Dragon Age Inquisition - Class Build - Knight Enchanter - In-Depth Guide!

Dragon Age Inquisition - Class Build - Knight Enchanter - In-Depth Guide!
Check out the video and the short written guide below! • Dragon Age Inquisition...
In-depth look at what makes the Knight Enchanter, one of the most powerful specialization classes in Dragon Age Inquisition. With this guide you'll get a clear look at the active and passive skills that combine to make a near unkillable mage that delivers pain by the truck load from melee range.
This guide focuses on how to build your class using a combination of standard skills from the Spirit, Lightning, and Fire skill trees, and new active and passives from the Knight Enchanter specialization tree for Mage. These builds can be used of course for your main character, but have also been designed to be just as viable for use with your AI teammates.
This build has been put together from a fresh respec. With about 15-20 points to place, you can put together a very powerful Knight Enchanter that has everything it needs to dominate on the battlefield.
Spirit
Barrier / Elegant Defense (Skill upgrade) / Guardian Spirit / Peaceful Aura / Dispel / Revival / Life Ward (Skill upgrade)
Knight Enchanter
Spirit Blade / Combat Clarity / Fade Shield / Knight-Protector Fade Cloak / Decloaking Blast (Skill upgrade) / Veiled Riposte / Resurgence
Please note: To make this build work, you will "need" everything shown from the Knight Enchanter and Spirit trees. However, I encourage you to use the rest of your points to unlock other helpful and fun active and passive skills from other trees.
Inferno
Immolate / Flashpoint / Clean Burn
Storm
Energy Barrage / Conductive Current
Once you've unlocked the Knight Enchanter class and have roughly 15 points to place, focus on unlocking skills from both Spirit and Knight Enchanter. Barrier, Guardian Spirit, Peaceful Aura, Dispel, and Rejuvenating Barrier come first in Spirit. In Knight Enchanter, quickly go for Spirit Blade, Combat Clarity, Fade Shield, Knight-Protector, Fade Cloak, Veiled Riposte, and then Resurgence. That's 12 points.
Several skill upgrades are also key to unlocking more potential from skills such as Decloaking Blast for Fade Cloak, Elegant Defense for Barrier, Life Ward for Revival, Transmute Magic for Dispel, and Defending Blade for Spirit Blade. Those are listed from what I consider most important, to moderately important. Including the previous skills, that's now 17 points spent.
From here, it's all up to you. I like adding some ranged so I'm not dependent only on fighting from close up. Plus it never hurts to have some elemental attacks that some enemies are weak to like Fire, Lightning and Ice.
Energy Barrage is one of the flashiest and effective spells with a decent cost and farily short cooldown, and also leads to a great passive, Conductive Current which increases your damage based on how much mana you're missing. Since we're fighting up close, Static Charge isn't a bad passive to take either.
From Inferno, Immolate works well to attack from afar and while you're knocking your enemies around with Decloaking Blast. This opens up more cooldown reduction possibilities to Flashpoint and Clean Burn.
The Winter tree also offers some more fun options. Winter's Grasp is always a great skill to take and locks down Rage Demons very well.
More class builds on the way! Check out the previous guides below!
Reaver Warrior Guide! • Dragon Age Inquisition...
Dual Dagger Stealth Rogue Guide! • Dragon Age Inquisition...
Two-Hand Warrior Guide • Dragon Age Inquisition...
Balance Mage Guide • Dragon Age Inquisition...
Sword and Shield Tank Warrrior Guide • Dragon Age Inquisition...
Power Shots Archer Rogue Guide • Dragon Age Inquisition...
Crafting Weapons, Armor and Upgrades! • Dragon Age Inquisition...
Crafting Material Farming Guide! #1 • Dragon Age Inquisition...
Crafting Material Farming Guide! #2 Exalted Plains • Dragon Age Inquisition...
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[@karankenZ]

Mage staves have the least weapon damage so it makes sense to have high % increments of damage for the mage. The power of the mage is in his magic, not his staff or his weapons. That's why in the start when you pick up that staff and cassandra asks you to drop it, you have the option to tell her "You think I need my staff to be dangerous?"

[@jellybeaner6396]

Wrong. A mage with a staff that has cunning/critical chance/critical bonus will do twice as much damage as a mage with a magic/willpower staff. Weapons are just as important for mages as any other class.

[@BrandonWestbrook1993]

jose rodriguez im making a KE that uses cunning/critical type stuff what cunning armor should I use or is the cunning put on a staff enough?

[@jellybeaner6396]

Brandon Westbrook There's a hat you can get early on that gives 12% crit chance + 6 cunning (basically 15% crit chance). Then, you can either farm tier 3 chests to get the seer staff or hope you get lucky... that's the best staff for knight enchanter. If you can get crit chance over cunning that's what I'd do. Then there are also crit bonus rings, and if you have Varric in your party he will grant you some extra crit chance. I had my KE at about 40% crit chance and was doing around 1.5k per hit at around level 19. Hits on guard or barriers are somewhere around 5-9k per hit, sometimes higher.

