Champion Tank build - complete guide - Dragon Age: Inquisition (DAI)

This post will cover Dragon Age Inquisition Best Tank build. Moreover, in this Dragon Age entry, tanks usually go hand in hand with Champion specialization. It relies mostly on sustaining Guard and making yourself invincible.

I will go through great detail about what abilities you should use and when to get them. Moreover, I will provide recommendations for the best gear to maximize fighting capabilities

The build is perfect for Nightmare difficulty.

You should also understand what Guard is as it is an important mechanic for an effective tank

Early game abilities, level 1 - 10

Here are my recommendations for tank abilities early in the game

Order	Skill	Description
1	War Cry + Call to Arms	Main AOE taunt ability, use it at the beginning of the fights.
2	Charging Bull	Knockdowns enemies and get Guard. Use it early in the combat to build up Guard and clear out the enemies.
3	Challenge + Call them Out	Single target Taunt ability. With the upgrade, the ability has no cooldown.
4	Trust the Steel	Gives bonus armor if you have Guard
5	Untouchable Defense	Bonus to maximum Guard.
6	It'll Cost You	Returns 50% of damage to the enemies. As you will always be attacked this gives a small amount of DPS for you.
7	Livid + Still Standing	Buff the tanking capabilities for yourself when being surrounded by enemies.

At about level 10 you will reach Skyhold where you will be able to get a specialization

Champion Tank build

I think this is the best tank build in Dragon Age Inquisition. All thanks to the Champion specialization. It will greatly boost the survivability of the Inquisitor. Remember to do ability respec before starting.

Generally, you can start by using a single-handed weapon + shield. If you feel that you can easily control the battlefield you can go for a Two-handed weapon for a little bit more damage output.

So let's go through the Champion build Dragon Age Inquisition

Abilities progression

Order	Skill	Description
1	Line in the Sand	Progression ability
2	Resilience	Gives a chance to stagger enemies that attack the Champion.
3	Unyielding	Will make you invulnerable rather than letting die. The effect lasts for 5 seconds
4	Walking Fortress + Siege Breaker	Makes the Champion Tank build invincible. Best ability in tight situations. The upgrade also generates bonus Guard
5	War Cry + Battle Roar	AOE taunt ability, which is effective over a 10-meter radius with the upgrade
6	Challenge + Throw the Gauntlet	Single target Taunt ability. The upgrade will increase your stamina regeneration allowing you to use other abilities at the same time
7	Trust the Steel	When the Champion tank has any Guard this gives a +20% armor bonus
8	Untouchable Defense	Drastically increases total Guard. This allows soaking more damage before Tank HP is affected.
9	It'll Cost You	Gives damage returned effect of 50%
10	Livid + Still Standing	Gives bonus damage and guard based on the number of enemies surrounding the tank
11	Bulwark	Increases the maximum Guard bonus by 25%. mandatory for a Tank build
12	Adamant	Gives a 20% armor bonus. A great passive ability that will further make the Champion Tank invincible.
13	To the Death + En Garde	An extremely good skill works well against bosses or enemies which you want to die fast. Enemies get weaker as time passes, however, they will be dealing more damage to you. Use this Champion ability to maximize party damage against bosses
14	Shield Wall	Progression ability
15	Bear Mauls the Wolves	Will not allow enemies to do any flanking damage. Moreover, decreases the chance that the Tank gets staggered

Further ability Variations

For now, we have only talked about the tanking abilities in general, and there are a few variations that you can take with the rest of the points. This will either allow you to deal more damage on concentrate further on tanking and defense

Two-Handed weapon

If you decided to go with a Two-handed weapon you can invest in this tree. Taking Mighty Blow or Pommel strike (one of the best two-handed abilities) will allow dealing some damage and knockbacks in addition to high Guard. However, you will lose some armor due to not wearing a shield

Order	Skill	Description
16	Block and Slash	Progression ability
17	Flow of Battle	Enables cooldown reduction by 1 second for each critical hit
18	Pommel Strike + Lightning Jab	The strongest two-handed weapon ability deals large amounts of damage and stagers enemies. Further empowers the Champion build

OR

Order	Skill	Description
16	Mighty Blow + Easy Target	Knockouts enemies and also deals adequate damage. Upgrade further enhances how often the Champion can use Mighty Blow.

