Best Rogue builds

Best Rogue builds - Dragon Age: Inquisition (DAI)

By zanuffas
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This post will go through the best Rogue builds in the Dragon Age Inquisition. This class is popular as it rewards you with fast-paced combat and stealth. Moreover, you can choose between ranged or melee offensive options.

There are many Rogue builds to choose from in Dragon Age Inquisition. I try to go into great detail on what abilities you should pick for maximum utility.

Let's go through all of these builds

Rogue early game, Levels 1 - 10

Early in the game, you will have no specialization, due to this you should pick the correct base rogue skills. Here are my recommendations for different weapons.

Bow weapon

This is the recommended progression if you plan on using a Ranged weapon. Overall, this is a safer setup than melee in the early game, especially on higher difficulties.

Order Skill Description
1 stealth iconStealth Survival ability for the rogue early in the game
2 long shot iconLong Shot + Archer’s Lance This ability will be the first one that ensures high damage output for Archer Rogue.
3 death from above iconDeath from Above We mainly take this to unlock the next ability
4 leaping shot iconLeaping Shot + Shot from the Shadows You can enter stealth after the attack, utilize this to gain additional damage boost, and to stay safe
5 evasion iconEvasion We take it mainly for progression
6 evade iconEvade + Shadow Step Use this ability to reposition rogue:
- Run from enemies
- Get closer to them. For example, to use Leaping Shot.
7 first blood iconFirst Blood  Attacks, when the enemy has a high HP deal, increase damage. Will work well with Long Shot + Stealth.

Dual Wield - Dagger weapons

Dual Daggers is an extremely powerful setup for Rouge. The early game might be difficult due to low survivability. However, we take abilities that allow entering stealth to avoid being killed.

Order Skill Description
1 stealth iconStealth + Lost in the Shadows Stealth is essential early in the game for a rogue so that you could increase the Inquisitor damage or hide from enemies
2 flank attack iconFlank Attack + Skirmisher Rogue enters stealth after the second hit
3 twin fangs iconTwin Fangs + Ripping Fangs We take it to unlock other abilities, but it still gives a good option to deal damage
4 dance of death iconDance of Death Many of your hits will deal killing blows early in the game as you will deal large amounts of damage.
5 sneak attack iconSneak Attack Because rogues concentrate on attacking from flanks, this will double the critical rate
6 easy to miss iconEasy to Miss Reduces threat generation that rogue generates. It is important as you can be easily killed if the enemy targets you

Once you reach level 10+, you should be ready to pick the specialization and we can start looking into the best rogue builds.

Dual Wield Artificer Rogue

This type of rogue Dual Wield build is specifically made to use mines and traps. It is a spectacular sight where the whole battlefield is covered with elemental explosions.

Moreover, you can use Rogue abilities from the Double Dagger and Sabotage trees. They allow for multiple guaranteed critical hits. Of course, playing correctly this build requires practice. However, when you learn how to use it you will be rewarded with Rogue experience not seen in other games.

The full build with ability tree screenshots, leveling progression, combat tips, and item recommendations can be found - Dual Wield Artificer Build.

Ability points allocation

Before starting the build respec your ability points

To fully utilize any build correct ability points allocation is necessary. Here is the order in which I would obtain spells and their upgrades:

Order Skill Description
1 spike trap iconSpike Trap + Pyrotechnics AOE knockdown of enemies. Good for better battlefield control
2 opportunity knocks iconOpportunity Knocks This ability allows the rogue to decrease cooldowns for each critical hit the Rogue Artificer and your party members do. Due to this, you can constantly spam most of your abilities if you have a high critical rate.
3 set them up iconSet Them Up Damage boost to mines
4 elemental mines iconElemental Mines + Throw Everything Artificer Rogue main opener if there are many enemies. Some practice is needed to correctly utilize the mines
5 and take them down iconAnd Take Them Down Bonus critical chance for you and party members synergizes well with “Opportunity Knocks”
6 stealth iconStealth + Lost in the Shadows I recommend using this ability in two cases:
- Correctly position yourself for Elemental mines
- Runaway or get up if you are knocked down
7 caltrops iconCaltrops Progression ability
8 looked like it hurt iconLooked Like it Hurt your main passive ability is to regenerate stamina. For every critical hit, you get +10 stamina
9 cheap shot iconCheap Shot Critical hits will sunder the armor, making enemies take more damage
10 throwing blades iconThrowing Blades + Precision Targeting This Sabotage tree ability will guarantee that you do multiple hits in a row.
11 flank attack iconFlank Attack + Skirmisher The Rogue can instantly enter stealth if it successfully lands the attack
12 bloodied prayBloodied Prey Gives a bonus +10% damage if the enemy has a lower HP than you
13 unforgiving chain iconUnforgiving Chain Rogue build can build up a critical rate for each hit until you land a critical hit.
14 spinning blades iconSpinning Blades + Neverending Spin You will use this Double Dagger tree ability after Throwing Blades. If you have a high critical rate, you will be able to reset the cooldown of Throwing Blades and get enough stamina for Elemental Mines.
15 Easy to Miss This ability will reduce the threat that Rogue generate