[@BrandonWestbrook1993]

Ok thx ill definitly need to farm for the seer staff

[@jellybeaner6396]

Lj House cunning affects crit %. I believe 1 cunning= .5% crit. Go look at your stats and hover over 'cunning' and it provides a more wholesome explanation :P

[@ruslanrubtsov2073]

I'm pretty sure someone has already suggested it, but don't go for spirit blade upgrade. Instead I recommend going for fire mine and the last passives in both inferno and spirit. To get there faster, don't pick resurrection. In DAI it's all about preventing health damage, not healing it after all. Fire mine is great for KE because: 1) the damage is bloody insane 2) you decrease it's cooldown with every swing of spirit blade. 3) when it goes off u get instant full barrier 4) with last passive from inferno tree 50% of your current barriers strength goes into fire mines damage (also remember 3) 5) if u get the last passive from spirit tree the bonus goes from 50% to 75% (since your barriers get +50% bonus) 6) with flashpoint u can place 2 mines at the same time, doubling the overall insane dps. Even the ravager will feel it. The downside is - you have to keep an eye out so you don't waste flashpoint by just making another swing with the blade. Try it, it'll prove worth your time.

[@khaledzprsa8224]

I will try it thanks my dud

[@364Leinad]

The Veal holds no uncertainty for her, and she will know no fear of death, for the Maker shall be her bacon and her shield, her foundation and her sword

[@mikeyashawasegai9388]

364Leinad lol her bacon

[@Nerdy_bear90]

Bacon is the way and the truth

[@rickiewilson2876]

ha ha love bacon

[@wolfofsummerbreeze]

Veal and bacon, mmmm

[@giovaskycaquias3985]

lol I like how they add up in time!! Bless the Maker for making 🥓!

[@McNab1986]

So the spirit blade is basically a lightsaber with the upgrade :)

[@kokichiouma297]

too any one bitching that ke is op For all the talk of how broken KE is, the truth is that every specialization is broken in terms of power assuming one actually puts half a thought into it. Let's briefly review, shall we? *Reaver: excellent focus and damage output. Heals itself. With battlemaster feats, has the best mobility and melee damage output in the game, and insane critical rate. Best aoe burn spec outside of Rift Mage (specced Whirwind + Stamina regeneration feats + Ring of Pain), add in that purple level 20 sword with Pull of the Abyss to become the best aoe burner in the game. *Templar: completely trivializes about 30% of encounters and most of the boss fights as well as every rift, offering the best DPS in game and crowd control against demons. Buffs the entire party in major ways. *Champion: actually literally unkillable and cannot be bypassed. Best boss-killer in the game. *Artificer: best DPS Focus ability in the game for any ranged build. Find a ring that boosts the Focus ability and enjoy 52 seconds of insanity. Best battlefield control. *Tempest: best burst damage in the game, insane utility. Can tank as a melee rogue. Ring of Improved Thousand Cuts and dual daggers terminate any encounter that gives you issues. *Assassin: solid DPS, though lacking in utility. Has a crappy Focus, but can effectively stealth almost permanently with correct skill rotations. Mark of Assassin + anything is insanity. *Rift Mage: best all-around ranged DPS in the game, only surpassed by Focused Artificer. Best aoe unless you spec out your Reaver. Can self-detonate any combo. Has access to a ranged spirit spell that is also a warrior detonator. Has insane battlefield control. *Necromancer: excellent field control, massive party utility. Best sustain in the game. Of these, the Assassin, Necromancer and Templar are probably the "weakest" of the specs, but each properly played spec is insanely broken in its own fashion. If you think that KE is broken and your spec isn't, then by all means, I can offer you advice on how to break it. I tested all of them at this point. I think KE just gets a lot of hate because it is slightly more obvious in terms of basic tactics. I feel that it offers a unique approach and is no more broken than anything else.

[@giovaskycaquias3985]

kokichi ouma period!!! Well said

[@ThwipThwipBoom]

Very true!

[@dexternelson]

