27 réponses à ce sujet

[Gya]

***UPDATED 05/03/16***

- Altered active abilities slightly

- Added new gameplay demo

- Added a bit of advice for solo play

 

 

Thanks to the Trespasser DLC, there are some nice new additions to difficulty in the form of Trials, but to counteract that, some glorious new ability upgrades and silly gear to help make us even more OP. This is just a Reaver build that I’ve been using to take into account the changes since Trespasser and patch 1.10.

 

The build is “complete” at level 22 for non-humans (with 2 amulets of power and the inquisition perk). It is, however, “fully operational” from about level 15, everything beyond that is just icing on the cake.

 

Gameplay Demos:

 

Soloing Gurd Harofsen (NM/All Trials). Gurd can kiss my ring.

 

"Complete" build in Jaws of Hakkon.

 

Level 16 solo vs Highland Ravager (level 23) - NM + all trials:

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/sNJHfCd1S3g

 

Level 12 pre-dragon rage gameplay:

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/qfogYoJkNmk

 

 

Build:

 

Skill Bar:

 

Dragon Rage, Devour, Combat Roll, Charging Bull, Livid, Horn of Valor, Block and Slash, Grappling Chain/Aegis of the Rift

 

Skill Trees:

 

Spoiler

Reaver:

 

Ring of Pain – A necessary evil, to get to more interesting stuff. I don’t tend to use it much, since the stamina drain is counterproductive most of the time.

Fervor – 30% damage bonus when an enemy dies? Mmmm, delicious

Scenting Blood – 50% speed bonus, yes please! Makes me long for the days of the Dragon Age 2 Berserker

Devour + Lifeblood – Because you can kill yourself with Dragon Rage spam, Devour is needed for healing especially on bosses/ big single target enemies where you won’t necessarily get heal on kill. The toggle increases health gain. 

Dragon Rage + Ravage – Our main source of damage, alongside Combat Roll. Spam this, and then use devour to regain health if needed.

 

Two-Handed:

Block and Slash – I've changed my mind, this stays for higher levels as well now. It's basically for knocking down shield morons, who otherwise stand there like *rseholes blocking everything. Ruin their day, and then stomp on their faces.

Flow of Battle – Cooldown reduction on crit, ‘nuff said.

 

Vanguard:

 

Challenge – Not personally a fan, but it unlocks other things, so…

Trust the Steel – 20% armour bonus with guard, always helpful.

Charging Bull + Gore and Trample – The perfect way to open combat, charge into your enemies and knock them down, and our first use of combat roll.

It’ll Cost You – It’s on the way to…

Livid + Still Standing – Nice damage bonus and a great way to gain guard. If you get a guard on hit masterwork, switch the toggle to Endless Strength to help with stacking Livid buffs.

 

Battlemaster:

 

Grappling Chain – Great fun early on, especially for grabbing those pesky mages who like to run away all the time. Once you get Aegis of the Rift from Jaws of Hakkon DLC, I'd use that instead.

Crippling Blows – It’s on the way to…

Combat Roll + Coming Through – 250% weapon damage on a 2s cooldown, for 20 stamina…. Erm… Sure, that’s not broken at all…. This is utter cheese, and I love it. EDIT: Actually, more like 500%, thanks for the heads up PapaCharlie9. 

Coup de Grace – We like knocking down enemies, might as well get some extra damage out of it.

Horn of Valor + That’s the Spirit – An extra 30% damage and armour bonus is always nice, on top of all the other bonuses we’ll be getting. If you're soloing, the alternative toggle Fortifying Blast is indispensable.

 

Jaws of Hakkon:

 

Aegis of the Rift - Stop ranged rubbish from ruining your day! Upgrade it if you have spare points, but it isn't necessary.

 

Gear:

 

Spoiler

Craft for crit chance to help maximise the benefit from flow of battle. This is also why I like to take Varric. I tend to use superior prowler gear with snofleur leather.

 

If you have access to the chromatic greatsword/greataxe, the cheese is glorious. Dragon Hunter’s Axe is also really good, and you can get more crit chance/crit damage thanks to the upgrade slots. 