Sword and Shield

Sword and Shield – when wearing a sword and shield you will further increase your defensive capabilities.

Order	Skill	Description
16	Warrior's Resolve	Restores stamina for losing every 10% health. Although this will not happen often for the Tank, it will enable you to use your abilities in a critical situation.
17	Lunge and Slash + Effortless Lunge	Great ability to allow Champion to cover the ground better. Use this to move from enemy to enemy.
18	Turn the Blade	Gives 20% damage resistance. Recommended passive ability for sword and shield build
19	Shield Bash + Crippling Smash	Use this ability to stun enemies and also deal additional damage with the Tank.

Battlemaster Horn of Valor

By using Horn of Valor skill you can buff your party members and also allow them to generate their own Guard. I think this is a perfect addition for this Champion build.

Order	Skill	Description
16	Grappling Chain	Progression ability
17	Crippling Blows	Progression ability
18	Coup de Grace	Progression ability
19	Horn of Valor + Fortifying Blast	Use this ability to power up your allies and with the upgrade, they also can generate bonus Guard

Grappling Hook

Further Vanguard specialization and Grappling hook – this will require you to continue investing in Vanguard by getting Bodyguard and other abilities in the tree.

Order	Skill	Description
16	Grappling Chain + Chains for Days	Control the battlefield by pulling enemies together
17	Crippling Blows	Progression ability
18	Combat Roll + Coming Through	Use this together with Grappling Chain on a group of enemies. Do deal 500% weapon damage AOE

Bests stats and attributes

• Constitution – provides health and increases melee defense

• Willpower – increases the damage and provides magic defense

• On hit gain * guard – you will get more Guard on each hit. You can obtain this stat from Masterwork materials when they are used in crafting.

• Ranged defense – bigger defense from ranged attacks

• Magic defense – overall more magic defense, better than specific element defense

• Melee Defense – more defense from melee attacks

• Attack – overall increase to damage

• Strength – provides damage boost and some Guard damage boost

Recommended Equipment

This section will cover what equipment you should use for the Dragon Age Inquisition Champion build.

You will find the recommendations for both two-handed and single-handed weapon versions of the build. Feel free to choose based on the variation that you took.

Weapons two-handed - obtainable

Priority	Item	Description
1	Edgewise	This is the best defensive sword. It gives constitution, bonus armor rating, and chance to taunt enemies
2	Demon's Advocate	This Maul gives +19 Constitution and provides the effect of exploding bodies when an enemy is killed.
3	Chromatic Greatsword	Not only it gives a large boost to damage but also raises elemental resistances by 30%
4	Prismatic Greataxe	The weapon gives a large boost to damage and +15% elemental resistances.

Weapons two-handed - craftable

Priority	Item	Description
1	Masterwork Brute Hammer Schematic	Due to a large number of metal utility slots, this Maul is perfect for a tank.
2	Masterwork Serrated Greatsword Schematic	This blade provides both offensive and utility metal slots. So you can equip it if you decide that Cassandra can deal a bit more damage.
3	Prismatic Greataxe Schematic	The schematic comes both with offensive and defensive slots. Moreover, the weapon effect doubles the damage dealt. Use it, to deal more damage
4	Chromatic Greatsword Schematic	The schematic comes both with offensive and defensive slots. Moreover, the weapon effect doubles the damage dealt. Use it, to deal more damage

Weapons single-handed - obtainable

Priority	Item	Description
1	Greatest Hits	Overall best single-handed weapon for the tank. Similar to Encore staff it has a chance to apply defensive buffs for your whole party.
2	Ritual Breaker	This sword gives a 10% chance to grant the horn of Valor. Powerful for constantly buffing yourself and your allies.
3	Valos Atredum	A decent sword that generates 5 Guard on hit. Great for sustaining tanking capabilities of the Champion

Weapons single-handed - craftable

Because single-handed weapons deal small amounts of damage there is no exceptional choice here.

