18 réponses à ce sujet

[N7ClassSoldier]

Well, I finally got Dragon Age Inquisition, and while I have been busy switching choices in the Dragon Age Keep to come up with the best backstory (having never played the first two games) I realized that I haven't found out what class I want to be. I've heard back and forth things about rogues and mages being overpowered, but honestly, I'm a player that's more interested in the story of the game and don't particularly care about what abilities I have (after all, from what I've seen you'll technically be playing all three classes at once anyway). I'd like a class that's balanced enough to give a good amount of damage but also gives me enough defense boosts to stay alive. Which class would be best suited for that?

 

Also, I'm playing as a human, since gaming wise they are the most "balanced" and storywise it would kind of help me simulate the idea of someone in a strange world.

[sjsharp2011]

I would say for a first playthrough go with mage as it is probably the easiest to get to grips with as all you literally have to do as a mage is pick a target and fire really most of the time. You do have spells and things to use but you don't have to chase things down and run around as much dodging things as mages aer beast kept out of the fighting and attacking at range mostly. If you're into defence boosts and don't mind a little running around I'd asy go with Knight enchanter though as a specializatoin on your mage because with that ability you'll always effectively have a barrier on you because every time you attack successfully your magical barrier recharges and the enemy has to wear this down before they can really hurt you.

 

Note that you can only unlocjk your specialization however once you get to Skyhold.

[JDALFONSO]

I agree with everything that sjsharp said. Mage is the easiest way to play. You can just sit back and spam spells as a rift mage or be unkillable as a knight enchanter if you like to be up close in the action. If Magic isn't your thing, Archer rogue is even better at single target DPS, you can move as you shoot (which helps evade damage way more than a mage), You dont have much in terms of defensive spells, but you have a lot of abilities like leaping shot, which deals massive damage while moving you to a safer location and enhanced poison weapons is one of the best passive heals in the game. Couple and Archer Rogue with Blackwall and you can breeze through nightmare mode like its casual.

 

Warrior is by far the worst choice for a dragon age newb. You'll spend half the game chasing targets if your a two hander and while your tank may be unkillable, you'll end up babysitting the rest of your team to the point that the game gets annoying.

[Gya]

Good advice above. I'll just add that the hardest part of the game is the first bit, when your gear and abilities are very limited. A rogue can use stealth to drop aggro as a defence mechanic, which is quite helpful early on. Once you get your specialisation and half decent gear, it doesn't matter which class/spec you choose except for what you enjoy playing, as pretty much all specialisations are viable.

My personal preference would be a rogue as either dual dagger assassin if you like running around in stealth and obliterating enemies one by one, or archer artificer if you like destroying everything (including your allies if you play with FF) but it all depends on your playstyle. As you noted, you get to control your companions and experience other classes. You could always look at some gameplay videos to see how things play

[MichaelN7]

It's hard to answer your question, because it would be very easy to spoil something for you.

Since you haven't played Origins or DA2, but have been playing around with the Keep, I'll assume you know the gist of it.

From a raw story perspective, mages have a more direct involvement, since one of the beginning plotlines is the "Mage-Templar" conflict.

From what you're asking gameplay-wise, each class has what you ask, but in different ways.

Here's a rundown, with some "Ideal Abilities" from the core class, not saying that you MUST take them, but they are abilities that I find myself always choosing, so I present them as simple suggestions.

 

MAGE

(my personal favorite, so I admit my bias)

 

Damage - it's all elemental, which bypasses armor (so armor-penetration on a staff is useless), so while it's not MAXIMUM DPS!!!! it is very reliable and consistent.

Every time you complete a basic attack combo there is a secondary effect based on the element of your staff.

(Fire=Burning=DOT, Electricity=Shocked=magic resistance reduced, Ice=Chilled=movement and attack speed reduced)

Your damage-dealing abilities are effective because you have the greatest AOE of the three classes, and most of your abilities have secondary effects which deal additional damage, make it easier to deal more damage, or make it easier to make more attacks.  A triple-win.

 

Defense - easy access to Barrier spell (obtainable at first level-up) and Guardian Spirit, a passive that gives you a full barrier when your health would normally be reduced to zero.  It has a 60 second cooldown, so it is not overpowered.  If your health is going to zero more than once every minute, something is very wrong.

The only downside to Barrier is that it decays over time, but the upside is that it's an "all-in" technique, you use it and get a full barrier every time.

Fade Step is easy to acquire too, useful to position yourself or get out of a tight spot VERY quickly; can be upgraded to deal decent damage and inflict Chilled.

