Perhaps the most noted, most well-documented, and most commonly played class in the Dragon Age series is the Warrior class.
For more help on Dragon Age Inquisition, read our Crafting Guide, Treasure Maps Locations and High Dragons Locations Guide.
Dragon Age Inquisition Warrior Class
Warriors may seem somewhat one-dimensional when compared to the likes of Mages and Rogues, but they are by far the most influential, providing a solid mix of rock-hard defense, relentless persistence, and sheer brutality.
This makes it one of the most important classes in Dragon Age, and surprisingly more fun than what you would normally think.
Warrior Class Starting Abilities
At the start of the game, when choosing the Warrior, you’ll have access to two different types of Warriors.
There is the two-handed warrior, who is an expert in wielding massive swords that deal devastating blows, but sacrifice defenses and speed.
There is the Weapon and Shield warrior, who may not have the sheer lethality of the two-handed, but has the stability to stand ground and defend his/her allies.
Whichever one you choose has an influence only on the initial gear you receive and the starting abilities available to you, along with a few minor differences in attributes.
However, it does not mean that you will be stuck with your choice through the course of the game – you can simply shift to the other and build your character to your liking as you level up.
Following are the abilities that you will acquire at the start.
Two-Handed
Mighty Blow
Deliver a powerful attack that crumples foes, leaving them knocked down for a short time. You do more damage to targets that are already knocked down.
War Cry
Taunt all nearby enemies with a shouted challenge, gaining extra guard for each enemy affected.
Weapon and Shield
Payback Strike
Recover from any disabled condition and lash out with a great blow against nearby enemies. If you’ve recently taken damage, you hit that much harder and stagger your foes.
War Cry
Taunt all nearby enemies with a shouted challenge, gaining extra guard for each enemy affected.
Warrior Class Attributes and Stats
Warrior is naturally resilient and tends to have extra Strength. This allows for a lot of damage output, and the other stats are also tuned towards added defenses and extra physical damage.
There are a few minor differences in stats as far as two-handed and weapon & shield warriors are concerned at the start, but they are minor and can be balanced out later on in the game.
Note that the race you choose also gives a 25% increase in certain stats. For warriors, Elves get a 25% bonus to ranged defense, Dwarves get a 25% bonus to magic defense, and the Qunari get a 25% bonus to melee defense.
Attributes
- Strength – 11
- Dexterity – 10
- Magic – 10
- Cunning – 10
- Willpower – 10
- Constitution – 10
Offensive
- Attack – TH 0%, W&S 4%
- Guard Damage Bonus — 1%
- Armor Penetration – TH 11%, W&S 0%
- Barrier Damage Bonus — 0%
- Critical Damage Bonus — 40%
- Critical Chance — 5%
- Main-Hand Damage – TH 60, W&S 43
- Off-Hand Damage – TH 60, W&S 5
- Bleed on Hit — 0%
- Stagger on Hit — 0%
- Heal on Kill — 0%
- Flanking Damage Bonus — 25%
Defensive
- Magic Defense — 0%
- Melee Defense – TH6%, W&S 9%
- Ranged Defense — 0%
- Cold Resistance — 0%
- Electrical Resistance — 0%
- Fire Resistance — 0%
- Guard – TH 59, W&S 40
- Armor Rating – TH 46, W&S 44
- Armor Rating Front – TH 46, W&S 49
- Maximum Health – 562
- Bleed on Being Hit — 0%
- Stagger on Being Hit — 0%
Other
- Maximum Focus – 100
- Focus Gain Bonus — 0%
- Maximum Mana/Stamina – 100
- Cooldown Modifier — 0%
Warrior Unique Class Ability
See a slightly cracked wall? Put a warrior up to the task and he/she will break it, giving access to areas that are otherwise impossible to discover.
Like the Rogue’s lockpicking skill, the Warrior has its own unique ability that allows them to boot through weak walls and certain doors. The secret chambers are often filled with loot and goodies that will aid your party.
Simply switch to the warrior, go to the suspicious wall, and boot it to smithereens.
Warrior Class Skill Trees
Weapon and Shield
If you’re the type who relies on shields, then you have likely chosen a Weapon & Shield warrior right from the start, and stuck to him/her. This skill tree is all about using your shield to your advantage, and combining it with your single-handed weapon in the most effective way possible.
If you’re going to turn your W&S warrior into a tank (which is recommended over a two-handed tanker), you should consider the more defensive abilities in this tree.