I like your build with the fire. For nightmare though I took a slightly different approach. The idea of a Knight-Enchanter is to lead so I treated it like a tank instead of just a damage dealer. I didn't want the threat reduction for 3 reasons (besides the barrier of course). 1. My mana regen works in close proximity to baddies, which means I need them to come after me (Combat Clarity). Plus with Spirit Blade as my main attack, having agro means they're always in melee range. Combined it makes rejuvenating barrier almost pointless to me. 2. Instead of turning Cassandra into a defensive build, I made her into an attack build for damage output (Templar/Battlemaster). I followed suit with Blackwall and Iron Bull, each with their own specialty. 3. Mind Blast has an upgrade passive that benefits your barrier - Fortifying Blast give +10% Barrier, and it gives you an extra health bar that enemies have to destroy. Your build in the KE tree is the same as mine. 9 points (I got the upgrade for spirit blade - no disruption field). In the Spirit Tree I went down the right side for Guardian Spirit and Strength of Spirits (+50% Barrier Bonus) as I explained, plus the mind blast. 6 points. This is where it gets interesting because you still have 7 points available and already you're pretty much un-killable. In the fire tree I took 3 points. Immolate and Flashpoint and Clean Burn. Now you have 4 points. Let's say hello to frost. I took 3 points here. Fade step and the Frost Step upgrade, plus Winter Stillness (increases your mana regen by 50% if you stand still for just 3 seconds. After that it will reach a threshold. Since you're tanking, standing still is not a problem at all (no more mana problems). That leaves you with 1 point (if you have an amulet of power from earlier). My choice was to put that 1 point into Focused Teamwork in the Inquisitor tree. What that does is grant a focus bonus to the entire party every time you drop a successful ability combo - and I use Immolate every time I see that an enemy is weakened to fire. My accessories are a big part of my build. 1. Superb Cooldown Amulet - +15% Cooldown Modifier 2. Suberb Ring of Attack - +10% Attack 3. Superb Ring of Staggering - +10% Stagger on Hit 4. Superior Belt of Focus - +30% Focus Gain Bonus Because on Nightmare I can basically solo the rest of the game once I hit about level 15, I drop Focused Teamwork in the Inquisitor tree and put that point into Frost Mastery. Frost mastery adds +25% freeze duration and +25% chill duration. The reason I do that is because of the upgrade to Fade Step. Frost Step does ice damage 300% weapon damage and leave enemies chilled for 8 seconds. With the Bonus 25%, they're chilled for 10 seconds, which makes swinging on baddies hurt like a motha. A lot of people leave out the 3 points in fire and add Winter's Grasp, the upgrade to it, and snatch mana surge, but that only works when your barrier is destroyed, which almost never happens - so I don't do that. Optionally, you can leave out clean burn arguably isn't a necessity with your regen rate. It's a nice perk to have but not a necessity. You can take that point and put it into the Immolate Upgrade and get Wildfire, which makes immolate burn hotter and reduces the cooldown by 4 seconds. The bonus is 100% weapon damage, and Damage of Time (DoT) of 75% weapon damage per second. The current build I have, I swapped out the upgrade to Mind Blast (I don't even use it) and put it back into Clean Burn. It's kick-assery at it's finest. For my gear I focus on utility and defense. For example, I use Masterwork Battlemage Armor which has a bonus of Abilities Cost 7.5% less mana/stamina. I also have barrier and critical damage bonuses, attack and armor penetration on my weapon (Spirit rune), and on my armor there is +Magic, +magic defense, and elemental resistance. I avoided melee defense because barrier is just OP. They don't even hit me. EDIT: In your rotation, don't forget to use your Mark of the Rift - it's MASSIVE damage to everything, and it does kill enemies instantly especially when you're dealing with a lot of demons around a rift.

[@IamWalkingDead1]

A great thing to add to the knight enchanter is fade step, closing the distance and moving you in the correct areas

[@demonsangells]

Why anyone would go with Knight Enchanter? Power, of course. Being a badass swordman is always cool, being badass MAGE swordsman is too cool. I played DA:O as an Arcane Warrior, I love mages that can go in the front lines and shit on their enemies.

[@ShokkuZaMonki]

Ummm... Yes to all those things. Now what was your question again?

[@demonsangells]

My entire post was acually an answer to the commentator.

[@ShokkuZaMonki]

Oh, sorry, maybe I wasn't paying attention at that part.The statement part of my reply still stands though.

[@B0TFrosty]

@Christoper Putt I mean, at least in Inquisition it is not that boring. In origins playing an arcane warrior is horrible, having to watch your character put away his weapons to cast a spell again, and again, and again

[@JosieJOK]

Christoper Putt With the new items and upgrades to skills from Trespasser, there’s no reason for Spirit Blade spam anymore. I found that boring, as well, before I settled on a more active build. Fade Step through enemies to regain mana, lay down Ice and Fire Mine arrays around you, use Static Cage to keep enemies locked into place, then hit them with Energy Barrage for extra damage. Yeah, I still use Spirit Blade (and Fade Cloak), but there’s no reason to just stand there using it over and over. If your party is built correctly, there’s no need for any revival abilities, so you can safely skip those. It’s a much more fun style of play, you do more damage, and you’re still unkillable. KE has jumped in front of Rift Mage as my favorite mage specialization.

[@zangatsubankai]

Quick point about Defending Blade (yeah I know this is really late but in case anyone is looking at this for build advice). It's a really great skill and will save your ass if you're good with it...but only if you're controlling the KE. If you want Viv to handle this solo don't bother getting her Defending Blade. The computer has NO idea how to use it and will often step in the way of an attack because they think they can block it.

[@justinscott1315]

Hmmm, something you didn't consider, just to make yourself even better, would be wearing an armor or weapon with Fade-touched Obsidian, or Fade Touched Silverite build onto it- You then gain guard with each damaging spell you do, meaning you have a infinite barrier, with a full guard to prevent you from getting knocked-back, as well as additional cushion encase you get lazy as you said. I use a fade touched- silverite armor and because of it I'm able to solo high dragons with impunity, not even fearing their stun due to having back up protection in the chance of stun locked.

[@ReaperGrimm5594]

Really wish we had an ability wheel. The other classes are hurt by not having one, but mages, even the "OP" Knight Enchanter feels CRIPPLED from not having all their spells

[@asdergold1]

True enough.

[@dragonlordx25]

Very very true

[@wolfofsummerbreeze]

Just gotta take less spells and more passives

[@SeventhheavenDK]

It doesn't feel crippled because the game is precisely designed with that in mind.

