Varric - Best Builds - Dragon Age 2 (DA2)

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

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.

I recommend following this build from Level 7

Order	Skill	Description
1	Miasmic Flask	We mainly take it for progression
2	Speed	Increases attack speed by 10%. This will allow Varric to restore stamina much faster
3	Pinning Shot	Good early CC ability that pins the enemy to the ground making him immobile.
4	Rush	Although we take this for progression Rush will allow Varric to avoid groups of enemies if he is surrounded
5	Bursting Arrow	We mainly take this for progression, but it can be quite effective for AOE ability early in the game.
6	Rapid Pinning Shot	Improves Rapid Shot by decreasing its cooldown.
7	Evade	This ability allows Varric to escape nearby attackers
8	Chameleon's Breath	This ability allows Varric to throw a flask that obscures allies from enemy attacks. This results in missed attacks.
9	Bianca's Song	A very strong sustained ability that increases Varric's attack speed
10	Blindside	The mandatory ability for any rogue build. It increases damage by 120% if the enemy is targeting an ally. be sure that enemy attention is drawn away.
11	Disorienting Shot	Upgrade for Pinning Shot that applies 100% DISORIENT status on enemy. This can be used for a combo
12	Charge	Upgrades Rush and make it knock down enemies.
13	Rhyming Triplet	We mainly take this for progression, but it can deal a decent amount of damage
14	Fatiguing Fog	The main ability to weaken enemies. It slows down their movement and attack speed, very effective against bosses or groups of enemies.
15	Impenetrable Fog	Obscures allies that enter the smoke field
16	Overpowering Fog	Fatiguing fog now applies DISOTIRENT status on enemies with a 100% chance
17	Well Oiled	Increases Varric attack speed by 20%
18	Chameleon's Cloud	Upgrade for Chameleon's Breath. Provides larger Radius and longer duration
19	Embellishment	This ability will boost Varric's most important offensive stats, greatly improving his DPS.
20	Precision	We mainly take this for progression
21	Power	We mainly take this for progression
22	Harmony	Provides passive bonuses for Specialist ability tree
23	Lightning Speed	Increases Varric attack speed further while Speed is active
24	Energizing Speed	Reduces the cooldown speed of all abilities.

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

This is endgame tactics and it relies on having Party members that can utilize the DISORIENTED status for combos.

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

Here is how I allocate abilities for this build:

I recommend starting to allocate the abilities from about level 7 as this is when most of the skills become available

Order	Skill	Description
1	Speed	Increases attack speed by 10%. This will allow Varric to restore stamina much faster
2	Rush	This is a good ability that will allow Varric to escape enemies if he is being attacked
3	Pinning Shot	This ability will pin the enemy to the ground making him immobile for a few seconds.
4	Bursting Arrow	AOE ability that deals fire damage. Be careful of friendly fire if you are playing on Nightmare
5	Rapid Pinning Shot	Upgrades Pinning Shot, so that it could be used more often
6	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
7	Bianca's Song	The sustained ability boosts Attack and Critical Chance stats
8	Archer's Lance	An extremely strong ability that deals large amounts of damage. Have in mind that Nightmare difficulty has friendly fire.
9	Charge	Upgrade to Rush. Varric will now knock down enemies. This is a very powerful upgrade allowing Varric to better control enemies on the battlefield
10	Disorienting Shot	However, with this Varric can apply DISORIENT status on enemies.
11	Rhyming Triplet	A decent ability that releases a volley of arrows
12	Kickback	Although not as powerful as some other abilities this one can knock down enemies with the physical force it provides.
13	Well Oiled	Increases Varric attack speed by 20%
14	Shattering Arrow	Enables Bursting Arrow to deal additional damage to enemies under the effect of BRITTLE that is applied by mage spells.
15	Punishing Lance	Enables Archer's Lance to deal bonus Physical force and damage to BRITTLE enemies.
16	Backlash	Upgrade for Kickback, allowing it to deal more physical force to STAGGERED enemies. Moreover, the ability now deals more damage and has a lower cooldown.
17	Embellishment	Bianca's Song now increases Attack Speed and Critical Damage
18	Precision	We mainly take this for progression
19	Power	We mainly take this for progression
20	Lightning Speed	Further increases attack speed when using Speed sustained ability
21	Harmony	Buffs all the abilities in the Sustained tree.
22	Overtime	Provides additional stamina regeneration making Varric much more effective
23	Evade	This Subterfuge skill will allow Varric to avoid any enemies that attack him from melee
24	Tactical Withdrawal	Evade will now stun nearby enemies.
25	Energizing Speed	Decreases ability cooldowns by 10%

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:

Equipment Recommendations

Varric is a special character compared to other companions. Why is that? He has the only weapon - Bianca. Due to this, there are fewer optimizations to be made on him compared to other characters.

Amulets

Priority	Item	Description
1	Four-Fingered Eddie's Lucky Talisman	A very powerful amulet, that gives all the stats Varric needs.
2	Eye of the Bearded Dragon	This item comes with the DLC. It is a special amulet for Varric that can be equipped on him for most of the game
3	The Sacred Heart	This is a decent amulet that you can get for Varric to increase his physical damage and critical chance
4	Pewter Pendant of Wolves Howling at the Moon	Provides +2% critical chance and bonus attack

Belts

Priority	Item	Description
1	The Refined Gentleman's Sash	Belt specifically for Varric that provides bonus critical chance and critical damage. It also improves with level-ups
2	The Belt of Promise	This is quite an expensive belt, however, it is the best thing that you can get without Rogue Pack DLC.
3	Seven Deadly Cinch	This is quite a cheap belt that can be obtained in Act 3. It gives a good damage boost.
4	The Antivan Garrote	The belt comes as a DLC and it gives a good damage boost
5	Enchanted Silverite Chain Belt	The belt can be obtained in Act 1 and provides good stats early in the game.

Rings

Priority	Item	Description
1	Puzzle Ring of the Black Fox	This ring provides the largest bonuses to main rogue stats
2	The Graven Circle	Provides a big boost to critical damage
3	Turquoise Ring of the Archon	The ring can only be worn by Varric. It provides bonus dexterity and critical chance in addition to some other buffs.
4	Carved Ring of the Vhenadahl	Similar ring to the one below, but at this point in time, critical chance is better in my opinion
5	Ring of the Archmage	A decent ring that can be obtained early. It provides bonus physical damage.

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.