 

If you really want to buff your mage's defenses, then the Knight Enchanter specialization is for you.

It's my personal favorite, but it has passives that increase you maximum barrier, slow down barrier decay, deal damage to enemies that attack you, AND enables you to generate barrier every time you deal damage.  The more you're surrounded the more powerful you get, the more damage you take the more is returned, and the more damage you deal the tougher you get.

Rift Mage is all about weakening enemies while dealing lots of Spirit damage (Spirit damage partially bypasses all defenses).  Lots of offense and throwing bad guys like ragdolls for excellent crowd control.

Necromancer renders enemies Panicked, with lots of abilities that raise fallen enemies to fight for you.  The more death you make the stronger you get.

 

IDEAL ABILITIES = Barrier, Energy Barrage, Chain Lightning, Fade Step

 

 

WARRIOR

(my second favorite, Weapon and Shield preferred, bias noted)

 

Damage - Two-Handed (T-H) has a wider arc than Weapon-and-Shield (W-n-S), so hitting multiple foes at once is common.  W-n-S is more mobile, with Lunge and Slash being self-explanatory, and Shield Bash can be upgraded to rush forward.  Abilities like Charging Bull enable you to knock enemies down, basically free hits, and others like Combat Roll can be upgraded to deal damage.

 

Defense - obviously, W-n-S is more defensive, what with the shield and all.  Warriors are also the only class able to generate guard with their abilities.  Guard is effectively a second health bar that must be depleted before health takes damage.  Unlike Barrier, it does not decay, but it generally has to be "built", i.e. there are very few ways to get full guard all at once.  The best part is that guard generation is not restricted to weapon type, all the main guard generating abilities are shared among the weapon styles.

 

If you really want to bolster your defenses, then Champion is for you, they are the only specialization that has abilities that give you full guard instantly and several passives that boost your armor and maximum guard.  Reaver is all about damage, but it's risky, since the damage bonuses increase the closer you are to zero health.  Templar is my favorite, and is generally a support role, with passives that increase damage to demons for the whole party (very useful, since there are many Fade Rifts [explained in-game, no worries] and they all spawn demons) and give the whole party a universal increase to elemental resistances (Fire, Electricity, Ice, and Spirit).

 

IDEAL ABILITIES = Charging Bull, Combat Roll

 

 

ROGUE

(not my favorite, so this will be comparatively sparse)

 

Damage - highest single-target damage, many passives add effects like bleed and poison.  Dual Daggers are VERY fast, and daggers have the highest DPS of all the weapons.  Bows are faster than Staffs, the other ranged weapon.  A lot of your damage is situational, via flanking, stealth, and timing.  Stealth is your bread-n-butter here, it serves as offense, defense, and utility.  It reduces your aggro and gives your next attack a damage boost.  Several abilities help you to set up attacks just the way you want them, like Full Draw deals bonus damage if your target hasn't been hit yet, and Longshot deals bonus damage if you're really far away from your target.

 

Defense - they say the best defense is a good offense, and the Rogue embodies this concept.  That said, the Rogue does have some abilities to take the edge off, namely Stealth, but others like Caltrops fill the surrounding area with spikes, dealing damage to anyone who steps on them while slowing their movement.

Hook and Tackle lets you zoom across the battlefield by latching onto an enemy and pulling yourself to them, handy for escaping a difficult foe and taking out a mook all at once.

 

For specializations, Assassin is all about dealing insane damage in very short amounts of time.  Abilities like Mark of Death deal instant, unblockable damage that you can trigger whenever you like.

Artificer takes the trap-making aspect and runs with it, allowing things like Fallback Plan, essentially a "Get out of death free" card, and Elemental Mines, which is Caltrops on steroids.

Tempest, my personal favorite, involves flasks of fire (abilities have no cooldown and knocks back enemies that attack you), ice (increases armor and damage resistance and freezes enemies that attack you), and lightning (you move incredibly fast, i.e. everyone else slows down)

 

IDEAL ABILITIES = Stealth, Hook and Tackle

 

-------------

 

Yes, that's a lot, so here's a summary:

 

Mage = AOE, Barrier, elemental damage

 - Knight Enchanter = Barrier, nigh invulnerability

 - Rift Mage = DPS, AOE, CC

 - Necromancer = Panicked, extra "allies" in combat

 

Warrior = Guard, Aggro

 - Templar = damage resist, demon-slaying, no-sell on enemy magic

 - Champion = Guard, Guard, Guard

 - Reaver = health steal, low health means more damage

 

Rogue = DPS, Stealth, flanking attacks

 - Tempest = ability spam, knockback, rapid-fire, extra potions/grenades

 - Artificer = traps, mines, a "Plan B" if it all goes south

 - Assassin = raw damage, insane DPS

 

Granted, this isn't everything, so pick the one that looks the coolest to you.