[@robbiegeegee]

I love that you show just good old fashioned game play after so we really can see it in action! Thanks for the great look at Knight Enchanter!

[@arungupta9140]

I'm about to replay Inquisition in preparation for Veilguard, and this is my absolute favourite build in existence.

[@KineticGTR]

I love watching my 2Hand Warrior wrecking dudes with Block and Slash :3

It really op and good video bro

[@buzzkill314-_-7]

Love your builds man. Can you do champion next?

[@KineticGTR]

buzzkill314 -_- I will soon. The next build starts with a T. ;)

[@AllThings_Gaming-c1m]

Lalo Juarez not OP like KE at all really lol. Reaver can deal up to 8K which i did once vs a Dragon fight :D

[@buzzkill314-_-7]

Also awesome :D

[@Cragnous]

-Spirit Blade does not ignore Barrier and Guard, it simply does bonus damage to it. -Resurgence isn't that great, it's better to use the basic one for intense DPS. -Rejuvenating Barrier is a must of the KE, more so than the party. -Where's Fire Mine??

[@mattstreet4104]

Thanks for the videos mate. Watching through a LOT of these in 2022 still 👍

[@ValidusF]

Great video guide and write ups, thank you. Loving your KE and companion builds.

[@reipasreijo4279]

Thanks for great guides! Started using your specs yesterday on my gameplay and got great results!

[@cusswords9815]

One other thing, love your videos, always come here for useful advice.

[@TheDukanu]

I-m level 18 and havent found a decent staff except at that guy that sells in skyhold but i found a milion bows and more daggers than i can hold ...

[@UnknownTaliban]

You need to find runes to put in your staff. I think

[@taifhamid1]

i have beaten the game as a archer than changed to 2 weapons assassin and tbh all the stuff you find for those classes are garbage you'll find 1/100 items that you'll use over crafted weapons. crafted items are ALWAYS the best in rare cases if you find a unique item that has a lot of stats and a rune they could be better however if you can find the best materials and you make a master grab or handle or whatever it's called than craft a staff with the best materials you have than modify it add a rune, handle and it'll be the single handedly best item you can find a small tip, Dragon materials are the best, in my run at least.

[@pragmaticeagle4832]

***** You have to craft to get the best staves.

[@TheDukanu]

Franklin Woolford Indeed i found some staff crafts but still weaker than other weapons ...

[@pragmaticeagle4832]

Lapul Alb Late reply I know but as taifhamid1 mention above, the best in class weapons are always crafted weapons due to the enchants and bonuses such as adding armor every hit, etc. As a player still playing this game from time to time, trust me, crafted are best hands down. That's the point in the craft system. More noticeable on the top difficulties however

[@omarabulmagd4880]

I do love play support, don't know why I started two hand warrior, switching to mage with your build right this instant, and I do enjoy your videos and the way you describe things, keep at it :), hello from Egypt btw xD

[@KR3WNYN3]

Another thing with inferno and the Knight Enchaqnter trees is the passive that powers your fire spells with barrier, sometimes you'll do huge amounts of damage with immolate which will take half your barrier but that barrier will instantly be restored because of the KE passive that gives you barrier based on damage.

[@jessegreco8855]

Every time you say, “veel,” I want to break my own fingers.

[@drakath794]

For my Knight Enchanter build, I always grab immolate in the Fire skill tree and then just the passive perks, with the Storm & Frost skill trees; I grab the first two active abilities (& their upgrades) from the Storm & Frost tree and then the passive perks, I don't aquire anything else... From the Spirit tree I basically do the same thing you have done in the video along with the Knight Enchanter tree... The passive perk abilities really help out especially on nightmare difficulty.

[@lostandlost519]

Knight Enchanter and Fade Step go hand-in-hand. My first character was a Knight Enchanter. Survivability+the constant damage(might not be big #s, but if done correctly the damage never stops) makes the Knight Enchanter amazing.

[@Photanic]

Something tells me throwing on that fire tree perk that consumes barrier to increase damage would work obscenely well for a Knight-Enchanter. It does make you a little more squishy, but 50% increased damage on a spell like Fade Cloak or Veilblade might just be worth it (if the damage from Fade Cloak can consume the effect).

[@pragmaticeagle4832]

I picked up this game late. This class is favorite class followed very close by rogue assassin. If you haven't noticed already, not only are you invisible/invincible when you use fade cloak, but you can also attack/cast spells. You do not have to wait so you get an extra attack or spell in while invisible

[@LetalisVeritas]

