5 skills with overpowered upgrades - Dragon Age Inquisition

[@mattrichard3383]

thanks for keeping DAI alive. I'm playing again after watching your Assassin Slinger built. One thing you might add for Leaping Shot is it negates debilitating effects like payback strike, combat roll, fade cloak, lost in the shadows ...

[@veloway]

This is the best DAI channel in the world. My wife thinks I am a kook with my endless COVID play throughs but I am still learning new stuff even after dozens of runs. And, this channel has improved that experience on EVERY new Inquisitor. From trying the cool builds to subtle little adjustments to quality of life issues; it is informative and easy to follow. As always, really well done mate.

[@AKisHerceg]

Thanks! I appreciate you watching my vids and your comment. Tell your wife that replaying the game over and over just means that you are a perfectly normal DA fan. :)

[@Cobernikus]

Same here, wife even said "wth you bought all Doom games but still on DAI almost The whole year". I'm adicted, can't deny.

[@Wolferys]

Throwing Blades is actually a lot more powerful, its bugged and increase the damage by 50% for each throw (so the damage goes 100-150-200-250). This will make the next ability after it deal triple damage, and also make it incredibly overpowered if you can spam it with flask of fire/oppurtinty knocks (it can kill a dragon in like 5 seconds)

[@arthurbozelli4360]

Throwing Blades is busted. An artificer rogue can just spam that and kill even bosses like Hakon in few seconds.

[@moneytree4265]

I would like to just add, the upgrade for Flank Attack for dual daggers gives the same permanent stealth just like the Leaping Shot. It is my most used skill if im playing duel wield rogue! :D

[@fakenamezenkil2232]

I had a tempest rouge and what I did was upgrade my fire flask to have no cooldown when using other skills so when I use trowning daggers I shoot them like a machine gun

[@BlightedLight]

My favorite is the mana surge passive. The teeniest bit of barrier like the one provided by upgraded mind blast is enough to give you a free spell and freeze all around you. It also affects allies who you put a barrier on letting them use an ability at no cost mage or not. This paired with fade shield from knight enchanter is very powerful. Dealing damage gives you a barrier which gives you a free spell. It's just juggling cooldowns at that rate. And clean burn with the fade blade or immolate alt upgrade is beastly combined with fade step for mana regeneration. Love my Dorian build. He's quite literally dashing.

[@dmdm597]

The worst part about Elusive is that freaking purple cloud around you all the time. It would have been better if the effects were only active in battle. Thank the Maker there's a mod to remove that.

[@BelieveIt1051]

My favorite regular upgrade is Shadow Step, since it allows you to bypass the entire Vir Dirthara level in Trespasser.

[@Beef1188]

You start with shaken veil for infinite mana "exploit", THEN EITHER (1) Ice staff + energy barrage + winer's ruin + stone fist for single targets (2) ice mine + winter's ruin + shatterstone for multiple targets The terrible things this combo does to them almost makes makes the inquisition look like they are the bad guys. I hurts just looking at those damage figures.

[@devilvirgil6943]

Phhh I thought I was the only that started again DA. Nice u got a follower.

[@AKisHerceg]

Thanks! :)

[@jungtothehuimang]

I think the leveling and upgrading system in DAI is one of my least favorites in the entire series I have played fhos game many times in 10 years and still feel like I don't have a full grasp of it

[@AKisHerceg]

I think it is pretty simple. In some ways I even prefer it than any other - like the fact that skills are no longer restricted by level. So you can start using some of the best skills early, which can make you feel like a beast. The upgrade system is also good. Basically it lets you turn good spells into an even better version - but it gives you the choice of direction. For example, you have a good skill like Winter's Grasp. The game lets you pick two upgrades: one is gonna turn your spell into an aoe spell, so others around your primary target will all get a taste of it. The other upgrade enhances it with massive damage boost if they are under the "chilled" effect. This makes it brutal against singe targets. The choice now is yours to pick which one you would want. The best thing is: your choices are not permanent. You can swap the upgrades anytime outside of combat. So you just have to decide which upgrade can help you during your next fight and switch them up based on that. What I don't like is how few skills you actually get to use because of the 8 free slot on your bar.

