I've done both. Here's what I've learned.
- Do and find everything in the Hissing Wastes minus the dragon.
I believe, having read quite a bit on the forums, some things are seriously misunderstood about
the archer class and its mechanics. It's extremely powerful, even with tier 2 weapons. Short of
Pride demons an arch can solo most anything in fairly short order.
-- Archers require that you use Long Shot for fast immediate (high) damage.
-- Draw Shot will give maximum damage (at ranged) for most targets. It will also, usually,
eliminate most targets in the same shot.
-- Leaping Shot may do superior damage to all three of these, but this requires all arrows hit the
target and the target has already suffered sundering.
----- You do not actually need to have a max damage bow to do this. Any ranged weapon 136
damage or above is entirely capable of this.
----- Tier 2 bows do damage between 130 to 146 dps.
----- Tier 3 bows with dragon materials will do around 172 dps.
--------- Varric's damage is on the same count as Bows with the exception of a 62% crit chance at
maximum tier.
Varric with Biance:
- Varric is a bit counter-intuitive.
I have played through the game twice now and only last week realized his weapon can reach
maximum damage. For the longest time I was stuck at 70 DPS for Bianca.
- His first few upgrades can be found fairly easily while exploring.
- I believe one of the upgrades can be found right inside Sky Haven.
So, there's very little struggle at the start to have him be effective.
- Around level 15 or so you'll begin to think "I am really beginning to dislike you, Varric." His
dps should be 'stuck' at around 106 dps by this level.
--- In order to reach his damage maximum you will need to explore the Hissing Wastes tombs.
------ One of the tombs possess his maximum damage upgrade: 172 dps when combined with
his other tier 3 upgrades.
------ Hissing Wastes also possesses a Tier 3 bow of the same dps. It's a 'spiked bow'. It is of
a better model quality than the tier 2/1 Spiked Bow (I forget which the earlier model is)
Varric as Daggers Rogue:
Varric is entirely capable of being a Dagger's Rogue. I personally found this to be more functional
than using Bianca in early to mid-game.
- His usefulness in the role of a Dagger's Rogue seems to decline considerably post-level 15 or if
you have gone to difficulties above Casual, though all that I've said throughout this remains true.
Varric's Versatility:
- This I now largely attribute to my having not understood how archery mechanics work.
- However, become of the way characters operate in close quarters.
-- because of this I feel it is possible Varric's usefulness is somewhat dependent on the class you
are playing and what manner of Tier weapons your party has.
----- if you have attained full tier 3 weapons for your party and Bianca's tier 3 upgrades Varric is
entirely functional though I personally find no use for claptraps (or whatever they are called)
in any respect.
- Varric seems to function best as a static character whom you do not interact with through the
Tactical View or controls. He's a dps drone with minimal tactical advantages (as I've constructed
him). If you have super-Korean multitasking god-powers this story may be different, but these are
facts I've found work best for me.
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