I haven't tried this yet, but I'm considering doing the following on my future KE; Same points in KE as the build in this video (At least the must haves) + 4 points in Spirit (Barrier + Guardian Spirit + Mind Blast + Strength of Spirits) + 1 point in Winter (Fade Step) + 5 points in Inferno (Immolate/Upgrade + Flashpoint + Clean Burn + Chaotic Focus) > From there I would most likely spend the remaining points to get a solid Mana Regen Rate. Now, all of that plus the Guard on Hit Masterwork. The idea is that the with the Barrier Capacity upgrade from Strength of Spirits, I will generate a bigger amount of Barrier from the Spirit Blade, which is then used up by Chaotic Focus, while this is going on, Guard is being built in the background. I'm not sure how the formula works for the interaction between Spirit Blade/Strenght of Spirits and Chaotic Focus, but if they scale off of eachother so well that I can maintain a 50% Barrier while feeding Chaotic Focus all it can handle for a steroid boost, then the damage of Spirit Blade should be increased significantly, which in turn increases the Barrier generation. Just a theory though, haven't had the chance to test it just yet. Fade Step will offer the mobility that Fade Cloak can't match, while providing the same invulnerability and same CD (Fade Cloak won't let you close the gap between yourself and a dragon that jumps backwards before it gets a breath off). Immolate is there for a ranged DPS upkeep while closing said gap, can get one off right before a Fade Step. And thanks to Clean Burn and Flashpoint, Fade Step should hardly ever be on cooldown, thus allowing you to maneuver around the battlefield with ease. If the idea of Spirit Blade, Chaotic Focus and Strength of Spirits works out as I hope it might, then this will be the build I use to solo NM with. The hardest part will be the first 12 levels >_> Let

[@himirocu]

Great video. This helped me get the last achievement I needed for Dragon Age Inquisition.

[@Azrael-B]

I appreciate these guides man, really helpful.

[@GhostDirtyPants]

KineticGTR Wow ... ty dude. I mean a lot !!! I am usually playing with Solas in my team and 2 Shield and Sword tankers (me Archer). I attacked The Ferelden Frostback a couple of times but i always died, mainly cause solas was always sticking his as* into the dragons face. Not flaking it but taking the fire damage. When i saw that build(i was level 12 then), i switched to Vivian on the second. And with the staff from the "Bright axe" quest, where you had to search for an axe but it turned out to be an epic staff i just wrecked it. My character died 2 times but she always revived him. And with that barrier she was tankier than my warriors :d. I can't imagine what she will become when i add to her attacks bonus guard. Thanks again bro. Been playing her for a while and with a tempest archer and champion warrior she suits really good.

[@ShinnFlowen]

I would say the templar's rally is the best focus ability. You don't want your characters reaching a low hp threshold so 10 - 30 % hp regeneration and guard generation makes all your party members difficult to harm for 10 seconds. You can pop it before a battle starts or during a bad situation making it more proactive. The 10 - 30 % stamina/mana regeneration makes everyone more effective at using all their abilities, which would increase damage per second. Vivenne's resurgence is just a nice complementary ability if things really go bad during a boss fight.

[@akkune2176]

Knight Enchanter + Winter + Spirit(only Barrier and Guardian Spirit) = FUCKING GOD of gods!!! It is so fucking powerful that I can solo a dragon on Hard without using a potion. I can use 'Fade step' and 'Fade clock' to escape. 'Ice Armor' makes you very tanky. Finally, 'Spirit Blade' cuts through armor like butter. You don't need Spirit (except barrier&guardian spirit). Both NE and Winter already gives you enough mobility and armor. If Dragon Age had PvP then KEW would fuck every other class, except Rogue-Assassin (maybe).

[@LadyStoneheart312]

Akkun E What?? Hard?? pff I soloed Abyssal High Dragon on friggin NIGHTMARE!! dem knight enchanters man, OP as fuck

[@LadyStoneheart312]

Bruce Marlon I'm still low level, kinda, so I've only put skill points on KE and spirit and honestly...I need nothing else. Sure I could pick some winter skills for even more fucking defense or fire for even more fucking damage, but I have more or less already broken the game as it is lol .I actually feel kind of bad, though maybe for no reason.

[@LadyStoneheart312]

Bruce Marlon So I'm still a newbie and this will sound dumb (also you'll think me lazy for not googling this, but I actually prefer learning through conversation rather than searching) but is it possible to re-train my specialization somehow?

[@TheHorsenation]

Winter line sucks for KE. you're hardly standing still for 3+ seconds to get the regen benefit, Ice wall is crap: does no damage and often blocks your party's ranged attacks. only nice thing in there is fade-step. Blizzard sucks too. If there was PVP, you're be crying and ragequitting all day long.

[@RT-tg9re]

Lady Stoneheart no

[@Luk850]

+ The passive in the ice tree which freezes enemys around you when they break your barriers. You really missed a lot out.

[@lilacbombs_5197]

if you get anything from the winter tree, get fade step and winter stillness! fade step isn't a *neccesity* but it's great for getting out of enemy's way. winter stillness is just great caues it gives you improved mana generation whenever you stand still and, well, mages are literally always doing that when they use magic.

[@GoddammitZeus]

You forgot to use mind blast and the secondary skill that makes mind blast restore 10% barrier per enemy that is hit. With that and the barrier rebuilding every time that you do damage you don't need to slot barrier on your active skill bar. I personally let Vivian take all of the healing skills you mentioned to better focus my KE on more over all damage output.