Each class has offense, defense, and utility, just in different ways.

And if you REALLY can't decide, just pick Mage, since mages have a bit more involvement with the story.

If you don't like it, you can bring a party member of a different class and play as them.

9 total companions if you recruit them all, and each one gets one of the specializations after a certain point, so you can experiment and see which one(s) you like.

 

Hope this helps, and Merry Christmas!

 

 

NOTE:  Thanks to a suggestion by PapaCharlie9, I'm going to copy this into a new thread I'm making called:

"Beginner's Guide to Choosing a Class in Dragon Age: Inquisition"

[DarkAmaranth1966]

hat depends on you, IMHO. If your favorite class in other semi medieval RPG games is a rougue or warrir, then play that. Your first playthrough is a learning experience and, if you favor one class then, best to learn that in this game first.

 

That way you are comfortable with your class, just learning the mechanics of it in this game, and that makes exploring everything else the game offers easier to focus on when it isn't an entirely unfamiliar clas for you to play.

[PapaCharlie9]

It's hard to answer your question, because it would be very easy to spoil something for you.
Since you haven't played Origins or DA2, but have been playing around with the Keep, I'll assume you know the gist of it.
From a raw story perspective, mages have a more direct involvement, since one of the beginning plotlines is the "Mage-Templar" conflict.
From what you're asking gameplay-wise, each class has what you ask, but in different ways.
Here's a rundown, with some "Ideal Abilities" from the core class, not saying that you MUST take them, but they are abilities that I find myself always choosing, so I present them as simple suggestions.
 
MAGE
(my personal favorite, so I admit my bias)
 
Damage - it's all elemental, which bypasses armor (so armor-penetration on a staff is useless), so while it's not MAXIMUM DPS!!!! it is very reliable and consistent.
Every time you complete a basic attack combo there is a secondary effect based on the element of your staff.
(Fire=Burning=DOT, Electricity=Shocked=magic resistance reduced, Ice=Chilled=movement and attack speed reduced)
Your damage-dealing abilities are effective because you have the greatest AOE of the three classes, and most of your abilities have secondary effects which deal additional damage, make it easier to deal more damage, or make it easier to make more attacks.  A triple-win.
 
Defense - easy access to Barrier spell (obtainable at first level-up) and Guardian Spirit, a passive that gives you a full barrier when your health would normally be reduced to zero.  It has a 60 second cooldown, so it is not overpowered.  If your health is going to zero more than once every minute, something is very wrong.
The only downside to Barrier is that it decays over time, but the upside is that it's an "all-in" technique, you use it and get a full barrier every time.
Fade Step is easy to acquire too, useful to position yourself or get out of a tight spot VERY quickly; can be upgraded to deal decent damage and inflict Chilled.
 
If you really want to buff your mage's defenses, then the Knight Enchanter specialization is for you.
It's my personal favorite, but it has passives that increase you maximum barrier, slow down barrier decay, deal damage to enemies that attack you, AND enables you to generate barrier every time you deal damage.  The more you're surrounded the more powerful you get, the more damage you take the more is returned, and the more damage you deal the tougher you get.
Rift Mage is all about weakening enemies while dealing lots of Spirit damage (Spirit damage partially bypasses all defenses).  Lots of offense and throwing bad guys like ragdolls.
Necromancer renders enemies Panicked, with lots of abilities that raise fallen enemies to fight for you.  The more death you make the stronger you get.
 
IDEAL ABILITIES = Barrier, Energy Barrage, Chain Lightning, Fade Step
 
 
WARRIOR
(my second favorite, Weapon and Shield preferred, bias noted)
 
Damage - Two-Handed (T-H) has a wider arc than Weapon-and-Shield (W-n-S), so hitting multiple foes at once is common.  W-n-S is more mobile, with Lunge and Slash being self-explanatory, and Shield Bash can be upgraded to rush forward.  Abilities like Charging Bull enable you to knock enemies down, basically free hits, and others like Combat Roll can be upgraded to deal damage.
 
Defense - obviously, W-n-S is more defensive, what with the shield and all.  Warriors are also the only class able to generate guard with their abilities.  Guard is effectively a second health bar that must be depleted before health takes damage.  Unlike Barrier, it does not decay, but it generally has to be "built", i.e. there are very few ways to get full guard all at once.  The best part is that guard generation is not restricted to weapon type, all the main guard generating abilities are shared among the weapon styles.
 