[@thewarden3554]

Inquisition’s combat was really awesome and fun. That’s why an Origins Remake of a sorts excites me because of how they can overhaul the combat and skills in the game. Such as adding dragon rage to reavers or giving more Mobility to warriors and rogues. I would hope they keep arcane warrior the same and extremely buff up shapeshifter.

[@AKisHerceg]

I actually love the combat in Origins. Sure, it's not that flashy or fluid, but it has way more potential for awesome builds! :) I would love it if they could somehow fuse the two together! More fluidity, the player is more mobile(like being able to jump), more useful skills(the Reaver/Templar/Shapeshifter etc. specs are pretty lame because of the lack of good skills), but also no silly restrictions when it comes to armor, weapon, poison or bombs(why??? oh why??? - I had an Arcane Warrior who was equipped with heavy armor and a huge hammer and its main weapon was throwing bombs, essentially a living tank! - it was incredibly fun and yet, I can't re-create that character in Inquisition, because of the ridiculous amount of restrictions), more available skills on the quickbar(again, why??? why only 8? mindboggling decision...), multiple specializations etc... Actually, DA2 would be an almost perfect mix of the two, if it would not bleed from so many fatal wounds when it comes to combat...

[@thewarden3554]

@@AKisHerceg yeah the only 8 skills decision was ridiculously stupid. Taking away the restriction for armors and weapons would also be amazing. In elder scrolls you can be a mage and just wear heavy armor from the beginning. Tbh to I also just like customizing the stats and not having to wear specific armors to boost them. Sure it can be fun customizing but overall it would be better to do it myself and maybe have the option to use a material on any armor to boost it as well. It wouldn’t even be that OP because every build can be op anyways. Perks boosting stats was fine to me I wouldn’t say replace a lot of skills either in origins because a lot of them were cool like reviving a zombie to fight by you or have anti magic burst and the other one that insta kills enemy mages. Actual healing perks would also be cool, looking at you Inquisition. A poison warrior or arcane warrior mage was pretty fun lol, I agree

[@AKisHerceg]

@@thewarden3554 Yup, DA should definitely implement the ES style of armor system. Much more versatile, and just more fun! Plus nothing in the lore says mages can’t wear heavy armor, so why not?

[@thewarden3554]

@@AKisHerceg true!it would also be awesome with no weapon restriction because with so many people in thedas there can be many styles. Gameplay wise it could be versatile as well with pros and cons. Like a cool example is a rogue using a two handed sword, where the trade off compared to dual wield daggers is slower attack speed but higher backstab damage. Or a warrior being able to use archery like origins. It’s funny too because m origins a rogue can use a two handed weapon but I haven’t tried it myself, just read it from others

[@AKisHerceg]

@@thewarden3554 Oh, I have so many ""unconventional" builds... rogues with two-handed weapons, mages with dual weapons, you know, stuff that does not complimented by any skill tree... and yet, you can make it work in DAO with clever stat distribution. How quaint that they even removed the stat distribution completely from Inquisition. I guess it makes sense, since everything else is so restricted. But yeah, I would love it if we would get this hybrid gameplay of more versatility than ever before. Or at least some things should return - like the amazing dual-weapon warrior or the mage-warrior(AW), or even the specs like the Shapeshifter or the Ranger. :)

[@thatissocool123]

Aw man I just finished the game a few days ago… guess I have to play it again to try these out

[@AKisHerceg]

Yup, you definitely have to! :)

[@40ksouls]

hi, thanks for uploading the video ... You know how to accumulate points to receive special shipments, thank you ...🎮👍

[@AKisHerceg]

For special shipments, you have to have the Trials on. As far as I can tell it's pretty random. The more trials you have on the more chance you have for a special shipment. Some trials give higher chance, because they also increase the difficulty more. Even Ground for example is a pretty good way to improve your chance for a reward, but it will also eliminate level scaling - meaning the enemies level with you. Walk Softly also increases your chance significantly, but it will be a real pain at the beginning, since enemies can spawn as "Promoted" which means extra life, guard, sometimes rejuvenating barrier etc. so it raises the difficulty pretty substantially.