 

Some kind of heal on kill is also nice, but not too much, because we want to keep our health a bit low. I find the amulet of death syphon to be just right. If things get hairy, we use devour to heal!

 

Amulet of Death Syphon - gain some health and stamina each time a foe dies nearby. Pretty useful. Thanks tcun44 for pointing this out. It's found on the other side of Judicael's Crossing after you repair the bridge, in Emprise du Lion.

 

Enhanced Belt of Urgency – you get this from the “Upon the Waking Sea” war table operation. It is incredibly useful once you start using dragon rage and reaver abilities. Especially if you have guard on hit.

 

Thanks to JiaJM98 for pointing out that the enhanced or superior barrier amulets can be useful, as contrary to their description, they provide barrier with each of your hits, rather than each time you take a hit, kind of like the fade shield passive for Knight Enchanters.

Enhanced amulet is acquired by siding with the Templars, and looted from Fiona. Superb is in Trespasser somewhere, so irrelevant for 99.9% of the game. The basic amulet which appears as a trial reward is terrible. I didn't even see any barrier appear at any point. 0/10 would salvage.

 

Strategy:

 

Basically, charge into a group of enemies. Pop a livid and horn of valor as stamina allows. Then combat roll/ dragon rage spam. Keep an eye on your health, and once it gets very low, use devour. Then continue to “rage’n’roll”. The best amount of health is below 50% so the belt of urgency kicks in.

 

Soloing:

 

Spoiler

I'm not a huge fan of soloing in Dragon Age games, but it seems to be the only accepted test of whether a build guide is "worthy" or whatever. So, for what it's worth, I tried a bit of soloing. Generally, once you have decent gear, which is vital, this build plays much the same as with a full party, just taking a little longer to kill things. The only exception I've found so far is Gurd Harofsen. I had to craft a different armour for that guy, to increase my physical resistance (which cost me some crit chance from cunning lost). I also swapped out my amulet of death syphon for the amulet of renewal, since getting stamina screwed was a real issue. After that, it's a case of cheesing combat roll and dragon rage, with liberal devours for healing since we have no other form of HoK.

 

 

 

 

Probably nothing new there for the old hats, but hopefully helpful to any newcomers considering a warrior build. Sure, it’s no match for a rogue, but it’s kinda fun

[PapaCharlie9]

Combat Roll + Coming Through – 250% weapon damage on a 2s cooldown, for 20 stamina…. Erm… Sure, that’s not broken at all…. This is utter cheese, and I love it.

Testing suggests that 250% is wrong. It's more like 500%.  So more like double cheeseburger with supersized fries.  

[Gya]

Testing suggests that 250% is wrong. It's more like 500%.  So more like double cheeseburger with supersized fries.  

 

Damn now I'm hungry.... Those fries better be drizzled in Monterey Jack Cheese with bacon bits.....

 

Thanks for the tip, I completely forgot about that.  

[tcun44]

Poor Highland Ravager- he gets killed so often in videos.

 

Love Reaver. An accessory that really helped me- especially in the DLC's- the Amulet of Death Syphon- found in EMprise Du Lion- just the other side of Judicael's Crossing. You get health and stamina when enemies nearby die- which they tend to do often. Gives you the ability to use a masterowrk on your weapon other than a healing one. Just an idea. Otherwise- good build.

[bladenicholas]

Just like play Darksoul series, Attack->attack->Roll then repeat...lol

[Gya]

Poor Highland Ravager- he gets killed so often in videos.

 

Love Reaver. An accessory that really helped me- especially in the DLC's- the Amulet of Death Syphon- found in EMprise Du Lion- just the other side of Judicael's Crossing. You get health and stamina when enemies nearby die- which they tend to do often. Gives you the ability to use a masterowrk on your weapon other than a healing one. Just an idea. Otherwise- good build.

 

That's a good suggestion. I've been using the superb amulet of renewal, since my main concern is stamina constraints; not sure how many enemies I'd have to kill for amulet of death syphon to give an equivalent stamina return. But using the Amulet of Death Syphon, would free up a HoK ring that I'm currently using. Not that I have any decent rings to use in its place, but a superb crit chance ring would be nice.

