Mummy Says I’m Special: Rogues
The very definition of the word “rogue' already goes some measure toward understanding what the character encompasses; for instance a rogue animal is one set apart from its pack or, similarly, a rogue state is one that does not adhere to conventions. Miraculously, an adjective becomes a noun and the rogue character-class is born, one that is canonical to any medieval fantasy CRPG.
Whilst not always a pariah most rogue characters live by the day, accumulate riches, tend to avoid fighting and look after themselves first and foremost. Playing the rogue usually offers more choice than playing a warrior or a mage; though Dragon Age origins dilutes the complexity of character-builds – focusing on the premise of the characters’ origins – it still allows for some flexibility when building Rogue characters.
Here we focus on some of the paths for this type of character, including dual-wielding and ranged options. Read on for more.
The Artful Dodger: Useful Rogue Skills
Before we cover these, let me point out that there is no point including a section which suggests a particular race for a Rogue. You can choose any of the three given races as there is little advantage or disadvantage.
Skills are of course available to any character regardless of class. A mage can choose stealing, or coercion if so wished. However, success is also dependent on attribute points and subsequent talents. For instance cunning and stealth are important if you plan on successful pick-pocketing. Some skills are useful whilst others simply add flavour to the game, like coercion which could result in interesting conversations.
First, the Combat Training skill-tree is essential for archers or dual wielders. Other suggestions include the stealing-tree of skills, good for extra coin. Trap-making is also quite useful since you can set traps, then essentially disappear from sight, attack from range and watch that hostile-horde take damage.
As for the rest of the skills, I don’t think there is much point; things like herbalism and poison making largely add flavour to the game whilst not doing much else. There isn’t enough unique scope when creating potions or poisons, like for instance creating a poison which is applied to your weapon and watching your enemy wither from a distance. Moreover, some poisons are hurled like grenades and do AOE damage (Area of effect); this type of damage is the single most annoying thing particularly in something like Dragon Age origins which is heavily party-based.
Picking Attributes
Traditionally this build is Dexterity based and here it is no different. Almost all rogue talents are DEX based and equipping some of the best rogue gear, i.e. the bow “Far Song', requires a DEX score of 36. Archery and dual-weapon talents are also DEX based, of course.
The second important attribute is Cunning, which allows you to pick locks, effectively use stealth and the all-important “Lethality' talent. Lastly, in order to equip the “Felon’s Coat,' consider raising your strength up to 20.
Regarding rogue’s talents and specializations, consider choosing them based on the kind of rogue you want to play. Do you want to play a cut-throat dirty fighter? An assassin? Or just stay out of trouble as much as possible?
Builds: The Melee Rogue
For Melee rogue-builds look to the “Dirty Fighting + Below the Belt' trees. This build will also favour dual-wielding with a possibility of the Assassin specialization. This culminates into talents like Cripple + Punisher in the Dual-Striking tree, and Lacerate + Feast of the Fallen in the Assassin’s tree. This type of build is quite powerful and can solo the game comfortably.
For melee you can also consider the ranger specialization,; although more inclined towards archery, it’s still powerful when coupled with dual-wield and you’ll have pets to support you. (i.e. Summon Wolf/Bear etc…)
If you plan on wielding large weapons in both hands, and increasing damage based on Strength rather than Cunning, consider the “Dual-Wield Training' tree and ultimately taking “Dual Weapon Mastery.' Lastly in the “Dual Striking' tree, something like “Riposte' is a great way of killing those annoying Genlock Emissaries.
I would not bother with the other two specialization, being Bard and Duelist, since they are definitely not as powerful as the ones above. Bards are mostly used to “buff' allies or cripple enemies, i.e. dirge and similar, but the abilities they have aren’t worth it. The duelist is quite weak for a melee class even if the last talent has you dishing out crits for a bit.
Builds: The Stealth Rogue
Best Warrior Build Dragon Age Origins Achievements
This is quite a simple build if you want to avoid the melee option and don’t want a specialist archer. The attributes in Dragon Age to consider are still Dexterity and Cunning but this time your character will work on those general Rogue talents, and gain some archery prowess to snipe from a distance.
“Master stealth' and trap making will be very useful, as enemies will not be able to spot you. Also, contrary to my previous view of poisons in the game, this is one build where you can use poison-grenades effectively as long as you find a line for your party and hold them outside of the area of explosion. Also consider talents like “Pinning,' “Crippling Shot,' and “Aim' though you do not need to be a master archer.
