Aveline Best build - Dragon Age 2 (DA2)

In this post, I will cover Aveline best build in Dragon Age 2. She is the first companion that joins the Champion party. As you can expect she plays an important role throughout the game

There is a high chance that she will be your main tank, this build will revolve around that.

So let's start

Aveline Tank build

This build tries to mix tanking and crowd control warrior abilities. Why is that? Dragon Age 2 rewards better if your tank relies more on CC than threat generation.

Attributes

Generally, I try to allocate points like this at every level:

• Strength +2 points
• Willpower/Constitution - +1 point

At level 26 here is the result:

• 30 Constitution - for large HP pool, to soak enemy damage
• 25 Willpower - high stamina pool for better ability usage
• 61 Strength - decent damage and high Fortitude to resist various effects

Abilities

This is an important aspect as it will make sure that Aveline can handle enemies and make sure that party members survive. I recommend starting to follow this build at about level 10 and drinking Maker's Sigh

Here is how I recommend progressing the ability points:

Order	Skill	Description
1	Shield Defense	Aveline loses some damage but she has now a larger threat generation and bigger damage resistance.
2	Shield Bash	A decent ability that can knock down enemies. Have in mind that on Nightmare difficulty it can also affect allies
3	Taunt	Enemies will concentrate on Aveline
4	Pommel Strike + Pommel Blow	Stuns enemies, good cheap ability. Moreover, with the upgrade, you apply STAGGER for nice combos.
5	Bellow	Increases the radius of Taunt, drawing enemy attention from further away.
6	Assault	An offensive ability that can knock back enemies.
7	Pummel	Decreases cooldown of Shield Bash and also applies STAGGER. Use this to create combos
9	Perception	Makes Aveline immune to flanking, reducing the damage that she takes.
10	Battery	Improves Assault ability giving, bonus physical damage against DISORIENTED enemies, and reducing the ability cooldown.
11	Stonewall + Bulwark	Makes Aveline almost invincible, soaking most of the damage that she receives.
12	Immovable + Unstoppable	This ability makes Aveline build extremely powerful. It increases damage resistance per hit while also reducing her movement and attack speed. The upgrade reduces the penalty she receives.
13	Thick Skin	Increases overall damage resistance for Aveline by 15%
14	Indomitable	The necessary ability for Aveline tank build. Provides 100% Knockdown and Stun resistance.
15	Bolster	Aveline will use this ability to instantly restore stamina under a certain threshold. This way she can always use most of the abilities
16	Second Wind	Instantly restores all of the stamina
17	Deep Reserves	Provides bonus stamina regeneration
18	Deep Breath	Reduces Second Wind cooldown by 15 seconds
19	Rally	Gives bonus stamina regeneration to companions
20	Battle Synergy + Fearless Synergy + Hero's Synergy	Provides bonus damage reduction, defense. Moreover, transfers damage and threat from Companions to Aveline as long as they are in range.
21	Unite	Upgrades Rally to further boost stamina regeneration

Once you have these abilities covered feel free to invest where it is the most useful.

Tactics

For Aveline to be effective here are some tactics that I suggest using with her. You can start by selecting Defender preset.

As you can see it is important to have party members who can utilize the STAGGER status effect. Moreover, you will need a rogue who can apply DISORIENT for additional damage with Assault ability.

Equipment

Aveline will concentrate on equipment that provides her bonus defensive stats and also gives her a way to deal more damage

Weapons

Priority	Item	Description
1	Blade of a Thousand Battles	This blade provides the largest physical damage with runes.
2	Aurvar's Prize	The mace provides bonus threat generation and armor.
3	Baron Arlange's Sword	The sword provides bonus threat generation which is very important for Aveline tank build.
4	Fade's Fury	A decent longsword that also deals AOE spirit damage
5	Palvo's Cocksure Cleaver	A great axe that you can obtain early in the game. It provides bonus threat generation, which makes Aveline a better tank

Shields

Priority	Item	Description
1	Mage's Friend	This is a very good shield that gives 3 rune slots.
2	Baron Arlange's Shield	This is a very strong shield that has high armor rating. Unfortunately, it does not have any rune slots.
3	Courage	This shield improves with level, provides bonus health and damage resistance. Can be worn without any attribute requirements.
4	Shield of the Knight Herself	You will want to get Aveline specific version of the shield. It greatly boosts her offensive stats.
5	Winter-Weight	A decent shield in Act 1, will greatly increase defensive capabilities.

Amulets

Priority	Item	Description
1	Dull Brass Amulet	This is a very strong amulet as it gives +1 to all attributes. Moreover, it makes the wearer immune to flanking attacks
2	Chain of the Penitent	This amulet provides bonus threat generation which is very important for the Aveline tank build
3	Brass Nug Charm	This amulet provides bonus health, health regeneration, and stamina.
4	Meraas	This amulet provides bonus armor and fortitude that is needed to resist physical effects like knockbacks

Belts

Priority	Item	Description
1	Karasten's Belt	Probably the best end-game belt for Aveline. All the bonuses increase her defensive capabilities
2	Chevalier's Banded Pride	The belt provides high magic resistance, defense, and health. Perfect for Aveline Tank build
3	Enchanted Silverite Chain Belt	Provides defensive stats and gives +1 to all attributes
4	The Irons	This belt gives bonus health and elemental resistance.

Rings

Priority	Item	Description
1	Etched Ring of the Twins	Probably the most powerful ring that Aveline can wear. It makes her immune to knockback and increases her overall damage.
2	The Guardian's Weighted Backhander	This ring is restricted to Aveline and provides immunity to critical hits, damage resistance, and a few more bonus stats
3	The Seal of Kirkwall	The ring provides bonus defense and armor. Moreover, it gives 2 health regeneration.
4	Ring of Resilience	Provides powerful stats if you Signature Edition of the game
5	Gentleman's Puzzle Ring	A decent ring that gives bonus defense and fortitude

Conclusion

Thank you for reading this post on Aveline's best build in Dragon Age 2. She is a great tank character who has good abilities for this role. However, for all of this to work you need a good party who can deal large amounts of damage.

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