Bonus abilities:

  • Hail of Arrows - you can triple your damage with skills like Throwing Blade or Elemental Mines
  • Poisoned Weapons - add additional damage bonus and poison enemies if you hit them while the effect is enabled
  • Pincushion - because you will hit the same enemy multiple times, this ability will greatly improve your damage

Main stats

There are numerous equipment options in the Dragon Age Inquisition. To decide the best gear decide on it based on the stats priority below. Keep in mind this is more geared toward level 15+ Rogue build.

Due to the nature of your stamina management, you will need to have a high critical chance before investing in critical damage.

  • Critical chance – your main priority, you should be keeping it at 70%+.

  • Cunning – this complements critical chance, as mentioned above, your target is a 70% critical chance

  • Critical damage – once you reach the critical chance you should be pumping as much as possible to this stat. Your damage will skyrocket due to your all hits being critical

  • Dexterity - supplement for critical damage and Attack.

  • Attack – the least important stat that you should try to get.

Tactics and tips

In this section, I will go through some tips on how to best utilize this rogue build:

  • As already mentioned for this build to shine, you will need at least a 50% critical chance
  • Elemental Mines is an extremely strong ability. However, for it to work the best, make sure you use it on a group of enemies
  • Spike Trap can knock down multiple enemies. You can use it after you throw Elemental Mines
  • Throwing Blades + Spinning Blades are the main abilities for this Rogue build. Use them to instantly reduce the cooldown of Elemental Mines and restore a large portion of stamina. However, for this to work you need a high critical chance.

Tempest Archer Rogue build

This type of rogue build specializes in using Flasks to do two main things: control time and use abilities without cooldown. This Rogue specialization is extremely versatile, as you can get instant cooldowns, time slow and strong protection.

tempest icon

So you can expect some never-before-seen action with this build in Dragon Age Inquisition. The main idea of Tempest is to combo these flasks to sustain them for longer periods.

The full build with ability tree screenshots, leveling progression, combat tips, and item recommendations can be found - Tempest Archer Build.

Ability points allocation

Before starting the build respec your ability points

To fully utilize any build correct ability points allocation is necessary. Here is the order in which I would obtain spells and their upgrades:

Order Skill Description
1 flask of fire iconFlask of Fire + Unquenchable Flames Using Flask of Fire with the upgrade will make Tempest Rogue abilities have no cooldown or stamina cost. So you can spam abilities like Throwing Blades or Leaping Shot
2 fury of the storm iconFury of the Storm When you have stamina below 50% it will increase the damage that you deal
3 thousand cuts iconThousand Cuts This is the Focus ability that synergizes well with Flask of Fire. You do not expend any Focus if you use it while Flask of Fire is active. So in a pinch, you can use this ability two times.

