The marksman, Hall, is not your typical archer. Found in Dragon Age Inquisition’s multiplayer as starting rogue class, Hall brings the ranged DPS to the table before unlocking any of the other classes. As a survivor of the Wilds, he was rescued and trained by a Dalish hunter. After being rejected from Dalish society, Hall was forced to wonder for years before joining the Inquisition. His self-confidence is rather low though.
Even though the Archer is one of the three starting classes when you boot up Dragon Age Inquisition’s multiplayer the first time, I have to say he is one of the best put together classes in the game. The Marksman tree really has everything you’ll ever need and once you have a fierce bow and are sitting pretty at level 20, you have some of the highest damage in the game.
Why? Let’s look at these abilities…
Marksman:
Tier 1:
Explosive Shot – Two hits, 100% weapon damage, 4 meter damage, 12 sec cooldown, 35 sta
- -Chain Reaction – 25% damer per target, 100% maximum damage
Tier 2:
Leaping Shot – 12 projectiles, 50% damage per hit, 12 secs cooldown, 35 sta
- -Rolling Draw – Damage Bonus 200%
First Blood – 15 % damage to foe’s over 80% HP
Long Shot – 266% damage, 798% at 15 meters, 8 secs cooldown, 50 sta
- -Archer’s Lance – extra damage per increased target
Tier 3:
Flanking Fire – do 25% more damage behind enemy, +3 Dex
Cheap Shot – sunder armor on crit, last 6 secs, +3 Cun
Perceptive – Dex +6, Cun +3
Tier 4:
Tricks of the Trade – 10% damage and duration bonus to entire party
Opportunity Knocks – Crits reduce cooldowns by 0.5 secs, +3 Cun
Bloodied Prey – 10% damage to foes with less HP than you, +3 Cun
Disable – crits reduce foe damage by 15% for 10 secs and stacks, +3 Dex
And Take Them Down – Crit hit chance +5%, +3 Dex
Tier 5:
Death from Above – 25% more damage from higher ground, +3 Cun
Strafing Shots – speed 100% while strafing, +3 Dex
Pincushion – 5% more damage per consecutive shot for 10 seconds, +3 Dex
Tier 6:
Mark of Death – mark target, store 100% damage, duration 8 secs, 32 secs cooldown, 10 sta
- -Mark of Doom – while marked, 20% less armor
Gaps in the Armor – Armor pen 25%, +3 Dex
Full Draw – 800% weapon damage, 800% damage if foe has full HP, 24 secs cooldown, 65 sta
- -Stunning Shot – sleeps target for 20 secs
Tier 7:
Throatcutter – 2% extra damage per 10% missing HP, +3 dex
Evasion:
Tier 1:
Caltrops – 30 secs duration in 3 meters, 10% weapon damage per sec, 25% speed reduction, 16 secs cooldown, 35 sta
- -Tread Lightly – 5 additional meters, 25% more speed reduction
Tier 2:
Knockout Powder – sleeps target10 secs duration, 6 meter AoE, 20 secs cooldown, 35 sta
- – Deep Sleep – sleep 10 second longer, take 3 seconds to wake up
Fury of the Storm – 10% more damage under 50% stamina, +3 Con
Evade – leap away, 2 sec cooldown, 20 sta
- -Hidden Step – leave clone where leap away, duration 3 secs, 300% weapon damage
Tier 3:
Dance of Death – kills grant 50 sta, +3 Dex
Cripple – 50% speed reduction when hit from behind for 3 secs, +3 Dex
Sneak Attack – 29% crit chance on back attacks, +3 Cun
Tier 4:
Mercy Killing – auto crits on panicked and sleeping targets, +3 Cun
Knockout Bomb – sleep bomb that last for 10 secs, 20 secs cooldown, 35 sta
- -Comatose – Knockout bomb targets wake up less easily
Looked like it Hurt – Crits regen 10 sta, +3 Cun
Spiked Trap – set trap flings enemy up, 300% weapon damage, 16 secs cooldown, 35 sta
Set Them Up – All your traps do 25% more damage, +3 Willpower
Tier 5:
Easy to Miss – 25% treat reduction, 100% when flanking, +3 Cun
Fallback Plan – tether that ports you back to it, 15 secs duration, 32 secs cooldown, 35 sta
- -Bait and Switch – 5 more secs duration
Evasion – 5% dodge rate, +3 Dex
When I build characters in RPGs, I rarely take the ‘glass cannon’ approach to building them. The Archer’s Marksman tree is so damn good that I can’t help myself from doing as much damage as humanly possible. This tree has so many good abilities and passives that it will make the Assassin blush. The passives that are a must include: First Blood, Cheap Shot, Tricks of the Trade, Bloodied Prey, Pincushion, Gaps in the Armor, and Throatcutter. These have a mix of extra damage if your foes have max or nearly no HP, native armor penetration, and consecutive damage – so yea, all basses are covered.
From the Evasion tree, passives that are pretty swell include: Fury of the Storm, Dance of Death, Looked like it Hurt, and Easy to Miss. While these abilities don’t bring the pain, they offer nearly infinite stamina and make the enemies less interested in you. The archer often builds up massive kill streaks which makes all those ‘on kill’ or ‘on crit’ skills actually pretty amazing.
Skill wise, I prefer all Marksman skills. I take Explosive Shot, Long Shot, Full Draw, and Leaping Shot. Even though Explosive Shot is your first skill, it’s pretty amazing AoE damage – especially in large groups. Long Shot is my baby, opening with that and getting all that First Blood damage is downright stupid (good). Sure it will get you aggro… if your foes can reach you. Full Draw is very situational to me but so good for high priority targets and bosses – AFTER your tank has aggro. Otherwise it’s a suicide message to the enemies. Leaping shot not only does good damage, but it’s a life saver. The leap back has saved my life form so many unwanted surprises.
So yea, for me, it’s Marksman tree or bust. Skills that require you to stand in specific places I avoid. You’re an archer, don’t go running around your foes to shoot them in the back. Set up and become a mass murdering turret of doom. This also applies to Death from Above which is just bad. This class proves that the “starters” aren’t any weaker to other classes than need to be unlocked. Best of luck down there. The Archer was my personal bread and butter for so long.