If you really want to bolster your defenses, then Champion is for you, they are the only specialization that has abilities that give you full guard instantly and several passives that boost your armor and maximum guard.  Reaver is all about damage, but it's risky, since the damage bonuses increase the closer you are to zero health.  Templar is my favorite, and is generally a support role, with passives that increase damage to demons for the whole party (very useful, since there are many Fade Rifts [explained in-game, no worries] and they all spawn demons) and give the whole party a universal increase to elemental resistances (Fire, Electricity, Ice, and Spirit).
 
IDEAL ABILITIES = Charging Bull, Combat Roll
 
 
ROGUE
(not my favorite, so this will be comparatively sparse)
 
Damage - highest single-target damage, many passives add effects like bleed and poison.  Dual Daggers are VERY fast, and daggers have the highest DPS of all the weapons.  Bows are faster than Staffs, the other ranged weapon.  A lot of your damage is situational, via flanking, stealth, and timing.  Stealth is your bread-n-butter here, it serves as offense, defense, and utility.  It reduces your aggro and gives your next attack a damage boost.  Several abilities help you to set up attacks just the way you want them, like Full Draw deals bonus damage if your target hasn't been hit yet, and Longshot deals bonus damage if you're really far away from your target.
 
Defense - they say the best defense is a good offense, and the Rogue embodies this concept.  That said, the Rogue does have some abilities to take the edge off, namely Stealth, but others like Caltrops fill the surrounding area with spikes, dealing damage to anyone who steps on them while slowing their movement.
Hook and Tackle lets you zoom across the battlefield by latching onto an enemy and pulling yourself to them, handy for escaping a difficult foe and taking out a mook all at once.
 
For specializations, Assassin is all about dealing insane damage in very short amounts of time.  Abilities like Mark of Death deal instant, unblockable damage that you can trigger whenever you like.
Artificer takes the trap-making aspect and runs with it, allowing things like Fallback Plan, essentially a "Get out of death free" card, and Elemental Mines, which is Caltrops on steroids.
Tempest, my personal favorite, involves flasks of fire (abilities have no cooldown and knocks back enemies that attack you), ice (increases armor and damage resistance and freezes enemies that attack you), and lightning (you move incredibly fast, i.e. everyone else slows down)
 
-------------
 
Yes, that's a lot, so here's a summary:
 
Mage = AOE, Barrier, elemental damage
 - Knight Enchanter = Barrier, nigh invulnerability
 - Rift Mage = DPS, AOE
 - Necromancer = Panicked, extra "allies" in combat
 
Warrior = Guard, Aggro
 - Templar = damage resist, demon-slaying, no-sell on enemy magic
 - Champion = Guard, Guard, Guard
 - Reaver = health steal, low health means more damage
 
Rogue = DPS, Stealth, flanking attacks
 - Tempest = ability spam, knockback, rapid-fire, extra potions/grenades
 - Artificer = traps, mines, a "Plan B" if it all goes south
 - Assassin = raw damage, insane DPS
 
Granted, this isn't everything, so pick the one that looks the coolest to you.
Each class has offense, defense, and utility, just in different ways.
And if you REALLY can't decide, just pick Mage, since mages have a bit more involvement with the story.
If you don't like it, you can bring a party member of a different class and play as them.
9 total companions if you recruit them all, and each one gets one of the specializations after a certain point, so you can experiment and see which one(s) you like.
 
Hope this helps, and Merry Christmas!

Hey, that's a great write up in it's own right! I suggest you repost it as a new thread, with title *[GUIDE] Beginner's Guide To Class and Specialization*.

One tiny little edit: Rift Mage is all that you said, but I'd add best crowd control abilities. No spec has better. You kind of allude to it with the rag doll thing, but for beginners, best to be explicit.

[Pokemario]

Mages also get a bit of unique dialogue in the game (especially if you play as a human).

[PapaCharlie9]

Storywise for a human, I'd say Mage/Rift Mage or Warrior/Champion are the best choices for a first run that is story-oriented.

Mage is actually kind of problematic for the story (no spoilers), but going Rift Mage kind of trumps that problem by putting your character in the center of the world-wide problem.

Warrior is safely neutral, as long as you don't got Templar or Reaver. So that kind of leaves Champion by process of elimination.

(Full disclosure: I always play mage as my first run, even when mage is not really an option -- for example, Witcher 3, I went with a very magic heavy build.)

[capn233]

I played 2H Warrior my first run, which isn't necessarily what I would recommend.

Good suggestions for mage above, although archer rogue is probably at least as good early game.