[@40ksouls]

Thank you... Is it true that you have to kill more than 100 enemies to receive a shipment?🤔

[@AKisHerceg]

I actually don't think there is a threshold like that. To me it seems totally random(it's chance based more like instead of reaching kill thresholds - so you have like 0.5% chance to get a shipment with one Trials on(depending on which Trial of course, some give higher percentage, some gives less), 1.3% with 2 Trials on etc. - but these numbers are not the actual percentages, they are just an example from me). Sometimes I load up my save and after a few minutes with all trials on, I get a notification of a new shipment. Sometimes however, I can play for a few hours and still get nothing. Best is to play with something like Even Ground on for a significant amount of hours(or all the way through, since the rewards were designed this way). You can place something else on too like Grizzly End, since the chance to receive items will be upped, and yet you won't really fight many great bears. :)

[@farisanwari777]

The Coming Through was so OP, I had to actively dissuade myself from picking it up. It felt too cheesy, I wanted slightly challenging gameplay, not roleplaying an isekai MC lol

[@guardiantree8879]

Always hard to pick that last slot for KE I’ve got the blade, energy barrage, immolate, flaming array, fade step mana, fade cloak damage, lightning cage (why wouldn’t you with blade of T?) then my last spot is a toss up. Winter’s grasp, blizzard, chain lighting, focus ability, or barrier.

[@AKisHerceg]

I like Static Cage, but it's a bit slow to cast it(my Trap-enchanter uses it very well though). I prefer Winter's Grasp because it freezes and destroys single targets(or crowds if you go that route) and it can set up shatter/basic combos easily. Plus I'm a sucker for cold spells. :)

[@fullmetalpoitato5190]

Does Throwing Blades buff work on the Tempest's Thousand Cuts Focus ability?

[@AKisHerceg]

Yes. :)

[@fullmetalpoitato5190]

@@AKisHerceg aww sweet! My Inky is a lvl 17 Dagger Tempest Rogue. A little respect tweak may be in order.

[@dmitrygolubev9398]

Combat roll is why I don't really play warriors that aren't reavers. Too much damage on too short a cooldown coupled with good AoE and mobility means that it is the only skill you end up using. I just wish it only dealt 200% damage as advertised instead of 500%.

[@garrywatkins2358]

Thank you so much for this its so useful and yes if you do a play through I would watch every episode.

[@AKisHerceg]

That is great to hear! :)

[@neotheoneness9363]

These must be DLC upgrades ‘cause I don’t see it in my game.

[@AKisHerceg]

Yup, most of them are from the Trespasser dlc. :)

[@ayremember2900]

Started the game July 2022 finished it today. Wonder if anyone still plays multiplayer tho I'd love to give that a shot

[@DustoVonSusto]

I would put fortifying blast here as well, it's a completely obscene increase in survivability for the whole party

[@sirsams4008]

you should makw a entire walthrough of the game. Espically with these builds

[@AKisHerceg]

Yeah, I have been thinking about it lately. We will see, how much time I will have to put something like that together. :)

[@thewarden3554]

@@AKisHerceg would it be a canon play through or one of your builds?

