In this post, I will go through the best Varric build in Dragon Age 2. He is a dwarf companion that joins Hawke in Kirkwall. He is from the merchant guild full of banter and interesting stories.

The question is what you can expect from him in combat with the builds?

Varric will use Bianca his one and only weapon to deal with enemies from a ranged distance. Due to the relevant abilities, he will buff the party and deal strong single target damage.

Varric Ranged Disorienting Build

This build starts to shine at about level 10. At that time you gain most of Bianca's ability tree skills. You also can start applying a DISORIENTED effect that allows for large damage combos.

Varric will also have crazy attack speed that ensures his fast stamina regeneration for maximum ability usage.

So let's start

Attributes

Varric support build attributes

There are two ways Varric can be used in your group and the role he plays

Varric is the only rogue in the group:

Cunning 40 – your first priority, this ensures that you can open all the chests in the game.

Once you have this covered allocate points like this:

Dexterity 35- you need to make sure that Varric can successfully hit enemies with auto attacks and also have sufficient critical chance
Cunning - put the rest of the points here.

There are other rogues

Dexterity 35 - to ensure that Varric has a high critical chance and does not miss any attacks
Cunning - the rest of the points for maximum critical damage

Abilities

Regarding abilities, once you have enough gold, be sure to buy Maker's Sigh to fully select the correct abilities.

Varric build abiltiy overview dragon age 2

I recommend following this build from Level 7

Order	Skill	Description
1	Blindside	The mandatory ability for any rogue build. It increases damage by 120% if the enemy is targeting an ally. A good tank is necessary
2	Speed	Increases attack speed by 10%. Will allow Varric to restore stamina much faster
3	Back-to-Back	Mainly take this for progression
4	Follow-Through	Due to the fast attack speed of Varric, he will be able to restore his stamina quite fast, thanks to this passive ability
5	Miasmic Flask + Improved Formula	A good crowd control ability to stun enemies in a 5-meter radius
6	Bursting Arrow	We mainly take this for progression, but it can be quite effective for AOE ability early in the game.
7	Pinning Shot + Rapid Pinning Shot + Disorienting Shot	Main Varric ability that will DISORIENT enemies. This way your companions can do combos for maximum damage. The ability is not especially effective, but it can be used quite often
8	Rhyming Triplet	We mainly take this for progression, but it can deal a decent amount of damage
9	Bianca's Song + Embellishment	This ability will boost Varric's most important offensive stats greatly improving his DPS.
10	Rush	We mainly take this for progression
11	Shattering Arrow	Allows Varric to deal additional damage against enemies with BRITTLE status.
12	Well Oiled	Increases Varric attack speed by 20%
13	Overtime	Provides additional stamina regeneration making Varric much more effective
14	Precision	We mainly take this for progression
15	Power	We mainly take this for progression
16	Lightning Speed (Speed Upgrade)	Increases Varric attack speed further while Speed is active
17	Harmony	Provides passive bonuses for Specialist ability tree
18	Fatiguing Fog + Impenetrable Fog + Overpowering Fog	A powerful ability that will allow Varric to apply DISORIENTED to a group of enemies. Moreover, the Overpowering Fog upgrade also conceals allies, so it can be used to save them.
19	Nameless Graces	Upgrade for Rhyming Triplet. Will allow Varric to deal a bit more DPS close to the end game

You are free to do with other ability points what you want. But this covers the core of the build

Tactics

For this build to work you need companions to have abilities or spells that utilize the DISORIENTED effect.

Here is the list of these abilities:

Scatter + Disperse - Weapon and Shield tree
Assault + Battery - Weapon and Shield tree
Devour + Insatiable - Reaver tree
Spirit Bolt + Spirit Strike - Spirit tree
Walking Bomb - Corrosive Walking Bomb/Virulent Walking Bomb - Spirit Tree
Stonefist + Golem's Fist - Primal tree

With these, you can make sure that your group will deal the maximum amount of damage and Varric the most effective.

