The Rogue epitomizes speed and combat effectiveness in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, expertly slicing through waves of Darkspawn throughout Thedas.
Positioned between the Warrior’s durability and the Mage’s fragile yet powerful output, the Rogue provides an exhilarating narrative experience, securing its place in the A-Tier of our class rankings.
This class showcases a variety of specializations that significantly enhance its capabilities, arguably more than any other class. Mastering the Rogue’s playstyle enables players to maximize damage output from an already potent class.
Optimal Rogue Build in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
| Features | Optimal Build |
|---|---|
| Specialization | Duelist |
| Skills | Static Strikes, Hurricane of Blades, A Thousand Cuts, Murder of Crows (Ultimate) |
| Stat Priority | Necrotic Damage, Ability Damage, Stagger |
| Companions | Taash, Neve Gallus / Bellara |
While not as fragile as the Mage, the Rogue still depends heavily on evading harm rather than tanking it. Consequently, employing swift strikes and inflicting damage over time proves to be the most effective approach for enemies.
Necrotic Damage currently stands as the premier damage type in the game, outshining fire, frost, and bleeding effects. This build is designed to prioritize Necrotic Damage availability while synergizing effectively with chosen companions for optimal results.
Be sure to utilize your daggers frequently, especially for dismantling enemy armor with powerful strikes. However, don’t hesitate to switch to the bow when circumstances call for it, as some enemies complicate close-quarters combat during various battle phases.
Most importantly, maintain constant movement. While not the top choice in the table, abilities like Toxic Dash offer excellent alternatives to close in on foes, allowing for evasive maneuvers without incurring additional damage.
Top Specialization
- Duelist
Duelist enriches the standard class archetype by focusing on speed and delivering devastating abilities.
The Saboteur specialization emphasizes battlefield control through the use of explosives and turrets, creating safe zones for damage dealing. Alternatively, the Veil Ranger focuses on enhancing the Rogue’s ranged capabilities with bows, as opposed to the dagger-centric approach favored by the other two specs.
For this build, quickly advancing to the Duelist specialization is the most beneficial route. This grants you access to impressive Necrotic tools by Level 20, which perfectly align with the limited capabilities available at the game’s outset.
Top Skills and Abilities
- Necrotic Abilities – Hurricane of Blades, A Thousand Cuts, Murder of Crows (Ultimate)
As a Rogue, your initial focus should be acquiring all nodes within the core skill tree. This grants essential abilities like Riposte, Exploding Arrow, and Evasive Maneuvers, which are foundational to your Rogue gameplay experience.
Next, prioritize the Hurricane of Blades ability, crucial for leveraging the Necrotic Damage favored in this build. Additionally, selecting the Staggering Blade and Sharper Edge passive effects will enhance your build, providing a +15% Penetration and +20% Sword Stagger. However, refrain from deviating too far in this direction.
Progressing upwards in the skill tree, acquire the Pilfer ability and its related passives for enhancing Bleed effects and Physical Resistance. Subsequently, direct your efforts towards the Duelist specialization as swiftly as possible.
Ensure you obtain the Toxic Dash node for additional Necrotic Damage, which is also beneficial for closing gaps and applying the Sundered status effect on adversaries.
Upon attaining the Duelist specialization, you will unlock the Ultimate ability Murder of Crows along with the core ability A Thousand Cuts. Both abilities are vital to this build, and you should prioritize using A Thousand Cuts whenever it’s ready, reserving Murder of Crows for challenging bosses or hectic battles.
Most Effective Stats and Gear
- Necrotic Damage
- Stagger
- Control Ability Damage
Dragon Age: The Veilguard offers an extensive array of gear from various locations, including drops from boss encounters and items from merchants found within Thedas’s Sanctums. As indicated throughout this build, it is essential to seek gear that specifically enhances Necrotic Damage.
Additionally, Stagger effects are highly effective, especially when your companions contribute to staggering enemies, allowing you to unleash potent attacks or eliminate foes outright. Bleed effects provide a useful secondary strategy; numerous jewelry and trinket options can assist with this effort.
Having access to additional stats such as Control Ability Damage can also benefit Rogue players, although it’s mostly suited for those leaning towards the Saboteur specialization. If you’re on the hunt for an excellent early-game item, challenge yourself in the Halls of Valor to win ten fights, as this will yield a unique ring that boosts Stagger significantly.
Top Companion Choices
- Taash
- Neve Gallus / Bellara
Like the Mage, it’s highly advantageous to include a support character capable of healing you when necessary. Neve Gallus and Bellara are perfect examples, offering continuous healing to help you navigate the game’s toughest challenges.
Both companions provide effective ranged support and complement the Rogue’s playstyle, serving as a safe retreat when you need to gain distance from adversaries. Furthermore, they pair exceptionally well with our top companion pick, Taash.
Taash stands out as a powerful force on the battlefield, wielding some of the game’s most formidable attacks. She can detonate enemies and has abilities that integrate flawlessly with the Rogue’s toolkit and Neve Gallus’ Mage spells. Any combination of these three companions will lead you to victory.
This concludes our comprehensive guide to playing the Rogue in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. We’ve also compiled a tier list to demonstrate how each class performs in the game’s latest launch patch.
Image Credits: Dexerto.com
Leave a Reply