Of course, if you do not plan on using this bug Thousand Cuts can be extremely effective against boss enemies like dragons
4 killer's alchemy iconKiller's Alchemy When using an elixir you receive an increased damage bonus
5 flask of lightning iconFlask of Lightning This Flask slows time around you, meaning that you greatly increase your DPS. However, it can also help you to avoid critical situations.
6 caltrops iconCaltrops We take this for progression
7 looked like it hurt iconLooked Like It Hurt This ability will restore stamina for each critical hit that you do
8 cheap shot iconCheap Shot Critical hits will sunder enemy armor
9 throwing blades iconThrowing Blades + Precision Targeting This is your main damage-dealing skill. With Flask of Fire, you can spam it indefinitely to shred through a single enemy
10 stealth iconStealth Although we take it to unlock the next ability, Stealth is useful for escaping rough situations or at the start of the combat to position yourself appropriately
11 evasion iconEvasion A moderate passive buff that lets you evade attacks
12 evade iconEvade + Shadow Step Your main ability to move throughout the battlefield. Shadow Step is the required ability for an Archer to change position at will
13 death from above iconDeath from Above We mainly take this to unlock the next ability
14 leaping shot iconLeaping Shot This is a powerful ability that allows you to deal a large amount of damage and escape from enemies.
15 strafing shots iconStrafing Shots Because you will be using Auto attacks a lot, this will ensure that you do not lose your agility and can move freely while shooting
16 flask of frost iconFlask of Frost This will allow us to make some combos to extend other elixir duration.
17 flaskmaster iconFlaskmaster We mainly take this to unlock the next ability
18 ride of the storm iconRide the Storm This passive ability is a powerful one. It will give you a bonus duration of 3 seconds for a Flask if it is used after another one. So if you start with Flask of Frost and then activate Flask of Fire it will have a duration of 8 seconds!
19 first blood iconFirst Blood Will buff your damage to enemies that have high HP.
20 flask of lightning iconUpgrade Flask of Lightning to Stormrage Gives additional time for the time-slowing elixir of 2 seconds

Main stats

There are numerous equipment options in the Dragon Age Inquisition. To decide the best gear decide on it based on the stats priority below. Keep in mind this is more geared toward level 15+ Inquisitor.

  • Critical Chance – you should have it at 50%+. It will synergize well with Looked Like It Hurt. This ability will increase your stamina restoration.

  • Critical Damage – once you have Critical Chance covered invest in Critical Damage. You will see huge damage numbers when using Flask of Fire and Throwing Blades in tandem.

  • Dexterity – will boost both attack and Critical damage.

  • Cunning - invest enough so that you would keep a critical chance above 50%
  • Armor rating – at low levels, until hitting level 11~

Tactics and tips

In this section, I will go through some tips on how to best utilize this rogue build:

  • You can use Flask of Fire + Thousand Cuts, to use it two times
  • Use Shadow Step to close in on enemies. Then use Leaping Shot to jump away from them and deal a large amount of damage
  • Stealth can help you to ready for combat or run away from a situation that could kill the rogue
  • Once you have Ride the Storm, the first elixir when a combat starts should be Flask of Frost. After it expires you can either use Flask of Lighting or Flask of Fire to have their duration extended by 3 seconds.
  • Throwing Blades should be used when Flask of Fire is active. It is a fast ability that can deal large amounts of damage. Getting a Pincushion will increase this more. You can even forgo Flask of Frost, Flaskmaster, and Ride the Storm to get Pincushion earlier
  • Auto-attack is your main damage-dealing way when the Flask of Fire is under cooldown. The best way is to constantly move and activate Shadow Step to change positions. This way enemies will miss you and have to run toward you to catch you.

Artificer Archer Rogue Build

This is a similar build to the Dual Wield Artificer. However, here there will be less emphasis on Mines and more on landing critical hits to reduce cooldown times. With this, you can follow up using devastating Archer skills.

Imagine releasing 12 Projectiles with Leaping Shot, every second. This will obliterate even the strongest enemies in the game.

The full build with ability tree screenshots, leveling progression, combat tips, and item recommendations can be found - Artificer Archer Build.

Ability points allocation

Before starting the build respec your ability points

To fully utilize any build correct ability points allocation is necessary. Here is the order in which I would obtain spells and their upgrades:

Order Skill Description
1 spike trap iconSpike Trap + Pyrotechnics This will be your main ability to knock down enemies. Although it does not do much damage it can disable a group of enemies instantly when they are close to you.
2 opportunity knocks iconOpportunity Knocks Your best passive ability. Cooldowns are reduced every time you or your companions do a critical hit. This allows you to have much shorter cooldown times if you have a high enough critical rate
3 set them up iconSet Them Up Your traps will deal additional damage because you will use them constantly this ability is essential.
4 elemental mines iconElemental Mines For this build, this is a complementary ability. The reason is that it does not provide any CC. However, it can deal substantial damage if enemies are in a group
5 and take them down iconAnd Take Them Down A mandatory passive ability. Your whole party will have an increased critical chance. Greatly buffs the Opportunity Knocks effect.
6 hail of arrows iconHail of Arrows This is one of the most powerful focus abilities in the game. It creates two additional images of yourself. This allows Inquisitor to use triple Leaping Shots for unimaginable damage numbers.
7 death from above iconDeath from Above We take it mainly for progression to unlock the next ability
8 leaping shot iconLeaping Shot + Shot from the Shadows The main skill that you will use to deal damage. You will release 12 projectiles with a single hit. This works well with Opportunity Knocks.
9 stealth iconStealth Although we take it for progression it will also synergize well with Leaping Shot as you enter stealth. The first hit after stealth will deal additional damage
10 evasion iconEvasion The passive ability gives a chance to evade enemy attacks
11 evade iconEvade + Shadow Step This is one of your main abilities to position yourself for perfect Leaping Shots
12 caltrops iconCaltrops We mainly take it for progression
13 looked like it hurt iconLooked Like it Hurt Each critical hit will restore stamina. Imagine how well this works with Leaping Shot 12 projectiles
14 strafing shots iconStrafing Shots Allows you to maintain high mobility when auto-attacking
15 first blood iconFirst Blood Inquisitor deals increased damage if enemy HP is above 80%
16 explosive shot iconExplosive Shot We mainly take this for progression
17 pincushion iconPincushion Increase your damage when attacking the same enemy.
18 fallback plan iconFallback Plan We mainly take this for progression
19 tricks of trade iconTricks of the Trade Get a 10% damage bonus, at this point in the game every small damage improvement helps immensely
20 cheap shot iconCheap Shot Sunder enemy armor with critical hits
21 ambush iconAmbush As you will be attacking from stealth use this passive ability to increase armor penetration resulting in bigger damage

Main stats

There are numerous equipment options in the Dragon Age Inquisition. To decide the best gear decide on it based on the stats priority below. Keep in mind this is more geared toward level 15+ Inquisitor.

  • Critical chance – I recommend having at least 50%. It will ensure that you both have fast cooldowns and an almost full stamina bar.

  • Critical Damage – After you have a high critical rate (50 %+), invest in critical damage. This should be your priority investment as it gives the biggest damage boost.

  • Cunning – if you are not able to get direct investment to critical chance get Cunning bonuses

  • Attack – provides a larger damage bonus, better than dexterity as you usually get much higher bonuses for Attack

  • Dexterity – alternative to critical damage, but provides less bonus

Tactics and tips

In this section, I will go through some tips on how to best utilize this rogue build:

  • Starting the fights from Stealth will greatly increase the damage of the first shot
  • You should mainly juggle two abilities: Leaping Shot and Evade. Leaping Shot will do large amounts of damage and move you away from enemies. After that, you can use Evade to come close to the enemies again. Then you can repeat with Leaping Shot.
  • Hail of Arrows allows you to triple your damage. So this makes boss fights like dragons easy. Just Spam Leaping Shot.
  • You can use Spike Trap to Knockdown enemies if they follow you.

Assassin Dual Dagger Rogue Build

This section will cover how you should build the best Dual wield rogue build in Dragon Age Inquisition. This covers the Assassins specialization.

Assassin specialization icon

The full build with ability tree screenshots, leveling progression, combat tips, and item recommendations can be found - Assassin Dual Dagger Build.

Ability points allocation

Before starting the build respec your ability points

To fully utilize any build correct ability points allocation is necessary. Here is the order in which I would obtain spells and their upgrades:

Order Skill Description
1 throatcutter iconThroatcutter Gives a larger damage bonus for the Dual Wield Rogue, the less HP the enemy has.
2 hidden blades iconHidden Blades + Overkill One of the main Rogue Assassin abilities. It will hit the enemy with six hits each having 300% weapon damage.
3 i was never here iconI Was Never Here After you deal the finishing blow, the Assassin rogue will enter Stealth. It will allow you to move to the next enemy or slip away from being attacked
4 knife in the shadows iconKnife in the Shadows Attacking from stealth will make sure that the next hit for dual wield rogue is a critical hit
5 mark of death iconMark of Death + Mark of Doom This is an extremely strong ability if used on bosses or other enemies with large pools of HP.
6 stealth iconStealth + Lost in the Shadows Use this ability at the start of the combat to get behind enemy lines or escape if you get the status effect or are knocked down.
7 caltrops iconCaltrops We take this mainly for progression
8 looked like it hurt iconLooked Like It Hurt Each critical hit will restore 10 stamina. An essential skill to have the stamina for all the skills
9 flank attack iconFlank Attack + Skirmisher Will deal two hits with 200% weapon damage. The important part is that the Inquisitor will enter stealth after this.
10 evasion iconEvasion Not an especially strong ability but we take it for progression
11 evade iconEvade We mainly take it for progression
12 dai shadow strike iconShadow Strike + Quick Blade This ability will do two things:
- With the upgrade, you will deal additional damage when attacking from stealth
- You will restore 70 stamina when you use it to use other active abilities
13 twin fangs iconTwin Fangs + Ripping Fangs Good synergy with, Shadow Strike as Dual wield rogue will have much MP after it. Twin Fangs will work extremely well when attacking the enemy from the flank.
14 first blood iconFirst Blood This skill will increase the damage that you do to enemies with high HP.
15 explosive shot iconExplosive Shot We mainly take this for progression
16 pincushion iconPincushion This passive ability will boost your damage the more hits you do to the same enemy. This works extremely well with Mark of Death
17 gaps in the armor iconGaps in the Armor Will boost your armor penetration for all the attacks that Dual wield Rogue does

Main stats

There are numerous equipment options in the Dragon Age Inquisition. To decide the best gear decide on it based on the stats priority below. Keep in mind this is more geared toward level 15+ Inquisitor.

  • Flank damage – contrary to what it sounds it provides a damage boost to ALL your damage, so it is even better than Critical damage. The downside is that you always need to attack from the flank.

  • Attack – overall increase to your damage on par with Flank damage

  • Dexterity – it provides both base attack and also critical damage

  • Critical damage – as you will be constantly attacking from stealth, this will result in Critical hits. You need to increase this damage.

  • Faster movement speed when in stealth - as you do not have Hook and Tackle skill this stat will allow you to move around the battlefield faster

  • Critical chance – I would prioritize this the least, however, it works well until level 10 when your stealth attacks are not yet guaranteed to do critical hits

Tactics and tips

In this section, I will go through some tips on how to best utilize this rogue build:

  • Your main priority is to attack enemies from the flank/back. This way you can deal more damage to the enemies
  • Shadow Strike can knock back enemies, but most importantly you restore stamina. I recommend using Flank Attack after it to enter stealth and decide your next course of action.
  • Use Stealth to enter stealth whenever you need: escape from debilitating effects, enter combat, get behind the enemy's back, or deal more damage with the skill you are about to use

Assassin Archer Rogue Build

Assassin Archer is a viable Rogue specialization. The build mixes in already popular Leaping Shot, to pump up Mark of Death detonation damage. Overall, this build is very powerful on strong enemies like bosses or Dragons.

Moreover, the Assassin Rogue build also mixes in some Stealth for an increased survivability.

Assassin specialization icon

The full build with ability tree screenshots, leveling progression, combat tips, and item recommendations can be found - Assassin Archer Build.

Ability points allocation

Before starting the build respec your ability points

To fully utilize any build correct ability points allocation is necessary. Here is the order in which I would obtain spells and their upgrades:

Order Skill Description
1 hidden blades iconHidden Blades + upgrade This is an extremely powerful ability, however, with a long cooldown. I recommend using this after you activate the Mark of Death. Any upgrade will work, but pick Overkill for a boost in single-target damage.
2 i was never here iconI Was Never Here One of many ways for this build to enter stealth - by killing an enemy
3 knife in the shadows iconKnife in the Shadows Attacking from stealth will guarantee a critical hit
4 mark of death iconMark of Death A very powerful ability that should be used on strong enemies like bosses as it requires time to store damage.
5 caltrops iconCaltrops We mainly take it for progression
6 looked like it hurt iconLooked Like It Hurt One of the passive abilities that will allow you to restore stamina from critical hits. You will do them many due to many opportunities to attack from stealth
7 death from above iconDeath from Above We mainly take this for progression
8 leaping shot iconLeaping Shot + Shot from the Shadows Use this ability to damage large, grouped, or close-proximity enemies. Moreover, you will enter stealth after this. The main use for this ability is to escape harm
9 long shot iconLong Shot Another ability archer rogue can use to deal damage from far away. I prefer to use it as an opener
10 stealth iconStealth + upgrade Enter stealth whenever you need to: start the combat, escape from enemies, etc.