 

My masterworks at the moment are 5x Hidden Blades and 3 guard on hit.

[Ruegar14]

pre skyhold which skills would you go for first ? only play thru has been a rog  and I'm not so sure what skills and passives to snag first with this build. id be the only war  in team (me,2mages,varric) so I'm picturing vanguard skills asap, how would u recommend it after that ?

[Gya]

pre skyhold which skills would you go for first ? only play thru has been a rog and I'm not so sure what skills and passives to snag first with this build. id be the only war in team (me,2mages,varric) so I'm picturing vanguard skills asap, how would u recommend it after that ?

It depends slightly on difficulty and whether or not you'll have trials on. Generally, early game, without decent gear, I would advise against tanking as a 2 handed warrior, if you're running NM + trials. I personally took Cass/Blackwall, Varric and Solas/Dorian for my pre-skyhold shenanigans. I'm sure it can be done, but I haven't tried it personally

I prioritised charging bull for the knockdown (CC is vital early on), and then went for upgraded grappling chain and then combat roll + coming through, so I could start dishing out damage. Block and slash is extremely useful as well, especially against shield mooks. Between charging bull and block and slash and grappling chain, you will have plenty of knockdowns to keep enemies on their butts.

If you are gonna be the sole warrior pre-Skyhold, you might want to grab the defensive passives from the sword and shield tree (they work even if you have a 2h weapon equipped), they can mitigate the lack of armour early on. The problem is that they take a lot of ability points which means you won't be providing much CC or DPS.

Hope that was helpful, I'm sure some other more knowledgeable people can comment in more detail on running without Blackwall/Cass pre-Skyhold.

[Ruegar14]

ty gya, after thinking it over one last time and you confirming I'm gonna take cass. this build is way awesome too gimp by refusing to take a tank. I really look forward to playing this. ty for sharing

[PapaCharlie9]

Let me put in a vote for these five points in Battlemaster:

1/ Grappling Chain
2/ Crippling Blows
3/ Coup de Grace
4/ Horn of Valor
5/ Fortifying Blast

Set HoV to Preferred and watch the whole party gain full guard.

You can do this with just one Warrior. Yes, it does deprive them of other active abilities, but for early game, auto-attacks are enough. In fact, my early game build for Cass is the above, plus Shield Wall and Challenge. That's it.

[Gya]

ty gya, after thinking it over one last time and you confirming I'm gonna take cass. this build is way awesome too gimp by refusing to take a tank. I really look forward to playing this. ty for sharing

No problem, glad it was of some use.

Don't worry about gimping yourself or anything like that if you do want to run without a tank and take some defensive abilities yourself - you can always respec later! Eg. You could go for a more defensive build until level 10 or so, at which point you could respec for DPS. That should coincide with you being able to craft better gear, at which point you could run without a tank anyway.

That's the thing about this game, there's no single "right" way to play it.

[Ruegar14]

Confirmed ! Really enjoyable build to play. I just about "completed" the build and I love it. I get the sense it actually matters what combo or skills I use in real time battle  as supposed to my last play thru as a rog where I just popped what ever skill came off CD.  Really glad I choose your build. Very addicting .

[Gya]

Confirmed ! Really enjoyable build to play. I just about "completed" the build and I love it. I get the sense it actually matters what combo or skills I use in real time battle as supposed to my last play thru as a rog where I just popped what ever skill came off CD. Really glad I choose your build. Very addicting .

Thanks. I just hit level 20 in Jaws of Hakkon and I might tweak the build to take block and slash instead of mighty blow, it's just more fun, and adds a vaguely timing dependent action RPG style.

[JiaJM98]

I use a pretty similar reaver build as the OP, except I use superb barrier amulet, superb belt od urgency and no heal on kill to better red line my character for extra damage.

The barrier keeps me safe most of the time with chromatic sword, plus the damage and speed bonus on dragon rage is just simply amazing.

[Gya]

I use a pretty similar reaver build as the OP, except I use superb barrier amulet, superb belt od urgency and no heal on kill to better red line my character for extra damage.