[@Jenkkimie]

I have a bit more balanced out build because indeed that is a very ridiculous build in that it is so effective. What I did in my turn was to have a more battlemage/elemntalist hybrid whereby I coat myself with electricity passive so that if I get hit, they get hit with electricity as well and several additional mana regeneration bonuses from passives of elemental damage trees. Add to the mix with fire elemental damage passives that empower your ability damage based on your immense barrier amount, you do a ton of additional damage and you still have immense barrier up at almost all the time. Add in mix with cooldown unique amulet of 15% ability cooldown reduction and those mana regeneration passives, you can keep on spamming your abilities almost all the time and keeping your barrier up and alive indefinitely trough out the battle. You could argue that this build sounds even more ridiculously overpowered but I do not think it is because while it is a build that deals tons of damage and whatnot, its one weakness is the lack of team support and so if your buddies happen to die, then you are pretty much screwed as well. Now unfortunately with the content in the game I was only able to get to 23rd level by nearly 100% completion of the game disregarding some store purchases, I will later on be adding those passives and useful abilities from the spirit tree and then the build I use will really become ridiculously powerful.

[@TheHorsenation]

if you play on PC, and hopefully have a decent mouse (Logitech here), make a Profile for Inquisition, and add at least the SpiritBlade to a thumb button. (assign Keypress "1" and put SpiritBlade on Hotbar place 1). You can't assign all your mouse buttons in the game, but you can assign them in your favorite mouse config tool like Logitech Setpoint. This way the flawed PC gamplay becomes a bit more easy like on Consoles.

[@MrODST57]

so knight enchanter has the highest surviveablity

[@Denzao-D]

All My builds is from your videos. I play on nightmare and with sera as tempest archer and viviennes knight enchanter I own the battlefield :-) it is fun. I have 4 characters and your build in all those characters. I intend to Finnish the game with all four. My favourite is sword and shield reaver. You can tank with him and kick som serious ass with him. :-) thanks for your videos. You made my game more fun than it was in the beginning.

[@Oogie76]

Thank you for sharing your secrets KineticGTR.. I'm at 10th right now and I have barrier plus the upgrade as far as Spirit spells. I've gone with all Fire as my primary destruction. I use Fire Mine and immolate for the heavy hits but I see how the Knight Enchanter would compliment the Fire spells that much more. The build I'm running can do an easy 2800+ to a single target, 3200+ on a critical hit. hee hee!

[@paulmanship]

If you add the 4 passive abilities of the storm tree, along with using chain lightning and energy barrage, you can almost ignore the melee attack entirely and keep your barrier strong

[@Neverwinding]

If you have two mages in your party, its good to take rejuvenating barrier on the second mage, and on knight enchanter invest into the passive that adds 50% of your barrier to your fire spells, works great in my case and im also playin nightmare

[@joshuaolsen6509]

Not only is the KE perhaps the most overpowered class, it's arguably the most versatile; you can fight from any range with zero problems, provided you have picked up the teleport from the frost tree (a must vs dragons). You don't need to touch the spirit tree at all, provided you have picked up Fade Shield and you're an aggressive figher (I am). Hit first, hit HARD, and pull up that barrier. If you pick up Fade Shield and the teleport with its subsequent upgrade (deals frost damage), you can turn yourself into a torpedo if you time it correctly.

[@kalevanness4960]

Im going to repec vivianne as soon as i turn the consol back on. Just unlocked this at level 10. Cant wait to get rid of the crap I had on her before. Thanks a lot!! She has a f-in light saber.

[@ginpachi_sensei8051]

The reason this build is broken is that with spirit blade proc on clean burn fade cloak effectively has like a 2-3 second cool down, and the fact that you can attack and use skills while fade cloak is active means you can generate barrier while being immune to damage, not to mention fade cloak removes any status ailments(burn, poison,fear,and so on) it can also be activated when you are stunned, frozen or knocked down and you just get back in the fight. i played through nightmare with my main character being a KE and as long as you stick to enemies around your level or you have good gear you can effectively solo nightmare. though to people saying all you do is swing spirit blade if you find that boring pick a few skills as all damage keeps up your barrier and just use those.

[@postapocalypse0763]

Nice to see that my favorite specialization's concept (Arcane Warrior) is ridiculous in any iteration XD

[@vanashda]

Something i do suggest, as far as having Viv in the Frey, is having some guard on hit some where with her. It helps immensely for when you get that one hit right after a barrier goes down and even more ensures that you are the last one alive in the fight.

[@sab6437]

I suggest taking Fire Mine over Immolate. It does way more damage, both initial and DoT. And Chaotic Focus and Mana Surge are must-haves for a Barrier build KE. I'd say Fade Step is a must-have as well. This coming from a level 24 KE playing on Nightmare with Friendly Fire and having killed all dragons.

[@dac11jmn]

Thanks! I finally get the KE build now haha

[@merdziiikaa]

When I played as a mage I enjoyed Rift Mage way more than Knight Enchanter but they are both great.

[@ExpanderDJ]

Thanks for the overview!

[@justinjatico8036]

The disruption barrier is amazing. It stops projectiles in midair.

[@maciejguja7265]

You should really think about getting the skill below 'conductive current', its great for knight enchanters, triggers like 80% of time when fighting mele with 2h sword, adds like 150% lighting damage per hit, supersweet.

[@isphus]

You forgot whats, in my opinion, the main combo: Chaotic Focus.When you cast a fire spell you lose 50% of your barrier and the spell gets extra power. With KE you can turn that bonus damage into a new barrier, so the downside that was using your "life" to power the magic isnt even there. This is specially true with aoe spells, and makes having 2 or 3 fire spells very much worth it, not to mention that you can nuke things from afar.