[@AKisHerceg]

@@thewarden3554 I think it would be a completely new playthrough, with whichever class or spec you guys would want to see. :)

[@inajajani]

Maybe I am missing something, but I never have slot for winter's grasp. My go to spells are: barrier - energy barrage - static cage - fire mine - fade step - chain lightning (or immolate for necromage + rift mage) - and finally 2 class specific spells. My problem with winter's grasp is that as a cold spell, only a couple enemy types have weakness towards it. According to dragon age wiki from this aspect the 3 main elements are mostly balanced: Each have a dozen enemy types weak/strong to it, except cold damage, which has only 3 enemy types weak to it. Even when I consider leaving one of the above mentioned spells behind (mostly immolate), I chose Ice mine over Winter's grasp because of the armor deleting upgrade. Further more winter's grasp is a high 65 mana cost spell, and applying the chill debuff is not easy. You either use energy barrage with frost staff (but in this case you sacrifice more damage), or upgrade fade step with frost instead of the mana regeneration, which is also an inferior choice especialy early on. 1000% damage sounds extreme on first read, but in reality chain lightning with Arcing surge has 250x6=1500% damage, and Energy barrage with energy storm 100x12=1200% damage potentially.

[@AKisHerceg]

I almost always have a slot for it. :) It's an "auto-hit", "immediately applied on target" ability, with guaranteed freeze unless the enemy is immune to freeze(simple cold immunes get frozen as well), and it opens up the Shatter combo(yes, the Ice Mine can be used for this as well, but Ice Mine deals no damage unless you detonate it, and it takes longer to cast(plus it becomes strictly melee range) with the Chilling Array upgrade and it takes quite a few seconds to activate it with the Brittle Glyph upgrade). You can cast WG on charging shield-bearers, bruisers, even prowlers and they will be instantly stopped ending their dangerous charge(it is impossible to block WG unlike Energy Barrage). These enemies usually just run through your Ice Mine with the Brittle Glyph upgrade, because the mine takes way too long to activate. With the other upgrade, your mines are strictly for close combat, so no chance to freeze dangerous ranged enemies like the Hakkonite Archers/Mages before they can release their arrows/spells. WG takes care of both the ranged and the melee enemies instantly. With Energy Barrage or Ice Mine it's child's play to apply chill on targets(in my experience, fire immune enemies are just as common as cold immunes and I almost always use the Blade of Tidarion, which means I can have both Lightning and Cold projectiles(or Cold and Fire) with my Energy Barrage, so I can apply both the Shocked and the Chilled status effect increasing the damage even further). Chain Lightning is not a single target ability, so adding the 250x6 and make it equal 1500 is not exactly correct if you compare it to WG. It deals 250% on each individual targets, so this means that on a lone enemy it only deals 250%. It is arguably a better crowd control spell than WG but WG is not a CC spell. It is a single target spell with one of the best stopping powers and one of the highest possible damage. In fact the only spell which can rival WG in terms of raw single target damage is the Fire Mine. Nothing else comes even close(unless of course you want to count Static Cage with the Lightning Cage upgrade, but you need an additional spell/ability for that since SC on its own deals no damage). You don't actually need enemies to be weak to frost for it to deal huge damage. Even at the beginning, it can two-three shot almost all non-cold immune enemies on Nightmare. The only difference is enemies weak to cold get an additional +100% dmg out of it. But regardless of their weakness they will always get 1000% dmg unless they are immune. I love this spell and it is really handy in almost every situation from beginning to end. :)

[@inajajani]

@@AKisHerceg As far as I know, elemental weakness/strength is multiplicative. A 1,5 and 0.5 damage multiplier respectively. Maybe I am wrong, but that means, if an enemy has strength against cold, you will inflict half as much damage with cold spells, and frost staff. Most of the time you fight small groups of enemies, and if you have at least 2of them, chain lightning will apply the 750% + 750% damage. The biggest exception especially early on are lonely bears. Unfortunately they are immune to freezing, and have the strength against cold, which means that you get only a net 1000x0,5=500% damage with winter's grasp. However thanks to the fire weakness, upgraded immolate will do 400x1,5=600% plus burning for half the mana cost. Later the lizards will became frequent lone wolf encounters, which usually have weakness towards electricity, and strength against fire. Since they are lonely, maybe there could be winter's grasp a preferable choice.