Lastly the Ranger/Bard specializations aren’t too bad here as you will rely on your party/summoned creatures.
Builds: The Ranged Fighter
Here you don’t need strength at all just dexterity, since even good armor will just greatly affect fatigue. Also you can forget most of the standard Rogue abilities such as 'Deadly Strike,' 'Lethality' or “Coup de Grace' since they are all close-quarter talents. You can still take the stealth based talents, though they aren’t important since the point here is to kill anything from a distance.
Being a ranged rogue all archery talents are important, hence take the combat training as skills and improve your archery with talents like “Shattering Shot' “Critical Shot' “Crippling Strike' and more. Take “Master Archer' in the “Melee Archer' tree, if you can.
Specialize as a Ranger since, with the ability to summon and fling deadly arrows, you’ll make a devastating archer. You might also consider specializing as a duelist; “Dueling' increases your attack rating, while something like “Pinpoint Strike' is quite powerful in dealing damage even to larger creatures.
Try out these builds for Dragon Age Origins and enjoy the Rogue!
This post is part of the series: Dragon Age Origins Rogue Class Guides
Warrior: Templar/Champion All-Around Tank
Stat Focus
Strength: You want 42 total to be able to wear Tier 7 massive armor, and you can get 4 Strength from equips (Andruil's Blessing and Key to the City) and 4 from the Circle Tower in the Fade. So I'd say to quick-pump this stat up to 34 and let the game do the rest.
Dexterity: You will want to get this stat up pretty high, as it raises your defense and also gives you access to all of your 3rd-branch WnS talents. I'd say at least 1 point every level from 1 to the end of the game.
Willpower: While you will have some sustains on, you should be able to increase your stamina pool or regen with equips and such. I wouldn't invest too much in Willpower, but if you find you're lacking enough stamina to pull off a certain ability once you've cemented aggro, go ahead.
Magic: Base. This is not important, as you shouldn't be using poultices except in absolute emergencies.
Cunning: You will want at least 16 for Coercion skills, but a bit more on top to help with persuasive dialog won't hurt. I wouldn't recommend more than 20, though.
Constitution: Dexterity and Strength are not the only important stats for a tank. They also need a nice health pool to be able to take lots of attacks. I'd also recommend at least 1 point in this stat every level.
Talents
Champion:
War Cry -> Rally -> Motivate -> Superiority
Templar:
Righteous Strike -> Cleanse Area -> Mental Fortress -> Holy Smite
Warrior:
Powerful -> Threaten -> Bravery
Precise Striking -> Taunt -> Disengage -> Perfect Striking
Weapon and Shield:
Shield Bash -> Shield Pummel -> Overpower -> Assault
Shield Defense -> Shield Balance -> Shield Wall -> Shield Expertise
Shield Block -> Shield Cover -> Shield Tactics -> Shield Mastery
Power of Blood (optional, requires Warden's Keep DLC):
Blood Thirst -> Blood Fury
Basically, what this allows for is the ability to null out pesky mages, grab nice chunks of aggro via Taunt, Threaten, and War Cry, and be able to take a beating while the rest of the party dishes out. It is HIGHLY recommended you go after Shield Wall as soon as possible; the extra armor will make you more durable at the start, which should be your main priority, plus it provides immunity to knockdowns via Shield Expertise. After that, you can go after Taunt and Threaten, making sure to grab Bravery when you can and finishing the Precise Striking chain for Perfect Striking. Other than that, just fill up your whole WnS school and keep bashing with the board. Death Blow is optional here, but not really necessary.