[@burns0100]

My Knight Enchanter build is finally finished, different from this video its uses all of the KE tree but the last perk then I have both perks in Inquisitor, just Barrier and its upgrade and Guardian Spirit then I take all of the right side and two middle perks of the winter tree, what im left with the the ultimate defence and power combo, I can easily solo the game on hard now and as long as im dealing damage, taking hits and maintaining my spells I can't die. I have a bigger chance of killing myself on the long walks to the next mission...

[@VaughanAtLarge]

Nice build! I may just use this myself but with some ice spells thrown in to reference Vivienne's previous spells. What I really want to see is a two-handed weapon Templar build.

[@skynet0912]

The Knight-enchanter build is the most overpowered character you can make in the game. My mage used nothing but Spirit Blade after i got it, throughout the entire rest of the game. It deals insane amounts of damage on any type of enemy, and every hit gives you a bit of barrier when combined with Fade Shield, and since the attacks are so quick and powerful, it pretty much meant i had an infinite barrier on my mage, making her completely invulnerable after the first hit! :D

[@hopelesshippo6127]

Thank you so much this helped me heaps!

[@Gerbert]

It's nice that you go into the abilities of the class but a big part of making an effective build is giving it the proper weapons and armour and you're missing out on that especially on the knight enchanter crafting the proper armour makes a world of difference...because if an enemy manages to get through my barriers it will have to go through the layer of guard that my armour has built up. One of the fade touched materials you can use adds "a chance to add guard on hit". that's not the exact description and I can't quite recall which material it was but imagine the amount of health bar an enemy needs to break through to hit you. Also...when you're explaining the Fade cloak ability...it's the Veil, not the Veal. :P have a good one

[@MugiAx]

Thank you man great video, i hope you do the tempest archer next time.

[@b4zoOk4]

19:32 "Hey guys i'm here too! Nvm, I gotta go."

[@nubis394]

Rejuvenating Barrier doesn't stack if you have it on two characters right? I didn't pick up Rejuvenating Barrier, Dispel, or Life Ward. Only because i have Solas in my party as my support mage with those. Mostly he's using Spirit and Winter to freeze along with a few handy spells in Rift. I've been dipping more into Inferno and Storm. Hit a ton from a far then swoop in with spirit blade and clean up. Side note, been loving all your builds man.

[@Target135]

Those helmets and armor in the start of the video (on the warriors).. did u find or craft them? Where can I get those patterns :P

[@juan_thebacklogdaddy]

I've seen a build that use Fire Mine (or whatever it's called) - it's used actually as the main Damage spell. Consequently it recharge the Barrier to full when you have Fade Shield. Any thought on that?

[@burns0100]

Totally skipped over barrier then first time I set up my class... only level ten but now its much stronger. Can't wait to get higher and grab some extra skills.

[@gamer-xl5lx]

how can you play without fade step? it's so essential when I play I just line up the dudes go through em and with the upgrade to fade step it freezes them and then I go to town on em

[@Kuyama777]

hi! is barrier added to your passive that shields % of your damage? in other words, are these 2 kind of shields the same? do they decay at the same speed?

[@STR33TSofJUST1C3]

Apparently, if you have Mana Surge and your Barrier expires after a fight, you get the free spell. IIRC that wasn't the case with a Barrier from the Spirit Tree. I only seem to get the Mana Surge buff whenever my Barrier from the Fade Shield expires. May be an unwanted glitch (as it clearly states that the enemy has to break the Barrier).

[@charlesw5919]

Just got the Knight Enchanter specialization today, yeah, it's way too OP. This class can tank, DPS, range, AoE depending on ability selections, and heal/raise. It's a one person wrecking crew. Challenge level dropped like a stone after getting this specialization; fights that used to be challenging became cake walks. You literally can pop up barrier, wade into a group of enemies, and swing away without taking any damage.

[@jamespierce4541]

Hey kinetic have you beaten the game if so what was the hardest decision you came across if I mind asking

[@mickdafan]

how do you have such good defense? what skills are you using to give you that good of defense because it seems like you are getting hit a lot and your health is staying at the top. and are you only attacking with the spirit sword? can you still use regular mage spells once you are specialized with the knight enchanter?

[@pixelmotionz6826]

Thank you for all these, is there a way to use more than 8 magic at a time? If not, how can I use magic not assigned to a button in battle? Thank you!

[@rich9573]

Kinetic does Rejuvenating Barrier stack with your companions? So if I had Rejuvenating barrier and Solas had it would we get 70% mana regen? Thanks

[@IamWalkingDead1]

I am probably the only one who can't wait for the Templar, I really love the class in this game and feel it will be amazing :)

[@StigmataSasha]

Nice video!

[@Grafvitni]

Farm yourself some Fade touched Silverite and slap that on your staff or armor, or both if you can wrangle up two pieces. Then you'll build Guard behind your barrier and make you even harder to kill.

[@Luk850]

Also wouldnt go into the spirit tree, just bring solas along with you as the rejuvinating barriers passive will still work for barriers you put on yourself as long as solas has the passive.