The barrier keeps me safe most of the time with chromatic sword, plus the damage and speed bonus on dragon rage is just simply amazing.

Can you get the superb belt of urgency before Trespasser? I've been using the enhanced one. Also, I just did some reading on the barrier amulet, I didn't realise it gave barrier on your hits... that is just insane! Kinda wish I hadn't sided with the mages now

[PapaCharlie9]

Also, I just did some reading on the barrier amulet, I didn't realise it gave barrier on your hits... that is just insane! Kinda wish I hadn't sided with the mages now

Yeah, it's the any-non-mage-can-be-a-KE amulet.

Don't feel too badly, since ultimately it's a defensive accessory. All things being equal, offense is way more valuable than defense, barring JoH or Trespasser on NM+Trials, and even in JoH or Trespasser, CC trumps barrier.

After Patch 10/Trespasser, mages got the better end of the deal with the Belt of the Inferno/Winter/Storm Pact, vs. the non-mage Barrier amulet.

[JiaJM98]

Yeah, it's the any-non-mage-can-be-a-KE amulet.

Don't feel too badly, since ultimately it's a defensive accessory. All things being equal, offense is way more valuable than defense, barring JoH or Trespasser on NM+Trials, and even in JoH or Trespasser, CC trumps barrier.

After Patch 10/Trespasser, mages got the better end of the deal with the Belt of the Inferno/Winter/Storm Pact, vs. the non-mage Barrier amulet.

It's a bit different for reaver though. Lower your health, faster you attack, passives gives you extra damage and dragon rage gives a even higher damage multiplier. My reaver does at least double the damage with dragon rage when he's on red health.

Hidden blades masterwork is great with Barrier amy too. You can get constant barrier even when you are disabled. Plus hidden blades on hit also does amazing damage on top of your already insane dragon rage.

[JiaJM98]

Can you get the superb belt of urgency before Trespasser? I've been using the enhanced one. Also, I just did some reading on the barrier amulet, I didn't realise it gave barrier on your hits... that is just insane! Kinda wish I hadn't sided with the mages now

Sadly no. But there is a great starting save on nexus with all uniques and schematics and materials etc in your inventory. Kinda cheating I know but otherwise I won't be able to use a lot of those OP accessories in the vast majority of my playthrough.

[Gya]

Updated OP with a new video soloing Gurd Harofsen, and added gear advice as per JiaJM98's suggestion. Though I've never tried the barrier amulet myself, it sounds pretty awesome!

 

 

Sadly no. But there is a great starting save on nexus with all uniques and schematics and materials etc in your inventory. Kinda cheating I know but otherwise I won't be able to use a lot of those OP accessories in the vast majority of my playthrough.

 

Yeah, it's kind annoying how some awesome gear is locked away until essentially the last 10 minutes of the game.

 

I found a trial reward "amulet of barrier" which awards a "small" amount of barrier. I was so excited! I tried it several times, did not notice a single bit of barrier, either from my attacks or from enemy attacks. Absolute garbage, guess only the enhanced and superb versions are worth it

[Ruegar14]

Bump because this is how a dai reaver should be played or you're doing it wrong

[DapperDan77]

Thinking of going with your reaver build for my first playthrough, looks fun. What would be the best race(hat?) choice though, qunari or dwarf/elf/human? Qunari's get damage on their hats right? But I've also heard there's some nice masks you can get that qunari can't wear.

 Also, how come no ring of pain? Pretty much all the other reaver builds I've seen seem to use it. Looks a bit fiddly and clunky to me though, so I am very partial to the idea of a reaver build that doesn't use it

[PapaCharlie9]

Thinking of going with your reaver build for my first playthrough, looks fun. What would be the best race(hat?) choice though, qunari or dwarf/elf/human? Qunari's get damage on their hats right? But I've also heard there's some nice masks you can get that qunari can't wear.

Human is probably best, since you get an extra ability point. Then a toss up between Qunari and Dwarf.