Skills such as Shield Wall, Turn the Blade, and Bear Mauls the Wolves will come in extremely handy when tanking as your Rogue and Mage wreak havoc on the enemies who are entirely focused on you.
Weapon & Shield tree pairs very well with the Champion, Vanguard, and Templar specializations.
Two-Handed Weapons
Ruthless, relentless, and absolutely brutal – that’s how you’d describe a warrior who wields two-handed weapons, marches into battle, and starts swinging like a maniac.
There is no dedicated defending involved when it comes to this tree – it’s all about doing damage in all kinds of ways.
The Whirlwind is one of my favorite abilities, as it can deal a lot of damage to foes all around you. This is especially useful if you are playing a semi-tanking role and have aggro on the enemies.
Of course, this doesn’t mean you should overlook Block and Slash and Flawless Defense. When these defensive abilities pair with your devastating blows, enemies will cower and fall faster than you can say Mississippi.
The Two-Handed tree really shows its wonders when paired with the brutal Reaver specialization.
Battlemaster
The Battlemaster tree has something to offer to any kind of warrior out there. It’s a fine mix of defense, offense, utility, presence, and support. This makes it one of the most balanced trees in the game.
You want to give supportive aspects to your Warrior? Go for the War Horn and Horn of Valor. Do you want to control the battlefield? Try the Grappling Chain and Combat Roll skills.
Vanguard
The true tanking aspect of the warrior really comes out of the Vanguard tree. This is where you’ll find the War Cries and necessary skills to develop tons of aggro, which can set the tone for the battle and set up your more squishy members to do what they do best.
If you want to build a pure tank, the Vanguard tree is what you’ll be investing in the most. Combine it with the Champion specialization and W&S and you’ll have a warrior that just won’t fall to ground.
Warrior Class Specializations
Champion
The first of the three specializations is Champion, and it defies its name. Instead of being called Champion, it should’ve been called Leadership, as that’s what it emphasizes.
Moreover, this is one hell of a tanking specialization to have, and results in an undefeatable warrior when combined with W&S and Vanguard.
Champion specialization is ideal for tanks, and should be sought after if you plan to be your party’s rock wall.
Abilities like Line in the Sand, Resilience, and Counterstrike will certainly make you the leader at the front, allowing others to take advantage of the impenetrable fortress that you have become the embodiment of.
Reaver
Run, run for your lives. The Reaver is brutal, the Reaver is ruthless, the Reaver is absolutely unforgiving and relentless. This specialization is all about sheer brutality.
Things like shields and defense are for the wimps – the Reavers thrive on anger, rage, and blood. The bloodier your face gets, the more powerful your blows become, and the abilities in this tree reflect this personality of the Reaver specialization.
As a Reaver, you’ll need to be a high-risk, high reward kind of Warrior. You’ll have to become accustomed to living on the edge, with your health always low to get the most damage and brutality out of your character.
The relentlessness of this specialization combines brilliantly with Two-Handed Weapons, and you can wreak havoc on foes while taking damage. You should however have a tank present beside you to take the burden off, as the Reaver is more about damage output than defense.
Templar
The Templar specialization is best for those who are filled with benevolence. This is a tree that has abilities that negate incoming magic, and boost the defenses of those around you.
The Templar specialization is a great alternative for tanks and supportive warriors (especially defenders), as it allows them to boost your entire party through skills like Rally and The Last Sacrifice. It’s purely support-based, and hence extremely underrated.
Granted that not many will look to build an Inquisitor whose sole purpose is to make those around him/her fight better, but the Templar nevertheless stands as a powerful and extremely important specialization that should never be overlooked.
Warrior Class Combat Tips
Warriors in Dragon Age: Inquisition are best used as initiators and tanks. Naturally, they have better melee defense than Mages and Rogues, which is why they should be leading the front charge.
I always like to play with two Warriors in my party – one who tanks and deals bulks of the damage, while the other gives support as a defender with a shield.
This allows my Rogue to slip into the mess while my tank has aggro, dealing damage in bursts. Meanwhile, at the back the Mage can launch devastating AoE attacks on the crowd. The Warrior should primarily be played as a hybrid of a tank, defender, and pure damage dealer.
It’s generally considered as the ‘blandest’ class to play in Dragon Age, as it doesn’t have many flashy abilities, but the Warrior is arguably the most important of the lot.
You simply cannot survive with a party that lacks a quality Warrior, so if you’re not confident about Cassandra or Blackwall’s ability to lead the lines, maybe you should be the one up front and showing them how it’s done.