[@ratdago]

AWESOME videos, great explanations. On my 3rd playthrough and FINALLY went mage. Have used 2H warriors for every game Ive ever played, LOL. why would you take energy barrage over chain lightning? 12 hits x 66% or 6 hits (with upgrade) at 300%. Not even close for damage amount. or am i missing something? You did say you like how it looked.

[@NohrScum]

You can break the game even more by adding a masterwork staff/armor that adds guard with every hit. Then you have the best of both worlds. Even though guard on a mage isn't too good, its a nice bonus if you want to stack as much protection as you can. Its also nice to have it if your barrier runs out.

[@ChinoGaming]

Don't forget that life ward actually doesn't need targeting, in fact it instantly effects your entire party, meaning that not only is it another shield of 25% damage reduction for everyone, it's also an instant revive if anyone falls unconscious.

[@Unleshed346]

I was using kinda different KE build. I took Fire Mine and passive effect which increase damage of spells by taking half of our barrier. And everytime my mine blowed up on enemies they took something around.... 10k damage or more? It was overkill many times. And it was AoE and was dealing DoT so simply any non boss enemy was dead. Dragons died very,very fast. Every 10 seconds you deal 10k+ damage? No one can handle this. And with damage dealt your barrier restores :3

[@y0whiz417]

Hello KineticGTR Can you tell me: What class/specialization is the best for DPS. What class/specialization is the best for "Tanking" What class/specialization is the best for "healing" I don't know that much about the game, because i don't own the game (or ever tryed it), but the game seems really interesting and fun.

[@slysin]

For DPS I would say Assassin Archer For Tank I would say S&S Champion For heal probably a Support Mage/enchanter

[@BicolourLeek]

Fade step is pretty fun to use with the knight enchanter.

[@Vanstrom336]

I have a question regarding my character builds on Nightmare difficulty. Would you mind answering some questions for me about it, Kinetic? (I won't list them here yet just in case I don't get a reply)

[@geert574]

+Vanstrom Vaan all you need is 1 power amulet per char and 1 silverite heavy +5 guard armor to dupe and voilà

[@MotionPotion3]

Ok I have a question. I haven't used Vivienne at all and I want to use this build since I'm already level 17 with her, but she doesn't have her 5th tree unlocked which the Knight Enchanter tree. How do I unlock it for her? Do I have to put her in my team and explorer around in the world or something else?

[@matthewmartinez3907]

See when I go Knight enchanter I tend to go an elemental path My Knight Enchanter Build Inferno tree: Immolate Flashpoint Clean burn Winter tree: Winters grasp Mama surge Winter stillness Storm tree: Chain lightning Energy barrage Spirit tree: Barrier Guardian spirit Peaceful aura I’ll also try to rack up points to get the upgrades of course.

[@hopewec]

later on you should also take, fade step, and mana surge from the frost tree. you get in close with your sword and just regen mana...

[@jeffreyhewitt962]

Out of curiosity why didn't you take fire mine? Seems would be an ideal barrier builder.

[@TheArtistocratic]

Hey man, seriously, thanks a lot for your videos. Helps a lot! I do have a question, would this build be fun for an AI Companion? It would seem that it would mean my mage would have to be in the midst of battle. and as you know, AI can be a little janky with what they should and shouldn't be doing - ergo, perhaps a little useless for AI Companion? Or are they totally capable of handling themselves with this build? Thanks in advance for answering, and keep up the good work :)

[@HalcyonDaz3]

What companions are you using and how are they spec'ed?

[@luckyparagon8164]

So I'm asking this here since I found this out while using this build. The activated ability Energy Barrage (or something like that) in the Storm Tree is shooting out fire and doing fire damage not eletric. So my question basically is it because of my staff which is fire or is it some kind of glitch?

[@jalenhumphries5441]

Yeah pretty awesome spirit blade I playing around with the ravanger dragon and you can knock back fire balls that when I said to myself mages are always op

[@Mystra]

In the fire tree there's 1600% weapon damage, looks like you forgot about it xD

[@BrianBushtastic]

Fade step is the way to go, love that skill

[@Tpwn3d]

around what level do you get the knight enchanter quest? I just got skyhold, how far am I away from it?

[@Stuppern]

What armor is your 2 handed warrior wearing? PLEASE respond, im a sucker for cloth physics..!

[@KineticGTR]

Sturdy Vanguard Mail Schematic. :)

[@Stuppern]

Bless you.

[@alexandracohen0694]

I've tried all 3 specials for a mage but knight enchanter is by far, for my play style, the best

[@DancingSword]

Now what do you think of Fade Step? I find it a useful tool for pursuit, and getting the hell out of the area if things go badly.

[@pragmaticeagle4832]

Alex Arft Fade step works particularly well against giants and dragons, or any behemoth type enemy for that matter

[@TheValiantBob]

I have a question about ability synergy with this build. Namely, does Spirit Blade cancel the standing still buff from Winter Stillness? I ask because normally spells don't interfere with it since you stand still doing them, but with Spirit Blade your character does step forward just a *little* bit and I wondered if that counted. Also in the winter tree the ability that makes your barrier explode, would that be good since you're constantly gaining barrier with this class?

[@ArchonX5]

Just tried it out, I kept my mana icon from Winter Stillness.