Qunari get 10% physical resistance, which is better than nothing but not all that great, and the "masks" you mentioned, called vitaar, that add directly to weapon damage. However, since warrior weapons, particularly 2H, have the highest base damage, the percentage buff is relatively low, as compared to a mage. A fairly average maul has over 100 points of base damage, so a +8 Vitaar is less than an 8% damage buff. You could easily craft a 10% Attack buff and be better off. And you give up armor for the privilege.

Dwarf gets 25% Magic Defense, which is both useful and relatively high, given that it protects from all elements. It's also kind of adorable to have a pint-sized warrior Dragon Raging a Bruiser's kneecap.

[Bigdawg13]

Thinking of going with your reaver build for my first playthrough, looks fun. What would be the best race(hat?) choice though, qunari or dwarf/elf/human? Qunari's get damage on their hats right? But I've also heard there's some nice masks you can get that qunari can't wear.

 Also, how come no ring of pain? Pretty much all the other reaver builds I've seen seem to use it. Looks a bit fiddly and clunky to me though, so I am very partial to the idea of a reaver build that doesn't use it

 

Best Race:

Really depends on what you are going for.  As PapaCharlie said, the bonus vitaar damage is relatively small compared to the base damage of most 2H weapons. Humans give an extra skill (probably end up a passive).  That is good too.  Other races provide damage mitigation.  Elves give ranged resistance, and pesky archers on nightmare can really do a number on you (especially with walk softly and promoted archers doing point-blank leaping shot).  Dwarves with magic mitigation and pesky mages with flame array.  Or Qunari with their meager melee mitigation.  Really those resistances just change how you build your crafted gear.  If you are an elf, you worry less about slotting for ranged defense.  Not convinced magic resistance always works on dwarves either.  And don't even get me started on ranged defense.  Human is a solid bet though as their bonus skill helps out anyway you want it too. 

 

My personal advice, pick the race that gives you that 'feel good' vibe.  That "I'm gonna kick some butt" feel good vibe ya know.  Don't worry about race bonuses because in the long stretch, it's really minor.  That extra skill or resistance or the minor damage boost will maybe save you a couple reloads tops.

 

 

Ring of Pain Usage (or lack thereof in this build):

Ring of pain's damage is really small.  The primary reason some build for it, is to reduce the cost and cooldown of Devour, as well as the health cost of Dragon-Rage.  This build uses an upgraded Charging Bull to make Devour completely free.  The build also relies on high critical chance in tandem with Flow of Battle passive.  Now Devour has a small cooldown and uses almost no stamina.  The only thing remaining is the health cost of Dragon-Rage.  But if you have low cooldowns and zero stamina cost for Devour, you can easily get your life back.

 

Basically, by using the crit & Charging Bull method, you free up your entire stamina pool for something other than Ring of Pain.  You can use it for Combat Roll, Charging Bull, Block and Slash, Horn of Valor, War Horn, etc...whatever you want.  Ring of Pain is a pain to toggle on and off too.

 

That being said, at earlier levels Ring of Pain can be useful until you get the crit you need.  Watch his level 12 and you'll see the OP's elf use it.

 

*EDIT*

I don't know why I always do this, but I keep forgetting that Ring of Pain alters Devour's upgrade to give back more life and Dragon-Rage gets more life.  Assuming you like to hang around the 50% health mark, Dragon-Rage(upgraded) should be doing 200% damage, but with Ring of Pain on it will do 250% damage.  And Devour is twice as effective.  So there is a damage trade-off.  

 

IMHO, if it weren't for combat roll's damage upgrade, you're probably better off going the ol' spam-o-matic with Dragon-Rage and Devour and toggling Ring of Pain on/off.  But that was really boring.  At least with this method you can knock people down, avoid damaging attacks with combat roll (with free damage) and avoid the pain in the butt toggling of Ring-of-Pain.

[Gya]

PapaCharlie9 and Bigdawg13 beat me to it. Basically, the racial differences aren't much of a factor if you're going to craft gear, so play whichever you want to role play. I like playing tiny chicks with massive swords (euphemism pls), hence the choice of elven femquisitor.

[DapperDan77]

Awesome, thanks for the clarification chaps. I'll save rolling a qunari until my mage playthrough