Any upgrade will work:
  • Lost in the Shadows: I prefer this one as it activates instantly
  • Clinging Shadows: this upgrade can give larger damage boosts due to the Knife in the Shadows passive ability
11 evasion iconEvasion We mainly take it for progression, but it gives 1/10 chance to evade attack
12 evade iconEvade + Shadow Step Use this Subterfuge tree ability to reposition yourself. I prefer using it with Leaping Shot: move in, then use Leaping Shot to get away from enemies and deal large damage.
13 dai shadow strike iconShadow Strike + upgrade This ability will allow your Rogue build to restore stamina and deal substantial damage. Pick an upgrade based on your preference:
- Long Shadows: a safer approach that ranges one
- Quick Blade: riskier approach, but deals more damage.
14 first blood iconFirst Blood Deal more damage to enemies with 80%+ HP. Works great with Hidden Blades or Long Shot
15 explosive shot iconExplosive Shot We mainly take it for progression but it can deal substantial damage to a group of enemies.
16 pincushion iconPincushion Hitting the same enemy multiple times will increase your damage
17 gaps in the armor iconGaps in the Armor Increases armor penetration for each hit that the Rogue makes

Stats

  • Critical Chance – I suggest getting at least 40%+. Although most of the time you will be attacking from stealth for guaranteed criticals, I would still recommend having sufficient stat

  • Critical Damage – your priority stats once you have the critical chance stat covered. It will especially be effective in the late-game

  • Dexterity – increases Attack and Critical Damage. However, the latter is increased by less amount (on equipment and crafting materials) than pure Critical Damage.

  • Cunning - increases critical chance
  • Attack – increases overall damage, but usually, you get smaller bonuses of it than critical damage so it has a lesser priority

Tactics and tips

This archer build has many tactical options on how to play. Here are a few combos that I suggest:

  • If you plan to use Mark of Death on the boss enemy, check that your active skills that deal damage are not in a cooldown. You will have 8 seconds and should deal the maximum amount of damage in that time.
  • Hidden Blades can be used as a strong opener with First Blood + stealth
  • Shadow Step can allow you to create amazing combos like Shadow Step + Leaping Shot dealing large amounts of damage and escaping to stealth. You can then continue with Shadow Strike to restore stamina and move to the next combo
  • Once you are level 16+ you should constantly have at least 50% of stamina so use active skills like Explosive Shot and Long Shot to improve your DPS rather than using auto-attack.

Recommended Equipment

Here I will cover some great Rogue equipment that you can use on your builds. Having these items equipped will greatly improve the performance of your build.

Bows - obtainable

Priority Item Description
1 tezpadams bane iconTezpadam's Bane Extraordinary bow, that provides 41 dexterity resulting in a 41% critical damage increase. Moreover, gives an effect that makes enemy bodies explode on kill
2 arrowwood iconArrowwood This bow is available during the Trespasser DLC. Gives 95% armor penetration. I think it is an interesting bow to try but you get it quite late in the game.
3 heartstring bow iconHeartstring Bow Obtained in Frostback Basin and provides adequate stats.

Bows - craftable

Priority Item Description
1 elgarnan Enaste schematic iconElgar'nan Enaste Schematic Obtained with Trespasser DLC. Has adequate slots and most importantly explosive arrow effect on each auto-attack arrow.
2 Grunsmann's Bow Schematic iconGrunsmann's Bow Schematic Provides 3 offensive leather slots excellent to maximize either critical chance or critical damage
3 Bow of the Beresaad Schematic iconBow of the Beresaad Schematic Provides leather slots for maximizing critical chance and critical damage.