[sjsharp2011]

Storywise for a human, I'd say Mage/Rift Mage or Warrior/Champion are the best choices for a first run that is story-oriented.

Mage is actually kind of problematic for the story (no spoilers), but going Rift Mage kind of trumps that problem by putting your character in the center of the world-wide problem.

Warrior is safely neutral, as long as you don't got Templar or Reaver. So that kind of leaves Champion by process of elimination.

(Full disclosure: I always play mage as my first run, even when mage is not really an option -- for example, Witcher 3, I went with a very magic heavy build.)

So have I really when it comes to DA in fact my frir4swt run through the whole series was a mage in each game. Playing as mage in DAO atm but am planning warriors for both DA2 and DAI

[MichaelN7]

Hey, that's a great write up in it's own right! I suggest you repost it as a new thread, with title *[GUIDE] Beginner's Guide To Class and Specialization*.

One tiny little edit: Rift Mage is all that you said, but I'd add best crowd control abilities. No spec has better. You kind of allude to it with the rag doll thing, but for beginners, best to be explicit.

 

Thank you, PapaCharlie9!

 

I made the changes you suggested.

[N7ClassSoldier]

Thanks for all of your opinions ladies and gentlemen, but I have come up with my own choice. I want to play as a female warrior with a sword and shield (possibly with a Champion specialization). I'm choosing this idea because as people have stated, Warriors are like tanks able to take huge amounts of damage while dishing just as much, and story-wise I feel it is probably the most neutral position yet, allowing me to enjoy the story as someone with no real idea how the fantasy world works. I know some people may say it's boring, but the soldier class in Mass Effect was boring, yet it is the most beginner friendly class in the game. Besides, I will be switching between characters of different classes so that I have an idea of what each class is like for my next playthrough.

 

Now, slightly off-topic I came up with an idea for a Lord of the Rings sequel. I know JRR Tolkein already wrote 13 pages of one called The New Shadow, but he never finished it. Supposedly it was set 125 years after the Return of the King and dealt with one of Aragorn's ancestors dealing with a Gondor being torn by revolutionary plots, a satanic religion, and boys pretending to be Orcs and laying damage all over the place. I thought I would probably expand it by featuring the world sort of enter a Rennesaince phase, in which men had made scientific endeavors and exploit them among Middle Earth, which involved Wizards being hunted down and killed by these new powerful Men.

[Myalzalean]

I just wanted to point out that choosing your starting class is only half the battle, the other half is choosing what role your character has in the party. While playing a warrior isn't necessarily boring many people find playing a warrior as the party's tank is boring.

 

Early game you are going to be very limited on the number of abilities you can choose so you have to choose to either be a tank, which means focusing on taunting enemies and generating guard, or doing damage with abilities such as payback strike and combat roll.

 

If your tank does not taunt enemies they will go after the squishier members like Solas and Varric and they will die quickly. Likewise, without guard generation all those taunted enemies are going to kill the tank quickly and then proceed to go after the other party members.

 

A lot of people will spec Cassandra to be the tank early game with War Cry, Challenge, and the defensive passives from Weapon and Shield because the VI actually does a decent job tanking, allowing their character to take more damaging abilities and a dps role.

 

Or you could be the party's tank and spec Cass for more damaging abilities, either way is fine, it just helps to have a strategy in place because the early portions of the game can be frustrating at times due to the lack of good items and ability points. 

[BlacJAC74]

I'll warn you now, SnS is boring, especially during the early part of the game and is best left to the AI (one of the things the AI is actually good at).  If you're going a warrior, I would suggest 2h.  There's a reason many people don't opt for it and leave the AI to pick up the slack in that dept.

[DreamSever]

Rogue dw assassin, weak at first but the reward is great, put all trials on kill nugs at haven get armada blade straight away , 600 damage level 4 hinterlands backstabs, found sns and 2h boring

[Elhanan]

I would say a Rogue Archer as a first time character; Mage for the replay. leading from the back of the pack may help give more perspective to combat, and that mindset may also help with the stories.

[DreamSever]

I would say a Rogue Archer as a first time character; Mage for the replay. leading from the back of the pack may help give more perspective to combat, and that mindset may also help with the stories.

 you have two competant archers already , unless the player controls them there is no good DW in the team, cole dies alot, DW are satisfyingly godly in the right hands 

[Elhanan]

you have two competant archers already , unless the player controls them there is no good DW in the team, cole dies alot, DW are satisfyingly godly in the right hands

In the right hands; not necessarily those available in the initial campaign. And after the first campaign, I always spec the Rogues as Archers.