The assassin specialization is very similar to its predecessors in Dragon Age: Origins and DA: 2 – it provides high single-target damage, and avoidance. Tempest This specialization is very fast-paced and versatile. Like the tomes in Dragon Age: Origins, these items are class restricted so you can't use both. I asterisked the number because you can gain additional attribute points and talent points from the following: Act I: Completing the quest Dark Epiphany to receive Avernus's Experimental Draught nets you 2 attribute points. Stats from skills, classes, and books are permanent and will be carried through rebirth. However, deranking skills will remove any stat gained. Stats age, level, and uncooked food are semi-permanent, remaining with the character until rebirth. These stats are calculated to one decimal place, despite only whole numbers being shown. The skill calculator allows you to choose the skills in advance of your characters. Talents are unique selectable abilities that warriors and rogues can use. Mages do not use talents and have access to spells instead. Talents have special animations that distinguish them from standard attacks. You can reassign your talents by using the Maker's Sigh, purchasable in the Black Emporium in Kirkwall 1 Types of talents 1.1 Activated 1.2 Passive 1.3 Sustained 2 Rogue 2.1 Archery 2.2.
- Dragon Age 2 Skill Calculator Download
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- Dragon Age 2 Skill Calculator Table
Creating the ultimate dream-team party in Dragon Age: Inquisition is something that all players want to experience, and in BioWare games, mixing and matching party members is half of the fun. Finding that perfect balance between Rogues, Mages and Warriors can be a long-winded process full of experimentation and testing. Sometimes you won’t know if a particular skill is worth getting, or if a passive is too good to be true. In a sprawling RPG game like Dragon Age: Inquisition, it helps to know what you’re doing and be on the top of your game as soon as possible–otherwise you’ll feel the need to re-spec or even restart the game and lose your progress.
If you want to go toe-to-toe with towering dragons and take on the fiercest demons of the Fade, you’ll need to arm yourself with knowledge. Luckily we’ve come across an immensely handy guide courtesy of Reddit user Legacy_Raider, which reveals the dynamics of spell combos. We’ve broken down the basics and fundamentals of combos, and tell you everything you need to know about status effects, detonators and the resulting bonus chaos so you can take on the biggest and baddest in Thedas.
Anatomy Of A Spell Combo
Certain skills in Inquisition are must-haves that can set up devastatingly powerful combos that wreak havoc on foes. Experimenting with class abilities can lead to some pretty surprising results (like Whirlwind with Static Cage) and decimate baddies with substantial damage bonuses. But first we have to understand what status effects are, and how they work in tandem with “detonation” skills to pull off high damage. Every class–Rogue, Mage and Warrior–has its own set of skills that inflict varying status effects as well as specific detonation skills. Combos essentially begin with incapacitating an enemy with a status effect followed up with a “detonator ability”.
Essentially combos are just a specific rotation of skills that deliver bonus damage and affects when properly executed, and keeping things simple is the key to understanding how they work.
Status Effects: Combo Starters
There are four basic status effects–Stun, Sleep, Freeze and Paralyze–and below we have a breakdown of the classes and skills that inflict them. Note that these abilities are also synonymous with “incapacitating” effects and the “disabled” status.
Incapacitating Effect –> Class –> Skill (Skill Tree)
- Stun –> Warrior –> Pommel Strike (Two-Handed Tree)
- Sleep –> Rogue –> Knockout Powder (Subterfuge Tree)
- Freeze –> Mage –> Winter’s Grasp // Flask of Frost (Tempest Rogue)
- Paralyze –> Mage –> Lightning Bolt (Storm Tree)
Dragon Age 2 Skill Calculator Download
The above skills are essential abilities to pick up for all classes in some mixture or another. It’s advised that you spread out and vary your party members, but they’ll all need some form of combo starter skill. You can’t go wrong with any of the above, but the passives can get a bit tricky. Let’s just stick with combos for right now.
Detonators: Combo Finishers
Now that we know how to start a combo, let’s explore some basic finishers. Just like the status effects, detonators are typified by the class they belong to and are made up of three basic types: Impact, Precision and Eldritch. All of these lead to different combo outcomes and can afford tremendous strategic advantage.
