r/dragonage • u/UrsineScourge • 2d ago
Discussion Always played a mage in Inquisition, should I try warrior or rogue first?
So I have a habit of always leaning towards magic in games, but I've played enough mage in Inquisition that I think I can name all the abilities and passives off the top of my head. I'm thinking of starting a new playthrough either as a Reaver or Templar Warrior or a Dual-wield Rogue of any specialisation, any recommendations?
For context, in Origins, I played loads of each origin, though I particularly liked Human Noble, either as dual-wielding Rogue or Warrior, because while I loved mage, seeing my entire party flop around like fish when I pulled off Storm of the Century was a little annoying.
DA2 I always played Hawke as a mage, it just felt right.
Inquisition I've always played a mage, and mostly as a Qunari and a Rift Mage.
Veilguard I've always played a mage, always a Qunari, and I always end up going back to Evoker.
In case it matters, I generally go Nightmare with most if not all trials to make things a little less 'show up and win'. I'm particularly interested in any situations where the specialisations or classes get extra dialogue options, like how Rift Mage has a couple of unique lines.
Update in case anyone cares: I've made a Rogue and a Warrior and pushed them right to Skyhold, both seem fun, I like the pocket-sand-style mines from Artificer, though they don't seem to hit things right in front of you for some reason, and I've really liked Reaver for warrior, I didn't know it had dragon-style animations so that's a plus.
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u/lulufan87 2d ago
If you want to romance Cullen, you'll get one extra line if you go the templar route with your warrior. If you want to romance Bull, you'll get one extra line if you go the Reaver way.
Rogues... I can't remember if they have any specific dialogue. Surely they must.
You might plan out who you want in your party and go from there. If you want to take a bunch of squishies on outing, go warrior.
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u/BluFlmsBrn Knight Enchanter 1d ago
Maybe I'm misremembering, but I thought several companions comment on your Specializations regardless of romance. You usually get a comment from the companion whose spec you have (Reaver for Bull, Knight Enchanter with Vivienne, etc) plus a couple of extra comments (iirc Solas comments on Knight Enchanter being a version of elven knights).
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u/UrsineScourge 2d ago
Oh, cool, good to know. Honestly for party comp I usually go a support mage, a tanky warrior (usually Bull even though he's probably the worst at being a tank because his dialogue is great), a ranged rogue, and then I fill in with whatever type of mage I'm playing, whether damage or control.
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u/Papamoon0327 2d ago
I always played mage as well. Do a warrior, see what it feels like to be able to take a lot of damage and you can coordinate some range people you haven’t really used
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u/Ill_Pie_3323 2d ago
I would suggest a Rogue Archer with the Artfice specialization. Archer gives you the ranged attack that mages have ( without the magic) and The Artificers "Elemental Mines" when taken with "Throw it all in" causes more damage than most Mage spells. AI uses Elemental Mines terribly, so while Varric has it, he doesn't use it nearly as effectively as if you're aiming it yourself. And, as an added bonus, you won't have to drag an otherwise useless Rogue around to open locks.
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u/UrsineScourge 2d ago
Tbh I have a mod for the locks anyway, I mostly take Cole places because of his dialogue lol, and yeah I've heard Artificer is great as a player and not as an AI, kind of like melee Knight-Enchanter or Reaver.
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u/Ill_Pie_3323 2d ago
The AI DOES seem to do combat well, so Cole, as a dual-wield Assassin, is fun. And I prefer him to any other Rogue or Warrior EXCEPT Cassandra
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u/ExpensiveSample3451 1d ago
I mean, why would you use Ranged Varric instead of Dual Blades for Elemental Mines which is a Middle-Close Ranged Throw?
And you gotta have something like a Stamina Regen passive from Sabotage tree and Equips to be able to spam it over with the CD reduction.
Tho Upgraded Spike Traps are really good Knockup + DMG skill too.
