I'm starting a new character for Awakening (leaving my canon Origins character later). With an 18th level character where I've to assign all the points at the beginning, I was thinking something like this:
class: Rogue
Attributes: increase Strength to 22 for armour, Cunning to 22 for Talents, and the rest in Dexterity for Accuracy later
Skills: Combat Training I to IV, then Pickpocket I to III because I don't know what else to pick
Talents: full 4 ranks of Lockpicking and Stealth, all Archery Talents, which leaves 1 Talent for...
Specialisation: Bard, with 1 Talent point for Song of Valour
How does that look? I have little experience with Rogues (always prefered Mages and Tanks in my party), but I've done some research out of due diligence, so I've a few specific questions:
- I want to be an Archer because I heard Accuracy is awesome, but is Archery better for a Rogue or a Warrior?
- As a Rogue, I chose Bard as the starting Specialisation, but should I start with Assassin instead?
- When possible, please let me understand some of the trade-offs for any paths you suggest
Seeking advice on Archer build for a new Awakening character
Débuté par
Zombie Chow
, févr. 09 2011 06:03
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#2
Posté 09 février 2011 - 06:32
termokanden
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I agree with your choice of attributes. You take enough strength for light armor, 22 cunning and then the rest in dex. That's certainly the way to go.
For specializations, I would grab Legion (look it up on the wiki, it's very very good), Bard (for damage bonuses) and Ranger (for a pet). Note that the only good thing about Bard is Song of Courage because it provides damage bonuses, even with low cunning.
I would advise against Assassin since you can't backstab with bows. You do get Mark of Death, but that's all you get. Shadow is pretty much the same thing. It's meant for melee, so I'd say skip it.
That's about it. Or you could make a warrior archer. They do much higher damage through Spirit Warrior, but all the cool archer gear is light armor restricted to rogues only.
For a warrior archer, go with 25 strength exactly for Death Blow and everything else goes into dex. Then grab Spirit Warrior and whatever you want for the two other specializations, none of them are really good for archers anyway. But be prepared to yawn your way through the game, because this build will annihilate anything and everything with no effort.
For specializations, I would grab Legion (look it up on the wiki, it's very very good), Bard (for damage bonuses) and Ranger (for a pet). Note that the only good thing about Bard is Song of Courage because it provides damage bonuses, even with low cunning.
I would advise against Assassin since you can't backstab with bows. You do get Mark of Death, but that's all you get. Shadow is pretty much the same thing. It's meant for melee, so I'd say skip it.
That's about it. Or you could make a warrior archer. They do much higher damage through Spirit Warrior, but all the cool archer gear is light armor restricted to rogues only.
For a warrior archer, go with 25 strength exactly for Death Blow and everything else goes into dex. Then grab Spirit Warrior and whatever you want for the two other specializations, none of them are really good for archers anyway. But be prepared to yawn your way through the game, because this build will annihilate anything and everything with no effort.
#3
Posté 09 février 2011 - 11:01
Ferretinabun
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Warrior Archer with Spirit Warrior is the insanely over-powered setup.
You might find it fun. You might find it makes the game too easy.
You might find it fun. You might find it makes the game too easy.
#4
Posté 10 février 2011 - 09:45
Zombie Chow
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You guys gave some fantastic advice. Very practical, weighing the opportunity costs.
I don't know if you were using reverse psychology on me or what, but boy, did it work. I'm so interested in a Warrior Archer right now. In fact, I experimented a bit. The Warrior Archer benefits over the Rogue IMHO here:
- better defense with just the starting Warden armour plate
- Rogue just eats Stamina up, but the Warrior's Death Blow really helps replenish it as I'm getting the kills anyway
- I can give the Rogue gear for Howe's son instead of monopolising it
Then finally, I actually find the RP a little more compelling. The character wearing in the Warrior's "knight in shining armour" just looks more impressive than the leather suit. The role this new Warden plays is as much political as it is practical. A little superficial, I know, but I think it does matter.
Very good advice. This started as just a "try something out of my comfort zone" as I play Mages and some Warrior before, but now I'm really looking forward to this character. It seems like a totally different experience for me.
termokanden wrote...
That's about it. Or you could make a warrior archer. They do much higher damage through Spirit Warrior, but all the cool archer gear is light armor restricted to rogues only.
For a warrior archer, go with 25 strength exactly for Death Blow and everything else goes into dex. Then grab Spirit Warrior and whatever you want for the two other specializations, none of them are really good for archers anyway. But be prepared to yawn your way through the game, because this build will annihilate anything and everything with no effort.