Here is my Tactics window for Varric

varric support build dragon age 2 tactics

This is endgame tactics and it relies on having Party members that can utilize the DISORIENTED effect. We also use some advanced tactics to use Rhyming Triplet when Varric has enough stamina.

Varric Damage Dealer build

This build is different from the previous one as it relies on making combos to deal the maximum amount of damage.

For this Varric build to work it is appropriate to have companions who can create the necessary status effects.

Attributes

There are two ways Varric can be used in your group and the role he plays

Varric is the only rogue in the group:

Cunning 40 – your first priority, this ensures that you can open all the chests in the game.

Once you have this covered allocate points like this:

Dexterity 35 - you need to make sure that Varric can successfully hit enemies with auto attacks and also have sufficient critical chance
Cunning - put the rest of the points here.

There are other rogues

Dexterity 35 - to ensure that Varric has a high critical chance and does not miss any attacks
Cunning - the rest of the points for maximum critical damage

Abilities

Order	Skill	Description
1	Blindside	The mandatory ability for any rogue build. It increases damage by 120% if the enemy is targeting an ally. A good tank is necessary
2	Speed	Increases attack speed by 10%. Will allow Varric to restore stamina much faster
3	Miasmic Flask	A good crowd control ability to stun enemies in a 5-meter radius.
4	Back-to-Back	Mainly take this for progression
5	Follow-Through	Due to the fast attack speed of Varric, he will be able to restore his stamina quite fast, thanks to this passive ability
6	Bursting Arrow	AOE ability that deals fire damage.
7	Pinning Shot	We mainly take this for progression
8	Shattering Shot (upgrade Bursting Arrow)	Enables Bursting Arrow to deal additional damage to enemies under the effect of BRITTLE that is applied by mage spells.
9	Rhyming Triplet	A decent ability that releases a volley of arrows
10	Kickback	Although not as powerful as some other abilities this one can knock down enemies with the physical force it provides.
11	Bianca's Song + Embellishment	This ability will boost Varric's most important offensive stats greatly improving his DPS.
12	Well Oiled	Increases Varric attack speed by 20%
14	Overtime	Provides additional stamina regeneration making Varric much more effective
15	Archer's Lance	An extremely strong ability that deals large amounts of damage. Have in mind that Nightmare difficulty has friendly fire.
16	Disorienting Shot	However, with this Varric can apply DISORIENT status on enemies.
17	Rapid Pinning Shot	We mainly take this for progression
18	Punishing Lance	Enables Archer's Lance to deal bonus Physical force and damage to BRITTLE enemies.
19	Backlash	Upgrade for Kickback, allowing it to deal more physical force to STAGGERED enemies.
20	Precision	We mainly take this for progression
21	Power	We mainly take this for progression
22	Lightning Speed	Further increases attack speed when using Speed sustained ability
23	Harmony	Buffs all the abilities in the Sustained tree.

Tactics

For this build to be the most effective you need a mage who can activate BRITTLE status. Here is the list of spells that can do that:

Winter's Grasp + Winter Blast - Elemental tree
Cone of Cold + Deep Freeze - Elemental tree
Elemental Mastery - Elemental tree
Petrify + Desiccate - Primal tree

For warriors, you need them to apply the STAGGER status effect. This can be achieved with these abilities:

Shield Bash + Pummel - Weapon and Shield tree
Sunder - Two-Handed tree
Pommel Strike + Pommel Blow - Warmonger tree
Tremor + Aftershock - Warmonger tree
Cleave + Claymore - Vanguard tree
Devour + Voracious - Reaver tree

If your companions have these talents ready the build will work perfectly. To make full use of Varric here is my recommended Tactics setup:

Varric DPS tactics da2

Conclusion

This post covers Best Varric builds for Dragon Age 2. He is a versatile character who can both play a support and damage dealer role. It is important to have a correct party composition to maximize the usefulness of the build

Feel free to leave a comment below.

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