Gear
This, I fear, is not totally set in stone. Some prefer to take the Templar specialization just for the Knight-Commander's Plate, but in my opinion, there are some better sets of armor available. If you feel your defense and such is pretty high up there, but you need some elemental resistances, there's nothing wrong with throwing on the Juggernaut Plate set; in fact, for the final set, I'd probably wear that over Cailan's Armor, which is pretty nice for mid-game tanking. As for a weapon, if you're still continuously pumping your Dexterity, definitely go with a dagger; your weapon damage will scale with it, plus it lets you attack at a faster rate, allowing Threaten to push more aggro on you. I'd also work with the Cailan's Arms set against darkspawn enemies, since Maric's Blade is VERY useful all-around. So here's what my final tanking set would probably be:
Weapon 1: The Edge/The Rose's Thorn (probably the Edge, as the Rose's Thorn is definitely more geared for a rogue)
Shield 1: Howe's Shield
Weapon 2: Maric's Blade
Shield 2: Cailan's Shield
Head: Juggernaut Plate Helm (normal gameplay)/Corruption (the Final Battle)
Body: Juggernaut Plate Armor
Hands: Juggernaut Plate Gloves
Feet: Juggernaut Plate Boots
Belt: Andruil's Blessing
Amulet: The Spellward
Ring 1: Key to the City
Ring 2: The Lifegiver
Two-Handed Weapons Warrior
Some don't like to go this route, as the DPS is not as impressive as a dual-wield or archer build, and the defense obviously pales to the Dual-Wield and WnB counterparts. However, many players have soloed Nightmare as a two-handed warrior. How could this happen? The same way the Arcane Warrior/Blood Mage builds make it possible: Utility. So with this, I figured I'd present some ideas for how to play this little-recommended class selection.
Stats
Obviously, you will want to max out your Strength, as this is where your 2H weapon comes from attribute-wise. You may want to spend a few points in Dexterity to obtain some of the Warrior talents, but your 2H talents will look only at your Strength number, and in order to get to Destroyer, you will want to get to 40 ASAP. You might want a bit of Willpower here and there for more ability usage, 16 Cunning for Coercion purposes, and a bit of Constitution for survivability; otherwise, the majority of your points will be in Strength.
Strength: MAX
Dexterity: minimum needed to take some Warrior-school talents
Willpower: pretty much base
Magic: Base. Again, you will only need poultices in emergency situations.
Cunning: 16 minimum for Coercion skills
Constitution: pretty much base
Specializations
If you're playing a 2H warrior with a full party, you will likely want to specialize into Berserker/Champion, as this not only provides buffs to the party, but also further increases your damage. Soloing, however, is another story; while usually looked down upon, the Reaver specialization, in this case, provides further utility to your character and a bit more damage. This, coupled with the Champion or Templar specializations, can allow you to get through the game by yourself.
Full Party Play: Berserker/Champion or Berserker/Templar
Solo: Reaver/Champion or Reaver/Templar
Talents
Warrior:
Powerful -> Threaten -> Bravery -> Death Blow
Precise Striking -> Taunt -> Disengage -> Perfect Striking
Two-Handed Weapon:
Pommel Strike -> Indomitable -> Stunning Blows -> Critical Strike
Sunder Arms -> Shattering Blows -> Sunder Armor -> Destroyer
Mighty Blow -> Powerful Swings -> Two-Handed Strength -> Two-Handed Sweep
Power of Blood (optional, requires Warden's Keep DLC):
Blood Thirst -> Blood Fury
This shell here provides the 2H player exactly what they need to succeed. You will most likely want to start with Precise Striking first to grant a higher attack and crit chance, then go after your Sunders first thing, as they will help you take less damage and dish more. Indomitable, however, is the BIG sustained talent you should go for, providing immunity to stun and knockdowns, which also helps set you up to grab Critical Strike. A really cool thing to do, as well, is to Taunt enemies onto you, hit them with a Two-Handed Sweep, then Disengage them and let the tank take control once more. Now, as for specializations, that again depends on how you're playing.
(Full Party Play)
Berserker:
Berserk -> Resilience -> Constraint -> Final Blow
Champion:
War Cry -> Rally -> Motivation
In the case of full-party play, I'd say that this is how you'd take your spec talents. I'd have to say that Superiority is not really necessary as a DPS warrior unless you're absolutely in need of a knockdown (which you really shouldn't be), but Rally + Motivation will definitely help increase your attack even more, which is something you'll need.
(Anti-Mage Solo Spec)
Reaver:
Devour -> Frightening Appearance -> Aura of Pain -> Blood Frenzy
Templar:
Righteous Strike -> Cleanse Area -> Mental Fortress -> Holy Smite
The only reason I can see the Reaver working for solo play is not only Frightening Appearance, but the fact that Aura of Pain and Blood Frenzy work well together to provide a huge attack bonus. However, I'd make sure to turn both off and pop a poultice or Devour whenever need so as to avoid total suicide (LOL). The Templar spec improves mental resistance, as well as allowing the solo player to give mages a hard time with Holy Smite and Cleanse Area.