I don't know if you were using reverse psychology on me or what, but boy, did it work. I'm so interested in a Warrior Archer right now. In fact, I experimented a bit. The Warrior Archer benefits over the Rogue IMHO here:
- better defense with just the starting Warden armour plate
- Rogue just eats Stamina up, but the Warrior's Death Blow really helps replenish it as I'm getting the kills anyway
- I can give the Rogue gear for Howe's son instead of monopolising it
Then finally, I actually find the RP a little more compelling. The character wearing in the Warrior's "knight in shining armour" just looks more impressive than the leather suit. The role this new Warden plays is as much political as it is practical. A little superficial, I know, but I think it does matter.
Very good advice. This started as just a "try something out of my comfort zone" as I play Mages and some Warrior before, but now I'm really looking forward to this character. It seems like a totally different experience for me.
#5
Posté 10 février 2011 - 02:18
termokanden
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Well now that you're playing one, I should mention that you can buff your damage by casting mage hexes on the target as long as you have Beyond the Veil active. It drains stamina like crazy, but you should be able to keep up since you have Death Blow.
Modifié par termokanden, 10 février 2011 - 02:18 .
#6
Posté 10 février 2011 - 03:17
Last Darkness
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#7
Posté 13 février 2011 - 04:49
Zombie Chow
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I read Last Darkness' guide before and after I played with Rogues a bit. Before, it was a lot of info to absorb. After, it made perfect sense.
In the end, I went back to being a Rogue as the game offered a few things I didn't anticipate. I'm just replying in case others playing the Ultimate Edition or preparing a savefile for DA2 stumble on this thread.
My impressions shown above were not as well-informed as they could be, mainly because I avoided reading spoilers. I saw what you guys told me about, you were right, but of course 1st-hand experience helps.
1st, the Warden plate armour has a slow attack speed. The Warden Rogue leathers' attack speed more than make up for the lack of protection. Then, I found there was a lot more interesting Rogue equipment.
2nd, Rogue does not eat Stamina up. It's all about the Sustainables instead of Active abilities now, which was a huge change for me. All I needed was Accuracy, Song of Courage, and Weak Points.
3rd, I got a set of Noble Clothing which was better for RPing the character as a noble. It was nearly at the very beginning and I failed to notice it earlier.
4th, you're absolutely right about the Legionnaire Scout ability Strength of Stone. It is really well-suited for Awakening, where fights are short and smaller in-scale than DA:O, so you only need a few seconds of invincibility.
The Warrior's still absolutely great, in fact, Awakening's slightly easier than Origins overall. But I think of all of them Rogue Archers became the easiest as it needs so little micromanagement now.
In the end, I went back to being a Rogue as the game offered a few things I didn't anticipate. I'm just replying in case others playing the Ultimate Edition or preparing a savefile for DA2 stumble on this thread.
Zombie Chow wrote...
The Warrior Archer benefits over the Rogue IMHO here:
- better defense with just the starting Warden armour plate
- Rogue just eats Stamina up, but the Warrior's Death Blow really helps replenish it as I'm getting the kills anyway
- I can give the Rogue gear for Howe's son instead of monopolising it
Then finally, I actually find the RP a little more compelling. The character wearing in the Warrior's "knight in shining armour" just looks more impressive than the leather suit. The role this new Warden plays is as much political as it is practical. A little superficial, I know, but I think it does matter.
My impressions shown above were not as well-informed as they could be, mainly because I avoided reading spoilers. I saw what you guys told me about, you were right, but of course 1st-hand experience helps.
1st, the Warden plate armour has a slow attack speed. The Warden Rogue leathers' attack speed more than make up for the lack of protection. Then, I found there was a lot more interesting Rogue equipment.
2nd, Rogue does not eat Stamina up. It's all about the Sustainables instead of Active abilities now, which was a huge change for me. All I needed was Accuracy, Song of Courage, and Weak Points.
3rd, I got a set of Noble Clothing which was better for RPing the character as a noble. It was nearly at the very beginning and I failed to notice it earlier.
4th, you're absolutely right about the Legionnaire Scout ability Strength of Stone. It is really well-suited for Awakening, where fights are short and smaller in-scale than DA:O, so you only need a few seconds of invincibility.
The Warrior's still absolutely great, in fact, Awakening's slightly easier than Origins overall. But I think of all of them Rogue Archers became the easiest as it needs so little micromanagement now.
Modifié par Zombie Chow, 13 février 2011 - 04:59 .