Priority	Item	Description
1	Revered Defender Longsword Schematic	The best one-handed schematic in terms of offensive slots and damage output.
2	Masterwork Heavy Axe Schematic	This schematic comes with a Haft upgrade and 4 metal utility slots. Perfect to increase Champion's defensive capabilities
3	Avenger Schematic	This schematic additionally offers a utility metal slot. Use it to increase the constitution of this Tank build

Shields - obtainable

Priority	Item	Description
1	The Best Defense	Although the shield may not be best defensively, it has an extremely strong passive ability that deals AOE damage.
2	Isatunoll	The shield is perfect for the maximum defensive capabilities of the Tank character. It gives a 10% chance to activate Walking Fortress.
3	Path to Glory	I recommend this shield because it is easy to obtain from Black Emporium and it has adequate stats. Perfect for this Tank Build mid-game

Shields - craftable

The shield is all about maximizing armor and front defense for the tank build in the Dragon Age inquisition.

Priority	Item	Description
1	Revered Defender Bulwark Schematic	The best craftable shield in terms of pure stats. Check the options below for more interesting choices
2	The Knight's Second Schematic	The shield guarantees blocking one attack every 30 seconds, moreover, it comes with decent stats. However, it may be hard to obtain it.
3	The Best Defense Schematic	I recommend this shield for Champion for offensive considerations. It has a special effect that does large AOE damage every fifth block.
4	Shield of the Emperor Schematic	The shield has good defensive slots and can be bought in Black Emporium.

Armors - obtainable

Priority	Item	Description
1	Revered Defender Armor	Gives a bonus to the constitution and decreases ability cost by 10%.
2	Masterwork Battlemaster Armor	Increases base stamina and provide a decent defensive stats bonus

Armors - craftable

Priority	Item	Description
1	Revered Defender Armor Schematic	This schematic has the most metal utility slots in the game. Makes perfect armor for a tank
2	Superior Battlemaster Armor Schematic	More expensive alternative to Battlemaster Armor Schematic. Although it has worse slots, the armor value is higher. Moreover, comes with upgrade slots.
3	Battlemaster Armor Schematic	Has the most utility slots if includes the upgrades. Perfect for maximizing Champion's defensive options and constitution

Helmets - obtainable

Priority	Item	Description
1	Revered Defender Helm	The Helmet can be obtained in The Descent DLC. Provides very good defensive bonuses: constitution, melee defense, etc.
2	Duke's Mane	A decent helmet that gives a bonus  +8 Strength and +8% Melee Defense

Helmets - craftable

Priority	Item	Description
1	Revered Defender Helm Schematic	Gives very good utility slots that you can use to increase constitution or strength.
2	Duke's Mane Schematic	Provides 11 utility metal slots to increase constitution.
3	Helm of the Inquisitor Schematic	The schematic is quite cheap and provides 10 metal utility slots.

Amulets

The amulets are listed by Tier. Usually, the Best tier can be obtained late in the game, but it provides maximum bonuses.

Priority	Item	Description
1	Master Cooldown Amulet or Superb Cooldown Amulet	Reduces the cooldown for skills. This will give more capabilities to handle aggro around the field for Champion Tank.
2	Master Stamina Amulet or Superb Stamina Amulet	Increases the pool of stamina. Great for using abilities early in the fight
3	Superb Amulet of Constitution	Increases Consitution that results in higher melee defense and HP pool

Belts

Priority	Item	Description
1	Master Guard Belt of Superior Guard Belt	Increases the Maximum Guard for the Tank. This way you can take more damage before HP will be affected.
2	Superb Belt of Health	Increases Health pool, allowing to soak more damage
3	Belt of Life	Increases Health pool, allowing to soak more damage

Rings

Priority	Item	Description
1	Superb Ring of Life-Drain	This ring will drain HP from dying enemies. However, look for other options if Champion always has full Guard
2	Superb Ring of Staggering	Increases the chance to interrupt enemy attacks and stagger them

Tactics and tips

There are not many tactics here. Your aim is to keep the enemies taunted to yourself and based on the build variations use the relevant skills in different situations.

You want to keep generating Guard as much as possible. This is especially important on Nightmare difficulty. Unfortunately, if you get knocked down or stop for a few seconds you may easily die.

It is a good idea to use Walking Fortress ability when you will be running to the next enemy and you won’t be able to generate Guard

Conclusion

Thank you for reading. This is an extremely good build if you are playing on Hard or Nightmare difficulty. Should make your playthrough much easier.

Feel free to leave any comments and suggestions below.