[@AKisHerceg]

@@inajajani Lone bears and mages are immune to cold, but the mages are not immune to being frozen so I still would prefer WG over CL, simply because of its stopping power. CL also interrupts attacks but for a lesser time period and it's more resistible than freeze. As I said, WG is not a cc spell. It isn't exactly meant to be used against crowds. It is a single target damager/disabler spell. Its main use is for high damage against bosses/single targets and disabling priority targets amongst groups. Based on my experience it handles both of these jobs better than CL. But then again, CL is a cc spell, so its not exactly a good comparison. WG is especially effective against Alexius and Envy at the beginning too, making the fight kind of a joke. But I don't know. If you feel like CL is better for you, then go for it. I always prefer cold spells at the beginning because of the freeze effect(and with a party that is a guaranteed shatter as well for extra cold damage). It makes Nightmare super easy early on. Later on I pick Fire Mine and now I already have two spells which can counter any kind of resistance/immunity. Especially with Ice Mine+Fire Mine for CC and damage and WG for damage against fire immunes. So I usually feel that CL is unnecessary. Static Cage is the only skill I would actually pick from the Lightning Tree(other than Energy Barrage of course) later on. I find the rest kind of the skills lackluster compared to the Winter and the Inferno tree. And since you have a very limited amount of spells, I usually pick whatever serves me best. This works for me when I solo and with a party as well. :)

[@jimbostunna]

Would spells like leaping shot, throwing knives, and combat roll be good for the AI? Or will they just do stupid shit

[@AKisHerceg]

Combat Roll: Forget it - AI is too silly to use it well. Leaping Shot: Meh... sometimes Varric uses it well with the Hail of Arrows upgrade, but it is generally not that great in the hands of the AI. Throwing Blades: Yup, it can work. Check out my Sera AI build in my AI build videos. She can use it well if you couple it with Flask of Fire. Cole can also handle it, especially against bosses. Winter's Grasp: AI uses it well. Very well in fact, no matter which mage uses it, they all do good with it. For me, it's a must for them. Toxic Cloud: Superb use by the AI. Check out my Caustic Varric AI build from my "Top 9 AI builds" video. :)

[@jimbostunna]

@@AKisHerceg I really appreciate you replying to all my comments. And yeah your varric video is great, I’m just wondering if there’s any image of the actually talent tree you used, or do you just like to show the general idea of a build in some of your videos

[@AKisHerceg]

@@jimbostunna Check my latest AI build video. Varric, Solas and Blackwall. You can see their skill tree and their tactics there. :)

[@Cobernikus]

Thats some great hints! After i started tô play as Templar (oh lord, i Just cant stop playing as templar anymore lol) and learn how to use combat roll......man, theres no turning back hahahaha PS: i see you having connection issues on D2 as Well......man, i almost asked for refund, its só frustrating 😞

[@AKisHerceg]

Yeah, tried other servers, but it keeps disconnecting… I was able to level my sorc up to 60, but I would want to mf already. Still have nothing and I haven’t reached Hell yet. Pretty sad, because the game is awesome.

[@cannotHIDEpr]

love ur videos, thanks for putting all the effort and time into making these. also was wondering what kinda playthru do u enjoy and have fun the most personally? friendly fire on/off or all trials on or just spesific ones. have a favorite class and spec or favorite party line ups etc.

[@AKisHerceg]

I love normal Nightmare playthroughs. I like the trials, usually I have them on. I do not like FF though... I did a few playthrough with it, but I dislike it. I get it, every other Dragon Age Nightmare mode came with FF, but the problem with FF is that the AI is terrible at using aoe spells/skill, so it turns FF into a frustrating, micro-managing mess(unless you disable them all). In the other two games, you could balance the terrible AI with the tactics, but here, there are no real tactics so it is even more frustrating to control your party with FF. You have to manually do everything(kinda sucks the fun out of it for me). Plus 70% of the game's skills cause FF and I am not really willing to forget 70% of my skills when they are part of the game. So I usually don't go with FF on(still I have builds and AI builds for it if you are interested), but Nightmare with all Trials can come anytime. My favorite class is a Two-Handed Warrior and my fav specs are the Artificer, the Champion and the Knight Enchanter. :) For party I like using Cass(or Blackwall),Sera(or Varric) and Solas(or Vivienne) usually.

