Crafting Varric's Build in Dragon Age: Inquisition

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In Dragon Age: Inquisition, you have a variety of characters to join your party, each belonging to different classes and featuring unique skill trees. These skill trees not only define their combat styles but also make each character distinct.

Varric, a Rogue like Cole and Sera, shares the common Rogue skill trees but also possesses his exclusive Artificer skills. This unique tree complements any Rogue build and can be tailored for a powerful, ranged setup.

Key Skills for a Ranged Build

We will focus on utilizing Varric’s special weapon, Bianca, which can be upgraded throughout the game to maintain its effectiveness as your character levels up. This build specifically emphasizes skills from the Artificer, Archery, and Sabotage trees. While you’ll have the opportunity to respec and explore different options, this guide lays out a solid framework for your character’s development.

Note: This guide will not cover every skill required for tree progression, but these will still be included in the overall skill point total.

Best Skills in the Artificer Tree

The Artificer skills revolve around setting traps. Varric can outfit his surroundings with numerous traps to deter enemies and deal significant damage.

Skill	Upgrade	Description
Spike Trap (Active)	Pyrotechnics	A trap that explodes when an enemy approaches, launching them into the air. The upgrade expands its blast radius.
Set Them Up	N/A	Increases trap damage by 25% and grants Varric +3 Willpower.
Opportunity Knocks	N/A	Reduces cooldown time by half a second whenever an ally scores a critical hit, and grants Varric +3 Cunning.
Hail Of Arrows (Active)	N/A	Fires every archery ability used in the next 12/25/40 seconds (based on focus) twice, amplifying damage output significantly.
Elemental Mines (Active)	Throw Everything	Throws multiple traps with elemental effects until stamina is depleted, using one trap for every 5 stamina consumed.
Fallback Plan (Active)	N/A	Places a lantern before starting combat, allowing Varric to jump back to it and regain health when he is low.
And Take Them Down	N/A	Boosts all party members’ critical hit chance by 5% and grants Varric +3 Dexterity.
Tricks Of The Trade	N/A	Increases the damage and duration of all status effects applied by allies by 10%, and grants Varric +3 Willpower.

Total Skill Points Needed: 10
Total Willpower Gain: 6
Total Cunning Gain: 3
Total Dexterity Gain: 3

These skills will significantly enhance Varric’s effectiveness in utilizing the skills found in the Archery tree.

Best Skills in the Archery Tree

Skills in the Archery tree are designed to maximize damage with Bianca. These skills are straightforward, providing powerful options that contribute greatly to Varric’s overall performance, especially against tougher enemies.

Skill	Upgrade	Description
Death From Above	N/A	Grants up to 25% extra damage when attacking an enemy from a height.
First Blood	N/A	Provides a 15% damage boost against enemies above 80% health.
Long Shot (Active)	Archer’s Lance	Fires a shot that does increased damage the farther you are from the target, maxing out at 600% damage at 15 meters.
Strafing Shots	N/A	Allows Varric to move faster while maintaining accuracy, granting an additional +3 Dexterity.
Explosive Shot (Active)	Chain Reaction	Fires an explosive arrow that damages the target and surrounding enemies, with the damage increasing based on nearby foes.
Pincushion	N/A	Each consecutive arrow fired at an enemy incurs a 5% damage increase, resetting every 10 seconds, while providing +3 Dexterity.
Full Draw (Active)	N/A	Deals 1,600% damage to enemies at full health and half that to those below it.

Total Skill Points Needed: 11
Total Cunning Gain: 3
Total Dexterity Gain: 9

These Archery skills will account for most of your active damage output, while damage from the Artificer skills will contribute passively.

Best Skills in the Sabotage Tree

While you may gain more skill points, many players typically stop around 27, leaving potentially six points for the Sabotage tree. All the desirable skills from this tree are located on one side, making it easier to include them in your build.

Skill	Upgrade	Description
Poisoned Weapons (Active)	Infected Wounds	Poisons an enemy with each hit, dealing ongoing damage. The upgrade allows for 25% extra damage while the effect is active.
Fighting Dirty	N/A	Extends the duration of poison effects by 25% and grants +3 Dexterity.
Explosive Toxin	N/A	Enemies who die while poisoned explode, inflicting damage over time to nearby foes and granting +3 Dexterity.

Total Skill Points Needed: 4
Total Dexterity Gain: 6

Completed Varric Ranged Build

In total, this build utilizes 25 skill points. It strikes a good balance between offensive and defensive capabilities through various traps and powerful Archery skills, such as Hail of Arrows.

Your finalized Tactics slots will include:

Spike Trap
Hail Of Arrows
Elemental Mines
Fallback Plan
Long Shot
Explosive Shot
Full Draw
Poisoned Weapons

By harnessing the defensive qualities of Artificer skills and the critical hit boosts provided, Varric can stay safe while dealing significant damage and enhancing his team’s effectiveness.

Alternative Varric Builds

For those interested in a different approach, Varric can also excel with a Double Daggers build, bypassing Bianca. In this setup, his traps will see more frequent use since enemies will engage him at closer range. This build heavily invests in the Sabotage and Double Daggers trees, increasing versatility and options in combat.