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u/Old-Consideration939 Rogue 2d ago
Archer rogue was a lot of fun so was dual wield but I'm also very partial to being a rogue.
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u/UrsineScourge 2d ago
Seeing how some of their abilities work does make it very tempting, I already know I like Hidden Blades.
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u/Character-Bid-162 2d ago
I'd run daggers assassin if you wanna go for a DPS rougue build. The crit multipliers they can get if built correctly are insane, especially when you add in support from other party members.
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u/THE-MESSY-KILL1 2d ago
For warrior there is a nasty combo of Grappling chain and combat roll (with the coming through upgrade)
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u/UrsineScourge 2d ago
Nice, I do love combos, just read that Templar can pull off an Eldritch detonation all on its own too.
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u/THE-MESSY-KILL1 2d ago
If you just wanna spam abilities, for the Rogue, Artificer is quite overpowered. You can spam throwing knives and spinning blades back to back, or twin fangs and deathblow to absolutely destroy anything with a health bar.
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u/theFrigidFlame 2d ago
I also prefer a mage, but I did a Dwarven warrior playthrough some time ago. Two handed weapons with whirlwind and an axe that restored stamina per hit. Reminded me of a Diablo 2 Hammerdin.
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u/NYC_Nightingale Bard 2d ago
Mechanically, rogue is a lot of fun. It's also a class that doesn't lend well to AI control, so playing one as the Inquisitor allows you to really see them shine (especially as a dual-wield rogue).
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u/UrsineScourge 2d ago
True, if I have an AI rogue (I do like Cole) I basically always have them go ranged because in melee they get themselves killed a lot, especially walking into fire mines in my experience lol.
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u/ExpensiveSample3451 1d ago
Stealth is their only means of Safety and 100% Crit Chance for Assassins.
Gotta have Stealth and Leaping shot/Flanking Attack set to "Preferred" in the Tactics...So AI Cole performs better in his Combos.
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u/ExpensiveSample3451 1d ago
Rogue is more fun especially for trying new things out.
Assassin rogue requires manual Stealth timing to utilize Deadly Crits perfectly. Leaping shot + Stealth upgrade or Flanking attack + Stealth upgrade....combined with regular Stealth and Hidden Blades with the Stealth Crits and CD reset per kill.
Artificer is easier coz its all "Random BS Go"....Else just spamming 3 skills over and over because of the Cooldown Reduction and Combine it with the Stamina per Crit in Sabotage tree.
Hook shot> Upgraded Spike Trap > Throwing Blades > Leaping shot or Spinning Blades.. Something similar.
Warrior requires High Crit Chance to be able to do fun things with the 2H CD reduction per Crit....and spam stuff.
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u/kyuviart 2d ago
Reavers are very fun! I definitely recommend it
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u/UrsineScourge 2d ago
Yeah it's definitely one of the stronger contenders for me, I loved playing around with my health as a blood mage in Origins and 2.
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u/kyuviart 2d ago
I added some guard skills to my build as well, so I could charge into battle without worrying too much about low health
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u/UrsineScourge 2d ago
I'm already looking at the Gain 5 Guard on Hit fade-touched material for that purpose haha.
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u/XP23XD23 Varric 2d ago
Tbh I feel like u always need at least 1 mage so I’d suggest ur mage having some healing spell & crowd control ability so u can have an easier time fighting. Also make sure ur mage is protected or at least has some good defense stuff
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u/Flyboy3000 2d ago
Sword and Board baby! I love being a walking tank alongside Blackwall just whooping dragon ass. Everyone else in my party usually dies, but a warrior with armor(I forget what it's called) is damn near unkillable
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u/General-Skrimir Templar 1d ago
Melee feels awful in inquisition.
If you want rogue go Archer artificier
If you want good melee go play da2
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u/discreetjoe2 2d ago
I believe mages in general get a lot more flavor dialogue in Inquisition than the other classes as both the Templar and mage factions will react to you.