Detonator –> Class –> Skill
- Impact –> Warrior –>
- Lunge and Slash
- Shield Bash (Weapon & Shield Tree)
- Mighty Blow, Whirlwind (Two-Handed Tree)
- Spell Purge (Templar)
- Precision –> Rogue –>
- Longshot (Archery),
- Twin Fangs, Death Blow (Double Daggers Tree)
- Shadow Strike (Subterfuge)
- Eldritch –> Mage –>
- Mind Blast, Dispel (Spirit)
- Energy Barrage (Storm)
- Immolate (Inferno)
- Spirit Blade (Knight-Enchanter)
- Stonefist (doubles as Impact, Rift Mage)
Combos are all about strategy, and to effectively use them, you’ll need to hop into the freeze-frame tactical menu to plot your party’s actions. Having full step-by-step control over your party is essential to pulling off the combos, and the RTS-style tactical view is a fantastic way to learn the basics of this craft. Learning the flow of battle is paramount to successful execution of spell synergies, but with time you’ll get the hang of it. Now let’s move on to the advanced course in spell combos 101.
Combo Effects
Incapacitating skills set the bomb in place, detonators light the fuse and combo effects are the resulting explosion. The most amazing thing about combos in Dragon Age: Inquisition is that status and detonator spells can be mixed and matched to deliver different explosive results. This is the advanced course, and we’ll be taking a look at the true dynamics of spell combos as tactical tools of destruction. After successful detonation, certain combo sets will hit enemies with powerful afflictions that can weaken baddies, dish out huge elemental damage, or even send them in a crazed panic of fear. These debilitating statuses are the key to tackling strong bosses or playing on higher difficulties. Essentially the formula is like this, along with a breakdown of each of the combo effects and what they do.
Incapacitating Spell + Detonator = Combo Effect
- Basic Combo –> Moderate bonus damage, no bonus status effect.
- Rupture –> High damage over time (DoT) that ignores armor, similar to a bleed effect.
- Shatter–> High cold elemental damage.
- Nightmare –> High damage, inflicts Panic effect (enemy stops attacking and moves randomly around the battlefield).
- Discharge –> High AoE lightning damage to enemies within range.
- Weakness –> High damage bonus and inflicts Weakness effect (target’s attacks do less damage)
Dragon Age 2 Skill Calculator Map
Now that we know all the basics of the incapacitating spells, detonators and the combo effects, let’s go over some sample combos and their respective results in battle. Every detonator will trigger different outcomes, all of which can be the difference between life and death in those tough situations.
It’s best to start out with the simple combos like Pommel Strike + Lunge and Slash, then work your way to using Mage skills like Winter’s Grasp and Lightning Bolt to start off your combos. One of the more effective starter synergies is just Winter’s Grasp + Shield Bash, which works incredibly well if the opponent is shielded or heavily armored. Varric or Cole’s Knockout Powder is an excellent combo starter as well, as it puts baddies to sleep and allows you to kick off the bleeding effects of Rupture or terrorizing them with Nightmare.
Dragon Age 2 Skill Calculator Table
If you happen to unlock the Templar specialization, he can actually combo off of his own skills: the Wrath of Heaven ability–which delivers a Stun AoE attack–can be detonated by the Spell Purge attack, dealing huge damage. If we consult the table above, a Stun starter combined with an Eldritch detonator kicks off Weakness, and for an added bonus, Spell Purge also dispels and de-buffs baddies of all their bonuses. Another amazing combo is using Knockout Powder on group of clustered enemies then rampaging in with a two-handed Warrior’s Whirlwind ability. This will combo off of the entire group, dealing impressive damage across the board.
Static Cage also works exceptionally well with Whirlwind. The former is a spell from the Mage’s Storm tree, and essentially traps enemies and paralyzes them in a given space. Once paralyzed, two-handed Warriors can jump in and stir up a frenzy with Whirlwind, rending the poor hapless souls to bits. To take full advantage of these synergies you’ll want to pay attention to enemy strengths and weaknesses. These can be seen at any time when you use the tactical menu, where you can hover over a demon or Red Templar and see their stats. Should an enemy not have any weaknesses, well you can just fire up a recipe like Pommel Strike (Stun) + Mind Blast (Eldritch Detonator) and Weaken them yourself.
At their core combos are strategic advantages that can sway any battle in your favor. Using the right conjunction of spells at the right time can lead to an ultimate victory against the strongest foes of Thedas. With the power of combos every party member has the capacity to be a huge asset for the entire team. Be sure to pick up all of the combo starters and check through the detonators to find which you like the most. But be careful as you’ll want to invest in passives to round out your characters. Now that you know the basics of combos be sure to give them a try! At first it’ll be slow-going, but once you get all the rotations and Tactics down pat, battle will flow like a finely tuned machine.
We hope you’ve learned a thing or two with this guide, and be sure to let us know in the comments section below if you’ve found any other interesting character class skill combos!
Original Author: Derek Strickland
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