[@shogun_414]

Ive got a build going for my Tempest rogue, 96% armor penetration and crit dmg bonus, use frost flask and start chaining flank hits with Flank Attack - Twin Fangs then spice it up with Spinning Blades, knocks a whole group out, bonus points if you use Immolate from mage and Whirlwind from two handed 😏 With that being said, i still have plenty of work i want/need to put in, if anyone is interested- i will comment on this in another week or two for my complete rogue :)

[@yazan80]

Just curious about what other games you play mate? Any mmo’s?

[@AKisHerceg]

I mostly like rpgs, rts or some tps shooters(I like tactical gameplay too like XCom, but sometimes mindless fun or horror is also good with me). I tried some mmos, but sadly, I always ended up losing interest in them. I heard good things about Guild Wars 2 though, so I might give it a shot. You have any recommendation? Right now, I am playing some Diablo 2 multi but I have some connection issues, so it kinda ruins my fun a bit... Occasionally, I also play some FPS games. I just finished Biohazard and the Village on the ps4. They were pretty good. So I am kind of all over the place, but rpgs are my favorites. :)

[@yazan80]

@@AKisHerceg actually played wow for years but recently switched to FFXIV. Loving the game and do recommend it especially for the story. Would love of you did like a first impression video of the game.

[@Cobernikus]

@@yazan80 i was part of XIV community for quite some time, sadly i had tô change my console (sold my PS4 and got a Xbox) and no XIV anymore 😞 Glad tô hear you liking the game, but i hope you can find a nice FC tô join. The real jewel of XIV is its community, the People.

[@yazan80]

@@Cobernikus couldnt agree more. The social aspects of the game is amazing.

[@garrywatkins2358]

I was wondering why you don't talk in your vids?

[@AKisHerceg]

In the area where I am, there are constant noises. I have an “okay” headset, but even when we play multi with my gf, it’s annoying to hear the cars pass or people making noise. Right now I think me using a mic would lower the quality of my videos. But since so many people are asking me about walkthroughs I really have to find a way to make that room soundproof somehow…

[@ullerbarwulf]

Another great video, I'm learning a lot with you man. I'm starting to get bored of the game, usually happens when I'm at the end game and there is no challange anymore. I've beat the game with all trials on a reaver and now I'm finishing it with a knight enchanter. Any tips fo me to begin a new playtrhough? I do enjoy to face everything and still unlesh those juice crits (my reaver has 100% crit chance)

[@AKisHerceg]

Definitely! If you tried Reaver and KE, then it's time for an Artificer or Assassin playthrough! Check out my Artificer and Assassin builds with my skill combo videos! My favorite is the Artificer, simply because it's amazing how versatile that spec is. Assassin is also great, pretty much the highest single target damage having spec in the entire game, so it's pretty amusing to take out bosses in 5 seconds with it. Rogues have an affinity for causing insane destruction(by far the highest dps class), so if you like those big crit numbers, then you will definitely won't regret going with them! :)

[@ullerbarwulf]

@@AKisHerceg Thanks! I'll try the artificer then, I do not have uch care for those shadowy stuff :D

[@ullerbarwulf]

@@AKisHerceg I followed your tip, rogue is far weaker in the early game, I'm struggling a lot. I like that.

[@JohnBakerZ]

thank you

[@elvenatheart982]

Fun as always

[@proudmoore5254]

I wonder which mage spec deals the highest damage in your opinion :)

[@AKisHerceg]

It’s the Necromancer. :)

[@proudmoore5254]

@@AKisHerceg what about knight vs riff

[@AKisHerceg]

@@proudmoore5254 The other two has the same amount of destructive power(since they both lack Walking Bomb). One(Rift Mage) is better at crowd control, the other is better at survivability. :)