution
• Top Weapons, Best Armor
• Superior Melee Damage
• High Survivability
• Enhanced Combat Talents and Tactics

The warrior may be a wrecking ball in combat, but he does have limitations. Most importantly, a warrior needs to close on his target to be at his best.

Where a mage can hurl spells from the back, or a rogue can hide and surprise with a backstab, most warriors must get close to his enemy at some point to do maximum damage. It's possible to deal some damage with a good ranged weapon, but the majority of warrior talents trigger off hand-to-hand combat.

While you close on the enemy, it's likely you'll take some ranged damage and may take heaps of damage from magic attacks, which warriors will be vulnerable to early on.

Your armor may reduce damage, but the damage will come, and most warriors do not have healing to regain health. Stock up on healing potions and stay near your party healer in case your health suddenly drops.

Disadvantages

• Limited Healing
• Must Close on Enemies to Be Most Effective
• Generally Weak Against Magic Attacks

If you like a brash, in-your-face play style and really love to hack and slash monsters, the warrior's advantages far outweigh his disadvantages.

Nothing beats a 10-on-1 battle where the warrior walks away with just a scratch and the enemies... well, they just don't walk away at all.