Dual Wield Daggers - obtainable

Priority Item Description
1 bosun's blade iconBosun’s Blade Deals huge damage when attacking from the back
2 bloody bargain iconBloody Bargain The dagger provides a unique ability that increases movement and attack speed after each kill. Only obtained in the Trespasser DLC.
3 silencer iconSilencer Obtained with The Descent DLC. Gives a large boost to dexterity resulting in higher critical damage
4 cordovas smile iconCordova’s Smile The dagger provides a large boost to Flanking damage and a 20% bonus Focus Gain.
5 gift of the talons iconGift of the Talons The dagger is extremely powerful and hard to obtain early in the game. However, if you manage it, your DPS will skyrocket due Hidden Blades effect

Dual Wield Daggers - craftable

Priority Item Description
1 Stone Stalker Blade Schematic iconStone Stalker Blade Schematic Gives decent slots, and large damage, but can be hard to obtain. It has the highest base damage out of all daggers.
2 Blade of Red Birth Schematic iconBlade of Red Birth Schematic Alternative to the first option, and can be acquired much easier. Gives 11 Leather offensive slots for bonus flanking damage
3 Coiled Strike Schematic iconCoiled Strike Schematic Single target dagger that has excellent leather slots. Can be bought in Black Emporium. Also comes with a grip slot
4 Barbarian Rock-Crasher Schematic iconBarbarian Rock Crasher Schematic Provides better slots than Coiled Strike Schematic even with a grip, but loses on DPS.

Armors - obtainable

Priority Item Description
1 stone stalker coat iconStone Stalker Coat This armor is a perfect match for this build as it provides a large boost of 45 points to Cunning. The result is a much higher critical chance.
2 the skin that stalks iconThe Skin That Stalks Obtainable only in the Trespasser DLC. Boosts Critical Damage, Critical Chance, and Attack.
3 Masterwork Prowler Armor iconMasterwork Prowler Armor This armor reduces ability stamina cost by 20% if not attacked for 5 seconds. This should be easy for any rogue build.

Armors - craftable

Priority Item Description
1 superior prowler armor schematic iconSuperior Prowler Armor Schematic This armor has 23 utility leather slots if you include upgrades. Feel free to increase either dexterity or cunning based on what the Rogue build needs more.
2 Sturdy Prowler Armor Schematic iconSturdy Prowler Armor Schematic This is a cheaper alternative to Superior Prowler Armor Schematic. It also gives less defense and 22 utility leather slots.
3 Stone Stalker Coat Schematic iconStone Stalker Coat Schematic Can be obtained from The Descent DLC. Has decent slots, but is worse compared to the options above.

Helmets - obtainable

Priority Item Description
1 stone stalker mask iconStone Stalker Mask Has both good bonus stats and armor rating. Can be obtained in The Descent DLC
2 helm of drasca iconHelm of the Drasca A decent mid-game option that gives a good boost to critical damage by increasing Dexterity.
3 unique Mask iconAmbassador's Mask Alternative to Mask of the Grand Duchess if you have a high critical chance (50%+)
4 unique Mask iconMask of the Grand Duchess Alternative to Ambassador's Mask if you have a low critical chance

Helmets - craftable

Priority Item Description
1 Superior helm schematic iconSuperior Skirmisher Hat Schematic The best craftable helmet that gives 10 leather utility slots and is easy to obtain
2 skirmisher hat schematic iconSkirmisher Hat Schematic A cheaper alternative of the Superior Skirmisher Hat Schematic. Has only 8 leather utility slots
3 Superior Adventurer Hat Schematic iconSuperior Adventurer Hat Schematic Costs only 182 Sovereigns and gives 7 leather utility slots. Get it if you are short on money.

Amulets

Priority Item Description
1 Superb Amulet of Dexterity This amulet will increase dexterity resulting in higher critical damage.
2 Amulet of the Rogue This amulet will increase both critical chance and critical damage
3 Superb Amulet of Cunning The amulet will increase the critical chance, allowing to reduce ability cooldowns.

Belts

Priority Item Description
1 Superb Belt iconThe Bind That Guides This belt boosts the critical chance. Only obtainable in the Trespasser DLC.
2 Superb Belt iconSuperb Belt of Staggering This belt gives a bonus chance to stagger enemies. This way they will have their attacks interrupted.
3 Superb Belt of health iconSuperb Belt of Health The belt can be obtained in Emerald Greaves. It gives +200 health.
4 belt of life iconBelt of Life Similar to the above belt provides a large increase in HP.