(Ultra-Utility Solo Spec)
Reaver:
Devour -> Frightening Appearance -> Aura of Pain -> Blood Frenzy
Champion:
War Cry -> Rally -> Motivation -> Superiority
This is also a very viable solo spec, and I'd have to say that it's mostly likely the one of choice. Once again, Reaver provides Frightening Appearance as well as the ability to heal oneself, and the Champion spec gives you an AoE knockdown (ALWAYS helpful in a solo game) and increased attack and defense. Not much more to it than that.
Gear
Weapon: Chasind Great Maul/Starfang (Greatsword)
Head: Helm of Honnleath
Body: Warden Commander Armor
Hands: Warden Commander Gloves
Feet: Warden Commander Boots
Belt: Andruil's Blessing/Ornate Leather Belt (preferably the former)
Amulet: Not sure if there's anything with +Strength on it, so perhaps look for Willpower, physical/mental resistance, etc.
Ring 1: Key to the City
Ring 2: Harvest Festival Ring
This basically is the best set of gear you can work with. Even with massive armor, the Warden Commander Armor set is absolutely SUPERB, as you gain extra stamina and stamina regen from it. You might use other swords as well, such as Ageless and Yusaris (great against the High Dragon, Flemeth and the Dragon you get Ageless from in the Orzammar Royal Palace), but the Chasind Great Maul is definitely the main weapon to go for. Starfang, if you don't feel like going after CGM, is a fine replacement, however.
Okay, I'll plop another post up with the rest of the warrior stuff, since the Two-Handed Warrior explanation had multiple parts. However, I have a feeling that Dual Weapon warriors will also take up a big portion of the next post, so.. be prepared! XD
2 Answers
Overview
Build
- Class: Warrior
- Specializations: Templar, then Champion
- Attribute priority: Strength. Pop a couple points into Dexterity when talents require it. If you've built your healer well, you don't need to get fancy with Constitution and Willpower.
- Skills:Combat Training and Combat Tactics; don't bother with the rest. Alternate between selecting the two based on what talents you're about to pick up. If you need a talent that requires the next level of Combat Training get that, otherwise, get Combat Tactics.
- Talents: Concentrate on filling out the tactics load-out described below. Getting to the third tier of the first line of Warrior Talents and all the lines of Weapon and Shield talents should occupy most of your time.
Leveling Priority
- Talents:Righteous Strike, Powerful, Shield Bash, Shield Pummel, Shield Block, Shield Cover
- Skills:Expert Combat Training
- Shield Defense(Weapon and Shield, 2nd line, tier 1)
- Shield Balance(Weapon and Shield, 2nd line, tier 2)
- Shield Wall(Weapon and Shield, 2nd line, tier 3)
- Threaten(Warrior, 1st line, tier 2)
- Precise Striking(Warrior, 2nd line, tier 1)
- Taunt(Warrior, 2nd line, tier 2)
- Overpower(Weapon and Shield, 1st line, tier 3)
- Bravery(Warrior, 1st line, tier 3)
- Shield Tactics(Weapon and Shield, 3rd line, tier 3, needs 20 Dexterity)
- Shield Mastery(Weapon and Shield, 3rd line, tier 4, needs 26 Dexterity)
- Specialize in Champion to get War Cry
- Death Blow(Warrior, 1st line, tier 4)
- Shield Expertise(Weapon and Shield, 2nd line, tier 4)
- Rally(Champion, tier 2)
- Motivate(Champion, tier 3)
- Superiority(Champion, tier 4)
Tactics
- Behavior: Aggressive
- Self: Any → Activate mode: Threaten
- Self: Being attacked by a melee attack → Activate mode: Shield Wall
- Self: Being attakced by a ranged attack → Activate mode: Shield Cover
- Enemy: Nearest Visible → Use ability: Shield Pummel
- Self: Surrounded by at least two enemies → Use ability: Taunt
- Self: Surrounded by at least three enemies → Use ability: War Cry
- Enemy: Health >= 75% → Use ability: Shield Bash
- Enemy: Health < 75% → Use ability: Overpower
Equipment
- Armor: Equip the heaviest you can find: ultimately, you'll be wearing massive armor. Favor equipment that has stamina regeneration and secondarily, on 'tanking' stats like Constitution, Resistances, Armor, etc.
- Weapons: Sword and board: long swords and the largest shield you can find.
Final Thoughts
Acknowledgements
- Attribute priority
- Talents
- Sustains/tactics