Rings

Priority Item Description
1 Superb ring iconSuperb Ring of Critical Damage Provides a large boost to critical damage, especially powerful once you have 50%+ critical chance
2 Superb ring iconThe Hand That Cuts Only obtainable in Trespasser DLC. However, provides large offensive bonuses
3 Superb ring iconRing of Slicing Expensive ring bought in Black Emporium. Boosts your critical damage and critical rate.
4 Superb Ring of Critical Chance Increases Critical chance allowing Opportunity Knocks ability to activate more often
5 Superb Ring of Attack Increases overall Rogue build damage

Conclusion - Best Rogue Builds

Thank you for reading this post. It should help you to choose the best Rogue build in the Dragon Age Inquisition. The post covered what main abilities you need to pick and when, star priority, and tactics tips.

For more builds feel free to check the build feed

Discussion

Anonymous

Hey man :-) im starting now my 3th play in dai and I wanted to ask which of this builds are the strongest?

Anonymous

Pincushion In the details says that consecutive attacks with bow will increase the damage. It specify for bow so for dualwield dagger will that work?

yes, it will work for daggers :)

Anonymous

Couldn’t help but notice a lack of tempest dual wield is there a reason for that?

Hey, I think there is no particular reason, maybe it was not as popular build when I wrote these.

One thing that comes to mind is that if you want to maximize the damage of Throwing Blades, this requires getting a Pincushion. This way, the points used on dual-wielding skills are used on the archery tree, even if you are dual-wielding

Otherwise, you can skip Pincushion and use those points in Double Daggers. Then go down the tree to obtain Deathblow.

Anonymous

Thank you so much for these very comprehensive build-and-tactics guides! I am not a great gamer and always thought I'll never be able to play anything other than a mage on casual difficulty, but I recently tried your Assassin Archer build and it was so much fun! I even turned up the difficulty to normal (woohoo! :-D). The base game end boss went down in a matter of seconds - it was very satisfying!

Hey! This is amazing to hear :) I am glad that you enjoyed the build guide

Anonymous

Hi, this is the most comprehensive DAI guide i found, thx!

Currently i play dual dagger assassin with your guide, and i like flank-stealth gameplay so much!

I notice that you highlights FD > ATK > DEX > CD for best damage output, any suggestions how much point i should spent on each attribute before it going waste? I know that CD have 190% cap, but idk the rest.

Thank you! Glad that you enjoy it

Unfortunately, I do not know what is the cap for FD, ATK and DEX. For ATK and DEX, I would assume there should be none, but I could be wrong

Anonymous

I finishing DA2 and your builds help me a lot In the latest parts, now I'm lv14 in Dai and I'm using it now, thx for this and taking your time to doing it!

Cool! Enjoy the game :)

Anonymous

Thank you so much for all your hard work making these guides! They've helped tremendously and have made an already fun game even more so!!

Thank you! Glad you liked the guides

There is a 190 crit damage hard cap, so there is no point in going any further. I ended up with 193 crit damage and 97 critical chance on level 23 with ring of slicing/superb crit damage, Malika and full dex (47) superior prowler armor blue crit damage Vitaar and 73% entirely crit chance (as there was no point stacking crit damage any further) Grunsmann, which should be the first choice as its way better than any other bow ingame as it can fit Thick Longbow Grip, best bow grip ingamemaking it 73% crit chance instead of 54 on Elgar'nan

Anonymous

For the bow schematics, what about Perseverance, obtained from The Black Emporium?

Hey, it is a decent alternative to the ones listed. However, it does not have Grip upgrade slot, so has a lower stat boost compared to others

Anonymous

Thank you for all this work, it helps me a lot.

The tempest DW rogue build isn't good compare to others ?

Hey, I think it is a good option, just for some reason I forgot to add Tempest dual dagger build. I think it would be really similar to the archer build, the main ability would be Throwing blades :)

Anonymous

Wow, thank you!

These detailed Rogue explanations and links to the guides, helped me to understand different builds

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zanuffas
Gamestegy Founder. I have been writing game guides and builds for 4 years. I like to push myself to create something wonderful for the readers!